While the band would change members throughout the late eighties and early nineties, the original core lineup of vocalist Robbie Grey, bassist Mick Conway, guitarist Gary McDowell, and keyboardist Stephen Walker have been recording and releasing a string of incredible records in the modern era, with their latest, this year’s fantastic 1, 2, 3, 4 earning massive accolades across the board. The band are about to head out on an expansive tour that takes them across the world, joining both The Buzzcocks and Thomas Dolby at various points.

We had a chance to talk to Modern English vocalist Robbie Grey about the band’s history, the new record’s political leanings, and the secret to keeping a band together over the years:

Your latest record, 1,2,3,4 has the same vitality as any of your work – it truly sounds like Modern English in the best way possible. How did the record come together?

Well, what you’re getting there is the live feel of the record. The first thing we thought about when recording this album was to consciously get away from that homogenized radio sound where everyone’s using Pro Tools and splicing things together. We wanted to make a live recording as much as we could, so you could feel the movement from  the verse to the chorus. When we first started writing the record, it would have been right around when the pandemic hit in 2020. In England, we were only allowed to go outside for a couple of hours a day, unless you were going to a workplace, which you could go to three days a week. So, we would go over to Mick’s studio, which was nearby in Suffolk. We all gathered there to write the record, but we always knew that we wanted to keep it raw. We had done that for a while and we wanted to get a producer who would allow for that. So, Mario (J. McNulty) came along and we talked about sticking to that live feeling. We then went to a great studio in upstate New York in Rhinebeck and it all just came together really well. It doesn’t always work out like that. It’s like a painting, I suppose. You can either do a really bad one or a really good one, and all the pieces just really fit together for this album…

That’s cool you were in Rhinebeck. I actually grew up in Goshen, which is only an hour or so away from there. It’s such a beautiful area.

Well, Mick lives in Hudson now, I believe. He’s been living in that area for quite some time.

So were any of the songs written before you entered the studio, or were they all written there? 

No, no, we never really come in with a full record ready to go. Actually, for the first time probably ever I wrote a full song for the record in advance, and that was “Long In the Tooth.” When I wrote that song back in my little studio room to when it was recorded and released it’s not changed at all really. Normally though, we start things off with just pieces of music that we develop. We don’t really have complete songs generally. “Not Fake” was another song that was already kind of written, and Mick’s song “Not My Leader” didn’t really change all that much either from the beginning. So, I suppose there are a couple of songs on there that were written from the start, but generally we kind of fiddle around quite a lot as we go.

The lyrics seem quite political – can you tell us a bit about them?

Yeah, I mean, I’m just pissed off with everything, you know? It’s just crazy that people in power just don’t give a shit about anybody else and that’s so frustrating after all this time that the decent side of humanity never seems to get very far but the corrupt people and those who generally crave power seem to be much nastier. It seems to me that if you want to stay in power, you have to be that way, and decent people on the street are just sort of fed up with it. I am at least, anyway. When we first started and came to your country, we had Margaret Thatcher and you had Ronald Reagan. Fast forward from the late 70s and early 80s and it hasn’t changed all that much. In fact, you’ve got a clown like Donald Trump who is very likely going to be your president again, from the looks of it…

Ugh, no one learned anything. It’s kind of maddening.

It’s not even funny, is it? It’s just crazy.

The only way I can survive is to laugh, sometimes. I just can’t believe how surreal it all is most of the time. 

Right! So, a lot of the lyrics on the album, like “Not My Leader” are all about that. “Not Fake” is about things becoming less and less rooted in true humanity really, you know people wanting to have different faces, different bodies, and different brains. Everyone wants to be something else all the time, it’s about that deconstructed sense of nature. I spend a lot of time in Southeast Asia and I live in the countryside in England. Both are near the beach, and seeing the amount of garbage in the ocean inspired another song on the album called “Plastic.” It’s maddening – they clean the beaches daily but they’re filled with trash again in the blink of an eye.

In “Voices” – it’s interesting that you namecheck Billie Holiday and Karen Carpenter – two of the saddest and most tragic figures in pop music. It makes me wonder, what’s that song about in the context of the political machine and how do those lovely singers factor into the story?

Well, I just know that they’re too the best voices I’ve ever heard of my life. That song to me is about gun culture and how young people are brainwashed into believing that the only way out is to go out and blow people up. The song is about someone sitting in their bedroom with a gun in their hands and the internet in front of them, and being disturbed enough to actually go out and hurt someone. Perhaps if they heard a voice like Karen or Billie’s it would help them and they could find some solace in the music. Maybe if they listened to these voices they could hear the beauty and loss they sing about and it could soothe their soul…

That’s really beautiful, and that track is such a standout.

Thank you, thank you.

I love how active Modern English has been over the years, I’ve seen the band several times and you’ve always been one of my favorite live acts. Your energy on stage is unmatched, and you always have so much passion, no matter if you’re playing new music, deep cuts, or the hits. I’d love to know what the secret is to keeping a band together in harmony after all this time.

Well, as you get older, you do tend to let people get away with a lot more than you would have when you were younger! You don’t end up fighting with each other so much. Really, we’ve known each other since we were teenagers, we came from the same town and lived in London for over 30 years. We went through so much together in the eighties and nineties that at this point, we can just sort of take the piss out of each other and people won’t get offended, which is a good thing. Otherwise, the energy level on stage is just how it’s always been. I guess I don’t know what else to do apart from what we do. I feel that energy and react as I always have.

I’d love to hear more about the formation of the band – what brought you all together in 1979? 

Well, that’s brilliant you should ask that because you know, we’re not jaded yet! The creative process is the most important thing about music. The rest of it, once it leaves your hands, is business, really. That part overshadows the creative process a lot, but as long as you can keep writing songs and keep that creative energy flowing, you’re doing all right.

As for  the start of things, it was just an amazing time to be in the UK. Punk happened, and you had people like The Clash and the Sex Pistols on TV which was all very new and very exciting. Before that, we’d listen to Bowie and Roxy Music, things like that, but we never dreamt that we could play music. We thought it was something that other people, these immense talents and virtuosos, could do and that we never could. So when this punk thing happened, we felt empowered, we became part of that whole thing. It just swept over the nation and changed the whole landscape of music almost overnight. After a bit, it got a bit boring, playing just this fast and furious music all the time, so everyone started experimenting in that framework, forming what everyone now calls the post-punk thing. This is where bands started going off on their own and exploring their own ideas, carving out more soundscapes and doing what they wanted with that punk energy. It was such a brilliant time around 1978-79 with all the bands that came out around us. Joy Division, The Cure, Wire, Gang of Four, and so on. This all shaped so much of England’s musical culture, so we were able to put our band together to do something similar.

It’s kind of amazing to think about all the bands that formed and quickly embraced this sound more or less independently from each other, yet still there was this unified movement of sorts…  

Well, John Peel had a lot to do with that. He championed a lot of the bands around that time would play play bands on the BBC that nobody else would go near, at all this kind of crazy wild music by bands who never would write a love song or make music that was like everything else on the radio. He had a lot to do with that unification, but also in general, the whole country was on fire and we were all reacting to that. It was brilliant. There was no money around, the UK was a very poor country outside of those who were in power and who were already rich. Most didn’t have anything at all. We used to steal microphones from concerts, and Gary’s first guitar was worth only $30 or so. Most of these bands, including us, really started from the ground up, and it was all very exciting. That energy was present from the start, you know?

Yeah, and with that in mind, Gary got such a unique sound out of that guitar. To me, those early Modern English guitar textures are otherworldly – so atmospheric and intense. 

Yeah, you know, stick it through a chorus and a flanger and it sounds brilliant!

Can you share any stories about your time on 4AD?

Well, it was if you remember Vaughan Oliver died, you know, I think five years ago now… I think his first artwork was the “Gathering Dust” single in 1980.

Right – with the shadow figures sitting next to the television set! 

Yeah! So that was the first artwork he ever did for the label… His last ever work was the re-imagining of Mesh & Lace and After the Snow, which came out just a few years ago. So it’s a real sense of synergy with 4AD there.

Otherwise, Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent were the guys that signed us. We sent them a demo, and you know, it was just a wild demo we made of our earliest tracks, and they liked it and picked up on us. We were one of the first bands who signed with the label, along with Bauhaus, and then of course it all built up from there with Cocteau Twins, The Birthday Party, Dead Can Dance, and so on…

So we were kind of in at the beginning, at a time when Factory was also operating in the north with all those bands – Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, Crispy Ambulance, and of course Mute Records were doing their thing with Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget, and Daniel Miller. It was such an exciting time… All of us used to play with each other quite a lot – we did some gigs with The Birthday Party and so on. It was a wildly creative period, that 79-81 era…

I really liked that first 7” you recorded – the “Drowning Man” single. but the band really took it so much further out once you locked in with 4AD. Was that where you were heading naturally, or did 4AD’s early lineup and mission statement influence your sound? 

Well, the simple answer to that is we just became better musicians rather quickly. When we recorded “Drowning Man,” we couldn’t even really tune our guitars. We didn’t know how to do that. If you listen to that single, you might notice that we’re out of tune completely! That said, it’s got a certain quality to it that works. Mesh & Lace however, we went in the shooter. We did that record live as well, actually. A lot of that’s live. It’s a very experimental record. Ken Thomas who worked with Throbbing Gristle, engineered it and Ivo was in the studio with us as well. We were in the studio for only two weeks. It all very quick, you know, there was no back and forth, no debating about what was right and what wasn’t. We just went for it without too many overdubs, and it gives it that kind of quality. Everything’s a bit wild. We always enjoy using atmosphere more than musical playing, if you know what I mean… We’d rather explore the texture or do something more abstract than worry about a guitar solo or a beautiful musical passage or anything like that, really.

I think even your more pop-oriented works have that sense of experimentation and abstraction. Even “I Melt With You” or “Chapter 12” have some really interesting counter melodies and production techniques that elevate those tracks. That’s something I’ve always loved about your body of work – that you’ve never lost sight of that knack for experimentation, even on Soundtrack and Take Me to the Trees, and of course, the latest record. 

Yeah, that’s just how we operate overall, you know?

So, I still think it’s kind of wild that one of 4AD’s most beloved projects was birthed from covering two of your tracks – the live medley of “16 Days” and “Gathering Dust.” I love that you were all involved with This Mortal Coil in one form or another. Can you tell us more about your experience with that project? 

Well, really Ivo just felt that those two songs were such classic tracks and he wanted to re-record them the way we were playing them live. It was around that time that more electronic drum kits and samplers were being utilized a bit more. Ivo asked Mick and Gary to play on the This Mortal Coil version. They agreed and then Robin from Cocteau Twins and Martyn from Colourbox played on it. Liz came and did the vocals with Cindy, and the rest was history. I did that Colin Newman song “Not Me” on the first album, It’ll End In Tears. It was just Ivo’s hand’s-on project where he wanted to really celebrate everyone’s music and have his own project. He would get anyone he fancied to come in and play, whether it be us or Cindytalk, or Simon Raymonde, really, whoever was around at the time…

After the Snow really felt like more of a romantic record, though you still retained some that core energy in songs like “Life in the Gladhouse.” I’d love to hear more about that record. Was it a conscious decision to explore a more lush sound, or did that come naturally as well? 

Well, I mean, we’ve never been the sort of band that do the same exact thing twice. That’s been a bit of our downfall in some ways because we’ve confused a lot of people that way. A lot of other acts are happy to do the same thing, but we’ve never really been like that.

With After the Snow – a lot of that sound you mention is due to our producer, Hugh Jones, who encouraged us to focus more on our songwriting. We didn’t even know what that meant at that point, you know? He showed us how to string together a verse and a chorus and then a verse and a chorus and then a middle eight, and those things. His influence was massive! We were all interested in bringing in different instruments to change things – acoustic guitars, violins, and so on. We also tried different things. For instance, “I Melt With You” is probably the first song I never shouted on. I was so used to shouting into the microphone before that…

Did you approach that song from that perspective at first? Did you shout on earlier incarnations of the track? 

No! This, this is a good story actually. I was told to go up to the microphone and just speak into it…and I was like, “what? What the fuck are you talking about? You want me to go up to the microphone and just SPEAK into it?” But that really helped the song, it helped change it up to give it that sort of spoken word sort of feel in the verses, and that makes the chorus work so well.

