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Manchester

The Battery Farm – A Working Class Lad: Hell Hath No Fury Like a Modernity-Scorned Manchester Punk Powerhouse

Posted on 5 August 2022

‘A Working Class Lad’ is the first single to timely ooze from The Battery Farm’s forthcoming debut album FLIES. I say timely; it was the first song I listened to after hearing that Rishi Sunak had been sneaking money out of the budgets of deprived areas in the UK. We should all be PISSED. How pissed? Try matching the Manchester punk raconteurs of volition; there’s no one else on my radar that would make a better soundtrack for the overdue UK revolution.

Of all lyrical concepts, one that allows you to voyeur the conflict between identity, shame, confusion and class has to be one of the hardest to get right. There’s almost nothing more uncomfortable to me than the dissonance in celebrating the exploitation of our labour. Thankfully, The Battery Farm is about 100 IQ points above scribbling about working-class pride and becoming just another piece in the propagandist machine.

While the broiled and gnarled punk instrumentals and Ben Corry’s signature non-lexical rally cries bring the vexed energy, the simplicity of the lyrics triggers your oppressed contempt. I’m assuming everyone with a sense of sentience and a working-class status will have some; if not, I want the details of your lobotomist.

A Working Class Lad is out on all streaming platforms and a limited edition cassette on Rare Vitamin Records. The debut album FLIES is out on all platforms on Rare Vitamin Records on 18th November.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

reharbour lay his soul bare in the melodic hooks in his debut ‘Without You’

Posted on 14 June 2022

It is one thing to release a heart-wrenchingly honest single as an established artist; doing it for a debut release is quite another. British singer-songwriter reharbour (Thomas Shearwood) was bold enough to lay it all down on the melodic hooks of his first genre-mashing single, Without You.

What starts as a sombrely intimate indie ballad starts to unravel as a massive electro indie-pop production, which will undoubtedly be a hit with the artist’s main influences,  Bon Iver, London Grammar, and The 1975,

All the way through the accordant earworm, there are affirmations of sincerity, but there isn’t a hint of earnestness in the upraisingly bitter-sweet single which takes you through euphoric electronic builds and arresting 80s rock riffs.

With an EP in the pipeline, save a space on your radar.

You can check out reharbour’s debut single via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Manchester’s Dakota Avenue cry out for sanctity in their indie anthem, Slap Me Silly

Posted on 3 June 2022

No feeling can compare to hearing a sentiment that you’ve only ever heard reverberating around the most private corners of your mind versed through compassionately honeyed vocals. And that is exactly what the Manchester-based outfit, Dakota Avenue, delivers through their latest single, Slap Me Silly. Far from a masochistic howl into the void, Slap Me Silly claws into the soul-biting issue of needing someone that knows you enough to offer a firm guiding hand to pull you back into a state of sanctity.

It is about time Manchester’s music scene stopped being defined by nostalgia and started to revolve around the contemporary crafted resonance delivered by acts as energizingly profound as Dakota Avenue. Their indie jangle-pop melodies, cataclysmic crescendos and 80s-inspired synths are a hotbed of evocatively charged stylised alchemy.

But Dakota Avenue certainly hasn’t failed to gain traction; they’ve garnered radio play from Amazing Radio and XS Manchester, performed live sessions for BBC Introducing and played to thousands at festivals, and garnered critical acclaim from across the board. As a fellow Mancunian, I wouldn’t hesitate to sell Dakota Avenue as one of the hottest acts this side of the Mersey.

Slap Me Silly is due for official release on June 3rd; check it out for yourselves here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Flying Oceans lit up the Manchester music scene with their soul-stirring funk-rock fusion, Circles

Posted on 26 May 2022
Flying Oceans

The Manchester music scene became infinitely richer for the latest release from the funk-rock pioneers, Flying Oceans. If you can imagine what it would have sounded like if Incubus abstracted their plaintiveness and implanted unbridled soul, you will get an idea of the stirring alchemy that Circles delivered.

With the guitars consistently transitioning between roots-deep funk chops and jangly Marr-Esque rhythm and the seductively low basslines bringing just as much gravitas as Mr Bungle’s, Circles has all the makings of a playlist staple for anyone that wants to find a slice of aural solace in our disjointing times where it’s all but impossible to find rhyme or reason away from the airwaves.

Hear Flying Oceans’ latest single, Circles, here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Post-punk goes guitar pop in Furrowed Brow’s latest feat of sonic theatre, I Threw The Bathwater Out

Posted on 25 May 2022

We ‘witnessed’ a Furrowed Brow gig in Manchester the other week, and we say ‘witnessed’ because we felt like an accessory to some kind of strange event, like sneaking into an ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ type cult affair without the correct passwords.

These Manchester typ(k)es saw us slightly affronted by the spectacle of a ‘Drummer in a Kaftan’ (sung to the tune of ‘Vicar in a Tutu’?) who smashed the tom and snare (no kick drum) like he was Bobby Gillespie circa 1985 in JAMC. All fronted by a snarky/sarcy singer that reminded us of Richey Manic snogging the Divine David and three awesome artists (guitar, bass, keys) that frankly held that shit together like their lives depended on it.

Think Earl Brutus meets Felt in a Britpop toilet cubicle whilst Jarvis Cocker takes bad coke with Morrissey in the next cubby.  I think you get the drift.

The new single ‘I Threw The Bathwater Out’ is classic c86 style guitar pop echoes, sort of David Gedge fronting ‘Fire’ era Pulp. But it’s really just the tip of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic because the live show is a must-see riotous affair with early Fall style energy mixing wit and irony with the ultimate broadside of a spot-on cover of Johnathan Richman’s 50-year-old Modern Lovers’ classic ‘I’m Straight’.

