Posts Tagged ‘Post-Punk’

Watch: ‘Saviours Are A Dangerous Thing’ by Chameleons

Posted: 29 May 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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“I see too many echoes of the 1930s in what’s going on in the world, which I see as being extremely dangerous both for the country I’ve chosen to live in and the Western world in general,” says vocalist/bassist Vox (Mark Burgess) of Chameleons when talking about his band’s brand new single, ‘Saviours Are A Dangerous Thing’. 
Out today (29th May) via Metropolis Records, the song is taken from their recently announced and long-awaited album Arctic Moon.

“It was the last song to be completed for the album,” he continues. “I’m particularly pleased with the way it turned out, because it was our guitarist Stephen Rice who initially brought the rough idea to the table and we all then collaborated on it to produce the final song.”

Capturing Chameleons’ innate flair for crafting exquisite guitar textures and merging them with Vox’s tight grasp of melody and wordplay, ‘Saviours Are A Dangerous Thing’ harbours a dark message about the current political climate amid its thoroughly engaging sound. Further enforcing this theme, an accompanying video splices live performance footage with kaleidoscopic images of war and its effects, as well as the propaganda surrounding it, making for a compelling statement overall.

“The lyrics came to me quite quickly,” Vox explains. “They reflect what has been happening globally and how senior officials line up to kiss the rings of clowns who regard themselves as self-proclaimed kings rather than elected statesmen.”

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Ashley Reaks – Ancient Ruins (Demos 1997-2002)

Posted: 28 May 2025 in Albums, Reviews
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21st May 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

Ashley Reaks first came to the public’s attention under the guise of Joe Northern, fronting promising turn-of-the-millennium dark synthpop act Younger Younger 28s, a head-on collision between The Human League and Clock DVA, who released their sole LP, Soap in 1999. Since then, the Harrogate-based Reaks has expanded his field and is now as known for his disturbing collages as he is for his eclectic musical output, which spans dub, postpunk, and whatever other genre concepts come his way. Reak’s creative diversity, while very much an artistic strength, has likely been an obstacle to his achieving more commercial success, because the sad fact is that polyartists who venture into the domains of oddness are extremely difficult to market, because, well, how to you pigeonhole or genre categorise someone who works not only in a host of media, but does stuff which is, at times, quite disturbing and impossible to place in a given bracket? Of course, another likely, and more obvious, obstacle to commercial success is that the fact that a lot of his work is what a lot of people would likely consider plain fucking weird.

But even before Younger Younger 28s, Reaks – whose appreciation of The Sisters of Mercy and the like is widely-stated on his social media – was dabbling with the gothier aspects of post-punk, and would continue to do so for some time. His decision to release Ancient Ruins may only be for the sake of posterity, as a document, but here it is, and it’s not bad either.

Because this is Ashley Reaks, it’s not a set of songs which adhere to straight-up genre conformity, as is immediately apparent from the first track, ‘A God in the Devil’s World’, which has a certain swagger and a swing to it, the female vocals not only providing a counterpoint to the growling baritone Reaks adopts, but also a pop shimmer that’s still more Human League than The March Violets.

‘No Man’s Land’ offers picked guitar and jittery synths melded to an insistent drum machine, and comes on with the trappings of mid-80s rock, and a bit Prefab Sprout. ‘Disconnected’, however, plunges into darker territories, an echo-heavy bass-driven blast of angst that’s more the sound of the underground circa 1983. And it’s good, but then you realise how anachronistic it is for the time it was recorded.

Between 1997 and 2002, Britpop died a slow and painful death and Nu-Metal exploded. The post-punk revival was still some time off, and simply no-one was making, or listening to, anything that evoked the spirit of The Batcave. But then, they weren’t really digging 80s synth pop, other than the original stuff in a kitsch or nostalgic way, and the much-touted 80s revival hadn’t really gained any traction. To top it, in keeping with Reeks’ other output, thew songs on here are littered with lyrical observations and kitchen sink vignettes, pithy pairings, and couplets which are wilfully wordy and awkward.

