NORTH PARADE have released ‘Never Had A Monday’, a song written by the band’s drummer Ollie Clark and frontman Henry Plumridge. It would be lazy to simply describe the sound here as early The 1975. The sound here is more drivelikeido - Plumridge’s voice earnest and addictive. A vocal that commands attention to the lyrics. ‘Never Had A Monday’ is immediate - within the first minute it is obvious that this is a special song that will earn a forever place in our future playlists for years to come. I can’t recommend this tune enough, ‘Never Had A Monday’ is our Single Of The Week and if we did a ‘Single Of The Month’ as well it would be that too.
Static Satellites have released ‘Smokescreens’, their second release of the year taken from the Glasgow bands forthcoming EP ‘As The Dark Unfolds’. This is sounding fresh; a mellow tune with a classic indie feel…’Heartbreak High’ comes from the Nottingham based rising star James Burt. Written and recorded at home during lockdown, the track is 80’s inspired while maintaining a contemporary pop feel. We are nodding along by the second verse hits, a sure sign of a decent track...Late Fees return with ‘Stay In’, the band's first release of the year. The song is melodic and jangly, an endearing treat...The VCR are a rock band from Birmingham who impress on latest release ‘Sing Again’. The sound here is something different but altogether comfortably familiar. The vocals are pretty great and the star of the show here…’Fuzzy’ from Bandicoot recalls the sound of 1970’s Top of The Pops (for those that can remember these things). There has been a notable amount of glam rock inspired releases as of late and ‘Fuzzy’ is perhaps the best. A proper stomper, we can’t get enough of this authentic sounding track...One of the nicest bands around Apollo Junction hit all streaming platforms this week with new single ‘Light Up The Sky’. The Leeds band count Graham Norton as a fan and the band are supporting The Kaiser Chief later this year and playing at The Isle Of Wight Festival. This new single starts with a catchy bass riff before a wall of guitars give way to a dramatic pause; the glam rock theme continues here and much like the aforementioned Bandicoot release, is done with style. This is huge release for Apollo Junction who are on the cusp of breaking through to the next level...Felix Hill is only eighteen years old is still in full time education though if that doesn’t pan out it’s a good thing he has immense talent and songwriting ability to fall back on as heard on new single ‘Down By The Races’. There is a Gerry Cinnamon influence here (without going total Cinnamon on us) and an almost morose vocal tone that recalls the dourness of Morrissey et al. A mature song beyond Hill’s years, his level of talent at such an early part of his career is scary. A great tune...The Lathums still aren’t living up to the hype but at least their new single ‘Oh My Love’ is stronger than their last few releases. A song in the mould of Paul Heaton, ‘Oh My Love’ is a jolly affair that while isn’t memorable, is, for the moment, pleasurable enough...Scottish five-piece The Party Slogan have released ‘Southern Eyes’, a raw song that has a really catchy guitar melody. ‘Southern Eyes’ is sung with a certain passion that the listener can’t fail to note. A good release...Broken Fires have returned with their first release in five years. ‘Dreamer’ is full on energetic guitar-pop that takes the listener on a rollercoaster ride as the song twists in different directions before returning to familiar territory...Dublin’s Forty Foot have put out ‘Zeros’, a song right up this writer's street. With a sound that harks back to 90’s grunge, ‘Zeros’ also has an appealing sheen to it for good measure. While not the most cutting edge of sounds, this one will appeal to fans of Smashing Pumpkins and the like. A great rock song...Manchester’s Afternoon People caught our attention with their debut release ‘Sovereign’ and the quartet follow that up with new single ‘Corner Of My Eye’. This new release is anthemic in scope and the lads aren’t afraid to make some noise. Frantic guitars and heavy hitting drums make for a great chorus while the verses take on a contrasting dynamic. The band are supporting The Lathums on their UK tour and in a year or so’s time it’ll be the other way around if Afternoon People continue to progress releasing tunes like this…’Not The Only One’ by The Coronations has been popular since its release on Friday. Not the best produced of songs, this sounds almost like a demo recording, the quality of the track overcomes this obstacle however. A pleasing acoustic song with a clear and emotive vocal, The Coronations are a band to keep tabs on...The Sherlocks show the rest of the field how it is done on ‘End Of The Earth’, a full force juggernaut that features their trademark sound. With a new album on the horizon and several high profile festival slots announced, The Sherlocks demonstrate that they are not ready to rest on their laurels..and finally we have the ‘Talk it Over’ EP from Maystones, an impossibly good looking five-piece band from Herts. Opener ‘Alcascini’ takes the bull by the horns with its huge sound. Title track ‘Talk It Over’ is next, another huge sounding track albeit at a slower tempo. I can’t get over how full this sounds. ‘Silence For Tyrants’ opens with a stand alone guitar riff that doesn’t let up while the final track on the EP, ‘Asmr’, is a no nonsense in your face tune that exemplifies that Maystones attitude. An early 90’s indie rock influence is stamped all over this impressive, fine collection of songs.
You can listen to all of the above releases on our Spotify Playlist here.
The latest episode of our weekly podcast can be listened to here. This week we have an interview with The Sheratons, an early play of their new single and the talented Sam Lambeth is in session.
We are hosting an all day gig in Hull on Sep 26th with tickets on sale now and selling fast. Headlined by Britpop band Northern Uproar, the line-up includes some of the best and freshest bands around such as The Voyd, The Sheratons, The Superlatives and Jonny Ash Band. Click for more info and tickets.
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