…and then somehow between trying to softly speak the verses and then adding this lush, soaring chorus, you created one of the most beautiful, perfect pop songs ever recorded. Does it ever shock you how much that song has meant to people over the years? I mean, it’s truly timeless in that way. I almost hate to admit it, but in a previous life, that song was my wedding song, and it’s always funny, since the lyrics are both romantic but also about nuclear fallout and war, and a similar sense of dread that has always been present in your work. 

You know, you’d be amazed at how many times I’ve been told that! There’s definitely that idea of a couple you know, during the Cold War era. When I wrote it, I was staying in a cheap housing complex in London, freezing my arse off, stoned and scribbling down lyrics on a piece of paper, and within ten minutes, the lyrics were finished. It was like poetry really, I used stanzas, and of course, it’s basically about love. I was writing about the bomb dropping while this couple were making love, melting together… I’ve always said that it was a dark love song.

Otherwise, in some ways, it’s just another song for us on the album, you know? At one point we were wondering if we even liked it, or if it was a bit too commercial sounding compared to our other work.

I wondered if you struggled with that in the moment, especially when comparing it to songs like “Swans on Glass” or “Move In Light” which were written not long before that by comparison, you know?

Yeah, we did for about ten minutes, but Hugh was like “don’t be ridiculous – this a good song” you know, blah blah blah. In fact, going full circle, “I Know Your Soul” on the new album is a bit like that. We weren’t sure whether we’re going to put that song on the album, you know, because it’s the most crafted really of all the songs on the out on 1, 2, 3, 4, but Steve Walker, the keyboard player, was a big champion for that for that song. Mick, Gary, and I weren’t too sure about it, but we put it on there…

Did you leave anything on the cutting room floor? Are there any leftover tracks from the latest sessions?

No, no, pretty much everything’s on there!

So, one thing I’ve always admired about Modern English these days is that you always seem to have your finger on the pulse and have taken a lot of newer, underground bands on tour with you, bands like Entertainment or Bootblacks. A lot of older bands don’t seem to be as in tune with what’s going on in modern music and I was wondering what informed that. 

Well, I think we just, that’s just how we are. We’re no different when we started as people, making the kind of music that we want to and seeking out bands that are similar. It’s no different for us now than it was in 1979, except that we were lucky enough that “I Melt With You” gave us the security to carry on however we want to. Mick and Steve are more in tune with music than I am even, and they find that same energy in these bands that we feel we have.

As for me, I’d say I listen to more English music than anything these days, whether it be Fontaines D.C. or Idles. However, Mick would find these new, still obscure bands from Brooklyn and Steve would find some from Poland. We’re always looking for bands that are younger to come on the road with us mostly because we’d have wanted the same thing when we were younger, you know?

That’s great that you do that – I’ve heard so many conflicting stories over the years, some bands have shared stories of scene camaraderie, but others have told me that it was actually more competitive and cutthroat, not as romantic as all that. It’s interesting to hear your perspective on that and to see you lifting up other bands these days. 

It’s really true, though. People in America romanticize about this scene with all these bands hanging out in the pub, but it wasn’t really like that. Everyone was just doing their own thing. You might bump into somebody in the studio somewhere and have a moment with them, but you’re too busy doing your own thing to hang out really. That said, we did tour with Cocteau Twins and Bauhaus, and support Matt Johnson of The The when he started out – 4AD felt more like a family-oriented thing. Outside of that, it was often about getting a drink at the bar, you know?

What are your touring plans for 1, 2, 3, 4? What do you have planned for the year?

Oh my god, we’re not stopping this year! I mean, once I leave Thailand, I’m flying to Mexico City for rehearsals and a show. We’re playing with The Buzzcocks there. After that, we’re going back to America to play in Tucson and LA, two sold out shows with The Buzzcocks again. We’re going to go to Disneyland as well, but then we fly back to England. We’re doing a radio show for the BBC before linking back up with The Buzzcocks again for a few dates in Europe, plus a few on our own.

After all that, we’re going back to America as part of the Totally Tubular festival with Thomas Dolby, The Romantics, and other bands like that. We’re doing a six week run as part of that tour.

I’ve always enjoyed those tours, it seems like they aim to recapture a certain era, but for me, being too young to have seen many of these artists in the eighties, I always have a great time basking in that energy. It’s always great to see your band, whether it be a full headlining set or part of these tours. How long will the set be in the States? 

It’ll be about 25-30 min.

So you really have to carefully pick and choose, then! I imagine you’ll have to balance the new material, some early deep cuts, but I’m sure you have to play the hits, right? 

Well, you know, if we didn’t, we’d probably be hung! You know, it’ll be “I Melt With You” plus five or so other tracks.

I was sad to miss the After the Snow tour. Do you think you’d come back around to the States for a full tour for the new record? It’s always great hearing a full set, being able to enjoy the range and intensity of your material…

Oh yeah, whenever we get the chance, we’ll be playing. For some of these shows, we’re planning on playing three or four tracks from the album. I imagine even on this tour in the States we’ll throw one or two of them in.

Well, I’m a fan of the whole catalogue and anything you play at this point would go over well in my book. Have you found that other fans have been embracing the new material in the same way? 

Yeah, absolutely. It’s been incredible! I get stuff sent to me, you know – press clippings and reviews. It’s been brilliant, the response has been absolutely amazing. It might be the best critical response we’ve ever had if I’m being honest! §

1, 2,3, 4 is out now via InKind Music and available via the band’s Bandcamp page, as well as other outlets. For a full list of tour dates, visit the band’s website here.

Follow Modern English:

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter

Header photo by Sheva Kafai.

The post Move In Light | An Interview With Robbie Grey of Modern English appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

But it is “Wet Abyss” that introduces an aggressive, monumental EBM-fueled riot: the track traverses over its pounding kick and sharp percussive elements. Made solely for the dance floor, “Wet Abyss” will surely be a DJ’s secret weapon during peak club hours. Extase Urbaine’s final track, “Hide in the Light,” returns to the chugging groove of “Sacred Winds” with its steady pace and sinewy bass. The Alpha Sect remix of “Hide in the Light” speeds up the track and injects a ferocity that the Greek producer is becoming known for.

With the energy of the 1980s new beat genre but the EBM-infused production style of Soft Crash, Velvet May and Nasdrowie, Extase Urbaine’s EP is dark dance perfection. Listen to Sacred Winds below:

Buy it here.

Follow Extase Urbaine on IG.
Follow Samo Records on IG.

