Ahead of their new album ‘Eggsistentialism’, out May 17th, and their UK tour in May and June, Lancaster pysch-punk duo The Lovely Eggs are releasing a video for their epic new single ‘Nothing/Everything’ today.
“Nothing/Everything is the Yin/Yang of life,” explains singer Holly Ross. “There’s hope and despair, patience and frustration, the mundane and the extraordinary. There is a universal and eternal magic within the everyday world around us that needs to be recognised, especially when the chips are down. This song is simply what is. It’s not looking forward or back. It’s us now. It’s uplifting and it’s tragic.”
The song is complimented by a video created by contemporary visual artists Wood and Harrison, who are best known for their works of physical minimalist performance, exhibiting in Tate, MoMA, and Centre Pompidou.
New album ‘Eggsistentialism’ is released on May 17 – it’s their first new album since the release of their Number 1 Independent Chart topper, ‘I Am Moron’ at the start of 2020 . But it’s not like they’ve been lazy, oh no. They made their own TV series EGGS TV and hosted it on YouTube, they dueted with Iggy Pop, piled into their van and played a load of sold-out gigs and festivals, spent two years fighting to save Lancaster Music Co-Op (a community rehearsal rooms and recording studio where they live), and then they got their heads down and wrote a new album.
It’s the bands most expansive, mind-melting collection of songs yet, and sees the Lancaster psych-punk duo sprawling between incendiary punk rock and softer, more introspective psychedelia.
They tour the UK in May, dates below and selling out fast!
R*E*P*E*A*T Presents Lovely Ugly / Pretty Shitty A 15 track splatter vinyl compilation of current underground Swansea guitar bands, along with a couple of local legends. Available to preorder from Bandcamp now and from record shops from May 31st (Shellshock distribution)
On R*E*P*E*A*T’s return to Swansea after over 30 years away, we found our home town to be far more diverse, creative, vibrant and exciting than the place we left behind. Amidst the decay of many traditional industries, the imagination is currently running riot, with a host of venues in the City’s creative quarter continually hosting an array of artists, poets, writers and bands.
This album is a personal selection of some of the music that has inspired, enthused and excited R*E*P*E*A*T since our return 5 years ago.
Gratifyingly, many of these acts are starting to garner some of the recognition they deserve in Cardiff, London and beyond. Trampolene, Monet, Swansea Sound, Rainyday Rainbow, Grey-FLX and Kikker all regularly adorn reviews, radios and stages way beyond our Westerly outpost.
Accompanying tracks by these trailblazing upstarts, the album also boasts rare or unreleased sounds by Swansea legends Helen Love, The Pooh Sticks and The DC10s
The album is released on May 31st on Swansea City coloured white and black splatter vinyl with a gatefold sleeve featuring an original painting of the City by local artist Fred Fitton.
Join us as we mark our very own Return Journey to our Lovely Ugly Town.
Available from May 31st from repeatfanzine.bandcamp.com,in shops via Shellshock distribution and digitally. Catalogue number MBRR166.
Launch gigs June 1st at Swansea Tangled Parrot with Monet, Angharad and Baby Schillaci.
June 22nd at Elysium with Kikker, Rainyday Rainbow, Grey-FLX, Soundwire, Tom Emlyn and Dead Noize plus DJs Hue (Swansea Sound / The Pooh Sticks), Catrin (The Loves) & Peter Stone (The Sweetest Ache).
