Leeds art-rock gurus Mush take on the current dystopia on new album Lines Redacted

Benjamin Forrest on 14 February 2021

Leeds-based art-rock indie guitar gurus Mush released their second full-length LP this month to much critical acclaim. The album was released on Memphis Industries, home of their Leeds contemporaries Menace Beach, which acts as a good indicator for the sheer quality of this release. Mush burst onto the radar of the music press in the run up to the release of their debut album 3D Routine in early 2020 and, despite the coronavirus pandemic, the band seem to be going from strength to strength and gathering momentum all the while. Lines Redacted follows on from October’s Yellow Sticker Hour EP and is the band’s first release since the tragic loss of guitarist Steven Tyson in December 2020. 

3D Routine was, in my mind, one of the greatest albums of 2020 thereby it would be tough for Lines Redacted to top it, but I dare say that the new album is the band’s finest work thus far. Mush have retained their trademark sound in terms of jangly guitars and lyrics critical of the current political landscape, yet their sound has clearly matured a great deal since the last album. The angry, and at times comedic, takes on the current state of affairs are backed up by one of the tightest bands around at the moment. One of my very few criticisms of their debut was a feeling of overproduction, if you listen to the 7” release of Gig Economy vs the album mix, for instance, the 7” version feels a lot rawer and more energetic – a feeling which was lacking on the album in my opinion. On Lines Redacted, however, I have no such criticisms, Lee Smith does a fantastic job of mixing these tracks. Smith had previously worked with Pulled Apart By Horses and The Cribs which obviously suggests Lines Redacted is purposely going for a more raw, loud and distorted style in comparison to the clean-cut sound of 3D Routine.

The tracks on Lines Redacted fluctuate between moods, there is certainly more variation in this album in comparison to the band’s previous works – from the upbeat Mush we all know and love on tracks like ‘Blunt Instruments’ and ‘Seven Trumpets’, to a much more mellow, melancholic atmosphere on the final track ‘Lines Discontinued’. The album, on the whole, feels much more mellifluous as opposed to the high-energy of previous songs such as ‘Revising My Fee’ for example. ‘Lines Discontinued’ is definitely the standout track on the album, a seven-and-a-half-minute masterpiece which encapsulates everything that is brilliant about Mush. The sudden changes in mood, the tongue-and-cheek lyrics and the absolute excellence of the guitar riffs – it is all present within this track. ‘Lines Discontinued’ only serves as a representation for just how incredible and versatile this band are. 

I was lucky enough to see Mush perform at the album launch of 3D Routine (before the world fell apart) and it simply blows you away to witness such a display of musical brilliance right in front of you – particularly on Lines Redacted, I think Mush have been able to replicate this perfectly within a studio setting. There are no other bands that spring to mind that are comparable to Mush currently, nobody else is doing what Mush are – at least not to the same scale or quality – they are beautifully original, innovative and they are sure to go down as one of the greatest independent bands produced by the city of Leeds. 

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

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. 

Remembering Sam Cooke, the King of Soul

Benjamin Forrest on 9 December 2020

Sam Cooke was undeniably one of the most well-known and influential artists in mid-20th Century America. Rising to fame singing in the gospel group The Soul Stirrers in the early 1950’s before starting an incredibly successful solo career in 1957, Cooke is often hailed as the ‘King of Soul’. Cooke’s success laid the way for soul legends such as Aretha Franklin, Al Green and Marvin Gaye (among countless others) and the influence of Cooke cannot be underestimated within the general history of popular music. His beauteous, effortlessly emotive touched the lives of millions and remains popular to this day, with artists such as Beyoncé covering his work. 

Enjoying much commercial success in the late 50’s, with singles such as ‘You Send Me’, ‘I’ll Come Running Back to You’ and ‘Wonderful World’ gaining a lot of traction in the charts, as Cooke moved into the 1960’s the rise of the Civil Rights Movement inevitably had an influence on Cooke’s work. His greatest work ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ became an anthem for the Civil Rights movement  and was performed for the first and only time of the Tonight Show in February 1964. The song expresses a melancholic hopefulness regarding African American rights, rather than expressing outright anger as many songs of the time did. 