‘Christiane’ is a campy goth pop effort that’s wistful and theatrical, with hints of late 80s Damned woven into its fabric, while ‘I Always Wanted to be You’ brings some indie jangle and… brass. Then again, there’s the chugging industrial blast of ‘Swimming Against the Tide’ which sounds a bit like Therapy? circa Nurse but with an overtly ‘baggy’ beat and a Prodigy-influenced midsection. Oh yes, it’s all going on here.

If nothing else, Ancient Ruins provides some insight into the evolution of Reaks’ compositions, from oddball pop to off-the-wall melting-pot madness, with loads of ska brass and a whole lot more besides. The dubby closer ‘Ghost Town In My Heart (Version 2)’ is particularly illuminating.  If only all history lessons were this interesting.

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OWLS – Death Games

Posted: 27 May 2025 in Albums, Reviews
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Negative Gain Productions – 6th June 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

Just as the birds of prey from which they take their name are creatures of the night, so this Irish act – essentially one guy – who draw inspiration from the darker realms of postpunk, goth, and synth-based music are very much dwellers of the dark hours, as debut album Death Games attests, with titles such as ‘Perfect Nightmare’, ‘Tombs’, and ‘Send Me to My Grave’. The album’s themes are timeless and classic, offering ‘a haunting exploration of love, mortality, and the fragile nature of existence,’ while casting nods to touchstones such as Lebanon Hanover, Boy Harsher, and Black Marble.

Lead single ‘Give Me Your Stare’ opens the album in style with a disco beat and throbbing bass giving this bleak, echo-soaked song a dancefloor-friendly groove. The vocals are backed off but ring clear through a haze of reverb, offering a hint of The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds in terms of production values.

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The compositions on Death Games are pretty direct: there’s not a lot of detail or layers, and it’s the electronic beats and pulsating basslines which not only define the sound but drive the songs. The sonorous synths which twist and grind over the top of these predominantly serve to create atmosphere more than melody, although haunting, repetitive motifs are commonplace, and the vocals, too, being low in the mix and with a fairly processed feel, are more a part of the overall sound than the focal point.

‘Skin on Skin’ brings a wibbly, ghosty synth that sounds a bit like a theremin quivering over a minimalist backing of primitive drum machine and bass synth, and the likelihood is that they’re going for early Depeche Mode, but the end result is more like a gothed-up Sleaford Mods, although, by the same token, it’s not a million miles away from She Wants Revenge around the time of their electro-poppy debut, and that’s perhaps a kinder and more reasonable comparison. ‘Fevr 2’ brings an increased sense of urgency with skittering bleeps skating around the reverberating drums: it has both an 80s movie soundtrack vibe and a vintage goth disco feel, and despite its hectic percussion and busy bass, ‘Tombs’ conjures a haunting, requiem-like atmosphere.

The ‘death’ thematic may not always be literal, and as much concerned with the death of love and the ends of relationships, but the duality the theme offers serves OWLS well. There’s no denying that it’s both a stereotype and a cliché that an obsession with death is such a goth thing, and OWLS fulfil these unashamedly – but then, why should there be shame? Why is it only goth and some strains of metal which embrace life’s sole inevitability, and explore mortality and the finite nature of existence? Even now, after millennia, we aren’t only afraid of death, but, particularly in Western cultures, we’re afraid to think or talk about it. People passing in their eighties and nineties still elicits a response that it’s a tragedy or that they should have had more time, and I’ve seen it said of people departing in their sixties or even seventies that it’s ‘no age’. We seem to have a huge blind spot, a blanketing case of denial when it comes to death, as if it shouldn’t happen, that it’s an injustice, and that no-one deserves it. But nothing is forever, be it love or life, and while loss – any loss – is painful, it comes attached to inevitability, being a matter of when, not if.