Track Listing and information for ‘Lovely Ugly / Pretty Shitty’- R*E*P*E*A*T’s 2024 snapshot of vital underground Swansea guitar bands, with a couple of local legends
One side ‘Lovely Ugly’ HELEN LOVE – Swansea’s Got An Our Price Punk pop perfection from the modest queen of the Swansea indie scene. https://twitter.com/HELENLOVE123
PICSEL – Fucked Society Noisy, catchy, punky DIY pop four or five piece from Swansea who have since evolved into Broken Fires. Written by accident. Recorded on purpose. https://www.facebook.com/picselmusic/
BABY SCHILLACI – Ultra Hd Happy Face “infused with the spirit of punk predecessors and reminiscent of the lyrical prowess of The Clash and Sex Pistols and sonically akin to that of Social Distortion and Green Day …duelling guitars, intelligent groovy bass, energetic drums, and vocals that invoke rebellion…one can’t help but want to bounce around the pit while simultaneously raising their fist in protest.” – Amplify The Noise https://www.instagram.com/babyschillaci/
ANGHARAD – Outsider’s Map of Wales “dark and dissonant, and stark… glory and gore, beautiful and brave; pure pop, dreamy ballad, bouncy brass, dissonance, spoken word, and campfire singalong.” – God is in the TV. https://www.theangharad.com/
TOM EMLYN – Three Sided Coin “eclectic and masterful… gold dust… If I could force everyone to listen to it, then I would” – The Indie Scene https://www.instagram.com/tomemlyn/
SWANSEA SOUND – In A Different Life “Nostalgia and critique. Indie Pop Irony and ‘Sell-Out’ satire. The Heavenly/Pooh Sticks super-duper-group-project release an Album of The Year” – Louder Than War swanseasound.bandcamp.com; FB, IG, X @soundswansea
SOUNDWIRE – Degrees Of Separation. “ones to mercilessly, addictively but oh so gently, invade your musical heart, an all conquering, swirling mix of psychedelic pop, cascading, ethereal guitars and a hint of dirty bluesy punk” https://www.facebook.com/Soundwiremusic
Side Two ‘Pretty Shitty’
KIKKER – Trash “Kikker’s sound trundles through on the back of a caustic cavalcade of guitars, and an abrasive howl from the depths laced with withering sardonic scorn, it’s inspired by anger, injustice and inequality. It sounds like The Birthday Party‘s spitting rage and fury, colliding with the relentlessness of the early work of Fontaines DC. Absolutely fearsome and truly cathartic to hear” – God is in the TV Zine https://www.instagram.com/kikkeraregarbage/
THE POOH STICKS – The World is Turning On (1991 version) Rare single version of the Million Seller track from the band the BBC calls “the ridiculously over-productive, stupidly catchy and archly clever… Swansea’s Pooh Sticks were one of the indie scene’s greatest mirror images, a reflection of itself and, as the All Music Guide called them, ‘rock’s most inside joke'”. https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Pooh-Sticks-100063707700552/ TRAMPOLENE – Between the Bars (Elliott Smith cover) Delicate acoustic cover of Elliot Smith’s ballad from Swansea’s exiled sons, who “never fail to deliver with their unique combo of garage rock, kitchen-sink poetry and acoustic heartbreakers” (This Feeling). https://www.trampolene.co.uk/
EGG SPECTRUM (RAINYDAY RAINBOW) – Thrown Hard Solo recording by Egg Spectrum of what is soon to become a full band Rainday Rainbow song, “twisty turny thought juice, smothered in smashed up slithers of Psychedelic sauce, and pezazzed with punchy Punk doom.” https://www.instagram.com/egg_spectrum/https://www.instagram.com/onlyrainydayrainbow/
GREY-FLX – Pins and Needles “Just when you think new ‘young’ music is dying on it’s feet something comes along that just knocks you sideways ” – Welsh Connections. https://www.instagram.com/grey_flx/
MONET – Scuff Button “a band to keep your ears out for, with a contorting sound that challenges expectation at every turn” – God is in the TV. https://www.instagram.com/monetbanduk/
DEAD NOIZE – Bojack Horseman The newest band on the record, described as “three guys crammed in a Fiesta”. A rather noisy, energetic and rock fuelled Fiesta, I’d suggest… https://www.instagram.com/dead_noize.uk/
THE DC10S – I Can See Through Walls (1980) The DC10s came from our village, were just a couple of years above me in school, recorded and released this single in their teens, had it played on John Peel and reviewed in NME, then split up. Which DIY genius has inspired me all my life, and is just as perfect as their bittersweet 90 second punk pop song, on proper vinyl again for the first time in 43 years. facebook.com/punkhouserecords
Pink Milk is a dark wave/post-punk band drenched in reverb, making occult music inspired by the 80s. The duo started out releasing music in 2015, quickly growing a reputation for their gloomy glittering sound and enslaving melodies, being praised by DIY, Wonderland, Kerrang! and Virgin Radio amongst others.
Their debut “Purple” was given the highest rating in Swedish music magazine GAFFA who called it “a dazzling display of alternative rock music” while CLASH called it “A remarkable, striking work”. Pink Milk was also nominated for best rock/metal act of the year in the Swedish National Radio Award P3 Gold, Album of the Year, and Breakthrough of the Year in the GAFFA Prize.
