Bristol Live // Joey Fourr by Bristol In Stereo

BRISTOL LIVE LIVE & NEW MUSIC MAGAZINE

JOEY FOURR Aug. 17 | 67

NADIA REID T R AV I S WA LT O N S

NEW RELEASES

LISTINGS & MORE 1

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New Found Glory + ROAM DJ Shadow

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Thu 12th Oct • £10 adv

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Breakin Science

Fireball - Fuelling the Fire

Airbourne

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+ Jon Dasilva

Insane Clown Posse + Mushroomhead

Fri 17th Nov • £27.50 adv

Nelly

Sun 19th Nov • £22 adv

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Opeth + Enslaved

Bristol Bank Holiday Special

Fri 13th Oct • £28.50 adv

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Karnival Addiction

Sneakbo, Kojo Funds, Young Lion + more

Fri 1st Sep • £12 adv

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Sat 2nd Sep • £6 adv / £10 VIP

The Underdog

Wed 6th Sep • £27.50 adv

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The Smyths

Little Dragon

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Bush

J Hus

Tue 26th Sep • £24 adv

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Sparks

Thu 28th Sep • £15 adv

Sundara Karma + The Magic Gang

Fri 29th Sep • £18 adv

Festival Of The Dead

Mura Masa

The Psychedelic Furs The Velvets

PVRIS

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Mon 6th Nov • £36.50 adv

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Mac DeMarco

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LANY

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Fish

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Purple Rain

A Celebration of Prince

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Extreme

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The Twang

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Oh Wonder

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Wed 8th Nov • £19 adv

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Tue 3rd Oct • £17.50 adv

Thu 9th Nov • £28.50 adv

Tue 20th Mar • £25 adv

Machine Gun Kelly Nick Mulvey

Wolf Alice

Goldfrapp

Motionless In White The Damned

Skid Row + TOSELAND

O2 Academy Bristol Frogmore Street, Bristol BS1 5NA • Doors 7pm unless stated

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Summer in the city... Things always seem to slow down a little bit in the summer, with festivals and holidays taking focus away from the local scene. Bristol is different though, and with Glastonbury out the way, the city is boasting a bunch of exciting shows, releases and all-dayers across the whole of August. Local label Art is Hard will be celebrating their seventh birthday on 27th August, with 25 bands performing at the party. One of those is the incomparable Joey Fourr, who features on the cover, having a chat with New Music Editor Christian Northwood. Elsewhere, The Travis Waltons talk about growing together, and New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nadia Reid tells us all about her whirlwind year. If you like things a little louder, Hit The Deck have picked out their favourite pop-punks, emos and rockers playing the festival on 5th August. With plenty of albums set for release this month too, a Bristolian summer is anything but slow. Sammy Maine Managing Editor

Sales: loki@bristollivemagazine.com Ed-in-Chief Loki Lillistone / New Music Ed Christian Northwood / Live Ed Mustafa Mirreh / Plus many more in print and online.

PICKS WITH: HIT THE DECK

W H AT â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S N E W ?

T H E T R AV I S WA LT O N S

BRISTOL BECAUSE: PA U L / R H Y S , N I G H T B U S

COVER: JOEY FOURR

NADIA REID

NEW RELEASES

LIVE LISTINGS

THOUGHTS: I S T H AT C H E A P P L AY E R DAMAGING YOUR RECORDS?

Guest Picks

This month:

Milk Teeth

What our pals are into this month.

words by: Owain Jones, Organiser.

You’ve got enough time to familiarise yourself with the EP – released on the 28th July – so we’re expecting a boatful of singalongs, no excuses! Recent single We’re incredibly excited to have recent ‘Owning Your Okayness’ was the first taster Roadrunner Records signings Milk Teeth of the recent EP and it didn’t disappoint, join us on the boat to headline the return serving up plenty of Milk Teeth’s token big of Hit The Deck Festival. It’s the final date guitars and the catchiest melodies that of their Be Nice EP tour with Employed To will be floating around your head for days. Serve and Wallflower (the latter will also be The band are finishing up the day on the joining us on the 5th), so they’ll be suitably boat, so be sure not to miss them as this warmed up and ready to go. Southwest four-piece won’t be headlining small stages like this for much longer. 8

