In several ways, the Sink or Swim promotion at The Tin on Saturday (John Douglas supported by Rebecca Mileham & The Sunbathers) which I reported on, epitomises what Joe Colombi has brought to the local live scene.

Quite apart from the staggering number of promotions (there seems barely a day without a gig he's put on and on his "nights off" he seems mainly to check out bands at other promoters' events) & his rigid adherence both to quality of artists & professionalism of the shows (none of those strings of artist complaints which seem to accompany mention of some promoters & promoting venues), Joe has clear ambitions to both bring big names (I thrill to the likes of Wreckless Eric, Attila the Stockbroker and Dave Formula to name but a few) to the area yet at the very same time create opportunities for exciting local talent: especially those he sees not getting a fair chance from others. Several of the artists we've been enthusing about over the past couple of years have been given key & repeated exposure only by Sink or Swim.

So on Saturday we saw a cult figure pack out the Tin, delighting his local fans while giving slots to two acts who don't play too often, have an unjustly low public profile yet won many new admirers because Joe knew that John's audience would recognise their distinct merits.

 In the twenty or so months since I last caught up with Joe for an article in September 2022, I'd be hard pressed to even estimate the number of events he's conceived, built & delivered. I'd love to list them all, but that would create an article of too great a length to hold your attention: the opposite of his promotions.

It was very unfair of me to ask him to pick any out for me, but he was kind enough & polite enough to ignore my gaucherie and to respond enthusiastically: though starting with the disclaimer that "all of them were really good" before extolling the gig we were actually at (in anticipation) plus ones by Deb Googe, Izzie Derry, his annual Punkmas gigs,  Brazilian band Glue Trip and "a guy from Japan who just played a snare drum for twenty minutes" (that would be Ryosuke Kiyasku and Joe advises that he'll be returning on August 9th). So we now need to add international touring acts to the Sink or Swim profile.

Coming up, when asked for potential highlights, he cited gigs by Dave Formula from Magazine (on May 29^th) Penny Arcade (from Veronica Falls) on June 21st, Tara Clerkin Trio from Bristol (May 30^th), The Hanging Stars (November 9^th) plus ones he's not even allowed to announce yet.

 I think from the above, Joe's philosophy emerges quite clearly, but nonetheless I asked him what he might encapsulate it as & he came up with the refreshingly honest "no-one buys tickets and I sink, or we swim and have a great night"

Which leads me onto my punchline: Joe has transformed the local original gig scene more than anyone I've ever seen and what all those who value the music we hold dear in this magazine must cherish. However, unless we actively patronise Sink or Swim events, then seeing great artists from outside the area will diminish and chances for the more interesting local acts to build live audiences will go to: probably along with the artists concerned. Equally, given his vital partnerships with venues such as The Tin or Just Dropped In, his thriving is linked organically to theirs.

I refer you therefore to: https://www.wegottickets.com/SinkorSwimPromotions/

The sad news is that there was less music than usual at this year's Earlsdon Festival.

The good news is that this was largely because host venue the Criterion Theatre are currently in the middle of their Springboard Festival (and so their team are currently very stretched) and so you can catch more great music there until 11^th May: including artists such as The Mechanicals Band, Lauren South, Stylusboy & Wes Finch whom we have covered in this magazine. Tickets are available via this link:

https://www.criteriontheatre.co.uk/production/537

In the event, personal commitments meant that I only caught one of the sets in full (my apologies to those whom I missed), but since this has given me the chance to write our first review of an Alys Rain gig, it worked out fine.

Alys (aka Izzy Hadlum) had her ‘In Tension' EP (which was played today) reviewed here in December 2022 and her song "Driving in the Rain" from that release features on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Eleven'.

I'd like to think that you've both read the review and played the EP & so, like me, you probably wondered how such ethereal, introspective music (much of it instrumental) would go down at an outside with its accompanying extraneous noises & where the bulk of the audience had not previously heard her songs.

Using just her acoustic guitar (with subtly adjusted effects), voice and foot tambourine, Alys more than managed it: she drew a rapidly built crowd who responded most positively. Although I sometimes despair of mainstream tastes & capacities to assimilate fresh, original nuanced music, it's good to have my prejudices in this area challenged & salute Alys' capacity to hold the attention of a fairly randomly coalesced crowd of all ages with such delicate music and without resorting to cheap crowd-pleasing tactics. Credit too to the Criterion sound crew: I witnessed the care which went into the sound checking and sculpting of the right sound for her.

Ironically, in addition to this fragile creativity, Izzy is also drummer with the very noisy Creaking Twitch (I am looking forwards to writing about them) so quite plausibly could be considered the local music with the broadest spectrum of volume in their musical performances: which pretty much encapsulates diversity and breadth of vision.