Not only was it funnier than the original, but it suddenly makes more sense in these gender-fluid times. Instead of singing about ‘Hippy Johnny’ and his stoned antics, the narrator’s declaration of ‘I’m Straight’ now has much more meaningful cultural resonance with ‘Hipster Johnny’ and his ‘paedophile moustache’ completely trumping the original antagonists’ comparatively lame crimes of basically liking to smoke weed.

I guess what we’re saying is, buy the single and go to the next live show. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

Artist Links: Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp, Instagram.

Review by James Cook

Irish RnB artist Donohue let’s us in on dynamic debut track, ‘Solo’

Posted on 25 April 2022

Showing us that he is here and never going to let anyone bring him down, Donohue sends us into a happier state of mind with a debut single to remember called, ‘Solo‘.

Donohue is an 18-year-old Galway, Ireland-born, Manchester, UK-based indie RnB solo artist who is a true entertainer at heart and is clearly ready for the big time.

”Donohue looks to bring a timeless style of music back to the forefront by blending influences from Prince, Stevie Wonder and D’Angelo, with his own modern, musical sensibilities.” ~ Donohue

Inspired by so many different genres and with a confident perspective that has him thriving when others are doubting, Donohue will have you dancing and getting into the mood to reach your goals no matter what barriers are in your way.

”Donohue was lucky to be given a wide musical palette at a young age, listening to everything from Bach to the Beatles, from Jazz to Folk.” ~ Donohue

‘Solo‘ from Galway, Ireland-born, Manchester, UK-based indie RnB solo artist Donohue is a catchy track that is loaded with quality and freshly-toned vocals that send you into a new stratosphere of delight. His voice sounds ravenous for more, as we are placed into a world packed with potential, from a young musician who seems absolutely fearless. With live music back globally and venues opening their doors again, he seems to have chosen the perfect time to launch himself into our consciousness.

Real music with soul, is always welcome.

Listen up to this new single on Spotify and see more on his IG page.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

The Salfordian duo, Yakumama, scuzzed it up for their garage rock debut, Let Me Out Alive

Posted on 27 March 2022

‘Let Me Out Alive’ is the scuzzy indie garage rock debut single from the enigmatically volatile Salfordian duo, Yakumama. They’ve already caught the attention of Radio X with their promising debut that carries the buzz and the bounce of Mudhoney, the effortlessly cool swagger of Kyuss and the efficaciously sharp hooks that demand repeat attention.

The Manchester music scene has been crying out for new artists that rock the indie assimilator apple cart with their off-kilter ingenuity. Yakumama does exactly that with their post-punk nuances and the chaos that breeds at the mercy of their guitar pedals and their vicious power-pop vocal lines.

We already can’t wait to hear what is in the pipeline after this gothy plea for hope and mercy that was written to shake listeners out of moving with the tide.

Let Me Out Alive is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Weimar started an art-rock riot in their off-kilter ode to the glamour of the American Dream in ‘The Girls of LA’

Posted on 27 March 2022

Manchester’s most Avant-Garde art-rock collective, Weimar, came in with all glamorous guns blazing in their latest single, The Girls of LA, which increased the anticipation of the things to come in their eagerly awaited debut album, Dancing on a Volcano.

With a shift from their usual baroque post-punk style, The Girls of LA is a departure from what the airwaves acquiesced to before but Weimar knew exactly what they were doing by bringing this riotous bop-worthy track to the aural table in turbulent times. Sonic escapism doesn’t come much sweeter than when its off the back of the sunset strip.

The energy parallels that of the most enlivening tracks by the Ramones but with their signature artful gravitas, its proto-punk as you’ve never known it before. As the lyrics reflect on the high-class American dream, the endlessly off-kilter instruments drive up the discord into infectious heights. It has all the makings of an alt-rock earworm paired with the finesse of a muso’s Achilles heel.

Girls of LA will officially release on March 25th; you can check it out by heading to SoundCloud and Weimar’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Manchester’s most ethereal synth-folk artist, Test Card Girl, is transcendent in her latest single, Fly

Posted on 2 March 2022

From the definitive home of UK indie, the Manchester-based synth-folk artist, Test Card Girl, is here with their intricately alternative Kraftwerk-inspired single, Fly.

Her choral folk vocals float into the slightly Avant-Garde, endlessly ethereal electronica progressions as the lyrics navigate the stir craziness that lockdown stirred inside all of us. In their own words, “It is a rallying cry to stand up and walk to nowhere”, inspired in part by the colliery bands in British mining towns.

With Seadna McPhail (Airtight Studios) on production and the I am Kloot drummer, Andy Hargreaves, responsible for production, this Arts Council-funded single was worth every penny. There really is no understating how much its gentle gravitas cuts straight to the core of frustration while exploring art in the context of desolation.

Fly, the second single from Test Card Girl’s debut EP, was released on February 25th. You can hear it for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud, Spotify and Bandcamp.

Keep up to date with new releases from Test Card Girl by following on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Life is but a dark dream in Fox Evades’ latest indie-pop single, Strange Forever

Posted on 27 February 2022

If you ever needed definitive proof that no city breeds dark indie like Manchester, delve into the atmosphere in Fox Evades’ latest single, Strange Forever.

With a beguiling vocal style reminiscent of Jo Bevan from Desperate Journalist paired with the instrumentals that will remind you why you fell for post-punk and new wave in the first place, Strange Forever is an indulgent hit of tonal nostalgia.

When it comes to the substance in this viscerally evocative confession, Fox Evades well and truly stands in a league of their own. There comes a time in every outlier’s life when we acknowledge that we will never grow into normalcy; Strange Forever captures those cutting feelings while unifying the similarly minded with the lyrical affirmation that it’s a choice to be alone.

Strange Forever will officially release on February 25th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast