Singles and EPs | Aural Aggravation

Archive for the ‘Singles and EPs’ Category

Watch: ‘Same Rules’ by Chat Pile

Posted: 11 August 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: Alternative Rock, Chat Pile, doom scrollng, havy, HEALTH, knowledge, Noise, Official music video, reading, Same Rules, Single, Stream, The Flemser, Tour Dates, Who Loves The Sun

Chat Pile’s heralded debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavour of dread, and their 2024 LP Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence. Now, Chat Pile return with Who Loves the Sun, an album that peels back the skin on how a collective indifference for a decaying world defines this new century.

Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities as a result of inaction on climate change, the dread of working dead-end jobs, and the species’ collective submission to data-driven inauthenticity, Who Loves the Sun depicts the common experience of existing in a doom loop which feeds the malaise that permeates all aspects of our lives.

The album”s latest single ‘Same Rules’ is lyrically and sonically as aggressive and confrontational as ever, but Chat Pile approach songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones. Bassist Stin says it’s the “…first real Chat Pile song mostly recorded on 4-track cassette. Ray B. had given us the challenge to write a trip hop song and this is what we came up with. Unfortunately he’s rejected ‘Same Rules’ from the challenge as he claims it’s not trip hop at all and that we have to try again. Perhaps we’ll get it right next time.”

Reaching into the collective consciousness to commiserate and carouse, Chat Pile dissect how the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence is an active, slow-motion apocalypse, threads of which are woven through the album. Vocalist Ray B. adds: “Everyone needs to read as much as possible. There is so little emphasis put on knowledge right now— it is your most important tool. Engagement with the world might lead to death, but shutting off and staring at your phone all day is suicide.”

Since Chat Pile’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet has grown from a scrappy passion project of four local film and music enthusiasts into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground.

Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums)’s crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock resonates in a cracked reality. Their music captures a raw, undeniably human essence that’s increasingly fleeting in an age marked by ceaseless torrents of algorithmic slop, technological overreach, and the cold, crestfallen state of society. Nothing about their forthcoming third LP, Who Loves the Sun, feels synthetic. In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answers with something defiantly real and organic.

Live dates:

UK/EU
08/11 – Vienna, AT – Arena (supporting HEALTH and Carpenter Brut)
08/12 – Munich, DE – Live/Evil ~
08/14 – Col Du Lein, CH – Palp Festival
08/17 – London, UK – Bush Hall ~ SOLD OUT
08/19 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~ SOLD OUT
08/20 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~ SOLD OUT
08/22 – Bristol, UK – Arctangent Festival
08/23 – Hasselt, BE – Pukkelpop Festival

09/12 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre = (SISU Fundraiser Fest)
09/17 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue +^
09/19 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest
09/20 – Englewood, CO – The Gothic Theatre +&
09/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Metro Music Hall + &
09/25 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo + &
09/27 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall + &
09/29 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades +
09/30 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom + &
10/03 – San Diego, CA – Music Box + &
10/04 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco + &
10/06 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater + &
10/08 – Austin, TX – Radio/East + &
10/09 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall + &
10/10 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater + &
11/05 – Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre + %
11/06 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre + %
11/08 – Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall + %
11/10 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel + %
11/11 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer + %
11/12 – Washington, DC – Black Cat + %
11/14 – Charlotte, NC – Underground + %
11/15 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade + %
11/16 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl + %
11/18 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall + %
11/20 – Indianapolis, IN – Deluxe at Old National Centre + %
11/21 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall + %
11/22 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada + %

~ with Ragana
+ with Soul Glo
^ with Prize Horse
& with Virga
% with Shallowater
= with Portrayal of Guilt, Nightosphere, Traindodge, Primal Brain

Photo credit: Ryan Lawson

Bug Facer – Nuclear Bounty Hunter / Beggar’s Last Words

Posted: 10 August 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
Tags: Beggar’s Last Words, Bug Facer, Doom, download, Experimental, Nuclear Bounty Hunter, Psychedelic, Punk, Riff, Single, Sludge, Stream, waltz, Weird

Warren Records – 7th July 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

I’ve written extensively on the topic of formats before, and having grown up in the 80s and 90s when the physical single was still a dominant format – in particular the 7” single, which could be purchased cheaply (and with wide availability on the high street from not just Our Price and HMV, but also Woolworths and WH Smith) for a quid or two, the whole experience of the A-side and B-side, or a double-A-side is scored into my psyche. Most digital singles now only contain one track, and while I get it, it’s just not the same – and nor is paying a tenner or more for a lathe-cut limited edition of twenty. It feels as if the market has split in directions which are diametric opposites, and neither is particularly satisfying.

The latest release from Hull’s Bug Facer manages a satisfactory compromise, in the current economic climate: a digital single release with two tracks for four quid. Because another thing that’s largely been forgotten is that the cost of production of a physical release is not all of the cost involved – in fact it’s only a fraction. A studio, an engineer, a producer, all cost. Rehearsal space. PR. And so on. All of these things are expenses involved in being a band and recording and releasing music. This is the reason that Spotify sickens me, and the culture whereby people believe music should be free blows my mind. Home taping didn’t kill music. Illegal sharing via Napster and Soulseek didn’t kill music. Legitimate corporate-driven platforms, however, really fucked things, especially for smaller artists. The industry co-conspired, and didn’t so much shoot itself in the foot as hug a landmine.

Imagine being buzzed about starting a new band and getting your music out there, and then the few hundred streams you get after some heavy plugging and a PR scoring a review or two and maybe a couple of radio plays, to receive absolutely nothing, while your fraction of a penny that actually goes to the artists rather than the platform has been dripped into the pool that’s divvied out between Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, and U2. So yes, £4 for a digital release in 2026 is probably fair – especially when it’s a proper two-song single which replicates the 7” experience of the A-side and B-side, and especially when both songs are killer.

And here, both songs are indeed killer. ‘Nuclear Bounty Hunter’ stars slow, with a tense build-up and an intimation of a riff, squirming its way to a thick, gnarly riff that’s halfway between raging punk and sludgy noise. Sling the Melvins together with Slaughter and the Dogs and you’re in the right domain. It’s heavy, hefty, rabid, and gloriously messy.

‘Beggar’s Last Words’ is an entirely different proposition: it’s nearly seven minutes long for a start, and sashays in with soft instrumentation over a waltz-time beat. It’s kinda hazy, kinda droney, deeply psychedelic, and very much of an experimental bent. In short, it couldn’t be more contrasting. The vocals, when they finally arrive, are heavily treated, warped, and woozy, and are half-submerged among the ever-rising cacophony which is building, and almost out of nowhere, we’re four minutes in and find ourselves in the midst of a sonic maelstrom. After this crescendo of chaos, everything gradually winds down, wheezing, wasted, to a slow fade.

The fact that this release showcases two vastly divergent styles is a strength. It’s a release that shows a band willing to take risks, to challenge themselves – and their listeners. It’s so easy – and tempting – for artists to create a template early in their careers and say with them. It works, the band and any PR they might have gets to tout them as X or Y, everyone knows what they’re going to get, they find their niche, find their audience, however small, until boredom sets in and / or fashion changes. It takes a different kind of band to eschew genre limitations, and particularly to go this far out on a limb with a single release. Bug Facer are that different kind of band, and their continued evolution is a joy to observe.

Watch: ‘Judgement Day’ by Then Comes Silence

Posted: 9 August 2026 in Singles and EPs, Recommended Streams and Videos
Tags: Euro techno, goth, Judgement Day, Metropolis Records, music video, Post-Punk, Requiem Ballroom, Single, Stream, Then Comes Silence

Long held in high regard for a sound that is a modern and unique take on classic goth and post-punk, Swedish trio Then Comes Silence have released a brand new single entitled ‘Judgement Day’. It is the first to be lifted from Requiem Ballroom, their new studio album out on 20th November.

“This song is about failure, bad decisions and poor behaviour – those who will be the first in line on doomsday,” the band explain. Beginning with a catchy Euro techno melody, the surprising intro creates a contrast to the band’s established roots from the outset and serves as a metaphor for the theme of the song. The band itself ‘fails’ by letting something completely unexpected and out of character take over.

