Browsing Tag

Manchester Music

The Empty Page affront the new normal with their 90s nostalgia-implanting electro-punk anthem, Dry Ice

Posted on 20 November 2022

Rather than releasing a sonic sign of the stagnant times, The Empty Page protested our drab and dog-eared-with-anxiety modernity by letting pulsating synths guide the way towards 90s nostalgia in their electro-punk hit, Dry Ice.

Lyrically, you’re reminded of how it felt to be stripped of inhibition, sharing the euphoria with strangers long before they could request you on Facebook and never speak to you again and even longer before the pandemic left its mark on our social appetites while the dizzying guitars drop off-kilter momentum around the gravelly pulls of the post-punk bass strings.

It’s a major shift from the Manchester-based outfit’s previous sound that has been lauded by just about everyone that matters. The duo has ventured into their The Julie Ruin era, and we couldn’t be here for it more. After all, synths were the true gateway to punk and DIY (FIGHT ME), and this new anxiously frenetic earworm that will pull Polaroids of strobe-lit hedonism towards your temporal lobe is the ultimate affront to the new normal.

Dry Ice will officially release on November 18th. Watch the official video on YouTube, add it to your Spotify playlists, or support the band by purchasing the single on Bandcamp. 

Follow the Empty Page on Facebook, Instagram & TikTok. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Live Review: The Virginmarys mainlined blues through punk veins with rock & roll reverence on their tour of their EP, Devil Keeps Coming.

Posted on 16 October 2022

The UK live music scene may be on its knees. But on October 15th, a near-capacity crowd flocked to Gorilla in Manchester to kneel at the unholy alter of The Virginmarys as the Macclesfield-hailing band played the home leg on their tour of their critically acclaimed EP, Devil Keeps Coming.

With it being my first Virginmarys show amongst their devout fans, I was unsure of their ability to cut through the usual awkwardness of live music in the new normal. From the very first note of The Meds, any sense of cynicism slipped away. The crowd was instantaneously thrown into animation. Yet evidently, this was no average punk rock pit. Euphoria fuelled the momentum in place of the usual boozy weight-throwing aggravation. Something I’ve scarcely seen unless Riot Grrrl icons and their descendants are gracing the stage. As a testament to how much adoration The Virginmarys garner from their fans, one couple made the 3,000+ mile journey from Ohio to witness the deafening duo tearing up the turf in their hometown.

One thing I will never forget is how it wasn’t just the blues mainlined through punk veins with holy rock n roll reverence that gripped the crowd through the symbiotic dynamism between Ally’s guitars and Danny’s Bonham-Esque drum fills. In every direction, I saw how viscerally the lyricism resonated and psyched the crowd into a frenzy through the wit-deep lines that strip the alienation from political disillusion and mental precariousness.

The acoustic rendition of Sleep was also a tear-jerking memorable feat of the hit-after-hit setlist, which forwent the egocentric inclusion of an encore. I’m fairly convinced that in Ally’s past life, he was a tortured soul from Tennessee. His uninhibited songwriting skills are only matched by his ability to get to the crux of emotions that mostly go unspoken.

If you get a chance to catch them on the remaining legs of their UK tour, take it. You won’t regret it.

Artist Links: Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Twitter.

Live Review by Amelia Vandergast

Laeeqa verses a lesson in mindful moderation in her stylistic neo-soul single, BALANCE

Posted on 18 September 2022

Leeds-born, Manchester-based musician and model, Laeeqa, taught a lesson in mindful moderation in her latest blend of neo-soul, RnB, jazz and reggae, BALANCE. Always an advocate for mental health, the artist that effortlessly embodies femininity in her soulful vocal flows makes it easy to see why so many have connected with her sound, which is just as vibrantly arresting as the image she puts before the world.

With her vocals intricately in sync with the mellifluous instrumentals which mesmerizingly spill trippy yet tranquil RnB emboldening ambience, BALANCE is one hell of a luxe aural aesthetic.

Along with playing in some of Manchester’s most iconic venues, Laeeqa’s music has also been in heavy rotation with BBC Introducing and 1Xtra; if you’re sleeping on her at this point, you may as well be in a coma.

Check out the video for BALANCE by heading over to YouTube.

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

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

Secret Agent – Moros En La Costa: The Psy Spy Who Surfed Me

Posted on 6 May 2022
MOROS EN LA COSTA - EP by SECRET AGENT

After branching out from being the gorilla glue of the Manchester music scene, Golden Believers Records International couldn’t have chosen a better inaugural outfit to advocate on our Brexit-blighted shores than the Mexican ‘psyspyinstrosurf’ originators, Secret Agent.

Their latest mostly instrumental EP, Moros En La Costa, is the kind of cinematically immersive feat of authenticity the average CD-buyer laments about not existing anymore. The conceptual album focuses on the espionage practices used from the cold war to the present day. While that sounds like a serotonin sucker, there’s nothing but escapist reverie here.

With no lyrics to get in the way in the majority of the tracks, you’re left with enough space to metaphysically make yourself the main protagonist in the Spy-Spaghetti Western while the warm shimmering psych surf rock elements amplify the chill of the colder post-punk tones that are always lingering to bring the overarching sense of trepidation.

If Twin Peaks’ Agent Cooper found himself across the border, I’m fairly certain the title single would be reflective of his sonic-inner monologue. The sense of intrepid espionage heightens with track two, Man in the Middle, which picks up the pace, a fair amount of sun-bleached spacey intrigue, and an almost Whovian sense of aural alchemy.

Loaded Gun, featuring vocals from Daniel Gutiérrez, is the surfy, psychy equivalent to Charles Bukowski’s infamous “love is a dog from hell” proclamation. With the hooky lyric “I need a loaded gun because I’m falling in love”, the riotous track finds a succinct way of alluding to the snake pits we throw ourselves into in the name of affection, and our proclivity to do it anyway because there is nothing like that particular poison.

Following Loaded Gun, Stasi Romeo is the calm after the visceral storm. Kompromat serves as the final standoff, and Moros En La Costa (Reprise) is the final psychedelic farewell with synths so phantasmal that they will probably need an exorcism when they next get serviced.

Honestly, I scarcely had an autonomous thought in the entire duration of the EP. And these days, accolades don’t get much better than that.

Check out Secret Agent on Bandcamp, Spotify & Facebook.

Moros En La Costa will be released via Golden Believers Records International on May 13th; pre-order & grab a copy here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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