NoNewWaveNoFun

  What do you get when four members of a band come back together under a different name and attempt to re-invent their own wheel? In essence, they try to do what they intended in the first place - well, they do in this case anyway. There can't be too many examples of that, in fact, this is the only one I can think of.  You see Das Koolies are basically the wonderful Super Furry Animals, without the band's dynamic songwriter and best-known face Gruff Rhys, who continues to plow the furrow of his own solo material. Content to move on from their past, whilst leaving it open for future endeavours, Huh Bunford, Cian Ciaran, Daffydd Ieuan and Guto Price have moved into a new era in their musical adventures that began to the backdrop of scenic North Wales all those years ago.  The band have released a new E.P called The Condemned E.P, which doesn't stray too far from past glories in it's mechanics, but similtaneuously reaches out for new sonic territories to explore. Produced

  The   Beyond the Walls festival has announced it's return to Alexander's in Chester - set around the majestic Roman walls - for it's annual installment of festival merriment. The event takes place on Bank Holiday Sunday 28th May and to coincide with the announcement of the date, organisers have announced the first draft of bands and artists that will make up the bill - and what a line-up! 2023’s headliner is none other than “sensei of the slow jams” himself, Brad Stank . The self styled  “sexistentialist-pop bohemian” will perform his sultry psych-jazz, drawing the Garden Stage to a close in the evening. Set for SXSW this March, Stank is beginning to win hearts the world over with his idiosyncratic style, and the Liverpool-based crooner looks set to be the ideal act to end the day's outdoor activities. Nine-piece art-pop collective Mandrake Handshake  will also bring their blend of krautrock, funk and psychedelic poetry to proceedings - if they can all fit on the

The annual FOCUS Wales festival returns with it's 2023 reboot in May. The growing reputation of the festival has seen it expand year-on-year with Wrexham set to welcome 20,000 attendees, and see over 250+ new music acts from Wales and around the world descend upon it's turf over 4th –6 th May. Organisers have announced a further 70 new bands and artists today who will join the bill. Last year's bill featured artists such as Self Esteem, Public Service Broadcasting, Echo & The Bunnymen, Peaness, Gwenno, Goat Girl and The Besnard Lakes amongst many others and 2023 looks set to be just as eventful. Among the new Welsh-based artists announced today are Alt Pop prospect  Ailsa Tully , the Welsh Music Prize nominated  ManLikeVision , Garage rockers  The Family Battenberg , Electro Pop newcomer  Bethan Lloyd , Newport’s big hope in the Hip Hop scene  OGUN , and the new shining light of Welsh Alt-Folk  Mari Mathias.                          MARI MATHIAS Joining them on the bill

  You've got to adapt to survive sometimes; Charles Darwin knew it and so did that guy he ripped off (allegedly). For bands and artists to survive for nearly 20 years in this industry, evolution is a must - especially if you're not playing to thousands of people a night after album 2. Happy Hollows  have been going for almost 2 decades now and can certainly not be considered a household name. Despite that, the band have adjusted their blueprint throughout their career and have never been afraid of experimentation and trying to forge a new sound for themselves. They're  NNWNF  favourites and we think they should be massive.  Based in L.A -  the entertainment capital of the world - and fronted by the eccentric and charismatic guitarist  Sarah Negahdari , the band are completed by multi-instrumentalist  Charlie Mahoney  and another talented guitarist in  Scott Munro ; who originally hails from Northern Ireland. Craver is the band's fourth studio album after 2009's Spel

There are bands that are so prolific in their touring schedules that fans can barely miss them for the sheer volume of gigs they work through. Then of course, there are bands that rarely venture beyond the confines of the studio walls, instead preferring to hone their craft for years on end before allowing their babies into the world - Hello My Bloody Valentine.  The last decade has seen the rise of long-defunct bands reforming to tour reach almost epidemic levels. The financial reality being such that bands who produced album-after-album of quality work and toured extensively during their creative peak without the success their work deserved, have to play live again and are being recognised in the streaming age for their influence -  The Delgados are one such band.  During the late 90s' and early 00s', The Delgados were   never short of critical acclaim, with 2000's The Great Eastern in the running for the Mercury Prize, but success - although a relative concep

2023. A new year full of hope, expectations, and fresh starts. Out with the old negativity and in with positive, vibrant statements of intent. My biggest hope is that you managed to avoid Jools Holland's Hootenanny - seriously you should have seen the state of it. Not even Self Esteem could save it.  Almost doesn't seem right, just or downright true that we have got to this year; could've sworn it was 1997 the other week - I was listening to OK Computer, Urban Hymns,  and Radiator and trying to pull that girl who looked a bit like Cerys Matthews at the Tiv indie night -   it was the last time I paid much attention. FYI, that night was called AlternaTivoli which is a great and creative use of language. Admit it, you're jealous you didn't think of it, aren't you? How are you holding up then? It's a tough world we live in right now. As if it being winter wasn't hard enough, the cost of staying mildly warm or switching on your  S.A.D. lamp has do

  It's taken Wrexham-based Noise Pop band Baby Brave quite some time to bring current E.P Sunny Days in Dark Rooms into the world. The band - comprising of singer/guitarist Emmi Manteau, guitarist and  p roducer Steve Nicholls, bassist Andrew Stokes and drummer Jason Williams - had written and fleshed out the majority of the tracks by the back end of the Pandemic. The band had long been admired by Chester stalwarts Mai 68 Records and a collaboration delayed the release, but gave the band time to craft their live sound further. With influences ranging from Blondie and PJ Harvey  to Fever Ray and Talking Heads, the band's writing has matured significantly on Sunny Days in Dark Rooms  and has found them reaching into new realms for inspiration. We talked to Emmi after the EP's release at the back end of October and she gave us these insights into how the songs came together. 1) Bombatomic A summer anthem! With it's strong disco beats, this song is hopeful that we will see

There's a sense that things are coming to a head. Prices are spiralling as inflation hits a 40-year high and we're only three more Chancellors away from Christmas. As I write this, the hapless Liz Truss  has become the latest casualty of the chaos engulfing British politics, becoming the shortest tenant of 10 Downing Street in the history of the UK. Her Government's reckless mini budget just a week or so into her time in power tanked an economy that needed everything but. Another one bites the dust.  Live music is in just as precarious a position as the rest of the economy. Tours of the UK from outside bands and artists are becoming more and more expensive with  NNWNF  favourites like  Tomberlin  requesting fans to put her up to lower costs, seasoned veterans  ..Trail of Dead playing just one UK show on a full European tour and Animal Collective pulling a whole tour entirely. It's not quite a crisis, but it's beginning to look a bit ropey. After the gig,

  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

  The self dubbed i ntroverted ginger curio , Uncool Paul has returned with his new album Ip Dip. I first came across Paul in the early days of the blog when he sent me a link to his -  then newly-released - album Limon and Leme. He's  a self depricating character who has a love for a vast amount of nuances and idiosyncracies and this ultimately, fuses it's way into the work. Paul talks us through the new album telling us more about these eclectic influences, special guest performers and how cartoon villains struggle with old age.   1. Plastic Aspirations  ' Plastic Aspirations'  started as just a lyrical piece that I read over a very basic 120 bpm disco beat. It took some time tinkering about with a very Duran Duran bassline before everything pulled together. Lyrically, it's about letting go of materialism, commercialism and Love Island .  2. Hit By An Ambulance  Originally this song sounded like ' Stand'  by REM, but I sent it to my friend Shane in Cali

August Bank Holiday Weekend inspires different emotions in us at different times in our lives. As a child, it seemed like the dawning of the beginning of the age of  (Aquarius) - the sanctuary of six weeks off school; I always felt a sense of dread as it ended. For many adults, it's the ideal time to catch up with family or to get a great, no-interest deal on a sofa from a furniture shop on an industrial estate next to Nandos.  As the venom of music addiction continued to course through my veins in my late teens it meant one place: Reading Festival. Even now I have thoughts throughout the weekend, reminiscing about some of the great weekends seeing bands I love and generally behaving slightly worse than usual on a campsite. So what better way as an ageing Rock n' Roll casualty than to venture to a festival on August Bank Holiday? I've never wanted a reclining couch anyway. 📷 by iDreamofPiesPhotography Okay, it may not be headlined by Dave and The Ar