If I didn’t know this was the new single by The Kut, I would never have guessed in a million years. ‘Sevens’ certainly sound different – very different… Beloved by Kerrang, Download veteran, with a debut album that reached number seven in the UK Rock Charts, The Kut is rock music. ‘Sevens’ however, is distinctly pop. Yes, really. But when you pick it apart, just how different really?
From their very inception, Princess Maha’s songs demonstrated a pop nouse, a knack for a hook, a nagging guitar line, a keen melody. It’s easy to overlook these components when it comes to many of the acts which have provided inspiration and comparison, the likes of Hole, Nirvana, Placebo. But all the raw energy in the world won’t translate to commercial success if there’s nothing that sticks in the mind. And so it is that all of these things are very much present on ‘Sevens’. Where it depart from previous offerings is not only that it’s sunny ad sultry, but the beats are backed off and everything is clean, smooth, the guitars are there but off in the background while a remarkably groovy bass flexes and bounces about in a way that’s not quite funky but certainly noddable. Landing in the middle of a heatwave and ahead of some festival appearances, it feels incredibly fitting. But, more to the point, if switched around to be recorded differently, with the guitars up in the mix and the vocals less compressed-sounding it would still be a solid rock tune. Done this way, it’s a solid pop tune with a post-punk flavour.
For the past few years, labels and PR people have been complaining that it’s become incredibly difficult to score reviews, especially for new or lesser-known acts, and that the issue is only getting worse. I have a lot of sympathy. They have a job to do, and bands want to be heard and to reach an audience. Not that I expect any sympathy, but receive more email submissions than I can even read, let alone listen to.
It does seem that we’ve gone beyond saturation point when it comes to new music. As was recently reported, there was more new music released in any single given day in 2024 than during the entirety of 1989. This means that now, more than ever, it’s hard to make it as an artist, or to simply be heard.
Some dates are conspicuously and overwhelmingly choc-full of new releases: Fridays are always packed, but some more than others, and releases for today – Friday 7th February – have pretty much broken my inbox – so, while it’s not something I tend to make a habit of, I’m going for a twofer here.
There are clear parallels in the careers of Lori and Chess – both hailing from Kent, and both breaking out in the mid-2010s fronting rock bands (Weekend Recovery and Salvation Jayne respectively) with accessible leanings and substantial audience potential, and both having suffered – and spoken on – the difficulties facing women in rock, and now both pursuing solo careers, albeit under quite different circumstances. And both are now showcasing very different, and more electronic-led pop sounds.
Lori – Deeper
Criminal Records – 7th February 2025
‘Deeper’ is pitched as a ‘hyperpop’ song, and it really is incredibly Hi-NRG, its trilling synths and thumping beat harking back to turn of the millennium dance, but overlayed with heavily processed, autotuned vocals and a shedloads of strong-like layers and sampled segments for good measure. But for all of its uptempo bounce and ‘woah-oah-oah-oooh’ hooks, it’s lyrically pretty dark:
You lie about me, cry wolf about me
Making shit up to fill your thrill.
Say it’s all in my head that you wished I was dead
But you did, over again
It’s certainly become more ‘acceptable’ to touch on dark topics in pop music again – listen to the lyrics of a lot of 70s and 80s hits, and they’re pretty bleak: Hot Chocolate’s ‘Emma’ is about a failed actress who commits suicide, while ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police is about stalking, from the stalker’s perspective, no less. We seemed to then have a spell where commercial pop was rarely dark, and much of it lacked much lyrical substance at all. Of course, there were always exceptions, and always things interesting happening on the fringes.
Lori is clearly not a household name, but pitched as being for fans of Charli XCX, Slayyyter, and Sabrina Carpenter this is equally clearly a stab at the commercial end of the market.
(Click image to link to audio)
Chess Smith – Bounce Back
7thFebruary 2025
Chess gave us an early taste of her work as a solo artist back in 2017 with ‘Queen of the High Held Head Walk’, which was very much a pop song, so in this context, ‘Bounce Back’ isn’t a complete surprise, and in context, nor is the fact that this is explicitly self-referential, as much a statement that we should listen up and note that she’s BACK! as it is simply a new single after some time away. I mean, the title speaks for itself. ‘Bounce Back’ is slick and soulful, it’s immaculately produced and absolutely ready for radio, TV trailers, commercials, you name it. It sounds like a hit.
