Posts Tagged ‘Post-Punk’

LiVES – Burn

Posted: 29 September 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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Sister 9 Records – 25th September 2026

The Ed Shearan / Micklemore furore brought the debate about politics in music not only to a wider audience, but became headline news in all of the mainstream news media. The way it exploded was remarkable, and unusual in that it’s rare for anything concerning the arts to make more than a filler, unless it’s some glitzy red-carpet awards ceremony, where the coverage tends to be less about the arts than celebrities. This, however, was all over The BBC and Sky. Sheeran’s career strategy of making musical wallpaper, equally reliant on his personality being the equivalent of wallpaper paste, suddenly became problematic: the issue being that his ‘neutrality’ was, by default, significant of taking a side. The wrong one.

The debate has been simmering for a good few months, particularly in the US, with musicians tacitly showing support for Trump by performing at his events, or berating the likes of Bruce Springsteen for speaking at their concerts against the Trump regime, saying artists should keep politics out of music. They clearly haven’t been paying attention to The Boss’ lyrics, and have failed to grasp just how much of the music of the 60s was protest music. And what did people think Rage Against the Machine were about? Music has long provided a vital platform for political protest, and it’s a unifying force. In troubled and troubling times, it’s easy to feel isolated, distanced from society, particularly in the face of systemic oppression. To discover music which articulates your feelings is life-affirming and empowering.

LiVES are unashamedly political. I’ve been following them since they crashed their way onto the scene a couple of years ago with ‘Cancelled’ and ‘Let Them Eat Cake’, their debut album a defiant statement of angry intent. ‘Burn’ is the lead single from their upcoming second album, Ghosts, which is set for a January release. Appropriately enough, ‘Burn’ is pretty fiery They describe it as ‘heavy, dark and lyrically uncompromising,’ adding that ‘The anger hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s just been sharpened.’ It’s hard to argue.

First, that bass. Woah. It hits like a punch to the stomach, and feels like you’re standing in the room, directly in front of the amp. It’s low, dense, and menacing. The drums count in a slow build and then… BAM! Choppy guitar and vocals arrive simultaneously. ‘Come and see the villages BURN!” Peter Chisholm hollers by way of an attention-grabbing first line.

And then the tirade kicks off, and it’s clear who it’s directed at:

That man is a lunatic

It’s a game of invest and return

Guaranteed to make him rich

That man isn’t “a man” baby

That man is a demon

Pulling no punches. Telling it straight. But they’re only just warming up here as they rip into the capitalist greed which is destroying the planet, destroying our society, and, ultimately destroying our lives. Yes, all of our lives. Line by line, LiVES call it and spell it out here:

There ain’t no question of shame

(in the) Collateral damages game

The governments have subsidised

Mass murder is monetised

Every word of it is true. The truth is uncomfortable. Western governments – some in particular, and some individuals in particular – are raking in millions and more from war and manufactured market chaos. They don’t give a shit about the death toll. They don’t give a shit about anything other than their own enrichment. They’re coining it in, hand over fist, as the bodies pile up. It’s not just Trump… the elites have only one interest, and that’s self-interest.

As for the delivery… LiVES aren’t easy to pigeonhole. They have the high-octane force of The Screaming Blue Messiahs and the steely solidity and relentlessness of Unsane, only less brutal. And for all of this, they manage to pack in a hooky chorus. With ‘Burn’, they bring the perfect encapsulation of what LiVES stand for. And I, for one, stand with them.

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Listen: ‘Brothers at the Wheel’ by Caulbearers

Posted: 29 September 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Manchester-based outfit Caulbearers return with ‘Brothers At The Wheel’, an urgent and uncompromising single that confronts the structures of power governing modern life, while ultimately offering solidarity and collective action as an alternative to despair. It’s is a rich and timely preview of their forthcoming album Come Back Home, out on October 30th via Single Cell Recordings.

‘Brothers At The Wheel’ traces a journey of political awakening – from a naïve plea for those in power to change course before disaster hits, to disillusionment at the resulting hollow words and empty promises that leave the status quo intact.

“If we truly consider humanity as a brotherhood and sisterhood of equals, it seems the ultimate betrayal of our family to exploit, to oppress and to victimise others whilst creating structures that concentrate wealth in the hands of an ever-smaller, unaccountable minority,” explains Damien Mahoney.