The post Listen to the Myriad of Body Music Inside Extase Urbaine’s EP “Sacred Winds” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

However, 2023 saw a flurry of new activity from Cranes, straight from the source. Firstly, the band released a string of radio sessions recorded for the late, great John Peel in 1989 and 1990, many of which had never been circulated previously. Additionally, the band announced two shows, one in hometown Portsmouth and the other in the heart of London, both of which sold out immediately. Both shows were meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 1993’s Forever, one of the band’s most beloved recordings that also earned them a slot opening for The Cure’s celebrated Wish tour, which alongside a single remix of “Jewel” remixed by Robert Smith himself, helped usher in a new legion of fans. These new gigs reunited the Shaws with original guitarist Mark Francombe as well as Paul Smith, who began recording with the band with 2001’s Future Songs album. These shows were special occasions through and through, with fans (including myself) traveling far and wide to attend. While the band was originally unsure what would be in store next, they seem to have rekindled the spark and reclaimed their stake in today’s robust scene. More live dates have been booked for 2024 in Leeds, London, Brussels, and Rotterdam, and a new reissue has been announced – this time unearthing Fuse, the band’s very first release and one of their deepest obscurities. Originally released on cassette in 1986 via Bite Back!, Fuse has been lovingly remastered at Abbey Road and will be reissued via the band’s own Dadaphonic imprint on April 5th of this year. Like the Peel Sessions release prior, this new edition of Fuse features artwork by Chris Bigg of V23, who originally helped design much of 4AD’s classic artwork over the years. To sweeten the pot, this beautiful new edition features “New Liberty,” a song recorded during these early sessions that has not been heard until now.

We had the immense pleasure of speaking to vocalist, guitarist, and bassist Alison Shaw about all of this activity. Check below for our conversation, as well as a full list of upcoming tour dates and Fuse reissue details…

~~~

Firstly, I just have to say it: WELCOME BACK! It’s really great that all these new gigs are popping up on the horizon. After years of radio silence, it really was so exciting to see this flurry of activity. What, what was the catalyst for getting back together? What got you thinking about it and what’s been fueling the fire so far? 

I guess it was the end of 2022 when, quite by chance, Jim and Matt (Cope) met up. Around the same time, Jason, who was our manager throughout the Dadaphonic years also got back in touch and told us that if there was any chance that we wanted to do something again, he’d help us. For the last ten years, it was the last thing on our minds, you know? We were all just doing other things in our lives. Somehow, things just fell into place. We all thought that we wanted to take it slowly, to see what happens. When we announced that first London show, we actually weren’t quite ready in our minds. We weren’t sure if we were able to do it, or if we really wanted to do it. But it went on sale and it sold out really quickly in a day and a half, and so we were like “oh my God, we’ve got to do it, we’re committed now.” It really was a good experience though. You were at the show, right? The audience was amazing! For us, it was a very happy show and it made us think that we might quite like to do some other shows.

Yeah, EartH is such a gorgeous venue and there was so much great energy in the room. It was a perfect fit! 

Yeah, exactly I think that was kind of a special evening for us all.

There aren’t a lot of bands out there like Cranes, so it’s great that you’re back in that sense. There was a big gap left in the scene when you left…

Yeah, our last record was in 2008. And I think our last gig was about 2012 or 13. So there’s been a long gap!

It seems like you just went dormant and life carried on for you all. Had people been asking for shows or for new material over the last decade? 

Well, when we went dormant, I also wasn’t connected to any social media at all for about ten years. I just couldn’t deal with it for one reason or another. I was vaguely aware that somebody out there was reissuing our records. It was the Music on Vinyl company in Holland, they’ve become good friends now and they’re really big fans of the band. They’ve reissued all our albums and they make really lovely vinyl editions. At the time though, I was only vaguely aware of this, but now I’ve kind of clipped my brain back into being doing Cranes stuff. We’re much more in touch with everything.

It’s been brilliant being back in touch with Mark (Francombe) again, because he was, as you know, he’s the original guitarist from the late 80s and early 90s. He’s been living a totally different life these days, because he lives in Oslo, in Norway. We’ve remained friends over all of these years, only seeing each other maybe once a year or something. But now we’re in contact every day, on the phone, or messaging or talking. He’s a very creative person and he helps with all the social media stuff.

So really, it’s weird. We’re just slowly motioning back into being a band again after such a long break, taking it at our own pace.

That’s great! And it’s great that Mark is so invested and so involved as well. So, these next batch of shows in the Spring, can you tell us a bit about those? 

Actually, we just announced another one in Brussels! It’s part of a really lovely festival called Botanique. We just announced we’re going to play there on April the 30th. There’s been a good response already for that one!

Will these upcoming shows still be part of the Forever anniversary celebration, or will you be doing a more varied set? 

To be honest, we haven’t decided yet! I think we might do more of a kind of a mixture, maybe a few songs from the Loved album, but we’re not quite sure yet.

Right, and Mark played on Loved as well, yes? That first era of the band with Mark and Matt on guitar and Jim on drums had quite a groove going throughout the nineties. But then you changed lineups and your sound evolved from there…

Yeah, Mark actually first played with us in 1988, I think. And then he left in 1997/1998, soon after the Population Four album. We did a long American tour for almost every album we did up until that point, but I think the last time we were there was for Future Songs in 2002.

Yeah, I was supposed to go to the NYC show back then, but I was nineteen at the time and couldn’t get in, sadly… I should have snuck in! So, I’d love to talk about the upcoming Fuse reissue. I was curious to hear about any great stories from the era. I’ve read a lot about the early days, recording in your garage and how Martin Hannett was one of the first people to have heard the Fuse recordings. It seemed like things really ramped up quickly for the band from there… 

Well, the Martin Hannett thing, that was kind of an isolated incident, because Fuse was only a cassette. It was the first thing that we released. Jim and I spent months working on it, literally day and night. We used to do it in shifts, and I would work in most of the daytime, and he would work most of the night. We were still developing our sound at that stage and we weren’t quite sure what we were doing! We were kind of experimenting and trying to find our own path. We did what we could given the time constraints. We weren’t sure, to be honest, if it was any good. We’d never released anything, we’d never had a review or anything like that. For some reason, we also decided that we didn’t want to send the cassette out to anyone. But Ian Binnington from Bite Back! heard that Martin Hannett was looking for unsigned bands, because there was potentially going to be a new TV show up in Manchester. So Ian sent him a tape with a lot of local Portsmouth bands on it. When he called Martin back a few weeks later, Martin wasn’t sure who he was, or who any of the bands were, but then he remembered our song from that demo tape. We were very, very honored.

Yeah, you never know who hears things or how music travels around, especially in the cassette culture days…It’s amazing you got that kind of feedback early on.

Yeah, after that we kind of went back to the drawing board for a couple of years. We weren’t playing live at that stage, it was just me and Jim in my dad’s garage that we turned into a little tiny studio with the drum kit and everything in there. It took us a good two or two-and-a-half years to come up with the Self Non Self material which, at the time, we felt was more our identity, our real identity if you know what I mean.

I tell you what, literally dozens of people have asked us to reissue the Fuse tape, and we’ve always said no because we just thought that it was just our very early thing – that it was just a tape and we were happy to let it stay that way. It’s taken us decades to consider it, and it was really because of Jason (White), who is also the manager at 4AD. He’s so in tune with music and has very good instincts. He said “listen to it again Ali, would you just listen to it again for me?”

Do you often listen back to your music, or? 

Not often, no. But I listened to it with fresh ears and I could see what he was talking about. It was so early for us, listening to it now I’m kind of taken back – how did we produce those sounds with such basic equipment!?

Well, that’s exactly what I wanted to ask you next! How DID you produce those sounds with just the bare bones guitar and drums setup that you had back then? There was a lot of sonic experimentation taking place in those early days. 

Yeah! Well one of the key things that we were we were using very early on was a tiny sampler pedal, which was a similar size and shape as a distortion pedal. It was one of the very first sampling instruments that you could buy that didn’t cost a zillion pounds, you know? Jim used that for some of the drum sounds and we also used it on the voice as a delay and echo thing. Other than that, it was just guitars and the way we played. Jim always dreamt that his first instrument would be the drums, but he also plays guitars and bass and cello and keyboards, and, you know, whatever else. He’s kind of a multi instrumentalist, I guess.

Great to have that in your back pocket!

Yeah that definitely helps! So, I think everything we’ve ever done emerges quite naturally. We just make sounds and then see if it elicits a response in either Jim or me. The things that we both instantly connect to – that’s what ends up being a Cranes song. If one or the other of us doesn’t get it, then it gets left behind.