Pushing Daisies Bristol’s own noisemakers, Pushing Daisies, also join us for Hit The Deck and deservedly take their place among some of the best up-and-coming acts around at the moment. With the excellent Stay Sad EP under their belt, which was released through Homebird Records, and support slots with The Hotelier, Foxing and Heck to name a few, they can even count Dinosaur Pile-Up as fans. This exciting local four-piece will definitely hold their own among an actionpacked lineup – come prepared for plenty of grungy, emo-filled noise that will no doubt delight the senses.

HCBP HCBP is the new project from Matt Reynolds and Tom Marsh, and if you’ve ever seen Heck before, you’ll be familiar with the pair – Tom keeping things together on the drums whilst Matt floats over your head on a Marshall cab. The attitude and energy of Heck is matched with HCBP, but that’s where the similarities end; the latter taking more of a lo-fi, garage rock approach away from Heck’s all-out noise. They haven’t gone soft though; the songs are just as fierce and are seriously good fun. Hit The Deck takes place at Thekla on 5th August.

What’s New?

Fresh tales from the BLM radar with:

Christian Northwood New Music Editor

Girl Ray North London three-piece Girl Ray seem to have an ear for the retro. Not to say they’re endlessly rehashing the past, but instead the band, who formed aged 16, seem to be able to select some of the best parts of past pop music, remould them, and deliver them in wistful, delicate packages. Their first single, ‘Trouble’, was recorded on Poppy Hankin, Iris McConnell and Sophie Moss’ last day of school,

and so unsurprisingly, their music is full of the stresses of adolescence, portrayed through a far wryer and wittier lens than most teenagers can muster. Their debut album Earl Grey is a perfect, timeless capsule of the period of uncertainty we all experience between childhood and adulthood. Full of lush, three-part harmonies, a mix of 50s and 60s pop melodies, and a charming naivety, the record showcases a unique sound. There are too many wonderful moments to count, but single ‘Don’t Go Back At Ten’ might be the best, the wonderfully-catchy chorus and shimmering guitars perfectly summing up the band as a charming, inventive pop outfit. Don’t Go Back at Ten

girlray.bandcamp.com

Chest Pains

PHOTO: ROWAN ALLEN

Chest Pains are the latest exciting band to come out of Leeds. Dark and brooding, the four-piece combine a gnarly Ian Curtis-like vocal with gritty, spikey post-punk guitars to create a unhinged sound. First single ‘Petrified’ will stun you, but its follow-up track ‘Shame’ that seriously impresses. Over a slow, hypnotic bassline, vocalist Sam Robinson laments “Nothing ever changes in the place that I call home” before the drums suddenly kick up three gears, making way for a punch of a chorus. With songs this enticing, Chest Pains could be your new favourite band to rage with. Shame

To be honest, I don’t hear music from Singapore very often. Sobs, a trio from that area of the world, have made me reassess that. Their debut EP, Catflap is a wonderful collection of charming, uplifting dream pop, filled with bubblegum guitars and breathy vocals. Released through Middle Class Cigars, Catflap is like being invited into someone else’s head; it feels cosy, colourful and intensely personal while also coming across as familiar and comforting. The songs are intimate, two-minute snapshots – the kind of tasters that will leave you excited to hear more. Girl

chestpainsband.bandcamp.com

Sobs

sobs.bandcamp.com

Get more new music from Christian every Monday via Tracks of the Week at bristollivemagazine.com 11

The Travis Waltons W.