A video for ‘Judgement Day’ has been directed by Damon Zurawski of Future Legends Films and can be seen here:

Requiem Ballroom will be the follow-up to Trickery, the seventh full-length album by Then Comes Silence released in 2024. Collecting accolades galore, the UK’s Classic Rock magazine described it as “the post-punk influence of Bauhaus or Joy Division offset by an ’80s windblown, cinematic sense of drama presented with silky production and confidence.” Vive Le Rock concurred, remarking on its “huge, spectral sound that cascades the post-punk genres seamlessly whilst delivering a unique and compelling sound that is as captivatingly gripping as it is intense.”

The Sunken Land – sunstead

Posted: 8 August 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
Tags: atmosphere, Atmospheric, bedsit doomgaze, Doom, Drone, Earth, EP Review, Expansive, exploratory, overdrive, Post Rock, Space, Sunn O))), sunstead, The Sunken Land

19th July 2026

The Sunken Land – the musical vehicle for David Martin, York-based solo purveyor of ‘bedsit doomgaze’ – makes a fairly swift follow-up to The Woods at Dusk three-track EP, released in May, with a more expansive five tracker in the form of ‘sunstead’. There are no notes beyond the credits, meaning the music is left – or allowed – to speak for itself.

‘horizon fires’ makes for a strong start, and continues Martin’s assimilation of current and local geography events and events by way of inspiration. There have been countless wildfires around the UK in the last couple of months, many of which have failed to make national or even regional news. One can assume that this is largely on account that their number has made reporting impossible, meaning that only significant fires in national parks or those close to nuclear plants have warranted that level of coverage. But in and around York, there have been fires lit – intentionally – on an almost daily basis, in playparks and on local moorland, with one potentially endangering cattle and threatening to make its way toward a branch of Lidl to the south-west of the city. The entire country – and, indeed, most of mainland Europe, too – is a tinderbox, gripped by drought during one of – if not the –most prolonged hot / dry spells since records began. And people – mostly teens – are starting fires for fun. It’s a terrifying and bewildering state of affairs, and seeing smoke on the horizon is disconcerting. This first track layers soaring post-rock lead guitar lines over thick, distorted chords. At times – again – reminiscent of latter-day Earth, it’s a composition which explores tonal and textural contrasts, and builds tension as it does so.

‘tupla vs. egregore’ plunges straight into the heavy drone territory, the mesh of distortion and slow pace reminiscent to some extent of Sunn O))), but with strolling bass and some extended soloing that feel more as if it belongs in the domain of prog, it combines a host of disparate elements in quite unexpected ways – almost as unexpected as the abrupt ending. At just over fine minutes long, it’s by no means a short piece, but the impression is that it would have worked quite nicely extending over a full stretch of twenty minutes or so. The same is true of the six-minute title track, which swoops and soars and is all the while driven by a serrated drone of overdriven chords which hang for an eternity.

‘swedish death cleaning’ springs quite the surprise with a thudding riff that screams Mötörhead, which is in turn overlayed with the most flamboyant fretwork we’ve yet heard from The Sunken Land. It’s certainly the most raucous, and full-on rock piece in his catalogue, and unexpected as it is, it’s also well executed, and adheres to his principles of lo-fi recording and an absence of percussion, meaning it doesn’t feel entirely incongruous.

Across the EPs five cuts, sunstead demonstrates a marked expansion of The Sunken Land’s sound, and if the last of these, ‘noctilucence’ returns to more familiar territory, the overall feel of this set is one of greater confidence, and a determination to explore wider territory, and as such, marks the fulfilment of the promise of the works which preceded it. Given his rate of output – and evolution – the next six months could prove to be very interesting indeed.

Watch: ‘Silk Skin’ by Mildreda

Posted: 6 August 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: dark electro, Dependent Records, EBM, Mildreda, Official Lyric Video, Realities, Silk Skin, Single, Stream

Creative powerhouse MILDREDA will make your skin crawl with their eerie lyric video for ‘Silk Skin’, the next advance single taken from the Belgian dark electro duo’s forthcoming double album Realities, which has been slotted in for release on August 28, 2026.