“The ‘wheel’ in the title is that system — a machine built to keep turning for profit and power, regardless of the cost to people, communities, or the planet.”

The song’s resolution isn’t despair but solidarity: a call for unity at the grassroots level, recognising that the same struggle echoes in other streets, other words, other languages. In resisting the forces intent on dividing us, the lyrics point to real power within the collective — like a seed that can grow into something more balanced, harmonious, and connected.
The song’s urgency isn’t just lyrical — it’s built into the music itself. ‘Brothers At The Wheel’ comes straight out of the traps with an unrelenting groove: strings, bass, and keys locked into a single insistent pattern, guitar answering in the gaps, percussion driving it forward, while the vocal melody cuts its own path in short, sharp phrases that swap between landing on and off the beat.

Past the tempo shift, the song opens into a second movement: a soaring, wordless lament from ethereal folk artist Ruth Blake — beautiful and mournful, yet defiant, a celebration of the human spirit. Underneath, the arrangement builds in waves — guitars layering, cello and violin rising, keys, bass and drums gathering weight — swelling to a crescendo before dissolving.

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A collective of musicians formed in 2007 and led by Damien Mahoney, Caulbearers are known for blending diverse musical styles, including soul, funk, hip-hop, dub, nu jazz, folk and post-punk influences. With contributors hailing from around the UK and Europe, their DIY ethic has coursed through every element of their releases, from design, production, videos and gigs to the recording process itself.

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Caulbearers

WENCH! / Under the Influence / Knitting Circle – The Fulford Arms, York, 26th September 2026

Posted: 27 September 2026 in Live, Reviews
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Christopher Nosnibor

Two of the bands on tonight’s bill are fairly regular features here on Aural Aggravation: Knitting Circle have established themselves as solid staples of the York scene as exponents of pissed-off, political post-punk, while WENCH! originally from Hull but now a Leeds band on account of two-thirds of their members having relocated, are always worth making the effort to turn out for whenever they’re in the locale. But what’s particularly noteworthy about tonight’s lineup is that not only do we have three female-fronted acts, but more women on stage than men. This matters, because female representation is a topic which has been cycling in discussion for a few years now, and becomes particularly prominent when festival lineups are announced. There’s no shortage of women in music, either in bands or as solo performers, so why are so many gigs, and festivals in particular, so male-dominated? That’s perhaps a rhetorical question, but still. What’s more, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that women often rock harder than men. Perhaps it’s because they feel they have more to prove. Perhaps it’s because they’ve more to be angry about. There’s a lot to be angry about right now, of course, and that’s a dissertation in itself. I’m angry, as are most people I know. But as a white, middle class, and (reluctantly) middle-aged male, I recognise I don’t have centuries of patriarchal oppression and daily sexism and misogyny to push back on.

Up first, Knitting Circle open with ‘Where’s the Culture?’, which sets the tone in terms of the conversation sand the musical form – catchy, scratchy, and challenging the (patriarchal) status quo. ‘I am the Fox’ (a song against fox-hunting, told from the perspective of the fox) is particularly tense and bristly, part of its guitar line leaning heavily on ‘Not Great Men’ by Gang of Four. The fact that Pete Dale can actually play cutty, trebly guitar lines which are of a standard which puts him in the same frame as Andy Gill is testament to his guitar mastery. While there are new songs in their nine-song set, the fact that only one of them – set closer, ‘Losing My Eggs’ – is from their EP, and single, ‘Safe Routes’, which they dedicate to the RNLI has otherwise been released evidences the pace of their creative flow.

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Knitting Circle

It’s worth taking a momentary side-step here. This song feels even more poignant and important than ever: a few days ago, right-wing agitator Daniel Thomas, who seems to think that forming a masked militia is the pinnacle of patriotism, was filmed slashing a dinghy in the English Channel. Not by a news crew, but by an accomplice. And he posted it on social media to demonstrate his fierce opposition to ‘illegal’ immigrants – but in court pleaded not guilty to the actions he himself had shared evidence of. Then cried like a child when remanded in custody. Of course. But these so-called ‘illegal’ immigrants… where are the legal routes? They don’t exist. Meaning, we currently have no safe routes. But we do have a lot of people fleeing war… and then these right-wing fuckheads decide that the RNLI – an emergency service run by volunteers – are the bad guys for rescuing people from the sea, and are legitimate targets for abuse and intimidation. How low can you get, eh? This is why we need Knitting Circle more than ever – to remind us that not everyone is a nasty piece of shit with a racist agenda when things get bleak. And things are bleak right now.