The stark and sombre ‘Send Me to My Grave’ commences a trilogy of dark, downbeat, funereal songs, which grow progressively darker, more subdued, the vocals more swallowed by evermore cavernous reverb. Even when the beats kick in and the bass booms, things warp, degenerate, and seem to palpably decay and degrade. There’s a weight to it, a claustrophobic heaviness, and the kick drum thwocks away murkily as if muffled by earth and six feet under sods. ‘This Must be the End’ is brittle, delicate, the calm that comes with the acceptance of… of what? What comes after the end? It feels like the song, and the album, leave this question hanging with an ellipsis, a suspense mark. It seems fitting, since we simply don’t know. But it does very much leave the door ajar for OWLS’ follow up, and that is something to look forward to.

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Listen: ‘Youth’ by Kill Your Boyfriend

Posted: 12 May 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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To coincide with the release of Disco Kills via Sister 9 Recordings, Italian post-punk duo Kill Your Boyfriend have unveiled ‘Youth’.

We raved about the EP here. Hear the track here:

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The EP sees Kill Your Boyfriend experimenting with new sounds that lean towards electronic music, creating a more rarefied space for the guitars while maintaining the dark atmospheres that distinguish them. It features 6 songs drawing inspiration from past greats such as Kraftwerk, Moroder, and New Order, while also keeping an eye on artists like the Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, and Paul Kalkbrenner.

Kill Your Boyfriend have confirmed a series of European live dates in May and September this year, with more to be announced soon.

Fri 30 May -  PMK – Innsbruck, Austria w./ New Candys

Sat 31 May -  Rockhaus – Salzburg, Austria w./ New Candys

Fri 12 Sept – Kampus Hybernska – Prague, Czech Republic

Sat 13 Sept – UV Klub – Lodz, Poland

Sun 14 Sept – Chmury – Warsaw, Poland

Wed 17 Sept – Kult 41 – Bonn, Germany

Fri 19 Sept – Parkside Studios – Offenbach, Germany

Sat 20 Sept – Kradhalle – Ulm, Germany

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Photo credit: Alice Lorenzon

Utterly Fuzzled All-Dayer – York Fulfordgate WMC – 10th May 2025

Posted: 11 May 2025 in Live, Reviews
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Christopher Nosnibor

With grassroots venues closing at an alarming – and depressing – rate, there are fewer and fewer places for bands with a smaller draw, and new acts, to play. Meanwhile, particularly since the pandemic, Working Men’s Clubs have also been in decline or otherwise struggling. But as The Brudenell in Leeds and The Crescent in York have demonstrated, WMC make ideal gig venues, with a well-appointed room with a stage which is simply ideal. And so it is that the organisers of previous all-dayers in York at the now-closed Vaults have scoured the city for a new home, unveiling a brand new ‘Utterly Fuzzled’ stage banner to mark simultaneously a fresh start and a rebirth of sorts.

The advertised lineup included a number of acts who are no strangers to the York scene, or to these virtual pages – certainly solid enough to get me and plenty of others to an out-of-town venue before 4:30pm on a broiling hot Saturday afternoon.

Pete Dale, who also happens to be the guitarist in Knitting Circle, got things going with a solo set of Milky Wimpshake songs, with a couple of covers tossed in for good measure, before Fat Spatula stepped things up with the first full-band set of the occasion.

Every time I see Fat Spatula it’s like experiencing a different band, with different facets of their sound seemingly presenting themselves and pushing through to the fore. Going for a set of high-energy roustabout songs, they’re good fun, and some people dance.

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Fat Spatula

Soma Crew start slow with ‘Hey Sister’, and it’s a set that focuses on the mellower, gentler stuff. You never know what you’re going to get with Soma Crew, from lineup to set, but one thing is always assured, and that’s drummer Nick’s T-shirt. About halfway through they finally kick things up a notch with their first Motorik groove, when they come on like Hawkwind playing Sister Ray. It’s not until the last track that they pick up the tempo and let the drone diffing spin out. People don’t dance. It simply wasn’t that kind of set.

