5th June 2023

The Nude Party – Somebody Tryin’ To Hoodoo Me

This weeks half dozen new music selections is taking a slight detour to reflect on some of the best live performances I have seen over the previous two months. In fact this weekend just gone was a highlight of the year thus far having attended the Red Rooster Festival and catching The Nude Party live for the first time and finding the supremacy I have previously raved about on vinyl also translates to the live arena, they surely are one of the best things happening in music today aren’t they? Three albums in and an absolute treasure trove of a catalogue is already building up. None of the clips I highlight today are from the actual gigs I attended (I never stand a gig with my phone held up filming I’m afraid, I get too into the music for that) but they are all good examples of the acts playing live in 2023 so here for starters are the Nude Party playing one of the many stand-outs from new New West Records album ‘Rides On’…

Fantastic Negrito – Oh Betty

This one represents another fresh-in-my-memory joyous experience from Red Rooster Festival, the Friday night main stage headliner Fantastic Negrito. Seen here with a blistering live version of an astounding song on last years Storefront Records released ‘White Jesus Black Problems’ album, he is surely ripe for a favourable comparison to Prince? It is all there in the lane swapping energy he exudes drinking from the deep well of blues, soul and spiritual music whilst firing out a sound and attitude that is wholly his own creation, what a star…

BC Camplight – The Last Rotation Of Earth

I wrote a little about my delight in catching BC Camplight live in a very intimate pub venue only a couple of weeks ago in June’s Monthly Playlist article. When I posted that there was very little I could find in the way of filmed performances of this current solo-piano tour he is playing but happily now this recent clip has emerged offering a nice taste of how favourably Brian’s songwriting gift is responding to such close, uncluttered scrutiny; truly one of the best songsmith’s on the current circuit…

Pokey LaFarge – Rotterdam

The Pokey show I caught at the start of his UK visit a few weeks back was a real throwback of the most satisfying kind. Reflecting on what was so wonderful about the show it is hard not to pull similarly vintage compliments like ‘professionalism’ and ‘musicianship’ out of the bag and there is something in that; the style he possesses, the charming panache of his presentation and the natural flair in his bands playing is not down to luck, they have worked at being this good and it shows. This is where I sometimes feel a little out of step with the conventional rock/alt music critics of the UK; yes I like punk and see how it was a welcome grenade on a seventies scene that was in danger of becoming too indulgent and bland, but I have never treated punk as the ‘Year 0’ that some do and neither do I think that being musically eloquent, proficient, knowledgeable or progressive are bad things, especially when used to make fresh sounds in the way an act like Pokey LaFarge does. Hold on too tightly to that (Lamacq endorsed) attitude and you end up believing dross like Fontaines DC and The Murder Capital are where its at and believe me, as much as I acknowledge everything has a place, I would not want to end up there! This is a far better music zone where the sounds are alive with pleasure…

Chuck Prophet – You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp)

Now that I have lost the chicken-in-a-bucket yelping landfill indie readers with my previous paragraph, here is another taste of a Red Rooster Festival highlight that I was grooving to as recently as Saturday evening. I thought there was a purity to Chuck Prophet’s set, something nourishingly satisfying about an early evening performer coming to the stage offering “no bullshit, no gimmicks, no backing tapes, just simple entertainment” and making good on his promise. There was a natural confidence in his Nick Cave meets Tom Petty vibe, a seasoned patina that referenced both the electric 21st century Bob Dylan sound and the classic Springsteen rock of the past half century which simultaneously made us happy and feel something real. This is a recent live clip that only gives a glimpse to the Chuck experience but his audience slaying manner does shine bright, especially as he plays straight down the lens of what I assume to be a camera phone capturing this…

The Mock Tudors – Bin Day

Yes I have featured this exact same song once before earlier in the year but again, I am limited to the selection of recent live performance clips I can find online and this band do not have anywhere near enough (thus far). Nevertheless, I cannot miss The Mock Tudrors out of a run down on my stand-out live experiences of 2023 up to today. Yes I had enjoyed what I heard well enough back in the winter months but this band mean so much more when you see them live. Everything about their goofy and droll live show will put a smile on your face and like the other two bands I grinned inanely from ear-to-ear whilst watching this year (Half Man Half Biscuit and Shonen Knife), they have some pretty damn shit hot tunes to go with the irreverence. Catch all of these if you can…

