Psychedelic Porn Crumpets evolve on chaotic new album Shyga! The Sunlight Mound

Benjamin Forrest on 11 February 2021

When flicking through boxes of singles in a record store, people like me are often compelled to a band simply because of their name. In fact, I have discovered some of my favourite artists via this method, and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are no exception. As you can likely deduce via the name, or the fact that they formed in an old horse barn after meeting each other through a shared drug dealer, that the Crumpets are a fairly ‘far out’ band. Their first studio album High Visceral (released in two parts) is brilliant explorations of grunge psychedelia, whilst their 2019 album And Now for the Whatchamacallit signified a transition more towards pop rock – though elements of their original sound remained, on tracks such as ‘Social Candy’. 

The Perth outfit’s latest offering Shyga! The Sunlight Mound feels very much like a continuation of their previous album, in terms of moving from a more hardcore, grungy, psychedelic sound to a style more consistent of indie rock. That being said, Shyga! blows the previous album out the water. It feels much more refined and perfected – incorporating elements of their early work whilst still creating a more pop-y sound – perhaps reminiscent of their Australian counterparts Tame Impala. Instead of feeling like the band have sold out their sound for more commercial success, though, it feels like this is simply an evolution in the sound of the band which, in my eyes, can only act as a positive thing going forwards – nobody needs another Catfish and the Bottlemen churning out the same album every few years. It is also important to note that the band exists on their own label, What Reality? Records and, I mean, their name is ‘Psychedelic Porn Crumpets’ – so I very much doubt the claims that the band are selling out their original sound for a more commercially viable record.

The album, from the first track onwards it is very energetic, fast-paced, and, at times, chaotic – most notably on tracks such as ‘Tripolasaur’. There is scarcely a chance to catch your breath, it is like racing through a tunnel of acid-induced hallucinations (much like in the beloved children’s film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory). The band reportedly have a broad range of influences from Led Zeppelin to the Mighty Boosh, both of which are identifiable within this album, with many tracks featuring guitar riffs which would not feel completely out of place on a 1970’s hard rock album. The latter half of the album, in particular, features some fantastically energetic adrenaline-shots, coming in the form of ‘Mundungus’ and ‘The Tale of Gurney Gridman’ which were a very welcome addition to the driving momentum present throughout the album. Shyga! admittedly delivers some very route-one indie pop songs on tracks like ‘Mr. Prism’ which, although not a bad song by any means, is disappointing from a standpoint of musical exploration and originality. Much of what the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are doing on this album was being done by Menace Beach five years previous, so the Crumpets are not necessarily breaking new ground with Shyga! The Sunlight Mound. It does, however, show a maturing of their sound which often, on this album, results in some chaotically fun songs to listen to and I will still undoubtedly be revisiting this album throughout the year

Would a ‘Harry Potter’ TV series be magical?

Séamus O'Hanlon on 10 February 2021

I groaned when I first read the online headline speculating that Harry Potter may be getting a television reboot but was this reaction genuine concern or instant snobbery? The article, was in fact, referring to rumours that HBO (Max) may be making a prequel, spin-off, world-building or redo of the books, TV series. “Broad ideas” at the moment, as the sources who divulged to the Hollywood Reporter, put it. Many news outlets have reported on this possible development, which doesn’t mean it is going to happen, but it does make it feel like another adaptation of Harry Potter is inevitable. The film series in so many ways feels like it has just finished, concluded to great success both financial and cultural. Harry Potter was a phenomenon, but doesn’t that involve moving on? 

Harry Potter’s deep cultural legacy is still intact and beloved, despite its author, who I’ll get to soon. As reported, the past hyper-surreal year was a time for finding comfort, so not surprisingly, we re-watched the films and re-read the books during lockdown. Since 2011, when the last film of the series came out, the world’s cultural landscape has changed dramatically. Particularly British broadcasters who have struggled to remain dominant and relevant with the arrival of the new digital giants: Netflix, Amazon and every other American based company building entertainment empires. One decade on and the Britain proud of the whole film series too feels lost.

An HBO production. A deserving stamp of quality, glossy sounding, adult. HBO shows are solidly good, well made, high concept. HBO has certainly produced works of art, but it is still cable, unfit for the hypothetical Harry Potter series that should be available for everyone to tune in to around a cup of tea. HBO in the past was the big expense for many, a costly must-have, which was also available in Britain through private networks including it, like Sky Atlantic. Netflix, for all its criticism, is at least more affordable considering people’s budgets and that would be the first hesitation about creating any more Harry Potter universe content in general. Milk, milk the fans. 

HBO Max is even more egregious a choice. Launched only in 2020 it has a grand 17.2 million activated users as of the New Year. It is part of HBO’s comeback, the fight against the new kids, but what it offers hasn’t quite been established yet. Its parent company is also WarnerMedia, making it feel likelier that the Warner Bros. film series will receive a TV adaption, though that decision is still not up to them. Subscription models tease out commitment. For me, Disney+ and other exclusive, claim-back-the-money platforms, could be a worrying trend. Massive businesses creating new companies which make their titles, classics, more expensive in the general market is not something studios and the industry should be proud of. Consumers spending silly money, so HBO or some other private monolith, can have their latest venture be a success, is something that this series ideally should not support. Exclusivity: promoting greed, creating avarice at the top. 

It is well known to audiences, but misunderstood to the corporate world, that remakes require plenty of passed time, patience and organic relevance for the new work succeed. Genre is important and the prime example of a piece of culture that deserves to be rebooted, reimagined and redefine is Hanna Barbara’s Scooby-Doo. Every single teen TV show is inspired by Scooby Do, some heavily, and every series for all the family since Harry Potter is compared to Rowing’s creation, often fairly. Harry Potter is a different type of timeless, far more difficult to unwrap when the books were written in the ‘90s, long ago actually but not exactly unmodern.

The Hogwarts grounds are beautiful, the steam train departing from 9 and ¾ purposefully historic, an artefact linking to the books to the times of classic British literature. The films do a tremendous job of depicting the castle as a feature of the Scottish Highlands, making Hogwarts recognisable, an honouree, fictional castle. This is a visual image that captures the whole series and it is preserved rightly for all in the Warner Bros. studios in London. This is the one single image that fans have of the place, even if the castle was replicated inch by inch in a new reboot, would this very British legacy be marred by a future remake choosing to produce outside of the British Isles? The great and fantastic of British and Irish actors made the film series, fought for by Rowling, and simply there hasn’t been enough time for there to be years of new homegrown talent to call on in a recast. Americans got to be cast in their own film series, it is not a right for them to be cast in the original, superior one. However, with all this talk of nationality, there is the valid potential for a new future recast of creative diversity that is more explicit about British history.

Brexit. Since 2011, British identity has taken a knocking. Brexit and immigration, opening a can of worms – like the slugs Ron spews out in that grim scene. Pandora’s box has been opened, which is not even dramatic with the last several years of news coverage, and Britain has finally left the European Union. 

Years of discourse about immigration asks whether Britain is actually a post-racial society, that has rightly been invalidated by the Windrush Scandal breaking and the subsequent Black Lives Matter movement of the past summer. Some people think of Hogwarts as a grammar school, I think of it more internationally; a haven inclusive of the native British Wizarding nobility to children from the ‘Commonwealth’ for want of a better word. That is a fan theory, but what is real, is that the British education system has always been revised, negatively and positively, by immigration from Ireland to modern refugees. The politics of the day are infused in the later Harry Potter books, the opening of book six particularly. Today, we might not like our politics, but it must be reflected in national stories like Harry Potter, maybe not literally. The European Triwizard cup slashing its rules alongside our European partnership. Or the Hogwarts Train changing colours in a plume of smoke as it passes the Scottish border, possibly. Colour-blind casting can be done effectively with Dickens, Harry Potter isn’t that much of a stretch. Black Hermione in a remake, in the right hands, could be done very well and meaningfully. A new series would always have something important to say about whichever years it is made in. 

Sometimes when you read a book so closely, you feel like you know the author too. Having spoken to many people about JK Rowling’s comments about transgender people, there has been mostly disappointment. It doesn’t make you a bleeding-heart liberal to be frustrated about Rowling’s repeated statements and cancel culture is only so useful a label. Literary icons don’t always have to write edifying, magnanimous prose like they’re running for President of the World but when their opinions cause additional controversy to sensitive issues it’s clear to me that it was a wrong thing to say. Celebrities on Twitter, politicians and vocal authors can say a lot loudly, but we should allow the discussed people to speak themselves, not for them, and listen to them first. There are consequences when a ‘culture war’ is entangled with the creator of a literary classic, one of them is audiences being split and hesitant about further endowing Rowling by paying to watch any type of Harry Potter TV series. 