Whilst this politicisation of his music  lost him the support of many white listeners, the issue of Civil Rights was something Cooke was unable to ignore any longer. The events of Little Rock in 1957, the 1961 Freedom Rides, 1963 March on Washington, among other vital events on the timeline of the Civil Rights movement, had caused many African American musicians to become politicised within their music – perhaps most notably Nina Simone and ‘Mississippi Goddamn’ (released 1964). Music as a form of political protest was not a new idea, especially within the issue of Civil Rights, Billie Holiday released ‘Strange Fruit’ in 1939 which was not only an amazing song but also perhaps the first time protest music had been popular since the marching songs of the Civil War. 

The legacy of ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ lives on – the song has been covered by a plethora of legendary artists including Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Lizzo and Beyoncé. The lyrics were even referenced by President Barack Obama after his victory in the 2008 Presidential Election. 

December 11th, 2020 marks 56 years since Cooke’s death, which is still viewed by many as a great injustice. Cooke was shot to death in a sleazy Los Angeles motel by hotel manager and pimp, Bertha Franklin, after an alleged altercation with a 22-year-old woman, Elisa Boyer,  who was later found out to have a record of prostitution. After just a 2-hour inquest into his death, it was ruled justifiable and Franklin was not charged. Whether Cooke had attacked or been violent with either Franklin or Boyer we will never know, but either way you spin it, it is evident that Cooke’s death was not of much note to the LAPD. As boxing icon, and personal friend of Cooke, Muhammed Ali said “If Cooke had been Frank Sinatra, The Beatles or Ricky Nelson the FBI would be investigating…and that woman would be sent to prison”. The facts that Franklin had a record for pimping, and Boyer had been arrested for prostitution were not even known by the LAPD at the time, because they simply did not bother to check – the entire case was open and shut within 2 hours, showing to many that the LAPD simply did not care. Justice was not served. Cooke, in their eyes, was just another dead black man. Furthermore, these attitudes seemingly have not changed within America: Run DMC’s Jam Master Jay, Tupac, and the Notorious B.I.G. were all murdered and none of their murders have ever been solved, largely due to a lack of effort to solve them. These injustices are indicative of the extent of racism within the United States; it does not matter who you are, or how successful you have become, you are just another dead black man to the Police and the courts. 

Nevertheless, Sam Cooke’s spirit lives on through his music, which sounds just as good today as it would have done 60 years ago, the soulfulness of Cooke’s music transcends time and his voice will never grow old. Rightfully hailed as the King of Soul, Cooke still acts as a beacon of hope for anybody and everybody still determined that “a change gonna come”. 

Molchat Doma’s Monument: A gothic snyth-pop dance party

Benjamin Forrest on 19 November 2020

Belarus trio Molchat Doma’s 2018 album ‘Этажи’ was deeply ahead of its time, signified by the fact that it has only recent started gaining traction in the UK (yes thanks, in part, to Tik Tok – but let’s not go there). Nevertheless, the album solidified the band as one of the greatest current post-punk outfits on the planet and, as I see it, ‘Monument’ only goes to further that claim. 

Whilst I adore the band’s previous work, I would have liked to see more evolution in sound between their last album and ‘Monument’, it follows very similar themes and sounds – which is positive given how great their signagture sound is, however I feel as though, if they continue down this path for multiple future albums, the sound is in danger of becoming somewhat stale. For now, though, Molchat Doma still sound incredible, and refreshingly different in comparison to the vast majority of other popular ‘post-punk’ acts at the moment (a lot of whom are beginning to sound identical to each other, leading me to worry that post-punk will become the next ‘indie rock’, but that is a story for another day). 