(Click image to link to audio)
Both singles, in a previous time – and, one assumes, major-label backing – would be guaranteed to be huge. Now – again, with major-label backing and R1 airplay every hour or so – they still probably would be. But herein lies a multifaceted problem: while the majors are pumping all the promotion into their flavours of the month, it’s hard for other acts to make so much as a ripple in that mainstream market. But equally, by making music which is competing in an already overcrowded market, where there are so many similar offerings – so many to the point that everything starts to sound alike whether it really does or not, with its slick production, processed vocals, etc., etc., it’s very hard to grab listeners.
But who knows? There is always a chance, after all.
Regular readers – and fans of Argonaut – will have probably observed that we’ve been pretty consistent in plugging their open-ended album-in-progress Songs from the Black Hat, which has seen the li-fi DIY indie act self-release a song a month via BandCamp. But October’s tune is today getting an official release on a real label – namely Criminal Records, home of The Kut, with whom they’ve released two previous albums.
Nathan explains the band’s methodology for the album’s continual evolution this: “At band practices we each write song titles on slips of paper & put them in the hat. One is then picked at random. We jam around that title & see what alchemy occurs. Most times the magic flows & the combined band chemistry creates something we are really pleased with.”
With two previous albums on Criminal Records, Argonaut’s newest release is produced by Jack Ashley of Popes Of Chillitown, and mastered by The Kut who was drummer/producer on Argonaut’s self-titled debut.
I still can’t hear the world ‘vulnerable’ without thinking of Nathan Barley and an image of David Bowie pissing into a Dualit toaster, but perhaps, particularly since the pandemic and our government’s shameful treatment of the poor and the disabled, I’ve become significantly more sensitive to the way in which vulnerability can be life-shaping, and rarely in a positive way.
Whereas perhaps even in the not so distant past, vulnerability was perceived as being synonymous with weakness, a great many of us understand that it is a fundamental facet of the human condition, and recognise that almost everyone is vulnerable in some way at some time or another. This may not be true of the right-wing tossers who scoff at showing vulnerability – or sensitivity to it – as being ‘soft’ and ‘woke’, but anyone who is a reasonable human being can empathise with how circumstance and life events can place strain on an individual, and just as we’re getting to a place where we can talk about mental health without being stigmatised, so we appreciate that to show vulnerability in fact requires strength in a way we didn’t not so long ago.
The fact that ‘we’ are the vulnerables – all of us – is the crux of the song’s lyrics, along with the painful truth that others will exploit vulnerability for their own ends:.
We are the vulnerables
And we are being used
We are the vulnerables
Me and you and you and me and you
Because it’s Argonaut, it’s a natty tune in the classic indie / alternative style: Lorna’s vocals are sweet and ultra-poppy and there’s both jangle and bounce to the instrumentation – but Nathan can’t resist bringing blasts of fizzy, fuzzy distorted guitar. It all stacks up to a superbly catchy indie pop tune from a band who have quite a catalogue to catchy indie pop tunes to their credit, and no doubt plenty more to come.
Welsh disco-punkers Stickman announce their debut album Cyanide Smile. Due to release this Autumn, the record shares the flamboyant fruits of their summer touring & studio sessions.
Described as ‘disco punk with a touch of mid-life crisis’ their sound is unmistakable. Essentially anthemic alt.punk, their craft effortlessly switches up genres, complete with soaring choruses and dynamic melodies.
Lead-off single ‘My Genome’ is the first offering from the eagerly anticipated record, releasing alongside their geometric music video, shot in 6:4. Watch the vid here:
AA
The debut album ‘Cyanide Smile’ is due to release 20th October via Criminal Records.
For Fans Of: The Darkness, Lawnmower Deth, Mr Bungle, Electric Six, Massive Wagons, Royal Republic
UPCOMING DATES
26th Aug – Carmarthen Music Festival, CWRW (Headliner) 2nd Sept – Frog and fiddle, Cheltenham w/BrokenJaw 9th Sept – Hangar 18 w/Stop Stop 20th October – EJ’s Llanelli (Headliner) 17th November – EJ’s Llanelli (Stickman’s Christmas bash) 26th May – Breaking Bands Festival (Headliner)
It may just be something I muse over, but there’s a question of what level is a band’s ceiling – at what point the potential they seem to offer meets with the reality of the fanbase they actually manage to build. Weekend Recover are one of those bands who have long seemed to have hovered on the cusp of breaking through without ever quite going over the line. These things are 10% songs and quality, and 90% luck. So many great bands never reach the audience they deserve. Graft will get you do far, but it’s more about being in the right place at the right time than anything else. Weekend Recovery graft life fuck, and seem determined to make their luck.