The latest top class Sink or Swim promotion (look out for a lengthier appreciation of what Joe Colombi does in the magazine shortly) was John Douglas (of Trashcan Sinatras fame) at the Tin last night supported by ‘Hot Music Live Presents' featured artists The Sunbathers and Rebecca Mileham: an intriguing combination all of whom complemented each other perfectly & certainly went down with the full house of indie music fans.

Any gig which features a song as great yet obscure as Dolly Mixture's "How Come You're Such a  Hit with the Boys Jane?" (which didn't even come out during the lifespan of their career) on the music played before the bands came on was always destined to be a bit special (another piece of evidence of Joe's great taste).

"Hot Music Live" grants me something of a platform to extol the virtues of artists whose fame hasn't caught up with their  talent (there's not an awful lot of mileage in proselytising about ones you know well already) and like Clemency recently, The Sunbathers are somewhat hidden gems: that I seem to see them (in the too infrequent times I do see them) supporting former members of well known indie bands (The Chefs, Talullah Gosh, the Trashcan Sinatras) suggests that Julie & Paul's reputation extends into the realms of the great & the good.

This was a particularly interesting set though: different from any I'd previously heard from them. They've been writing a lot recently (there is the promise of another album to go with the single one they've released in their seventeen years) and the signature wistful songs about love, the seaside & summer have been joined by darker material (one about gaslighting leading to domestic abuse) and different emotions, such as how to support friends in profound emotional need. These offer new shades of delicacy & nuance into the Sunbathers' lyrical world (the wistfulness always embraced a much wider range of beach situated feelings beyond undiluted hedonism) and elevates their music still further.

I can't wait to hear the new tracks on record (though I gather they are not especially imminent) and once again I urge you to check them out.

Although I've run into Rebecca at both the Clemency gig & that of Lauren South and friends recently and although I've seen her perform live with Liam Vincent and the Odd  Foxes and we also featured her solo track "Rising Tide" on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Eleven', this was my first chance to catch a solo live performance.

Much of that may be due to her Odd Foxes commitments (they're working on their next album and are in great live demand) so I'm glad that this opportunity was afforded me.

Drawing on both her solo EPs, ‘Underground' and ‘Rising Tide', the one exception was a new track (possibly to be called "Holloway" or "Holloways" or "Hollow Way") which caught my attention & those with whom I spoke afterwards: can't wait for her to record this very special song.

Generally, these songs are ones she feels are not suitable for the Odd Foxes and consequently they are not necessarily very similar in style to the band's exuberant folk punk rock. That said, I did detect a possibly unconscious shift through her set: the earlier songs were delivered in a vocal style closer to the "folk" one she uses on band ones, and this evolved during the course of her performance into something much closer to rock. Equally I'd only ever seen her play fiddle before, so it's good to report that she's just as good on keyboards and again her playing moved from quite classical stylings to that rock one.

Her songs, like the LVOF ones, are often political in some respects but tend more to the overtly personal: so much so that during her most illuminating explanations of where they came from, I winced slightly at remembering my own interpretations in the reviews & the gap between them & what Rebecca was telling us.

I'm not sure quite what I expected from headliner John Douglas, not being familiar with his solo body of work I'm afraid (I got the impression that I was in an opposite position to most of the audience who knew his songs extremely well without having my experience of those of the supporting artists). Obviously replicating the sound of his old band was both a big ask for someone with just an acoustic guitar and anyway why should he? This is a distinct career.

I wonder how much he reads Yeats? What struck me was the poetic lyricism of his reflections on life, characters he'd encountered & experiences with the natural world. If he's not into Yeats at least he's working along similar lines. The songs of experience and reflection were precisely what a good writer ought to evolve into having started with jangle pop delights (how different the music world might have been had the Trashcan Sinatras achieved the commercial success of say Coldplay).

He did everything with that one guitar & the result was really lush: not something you'd expect was possible with so few ingredients. His playing sat in that interesting intersection where folk & jazz meet: though thrillingly he managed to conjure the magical jangle up for excursions into his past such as "I'm Immortal".

Otherwise his set favoured his 2023 eponymous album with songs such as "Weightlifting", "Orange Crayons", "Maid O' The Loch", "The Sleeping Policeman", "I'm Not The Fella" and the Syd Barrett tribute "Oranges & Apples" all featured to general delight.

Like I said, an evening of immaculate quality & songs about grown-up feelings performed with nuance, skill & love. Three superb acts & another fine piece of Joe Colombi alchemy.

The new Dean MacDonald single "Polarised" comes out as a "Bank Holiday release" (which is a bit unusual in itself) and as always is a classy piece of work: from the writing to the performance to Matt Waddell's production at 14 Records.

I noted yesterday how Keith Fabrique's songwriting is under-appreciated and in many ways I think Dean's is too. Both create in that very crafted classic style, drawing on the history of the music they love & know so well & can offer object lessons to aspiring writers in how to develop their talents.