So I guess that leaves it pretty wide open to create whatever feels right and whatever comes to mind. I can’t imagine the two of you back in the day carefully selecting and mimicking records over the years, trying to carve out your sound that way, as some bands do. It sounds like this has always been a very organic process for you.

Yeah. It was quite important for us not to sound like anyone else directly. We used to edit ourselves. Jim’s kind of obsessed with the idea – if anything sounds remotely like someone else he’ll get rid of it. We were fans of other people’s music at the time of course, but it was a key thing in Cranes, to choose our own path…

Well, that’s certainly what’s always appealed to me about your music – that you’ve done your own thing. There are definitely bands that you’re peers with, like Slowdive, who you played live with in the early nineties, or Chapterhouse, who you were label mates with. But really, when I got into the band in the late nineties – I had never heard anything like your music. It was so singular, so different, so eclectic, and I haven’t heard all that much out there that I feel the same way about. I’ve always appreciated that. With that in mind, from the early days of being in the garage to the electronic material you’d produce in the 2000s, how did your writing process evolve over the years?

Well, I guess there were two big musical shifts for us. The first shift was, when we first signed to Dedicated. We were able to buy some new equipment, and we bought keyboards, which Jim had always wanted. Up until that point, we’d never had a keyboard that could make string sounds and orchestral sounds and piano sounds. So that was a big shift for us. On Fuse and Self Non Self, there were no keyboards. Wings of Joy, Forever, and Loved were all recorded in the same studio in London, called Protocol Studios. It was the same studio where everyone at the time recorded, including The Sundays, or My Bloody Valentine, who were recording Loveless at the time. So many bands who were recording in the early nineties recorded there, and that place felt like our home, just off Holloway Road in North London.

The more electronic stuff that you you mentioned, that was our third phase, after the year 2000. The old version of Cranes had finished – we ceased to be around 1998. Mark left in 1997 and got married after we did that last tour in America, and we pretty much stopped for a good three years. We weren’t sure what we were going to do or if we were going to record again. But then Jim and I just got together, I guess because we’re brother and sister, it’s hard to split up completely…  I had been living in London at that time and during that break at the at the end of the 90s, I’d been doing some other stuff. I had a couple of ideas for some songs and I came back down to Portsmouth one day, and Jim had couple of ideas for some songs. We basically just started to write and we felt that there was the basis for some new material, and that’s when Future Songs started to come together.

I recall that you considered changing the name of the band, but at heart, it was still just you and Jim, so it still felt right to be a Cranes record. Is that the case?

Yeah, that’s kind of right. They are quite two sort of distinct phases of the band, I guess. But it’s still Jim and I at the center of it.

I mean, it’s not like the electronic material came out of the blue – there were hints of that direction on Population Four, La Tragedie D’Oreste et Electre, and a lot of the EP material from that era. Some more delicate moments, electronic touches, and so on. So while the early, chaotic nature of the band wasn’t present on Future Songs, it wasn’t a total 180, in my opinion, minus the lineup change. So now that the original catalogue has been reissued, is there any talk of reissuing the most recent trio of records, the ones on Dadaphonic? 

Well, we haven’t started on that project yet. But people are asking, you know, especially because those records weren’t originally released on vinyl. It’s a bit early for us at the moment, but it’s definitely possible!

Going back to the gigs you’ve been playing – once you were committed to doing the shows and were back in the rehearsal room, was the focus really just on the older material? Did you happen to do any writing, whether it was accidental or intentional? 

To be honest, it was a lot of the focus was on the Forever songs, because quite early on, people asking if we were going to play the entire album. There are several songs on the album which we’d never played live before..

Yeah! I remember you mentioned at the EartH show that one of the songs had never been performed before, though I can’t remember which it was…

It was “Sun and Sky” – I don’t think we’d ever played it before and I’m not sure why we hadn’t… It’s not a difficult bass line, but I guess because I’m playing it and singing at the same time, I guess we just didn’t have enough time back in the day to rehearse it properly. But this time, I had months to practice it, so I did, and it eventually came together. I think when we first met up to rehearse after not having played together with this lineup for thirty years, our first song was “EG Shining.” And you know, it sounded the same as it always did all those years ago, which was kind of nice.

That’s one of the first tracks Mark had played on, right? 

Yeah, and it was it was one of the first songs we ever wrote, to be honest. Even though it didn’t come out until we were signed, we did it early on at a Peel Session. It was written a couple of years before we recorded it and released it on the Espero EP. It was an original Cranes song, that was one our earliest moments together.

It was great hearing such an intense response to songs like that, as well as “Inescapable” and “Starblood” when you played them. Do you still feel a connection to that material, or was it just something from the past that you exhumed for these shows? How does it feel to play those songs again?

So, that’s the weird thing, if you’d asked me a year or two ago, I’m not sure if I could have played those songs or if it would feel right at this point in my life. That said, there’s something that happens when Jim’s on the drums. One of those key moments in our past was when Jim decided he didn’t want to play drums live at that stage, so he changed to guitar. We had two or three different drummers in the years from 2000-2008. They were all great drummers, but the drumming style of those later albums were different, and of course these drummers used more electronic drum kits and pads and things like that where you can have more control and make more interesting electronic sounds. The earlier tracks were all oriented around Jim’s drum sound. For me, playing these early tracks needed to have Jim Shaw on the drums in order to feel right. That’s what made authentic and believable for me – Jim on drums and Mark on guitar, with Matt joining us for early rehearsals. It really made me connect to the material again. Something was there that I can’t quite describe but makes the songs come alive again.

I hate to jump the gun or anything, but do you think you’ll do any writing together – or are you still taking it one day at a time?

Well, you never know, you never know… There’s some writing going on but I can’t really elaborate! *chuckles*

Well, since we’re hinting at some vague things here – what’s the scoop on returning to America? Is that something we can look forward to in the coming years?

Ahh, well, I can’t say much at the moment, but I’ll give you a hint. Just recently we have been offered something in America and it’s looking very positive…

Well, I accept that you can’t tell us more, but that’s very promising news! We’ll stay tuned for some more details on that, if and when the time is right! So, here’s a more open ended question – do you have a favorite moment throughout all the years you’ve been together as a band? 

Favorite moment? Well, I mean obviously the tour with The Cure was completely awesome for us. I remember especially on the American leg of that tour, I remember just being happy every day, like every moment of every day, driving from city to city and playing these incredible arenas and auditoriums and stadiums, even…

How did that come about – how were you first approached by the band?

Apparently, Robert, and Simon had heard the Wings of Joy album, and they liked it. We had an agent at the time, and I think that’s how they approached us. We met them around that time, they did a few warm up shows before the tour, playing in much smaller venues in the UK. They played in our local town hall, which is called the Guild Hall in Portsmouth. We were invited to the show, and that’s where we met the band and that’s when they invited us on the tour.