Jo n Ke a n

“It’s the cool TV show, The Waltons and the name of a renowned UFO abductee combined. It sounded kind of country, which was what the music was like back then.” A Dan Flay solo project, when he moved from Cambridge to Bristol, has expanded over time to the current threepiece alt-rock, “loud indie” incarnation of The Travis Waltons. Flay met Danny Watts at an all-dayer at The Fleece in 2012. Watts gave Flay a business card. The die was cast. Incidental recruitment perpetuated in 2016, when the duo acquired Amy Bevan on bass. “We were at the Stag and Hounds for a gig and we saw her play. We 12

really had to ask her to be in the band,” Flay explains, with Watts adding, “Amy has breathed new life into our band. We were bashing around as a two-piece, generally being too loud and lacking the percussive element that bass brings. Her singing is awesome, and again adds the harmonies we were missing (as I never learned to sing and play drums at the same time).” “Dan’s songwriting and voice are incredible. If we don’t make it big now, he’ll be discovered by future generations after he’s dead – which hopefully will be a long way off,” adds Bevan. Three people in a band reaches Flay’s point

If we don’t make it big now, [Dan] will be discovered by future generations after he’s dead.

“There was a competition up to the end of Breaking Bad where you could win things if you donated money to charity. The more you donated, the cooler the prize,” Flay explains. “It cost a lot, but it made a bunch of people take us seriously. We probably could have spent that on a whole PR campaign!” The second album, Separation Season is even more autobiographical. “I broke up with someone,” Flay continues. “It’s about doing all the things that you did with someone else, but on your own, whilst seeing them out with other people. The idea of the ‘separation season’ comes from films like Shanghai Noon, where Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson fall out – the time when they stop being friends.”

of maximum logistical faff, although he concedes, “Smashing Pumpkins were my favourite band, so now we’ve got a brilliant drummer and a female bassist, we’re gonna need a keyboard player soon.” 2014’s debut, Your Neck Is Bleeding, was a self-conscious reference to the TV show, 24, rather than a connection to the sleeve artwork of some bloke in the front of an 80s saloon car, amorously attached to a woman’s throat. The televisual connection furthered with one of their biggest moments to date, the video to ‘Homewrecker’, beginning with Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, as Jessie Pinkman, declaring the band and the single to be “a bitch”.

Their third album has been partrecorded at Invada Studios in Bedminster, and is “so close to being done; if we had money for studio time, we could have it finished in two days,” according to Flay. “We put out ‘Bright Eyes’ from it, because it was upbeat. It was an exercise in trying to write a love song for someone – not being able to tell that person how much you care, then doing it through a song instead. It turns a bit dark at the end!” Our chat turns to aliens, naturally, and what they would make of our planet if the band was abducted. Bevan says, “I’m sure they’d wonder what the point of life on Earth was, much like we do,” while Flay adds, “I’d like to think that if we played to them, they’d reckon the Earth had pretty awesome music.” The Travis Waltons play The Louisiana on 4th August. Their third album is set to be released later this year. 13

BRISTOL BECAUSE...

Paul James & Rhys Friery, NightBus

Who’s your top Bristol artist at the moment?

What’s your favourite thing about the city?

Little Thief are really killing it for us at the moment! We’ve got them booked in to play with Bite The Buffalo on August 19th and the last show we saw them play was out of control!

Bristol’s reaction to the slightest bit of sunshine is great. Within minutes every piece of harbour side is covered with people… We also really like boats, perhaps the next step for us is a NightBoat…?

City chat with our fave people.

How would you describe the music scene here?

And your least favourite?

It’s inspiring, forever evolving and diverse. Wherever you turn there is new music. As a promoter there’s something really exciting about getting new artists to debut at our nights.

We will be really happy when our city centre stops being a building site. We have never indulged in parkour but it’s currently looking like a good option.

Though I’m sure we are a little biased, Mr Wolfs’ noodles are back! The Szechuan vegan prawns are outstanding. They’ve been fuelling Bristol musicians and fans alike for years.

for Imperial Daze on October 21st. They have been putting out some incredible tracks and it will be Rhys’ Birthday. We’re also very excited to announce the headliners for our Christmas show...

What are you most excited about What are your favourite eats around for NightBus this year? town? You need to make sure you come down

Nightbus shows off the cream of local music every third Saturday of the month at Mr Wolf’s, with a free drink for all advance ticket holders. Next up: Bite The Buffalo, 19th August. 15

JOEY FOURR Words: Christian Northwood Photos: Mike Massaro

I JUST STARTED SAYING FUCK IT, I WANT TO DO WHAT I WANT." As you may have already garnered, if not through Joey Fourr’s music then by the stunning pictures that accompany this story, that they’re an artist who doesn’t do things by halves. As you can probably also tell, they’re a fiercely independent and creative artist too... Back in 2012, Joseph Prendergast rose from the ashes of math-rock band Tubelord as Joey Fourr – a pop-inspired project that started in a bedroom. Since then, they’ve gone through several different mutations, from those first lo-fi EPs, to the haywire wonky-pop of debut album TO THE FLOORR. Earlier this year, Joey released second album Velvet Realness. With a name inspired by the New York drag scene of the 80s and 90s, and with striking new visuals – including a multicoloured Bowie-esque mullet – the album already seemed different to its predecessor. “I think it’s been more of a personal growth and a personal change which is ultimately going to reflect that,” they explain. “It kind of signals a change of what was going on around me. When I started, I was very much a part of this DIY scene in London... Once all of that disbanded, I suppose I looked more to myself to entertain myself. I think I found my

own feet if you know what I mean. I wasn’t part of a group or looking to others for acceptance, I just started saying ‘fuck it, I want to do what I want.’” With this attitude, Velvet Realness moves away from the bubblegum guitars that populated TO THE FLOORR and into an area that is, as Fourr puts it, more sexy. ‘Bath Tiem’ is the perfect example; echoing vocals drift above a slinking bassline, while a disco beat adds groove to the whole thing. I mention that the track reminds me of contemporary funk and R&B artists like Blood Orange. “Oh my god yeah, I was listening to so much of that,” they agree. “I was listening to so much funk and R&B from the 80s as well. I definitely used that as a template, or almost as a set of rules to create from.” Queerness has always been central to Joey Fourr’s music, but for them, the queer experience is simply a personal

one: “I think the reason people get confused is because normally when you have queer bands talking about their experience it becomes a thing that is for them, and for queer kids. I feel like you can have queer experiences, like love and romance, and it can be for everyone. It’s just a human experience, you know what I mean. Also if you’re listening to a song and it says ‘I love this boy’ and you’re not sexually attracted to boys, and you can’t just swap it round to make it your own then…” they chuckle. “It’s not that hard, you know what I mean?” Writing about these experiences can be a distinctly political act in itself, but Fourr dabbles in more overt politics elsewhere on the album, such as on opener ‘Uhmerika’. But, they concede, “I just can’t write angry, hardcore punky songs.” The London scene in which they started the project, centred around places like the now-closed Dalston venue Power Lunches, suited Fourr perfectly: “I love pop music, and I love pop songs and shimmery bits and bobs. That’s what drew me to the DIY scene in London. For the first time ever I was around people who weren’t tuning their drums when recording and weren’t tuning their guitars perfectly. They were just pressing record and that was it.” This DIY spirit is very much still present within Joey Fourr’s music. The songs on Velvet Realness were part recorded in their room, before being sent off to MJ from Hookworms

to mix. “I sent all of the project files up to MJ and oh my god, MJ is just… I don’t know what he does. It’s just phenomenal. Everything just has so much energy, it’s wild, I can’t believe it.” The album was then self-released – more out of necessity – but meant the end result was exactly as wanted. They’re not resting on their laurels however; Fourr tells me that album number three is already in the bag. They confide that it has an even stronger pop element, but that “everything is sort of up in the air right now, I have no idea. But I want to do something exciting.” Joey Fourr will be coming to Bristol on 27th August as part of DIY label Art is Hard’s (the first label to put out any of Fourrs’ songs) seventh birthday celebrations. With a fourpiece band in tow, Fourr says that the gig will probably be the last time that the band will play its current set, explaining that they want to ‘scrape out the old and put the new in’ soon after. “I have the most terrible attention span,” they sigh. “I get bored of myself so quick…” With their constant creativity, and incredible music, it doesn’t sound like anyone else is getting bored of Joey Fourr any time soon. Velvet Realness is out now. Joey Fourr plays the Art is Hard all-dayer on August 27th.

I GET BORED OF MYSELF SO QUICK... 19

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Words: Georgia Balch Photo: Meek Zuiderwyk

Nadia Reid A

t just the tender age of 25, Nadia Reid performs with the poise and temperament of an artist beyond her years, characterised by her ethereal tone, meditative lyricism and lovelorn folky charm. In person, she is soft, thoughtful, and eloquent. From her debut as a delicate singer-songwriter with Listen to Formation, she has blossomed over the last couple of years and developed a grittier sound, with added complexities and diversities to her second album, Preservation. 22

Growing up in the idyllic landscape of Duniden, New Zealand, Reid was exposed to a varied palette of musical genres. She reflects on how she used to take part in open mic nights in hometown venues, and was taken to folk music festivals with her mother, where artists were able to write their names down on a blackboard and play a couple of songs. “I’d say I had a pretty supportive start,” she says. Surrounded by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis and the Beatles as a child, she went on to discover musicians that really resonated with her. “I found artists I really liked like Jolie Holland, The

Be Good Tanyas, Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright,” she adds. “I feel like I have an eclectic taste in music. I love listening to the radio and the top 50, but I think my true love is sad folk music.” When it comes to the writing process, Reid draws inspiration from the live setting, keen to reiterate her belief in the power of connecting with an audience. She

“I have this way of keeping the line between truth and the opposite of truth… I like to play with that.” recalls seeing Tammy Neilson, a country and soul artist who lives in New Zealand – “She just has the most incredible voice that cuts through you” – adding that she equally gains inspiration from broader life, “travelling and walking, reading and observing.” Her live performances feel just as intimate as her two records, which she says are little snapshots of her life in song-form. Having been praised for their emotional articulacy, Reid puts it down to the writing she used to do before she knew she would become a musician. “As a teenager there was a natural outlet for me, that really helped me make sense of things. Then it naturally turned into songwriting,” she explains. “I guess from the outside the two records would seem really personal, and

they are, but I feel like I have this way of keeping the line between truth and the opposite of truth. I like to move them, I like to play with that. If the whole thing was literal and really true then that’s a vulnerable place to be in.” There’ve been two years since she released her debut, and since then she has evolved her sound. “I think the main progression is that time has passed. When you do something the second time, you know you can do it,” she continues. “When I made my first record I had no idea what I was doing or why, I didn’t even know if I wanted to do it.” The apprehension of Preservation and the response it later received acted as a sort of affirmation for Reid, who explains that “this second record is me a little more on my own two feet, standing a little straighter, a little more confident.” As she is about to embark on her third and largest European tour, Reid sounds optimistic – especially as she is travelling from New Zealand’s winter to European summer, Reid says she’s looking forward to enjoying some further sunshine. Having also been recently nominated for APRA’s Silver Scroll award – New Zealand’s prestigious songwriting award – it’s only a matter of time before Reid is truly recognised for her craft. Before she hits the big time, be sure to catch her performing her touching and beautifullywritten album, stopping at the city she was conceived in, Bristol, at the Southbank this month. Nadia Reid’s second album, Preservation, is out now on Universal Music New Zealand. She plays the Southbank on 17th August.

TUE.29.AUG.17

SUN.17.SEP.17

THU.28.SEP.17

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FRI.22.SEP.17

TUE.03.OCT.17

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MON.25.SEP.17

THU.05.OCT.17

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SAT.07.OCT.17

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TUE.26.SEP.17

SUN.08.OCT.17

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WED.27.SEP.17

MON.09.OCT.17

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THEKLA

LIVE LISTINGS The Grove East Mud Dock Bristol BS1 4RB theklabristol.co.uk | thekla.club F L theklabristol | I X theklabris

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WEDNESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER

SATURDAY 5TH AUGUST

HIT THE DECK FESTIVAL ALL DAYER

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH THURSDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER

TUESDAY 8TH AUGUST

THE MAINE

LUCKY CHOPS

SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER

SATURDAY 12TH AUGUST

BOO SEEKA

JARET REDDICK

+ GOLD MEMBER

SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER

SUNDAY 20TH AUGUST

THE VEILS

LONELY ROBOT + TILT

MONDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER

JAKE ISAAC

MONDAY 21ST AUGUST

TIMBER TIMBRE SOLD OUT

THURSDAY 24TH AUGUST

RYAN HAMILTON & THE TRAITORS + FORT HOPE

FRIDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER

PAUL DRAPER

+ ESTRONS

SATURDAY 23RD SEPTEMBER

MACMILLAN FEST 2017

SUNDAY 27TH AUGUST

ART IS HARD PRESENTS: HARDLY A PARTY

SUNDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER

AQUILO THURSDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER

WEDNESDAY 30TH AUGUST

MO PITNEY

+ FRANKIE DAVIES

SATURDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER

FLORALYN GEORGE

TOM GRENNAN FRIDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER

VAN ZELLER + LEECHES + MILO’S PLANES

TUESDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER

PAUL KELLY

SATURDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER

HANNI EL KHATIB

WEDNESDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER

GIRLPOOL

+ IAN SWEET

THURSDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER

SAN CISCO SATURDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER

ALVVAYS

SUNDAY 1ST OCTOBER

THIS FEELING ALIVE TOUR 2017 MONDAY 2ND OCTOBER

THE DRUMS TUESDAY 4TH OCTOBER

MY BABY 25

New Releases

Records cut, pressed & out this month.

Grizzly Bear Painted Ruins 18.08 | RCA Records

Grizzly Bear’s music has always been a remarkable example of collective writing. Layering the contributions of four different personalities, each song is a new, organic creature which manages to distinctively show each member’s unique capabilities. Painted Ruins is a perfect example of this, coming five years after their last effort, put together remotely by the four band members, now scattered all over the USA. 26

The individual talents of Ed Drost, Christopher Bear, Daniel Rossena and Chris Taylor are apparent throughout the eleven tracks of the record but now, more than ever, the different tastes and musical directions of each writer and performer find a seamless dialogue with one another. Rossen’s predilection for great chamber pop atmospheres is balanced by Droste’s new venture into more pop-ish paths, with synths and beating drums. If ‘Mourning Sounds’ testifies this new unity with the two lead singers’ alternate vocals, ‘Three Rings’ and ‘Aquarian’ do that with their sonic complexity, enriched by the touch of rarefied and soft electronic Taylor (who also sings on ‘Systole’). Painted Ruins sees everything put in its rightful place. Guia Cortassa Three Rings

grizzly-bear.net

NADINE SHAH HOLIDAY DESTINATION 1965 Records | 25.08

Nadine Shah returns with her third album, Holiday Destination, with a politically-charged message. After producing the music for her brother’s documentary in a Syrian refugee camp, Shah channels her frustrations through the post-punk title track, as she asks, “how you gonna sleep tonight?” over wailing guitars, saxophones and synths. The opening track, ‘Place Like This’ tackles issues that have dominated the past two years – Brexit, Trump and the refugee crisis. Then there’s ‘Evil’, in which Shah lays herself bare, as vulnerable vocals focus on the stigma of mental health. Closing the album is beautiful piano ballad ‘Jolly Sailor’ creating powerful yet intimate final moments. Georgia Balch

TORO Y MOI BOO BOO Out Now | Carpark Records

Toro y Moi’s Boo Boo is the soundtrack to those dimly lit summer nights, spent alone pining after that special someone you met once and never saw again. Opening track ‘Mirage’ is a sultry synth haven, with the lyrics ‘take me far away’ preparing us for the record’s encompassing, emotional vulnerability. ‘Girl Like You’ is Bundick’s visceral depiction of the pain of adult life, fused with the simplicity of being young, broke and creating your own fun. This narrative continues throughout the album with each track seamlessly flowing into each other, guided by 80s inspired analogue pop – think Prince ballads mixed with the soft hues of a gorgeous sunset. Yewande Adeniran

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING A FEVER DREAM RCA Records | 18.08

High falsetto, amped up drama and dynamic arrangements have come to define Everything Everything. However, A Fever Dream dials down the tantalising urgency that made them unique. Glimmers of their trademark introspective pop shine faintly in the title track, and on opener ‘Night of the Long Knives, but elsewhere the menacing riffs don’t strike the right balance. Knotted basslines, fewer sonic flourishes and the addition of tricky guitar flairs all both help and hinder this difficult record. A Fever Dream lacks the sense of grand performance posed by the group in the past, but by no means does it make for a less intriguing listen. Oliver Evans

THE WAR ON DRUGS A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING Atlantic | 25.08

When Lost in the Dream was released in 2014, critics were clambering to get in its pants. Three-and-a-half years on, A Deeper Understanding resides more in the ‘friend zone’. It possesses a lot of the band’s perfectionist, textured sounds as you’d expect, along with their intensity and lyrical honesty. The individual songs, generally six minutes plus, each reflect eight months of tinkering between conception and completion. Described by Adam Granduciel as “brooding” and “gooey”, it’s steeped in Springsteen, with hints of Chris Rea and a soupçon of Tango in the Night.

Immigrant Boogie

DARK DAYS AND CANAPÉS Play It Again Sam | 18.08

Through glitchy textures and immersive lyricism, Ghostpoet creates an uncomfortable and claustrophobic environment that’s notably darker than his previous releases. Where his vocals had traditionally driven the tracks, here they are interwoven into the textuality of the album, supported by a full band. This lends itself to a new exploratory 28

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Granduciel leads from the front with several soaring guitar solos, none better than on the eleven-minute beast ‘Thinking of a Place’, and his tender-yet-gravelly, Bryan-Adams-singsBob-Dylan vocals. It’s worth a listen for the basslines alone; rhythm section obsessives will delight at Dave Hartley’s handiwork. ‘Holding On’ and ‘Nothing to Find’ provide loping, mid-tempo highlights, as well as the pathos-laden ‘Knocked Down’. Loaded with hipsterbarista chic, these are broad, lush, panoramic soundscapes - impressive, yet short of a towering peak or two for greater contrast and dynamism. Jon Kean

GHOSTPOET

Ghostpoet is never one to shy away from the immersive depths of human emotion and error, molding the spoken word form to expel abstract recounts and tales. Dark Days and Canapés is no different, on paper.

Strangest Thing

ghostpoet.co.uk

tapestry for the Mercury-nominated artist, twisting eerie soundscapes and heavy melodies to sculpt fear, vulnerability and death into sound. This sinister precedent is set initially by ‘One More Sip’, with a jarring techno bassline and the acceptance of mortality. It’s later confirmed by the isolation of ‘Immigrant Boogie’ – a tragic episodic recount of a immigrant’s voyage, through an impending bass and jangling melody. Dark Days and Canapés offers a disparaging outlook on life and death in one of Ghostpoet’s most nightmarish albums yet. One thing’s for sure though – he awakes a victor. Hannah Wakeman

OH SEES ORC Castle Face Records | 25.08

(Thee) Oh Sees are a band about to drop their nineteenth record in twenty years. Throughout that staggering statistic they’ve brought us intense guitar landscapes ranging from straight up garage to more pensive cosmic psych rock. With Orc though, things grow even more refined. Their dual drummer approach has dragged them into more stoner rock territory, with numbers like the sludgy ‘Animated Violence’. It’s powerful stuff and probably their heaviest work to date. While this record is obviously the band we’ve come to love for their energy and spirit both on-track and off, things are now more nuanced, as interest-piquing sounds jut from every corner. Rhys Buchanan

RAT BOY SCUM Parlophone | 11.08

For a hot second, it seemed like Rat Boy was just here to imitate. While debut album Scum still wears its influences – Britpop, Grand Theft Auto, Jamie T – on its sleeve, they’ve been rolled up and reimagined into something new. Across the record, Jordan Cardy hops between scenes, genres and outlooks as he rises up against those who look down on him and those he stands for. Rather than odes to what’s come before, Scum is about anthems for today’s generation. It’s deliberately reactionary, powerfully comforting and has bundles of hyperactive chaos. Grubby but proud, Rat Boy has found a voice and it’s one for passing around. Ali Shutler

SLY PALMS SELF-TITLED! Self-release | Out Now

A debut release should naturally be packed with promise and original flair, and while they’re fresh on the scene, Sly Palms have absolutely no problem conveying their sound. From unleashing Cirque Du Soleil party punk in ‘Spanish Song’ to their catchy psych-folk rocker ‘Bottle of Sin’, nothing is out of bounds. Sneaking organ into rock songs could throw many off, but it only shows their knack for forging topsyturvy tunes. While ‘River Rhein’ starts off dismal, it merrily morphs into a bluesy number determined to dance through the despair. Hearing a new garage rock band is all too common, but hearing it done differently is rare and refreshing. Oliver Evans

IRON AND WINE BEAST EPIC Sub Pop | 25.08

Sam Beam returns with another beautiful Americana offering, with wonderful sniffs of Nick Drake. Opener ‘Claim Your Ghost’ sets the standard as a swoonsome ballad, telling tales of the journey of life and lessons learned. Lyrically, it shines in the same way previous albums do; “We can weep and call it singing,” croons Beam on the prophetic ‘Call It Dreaming’. His stark guitar picking and perfectly-placed echoey drums combine with his soothing vocals to relax you to your core, none more so than on ‘Summer Clouds’. Recording live over a two-week period in The Loft studio, Chicago, gives this album an authentic warmth you don’t always get these days. Laura K Williams

FRANKIE ROSE CAGE TROPICAL Slumberland/Grey Market | 11.08

Former Vivian Girl, Frankie Rose’s fourth solo album Cage Tropical continues her run of eighties-inspired shimmery synth-pop. The album’s sound is very similar to the chillwave scene of a few years ago, mixed with the kind of reverbed guitar-work akin to labels like Captured Tracks. Highlights include the Cocteau Twins-esque dream pop of ‘Dancing Down the Hall’ and the indie jangle of ‘Red Museum’. The problem with Cage Tropical however, is that while aiming to achieve a certain subtle beauty, most of the music turns out to be pretty forgettable. This doesn’t make it a bad album, but there is little here that stands out from the crowd. Tim Ellis

LIARS TFCF Mute Records | 25.08

The severe approach to editing on this album causes it to judder along awkwardly. This sits well with the Cramps-style rockabilly in its bones, reinforced by Angus Andrews’ numb-faced, slurring vocals. Shifting from unsettling dirge to country folk and, unexpectedly, retro drum ‘n’ bass with ‘Coins in My Caged Fist. This distorted and disjointed music even has the occasional burping of guitar licks as it staggers along like an angry drunk. All facets are rinsed in a quagmire of samples and pulsing, lo-fi electronica. Like Beck’s Odelay, it tugs on american roots music extensively and blends them with a modern digital template – with satisfyingly dirty and slightly gothic results. Stuart Tidy

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Marble Factory / Motion 74-78 Avon Street, BS2 0PX Mother’s Ruin 7-9 St. St Nicholas St, BS1 1UE

The Canteen 80 Stokes Croft, BS1 3QY

Mr Wolf’s 32, St Nicholas St, BS1 1TG

Colston Hall & Lantern Colston Street, BS1 5AR

No. 1 Harbourside 1 Canon’s Rd, Bristol BS1 5UH

The Crofters Rights 117-119 Stokes Croft, BS1 3PY Exchange 72-73 Old Market, BS2 OEJ The Fleece 12 St. Thomas Sreet, BS1 6JJ The Gallimaufry 26-28 The Promenade, BS7 8AL The Grain Barge Mardyke Warf, BS8 4RU The Gryphon 41 Colston Street, BS1 5AP Hy Brasil 7-9 Baldwin Street, BS1 1RU

No. 51 51 Stokes Croft, BS1 3QP O2 Academy 1-2 Frogmore Street, BS1 5NA The Old Market Assembly 25 West Street, BS2 0DF Roll For The Soul 2 Quay Street, BS1 2JL SWX Bristol 15 Nelson Street, BS1 2JY Thekla The Grove, BS1 4RB The Thunderbolt 124 Bath Road, BS4 3ED

The Lanes 22 Nelson Street, BS1 2LE

Tobacco Factory Raleigh Road, BS3 1TF

The Louisiana Wapping Road, BS1 6UA

Trinity Centre Trinity Road, BS2 0NW 33