Posts Tagged ‘The Psychedelic Furs’

Sunshine Blind – Scarred but Fearless

Posted: 9 September 2025 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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5th September 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

Bandcamp Friday may be a regular occurrence, but it is an event, and one which surpasses Records Store Day in terms of its tangible benefits – namely, that artists get paid. Who would have thought that this should have become such a topic for discussion? The sad fact is, artists haven’t been receiving fair recompense for a long time, but the Internet was supposed to herald the arrival of a new age of egalitarianism. But then the corporatisation of the Internet put paid to that. While the world was focussed on vilifying Napster and Soulseek and the like, streaming machines like Apple and Spotify erupted like Godzilla from the depths and created a new model whereby artists got paid, but by nowhere near enough, and only of they were already raking it in.

I’ve digressed already, but the flipside of Bandcamp Friday is that there are more releases in a day than I could listen to in a month, and my inbox is battered and overloaded with updates. Sometimes, I feel inclined to simply go and lie down rather than approach their contents.

But some releases remind me why I do, and it’s worth quoting here:

After much teasing and anticipation, US goth rock veterans Sunshine Blind at last release their first new songs in over twenty years: two driving goth rock bangers, ‘Ghost of You’ and the especially rousing anthem, ‘Unsinkable’. The new tracks are released together as the Scarred but Fearless single for Bandcamp Friday, 5 September 2025.

Twenty years. Twenty years! Time does, indeed, fly. People my age struggle to accept that the 90s were thirty years ago, or that when they were 21 was anything other than the definitive bygone era. Then again, Sunshine Blind’s sound was always very much rooted in the sound of 90s goth / post punk revival, when The Sisters of Mercy unleashed the altogether more rock-orientated Vision Thing, and acts like Sunshot were taking drum-machine driven gothy goodness in new and invigorating directions. It’s not just Caroline Bland’s vocals which invite favourable comparisons to Sunshot: Sunshine Blind’s catalogue is bursting with effervescent energy, and this new brace of tunes make a most welcome addition.

The janglesome intro to ‘Ghost of You’ calls to mind The Psychedelic Furs during their 80s pop phase, and there’s certainly a melodic accessibility to the song. However, it’s countered by a thunderous, driving bass sound and screeding feedback filling out the sound at the back, and captures the vibe of The March Violets, another classic act newly invigorated. What goes around comes around, and with certain parallels between now and the early 80s, it very much feels like this is the time for a goth revival, including crimped hair and hats. ‘Ghost of You’ brings the vibe, and well as guts and hooks in equal measure.

‘Unsinkable’ ups the rock leanings still further, with a brittle guitar chiming through the verses before going full tube crunch on the bold chorus, propelled by some sturdy drumming and another solid bassline. The sentiment is the perfect analogy for the band here, too. You can’t keep talent down, or buried forever.

With both songs of a standard, this is very much an AA-side single, making Scarred but Fearless a triumphant return.

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Knox Chandler – The Sound

Posted: 4 June 2025 in Albums, Reviews
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30th May 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

Knox Chandler may not be universally known, but many of the acts he’s credited as playing with over the last forty years are, with long stints as a member of  and the Cyndi Lauper band. Then there’s his work in various capacities with REM, Depeche Mode, Grace Jones, Marianne Faithful, Natalie Merchant, Tricky, The Creatures, Dave Gahan, Paper Monsters and The Golden Palominos… it makes for quite the CV.

This solo outing marks a fairly significant departure from all of that, though. The context behind it is that ‘Knox spent a decade residing in Berlin, Germany, while he explored sound-scaping. He developed a technique he calls “Soundribbons”, which he recorded and performed in its own right as well as applying it to different genres and mediums . He composed, recorded, toured, produced, and wrote string arrangements for Herbert Grönemeyer, Jesper Munk, Pure Reason Revolution, The Still, TAU, Miss Kenichi and the Sun, Mars William’s Albert Ayler Xmas, Rita Redshoes, Them There, The Night…”

And so what we have here is a collection of ten instrumental works, whereby the guitar doesn’t sound like a guitar. In fact, it doesn’t sound specifically like anything. Chandler conjures wispy, ephemeral sound sculptures, atmospheric, brooding, a shade filmic, soundtracky, with hints of sci-fi and BBC radiophonic workshop about their strange, twisting, abstract and keenly non-linear forms.