The album kicks off with Cold War style nightclub banger ‘Utonut’ and doesn’t really lift off after that point, continuing the 80’s style synth, reminiscent of New Order, early Depeche Mode, or Telex, on tracks such as ‘Discoteque’ and ‘Ne Smeshno’. The standout track, for me, would have to be ‘Otveta Net’. The dark, booming voice of vocalist Egor Shkutko compliments the retro drum beat and Roman Komogortsev’s whining guitar tones beautifully to create what, I think, will come to be one of Molchat Doma’s defining tracks when all is said and done. 

Written entirely in quarantine, Monument embraces the darkness and despair, but doesn’t wallow in the sadness like so many others. Instead, the album is a kind of gothic snyth-pop dance party, which fits the mood of lockdown pretty well honestly. It is perhaps one of the few albums that would work equally well at a house party, or a 2:00am bout of deep melancholy. As Shukuto claims in the lyrics to ‘Discoteque’: “I will continue to dance”, that lyric, in my eyes, is a fitting signifier for the entire album: continuing to dance through the darkness and misery of life in 2020. Truthfully, this album could not have come out at a better time, deep into the second period of lockdown everybody is feeling helpless and tired, we all need the moody tones of three Belarusian men to help us forget about our troubles and cry-dance alone in our bedrooms to industrial, cold wave, post-punk synths.

Bad Brains: When Punk Met Reggae (Again)

Roxanna Zoughi on 17 October 2020

Roxanna Zoughi celebrates the legacy of Bad Brains, a hardcore punk band formed in 1977, whose incorporation of reggae and funk distinguished them from other performances of punk.

While acid rock bands like Led Zeppelin dominated the mainstream in the early 70s, there was a different kind of sub-culture growing within Washington D.C.’s underground, characterized by a fast-paced, unrelenting sound that would soon be identified as hardcore. This new sound was beginning to emerge in the late 1970s but had not yet solidified an identity, so when Bad Brains came onto the scene with an experimental fusion of funk and punk, this was a cornerstone in the development of the genre.

Bad Brains formed in 1977 and soon earned a reputation for their explosive live shows, eventually prompting their ban from many venues across the state capital, after which the band fled to New York to freely resume their project. Performances would transition seamlessly from fast-paced punk to slower, bass-heavy reggae lead by H.R.’s versatile vocals, typified by a quick-fire delivery of verse and ranging from guttural tremolos to falsetto shrieks – they could do it all. But Bad Brains weren’t the first instance of a punk and reggae unification. Visually and artistically, both sub-cultures were mutual outcasts whose paths were bound to cross, and soon enough bands like Steel Pulse performed at Rock Against Racism shows alongside Generation X in 1976. But this was more of a side-by-side co-existence of punk and reggae rather than a true fusion of the latter and the newly emerging hardcore sound which had not yet been fully realised – until Bad Brains.

Although the band was influenced by anti-establishment groups like Sex Pistols, they did not seek to emulate the same nihilistic tone in their music which had previously defined the punk sound of the early 70s. In other words, they weren’t simply another punk band intent on protesting their frustrations with the system or helicopter parenting. Instead, Bad Brains promoted the power of PMA (positive mental attitude), a term borrowed from self-improvement book ‘Think and Grow Rich’. “We started kicking PMA in our music, and the message was different than the regular punk rock. You know, a punk rocker can write a song about hate─I hate my mom or some shit, you know? We wasn’t on no shit like that.” tells bassist, Daryl Jenifer, to Jon Kirby in Wax Poetics 2008. The group rejected the pessimistic worldview many punk bands had, and instead embraced a traditional, yet progressive approach to their music and the kind of message they wanted to promote to their listeners, embodied by Positive Mental Attitude.