Their second album Ultraviolet (released in 2021) displayed the same dark atmospheric reverb-filled sound that Pink Milk have been known for, but with a new side to it in an ever-evolving sound. The Line of Best Fit gave the album 7 out of 10 and stated that “Ultraviolet is a strong record that enshrouds you with its atmospheric goth-rock charm from the very beginning”.
This time we hear a euphoric combination of cathedral-sized soundscapes and dreamy, angelic vocals, embracing a darker doomsday-inspired aesthetic.
“Too loud, to the point of no return, burrowed beneath the sheer incessant noise is an almighty, fucked-up pop song” – DIY
“A devilish congregation of swirling shoegaze guitars, beats that shake the foundation of time” – The Line Of Best Fit
“It sounds absolutely incredible!” – Kerrang! Radio
“If this wasn’t recorded in an aircraft hangar then we’ll be amazed” – Shortlist
“A fluid, loose, almost drunken drawl that you can imagine playing in the background of one of those misty bar scenes in Twin Peaks” – Wonderland
“Their gothic darkness becomes your new guiding light” – GAFFA (4/6)
“Ultra-great and hits right in the heart” – HYMN (8/10)
“Purple is the best album released in many years” – GAFFA (6/6)
Swedish dark-wave, gothic shoegazers Pink Milk make their highly anticipated return sharing their third album Night On Earth which was released on the 15th of March via Black Hair Records. With the announcement of the album, Pink Milk also shared the single “You Will Follow Me To Hell (Night On Earth)” a heavenly introduction to the album that draws you into its euphoric combination of cathedral-sized soundscapes and dreamy, angelic vocals. Speaking on the single, the band say it “serves as the gateway to an exploration of the soul.”
This announcement follows the band’s celebrated single “Andromeda” and their critically acclaimed album Ultraviolet, earning them plaudits from Sweden’s largest music publication GAFFA as well as attention further from home gaining the support of CLASH, DIY, Wonderland and The Line of Best Fit.
Inspired by science fiction and “the end of the world”, Night On Earth marks the start of a new era for Pink Milk, embracing a darker aesthetic. Throughout Night On Earth the band has explored a more electronic sound in the studio, combining ethereal soul-inflected instrumentation, ghostly vocals, blurred chords and heavy rhythms in a cosmic sonic landscape. The band continue the doomsday theme of the album while taking on an phantasmal interpretation of country classic, Skeeter Davis’ “End Of The World”.
“You Will Follow Me To Hell (Night On Earth)” offers a first taste of Pink Milk’s musical evolution. Elsewhere, “Andromeda” is a poetic Swedish language love-song leaning heavily into the eighties arrangement, cautiously mapping out the atmosphere before breaking into euphoric dreampop. While the album closer “Boy Tears” soundtracks an un-answered phone call – a missed connection, an eerie voicemail invitation from an estranged party that is never replied to, a cliff-hanger that leaves you wanting answers for something that will never come.
The band also embarked on two dates across their home country of Sweden to commemorate the release of their Night On Earth.
PAPA JUPE’S T.C. attack toxic alpha-male influencers on new single ‘High Value Male’
Released 22nd March 2024
“I loved everything about this band when I saw this.” – Amy Lamé, BBC Radio 6 Music
“If you wanted to know what it would sound like if The B-52s were to mate with Fat White Family and have children that they just left to play in primeval sludge of illegal substances then that might well be the outcome.” – Adam Walton, BBC Radio Wales
“A brilliant song, with an important message, from a very exciting band – really innovative track.” – Charlie Ashcroft, Amazing Radio
“That track… just WOW! That is one of the best; it’s just too good! I think you’re gonna be hearing an awful lot of this band from everyone. Coming out of Wales – Welsh music scene, once again, amazing.” – Mark McNally, Cumbernauld FM
“A band with social conscience.” – Mike James, Rock Rage Radio
“Lots of exciting stuff on the horizon for Papa Jupe’s T.C.” – Bethan Elfyn, BBC Radio Wales
FFO: Fat White Family, Viagra Boys, Warmduscher, Yard Act, Gilla Band, Fat Dog
PAPA JUPE’S T.C. announce the release of their new single “High Value Male” which will be available on all digital streaming platforms on 22nd March 2024. The song is a sleazy disco track that delves into the mind of a man who has fallen down the rabbit hole of of idolising misogynistic online influencers.