There’s more than simply droning guitar on offer here, though: flickering, surround-sound precision provides a shifting backdrop to the ever-morphing ‘Tea Stained Edge’, where tremulous, reverby guitar bounces here and there off sonorous string-like sounds and even something resembling a jazzy double bass, but in contrast, ‘Lost Dusk Feather’ takes the form of a magnificently disjointed collage work, flipping between ambience and discordant confusion. The playfully-titled ‘Hidden Hammock Pond’ is one of the album’s most overtly experimental works, a mish-mash of sounds overlaying one another, smooshed together and as strange and unpredictable as it gets, venturing via exploratory ambience and quivering drones and allusions of abstract jazz into Krautrock . It’s wilfully perverse, and swings between the dark and serious, and the light and entertaining within the space of a heartbeat. ‘Mars on a Half Moon Rising’ goes a shade New age strange, insectroid flutters, field sounds and mystical hoodoo, bells and chimes, Morris dancers and scraping bass which occasionally strays into some kind of Duran Duran bending bass moments.

It’s all going on here. It’s impossible to predict direction over the duration of this release: The Sound meanders here, there, and everywhere. At times expansive (as on ‘Burn’), at times claustrophobic, it’s never less than compelling or varied listening.

If you’re seeking anything in the vein of the headline acts with which Knox Chandler is associated with, you may well be disappointed. But if your ears are open to abstract, instrumental strangeness, you’re in the right place. The Sound is weird, unapologetically and strange – and it’s the sound of an artist cutting loose and exploring sound. It’s weird, and wonderful, in equal measure.

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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: ‘Mars On A Half Moon Rising’ by Knox Chandler

Posted: 21 April 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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‘Mars On A Half Moon Rising’ is the first video from The Sound, the solo debut of much-travelled musician / producer / arranger / painter Knox Chandler. This project is a musical / visual memoir depicting the shift in his surroundings from the urban to the rural, specifically the Connecticut shoreline off the Long Island Sound and the impact of this dramatic change of environment on his consciousness and the art-work that leads to.

At The Sound’s core is Chandler’s “Soundribbon” style of meditative, powerfully cinematic instrumental performance on guitar, accompanied by upright bass and percussion which comprises the audio component of the release. The visual portion is a book of paintings, photographs, sketches and written meditations, interpreting nature through technology. The blending of these mediums is Knox’s attempt to make the diaristic intent of his music explicit. The Sound is being released on Knox’s new label Blue Elastic on May 30. The album is available on digital download and on streaming platforms on its own, or the book comes with a download code. I hope you’ll consider covering Knox with an interview, feature, news story or album review.

Knox Chandler’s career has spanned for over four decades including long stints as a member of The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cyndi Lauper band, extraordinary experiences in recording and performing live around the world. Chandler’s also performed, recorded, arranged and produced, working with acts such as REM, Depeche Mode, Grace Jones, Marianne Faithful, Natalie Merchant, Tricky, The Creatures, Dave Gahan Paper Monsters and The Golden Palominos etc.

Knox spent a decade residing in Berlin, Germany, while he explored sound-scaping. He developed a technique he calls “Soundribbons”, which he recorded and performed in its own right as well as applying it to different genres and mediums . He composed, recorded, toured, produced, and wrote string arrangements for Herbert Grönemeyer, Jesper Munk, Pure Reason Revolution,The Still, TAU, Miss Kenichi and the Sun, Mars William’s Albert Ayler Xmas, Rita Redshoes, Them There, The Night, etc. While living in Germany received a Post Graduate certification in education and was the head of the guitar department at BIMM College.

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Watch: ‘Apology Song’ by Elk City

Posted: 29 November 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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Magic Door Record Label

28 November 2022

Sometimes, you just need to ease the pressure a bit, kick back, chill, unwind. Breathe. Intensity, catharsis, and rage are good, vital, but a change can be the rest in itself. So here it is.