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Soma Crew

In these troubling times, Knitting Circle’s commitment to being an issues-driven band is something I find both stirring and in no small way quite moving. It shouldn’t seem like a bold thing to be staunchly anti-war and sing about it, but this is seemingly where we are now, and the fact they have some cracking tunes with two and three-way vocals and choppy Gang of Four style guitars makes seeing them an uplifting experience – and they’re consistently good, too.

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Knitting Circle

The next couple of acts aren’t local, but they are both absolutely outstanding. Glasgow’s Slime City bring energetic punky tunes, matching zipper tops, and a size nine shoe with knobs on that does something to the guitar. They have a few gimmicks, but they’re worked into the set in a way that’s knowing and humorous without being cringey. And they have TUNES. Said tunes are led by some outstanding drumming – tight, crisp, a bit disco in places. ‘Never Stop Giving Up’ goes a bit poppy, a bit Prince, but more oftentimes, they’re rather reminiscent of Future of the Left.

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Slime City

Irked take things to a whole other level: fierce, ferocious, tight, they’re blistering from beginning to end. I didn’t really take any notes during their set. But what’s to say about a band with such a fearsome frontwoman who charges about the room howling a fill-throated roar against a full-throttle twin-guitar attack interspersed with some good-natured between-song banter with a strong North-Eastern twist from the guitarist. The vitriol is real, but so is the fact they have a clear sense of humour.

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Irked

Now, the last time I saw Crumbs was a rather difficult night, when they supported Dream Nails. They were great, although their performance was rather eclipsed by subsequent events. It’s a pleasure to see them under more friendly circumstances: they’re good fun, and worthy headliners. There’s more inter-band crossover, as Jamie Wilson who does guitar / synths / vocals for Knitting Circle is also Crumbs’ bassist, and paired with Gem’s easy drumming style. with minimal kit – bass, floor tom, snare, hi-hat – they play straight-up indie that’s accessible and quite simply great fun.

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Crumbs

And ultimately, fun is what this is all about. The sense of community is heartwarming. A lot of those present are in bands – and not the bands playing – but there are also plenty of faces often seen at local gig, as well as many who aren’t, but hopefully events like this will entice them out more often. And with a decent enough range of bottled beers at £3.70 ago, and good quality sound throughout, Fulfordgate WMC has strong potential to become a more regular venue. Real credit has to go to Jo Dale, bassist with Knitting Circle, for her curation, organisation, and promotion of such an adventurous DIY event. Here’s to much more Fuzzlement in the future.

Kill Your Boyfriend – Disco Kills EP

Posted: 10 May 2025 in Albums, Reviews
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Sister 9 Recordings – 9th May 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

Since showcasing single cut ‘Discretion’ last month, I’ve been totally gripped by this new EP by Italian post-punk electro duo Kill Your Boyfriend.

There’s something about the consistent use of one-word titles that adds punch. The complete catalogue of Foetus albums is a strong case in point: Hole, Nail, Gash Blow… Four letters, forming a single syllable, prove to be powerfully evocative, even when there is no context – or perhaps more so because there is no context.

The titles of the six songs on here are rather less abstract, more descriptive, but still strong and evocative in isolation: ‘Ego’, ‘Obsession’, ‘Apathy’… words with emotional connotations, words which plug straight into the beating heart of the human condition. And, just as ‘Discretion’ threatened, Disco Kills is a full-on sonic kicking that registers blows from every direction.

It’s all about that throbbing, hard-hitting rhythm section, and once again, I feel compelled to sing in praise of the drum machine. Much-maligned and still contentious when used in a ‘rock’ context, the relentless thud and crash of programmed percussion can be so compelling – hypnotic, yes, but also in the way it registers in a purely physical way, the toppy snare explosion sending shockwaves through the nervous system while setting eardrums quivering. From Suicide to Uniform via Metal Urbain, The Sisters of Mercy and Big Black, there’s a rich lineage of bands for whom a drum machine used well – and at an appropriate level in the mix – absolutely defines the sound. It doesn’t work for a lot of rock acts because they’re more about having a certain flexibility, but for absolutely smashing the senses with precision timekeeping, drum machines really come into their own, especially when solid, four-square basslines which follow the beats with equal precision are involved.