An egalitarian Harry Potter TV series would emphasise affordability over profits, maybe a joint collaboration with British broadcasters and streaming services, and would be global, diverse, incorporating contemporary British politics to deliver a new, universal story of love which it is. Wait longer for a new adaption, wait for the right director, right team and integral to television, the right showrunner, whoever that person may be. Change it up a bit, maybe Draco and Harry get together – I half jest. Keep and enhance the film series’ excellence. Potter will return one day.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Do biopics romanticise the lives of real people?

Hannah Spruce on 10 February 2021

Over the last few years biopics have dominated the cinema scene, with high budgets and eager audiences, the genre has seen continued box office success. Biopics of musicians have seen a particular rise in popularity, spurred by the success of Bohemian Rhapsody about the eccentric Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, which became the highest-grossing biographical film of all time.

By focusing on a real-life subject, the film has a guaranteed audience and established plotline. Alongside this, a musical biopic has the marketability of a successful soundtrack. However, despite their commercial success biopics have been criticised for being motivated by profit and lacking substance. Quentin Tarantino has stated that biopics were ‘just big excuses for actors to win Oscars’ in response to their increasing prevalence. Even beyond a directorial perspective, the genre is often criticised by the devoted fans who have followed the lives and careers of these celebrities. When condensing the lives of such well-known figures, there is a tendency to underplay or overemphasise certain elements to produce the most engaging storyline.

The allure of stars like Freddie Mercury and John Lennon is not always enough to guarantee a captivating sequence of events, therefore drama often needs to be cultivated for the sake of viewership. Nowhere Boy, a biopic detailing the teenage years of John Lennon, suggests a complicated and uncomfortably intimate relationship between Lennon and his mother Julia. Similarly, Bohemian Rhapsody has been criticised for its flexible chronology and convoluted depictions of Mercury’s relationship with Jim Hutton, Paul Prenter and Mary Austin.

A recent source of controversy is the upcoming film Stardust, which details the life of David Bowie. The film was not approved by Bowie’s estate and does not contain any of his music, which resulted in many fans not supporting the film’s production. Although David Bowie is a celebrity, his life is not guaranteed personal property, which raises questions surrounding the integrity of these films. In comparison, Queen band members Brian May and Roger Taylor served as consultants on Bohemian Rhapsody and for Rocketman Elton John and his husband David Furnish were producers. It could be argued that such direct involvement encourages a level of self-indulgence or bias in the way events are depicted, but it ensures that any significant changes were approved. 

Consultation seems necessary when dealing with recent celebrities, however, when exploring the lives of historical figures, it becomes more complicated. The audience is less likely to recognise historical inconsistencies, meaning the film could perpetuate false ideas or assumptions. With historical biopics, there is a desire to romanticise a forgotten era of history and humanize previously elusive figures. Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette combines these factors, by merging modern features with a historical landscape. The lavish colours and set design deviates from historical accuracy. Depictions of historical figures such as Marie Antoinette can be more flexible to a higher extent than modern musicians due to the lack of personal claim over their stories. However, the people in biopics can easily become caricatures, which should be considered when evaluating their role and actions within these films

Ultimately, biopics should not be constrained to follow a specific timeline unless claiming to be historically accurate. Most biopics use a level of creative licencing to meet time constraints, without detriment to the person or the story that is being conveyed. However, when using unsubstantiated or fabricated events, it is the duty of the filmmaker to ensure a divide between the authentic and genuine.

“I know a good joke when I steal one”: An exploration of plagiarism in comedy

Benjamin Forrest on 7 February 2021

The issue of ‘joke thieves’ and plagiarism in comedy has become somewhat of a regular discussion in the past few years, with perhaps the most prominent example being American comic Amy Schumer who was exposed as having plagiarised a vast array of jokes from other comics such as John Mulaney, Kathleen Madigan and Wendy Liebman (among many others). It is important to note that joke theft is not a new issue, by any means. The 1993 Denis Leary special ‘No Cure for Cancer’ is widely regarded to have completely ripped off the act of legendary comedian Bill Hicks – both the Denis Leary and Bill Hicks performances are currently available on Netflix so you can see for yourselves how similar the two are. Further back than that, the 1973 National Lampoon stage show ‘Lemmings’ was accused of stealing a joke from Monty Python. So why is plagiarism in comedy much more prominent nowadays? It is difficult to say for sure, but the ease at which content is viewable on the internet means that if Amy Schumer tells a joke very similar to a joke Wendy Liebman told in the early 90’s, the likelihood is that there’s a video of that performance online. Thus, perhaps joke theft is not a much more important issue these days, it is simply easier to identify.

Schumer has faced very little in the way of consequences in spite of the overwhelming amount of evidence of thievery. Her new show ‘Expecting Amy’ is a hit on HBO Max, two of her stand-up specials along with her film ‘Trainwreck’ are still available on Netflix and she has won multiple awards from Critics’ Choice to an Emmy. It does not seem morally sound that Amy Schumer, and many other plagiarists, are allowed to create a successful and illustrious career based upon the jokes of other comics who are left to fall into obscurity. Denis Leary still enjoys an incredibly successful career as a writer and actor thanks largely due to the success of his ‘Cure for Cancer’ special, whereas Bill Hicks died in 1994 with only a handful of stand-up specials and an unaired Letterman performance to his name. Seemingly joke theft is not regarded as a big deal, when questioned on Leary’s plagiarism, Hicks quipped “I stole his act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did.”.

Many have argued that nobody can really own a joke, they are in the public domain and hold no real value. Stand-up legend Stewart Lee tackled this idea brilliantly in his routine about Joe Pasquale stealing a joke from Irish comedian Michael Redmond, and I believe the sentiment of that routine still rings true. Furthermore, in an industry as hard to break into as stand-up comedy, it is ludicrous to have to accept mainstream comics ripping-off jokes from more obscure acts – that probably will not find themselves on Live at the Apollo or Mock the Week or any other of the one-size-fits-all comedy programmes being thrust unto the viewing public by the BBC – as an inevitability. Aside from anything else, it is lazy. Plagiarism just goes to portray a lack of creativity or originality which, ultimately, will have a detrimental effect on comedy as a whole by limiting the success of new and original comics.

As a journalism student, I know how seriously plagiarism is taken in my field as well as many others such as science or music. Does it not, then, make sense for plagiarism in comedy to be taken just as seriously? It is an incredible injustice, yet it seems to be constantly shrugged off as a mere annoyance. A written joke should be held in the same regard as any other artform. The Verve made no money from ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ because it sampled an orchestral version of a Rolling Stones song, yet Amy Schumer is allowed to continue her ridiculously successful career built off the back of telling other people’s jokes, does that seem fair to you? Stop supporting the hacks. 

Whole Lotta Red: Playboi Carti at his most experimental

Hemma Daddral on 3 February 2021

A Christmas gift to his fans, Playboi Carti delivered the much-awaited Whole Lotta Red. Executively produced by Kanye West, the 25-track, hour long EP boasts vampy, experimental beats to accompany Carti’s infamous baby voice and his almost undecipherable ‘cartinese’. 

With a cult-like fanbase under his belt despite only two previous official albums, Playboi Carti’s promise to deliver excellence on his third EP to his fans was highly anticipated – the hype was heightened by weeks of missed release dates and endless snippet teasing on Twitter.

Opening with ‘Rockstar Made’, the tone for the album is set – aggressive, violent and undeniably manic. Despite the initial hype built in the song, its repetitive chanting of ‘never too much’ 40 times becomes tired and lags behind. However, the album is lifted back up on the next track ‘Go2DaMoon’, which sees a Kanye West verse stealing the show. 

Though momentum slowly builds through mosh-pit, rager tunes like ‘Stop Breathing’ and ‘M3tamorphosis’ (featuring legendary Kid Cudi hums), the album lags in its middle section. Carti fails to maintain the punk, high-energy atmosphere, leaving songs like ‘Teen X’ and ‘Meh’ feeling repetitive, drab and tired. Though a typical Playboi Carti album is not famed for its lyricism but rather its beats, these songs are almost unbearable: ‘Meh’ makes you endure Carti whining over a weak, mismatched beat. 

However, towards the end of the album, there is a glimmer of hope for us Carti fans hoping for something slightly resembling the ‘old’ sound. ‘New N3on’, a previously leaked song, makes a surprise appearance, restoring faith. This paired with Pi’erre Bourne produced ‘Place’, ‘ILoveYouIHateYou’ and Art Dealer guest spots on ‘Sky’ and ‘Over’ is reminiscent of Carti’s second album Die Lit – closing the album with nostalgia that we crave after enduring numerous misses on the album. 

Filled with highs and lows, Whole Lotta Red is a polarising album. Though the second half seems to make up for the disappointing run of tracks in its first half, Playboi Carti could have delivered a much more conceptual, sequenced body of work – especially since fans have been waiting for weeks on end. Despite this, Whole Lotta Red is not bad by all means. Carti is at his most experimental sonically, pushing the boundaries of mainstream, standard rap that occupies the charts.