Well, it was a perfect match, and obviously they’ve invited you back regularly since then, for the Trilogy shows and some other one-offs over the years. It seems like the door is always open!

Well, they’ve been so amazing to us over the years. Every few years we’ll get a call. I’ve chatted to Robert a few times recently, over email, and he’s really supportive of what we’re doing now. They’ll always be a really important part of our journey.

I’m so glad it’s still be so positive over the years. It seems like it’s a lifelong friendship with the two of you, and some of the other bands they’ve been friends with over the years, like And Also the Trees… 

Yeah, he’s pretty amazing…as you might imagine.

So what else are you planning with the back catalogue at the moment? It was great to see you bring the Dadaphonic brand back into the mix…

Yeah, the Peel Sessions release that came out last year was also under Dadaphonic, and Fuse is going to be on vinyl and CD as well. We weren’t sure if people would want a CD, but people are still requesting it. We won’t do a huge amount of them, but it’s there if people want it.

Yeah, people come back around again when it comes to physical media. I mean, after growing up in the CD era, I’ve switched fully to vinyl and digital. I don’t miss having to pack and carry a CD wallet to take things with you, and really like having a lot of music at your fingertips these days, through all kinds of mediums and services. It’s great to see the back catalogue has been well cared for after all these years… How has streaming treated you? 

I think most of our catalogue is now streaming, which helps for people who haven’t discovered us or heard most of what we’ve recorded, even some of the more rare things like La Tragedie… For many years, we didn’t think anyone would be interested in all that stuff. But Jason’s really helped us to find that focus again.

What about the Inrain single you did with Rudy of A.R. Kane? Is that something people still ask about? 

Yeah, and actually, Rudy and I have stayed in touch over the years. Every few months we get together on the phone. We’ve had several people offer to reissue it for us, and I suppose we’re just waiting for the right moment there as well. He just did a really great A.R. Kane reissue box set and has a few other projects in the works, so perhaps we’ll see an Inrain reissue in the near future!

I love seeing bands reactivate on social media, to come out of a long slumber and just poke their heads out on social media, like you or A.R. Kane and maybe even Catherine Wheel are doing at the moment. As a fan, I always get extremely, almost scarily excited when this happens. I feel like Cranes were one of the last bands from my youth that I never had the chance to see over the years, and I’m glad you’re back. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say, and with so many bands reforming and having a second victory lap, so to speak. I hope it’s been great experience for you. 

Yeah, it certainly has. We’re taking it slowly but we’re really, really happy that people seem to be receiving the idea of us in a such a good way. We’ve always been flattered when people ask after all these years, but it never was the right moment until now. But really, we’re glad to be here! §

Cranes – Fuse LP/CD
1. Pillow Panther
2. Fuse
3. Valentine
4. Gas-Ring
5. Things That I Like
6. Wrench
7. Fracture
8. New Liberty (previously unreleased)

Order via Bandcamp (UK and US) and via Linktree

Cranes 2024 tour dates: 

• Tue April 30th – Brussels – Orangerie (Boutanique Festival)
• Thu May 2nd – Rotterdam – Maassilo
• Thu May 9th – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
• Sat May 11th – London – Islington Assembly Hall

Header photo by Phil Nicholls

The post Hopes Are High | A Conversation With Alison Shaw of Cranes appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Ye Gods, the alias of prolific producer and composer Antoni Maiovvi, is a study in the subtle complexities of dark sound design alongside conceptual themes of the occult. With his new album on L.I.E.S. Records titled No Albion, the artist embraces aspects of visceral horror—a soundtrack to the deep, vast abyss—by way of minimalism and slow modulations.

No Albion focuses on the pursuit of serpentine modulations and tenuous phrasings—and the single, “Total Eclipse,” is just that. Much in the vein of industrialist greats, Coil, the track paces itself as it swells and undulates. The slow-building tension boils to the brim before it dissipates and concludes with a mysterious spoken word statement. The listener is left to wonder what spirits have been roused from their sleep.

And just like the track itself, the music video mirrors the steadiness of “Total Eclipse” as it depicts Maiovvi walking down an empty corridor towards an unseen something—or someone. Masked and stoic, the artist in his priest-like robe recalls a ceremonial ritual that’s about to unfold.

Watch below:

Buy No Albion here. Follow Antoni Maiovvi on IG.

The post Ye Gods Rouses What’s Beyond the Veil With “Total Eclipse” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Throughout the 1980s, Xmal Deutschland distinguished themselves with a voracious and unwavering approach to their art. Their distinctive aesthetic, characterized by bold hairstyles and intense, kohl-rimmed eyes, mirrored the complex nature of their music, which combined relentless energy with a nuanced finesse. This blend allowed them to break free from the confines of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement, differentiating them from peers like DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten.

Xmal Deutschland embraced punk’s bold break from traditional norms, finding solace in its anti-establishment ethos—a stark contrast to the rigid conventions of the past. Their recording debut, the single Schwarze Welt, was characterized by an unforeseen turn of events: Rita Simon, the intended lead vocalist, was unexpectedly absent on the day of recording. This twist of fate thrust Anja Huwe, initially the bassist, into the spotlight as the lead singer. Despite her initial hesitations, she stepped into the role, marking a significant shift in the band’s trajectory.

“The only condition from my side [was that] I will never perform onstage,” she reflects. “Two months later, they made me without ever telling me up front. I had no choice.”Their breakthrough came with the release of Incubus Succubus in 1982, a pivotal moment that was further amplified by a landmark performance in London the same year, where they opened for the Cocteau Twins. This event propelled them into the spotlight, attracting an avant-garde audience characterized by torn fishnets and a penchant for the unconventional.

Listen to the original version of the single “Incubus Succubus” below:

 Schwarze Welt was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. The characterization of Xmal Deutschland primarily as a female ensemble—a notion later playfully amended with the inclusion of Wolfgang Ellerbrock, who became the group’s lone male counterpart—gained momentum within the circles of media, a fascination propelled as much by their visual appeal as by their musical prowess. “We were like paradise birds,” Huwe wryly remembers. “We as girls, especially being creative in many ways, ignored facts like: be nice, be polite, take good care about your looks. Of course, we wanted to look good but in a different and unconventional way. We were enough for ourselves.”

Following Xmal Deutschland’s distinguished run, marked by four albums released under esteemed labels like 4AD, Anja Huwe shifted her creative focus, leaving the musical stage to delve into the realm of visual arts. However, this transition did not mean an effortless departure from her musical legacy; the echoes of her past endeavors lingered.

“Since the split in the early 1990s, I have been haunted by the ‘Legend of Xmal Deutschland’ and never-ending requests from all over the world, all of which I always turned down,” she says.

Early Singles (1981-1982) is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; Kaelbermarsch (originally from the compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig) and a gritty live version of Allein (originally from the compilation Nosferatu Festival), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

Pre-order ‘Early Singles (1981-1982) here.

Pariah is the second offering from the debut solo release from Anja Huwe. Invited by her long-time friend Mona Mur, Huwe reconsidered her decades-long hiatus from music and decided to join Mur in her studio in Berlin. Together, they worked for a year and a half, composing, performing and producing the tracks from scratch which eventually became the album Codes.