Oh, but Under the Influence are an absolute revelation. Woah. The ‘UTI’ acronym is no accident, of course. Their objective is to sting. And they do, hitting hard with their brand of fast and furious authentic hardcore punk / grunge crossover. It’s not hard to see why the anarcho-noise Sheffield trio have scored support slots with the likes of Subhumans and Discharge and a Rebellion booking. Maisie’s vocals are a combination of ear-splitting screams and full-lunged roaring… and she plays her guitar so hard that her bottom E string goes in third song, ‘Dead Babies’. “Bollocks,” and “Fuck it,” she says, like a true plain-speaking Northerner. After some deliberation, she humbly accepts the offer of the loan of Pete from Knitting Circle’s guitar with which to play the rest of the set. ‘7 Naans’ – about ordering takeaway – shouldn’t be terrifying, but with a rabid Courtney Love howl it is positively nerve-shattering. They’re passionate, sincere, and not without humour. They have a song called ‘Vegan Reich’ simply because they hate the band Vegan Reich (which is a perfectly sound reason in my opinion). Eyes wide, Maisie spits and screeches words at a rate of nineteen to the dozen, backed by some ferocious drumming and thunderous bass.

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Under the Influence

Are we ready to be WENCHED? Well, as ready as well ever be ready to be hit with a shovel after being slammed with the two-by-four that was UTI. This is a band that brings all the attack and play so, so hard: the energy is infectious, and it’s like an electric current circulating through your body. During the very first song of the set, bassist Hebe loses her strap and singing drummer Kit sheds a cymbal. They don’t miss a beat or a note. Musically, they’re outstanding, and different in their compositional approach, with the bass often fulfilling the lead role. There are dual vocals, too, shared between guitarist Sev, and Kit, whose style is – at least in places, quite technical and almost jazzy, but played with metal force. Other times, she leans forward over her drums with an ogre-like posture and just fucking goes all out, and it’s brilliant to watch – not just her playing, but the interaction between the three and how they coalesce to create something so immensely powerful. They’re also disarmingly direct and spontaneous in between songs. This shouldn’t be mistaken for being amateurish by any means, but gives an insight into a band which is keeping it real in the truest sense. What you see is what you get. And what you see is three women who believe in social justice and not just women’s rights and feminist issues, but human rights and making the world a better place.

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WENCH!

‘Deep Fake’ may be slower, with a psych-hued swing, but it’s certainly no gentler, and their set is a combination of hooks and rage. They blast through the songs in significantly less than the allotted time, but they’ve done the job and then some.

For all of the anger, the rage which emanated from the stage, tonight felt like one of the most uplifting, unifying events imaginable. The bands – all articulating dissatisfaction with the status quo, speaking out against shit governments and shit behaviour – brought, in their own ways, a positive message and a sense that together, we can make things better, and in the meantime, we can have a blast venting through music. In the face of everything, we have to have hope. Tonight gave a vital reminder that we do. It also evidences why we shouldn’t aspire to keep politics out of music. Because politics affects all of us, every day, and using a platform to take a stand is a powerful, and positive thing. Here, we stand unified in hope, and against hate.

Oort Clod / Chaffinch / BitchCraft / Llama Mollo – Fulfordgate Social Club, 19th September 2026

Posted: 20 September 2026 in Live, Reviews
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Christopher Nosnibor

Llama Mollo have a lot of family and friends. And they’ve brought them all down. It feels more like a second cousin’s birthday party than five minutes after doors open for a gig showcasing a disparate bunch of bands when I arrive. My first thought is of how the grannies will take to Bitchcraft. My second thought was ‘good for them’. They’ve bought tickets and made the effort, which is more than can be said for many on a lot occasions, and maybe they’ll even have a good time.