LeedsFess hopes algorithms will help students find lockdown love

Josh Elgin on 2 February 2021

The university confession page LeedsFess is hoping to help students in Leeds find lockdown love with a new matchmaking quiz.

LeedsLaughLove, which was announced on Valentine’s Day, involves a series of personality and what-if questions that are designed to help lonely students find their perfect match. It is unlike online dating apps as it uses an algorithm to pair participants with a match based solely on their core values, eliminating any choice in the process.

The quiz asks participants to react to statements such as ‘Corbyn would have dealt with Covid by now’, ‘Too many students have come back this term’ and ‘It is weird for a third year to date a fresher.’

It also poses scenarios like the following: ‘You have been offered a job with a £1m annual salary, but you will have a 14-hour workday for the next five years’ and ‘Your match insists on a pre-date Tarot reading to make sure you are compatible.’

The idea of a campus matchmaking quiz was first developed in 2017 by students at Stanford University and has since been modified by students at Oxford University to create their own Oxford Marriage Pact, which is the algorithm being used by LeedsFess.

The students at Stanford created the original quiz to test whether students could find more meaningful connections by breaking the paradox of choice presented by apps like Tinder, which can give users a limitless array of matches, and instead just giving people one match based on their core values. 

The original Stanford quiz, which was shared using a few email lists and group chats, became a viral phenomenon on campus and received over 4,000 responses – over half the undergraduate population. 

LeedsFess said they created LeedsLaughLove to raise money for charity and to provide some entertainment for students stuck at home in the third national lockdown. “We know everyone is busy cracking on with second-semester work and we wanted to provide some stress relief in the way of a cheeky matchmaker.”

LeedsLaughLove is raising money for the mental health charity Mind, which has supported people with mental health problems throughout the pandemic. LeedsFess says that for £3, participants will receive three matches instead of one.

The quiz closes to submissions on 20th February. It has so far received over 1400 submissions and raised over £1100 for charity.

Pom Poko release weird and wonderful second album Cheater

Benjamin Forrest on 2 February 2021

January saw the release of Cheater, the second full-length LP by Oslo’s finest art punk outfit Pom Poko. The album was released via Bella Union, an independent record label operated by Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins – so, inherently, anything put out on Bella Union must be worth a listen. In a similar vain to Cocteau Twins, Pom Poko have managed to create their own weird, wonderful and distinctive sound which really comes into its own within their latest offering.

Their 2019 single ‘Leg Day’ gained airplay on radio stations such as BBC 6Music, and the band were fairly high up on the bill for Live at Leeds 2020 (which obviously did not go ahead). Pom Poko seem to be on the cusp of breaking into the mainstream of alternative music, and if this record does not tip them over the edge then there is no justice in the world. Every track is so perfectly crafted and yet simultaneously chaotic you cannot help but stop in amazement about what your ears are actually hearing. The melodic siren song vocals of lead singer Ragnhild Fangel are backed up by a vicious menagerie of noise and distortion reminiscent of an acid trip at a Mudhoney show – it shouldn’t work, but it does. 

The name Pom Poko comes from a 90’s Studio Ghibli film in which mythical creatures with shape-changing abilities use their supernatural powers in order to combat the urban development threatening their forest home. To an extent, I think that is a good representation of the band in terms of them using all their outlandish and unusual musical devices to combat the banal, grey, commercialised nature of so much of the music being released as of late. Pom Poko are determined to prove there is still a place for originality and experimentation in music. 

Cheater fluctuates between moods, from the dreamy almost-dreampop atmosphere created on ‘Andrew’ and ‘Body Level’, to the out-and-out punk chaos of ‘Andy Go to School’ and ‘Look’ yet, weirdly, it never feels jarring when listening in the context of the album. ‘Curly Romance’ is perhaps the best example of how Pom Poko are able to effortlessly switch moods, often abruptly, even within the same song. Listening to this album is like being caught up in a whirlwind except it is simply euphoric and, for want of a better word, fun. ‘Like a Lady’ is the standout track on Cheater as it sums up, for me, everything that the band means, as well as being a perfect development upon their previous work – it blows ‘Leg Day’ out of the water, despite how utterly incredible that song is. 

The band put their uniquely explosive sound down to a clash of their ‘jazz school training and experimental leanings’, and if jazz school incorporates even a fraction of the tumultuous debauchery present on Cheater, then sign me up! 

Pom Poko are set to play the Community Room at Brudenell Social Club in September, and I am looking froward to witnessing their rapturous chaos firsthand.