One such obviously is to show no fear in using fresh vocabulary & thus swerving cliches from the title onwards. This, as previous reviews have stated, is in fact a Dean hallmark. He rather likes deeper ideas (check out virtually his entire body of work) and respects his audience enough not to talk down to them.

That extends to the lyrics in depth with no recourse to forced rhyming nor stultifying repetition.

While Keith's many other activities possibly distract mass audiences from his writing, in Dean's case the equivalent factor is probably that having spent more than two decades shaping The Session into such a well loved & effective live unit, people concentrate on the passion of what they do on stage at the expense of minute examination of the lyrics. Which is their loss I suppose. Dean writes stuff to sound good but also make one think.

That said, his much more recent solo career aims along similar yet distinct lines. This has given him the opportunity not only to dive as deep as he wants to into philosophical matters but crucially to get a lot more personal (after all, he is not the only singer in The Session and there is a limit as to how far you can go in expressing internal feelings when someone else will be the conduit for your words).

At the same time, and this may be even more noticeable to listeners, stepping out of the group context for a bit enables him to experiment with different arrangements which might involve instruments members do not play or stripped back so that if attempted by them, some would not have anything to do live.

On this particular occasion, the standout moment is the inclusion of a "mando guitar" (part mandolin) crafted by renowned Coventry luthier Rob Armstrong. I've certainly never reviewed a track using one before & it's been a long time since I last name checked Rob, so thanks Dean for giving me the chances.

As with all the best writing, Dean starts with the specific (in this case his brother in New York City) and broadens its scope out to offer everyone a chance to identify with feelings of reflection, memory, casual encounters evoking recollections of old friends etc. That these meetings might include false recognitions just adds to the profundity of what Dean is writing about.

What is however central to the song is definitely NOT what the title says (clever): Dean identifies links, despite distances of time & intervening oceans and values commonality and shared experiences over forces driving people apart or polarising them.

Unsurprisingly, the arrangement tends to the evocation & remembrance of things passed in a timeless sort of style: lighter of touch than Session ones perhaps. I liked how, despite deploying such an unusual instrument, Dean & Matt have not foregrounded it as a gimmick: in fact it took my a few plays to be confident that I could even identify it in the mix. Its part seems to be to help emphasise that sense of the past and personal reflection: but pretty subtly. You go away (I hope) remembering the words rather than thinking "what was that funny sound?".

I'd like to think that Dean's already very well received solo career is directing attention to his writing (the productions all seem aimed in that way) and while I'm sure people will enjoy "Polarised" for its sound, hopefully most will pause for thought and realise that he's not just got something interesting to say, but that he'd like to communicate it to you.

I hope that on the relatively rare occasions (but each one is a blow to my self esteem) when I miss a release date & have to write a slightly belated review, that I hold my hands up. I'm not going to on this occasion though even though the album which I'm going to tell you about, ‘Roll Back the Night' by the GunShock Big Band was recorded in 2010.

It's not abysmal lack of awareness on my part (to be honest I think if I'd missed by that distance I'd probably have just skulked quietly in a corner) but the occasion of a re-issue which brings it to these pages today in the form of its first appearance in remastered form on CD.

A fascinating project which comes from the mind of Keith Fabrique, the album brings together two entire bands, The Glassguns (Phil Farrelly, Mark Fletcher, Sam Farrelly-Banks and Gary Brittain) with Lipshock (Johnny Kingham, Chris Worsley, Shaun Woods, Mikk Cooper and Anthony Marshall) to record some of his own demos from across his career: the idea being not only to share the material but to give relatively new bands some useful studio time with Jon Webb engineering at The Moonbase and Keith producing.

The tracks are "Friend" (whose Parts One & Two bookend the tracklisting), "Run, Run, Run", "Whispers", "Victim of the Charm", "The Ballad of Blackice", "Scratch My Face", "She's Only Looking", "Friends from Venice", "Paradise Circus" and "Snakedance".

In saying "demos", it's worth pointing out that yes, I've already reviewed Keith's own version of "The Ballad of Black Ice",  (as he called it on that occasion) on his 2018 album ‘Talk on the Radio' and you've probably heard it live too: so the stories of some of these songs are more complex than just being gems retrieved from the archives for this project. Apart from those he demoed in a solo guise, others date from his earlier work with bands such as Paradise Circus (I think you can guess at least one of those), Minus One Cuban and Crash By Design.

You'll know his HillzFM radio show I'm sure & if you've listened to it (if not, why not?) then you'll know in addition to his championing of new (local) talent, Keith has not just an encyclopaedic knowledge of music but a love of it too (especially the rock genres). Personally, I can trace a direct arc from that to these songs via a sense of "classic" songwriting which enables them all, regardless of age, to still stand up (there's no embarrassing juvenilia here) and merit being included in the exercise.

That's not to suggest that his knowledge manifests itself as derivative songs: it merely gives him the ideas of structure & form which help other musicians to get grips on the material. It's also worth taking note that since "Black Ice" is a robust enough composition to be successful in this format and Keith's own, it must be the case that the Big Band are able to put their own character on songs originally played by the bands cited above in at least slightly different formats.

Not that I'd wish you to take away the idea that every track features all nine musicians in a Showaddywaddy style two bass/two drums type lineup. Keith shuffled the deck shrewdly and while no cut features one band exclusively, each is played by a sensible combination.

They even got together at the Welshpool Music Festival to reproduce it all live.

Whatever their relative lack of (studio) experience might have been back in 2010, the musicianship on the record is a fine testimony to the qualities Keith perceived in inviting them to adapt his creations (and what trust that must require when an artist hands their songs over to others): we also need to factor in their confidence in playing wit members of bands other than that which they were used to.

So: fine songs & fine players. What could go wrong? Well, I suppose quite a bit in theory, but whatever bumps were on this particular highway are now lost and eclipsed by the success of the outcomes.

That said, I think this review has certain possible beneficial roles. The album is by an ad hoc combination which never played locally nor probably ever will & was made up of two now defunct bands (though you can hear Chris from Lipshock as a member of The Rollocks on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Ten').

Even Keith probably has a higher profile as a broadcaster and producer (he has his own Tinkle Studio) than as a composer: or even as a performer since his gigs do tend to be rather low key. That's all a damn shame and so in combination the re-issue & this article can do a little in terms of putting that right.

It must be quite rare to have an album dedicated to the music of a composer other than the mega famous and as far as I can think, the excellence of all the writing talent of those we showcase in both the magazine & the ‘Hot Music Live Presents' compilations is evidenced by their own performances of their songs. ‘Roll Back the Night' is therefore a unique artefact in relation to our area and the proof of Keith's skills independent of his own interpretations.

I find it much easier to comment on original & well written material and inevitably I have to pass on some which I struggle to see much merit in: those artists could learn much from the songs on here.

I've praised "Black Ice"/"Blackice" elsewhere so won't take your time repeating myself, but in hindsight, any personal preferences I might have for it probably derive from knowing it better than other ones on here which I'm now gaining greater acquaintance with.

The sophisticated, loping grace with which the Big Band endow the sultry "Scratch My Face" (a co-write between Keith & his brother Steve) helps elevate that one up there too: a sort of Leonard Cohen vibe is in there which I like a lot.

I'd score easy points if I could detect ones written earlier and then try to suggest an arc of development but in truth the quality is consistent throughout (presumably Keith started the selection beyond those he wrote during his musical apprenticeship).

I don't know if "Paradise Circus" is contemporary with the ska boom nor indeed whether it originally had that clipped off-beat when written, but regardless, the result, while using the formal elements, isn't much of a slave to them: anymore than "Snakedance" is a Thin Lizzy counterfeit. They merely, at most, give little hints as to what might have appeared on his turntable.

The "Friend" tracks which I mentioned earlier are stately acoustic ones which are far enough removed from the heavy rock of "Snakedance" to demonstrate Keith's range and that of the musicians too: they can all put their feet down hard but also lay back & let space & air in.

"Run, Run, Run" shares a title with both The Who and the Velvet Underground both of whom exerted much (usually unacknowledged) influence on punk/"New Wave" and Keith's song, presented aggressively here, shares the taut jabs of both The Who and punk with the urban exploration of the VU: another one which has grown on me.

"Friends From Venice" is a rather strange hybrid (at least in this incarnation): starting somewhere in the region of baroque English rock, it then dives enthusiastically into Bon Jovi territory: after repeated intrigued listenings, I couldn't swear as to whether we're talking Venice in Italy or LA. It probably doesn't matter.

In very heavy contrast, "Victim of the Charm" goes for that strange area where British rock (and I'm not sure any other nationality would go in this direction: except possibly Sparks or Devo) piled on the archness: and I'm not even really talking specifically Bowie or Roxy Music (well I am a bit) but I heard bits of The Associates & Sensational Alex Harvey Band In there too.

"Whispers" introduces brass and a funk guitar with a vocal of near desperation. It's really nothing like Chic at all and I can't imagine Keith listening much to Spandau Ballet or Level 42 so I'm tentatively wondering is he was inspired by the Average White Band? Seems more his sort of thing.

 "She's Only Looking" also has clipped funky playing but melds them with a more laid-back groove to be cut from precisely the same cloth as "Whispers" (hats off to all concerned though for being able to funk as well as rock).

The Mechanicals Band brought out a record of sufficient internal variety that ‘Miscellany' seemed the best name: given the significant range of musical styles on display here, Keith might have used it too. When you go down that route, albums can lack structural integrity and confuse listeners. Here, you get a great snapshot of what music he likes & is capable of writing well & it's held together by the quality of the performances: not least because they are extremely collegiate: there is no individual grandstanding here.