The acoustic indie duo have some tidy tunes with poetical lyrics and deft guitar lines, and if they’re nervous making their debut, they don’t show it beyond the occasional awkward-sounding laugh. The reverb-soaked guitar part for ‘Inconspicuous’ has hints of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’, and the song sees them share vocal duties for the first time in their seven-song set. In an unexpected plot twist, Lawrence (guitar and vocals) switches to electric guitar and takes the lead on the vocals for the last song, and there’s a drum machine pumping from the PA. ‘Mr Blue Shoes’ is post-punky and makes for quite the shift in every way, and, seemingly from out of nowhere, tells us that this is an act who have a lot up their sleeve, and much potential to explore. A very promising first outing, and one to add to the watchlist for 2027.

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Llama Mollo

BitchCraft spent their uni years developing their skills, and recently relocated to London to further evolve and to see if they can progress. On the evidence of tonight’s hometown return – holy shit. Leaps and bounds, leaps and bounds. There have been some moves in their ranks. Their new singer, Lily, is the former drummer who would previously switch with singer Amelie to front a couple of songs, and stepping up to take the mic on a full-time basis she’s really come into her own. It’s not just the vocals – which are so, so powerful, and she’s got a proper grunge roar that sends shivers down the spine and sets the hairs on the back of your neck aquiver – but she is a commanding presence who dominates the stage, and the entire room. The new drummer is powerful and energetic, too. The result is a set that’s raw, grungy, and finds them playing better than ever. New song ‘Loser’ hints at a poppier direction, and has swing as well as crunch. And then they close with a cover of L7’s ‘Shitlist.’ They absolutely nail it. They’re pure quality, and deserve a bright future in the big smoke.

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BitchCraft

There’s a certain element of controlled chaos about Chaffinch set – and a certain element of chaos without the control. The jarring interplay of the twin guitars sees them trading shards of treble over thick, rolling basslines and stop-start drums. The song structures aren’t conventional or even necessarily obvious, and there are parts which are semi-improvised, and not for the first time, I’m reminded of Shellac in they combine math-rock and noise-rock, discord and angularity. There’s not a moment where all four of them are on the stage (which makes getting a shot of the whole band a challenge, and the guitars are more often than not played in front of the stage and there are trailing cables and instrument swaps… although at least on this outing there’s enough concrete in front of the bass drum to keep the kit in place instead of encroaching forward towards the edge of what is a particularly bijou stage. But herein lies the joy of a Chaffinch set: there’s a physicality, a kineticism, to the performance, and just as the songs are in a state of continual flux, so there is perpetual movement on (and in front of) the stage, making for a hyperstimulating and highly entertaining experience.

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Chaffinch

Due to a late reshuffling of the schedule, Manchester’s Oort Clod, who should have been the main support before BitchCraft, find themselves in the headline slot. No pressure, then. They do a decent job of it, too, encouraged by a supportive and welcoming crowd, a respectable number of who have stuck around from the start. This is one of the things which makes these Utterly Fuzzled nights what they are: people turn up and are open to hearing different stuff, accepting they won’t love all the acts equally but providing a warm and accommodating atmosphere. It’s a DIY microscene unto itself, in some ways resembling that which centred around CHUNK in Leeds a few years ago, and the likes of which is rare – but absolutely vital for showcasing new and up-and-coming and niche acts.

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Oort Clod

Oort Clod present a set of two distinct halves: during the first, they’re a fairly middling jangly indie band in the British tradition of the mid-80s to early 90s. They avoid being twee, but are good fun. And then there’s the second half, which sees them turn towards a style that’s more US indie / college rock of the mid- to late-nineties. It’s a bit looser, more Pavementy. The switch is occasioned by a poetry intermission, during which bassist Richie, whose last gig it is before he goes travelling and exploring a career in writing reads a couple of pieces from his chapbook. It’s a bold move, which some would probably consider a bit wanky, but they wear their arty and literary leanings well, and with an admirable confidence. He is, after all, wearing a brocade jacket and thoroughly beaten-up hat perched atop his head, and if the wild amp feedback mars the moment somewhat, the fact they style it out with humour reveals the character of the band – and it makes them a good fit for Fuzzled, where there are no divas, no dickheads, and everything runs to time. And it’s a 10pm finish. All the win.

Watch: ‘Blind Smile’ by Cor De Lux

Posted: 15 September 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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This Friday sees the release of Year of the Horse, the Ipecac debut from exciting new signings Cor de Lux, which very much gets the Aural Aggravation vote.

Across nine songs, the Kill Devil Hills quartet balances post-hardcore urgency, shoegaze bliss, and guitar-driven catharsis. Recorded and produced by J. Robbins (War on Women, Mary Timony), Year of the Horse preserves the raw chemistry that defines the band while pushing their songwriting into sharper, more immediate territory.

‘Blind Smile’, the track described by Loud Women as “bright, melodic and eccentric” now has a music video. About the video, Dawn says, “The video is about someone stuck in a world of complacency. It’s her journey to break free and show color to the world around her. Much like the meaning of the song it’s about being your true self.”

“The blind man smile, the deaf laugh for all to hear, to be so brave, you can’t hear anyone.”

Watch the video here:

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Photo: Bobo Grunwald

Watch: ‘Remaker Redeemer’ by Then Comes Silence

Posted: 12 September 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Stockholm post-punk trio Then Comes Silence presents ‘Remaker Redeemer’, the second single from their forthcoming Requiem Ballroom album, due in November via Metropolis Records. The music video, filmed by Damon Zurawski of Future Legends Films, captures the song perfectly, descending into the space between death and rebirth, where the final journey into darkness becomes a passage toward transformation, renewal and the possibility of another world.

Then Comes Silence has also just launched their European tour, which runs throughout September and October, bringing them to venues and like-minded music lovers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Czech Republic, before returning home to Sweden for the final show on this leg.

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A tightly focused trio since 2022, Then Comes Silence was formed in 2012 by vocalist-bassist Alex Svenson in 2012. Drummer Jonas Fransson and guitarist Hugo Zombie, round out the band in its most direct, powerful and uncompromising form. One of the leading names on today’s goth, post-punk and darkwave scene, they are driven by a fascination with horror, the occult and the raw intensity of underground music, having forged a distinctive sound and a devoted international following.

The Requiem Ballroom album itself is divided into two parts: ‘Ballroom’ was mixed by Jon Bordon (Nicole Sabouné, Melody Club, The Exploding Boy) and the ‘Requiem’ half was mixed byTom van Heesch (Rammstein, Apocalyptica, Backyard Babies). Svante Forsbäck / Chartmakers (Rammstein, Amaranthe, Ville Valo, The Rasmus, Apocalyptica) assumed mastering duties.
”Remaker Redeemer introduces the second part of the album ‘Requiem Ballroom’. It’s about new life, and being reborn with the old sins washed away. A kind of cleansing, a fresh start, and the feeling of beginning again. The choice of instruments and sound on this track is a way to explore something different this time,” says Alex Svenson.

“Death is generally regarded, across many cultures, as the final blackout where nothing follows. Yet in another sense, death can also serve as a metaphor for change and transformation. To take the next step, change is inevitable.”

Then Comes Silence earlier released ‘Judgement Day’, a driving anthem that embraces failure, reckless choices and the thrill of living without regrets, embracing a final celebration before the inevitable reckoning. The vivid behind-the-scenes documentary by Marzipan Moonlight offers a glimpse into the video’s creation and the thriving spirit of Stockholm’s goth community.

LIVE DATES
SEP. 11 -  Glain, Belgium @ Deux Ours
SEP. 12 – Rotterdam-Albrandswaard, Netherlands @ Baroeg Open Air 2026
SEP. 13 -  Rennes, France @ Brewklyn
SEP. 14 -  Paris, France @ Le Chinois
SEP. 15 -  Rezé, France @ Cold Crash
SEP. 16 -  Lyon, France @ Rock N’Eat
SEP. 17 -  Marseille, France @ Le Molotov
SEP. 18 -  Torino, Italy @ Ziggy Club
SEP. 19 -  Castelfranco Veneto, Italy @ Sale Improve
SEP. 20 -  Hlavní Město Praha, Czechia @ Subzero
OCT. 24 -  Stockholm, Sweden @ Kollektivet Livet

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Greg Bullock – 26EP

Posted: 11 September 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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7th August 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

What do Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd and Roger Waters, and The Cure have in common? No? A bit stumped? Well they’re all listed as touchstones for the new solo EP from Greg Bullock, who’s perhaps better known as co-founder and one half of Cyborg Amok, purveyors of goth-infused synth-rock – although he his solo career has always coexisted alongside. The band’s name seems particularly salient in context of the recent news of AI’s exponential self-advancements: what was essentially science fiction just a couple of years ago is now the reality of the world in which we live. And it’s the reality of the world in which 26EP is firmly routed, exploring, as he puts it ‘ideas we may not always find comfort in: persecution, contamination, ignorance, and mortality’.

It’s true: few find comfort in any of those topics, and while the romanticism of death is a fairly popular and eternal trope in art through the centuries, few find much by way of warmth when confronted with issues of mortality in immediate proximity. In fact, it’s strange how even the most philosophical – or nihilistic, or tough-seeming – individuals who are brazen about death wilt at the loss of friend and relatives and are suddenly moved to proclaim that someone in their sixties or seventies was ‘of no age’ and ‘taken too young’. In short, death in the abstract is fine, but the actuality is something we can’t even bear to contemplate. Meanwhile, persecution, contamination, and ignorance provide the daily fuel for fiery exchanges on social media and inflammatory reports in the news media. It seems that in recent years, we’ve come to thrive on these very things which tear us apart, as individuals, and as a society. I suppose it comes down to the separation of the keyboard to the life experience, the chasm which yawns between concept and corporality.

‘In Other Words’ starts with a bassline reminiscent of The Cure circa Faith, before plunging into a dark gothy post-punk space, somewhere underground and airless. ‘The deeper the trench / The higher the climb’, he croons in a reverb-soaked baritone, dry, crunched, but ringing clear. It’s a lyric based in logic rather than one which provides a revelatory insight, and yet… and yet, we seem to have become so mired in distractions and misinformation and futile infighting, that simple, basic truths have been cast by the wayside, and in this context, this plain observation carries unexpected weight, particularly as we continue to dig ourselves ever deeper, not only increasingly entrenched in polarised views, but also in embracing AI and practices which accelerate climate change. We’re digging our own graves, here. The trench is approaching the depth of very depths of the oceans. And still we dig.

The folksy ‘Thirty Pieces’ is sparse and dark, despite some lilting instrumentation. Bullock’s rasping vocal lands between Leonard Cohen and recent releases by James Ray, while ‘I Ain’t Goin!’ presents a hybrid of early post-punk and electropop, with a primitive production aesthetic reminiscent of the era, a basic drum machine with a whip-crack snare dominating the mix.

The riff on ‘Blu-Green Beauty’ leans on ‘You Really Got me’ by The Kinks, but filtered through Dr Mix and the Remix as Bullock rails against climate change and paints a bleak yet somehow encouraging picture in which there is still choice: ‘You can close the curtains / You can close your eyes / You can kill everything / You can kill, blu-green beauty.’ Do we still have a choice? If so, for how long?

26EP is pretty bleak, but still contains glimmers of optimism. Where I’m sitting, the future is dark, so I hope he’s right.

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Watch: ‘All He Knows’ by Uredda

Posted: 9 September 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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With their album debut Nüwa Mends the Sky, UREDDA reveal themselves as musical alchemists who create pieces of utter beauty and a fascinating otherness, that appear to the listener as magic due to being at least one step ahead of their time. Their perfect amalgamation of elements from contemporary electronics, new wave, post-punk, krautrock, and drone among many other influences creates something excitingly new from some things old and beloved. Their sounds are born from experience as well as a deep understanding and mastery of their art.

The masterminds behind UREDDA have already left deep marks in circles of avant-garde music. Thighpaulsandra, previously a member of Coil and Spiritualized, has worked with Julian Cope among other influential acts – these include URUK, in which he was joined by Massimo Pupillo. Pupillo and Paolo Mongardi are probably best known as members of label mates Zu.

UREDDA sprang into being out of pure synchronicity – while those who believe in predetermination are welcome to view the meeting as glorious providence. Thighpaulsandra had travelled to Italy for a solo performance at a contemporary art museum while, at the same time, Massimo and Paolo were working at the studio of UREDDA guitarist Bruno to try out some new raw sketches. On a fateful whim, they invited Thighpaulsandra to join them. There was no prior blueprint, no rehearsal, and no intention of starting a band. Yet the sparks of creativity and inspiration were flying while music began to flow spontaneously.