Speaking about the track, frontman Harry Willicombe comments: “There’s an epidemic of young impressionable boys being influenced by narcissistic figures on social media. We decided to approach this issue with satire so wrote the song in the first-person, from the perspective of a “High Value Male”. We recite the type of nonsense they often come out with, and then let Gem come in with a rejection before the final chorus.” “We based the takedown on actual quotes by the worst one of the bunch. We don’t want to say his name, but I think we all know who he is”, Nashville-born co-vocalist Gemini Anderson adds. “It felt right using his own words against his cause.”
Bassist Alex Miller wrote, produced and mixed the song in Jupe HQ, the band’s DIY studio. The Cardiff band will be performing the new single at their hometown headline show in Clwb Ifor Bach on 4th April 2024, along with songs from their “Wetmarket EP”, which has amassed over 60,000 streams since it was released with sold-out headline release-party gig at Porter’s, Cardiff in June 2023.
PAPA JUPE’S T.C. were founded in Cardiff in 2017 by frontman and lyricist Harry Willicombe and multi- instrumentalist Sam Butcher. Together, the pair undertake the majority of songwriting duties in a partnership dating back to 2013 with indie-rockers “Mirror Gorillas”. Bassist, Alex Miller, joined the fold shortly after and has since played an important role in the production and mixing of the band’s music, allowing the band to keep all of their production in-house.
Ash Smith’s drumming, Tom Emlyn’s synth work, Lucian Ellicott’s trumpet playing, and Nashville-import Gemini Anderson’s joyous vocals have helped cement PAPA JUPE’S T.C. as a unique voice in the burgeoning Cardiff music scene.
PAPA JUPE’S T.C.’s music combines sleazy surf rock and post-punk influences with disco beats and crescendoing gospel organs. Their dark-humoured and introspective lyricism lampoons masculinity, politics, and power.
This February, the band were recipients of BBC Horizon/Gorwelion’s Launchpad funding and were also supported by the PRS and Arts Council Wales-backed Forté Project. The band have earned a reputation for their wild live performances and theatrical stage presence. They have played sold out headline shows at Cardiff indie staples, Tiny Rebel and Porter’s, and have supported the likes of English Teacher on their UK Tour. In 2023, the band were shortlisted in the Green Man Rising Competition.
‘High Value Male’ was written by Alex Miller, Sam Butcher and Harry Willicombe, produced by Alex Miller & Sam Butcher at Jupe HQ, mixed by Alex Miller, and mastered by Steve Kitch. Harry Willcombe, vocals; Sam Butcher, guitar; Alex Miller, bass; Ash Smith, drums; Tom Emlyn, synth; Lucian Ellicott, trumpet; and Gemini Anderson, vocals.
AIRPLAY: Amy Lamé, BBC Radio 6 Music; Huw Stephens, BBC Radio Wales; Adam Walton, BBC Introducing Wales; Bethan Elfyn, BBC Radio Wales; Playlisting: Amazing Radio; Mark McNally, Cumbernauld FM, Prospect Radio.
Dates 30/03/24 – Birmingham, Sunflower Lounge 04/04/24 – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach 04/05/24 – Glastonbury, All Roads Festival 10/05/24 – Swansea, Elysium 11/05/24 – The Waiting Room, London 25/05/24 – Chepstow, Devauden Festival 26/07/24 – Cardiff, Chapter Arts
NEW SINGLE ‘WASTED’ OUT NOW and ANNOUNCE SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM OUT MAY 3 VIA FUZZ CLUB: PRE-ORDER HERE:
“All skull-crushing riffs and hallucinogenic effects… Reminiscent of Pigsx7 in places, it carries the swagger of Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, but injects some Scouse misdemeanours.” Clash Magazine
“A quick-fire, juddering slice of garage punk that’s a brilliantly delirious assault on the senses… a seriously exhilarating taste of things to come” Louder Than War Liverpool four-piece YOBS are today announcing their self-titled debut album and sharing the lead single ‘Wasted’, following on from last year’s debut double single ‘Fortune Teller b/w Cemetery Man’. The incoming YOBS LP is unleashed May 3rd 2024 via Fuzz Club and latest cut ‘Wasted’ is out everywhere now, with a video streaming HERE:
Taking no prisoners, YOBS deal in hard-edged, primitive garage-punk salvos that race by with a bludgeoning intensity. It’s an abrasive rock’n’roll that will leave your bones rattling as much as your speakers, and ‘Wasted’ is a gloriously scuzzy and hedonistic taste of what’s to come. On the track, front-man Joey Ackland writes:
“I think Wasted came to us in our first session together, it was just dead natural. It was inspired by a heavy weekend at a festival I played, in an old band. We had over-indulged a bit and after crawling to a portaloo, I ended up getting stuck in there for what seemed like a year. Every time I tried to leave I couldn’t find my way out. I ended up sat on the floor, giving myself a bit of a talking to ha! It’s a bit of a stomper, and one that people like to sing along to. Our first ever show was at Mountain Sound Festival in Italy, and when we played it, it just went off. They asked for an encore and we had no other songs… so we played that again, the crowd sang along with the choruses, it was boss. So, we thought this has to be one of the singles.”
Emerging out of the rubble of the now-defunct Liverpool bands Weird Sex (Roadkill Records) and Ohmns, YOBS was kick-started in 2022 and is made up of Joey Ackland (Vocals), Alex Smith (Bass/Vocals), Michael Quinlan (Guitar/Vocals) and George Gebbie (Drums). Their debut full-length, recorded in four days at Hackney Road Studios with “our master and mate” James Aparicio, arrives off the back of a 2023 spent playing rowdy, ear-ringing shows with the likes of A Place To Bury Strangers, Mark Sultan, C.O.F.F.I.N, Alien Nosejob and more.
“A single star is shining // Across the evening sky // Sending us a message // Then they’re waving us goodbye // They are waving us a long, long goodbye // Thousands of light-years // Goodbye…” Oysterband – “Granite Years” (from ‘Deserters’, 1992)
One of the UK’s foremost folk rock bands – OYSTERBAND – are announcing that they are calling time on their live career and will be performing live with June Tabor for the last time.
After 45 years on the road, the legendary Canterbury-formed collective will be hanging up their touring boots and bringing their unique partnership with the English folk songstress to a worthy conclusion.
But it’s not over yet… With a tour aptly named “A Long Long Goodbye”, Oysterband will be bowing-out in style with a year of unmissable shows planned at some of their favourite haunts, where they will be performing a career-spanning set, including highlights of their collaborations with June Tabor.
Recently announced for the 2024 Cambridge Folk Festival where the band have become the stuff of festival legend over the years, the band will then head-out on a string of seven shows alongside longstanding creative compadre June Tabor this October.
In a statement about the upcoming tour, Oysterband said:
“We’re hanging up our travelling shoes, but we’re taking a year or so to say goodbye to our lovely live audience. And we mean to enjoy every minute! It’s been a long, tough, joyful journey, but the time has come. In the words of our own song “Granite Years”, we’re waving you a long, long goodbye… Come help us celebrate!”
Featuring John Jones (vox, melodeon), Ian Telfer (violin, keyboard), Alan Prosser (guitars), Sean Randle (drums, percussion), Al Scott (bass, mandolin) and Adrian Oxaal (cello, guitars), with June Tabor (vox); the full list of dates for Oysterband & June Tabor’s Last Tour Together can be found below.
OYSTERBAND & JUNE TABOR: ‘A LONG LONG GOODBYE’ Thu 3 Oct 2024 – Birmingham – Town Hall Fri 4 Oct 2024 – Bristol – Beacon Sat 5 Oct 2024 – Bexhill – De La Warr Pavilion Sat 12 Oct 2024 – Manchester – RNCM Concert Hall Sun 13 Oct 2024 – Sunderland – The Fire Station Tue 15 Oct 2024 – Leicester – De Montfort Hall Sat 19 Oct 2024 – London – The Barbican
***** Emerging in the early 80s from their folk club and ceilidh band days, Oysterband infused both the traditional and their own songs with a passion and energy that was electrifying. Polkas, politics and a heaving dance floor seemed just right for Thatcher’s Britain. Signing to new roots label Cooking Vinyl, headlining English Roots Against Apartheid, playing Glastonbury and the Fleadh several times each, touring with The Pogues in Europe and Billy Bragg in North America, hosting their Big Session Festival in The Midlands. All gained them a large and loyal following both at home and internationally.
Endlessly touring and writing over the course of their 45 year career, the band have played all over the world and released dozens of studio releases throughout their career, including seminal albums like ‘Holy Bandits’ (1993), ‘The Shouting End of Life’ (1995) and ‘Diamonds On The Water’ (2014), not to mention timeless compilations, and unbeatable live albums.