The thing with Weekend Recovery is that, while they do have a relatively small but seriously hardcore faithful fanbase, they’ve been prone to change their sound and lineup as often as Lori changes her hair. The stylistic changes are likely consequence of the band’s inner turbulence as much as anything else, but artistically, this is a positive thing: they never stay still, never settle into a comfortable rut, and are always challenging themselves. But the downside to this is that a lot of music listeners are averse to change and like bands to give them something familiar, more of the same. Yes, they like to pigeonhole. Since female-fronted is not a genre, what are they, exactly, apart from a guitar band?
It seemed like they’d already been around forever by the time of the release of their debut album in 2018, having evolved from Katy Perry meets Paramour poppy alt-rock into an altogether grittier, rawer, trashy punk act in the process. Their signing to Criminal Records marked the next step in their reaching a wider audience, garnering more airplay and a busy live schedule found them not only playing to fuller venues, but also scoring support slots with the likes of Starcrawler. The fact they’ve already sold nine of the ten test press vinyl copies at a hundred quid a pop a week before release speaks for itself, at least in terms of their fans’ dedication. But what about building a broader base?
Stepping up venue size to headline The Corporation in their (current) hometown of Sheffield just before Christmas, followed by a sold out show at The Leadmill probably answers the question, at least in part, and having landed themselves on global playlists on Apple, Deezer and YouTube has no doubt been a factor.
Esoteric answers the question in full. It is not more of the same, not least of all with Lori’s greater use of spoken / sprechgesang passages, but does feel like less of a leap from its predecessor, at least in musical terms. That’s probably attributable largely to the fact that this has been their longest-standing lineup in memory, and the fact Dan and Callum make for an outstandingly solid rhythm section. Having a secure home on Criminal Records no doubt also helps. That doesn’t mean that Esoteric is a ‘safe’ record, a blanket and slippers affair, but it’s the sound of a band who have finally found some stability and have been able to concentrate on the job of writing and recording songs instead of juggling a load of distracting peripheral shit like ‘crap, we need to find a bassist’.
There are things I’m unsure of here: the album’s title being a leading one. Meaning ‘obscure’, and commonly referring to specialist, even secret, knowledge only understood by a few, what are they saying here? It’s a title I’d likely associate with some mystical drone or doom band rather than an uptempo rock trio. Is there something subliminal hidden in the lyrics or in the album’s very grooves? I don’t get any great sense of any of this from songs like ‘In the Crowd’, with lines like ‘We’re going in the crowd / it’s getting very loud’. It’s one of those songs that while it may – does – work live with some crowd buzz and energy to drive it along, recorded and out of context, it just sounds rather lame, not to mention pretty daft. It’s an affliction that troubles any bands when they reach a certain status, namely the point at which band life detaches them from real life, and so band life becomes the subject of the songs, with the effect being that in an instant, they stop speaking to and for us, and instead for themselves only. And when a band who articulated what you felt stop doing that, you’re left bereft. And then there all of the woo-hoo choruses and line-fillers. It’s something I see and hear increasingly, so perhaps that’s an aspect of contemporary songwriting I’m not down with, and an indication that Weekend Recovery are bang on the zeitgeist. Perhaps that’s why they’re getting more radio play.
Esoteric balances the grungy, guitar-driven style with the slick, radio-friendly alt-rock of their early years, and kicks off with lead single cut ‘Chemtrails’. Again, there are questions. Growing up, I knew them as vapour trails, before learning the term ‘contrails’. And then they became a source of anxiety as a popular theme on ‘the Internets’ before Lana Del Rey solidified things with her seventh album, Chemtrails over the Country Club. But this is a song about confusion and overload: ‘the waves are slowly sending me insane’ Lori hollers over a choppy instrumental backing that straddles punk and new wave. What to believe in? Who to believe? The world in which we find ourselves is enough to drive anyone insane, and insanity is the only sane response to an insane world.