Keith Fabrique aficionados will buy this album, as will those who admire the musicians on it. If you are not yet among those groups, give it a listen on streaming: I think you'll be surprised & wonder like me why his name is not writ larger in local lore.

It can be a discombobulating role reviewing. There I was, just preparing myself in all respects for the 17^th May and his scheduled release of "Data Machinery" when with no warning whatsoever, Duke Keats drops the double header "English Countryside" and "Loan Sharks" (don't worry, the planned single will also still be out as intended & he's just hinted to me of another possible interim drop).

I suppose that we shouldn't be remotely surprised: I certainly ought not given what I've written about this uber-artist whose reputation is so solidly built on creative non-compromise. Guerilla releases are the least we should expect. However he has suggested (how seriously I'm not sure given how many people can have heard these) that "public demand" played a part.

In fact the free spirit of spontaneity seems to be behind this. John Lennon was a great advocate of writing a song & getting it out within the shortest possible turn around ("Instant Karma!" took ten days from conception to the streets and "The Ballad of John and Yoko" barely longer) and Duke has emulated him. As he told me, he's "..being a bit more carefree.." with his releases.

These are dream inspirations and though the reverie itself concerned "..English countryside, a dark forest and a boy and horse who are trying to find their way out..", as you might anticipate, furnish an artist as skilled as this one with surreal and disturbing images, factor in his penchant for the cinematic and what you get is merely the starting point.

"English Countryside" itself certainly begins with his dream but quickly takes the path marked "sinister" as "..a smoky figure coming close/Stranger danger.." is juxtaposed alarmingly with the contrasting symbol of an "English Rose". We then enter Ted Hughes territory as "..the weather claws my throat…." or the world, as Tennyson memorably put it, of "nature red in tooth and claw". Scary stuff but very poetically expressed. As one would expect. 

And that's just the lyrics. The music fits them well: spooky, wispy vocals over a minimalist backing where the insistent snare drumming (I admit that it reminded me of the "ghost drummer boy" stories) dominates over the icy synths (great arranging: had it been the other way round, it would have been far too close to many another spooky synth track).

The second half of the diptych, "Loan Sharks" goes into more personal territory (although given the fluidity of his writing, that's my assumption only) with the subject being an emotional parasite of some description.

Louder than its companion, it's still a fairly skeletal arrangement with another detached vocal seemingly  beamed in from the next county. Alienation again seems a key theme and boy does Duke seem weary on this cut. Tired of someone's antics and possibly stated "more in sorrow than anger".

If "English Countryside" was him writing a sonic screenplay to set outdoors, then "Loan Sharks" moves the action inside and quite possibly swaps the widescreen scope for something not just more intimate but compressed and suffocating.

I've only heard these songs myself this afternoon and could be well wide of any mark I might have discerned: so over to you. Even if I'd played them a dozen times each, such are the intricacies of Duke Keats' music that a range of listeners could easily draw a corresponding wide range of responses, all of them plausible. He's that sort of writer.

I am still looking forwards to "Data Machinery" in just over a fortnight's time but I'm also keeping myself ready for the possible "second part" to today's duo that he has hinted at: presumably in the meantime.

From time to time, "severe weather events" with their own names hit the UK: earlier this month we had Storm Kathleen and now Hurricane YNES has blasted in across the Atlantic.

All too recently the most potent force of nature on the local scene & one so many people were tipping for success, Great Britain became too small and parochial to contain her. Now based in Vancouver, (check out the album of a live acoustic set of the ‘Born Loser' songs she recorded there which we reviewed in December), I was delighted when she surprised everyone (as is her style), with news of two British shows: at The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham on Monday & last night's  "It's D.I.Y Ennit" self-promoted home town gig at the LTB.

The cyclonic side of her was much in evidence from the speed in which the gig came together to her semi-chaotic stage presence to the passion & commitment to her songs.

However, as I'd like to think that my reviews have suggested, there has always been more to her than this aspect & Canada has helped bring out other aspects more. Songs composed there have dialled back some of the overt anger (let's face it, living in Vancouver must affect mood & vibes differently to Coventry), but the personal vulnerability & fragility underneath the noise is a key trait.

The songs, as my review of the live acoustic release said, are robust enough to have value and impact in various settings and arrangements: from the overdubbed versions made in Woodbine Studio with John Rivers to the acoustic café ones to the ones we probably know best (and heard tonight): solo with electric guitar.

It was a stark, almost skeletal set: (no scope for her writhing on the floor tonight) with just the guitar and this brought out the pathos and the moments of near self laceration (it's a good job that her between songs patter tends towards the humorous & self deprecatory as otherwise it is in truth potentially very dark matter).

The set bounced between all phases of her career to date (it included the rarely played "Five Minutes Time" from the ‘Front Room Sessions' COVID compilation) and included more recent, unrecorded material (including one (working title "Kid") which got aborted before she even started it as she hadn't got the words in her head yet) and ranged from the upbeat-with-melancholy (e.g. "Used To Be") to the raw & purely melancholic.