And so it is that for all the mesh of treble and distortion, Kill Your Boyfriend structure these songs around a punishing rhythm section. No fancy fills or extravagant bass runs – just hammering, solid grooves, which underscore all the rest. I say ‘all the rest’ as if it’s somehow lesser. It isn’t, not by a long shot. ‘Obsession’ would be dancefloor-friendly – to the point you could imagine people turning and clapping in time with the crispy snap of the vintage Akai snare sound, were it not for its dark, distorted vocal. ‘Apathy’ a bubbling dance banger that’s twisted by some dissonant chord changes and an echo-soaked shouty vocal, the end result sounding like The Prodigy remixing Alien Sex Fiend. Apathetic it is not: a Hi-NRG banger with a dark, serrated edge, it is.

They do trancey / shoegaze / synthwavey lightness on ‘Illusion’, which offers an unexpected – and unexpectedly welcome – pause for breath. But although it pulls back on the breakneck pace and abrasion of the tracks which both precede and succeed it, ‘Illusion’ is still dense, richly textured, and overtly beat-driven, with a thick, churning bass lurking beneath. It just doesn’t drive as hard or as aggressively, with an altogether gentler vocal delivery, and it builds tension with twisty guitars with strong echoes of the sound of 1984. Yes, it’s a bit gothy, and it sits well, and all of this means that the thick, buzzy, echoey electrogoth stomp of ‘Discretion’ hits even harder after the lull, highlighting just what an absolute beast it is. And make no mistake: it’s a pumping, pulverising dark disco monster. It’s brashy, it’s trashy, not so much a car crash as a flaming, petrol-tank-exploding pileup with Sheep on Drugs, Selfish Cunt, KMFDM, and Sigue Sigue Sputnik. It’s an instant adrenaline spike, a rush of pure exhilaration.

‘Youth’ begins darkly but offer something more buoyant as a bookend to the EP, like an electro Sex Pistols, it echoes and bounced its way in a rush to the end. It does feel like a rather flimsy add-on, but works in terms of bringing things down again to wrap it up.

Disco Kills is solid and fierce from beginning to end – and while it’s predominantly electronic in its instrumentation, it’s also very much rock, and it’s pure punk all the way.

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IST IST / Oliver Marson – The Crescent, York, 3rd May 2025

Posted: 4 May 2025 in Live, Reviews
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Christopher Nosnibor

Is it acceptable to wear the band’s T-shirt to their show? It’s a frequent topic of debate amongst my gig-going friends. As a rule, we tend to agree it’s not cool, although we all have our notable exceptions, and I got mine. But IST IST fans would largely disagree, it would seem – unless this is their exception band.

Usually, with the front bar right next to the auditorium, people sit at the tables supping until the bands start, sometimes until the headliners take to the stage. Not tonight. A large cluster of middle-agers in IST IST T-shirts are queueing and actually blocking access to the bar room half an hour before doors.  There’s a guy with an immense beard wearing a sleeveless black denim jacket with Sisters of Mercy and Fields of the Nephilim patches paired with red tartan trees and he’s standing in the queue too. The queue is practically out of the front door by 7:25, but the bar remains almost empty. These people are keen.

The support is an Ian McCulloch wannabe in a knee-length coat doing sub-mid-80s Psychedelic Furs lifts with a goth tinge. The drum machine is nicely up in the mix and the sound is great, even if the songs are only middling at best, and wince at worst. and it’s mostly backing track. But the Jarvis Cocker moves are overdone, suddenly throwing shapes in the most uncool fashion, sometimes going for a power pose or something a shade more aggressive and all the more incongruous, and the shades are off and back on and off and I again and the cringe only increases as the set progresses. It’s one of the longest half hours of music, and probably the most painful since the band supporting A Flock of Seagulls at The Brudenell a few years ago. It’s a rare talent to be this technically competent and so fucking embarrassingly awful at the same time.

