NoNewWaveNoFun

  It's getting increasingly difficult and frustrating for those of who want to write about music. Don't get me wrong, I'm not moaning about it (well, not much anyway). It just becomes a thankless task when you have to wade your way through several hundred submissions a week, wanting to cover a large percentage of it, but having the real world to deal with and therefore barely able to scratch your arse without ruining the itch. That sounds a lot less poetic now I read it back to myself.   I'm not the biggest fan of social media, I find myself using it a lot when my anxiety levels are at their highest; coincidence? I think not. However, sometimes when at risk of pulling my hair out at not being able to keep up with my inbox, social media actually comes up the goods. I know, I can barely believe it either..    Sporadically, an artist pops up on the socials and the algorithm pulls a blinder. These things don't happen often; it's the musical equavilent of a total ecl

  There's a side to life that we should be starting to embrace more. We should be laughing at the absurdity of the nuances of existence; the sheer fact we're wandering aimlessly on a spinning rock wandering aimlessly in an infinite universe that one day will consume us all should make us a bit more willing to live in the moment. Of course, it's never THAT straight forward. The stress of everyday endeavours can consume our every waking thought and several of the subconsious ones for that matter.  Pop music can certainly help with that, and doing his bit to lighten the mood of such an anxious age is Blokeacola. Born and raised in Wales, but now living in China, Blokeacola makes the kind of surreal psychedelic pop that could only come from an upbringing in Wales; I swear there's something in the water. His music is cramed full of idiosyncrasies that poke fun at the human experience without ever wanting to - to paraphrase Orange Juice here - rip it up and start again. In Au

  📷 Emma MacDonald The summer is nearly done and dusted for another year, but Niamh Rowley isn't letting that get her down. With the help of new single from The Velvet Hands, she's reliving it time and time again. Niamh telles us more about the London indie rockers and why ' Meet Me In The City' might just be the song of the year. Calling out to the lovers of all things' music! We have a bundle of excitement to wade through here from tours to albums and music videos; there’s no shortage of content to unpack . So, join me as I introduce you to what could possibly just be your new favourite obsession. Originally hailing from Cornwall before heading over to make a breakthrough in the London scene, The Velvet Hands are beginning to turn more than a few heads. Having dropped their second album sucker punch in February this year, The Velvet Hands aimed to please. It saw them successfully rocket their way onto festival lineups such as Truck Festival, headlining the

There are two things in this world that are sure to make me cringe. Actually, there are far more than that, but you haven't got all day. When I say cringe, I don't mean a mild sigh -  I mean a visceral, physical experience that shudders throughout my very being like I'm being possesed by the ghost of Charles Dickens.  The first is when someone is drinking through a straw and they finish said drink and carry on sucking nontheless - Ugggh..it's makes my feet tingle just thinking about it - STOP DOING THAT. Just after that is when bands and artists who really should know better take about their 'brand', like they're David chuffing Beckham or something. That's actually his middle name you know.  You may have noticed that I used the word 'brand' in inverted commas. Like most people on the right side of the cultural divide, I can't stand the word. It's use in this context values art only on monetary terms - or at the very least in s

                   📷 Bill Stillman There are pivotal moments in culture that squat in your psyche. To coin a phrase, they remain rent free there and very rarely do they attempt to move out. One such moment for me was seeing the TV series of Dennis Potter's seminal work 'The Singing Detective'. Centering around the character Philip Marlow - played brilliantly by Michael Gambon - two stories interweave between a hospitalised writer dealing with a deeply unpleasant skin condition and a darkly seductive detective story unfolding in his mind, that threatens to take him beyond the realms of sanity. It was years ahead of it's time and has been a consistent influence on those wishing to express the inner workings of their troubled minds. A tenuous link maybe, but when the new single and accompanying video by Tom Emlyn arrived in my inbox, I couldn't help but think back to ' The Singing Detective'  and it's lasting legacy. In the video for 'Like a Cigarette&

  When Ukraine won the Eurovision song contest and the continued war with Russia meant they couldn't host in 2023, the UK - who finished second - were the obvious choice to step in. After an exhaustive round of bids, just two cities remain in the running. Liverpool's musical heritage is well known globally, but perhaps Glasgow doesn't have the same pull, particularly with the mainstream. A city that has the spirit of Rock n' Roll coursing through its veins and has spawned some of alt-pop and indie rock's most famous and creative names; Glasgow is very much the outsider of the great musical cities the UK has to offer.  It seems the perfect place therefore for new So Young Records signings Humour to flex their muscles. The band are still in their infancy, but is a complex mix of unhinged post-punk, unpredictable art-pop and untamed post-hardcore; a life force that is as compelling as they are disorientating. Some of their early gigs saw them play with bands like Do No

  Don't call it a come back! I've been here for years. The words of LL Cool J at the start of his Hip Hop classic ' Mama Said Knock You Out'  are often seen as a clarion call to his fans that's he's back to take over. But there is a vunerability in those words if you look closely. The battlecry of a survivor has to be equally as reassuring as it is confrontational; there are those who've been there all along and need to have your back after all. I'm always conscious of mixing politics and music when I write this blog, but at times like now, it seems impossible not to. Today - after a tumultuous week of running out of loyal allies to spin his haphazard approach to Government - Prime Minister Boris Johnson has finally been pushed over the edge. Of course, he was never going to go quietly. Amonsgt a flurry of Ministerial resignations he decided to sack Michael Gove, his Minister for Levelling Up and Housing. Gove has long held ambitions akin to