It was good to have her back: even for a short while. Unlike the overblown & histrionic divas who shamelessly try & evoke emotions through excess & hyperbole, YNES has a real heart & a rare capacity to nail down actual emotions through genuine images told in language we all can relate to, but few can write in.

I have no idea where her career is going: as you know she's not only high in the esteem of our local scene but rated by Billy Bragg himself, so possibilities are many. To some extent, she seems to thrive on degrees of spontaneity (I refer you back to the "Hurricane YNES" comment) and that's a strength as it sets her apart from those more cynically seeking "success" via conventional routes. I doubt she knows precisely herself, but I look forwards to experiencing & relaying to you all that she ends up doing: and I don't have the skills to predict her moves at all.

YNES chose to close her main set with "I Wanna Be Overrated" which I think was a really good choice as it more or less epitomises my comments above: an emotionally complex yet staggeringly deeply personal song, its power originates with its composition & then gets amplified by her performance.

 However, audience demand resulted in an encore of "The Daily Male" which as I agree totally with the sentiments she expresses in it, was much to my personal taste & demonstrated the side of her the world probably knows the best so far: YNES precisely skewering those who merit being skewered.

You can catch YNES on the final date of her UK tour on Monday 22^nd April at the Sunflower Lounge.

Meanwhile, Alan Denyer (who did a great job on the sound desk in addition to his host role) shared with me the great news that the LTB Showrooms have a stay of execution until September, so please look out for many more great gigs there over the next few months.

As you will know, I always greatly enjoy the music of Clemency and usually preface my reviews with an element of regret over the period of time which had elapsed since last I saw them. Therefore catching them live (regrettably I could only stay for one set) at Leamington's BRUBL Brewery was a significant pleasure.

Hats off first to BRUBL for adding a much needed extra new venue to what is available & especially for favouring original artists over the covers acts which most bars go for. To have the discernment to invite Clemency is particularly commendable given that, as I discussed with fellow Clemency fan Rebecca Mileham, they may be considered as one of Warwickshire music's best kept secrets.

What was evident was the number of as yet unreleased songs Nina Bailey and Ben Clempson have: one must hope that they come out whenever possible: they are excellent.  Quite a few have long been in the set by now & had audibly evolved in their arrangements & performances. The latter were as spellbinding as ever: despite the modest disclaimers of not having had much time in their busy lives to practice: certainly the audience, most of whom I imagine had not had the pleasure of hearing them previously, responded enthusiastically.

As Clemency are such a rare & precious commodity, I'd urge checking them out whenever an opportunity presents itself. That's what I do.

THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES

ANNOUNCE THE ‘BROTHER SISTER 30' TOUR
TICKETS GO ON SALE HERE THIS FRIDAY

Photo: The Brand New Heavies: Andrew Levy, Angela Ricci and Simon Bartholomew

"The Brand New Heavies changed my life." - Mark Ronson

"Taking classic sounds and turning them on their head with modern, future-facing revisions and production." - Retropop

"Plenty of belters to ramp up the nostalgia." - Clash
 

Released in 1994, THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES' third album ‘Brother Sister' changed everything for the band.

Propelled by the classic singles "Dream On Dreamer", "Midnight At The Oasis" and "Back To Love", the record achieved huge success (a #4 chart position, over a million sales and a BRIT nomination) as they cemented their position as the pioneers of Acid Jazz.

Still sounding as fresh and timeless as it did back then, The Brand New Heavies celebrate the album's 30th anniversary with the announcement of the ‘Brother Sister 30' tour.

Featuring original members Andrew Levy and Simon Bartholomew with the phenomenal vocalist Angela Ricci, the tour will see The Brand New Heavies perform ‘Brother Sister' in full alongside other hits and fan favourites from their storied history with a complete live band.

The band says, "We can't believe that Brother Sister is going to be 30 years young! What better way to celebrate than coming to see us play the album in its entirety as well as all our hits."

Tickets for the shows, listed below, go on sale HERE from 10am this Friday, May 3rd.

THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES - ‘BROTHER SISTER 30 TOUR'

NOVEMBER

• 1st - Sheffield, The Foundry
• 8th - Cambridge, Corn Exchange
• 9th - Coventry, HMV Empire
• 16th - Newcastle, Boiler Shop
• 22nd - Brighton, Dome
• 23rd - Cardiff, Tramshed
• 30th - Frome, Cheese & Grain

DECEMBER

• 20th - Birmingham, Town Hall

*****

In addition, this summer will see The Brand New Heavies play a selection of headline shows and festival dates, details of which are available HERE.