Art pop band Elk City presents new timidly confessional single ‘Apology Song’, a Suzanne Vega-esque offering from their new album Above the Water, following up earlier singles ‘That Someone’, which explores the dual nature of self and other, excitement and dismay, and the more laid-back and philosophical ‘Your Time Doesn’t Exist’.

Revolving around its founders, artist/ vocalist Renée LoBue and producer/drummer Ray Ketchem, the band is rounded out by guitarist Sean Eden (Luna), bass guitarist Richard Baluyut (Versus) and Chris Robertson of Punch Havana and Psychedelic Furs side-project Feed. Since their formation in 1999, Elk City has released five albums, three EPs and numerous singles. Pursuing a glimmering rock thread, Elk City makes potent atmospheric pop with psychedelic undertones and overtones.

A new chapter in the Montclair, New Jersey band’s evolutionary story, this album is vibrant, raw-edged and bold, showcasing a new guitar-rich lineup. Released via the newly-launched Magic Door Record Label, founded by Guided by Voices drummer Kevin March with Ketchem and LoBue with a simple mission to release music created by the rich community of artists who surround them, this album reveals the band’s North Jersey roots and lineage with The Feelies, Yo La Tengo (with whom they share a former label, Bar/None) and Luna (with whom they share a guitarist).

“’Apology Song’ is probably Elk City’s most well-crafted song to date. Straight up songwriting craftsmanship. I came up with the chorus late in the game. The band wanted something more, something additional to sink their musical teeth into. They asked me to come up with an add-on to the parts that were already there. That’s when I came up with the part that says, “I’m sorry. I did it. I got all caught up in my head. I’m sorry, you know it. My head got caught up in that thing”,  I’ve never written a lyric so simplistic, yet meaningful. Both off-the-cuff and relatable AF,” says Renée LoBue.

"I’ve had this concept and have wanted to direct this video for a while now. I describe the video as "A sensual comedy packed with nutrition". As ‘Apology Song’ is heavy on drama, we knew we needed to go lighter/comedic with a video for the song. It’s the visual wack-a-doo companion that balances the song’s "heart on sleeve" message. Eat your fruits and vegetables, kids!"

We can’t condone the use of plastic bags, but we can very much condone everything else about this song and its video.

Watch ‘Apology Song’ here:

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Crimson Brûlée – Tragica

Posted: 11 December 2021 in Singles and EPs
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7th December 2021

Crimson Brûlée emerged in 2019 as an offshoot of guitar-driven goths The Witch-Kings, after a difference of opinion over the incorporation of synths. No diss to The Witch-Kings, but Tragica presents a magnificent sound.

It’s a pretty awkward band name and so-so title for a great album, but there is context, at least for the latter, in that the EP is delivered in homage to the band’s original bassist, Johan, who passed away in early 2021.

He would likely have been proud. With Tragica Crimson Brûlée really nail their position as a top-notch goth act. It’s billed as an EP, but comes with a stack of remixes which bulks it uo to nine tracks, which is effectively an album or two EPs.

‘I Came Back to You’ is a strong opener, combining trad goth with the sound and feel of early Psychedelic Furs, packing minor chords and an insistent beat in the verses, that burst into something wonderful in the choruses. Light explodes and it feels redemptive. It could easily be a Talk Talk Talk outtake. The intro to ‘Nothing Dies Forever’ invites comparisons to She Wants Revenge: it’s dramatic, bold, bombastic, synth-led but driven by some meaty guitars, and absolutely fucking epic, and never lets up for its five-minute duration.

It’s the strolling bass that dominates ‘Restrained’, which is anything but in terms of its epicness. All bar one of the songs are over the five-minute mark, but ‘Where the Tarantulaa Roam’, extending beyond the six-minute mark, is an absolute beast, and one that calls to mind Susperia, only with swirling backing vocals reminiscent of All About Eve’s Julianne Reagan. With the synths backed off but sweeping all around, the mix is immense.

‘Why I Wear Black’ is more guitars, more SWR-like. Yet for all the references, this feels fresh and innovative: this is not an album that deals in tropes and the lyrics are personal and genuine rather than contrived.

It’s a really, really strong suite of songs, The remixes are pretty good, to be fair, but non-essential.

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