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Oliver Marson

Having clocked a vintage Sisters T in the gents and emerging to find the front of the stage absolutely rammed, I was reminded just how hardcore – not to mention fucking stubborn – older gig-goers can be. It’s no wonder I learned spot-bagging and elbows when I started going to shows as a teen in the early 90s. And, as then, I’m probably a sound 10-15 years younger than the majority of these buggers. Those clustered in the front row in groups are discussing the set lists placed on the stage. Smoke drifts as Interpol’s ‘Roland’ blasts from the PA.

It’s not hard to comprehend why this band enjoys such devotion from this demographic: they present all of the quintessential post-punk elements, delivered with precision and panache. It is, it must be said, post-punk as viewed through the prism of the 21st Century revival. And there are many who are here for that, too, with plenty of under 30s grooving away behind the first five rows of old sods.

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IST IST

There has been no shortage of bands doing precisely this since around 2004, but Superlative drumming elevates their Editors /Interpol / White Lies – etc. – sound. The vocals are a flat, monotone and slightly twangy baritone with all the reverb, which take me a while to place, but they land somewhere between I Like Trains and She Wants Revenge. Credit to the sound guy, too, who’s working hard with the reverb and echo, especially on new song ‘Echo’, which has ‘instant classic’ written all over it and goes down a storm. They’re tight as and the sound is outstanding, with some super-solid bass at the pulsating heart of it all – and unlike Oliver Marson, leather jacketed bassist Andy Keating keeps his shades on – although I can’t help but wonder if they’re prescription and he’s doing a Wayne Hussey.

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IST IST

One of the tracks later in the set – my notes are sketchy as I was a bit engrossed – is pure She Wants Revenge, and it would be easy to shrug that IST IST offer nothing new, and it would be a valid criticism – but the counterpoint to that would be the consistency of the material and sheer quality of the performance, where some nice 12-string action adds some all-essential texture, and there are abundant I Like Trains-style post-rock crescendos along the way – and shshsh, don’t tell the younger fans, but it’s all as goth AF.

Fawn Spots – Ersatz

Posted: 2 May 2025 in Albums, Reviews
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4th April 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

I miss Fawn Spots. I didn’t especially like them at first – musically, they were lo-fi, energetic, and thrilling, but they came across as bratty, even a shade twatty, at times, notably in my recollection as coming across as somewhat ‘off’ and disparaging when supporting The Twilight Sad at The Duchess in York. I miss The Duchess, too. I suppose, like Fawn Spots at the time, it had its faults: the pillars weren’t great for views at times and the sound was often a bit crap, but it brought some top-notch touring bands to York, with The Fall, and The Psychedelic Furs’ DV8 performance being clear standouts.

But I came to feel an affection for Fawn Spots: they evolved, in every respect – from a raw, messy two-piece cranking out some frantic racket, to a proper band, with some proper songs – although not too polished. They never got so slick as to lose their edge. It’s easy to take bands who are always out on the local circuit for granted, and it’s only when they move on – whether it’s because they call it a day, or move on beyond the local scene – that their significance on a personal level becomes apparent. You go from seeing them every other week either headlining or supporting a bigger-name touring band and it all being so much ‘yeah, whatever, cool, but this is the sixth time this year, and it’s only May’ to suddenly, they’re absent.

After a clutch of indie and self-released EPs and bits, and some touring, and with the release of their critically-lauded debut LP From Safer Place in 2015 on Critical Heights, which received coverage from Record Collector and Louder than War Fawn Spots seemed to be on the brink of something. And then… they vanished, and we forgot about them because we were busy with our lives and all the other bands we were listening to, and all the rest.

This posthumously-released album has been lurking in the vaults for some time. As they write – and at the same time highlighting their wildly eclectic influences – ‘A few months after recording this album the band ceased to exist… The product of a period of obsession with Arab Strap, Angels of Light, Lungfish and the song ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ by Crowded House.’