The band name stems from the famous Italian ‘Caso Amicizia’ (‘Friendship Case’). This refers to alleged mass contacts between humans and extraterrestrial beings called W56 in the central Italian region of the Abruzzi between 1956 and the late 1970s. These aliens supposedly taught harmony and friendship. In this context, ‘Uredda’ was defined as the vital energy of love, friendship and wonder. This energy was not an abstract concept, but the literal fuel driving their advanced technology and the very core of their mission on Earth. “All I know is that a world on the precipice has a desperate need for beauty”, Massimo Pupillo states, discussing today’s single release. “Not a shallow and only cosmetic glamour, but real beauty – one that incorporates and transforms our deepest anxieties and fears. The diamond is born in the lotus, but the lotus is born from the mud.”

This philosophical approach ties UREDDA directly to an esoteric legend of early Krautrock, by mirroring the belief that musicians could collectively tap into a cosmic current and were able to communicate directly with their mixing desks, instruments and gear as living entities.

Ahead of the album, they’ve unveiled a video for ‘All He Knows’, which you can see here:

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Photo: Sek

Cor de Lux – Year of the Horse

Posted: 8 September 2026 in Albums, Reviews
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Ipecac Recordings – 18th September 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

Their bio tells us that ‘Cor de Lux didn’t come out of a content pipeline, a shared folder, or an algorithmic moment. They came out of a rehearsal room,’ and their Bandcamp page describes them as ‘4 friends in a Post Punk-Noise Rock band. Melodic hints and synth tones that trickle into a garage angst progressive fury.’ These two snippets give an insight into what kind of band they are, and how they operate, but don’t really give the measure of Year of the Horse, an album which goes beyond both post-punk and noise-rock or any permutational crossover of the two to render something that’s varied, embraces experimentalism, and at times is quite off the wall.

Single cut ‘The Cringe’ is exemplary, crashing in on a lolloping rhythm and blistering squall of guitar by way of a backing to a dispassionate but nevertheless urgent-sounding dual vocals from Tim Lusk and Dawn Moraga, before suddenly pulling up and following a short but meandering moment of ponderous desert rock, swerves off in a vaguely trippy prog direction, with a swirling synth and strolling synth. In contrast, ‘Ping Pong’ – not a cover of the Stereolab classic – is a slice – and at six minutes long, a very generous one – of quintessential dream-pop. A laid-back, balmy indie song with a hint of C86 whimsy, gently melodic and evocative of dappled sunlight in woodlands in early summer, it’s neither post-punk nor noise-rock, but it’s easy on the ear – until the switch that lands around the four-minute mark when it unexpectedly takes off like a rocket. And it’s here that it becomes apparent why Ipecac would be interested in them. They’re a band unconstrained by genre boundaries: not necessarily weird, but different.

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‘Cannibal’ takes the chiming guitar and driving bass of the UK goth sound circa 1984 and spin them with slightly spiky vocals and a mid-80s indie twist – nothing that’s immediately specific to a band, but then not entirely generic either.

‘The Western’ whips up a choppy frenzy and is perhaps one of the most overtly post-punk-meets-noise-rock songs on the album, and it drives pretty hard, before ‘Bread Bag’ serves up a slice of mathy post-rock… but that’s not quite it. But I can’t think long enough to capture my thread because there’s a sudden explosion over overdrive, and then it’s off somewhere else again. As the album progresses, the harder it becomes to situate it in a way that feels in any way meaningful – but that doesn’t mean that Year of the Horse is in any way incoherent. The more wide-ranging and eclectic the songs are, the more the sound of Cor de Lux is defined.

‘The Deli’ is simultaneously motorik and noodly: Pavement might be an obvious touchstone, but it’s more obscure acts like Moderate Rebels that come to mind, and Rosa Mota, too, and as fast as can process and much faster than I can type, we’re into another post-rock noise burst and then some more breezy, jaunty indie rock. One thing that does stand out is just how un-American they sound, at least to my ear. Year of the Horse is quirky. It’s not a common American trait. It’s nuanced, and wile it’s by no means a flippant, inconsequential work – it’s anything but – it’s threaded with a kind of knowingness, a twinkle in the eye which hints at a certain humour. But more than anything, Year of the Horse is a work of genius, in that it brings together myriad incongruous elements and doesn’t just make them gel, but amalgamates them in a way which feels entirely natural. How do they do it? Magic, alchemy, or something, I guess.

So many acts strive to make hybridity work, and so many fail, because it feels forced, self-conscious, the segments don’t flow or connect up, and it sounds awkward, jarring. Not so with Cor de Lux, and Year of the Horse keeps it succinct with just nine songs and a run time of thirty-eight minutes, the majority of the songs sitting in the three-and-a-bit-minute bracket. It’s a rare beast, this: an album that will blow your mind, but subtly. It’s crazy, but it’s packed with tunes. Truly inspired.

AA

Photo_credit-_Jordan_Olivia_Howell_387686

Photo: Olivia Howe

Los Tres Mortales – Bourbon

Posted: 6 September 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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4th September 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

So here we are in 2026, and while I’ve been suggesting that there’s a goth revival simmering up for a fair while now – I mean years rather than months – if finally seems to be upon us. TV:AM, Sick Man of Europe, and Mouth Ulcers in particular have been leading a(nother) new wave of bands whose sound is steeped in the old-school sound.

Perhaps Lol Tolhurst’s assessment in his recent book – plainly entitled Goth – is right. He devotes much verbiage to aligning the emergence of the first goth bands with Thatcher’s Britain in the late 70s and early 80s. This is by no means a groundbreaking, or even a new, framing of the birth of this disparate scene, and he really does labour this point throughout the book. Fair enough: he was there, living through it, and it was this, and a sense of being an outsider, which compelled him and Robert Smith to form The Cure. He also details how Manchester was the very definition of dereliction and deprivation, and that Joy Division ‘s bleak sound is the aural encapsulation of this. Also fair enough, but his entry for The Sisters of Mercy is barely a page long, reducing them to almost a footnote in the history of goth, while making no mention whatsoever of the other Leeds bands who emerged around this time. It’s his book, and his perspective, but to completely bypass the very epicentre of the emerging goth scene of the early 80s isn’t merely an oversight, it’s a misrepresentation.

This preface is necessary when approaching ‘Bourbon’, the debut single from Los Tres Mortales. While based between New Jersey, Ohio, and California, bringing together Caroline Blind and CWHK of Sunshine Blind with Troy Payne of The Wake. As the band bio recounts, ‘Following Sunshine Blind’s original run, Caroline continued making music with members of The Wake, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Faith and the Muse, The Sisters of Mercy, Sweet Ermengarde, Children on Stun and Switchblade Symphony’. As such, there’s a direct link between Los Tres Mortales and the original Leeds scene, which is as significant as that to the US scene and acts connected with the Cleopatra label (which was responsible for the release of the first comprehensive March Violets compilation, The Botanic Verses in the US in 1993).

Where I’m going here is in two directions at once: the first is that 2026 bears some strong parallels to those dark days of the late 70s and early 80s. Back then, the north of England copped it harder than London and its wider sprawl, and the same is true now, but the bottom line is that both here and in the US – supposedly wealthy nations – social divisions, particularly between class, and wealth have reached a new extreme. As a measure, CEOs earned the entire year’s salary of their average employee faster in 2026 than in any year previous – the 6th January, to be precise. Throw in climate change, world war, and the fact AI (not immigrants) is killing job opportunities and could well lead to the hastened demise of the species, and there’s reason to be pessimistic. Goth was always dark music for dark times, but unlike other genres – metal being perhaps an obvious example – goth balances nihilism with doomed romanticism and a certain poeticism.

And this is precisely what Los Tres Mortales give us with ‘Bourbon’. It’s dark, and revels in images of self-destructive rock ‘n’ roll excess. Because if the world’s going to end, why not see it out while spiralling into personal oblivion, soaked in booze and surrounded by chaos?

AA

Spindly guitars are nailed down by a thunking gritty bass, which is in turn melded to hefty rolling drums that are the absolute quintessence of that early 80s goth sound. Caroline’s dramatic vocals bring that Siouxsie / Skeletal family feel, while Troy’s brooding baritone whispers and growls a later below, replicating that taut dynamic that defined both The March Violets and Floodland-era Sisters. ‘Bourbon’ adds a dash of spice with the kind of filthy swagger reminiscent of The Batfish Boys (‘Swamp Liquor’ in particular). It’s a cracking debut, and one which brings together the different qualities of all of the contributors to deliver something which hits the bullseye on the first shot.

AA

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