Some places just don't grip you as being the most obvious breeding ground for Hip Hop; The film is called Straight Outta Compton, not Straight Outta Coventry. It'd be difficult to imagine Eminem coming from  the Falkirk area or Megan Thee Stallion  busting out of the mean streets of Chepstow. So why then does Northern Ireland feel right?  Perhaps it's that complex and troubled history of the place; the division caused by religion and disputed occupation and the violence that erupted for decades. These factors will always inspire rebel music and a defiance from some, but tradionally it doesn't come attached to some 'fly' beats. Maybe I'm missing something, but 'spittin' sick bars' doesn't seem like it happens too often within walking distance of The Giant's Causeway.  The thing is, times change - even if the location has to also. Lauren Hannan - aka Yinyang -  makes a fascinating hybrid of Hip Hop and Electronica with a Punk e

It may be patently obvious, but we're big fans of Chester's very own indie-pop trio Peaness  here at NNWNF HQ - even if two of them don't live in C-town anymore, we're still claiming them as our own! So, it's patently wonderful then that the band's debut album is finally on the horizon. Some might say, it's totally snick! I wouldn't though, because that would smack too much of trying to look too cool - which in itself, is probably trying to look too cool - the Coolness Paradox as it's definitely not known. Anyway, the band's long-awaited debut album World Full of Worry finally arrives on 6th May via their own label Totally Snick Records. It's an album full of charm, wit and more feel good hooks than you could possibly attempt to count. Basically, it's a seratonin-inducing joy of a record, that should see Peaness getting much more attention than they already do.   The hilarious new video for the band's forthcomi

                            Crows   (📷 Jamie Noise)  London Four Piece Crows have returned with a new video for single ' Slowly Separate' , their first new music in 3 years. The band's second album ' Beware Believers' is forthcoming. The new album is the follow up to 2019's critically acclaimed debut ' Silver Tongue' and it looks set to add to the band's reputation for raucous and chaotic Post Punk amongst fans and critics alike. Like many bands who were starting to lift off back then, the momentum they were hoping to capatalise on was halted by the world's continued battle with Covid.  2020 was set to be a busy year as the Pandemic hit, with the band set to play SXSW with a U.S tour in place, and starting the process of writing ' Beware Believers'. For a band that prides itself and gained it's reputation on it's live performances, it couldn't have been timed any worse. In hindsight however, Crows frontman James C

  TOKKY HORROR Sometimes, whatever the circumstances are pointing you towards, you just have to rip it up and start again - just ask Orange Juice.  When Queen Zee -  once seen by the NME as one of the most eye-catching and engaging live acts in the UK -  split in 2019, just months after the release of their debut album, it seemed likely that we would see vocalist Zee Davine again.  So it was perhaps no surprise then that TOKKY HORROR was formed shortly afterwards. Comprising of Davine, Ava Akira and Mollie Rush - the trio are based in three different cities - Liverpool, Manchester and London. Working from home has meant the band have already amassed a large selection of tracks over a short period of time.                                                 Home Recordings: 2020 - 2021 (Extended Edition) by Tokky Horror Debut E.P ' I Found The Answers and Now I Want More' was a thrilling introduction to the band that fused aggressive beats, punk guitars and a powerful sense of havin

Pop can be a dirty word to some people; especially those of us who've willingly jumped head-first onto the murky depths of Rock n' Roll's sordid waters. I'm not going to deny, I certainly had that attitude when I was younger and was obsessed by the lure of Punk Rock revisionism. Strangely though, perhaps due to some mellowing with age, Pop has become much more interesting to my ears - and seemingly - much more subversive. An artist that can be considered to be producing such subversive and interesting music is ya. ya is the work of Anna Akopyan, who is originally from Russia, but is now based in Spain. I first heard ya during the early days of the blog and was intrigued by the eclectic nature of her music; we featured her on our first  Submission Hold  section soon after.  Releasing her debut album ' CHANGE UR BODY' in January, ya has produced a new video for a track that is one of the highlights of the album:  'Movie' - it's a song that

  Kissing Party (Photo by Eric David Lough) I'm not going to go on too much about how much I've struggled to motivate myself in recent weeks - that much should be obvious by the lack of consistent content. Writer's block is a bit of a cliche, but as everyone and a Golden Salamander knows (niche Netflix Morman forgery documentary reference) - the cliches are all true. They exist for a reason and that reason is to give someone like me something to cling to or avoid like the plague; delete where applicable. What do we want? Procrastination. When do we want it? Some time next week. Something was needed to buck that trend and thankfully it was found in the most unlikely of places; well, unless you live there. Denver, Colorado is not an area of the U.S you would instantly think of as hotbed of musical creativity. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it has a plethora of talented songwriters of different genres producing great material - but it certainly doesn't get the fanfar