Mildreda comment: “This track revolves around unspoken desires and the familiar, exhausting push and pull between longing and retreat”, mastermind Jan Dewulf writes about the lyrical content. “I wanted to transform that tension into a ritual – a feverish invocation, a dance that binds, summons, and slowly pulls you under. Musically, the heavy bass was a happy accident in the studio, one that instantly revealed the direction that I needed to take. A relentless pulse rooted in EBM, and unmistakably Belgian at its sonic core.”

Watch: ‘The Witness’ by Gnod

Posted: 5 August 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: alt rock, Chronicles of Gnowt (Vol. 2), Gnod, math rock, Psychedelic, Rocket Recordings, Single, Stream, The Witness, Video

Two decades have passed in the land of Gnod, yet the psychic travelogue only becomes more enthralling as it goes on. The page is turned, a new chapter begins…

Whilst this band has flourished via dauntless conviction, hive-mind magic and a fierce and uncompromising spirit, one ingredient has served as a crucial fuel for the fire – the monolithic singularity of the riff.

This second chapter of Gnod’s sort-of-anniversary trilogy also originates in the same six day sessions as the first, at Hellfire Studios near Dublin with producer Spud Murphy (Lankum, Black Midi etc). Yet the focus this time is on the transcendental heaviness and repetition that the band have often used as a primary fulcrum of their approach. This volume captures the sound of strings flayed, throats shredded, skins punished by the organic chemistry of this formidably powerful band in a room.

Chronicles of Gnowt (Vol. 2) will arrive via Rocket Recordings on 9th October and is preceded by the track and video for ‘The Witness’. Watch it here:

Operating as ever stubbornly adrift of all or any genre restrictions, the coruscating workouts chronicled here evolved on the road in the last two years before being honed and perfected in the studio setup by Murphy. “Spud was masterful –recording live, pushing us to do more takes and then when the right take was done, by the time we got to the desk from the live room he already had it sounding great for playback” relates the band’s Paddy Shine.

The results are amongst the most fearsome and kinetic material that Gnod have summoned to date. The opening ‘The Witness’ takes a The Ex-ish groove and sets it in motion before driving a wall of incandescent guitar scree through it. ‘Ice Man’ redlines an animalistic Melvins-style framework into the realms of dystopian burnout. ‘Old Gold’ meanwhile centres on three-guitar interplay snaking around a muscular, taut groove, with Paddy’s feverish declamations acting as master of ceremonies.

As has often been the case for a band heavily driven by serendipity and intuition, the best plan is no plan at all. “We find quite regularly that spontaneity and the no thought approach works better than over analysis and detailed planning,” clarifies Chris Haslam, “Paddy’s stream of consciousness lyrical approach is another example of how when we remove our own will from the process, something purer, more real & more connected fills the void.”

Listen: ‘Black Hall’ by Gatta Norta

Posted: 4 August 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: Amphetamine Reptile Records, Big Business, Black Hall, Butthole Surfers, Buzz Osborne, Clinton Jacob, Coady Willis, EP, Gatta Norta, Ipecac Recordings, JD Pinkus, Melvins, Mr.Phylzzz, Single, Stream, supergroup

Buzz Osborne didn’t need another band. JD Pinkus didn’t need another band. Coady Willis didn’t need another band. Together with Clinton Jacob, they started one anyway. Meet Gatta Morta.

The quartet makes its debut today with Burn Witch Burn, a 4-song EP, available now via Amphetamine Reptile Records. Listen to the single ‘Black Hall’, which accompanies the release, here:

“It’s always a good time for the world to embrace a new heavy/weird band,” Osborne says. “I had the idea for Gatta Morta while touring last fall. I realized I needed to start a band with these three. Seemed like a no brainer. Solidly weird rock music that needs to happen.”

Butthole Surfers bassist Pinkus agrees: “It’s been way too long since I got to write a heavy album from scratch with such high caliber players with such complimentary styles… and we’re just cat scratching the surface of what we got goin’ on!”

Rounding out Gatta Morta is Clinton Jacob, the creative force behind Chicago’s weirdo, pop-noise rock duo Mr. Phylzzz. “I just had this feeling that one day we would work together. I became friends with Buzz over the past few years doing shows together and having him play guitar on a Mr. Phylzzz song. When I was asked to be a part of Gatta Morta, I was speechless, but I was 100% ready for it.”