I love Angels of Light, but don’t love nostalgia: however, while cooking the other day, I flipped to the 80s music day on the Smithsonian channel, and heard ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ – a song I own on 7” – for the first time in ages, and was reminded just how good it is. It’s not the first thing that comes to mind listening to the fuzzing, buzzing guitar blast of Ersatz.

‘Fortunes’ is a bit Fugazi, a bit Girls Against Boys, gritty, driving, sturdy, while ‘Blossoms’ is dynamic, textured in the way Nirvana pushed soft and chiming vs max overdrive.

The album has energy, that’s for sure. It also has some dense riffs and some keen melodies. Some are keener than others, it’s true, and the hollering ‘Daylight Runner’ feels a bit emo with a dash of mathiness. The same could be said of ‘Strangers’ but the early Dinosaur Jr vibe rescues it., while ‘Faint House’ has the post-punk-with-a-commercial-edge feel of White Lies. Quite liking White Lies, and bearing in mind the timing and context, I have no issues with this, but a decade on, I can comprehend why some may be rather less enthused.

Listening to these songs now, I feel I’d have appreciated them more contemporaneously. Buzz does count for something, it seems, as does being in the moment. If they’d sustained their momentum, if they’d remained current… things would likely have been very different. And perhaps some sounds do date, until nostalgia resurrects them. What goes around comes around, but sometimes it takes time.

Winding the clock back, the songs on Ersatz are well-realised, and played with real energy. But this an album that is, essentially, of its time. It’s not so much that its dated, as that is just feels… not entirely confluent with the zeitgeist of 2025, not entirely gripping in the sense that you need to check your back yard to feel safe.

Had it been released in 2015, and given the right press push and media uptake – because. let’s be honest, leading horses to water is only part of the equation when it comes to getting new bands heard – Ersatz could have propelled Fawn Spots to the next level – not because it was their best work, but their most accessible, and their most zeitgeisty work. And it has hooks: the post-punky ‘No Source’ is bold and guitary, but catchy, too.

Ersatz is now a historical document. It feels anachronistic, and doesn’t really sit anywhere in 2025. But it reminds us not only of how things were, but what could have been… and how we miss Fawn Spots.

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Watch: ‘PolarForest’ by Anja Huwe / Xmal Deutschland

Posted: 29 April 2025 in Singles and EPs
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Here’s something of a curio… ‘PolarForest’ by Anja Huwe / Xmal Deutschland.

A saturnine mashup of Xmal’s 1987 track ‘Polarlicht’ and Anja Huwe’s ‘Living In The Forest’ from her 2024 album Codes, the single reinvigorates the binding of Anja’s past to her future.

‘Polarlicht’ explores the enchanting beauty of the northern lights, with Anja’s vocals repetitively calling “scheine, scheine,” emphasizing the hypnotic nature of the Aurora Borealis. Contrasted with Anja’s stronger vocals of ‘Living In The Forest,’ the theme and lyrics of the track bring melancholy and subliminal aggression and anger to the mix.

The single is accompanied by a music video which features Huwe’s stunning visual art alongside sequences from the art and dance project COAX, ARCHETYPE, formed by internationally renowned choreographer and performing artist Rica Blunck and multi-talented artist Nicolas Anatol Baginsky.

You can watch the video here:

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The March Violets continue their late-career blooming with hometown show at Leeds Warehouse in July

Posted: 28 April 2025 in Live, Previews and Editorial
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Performing at Warehouse on Tuesday 1st July 2025, the boundary-shredding Yorkshire post/punks continue their epic live comeback with this unmissable gig on home turf.

Following a rapturous reception to what were their first live shows in nearly a decade in 2023, plus high praise for their new studio output including 2024 album Crocodile Promises, which received a double thumbs-up from us at Aural Aggravation, and a reappraisal of their classic works in a series of reissues on the Jungle Records label; the cult band are clearly revelling in their recent revival.

Comprising founding members Rosie Garland (performer, poet and author) and Tom Ashton (Guitarist, producer and studio owner), plus Mat Thorpe on bass, the band are intending the shows to be a celebration of The March Violets’ legacy, while also honouring the irreplaceable contribution of friend and founding member Simon Denbigh.
Speaking about their recent reunion shows, The March Violets explain:

“Since the March Violets tour in 2015 we’ve been shocked at how many musical friends have passed over and out. And after Simon Denbigh’s life-changing stroke, it’s no surprise we all thought that was it for the Violets. When, in 2021, Jungle Records released Big Soul Kiss (The BBC Sessions double album) for Record Store Day 2021 it sold out its entire pressing in 24 hours. We were amazed at the response, absolutely amazed. We faced a choice – to fade away quietly or go out with a celebration.

We feel for Simon, and honour his massive artistic contribution & intense vision as one of The March Violets founding members. He’s irreplaceable, so we’re not going to try. We believe the legacy of The March Violets deserves a far better conclusion than sinking into silence, and now is the right time to do it.”

With their first incarnation described by Sounds magazine as “slinky, savage yet warmly delicate [with a] thirst for mystery, magic and brutal darkness”, The March Violets were a post/punk band cut from a different cloth. Founded in Leeds in 1981, from there the band would initiate an impressive career that would see them navigating all corners of the alternative scene and accrue a longstanding cult following. With their debut EP Religious As Hell released by Andrew Eldritch (frontman of fellow Leeds scene band The Sisters of Mercy), TMV would tally a total of seven successful Indie Chart singles including “Grooving in Green”, “Snake Dance”, “Deep”, and “Walk Into The Sun”, plus their ‘Radiant Boys’ EP, at the height of their powers. With an impeccable John Peel Session also under their belts, the band released two compilation albums Natural History (which peaked at No.3 in the Indie Charts) and Electric Shades in the US, before signing a major deal in 1985 with London Records. Releasing the poppier charms of the hit single “Turn to the Sky”, the track would notably feature in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful in 1987, before the band eventually split later that year.

Reforming for a one-off hometown gig two decades later, their 2007 reunion would lead to a flurry of activity in the 21st Century including festival headline slots across Europe & the USA, the brand new studio albums Made Glorious (2013) and Mortality (2015), plus a storming Record Store Day release in 2021’s sell-out double album: Big Soul Kiss.

In 2023, The March Violets confirmed the release of their full back catalogue via Jungle Records for the first time, while releasing two new compilations Play Loud Play Purple and The Palace of Infinite Darkness in the run up. Taking their creative spurt into the studio, the band have also been working on new material and released a new record Crocodile Promises in 2024, via the Metropolis Records imprint.

Most recently, the TMV have been taking their gothic majesties stateside and have completed a triumphant tour of the USA, while also impressing UK audiences last summer with major festival appearances at the likes of Rebellion Festival and Bearded Theory.

Returning to the fore in 2025, The March Violets will be back with a vengeance for what promises to be a very special hometown show strewn with classics and new cuts, surprises and so much more.

On the night, the band will also be supported by one post/punk’s brightest new hopes – Vision Video. Following the release of their new album ‘Haunted Hours’, VV will be making the trip from Athens, GA, for a set of their refreshingly honest and dark gothic pop. Following on from their 2021 debut ‘Inked in Red’ (which told the story of lead singer Dusty Gannon (aka TikTok’s “Goth Dad”) and the darkness he saw as a soldier in Afghanistan), their recent work ‘Haunted Hours’ explores Dusty’s experience as a firefighter and paramedic working on the frontlines of the pandemic that followed his return. Vision Video will soon record their next LP Modern Horror at Maze Studios in Atlanta headed by Grammy award winning producer Ben Allen.

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TICKETS / DETAILS

Tickets On General Sale Wednesday 16 April

Doors 7.30pm / Curfew 11.00pm

Age Restriction – All ages, under 14 to accompanied by an adult over the age of 18

Available here:
https://pinkdot.seetickets.com/event/the-march-violets/the-warehouse/3385250

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