Since debuting in 1990, The Brand New Heavies have translated their love of sophisticated '70s funk grooves into an ever evolving sound that has ignited dancefloors and inspired fans for over thirty years. Their huge success with ‘Brother Sister' continued with the follow-up ‘Shelter', another Top 5 Platinum-certified album that featured further hits in the shape of ‘Sometimes', ‘You Are The Universe' and their take on ‘You've Got A Friend'. Their legacy has continued to grow with consistently strong albums ever since, including 2019's ‘TBNH' which featured their first recordings with Angela Ricci.

2023 saw The Brand New Heavies enter a new era of rediscovery with the release of ‘Never Stop… The Best Of'. They also embarked upon the sold-out ‘Never Stop… The Greatest Hits' tour, for which they were accompanied by the London Concert Orchestra.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Spotify | Apple Music | Facebook | Instagram | X | Website

STRANGE ADVENTURES  - SONIC BLISTERS ARE ASSURED
The Strange Adventures spaceship is landing in Coventry carrying a wonderful mix of noise rock, shoegaze, gritty inner city psycho-delia, spacey psych n' roll with Sanskrit vibes, electropunkfunk with camouflage drummers mixing bass culture, performance artists and live sculpture. 

Performances will start at 7.15 pm and finish 11.00 pm, the Strange Adventures rocket ship will then fly off to another dimension.

JACKDAW WITH CROWBAR - The Lobby Group inc.

Expect bass driven contemporary electropunkfunk - Because You're Worth It... and expect dramatic shenanigans on and off stage, including the 'soon to be' familiar unexpected troupe of camouflage drummers. Plus, and for the 2nd time since the ground breaking show with Stewart Lee back in Feb they are introducing new collaborators, entering their 7th dimension not only are they presenting some familiar classics and a healthy dose of new audio and visual material there's a treat in store for anyone that likes to mix their bass culture with live sculpture!!!

"The best thing to come out of Leamington since the Grand Union Canal" Stewart Lee

"The guitarist plays magnificent slide and shred" Thurston Moore

"Thought they were shit, they thought they were shit, the audience thought they were groovy" Steven Wells NME

https://www.jackdawwithcrowbar.net/

SATSANGI

Pysch-n-roll, often raucous, sometimes transient

Satsangi, with roots in Kerala South India, are based in the Leamington Spa. They gig internationally with a sound melding together rock, punk, jazz, psychedelia, ragas and traditional Indian music. The band are signed with Mr Babu (New York / Mumbai) and featured in Rolling Stone magazine. Satsangi have been invited to support The Kills, The Dandy Warhols, The Primitives, Dr Feelgood, The Bonnevilles, Dirty Sound Magnet and many more. 

"It all started when Mother was singing classical Indian ragas, upstairs I was listening to Led Zeppelin, wondering what it would sound like if Kishori Amonkar sang with the B-52's" Sujatha Menon 

"Iodine is an awesome song" Talvin Singh

"A crunchy meld of new wave and punk riffs" Rolling Stone Magazine

"I feel like I could play that for the next hour or so, but then I'd lose my job, she sounds brilliant her name is Sujatha Menon, she's the lead singer of Satsangi"

Bobby Friction - BBC Asian Network

Ultraviolet – Satsangi (Mr Babu)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=tQ5-rWBz4ek

www.satsangiband.com

THE ROLLOCKS

A little bit hairy, a little bit lairy (a tiny bit fairy…)

Inner city psycho-delia. 

Formed in 2022, The Rollocks have since taken the Coventry music scene hostage with their raucous and sassy, glamorous-but-gritty, psycho-delic hard rock experience.
Bearing a wide range of influences such as Tina Turner, Black Sabbath, Etta James, Iggy Pop, Motorhead, Aretha Franklin and Sex Pistols to name a few. In the short space of a year, The Rollocks have sold out local venues (including their bars) and have an ever-increasing fan base containing people from all walks of life. Their songs are ferociously hook-laden and catchy. Their performances are wild and hypnotic. Their members are working-class artists who demand to be heard.

www.the-rollocks.com/

TROJAN PONY

Trojan Pony are a gorgeous four piece hailing from the mean streets of Coventry. With strong hints of shoegaze and subtle notes of noise rock combining to create a spicey yet smooth full bodied audio delight.

https://trojanpony.bandcamp.com/

It's great to be really getting into reporting on the next generation of emerging bands in the local area: artistic quality is always welcome but keeping a thriving scene sustained is another thing altogether: long term observers will know all too well how golden eras (we are definitely currently in one after a trough) can dwindle.

After enthusing about Project Overload, today my focus is upon Vertigo Flowers: and apart from the youth and obvious enthusiasm, the two bands are very distinct. Which is itself is applaudable as surely one of the pillars of sustainability is diversity. Too many boom eras have more been characterised by the success of highly individual artists whose effect has then evolved from influence to emulation over others to rapidly diminishing returns of soundalikes.