Burn Witch Burn lurches between thick, riff-driven heaviness and warped, psychedelic passages, with Osborne, Pinkus, Willis, and Jacob creating music that’s simultaneously reminiscent of their previous work and entirely new.

Photo credit: Keturah Bishop

Pleb – Grease Trap

Posted: 4 August 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
Tags: Cattle, DIY, EP, Grease Trap, Grindcore, Groak, Grub Nap, Heavy, Human Worth, Leeds, Noise, Pleb, power-violence, Review, Steve Myles, Underground, Unsane

Human Worth – 7th August 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

Having thoroughly enjoyed the churning racket of Leeds grindcore / sludge / infernal racket duo Pleb when they opened for Unsane at The Brudenell in April, the announcement of their debut EP being released on the esteemed Human Worth label came as excellent news. And even better news is that they absolutely deliver on the promise of the live show here.

The credits very much summarise the two players’ contributions, with D. Fraser providing ‘Guitar / Feedback Hell’, and S. Myles doing ‘Drums / Squawks / Grunts’.

This is one serious fucking racket, and it would be a massive letdown if it was anything else, with eight songs and a total run time of just over ten minutes. There’s no pissing about here, just squalls of feedback and rasping, rabid vocals barking away low in the mix amidst the churning dingy noise. But then, this was always going to be the case. Check their pedigree: between them, their CVs list Cattle, Grub Nap, Groak – luminaries of the Leeds DIY noise scene that’s been thriving in tiny pub venues and basements and rehearsal rooms and the like for an age. It’s a tight-knit, but incredibly welcoming scene that’s spawned countless bands all committed to making the most ferocious, ugly noise imaginable. And with Grease Trap, you don’t have to imagine it.

And despite being just the two of them, it sounds like a full band, the guitar signal split to provide grinding low end and raging feedback at the top simultaneously. The result is a devastating sonic blast that assaults the senses with all frequencies. But why Grease Trap? The band explain:

“A grease trap is a tank that folks stick under the sink in a place that deals with food, it’s supposed to stop clumps of food and fat from going down the drain. There was one down our gaff and we had to empty it when we first moved in and I’ve never smelt owt like it. Me and our lasses dad were boaking the whole time while carrying buckets of foul stinking water up and down the corridor to try and wash the bloody thing out. Feels like that’s where we’re at as a society at the moment, we had all this stuff in place to try and stop things from going wrong but everything is rotting from the inside out and it’s poisoning the water supply. Greed is absolute, hatred is being weaponised and apathy is apparently cool again somehow. These songs are about the world wide descent into Fascism, the dutty roz, that orange bastard, our entire generation not breeding cos we’re in a hostile environment, technology turning us inside out, our inability to face our own problems without decking it and a bunch of other fun stuff. It doesn’t offer any solutions but sometimes you need to scream into the abyss eh?”

Lacking a grease trap myself, and my house having been built circa 1890 and still connected to the original ceramic Victorian plumbing which connects to the (also Victorian) drain system, I’ve had to invest in a set of drain rods, which are subject to regular usage to unclog backups that threaten to plug my back yard. they seem to be caused predominantly by mini fatbergs congealed around masses of hair (which evidently aren’t mine). And I can confirm that the job is nothing short of rank, dragging out clods of stinking clumps of sludge. it still doesn’t stink as badly as Reform, though, or, judging by footage online, as much as Trump when he nods off and soils himself. Rotten politics, rotten behaviour, rotten intestines, it would seem.

This is all of the above compacted into the most intense sonic explosion. It distils the rage at the fetid state of Western culture and the sewer state of our politics, our media, social media and blasts with complete abandon, and titles like ‘CLODS OF SHIT AND BONE’, ‘THE BRUISES MEAN IT’S ON THE WAY OUT’ and ‘THE EYES MELT FIRST’ sound exactly as you’d expect. With Grease Trap, Pleb vent the rage in the rawest, most direct fashion. And it absolutely hits the spot.

PS fuck fascism.