The production is definitely their smoothest yet, and it’s very clear: the guitar is dense, but it’s backed off and is very much mid-rangey and there’s a lot less bitey distortion, and this is evidenced in the rerecorded version of ‘No Guts All the Glory’. This is, without doubt, the song that will likely be their anthem: it’s catchy, it’s ballsy, it’s tight, you can sing along and mosh to it, and it’s got broad relatability. But then there’s no shortage of meaty tunes along the way: ‘Dangerous’ brings urgent post-punk of an early 80s vintage with hints of Siouxsie and the Banshees to the party, while ‘I Don’t Like You Anyway’ pairs a low-slung bass and pummelling drum with some sinewy guitars and a stomping chorus, and there’s an offhand sneer to the verse that’s next-level nonchalance. Then there’s ‘The Knife’ which is one of those anthems of hurt that people can relate to and invest in, and if ‘Her’ is, on the face of it, a folksy ballad, it’s a fair bit more than that if you tune into the lyrics.
And perhaps this, this is the secret wisdom: the secret to unlocking the potential that’s been there all along. The songs on Esoteric feel more evolved, more fully formed, and the switches between melodic hooks and bursts of anger and energy give them an exciting dynamic. For all of the poppiness, there’s some real darkness, and some weight, too. The songwriting across the set is more consistent, too, and when bolstered by the production, it all seems to have really come together here.
Strange sense of deja-vu? Whatchoo talkin’ about? Whatchoo talkin’ about? Lori wants to know on the lateest kick-ass single from Weekend Recovery.
Yes, ‘No Guts, All the Glory’ was released as ‘No Guts’, the lead track to the EP of the same name, almost a year ago to the week, but a year on it’s getting a reboot thanks to an arts council grant, and the nomadic power trio currently based in Sheffield are releasing a rerecorded radio edit version of this solid tune as the second single from their upcoming third album, Esoteric, ahead of more touring activity.
Perhaps the hardest thing about being a band nowadays is maintaining profile. Social media and Spotify has changed the model, and we’re back to the 1960s when artists are conveyor-belt release-machines. You don’t release anything for six months and it’s like starting over: people have forgotten you exist and you may as well be a new band climbing the mountain of audience-building. Well, perhaps not quite, but still. While the nostalgia market for the over forties for whom time stood still from their thirtieth birthday, for the rest, memories are short.
Weekend Recovery have done a pretty decent job of keeping a flow of activity and output and social media engagement, and recently signing to The Kut’s Criminal Records imprint certainly hasn’t done then any harm. This timely release won’t, either.
Rerecorded it may be, but it’s certainly not hyper-polished and sanitised ready for Radio 1. Smoothed out with some eddying synths and Lori’s vocals switched up in the mix and sounding a bit cleaner, and clearer, it is more radio friendly than the original version, but it’s not totally cleaned-up and sugary: the guitar, bass, and drums are still absolutely driving and the song feels urgent, as if they’re playing like they depend on killing it. And they do. It’s a storming tune, and I for one am revved for the album.
Having released the No Guts All the Glory EP in November last year, just seven months after their second LP, False Company, Weekend Recovery have already been making announcements about album number three, to be named Esoteric. We’ll have to wait and see if it lives up to its titles promise of obscure knowledge and rare wisdom, but lead single ‘Chemtrails’ has already garnered some advance radio play and some kudos from DJs in the process.
First, it’s a snappy tune with a nagging guitar and an airy vocal hook and a load of their now trademark woo-oohs, so it’s radio-friendly, but more than that, this song packs a lot onto two minutes and eighteen seconds. Stylistically, it’s a poppy punky hybrid that’s equal parts X-Ray Spex and Shampoo. Then there’s the fact that Lori shifts into a spoken delivery for the verses: it’s not rappy, but it’s rhythmic, and puts the lyrics to the fore.
Lyrically, it’s interesting, in that it’s wide-ranging in its coverage. Now, it’s hard to pinpoint precisely when the ‘chemtrails’ debate began to really get traction, or why, other than ‘The Internet’ regarding the latter, but it starts out with the protagonist articulating mental confusion with the endless barrage of fake news and waves sending her insane, ‘chemtrails’ in her head and the endless talking, before swinging round to take what for some may seem an unexpected swipe at one of the particular strains of feminism that’s become popular among female-fronted circuit peers as she says ‘See, what you wanna do is stop being so right on / Telling girls to come forward, and stand where they belong / You jump into the crowd and shout and dance around.’ It shouldn’t be in any way divisive to point out that inverting the behaviours of patriarchal society by means of ‘positive discrimination’ is not the route to equality, but it’ll be interesting to see how this pans out, but it there needs to be the kind of discussion Weekend Recovery seem to be inviting here.
Sonically, it’s got more separation, and is less ‘wall of fuzz’ than the last album and EP, which is perhaps another factor in its radio appeal, although the drums are pretty dense and thick, a far cry from the trebly crack of the snares on so many commercial pop songs.