24th April 2023

The Routes – No Good

For my money the most vital and punchy sounding pop music still sounds like it was made in a garage in the sixties, that template and energy are a design classic. There is a reason why fresh young bands are still making that sound today whilst Freddie & The Dreamers or Herman’s Hermits soundalikes are nowhere to be found. Stylistically the idea of ‘popular’ music has evolved into something different, it is only in my head unfortunately that records like this are troubling the ‘top ten’ but who really cares about that stuff nowadays anyway? The Routes are Japanese renegades based a long way south of Tokyo in the mountains of Oita who actually first formed twenty years ago as The Facials, so maybe my use of the word ‘young’ is stretching it a little. Their journey may have been a bit off/on in those years, with some inevitable line-up changes along the way, but their recently released ‘Lead Lined Clouds’ album on Soundflat Records demonstrates that none of the raw power that first ignited them into action has been lost, quite the opposite in fact, this is pure primitive pop excellence…

Josienne Clarke – Anyone But Me

Josienne Clarke’s musical journey has seen a massive gear change after busting out of an acclaimed folk duo set-up which appears to have collapsed for her both creatively and personally. The way she is fighting back from that deserves attention as her solo music of recent times feels so honest and committed. Part of that regeneration is on display with latest album ‘Onliness’, released on Corduroy Punk Records, as Josienne revisits songs from throughout her back pages offering them up for reinterpretation and some spectacular relighting. That is especially true of this song; the accompanying video is a black and white, tense and vintage style delight. I love the humour buried in the details, just look at the headlines on the back of the newspaper relating to football and cricket. As a fan of both I probably shouldn’t find such a blatant dig at my two favourite sports so funny, but when an artist is expressing themselves as eloquently as Josienne Clarke today, then you just sit back and give them the floor…

BAILEN – Call It Like It Is

Here are a band of siblings out of New York with a genuinely infectious tune built around a simple clubby bass and drum groove, brought to life by a gritty lead vocal married to a melody that leaves its insistent imprint in your head. BAILEN are Julia Bailen on vocals and guitar, David Bailen on vocals and drums and Daniel Bailen on vocals and bass. They describe ‘Call It like It Is’ from the new album ‘Tired Hearts’ as “an anthem for anyone who refuses to be taken advantage of. It unmasks the ugly truth behind shiny veneers.” Sometimes simplicity exposes a lack of ideas, other times it is a strength when a song is so good it blossoms on the core elements alone, ‘Call It Like It Is’ is definitely the latter…

The Nude Party – Cherry Red Boots

This North Carolina sextet are releasing their third album, ‘Rides On’, on New West Records and the great news is that none of the rollicking good-time Americana vibes they are noted for have fallen away. If anything they are even more loaded with the good stuff today. Listening to The Nude Party for the first time in 2018 was a joyous experience as it felt like I should be marking every single song as an album highlight. The same thing happened with ‘Rides On’, their secret seems to be that in addition to bottling satisfying echoes of The Rolling Stones and The Byrds, they overload us with fantastic new songs just as they are overwhelming us with denim in this new video. The songwriting is where so many bands with reference points to the past fall short, but The Nude Party are shining bright today with good reason…

Gramercy Arms – Yesterday’s Girl

This is a stripped back acoustic performance from Gramercy Arms of a song featuring as the opening track on the collective’s new third album ‘Deleted Scenes’, released on the Magic Door Record Label. The bittersweet sound of Big Star is unmistakable on this duet between Dave Derby and Renee Lo Bue, which should come as no surprise as the modus operandi of Gramercy Arms is all about the hazy sunset sounds of America’s greatest sunshine pop mixed with gorgeous, happy/sad acoustic melancholy. The project leaves plenty of space for collaboration too, in fact this song was a co-write with Lloyd Cole, so with an abundance of influences and influencers thrown into the melting pot, the Gramercy Arms project remains a subtle little indiepop delight smoking out of the cracks in the US music scene…

Lakecia Benjamin – New Mornings

The New York alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin is working a look with more than a casual nod to the futuristic cutting edge worn by Miles Davis at the onset of the 1970s in this live performance clip. With her band she plays one of the stand out pieces from new album ‘Phoenix’, released on Whirlwind Recordings, a stunning follow up to 2020’s ‘Pursuance: The Coltranes’ and a very welcome return after a serious 2021 car accident left her with a broken jaw, broken ribs, a perforated ear drum, concussion and presumably multiple concerns for her music career. Not only that but the Covid pandemic left a devastatingly tragic toll on Lakecia’s family. But as the album title suggests, it was music fuelling her momentum on the road to recovery as, in tandem with a striking visual presentation, she continues to make some of the most vital sounding Jazz on the scene today which ‘Phoenix’ testifies so stylishly…