Watch: ‘The Summer Talking’ by The Noise Who Runs

Posted: 4 August 2026 in Singles and EPs, Recommended Streams and Videos
Tags: alternative pop, Climate Change, climate change denial, electro-rock, music video, Political, Re GenX, Single, Stream, The Noise Who Runs, The Sneaker Pimps, The Summer Talking, TNWR Records

Alternative Pop / Electro-Rock firebrand THE NOISE WHO RUNS returns with ‘The Summer Talking’, a catchy sonic respite that disguises devastating social critique beneath shimmering indie-pop hooks. Sneaker Pimps legend Ian Pickering spins a tale of romance and nostalgia before spiralling into an indictment of climate denial, political inaction and humanity’s addiction to comforting lies. The striking video contrasts postcard-perfect holiday escapes with the growing environmental crisis, this song asks an uncomfortable question – are we sleepwalking through catastrophe while convincing ourselves everything will somehow work out?

This track is lifted from PIckering’s new (and now acclaimed) Re: GenX album, a fearless uncompromising record that puts an entire generation (and society itself) on trial. Addressing war, consumerism, inequality, media outrage and the collapse of collective responsibility, he sounds a warning siren for a world in freefall. Blending dark electronic textures with anthemic alternative rock, The Noise Who Runs is one of alternative music’’ most fearless voices, offering a brutally honest examination of the choices that have brought us to the brink.

Built around the repeated refrain, “It’s just the summer talking”, the song explores the promises we make when sunshine, nostalgia and hope temporarily blur our view of reality. Balancing melancholic indie-pop with widescreen alternative rock, it follows dreams of escape, new beginnings and forever as they gradually reveal themselves to be fragile seasonal illusions. Beneath the relationship story lies a wider reflection on the comforting stories we tell ourselves—about love, our lives and the future itself.

Blacklist Union – Madame Butterfly

Posted: 3 August 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
Tags: Amyl and the Sniffer, Blacklist Union, Dynamic, Femme Fatale, glam-rock, Grunge, Hard Rock, Heavy, Lita Ford, Lorraine Lewis, Madame Butterfly, Review, Single, Vixen

31st July 2026

Just the other day, I was contemplating – and discussing with my daughter – how practically every style and fashion had been recycled in the not so distant past, or was in otherwise back in vogue, with the exception of hair rock and spandex. But then I came to the new EP by Italian ‘alternative’ rock / industrial act Noir Addiction, and while it was predominantly a conglomeration of industrial and grunge, there were some strong hints of music from the time that settle forgot. I’d assumed it was a singular exception, but then I caught Greek act Dismiss just last week and noted how their hybrid of punk and hard rock invited comparisons to both Amyl and the Sniffers and Lita Ford, and now there’s the video which accompanies Blacklist Union’s latest single, ‘Madame Butterfly’, and the growing evidence is starting to suggest otherwise. Sonically, it’s very much steeped in 90s grunge, at least in the verses… but the choruses, and visually… we’ll return to this after we’ve unpacked the rest of it.

The accompanying notes provide few surprises by way of context, explaining how the takes its title ‘from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly’ but ‘is a world away from the opera’s tragic tale of unrequited love. Instead, it serves as a heartfelt love letter from frontman Tony West to Lorraine Lewis of Femme Fatale’.

Femme Fatale still stand as one of the definitive glam metal / hard rock bands of the period 1987-1990, and Lorraine Lewis was a classic rock pinup, who would also front Vixen between 2013 and 2025.

‘Madame Butterfly’ is the lead single from Blacklist Union’s forthcoming album, The Good, The Bad And The Notorious, due for release in spring 2027. The release follows the acclaimed single ‘Jackson’, Blacklist Union’s reimagining of the Johnny Cash and June Carter classic, which paired Tony West with – yes – Lorraine Lewis for a duet ‘blending outlaw country, punk attitude and rock ‘n’ roll swagger.’ Tony West must have been creaming his skinny jeans.

‘Madame Butterfly’ is unreconstituted, back-to-the-source, glammy hard rock, the likes of which we haven’t really seen in a long time. The fact that it does incorporate grunge elements indicates just how things have changed in the last thirty years, given that grunge was a rebellion against precisely this. But… different times. Pandemic. World war. Shit on shit. Somehow, lately, it feels easier to forgive.

Aural Aggravation

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories