Livin' Friel

There is an absolute corker of a tour hitting the UK next month. One of my all time favourite bands, Lightning Bolt, is playing a show at Electric Ballroom in London alongside the excellent doomers Om. But the tour continues throughout Europe with another excellent act - the playful noisenik Dan Friel. He has proven his acrobatic musical chops with Parts & Labor, but there is something with the way Friel's frenetic effects burn and fizz in aural technicolour that ups the ante considerably - imagine a Final Fantasy game scored by by a fried and gagged Dan Deacon. What's more, his new album Life includes a Joanna Gruesome cover - how great is that! Oh, you want even more awesomeness. The new video for 'Rattler' includes a bunch of toddlers losing their shit, an infant glitter rave in Heaven. Pre-order Life here.

Trying Not To Be Spooked Or Schooled

I have been the sole inhabitant on Planet Masala for some time now – Paul and Ani fled some time ago, and Fred is too busy playing with the cool kids to hang out in the basement (AKA life). That said, Fred still lurks around the Records side of things, and I always hope to entice him into doing the rare obtuse review. One of the first he did for Sonic Masala was for Edinburgh band The Spook School. They return this month with new record Try To Be Hopeful (out through Fire Records) and it stays true to form, offering cantankerous guitar pop that still focuses squarely on being different, and how that is awesome. Having thrashed things out in the bustling UK queer punk scene (which sees the likes of Teenage Caveman and As Ondas plying their trade), it is clear that the four-piece are just as indebted to Joanna Gruesome and C86 navel-gazing, especially on the buoyant noise that permeates hook-laden tracks like ‘Friday Night’. The album opens with ominous named ‘Burn Masculinity’, but isn’t as subversive and evasive as this may sound – it’s a blast. Yes, The Spook School is being more upfront lyrically when it comes to exploring sexual identity and how labels can be still so arduously constricting and caustic. This is evident in vocalist Nye Todd's physical presence too - going through a trans identity transference, which has seen his voice change over the course of the recording process. A true transformation in more ways than one, Try To Be Hopeful is ebullient, a joyous kicking out at the pricks and embracing of the awkward, the marginalised, and being proud of it. This is mostly encompassed by 'Binary', a propulsive rocker gem that questions gender norms and embraces the messiness of it all. I'm thinking that I'm hexadecimal, indeed.

Nothing Gruesome About Peanut Butter

English twee noiseniks Joanna Gruesome are becoming a stronger band every time I hear them. Their gig at the Dome with Perfect Pussy was quite frankly one of the most fun, exuberant and loud experiences I’ve had in the past eighteen months – and I still feel they haven’t hit top speed yet. They are on the cusp of launching second LP Peanut Butter onto the world (through Fortuna Pop!, Slumberland and Turnstile worldwide). The band somehow manages to imbue their innocent pop hooks with angular aggression and possessive punk trashiness, a concoction that I would have thought impossible had these guys not been in existence. Peanut Butter is a curt, abrasive, yet sunny bolter, out of the gates and over the horizon after twenty-five minutes. The ten songs here are stuffed so full of hooks, hilarity and hellion yells that they each feel like individualised muffins that pulsate from within, ready to detonate in sugary destruction at any moment. ‘Honestly Do Yr Worst’ is the best example of this – the ambling amiability of the majority of this hook-laden is cut with some abbreviated screaming scuzziness, which just further underscores the warmth inherent within. The sweetness of ‘Jamie (Luvver)’ takes one by surprise, being one of the most straightforward pop songs you can expect to hear from these guys. But the acerbic nature of the gang hasn’t dried up – the sardonic serration of ‘Crayon’, the thumping intro to ‘I Don’t Wanna Relax’ and the explosive ‘Psykick Espionage’ kick arse.

Pick up Peanut Butter here. Joanna Gruesome are belatedly launching the album around the place in September - more on that closer to the dates.

A Gruesome Mantles Slumber Party

(Mantles pic by David Armstrong)

A tenuous connection to Halloween, I know, but what the hell. Two new releases coming out of the Slumberland stable I am pretty happy with.

The first is Brit snotty punks Joanna Gruesome, whose 'Psykick Espionage' is part of a split 7" with Perfect Pussy. It's equal parts angular, aggressive, bubbly and innocent - what these guys do so well. The two bands play together at London's Tufnell Park Dome this Thursday (Nov 6) - don't miss it.



Then there is 'Memory', the new single from SF guitar-pop gurus The Mantles. It's bouncy with a countrified twang, but what I like most about it is the hip-jagging groove. Lose yourself then go pre-order the 7" here.

Getting Gruesome And Weird With Joanna

Noise pop can mean so many things. For Cardiff five-piece Joanna Gruesome, though, it is probably the most fitting "label" anyone can give them - they carve out the sweetest sounding tunes before deep-frying them in dissonance, speed and epileptic glee. They have been around for a while, yet Weird Sister is only their debut LP. It's so worth the wait - I put it on being a moderate fan, and four songs in needed them in my life for the rest of eternity. Slumberland records have gone in cahoots with Fortuna POP! to put this one out, and it's the perfect marriage - the soft, lilting vocals buoyed on top of a distorted maelstrom of crashing calamity - The Wedding Present on steroids and sherbet. Its like eating a red-eye pepper chocolate - so sweet and tasty, then the kick has you sweating profusely, your tastebuds freaking out - you are in pain, oh so glorious pain - even as you grab another handful and cram them in your mouth. It swings into straight up punk in parts - 'Graveyard' is the most obvious one there - yet even it flirts with twee plaintiveness before slamming the foot on the gas once more. There have been some electric albums this year, but I'm hard pressed to name one thus far that had me thrashing about with an idiotic grin aching my face muscles. don't get me wrong - some of the subject matter here is morbid and strange - but this is a communal purge, an avenue to let all the bad stuff out. Weird as this sister may be, Joanna Gruesome is without a doubt a cool customer who is a hell of a lot of fun to be around.

You can buy Weird Sister here.

Holding Ides Forever In Prisms

Man, I've fallen hard for this song. Whilst Saturday was all about White Hills and Houndstooth, and Sunday was chilling on the Porch(es.) with Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk, I was always coming back to 'Prisms', the new single from Ides (AKA Alanna McArdle from Joanna Gruesome, who also have a new-ish track out) as part of Art Is Hard Records' Postcard Club. The step-up in production values (her earlier stuff is considerably lo-fi, and whilst the earnestness is evident, McArdle's power is somewhat muted) is a huge improvement, and instead of a maudlin curiosity we have a behemoth of heart wrenching capabilities. Think of Low's 'Laser Beam' from Things We Lost In The Fire - McArdle has that haunted delivery that Mimi Parker embodies, so when she sings It was over before it began you are lost at sea, never to return.

I seriously cannot explain how much this track has blindsided me. If Ides only launches this song before Joanna Gruesome swallows up McArdle whole, it won't matter - 'Prisms' is a minor masterpiece.

You can get 'Prisms' from AIH's Postcard Club here. Ides is playing the UK's B's (Bristol, Brighton, Bournemouth) in August and finishing up with the AIH festival in London August 31st.

It's Not Hard To Make An Artful Family Portrait

Those wily sons o' guns over at Art Is Hard Records have a juicy release out (aren't they all?). Surprisingly only their second vinyl release, Family Portrait is a four band split between Grunge pop heathens Gum, Cardiff rough and ready indie types Joanna Gruesome, noise pop duo Playlounge and super sweet faux-tweesers KEEL HER, with each band contributing two tracks. These four bands are part of a greater "movement" in southern England, one where bands bond strongly, cover each other's songs and even swap members from time to time. And despite the disparity of the tracks on paper, this is a surprisingly cohesive record, chock full of effortless hooks and rambunctious melodies, all with the grand design to get people moving. If only all family portraits were this luridly addictive, rather than akin to getting a vasectomy with a blowtorch, then that old cliche of world peace may be just that little bit closer to reality. Maybe these four bands should tour the hotspots of the world...

You can pre-order Family Portrait here. They are drip-feeding these tracks onto Soundcloud, so listen below to what great stuff these kids have to offer.