It’s a strong offering that has more depth than is first apparent – and that’s entirely the point: ‘Chemtrails’ is a song about questioning conformity. Because pop doesn’t have to be bland or vacant.
Weekend Recovery have announced the 2023 release of album number three, Esoteric, via Criminal Records, with a pretty plush video that’s all proggy/space rock… New direction? We’ll just have to wait and see…
Fresh off their first UK tour since the days before Covid, The Kut has released a brand new single ‘Satellite’. Emotive, powerful and featuring a guitar solo straight out of a Clapton ‘How To’ school, the track released on Valentine’s Day as the second single from her forthcoming sophomore album. And now there’s a video to accompany it, which you can watch here:
Announced a Double Award Winner in UK Songwriting Contest this week, winning both the UKSC Rock Award and UKSC Music Video Award, The Kut (PhD) is a rising rock multi-instrumentalist who performs and records alongside a collective of women in music.
The award winning ‘ANIMO’ (meaning courage or spirit) was released in November as the first single from the forthcoming long player. The single charted at No.8 in the UK Physical Singles Chart and No.35 in the UK Sales Chart.
Premiered by Johnny Doom at Kerrang! Radio, the record received playlist support from Janice Long, BBC Radio Wales, Planet Rock, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio, Total Rock, Primordial Radio, Hard Rock Hell and upwards of 1500 plays worldwide. US Radio is well represented too, with FM playlising in 20+ US States including at 91X, San Diego, The New Music Foodtruck, WVUR, Chicago, WOOL, Burlington, WCSF, Chicago, KXT, Dallas, KXUA, Fayetteville, KFCF, Fresno, KXFM, Laguna Beach, WVZA, Marion, KBRE, Merced, KFAI, Minneapolis, KZMU, Moab, WODU, Norfolk, WRKC, Philadelphia, Radio Phoenix, KMUD, Redway,KAMP, Tucson, WQRR, Tuscaloosa, WERA, Washington, KPCA, California, KUPR, New Mexico, WDWN, New York, WNIA, North Carolina and WVUR, Virginia. The music video has now also been playlisted on LATV, adding to previous US support from MTV, MTV-U AXS TV and Music Choice.
On release the record featured at No.12 in the US NMD NACC Top Singles ‘Heatseeker’ Chart, and subsequently made its debut in the US Submodern Singles (Airplay) Top 100. Funded by Arts Council England, the award sees in the release of ‘Satellite’ as a second video single from the forthcoming album, alongside touring and documentation from behind the scenes at rehearsals, at the studio and on set.
“Every single release we are challenging ourselves to grow and level up!” The Kut shared in a post from East End Studios, London. The new music video for ‘Satellite’ is directed by Mike Gripz of Smith Town Studios, and expected for release next week. Featuring Diana Bartmann (drums), Alison Wood (keys / bvs), Jennifer Sanin (bass / bvs) alongside The Kut (vocals / guitar), the single’s powerful message is expected to pull some heartstrings this Valentine’s. Dedicate to ‘everyone who’s had my back when I needed it most’ the single is produced by James LeRock Loughrey and was recorded at Axe & Trap Studios, Wells. It releases at all digital retailers, with CDs via the Criminal Records store.
Performing as late headliner on The River Stage, Isle of Wight Festival in September, The Kut has recently taken part in the Music Venue Trust x The National Lottery #ReviveLive Tour, with one rescheduled tour date remaining. The multi-venue event features a series of special shows in grassroots venues with the aim of kick starting the return to live gigs and featuring performances from Enter Shikari, Feeder, Becky Hill and many more.
In 2018, The Kut’s debut album ‘Valley Of Thorns’ reached No. 7 in the UK Rock Albums Chart and No. 18 in the UK Independent Albums Chart. The record was released on Criminal Records, now home to a host of rising artists including Weekend Recovery, The Last Siren, LORI, Mike Walsh, Argonaut, Calaveras and most recently music critic Everett True.
Almost exactly a year on from the release of their second long—player, False Company, Leeds grunge/garage-rock act and longstanding AA faves Weekend Recovery will be unleashing a new EP, No Guts on through Criminal Records on 4th February, having given us a taster with the lead track ‘No Guts, All the Glory’ in November.
With shows – and some exciting supports – lined up from the end of January through to the middle of July, they’re certainly making up for the time lost in 2020 and 2021.
29.01 Sidney&Matilda Sheffield EP listening show (we will be DJing only at this event)
Aural Aggravation 