Initially collaborating with June Tabor in 1990, the meeting of minds produced the cult favourite ‘Freedom & Rain’. Reconnecting some 21 years later, the resultant album ‘Ragged Kingdom’ would become one of the best-selling folk-rock albums of the new millennium.
And Oysterband’s efforts have not gone unnoticed either. Awarded winners of several BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including Best Band twice, Oysterband’s song-writing has never stood still, and hits such as “The Oxford Girl”, “When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down)”, “Everywhere I Go” and “Put Out The Lights” are now staples of the folk canon.
Most recently, Oysterband released their final studio album ‘Read The Sky’ to much acclaim in 2021 and recently undertook an extensive tour of Europe, plus a special “Decades” tour across the UK where they explore their back catalogue. Embarking on a new tour later on in 2024, Oysterband will be going out on a high as they bid “A Long Long Goodbye” to fans and friends with a series of unforgettable live shows.
It’s been four years since the world heard any new music from our heroes in psych-punk-power duo The Lovely Eggs. Four long years since the release of their Number 1 Independent Chart topper, ‘I Am Moron’. But it’s not like they’ve been lazy, oh no. They made their own TV series EGGS TV and hosted it on YouTube, they dueted with Iggy Pop, piled into their van and played a load of sold-out gigs and festivals, spent two years fighting to save Lancaster Music Co-Op (a community rehearsal rooms and recording studio where they live), and then they got their heads down and wrote a new album…
Due in May, the new Lovely Eggs album was recorded by the band at home in Lancaster with production work from Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann. They flew to America in December 2023 to mix the album in Fridmann’s studio in upstate New York and we’ll all get the chance to hear the first results of these sessions today, as the band unveil the album’s first single, ‘My Mood Wave’.
“My Mood Wave is kind of an internal thought monologue,” says Eggs singer and guitarist Holly. “It’s a brain on a surfboard, trying to navigate the barrage of daily shit that gets washed up each day. It’s a coping mechanism handbook for people who sometimes find the world too much.”
‘My Mood Wave’ has an uplifting contemporary feel, haunted by a West Coast retro vibe that pulses and shimmers with a gorgeously addictive melody that will float around your head for days. The single is already smashing it hard at radio, with multiple plays on 6 Music, Radio X etc.
Although the single is released digitally today, there will also be a physical 7” with the customary mind-bulging artwork from Casey Raymond, and an exclusive track tantalisingly titled ‘Crab Shell’ on the flipside. The 7” will be released on Aquamarine transparent vinyl and in true Lovely Eggs style, the first 250 copies ordered direct from the band’s website will come with a free Lovely Eggs air freshener, as reflected on the single artwork. Quite what the air freshener will smell of, we don’t know yet, but it might not be that fresh. You can buy the single HERE:
More details on The Lovely Eggs new album to follow, and of course the band will be back out on the road in May, full dates listed below.
“It is going to be frigging joyous to reunite with all our Eggheads across the UK and just have a big party each show,” exclaims Holly. “We’ve missed it! People know by now what to expect from us and we plan to bring it back with full force next May. Expect egg-shaped mayhem.”
Catch The Lovely Eggs live at the following dates in May Tickets available HERE:
Thurs 23 St Lukes, Glasgow Fri 24 La Belle Angele, Edinburgh Sat 25 The Grove, Newcastle Sun 26 The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds SOLD OUT Mon 27 XOYO, Birmingham Tues 28 Thekla, Bristol Weds 29 Chalk, Brighton Thurs 30 Earth, London Fri 31 Rescue Rooms, Nottingham Sat 1 June New Century, Manchester
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard announce new album “Skinwalker” + Share new single @National Rust’
EU headline tour dates announced for April 2024 UK headline tour to begin March
New album out 12th April via Communion Records
Photo Credit: Charlie Harris
Today, Cardiff-based four-piece Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard return with the announcement of their highly anticipated second album “Skinwalker”. Following closely on the heels of their critically acclaimed single “Therapy”, which came out just before the turn of the year, the new album is due for release on 12th April via Communion Records. It will come shortly after the band’s forthcoming UK tour which is set to take place across March 2024.