“We had to come up with an angle […] that would be very radical and creative but then at the same time, traditional. And something that people would be able to relate to.”, recalls vocalist H.R. in 2006 documentary ‘American Hardcore’. The group certainly demonstrated their creative grit in their acclaimed first album ‘Banned in D.C.’ in 1982, which achieved a kind of unsynchronized harmony in the placement of reggae in-between hardcore tracks, taking affect as the calm before (and after) the storm. Punk bands had previously sought to deliver only the storm as they protested their contempt and distrust of authority. But Bad Brains offered a different angle, a new meaning for punk other than the frustrated nihilism of bands before them, whilst at the same time maintaining the musical essentials of the genre. Bad Brains reminded people that punk didn’t have to have a single identity; punk didn’t have to mean sticking it to the man or playing strictly fast tempo heavy music, because it didn’t have to conform to one meaning at all.   

Remembering Eddie Van Halen: Legacy of the Guitar Virtuoso

Roxanna Zoughi on 7 October 2020

Roxanna Zoughi pays tribute to Eddie Van Halen, legendary guitarist of pioneering hard rock band Van Halen, who has died of cancer aged 65.  

Eddie Van Halen is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most innovative musicians of all time, and perhaps the greatest guitarist of his generation, who pioneered the technical advancement of his craft and played by no rulebook in doing so. He has been a huge influence on great modern players who came after him, many of whom paid their respects on social media following the death of their fellow musician and friend, including Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page who posted to Instagram: “He was the real deal: he pioneered a dazzling technique on guitar with taste and panache that I felt always placed him above his imitators.”  

The hard rock sound was first sparked in the mid-60s and bands like The Who had carried its flame well into the mid-70s, until newly emerging acts like Van Halen had begun experimenting with the genre; moving away from the psychedelic and bluesy arrangements some hard rock groups had typically stuck to and instead transformed the sound with an incorporation of pop. And with that, like Hendrix had before him, Eddie made people fall in love with the guitar again.

Eddie had originally considered naming his band after the 7th track of Black Sabbath’s debut album, ‘Rat Salad’ before deciding on his own family name, which unbeknownst to him at the time, would become a household name in rock n’ roll history. Despite being influenced by the Birmingham-born metal band, Van Halen shifted away from Iommi’s moody gothic riffs and went on to produce a vivacious hard rock and pop fusion, reflective of the vibrant southern Californian environment from which it was born. With the release of their self-titled debut album in 1978, the band enjoyed massive success as they sold more than 10 million copies and knocked disco out of its chart top spot. Eddie had proved his musical creativity in melodious opening riffs followed by surprisingly short and straight to the point solos, which despite their briskness, did not in any way belie the self-taught guitarist’s evident talent.

Renowned for their explosive live shows, amplified by David Lee Roth’s vocals and enhanced by Eddie’s athletic and dazzling solos, the group earned a reputation as one of the greatest live performances of rock, and would eventually become one of the top 20 bestselling artists of all time. But Van Halen were not just a band just for rock listeners; Eddie knew how to write great pop songs too. Their ‘1984’ album included some of their biggest hits, namely ‘Jump’, most memorable for its vibrant synth opening perfectly enhanced by Eddie’s shimmering solos.

He can also be credited as the creator of one of the most easily recognizable guitars in rock history, which he dubbed the ‘Frankenstrat’. The instrument sports intersecting black and white lines which cut across a fire red surface, complete with flashing truck reflectors on the back. The freakish creation perfectly mirrored its creator’s equally innovative and experimental musical formulations – an instrument fit for its player no doubt. But Eddie (along with his brother Alex, drummer of Van Halen) was originally classically trained on piano as a young child, which afforded him a wide range of musical skill that allowed him to revolutionize the technical advancement of guitar playing. Eddie’s most notable innovation was perhaps his use of a finger-tapping technique which involved using both hands on the neck of the guitar to produce sound, not so dissimilar to how one would play a piano.

Eddie Van Halen told Guitar World in 1981: “If you’re a musician, you just play until you die. It’s not an ordinary job.”

Photo: Paul Natkin/Getty