Their 'DEMO 2024' came out a few days since and initially I was cautious over reviewing it: picking apart a demo by any novice band can potentially be the opposite of encouraging & supporting.

Fortunately, I gather that despite its title, it's not a demo.

Recorded at Otterhead Studios in Rugby, (it's been mixed by Ellis 'The Power' Powell-Bevan and mastered by Anthony Chapman) it's a "proper" release and consists of the tracks "Intro", "Commonplace" and "Headstone".

The band it itself is comprised of Matt (bass), Sammie (guitar and vocals), Oli (guitar and vocals) and George (drums).

 They identify as "heavy shoegaze", which listening to them makes sense, and cite as influences & hence possible signposts to their music, Fleshwater, HUM and Narrow Head.

The songs are admirably idiosyncratic: you have to applaud their confidence in going the way they want to go & not compromising. The short and to the point instrumental "Intro" understandably opens the brief collection (it's brevity I think concentrates the attention sensibly and as an initial calling card for what they have to offer, does a fine job) and if it is intended to evoke a swarm of angry bees on the attack, it works well.

 "Commonplace" builds on the previous tightly focused racket and descends into a heavy groove in which the vocals are interestingly far more deeply embedded than any mix I can readily bring to mind: again more courage in doing it their way and creating a unique sound.

 Both these are accessible to those with minds open to the new, but closer "Headstone" is probably the most obvious mass entry point to Vertigo Flowers and the track on the EP most likely to get picked for playlists. Even more violent than the other two, the vocals fight their way nearer to the surface and arguably narrow the gap between what people might have heard before & this band's approach.

 They certainly sound confident in both their own writing & performing and the road they're taking. I gather that they've played around six live shows to date (including supporting The Telescopes at The Tin for Sink or Swim Promotions last autumn) so presumably are gaining on stage experience. They must be quite impressive live judging by the EP so I look forwards to experiencing them for myself.

Following the well received  ‘Rent Free On My Brain' EP (his second after debut ‘You Are The Rain'), today Euan Blackman starts letting us hear number three, ‘Thunderstorms' (scheduled for this summer) by releasing lead single "Butterfly".

It's not "all change" with Euan, but there are substantial, multiple & significant ones: notably his move away from doing absolutely everything himself. This one comes out on Ripe Records & has been made with the collaboration of producer and mix engineer Tarek Musa.

Equally, for the first time, the single has reasonably discernible artwork (he's pretty shadowed to be sure but it's a definite move away from the deliberate lo-fi blurs of his previous releases). I'd love to report some sort of link between the shift in visuals & the music: but I can't find one. His work always had the clarity of definition belied by the covers so I imagine that it's an emphasis of the new chapter in his work.

Equally it would be glib to suggest that Euan has moved away from the DIY ethic into a more commercial direction with a professional producer & record label, only that isn't evident.

The facts as evidenced by "Butterfly" seem to be that he's retained his independent mission & values but brought another set of perspectives onboard & will be working through a platform to enable more people hear his music. If you're looking for an artistic sell-out, you won't find one here. Keep moving please.

The way he himself seeks to articulate any change in direction is framed in terms of creative ambition: in his own words "Butterfly is about accepting your flaws as an individual. I love songwriting that seems upbeat, but lyrically comes from a much darker place. I feel I've taken my sensibilities as a folk-storytelling-songwriter and placed it into a whole new indie/alternative world with this EP project. Everything is much more ambitious sounding. I'm on a sonic path that I'm excited to continue to grow and develop."

The song itself certainly lies at the upbeat pop end of his spectrum, but that's not inconsistent with his previous work to any great extent: he's brought his trademark wispy vocal sitting back in the mix into the new paradigm so there's plenty of continuity there. Equally he persists with not adding instruments to the arrangement beyond what he feels is necessary to the song. The instruments (the usual imaginative blend of acoustic guitars & electronica) are portrayed brighter by Tarek than he tended to himself, but the dichotomy of the chirpy music bearing the burden of more introspective words certainly holds true: it creates effective tensions and works well. The words aren't particularly gloomy as such: they seem to be the product of intense self-scrutiny and reproach as he beats himself up/apologises for a perceived lack of personal commitment.

I think that the complete control philosophy of his career to date coupled with this prevailing inward facing emotional perspective has worked well in establishing Euan's unique creative identity. However I'd venture a guess that it must get psychically exhausting at times & so letting someone else in must allow for both a sounding board and pillar of support: clearly he's found one who gets his muse and can help him realise it without loss of that USP. I'd also think that collaboration in this manner will aid the sustainability of what he's trying to do, while possibly giving it a nudge towards greater audience reach & commercial success.

I've never considered him a solipsist: he's an artist who knows himself very well, but not to the exclusion of considering others but perhaps "Butterfly" makes this a bit more explicit which is helpful. At any rate, you can feel his gaze turning outwards in this single. May it & the rest of ‘Thunderstorms' add greatly to his already growing fanbase.