Following on from their Welsh Music Prize nominated debut album ‘Backhand Deals’ in 2022, the band wrote and recorded the album at frontman and producer Tom Rees’s Rat Trap studio, the room where Rees has previously recorded and produced tracks for emerging talent – Panic Shack, Do Nothing and The Bug Club. The material – as previewed on “Therapy” and their earlier single “Chew” – showcases a heavier and more disquieting sound than anything the band have released to date.
This darker sound and aesthetic take inspiration from found-footage horror and the Navajo concept of the Skinwalker – a legendary malevolent shapeshifter – from which the album takes its name. Thematically, each track on the record is designed to take you through descending floors of Rees’s mind each becoming more horrific than the last with the Skinwalker at the final floor, representing his inner fears, self-sabotage, hatred, and self-doubt. It’s a deeply intimate record of self-analysis and personal growth told through heavy fuzz-drenched guitars, a crushing rhythm section, and fevered vocals.
The band still carry that same the fast-paced energy and subtle trademark ‘70s references from their earlier releases though, and this is particularly evident on the danceable, indie-funk inflected new single “National Rust”, which was premiered last night by Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 6 Music.
Speaking on the single Rees says, “‘National Rust’ was my attempt at consolidating my 2020 obsession with Sly and the Family Stone with my 2021 obsession with David Bowie’s album ‘Low’. It was the first song that really paved the way for the new album, it broke a lot of the sonic boundaries that I was writing within when starting the second album, “I AM NOT AFRAID OF PLAYING FUNKY GUITAR!”, I exclaimed, mu-tron in hand.
Lyrically, it made a statement that informed my songwriting moving forward as well, being a flagrant rejection of my previous political song writing, and an admission of alienation amongst a plethora of information. ‘National Rust’ acts as a bridge between my younger, more political perspective, and my more recent, more apathetic one.”
Elsewhere on the record, the harmony-filled “In My Egg” sees Rees sing about the struggles to force yourself out of your comfort zone, whilst “Human Compression” see the band delve into an almost desert-rock sound with hazy, unrelenting guitar work supporting Rees’s lyrics about the pressure he puts on himself. The psychedelic glam-tinged “Night Of The Skinwalker” – a song which centres around his struggles with self-doubt- marks the albums opus, melding a number of styles and genres across almost six minutes.
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard – Rees, guitarist Zac White, drummer Ethan Hurst and Rees’ brother and bassist Eddie – have been going from strength-to-strength since releasing their debut EP “The Non-Stop” in 2020. They’ve since made of end-of-year lists with NME, DIY, and Dork; earned plaudits from the likes of the Guardian, The Telegraph, MOJO, Uncut, Record Collector, The Needle Drop, The Independent, CLASH, The Line Of Best Fit, and So Young; and have amassed significant radio support with plays across worldwide radio, and live session appearances across BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, NPR, Radio X, and more.
The band’s frenetic live sets have seen the band make fans in tourmates from The Magic Gang to Miles Kane and were set to support Noel Gallagher – another in a growing list of fans – at the Royal Albert Hall before the coronavirus struck. They’ve also performed widely across the festival circuit appearing at Glastonbury, Eurosonic, Latitude, All Points East, SXSW, and Green Man, and have toured extensively including a packed-out headline date at Scala. The band will go out on tour again next March hitting 16-dates across the UK where the band will continue to debut new material.
MARCH 2024 01 – Oxford, Jericho Tavern 03 – Exeter, The Cavern 04 – Falmouth, Cornish Bank 06 – Norwich, Voodoo Daddy’s 07 – Chelmsford, Hot Box 08 – Ipswich, The Smokehouse 10 – Tunbridge Wells, Forum 12 – Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms 13 – St Albans, The Horn 14 – Ramsgate, Music Hall 16 – Peterborough, Met Lounge 17 – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds 18 – Hull, Adelphi Club 20 – Stockton, Ku Bar 21 – Sunderland, Independent 22 – Edinburgh, Voodoo Rooms 24 – Grimsby, Docks Academy 25 – York, The Fulford Arms 26 – Clitheroe, The Swan & Royal 27 – Frome, The Tree House APRIL 02 – Rotterdam, Netherlands, V11 03 – Paris, France, L’International 04 – Hasselt, Belgium, Café Café
Tickets are on sale now – buy HERE “Skinwalker” is out 12th April via Communion Records – Pre-order HERE
R*E*P*E*A*T Fanzine- Fighting the Power Since 1994 