The razor-sharp new single shows the intentional interchange between languages on the record: “Since I sing multilingually, and often work with metaphors, I hope that the listener can grasp the moods without understanding them literally. I believe that voice, expression, and sound can achieve an overall atmosphere. Sometimes melancholic and blue, but also uplifting, vibrant, or subliminally aggressive.”

Listen to “Pariah” below:

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, Codes is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. “The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

The thematic extremities cause an erraticism to Codes—a passing thunderstorm, a cyclonic burst of nature’s force—but one that exudes anticipation amidst the chill. With elegant production by Mur and Huwe and mixing and mastering by Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Gary Numan, Einstürzende Neubauten) epic builds crash and disseminate, the sleek synthesised drones of sound even feel claustrophobic at times.

Pre-order Codes here. 

Follow Anja Huwe:

• Website
• Instagram

The post Anja Huwe Debuts New Solo Track “Pariah” — Plus Listen to the Original Version of Xmal Deutschland’s “Incubus Succubus” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

The track begins with a short, yet ominous organ and piano melody, before kicking into high gear with a deep bass groove and infectious dance beat that moves and shakes with the ocean breeze. Dee’s passionate, yet soulful vocals soar above the din with impressive power. The hooks are endless and executed perfectly across the board, with shades of Sade, Enigma, Bedtime Stories-era Madonna, and Colourbox all melding together seamlessly. The video, directed by Thought Group and styled by Dru Barnes, taps into the band’s occult magick, with the band performing a ritual as well as the song on an rocky beach. The video has us yearning for summer through and through, but has just enough chill throughout to keep us  grounded.

Wish Upon A Star is out today via Bandcamp. The rubedo/red vinyl LP deluxe edition, shipping out on February 26th, is limited to 500 copies and features a double-sided 11×17 lyric poster. Check below for the full album track list and album artwork.

Dee Fortune & Thought Group – Wish Upon a Star
1. Deep Water
2. Lonesome Dove
3. Again
4. Fallen Angel
5. Heaven Knows
6. The Gate
7. Mysterious Love
8. Shattered Pieces
9. Wish Upon

Banner photo by Kimsu Theiler
Album Artwork: Eric Adrian Lee
Poster Artwork: Daniel Martin Diaz & Eric Adrian Lee

The post Brooklyn-based Dream Pop Band Dee Fortune & Thought Group Dive Into the Mystic in “Deep Water” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

BBelgium’s ULTRA SUNN has recently released a new single titled “Shake Your Demons”. It is a part of their highly-anticipated debut full-length album ‘US’, which is set to release on April 19th via Artoffact Records. The band is planning to embark on an extensive touring schedule in 2024. They have also released a video of their live performance of the new track, shot in their home turf. This is the first part of three live sessions.s is the first part of three live sessions.

Shake Your Demons strikes a harmonious balance between tranquility and captivation. It can serve as a serene backdrop to the rhythm of a workday, gently coaxing your body into motion, or it can escalate into the pulsating heart of a dance floor, inviting unrestrained movement and joy.

The song’s verses traverse the stormy waters of self-reckoning, laying bare the discord between individual intentions and the labyrinthine nature of temporal progression. The poignant image of one poised at a threshold, despite the journey’s advances, evokes enduring attachments and unquiet sentiments. With the allegorical brandishing of a firearm towards an ‘invisible confidante’ and the wilting of blossoms, the song explodes euphorically into the motifs of closure, fervent affect, and metamorphosis, ultimately crescendoing in an entreaty to liberate oneself from the clutches of emotional turbulence.

Sonically leaning into inspirations from New Beat, EBM, and UK Garage to Techno and Trance, the band cites Underworld, Faithless, Inoui, Front 242, and A Split Second as influences.  Sam’s voice, as deep and mysterious as a moonless night, weaves into Gaelle’s meticulously arranged orchestra of analogue synthesizers and industrial drum machinery. Their work embodies their love for the fine arts, fashion, and the electrifying spirit of Coldwave, New Beat, and fresh EBM. As observers of their era, ULTRA SUNN generates vibrant, dance-inducing anthems that preach self-growth, resistance against anxiety, and champion gender equality.

“Shake Your Demons is about shaking up your bad habits, your anxieties, and refusing to get bogged down by it,” says the band. “It’s time, and it can be done with strength and tenderness.”

Watch below:

The contemporary EBM/Coldwave/New Beat sensation Ultra Sunn hails from Brussels, Belgium, and was formed in late 2019 by frontman Sam Huge and keyboardist/producer Gaelle Souflet. In 2023, they were joined on stage by keyboardist and percussionist Alexis Andrigo. A lauded live act, the band has regularly played alongside Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, DAF and A Split Second.

The name ULTRA SUNN stems from Gaelle and Sam’s reflection on aesthetics, light, and the symbolism of the sun, embodying the couple’s ideals.

“The album is called ‘US,’ like the initials of ULTRA SUNN,” says the band about their forthcoming LP. “In addition to being a reference to two records that we love, VU (Velvet Underground) and AM (Arctic Monkeys), it reflects the more personal texts in this album – the bond between us (Gaelle and Sam) being stronger than ever, a new musician joining us on tour, and the bond that we have created with our audience / how the concerts are carried and experienced all together with strength and love. It’s our album, it’s yours, it’s about US.”

US is out on April 19, 2024. Pre-Order Here

Embarking on multiple legs of touring throughout this year with select festival dates (Sick New World, Catch One, Resistanz, Dark Malta, Verboden, Amphi), Ultra Sunn’s first run will kick off in Hambourg, GER, on February 8th and see them heading through Europe and the UK before switching continents. The USA tour is set to debut in Denver, CO, on April 25th and close in Seattle, WA, on May 11th, when they will return to Europe for another EU leg, including an album release party at the Orangerie au Botanique in their home town of Brussels on June 1st.

All upcoming tour dates are listed below. Find your tickets here.

ULTRA SUNN TOUR DATES:

• 02.08.24 – HAMBOURG (GER) Hafenklang
• 02.09.24 – DORTMUND (GER) Junkyard
• 02.10.24 – STRASBOURG (FR) La Laiterie
• 02.11.24 – DEN HAAG (NL) Grauzone
• 03.09.24 – BETHUNE (FR) La Poche
• 03.29.24 – LONDON (UK) Moth Club
• 03.30.24 – BRIGHTON (UK) Alphabet
• 03.31.24 – SHEFFIELD (UK) Resistanz Festival
• 04.21.24 – MALTE (MT) Dark Malta Festival
• 04.25.24 – DENVER (CO) The Oriental Theater
• 04.26.24 – LOS ANGELES (CA) Catch One
• 04.27.24 – LAS VEGAS (NV) Sick New World Festival
• 05.02.24 – PHOENIX (AZ) Rebel Lounge
• 05.03.24 – SAN DIEGO (CA) The Kensington Club
• 05.04.24 – RIVERSIDE (CA) The Hideaway Cafe
• 05.07.24 – SAN FRANCISCO (CA) DNA Lounge
• 05.08.24 – SACRAMENTO (CA) Harlows
• 05.10.24 – PORTLAND (OR) Coffin Club
• 05.11.24 – SEATTLE (WA) Substation
• 05.12.24 – VANCOUVER (BC) Verboden Festival 
• 05.30.24 – PARIS (FR) Le Petit Bain
• 06.01.24 – BRUSSELS (BE) Botanique Orangerie Album Release party + Guests
• 06.06.24 – BERLIN (GER)
• 06.07.24 – KRAKOW (PL) Klub Re
• 06.08.24 – WARSAW (PL) Hydrozagadka
• 06.09.24 – WROCLAW (PL) Liverpool
• 06.28.24 – KÖLN (GER) Amphi Festival
• 08.08.24 – LOKEREN (BE) Fonnefeesten
• 09.21.24 – LAUSANNE (CH) Les Docks

Follow Ultra Sunn:

• Website
• Bandcamp
• Facebook
• Instagram

The post Belgium’s Ultra Sunn Debut Live Video for New Single “Shake Your Demons” from Debut Album “US” — Tour Dates Announced appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

“Let’s get weird,” they gleefully announce, grabbing random props from drag shows past. A mannequin leg here; a six-foot foil moon there. “Be quiet, I’m having my Paper Moon moment,” someone exclaims, as Rubin tosses his hands through the most glorious waterfall mullet this side of Kentucky.

Welcome to the theatrical, fantastical world of Candy & The Kids – a blessed combo of classic glam rock, chaotic good Riot Grrl spirit, 1960s girl groups, the battiness of the B-52s, and a rainbow version of Black Flag. Although the towering Rubin cuts a striking silhouette, his androgynous, coquettish voice is truly extraordinary, channeling the primal scream yelps of Kathleen Hanna, Karen O, and Siouxsie Sioux rather than, say, the expected croon of Jeffrey Lee Pierce.

Their live show is infectiously energetic, despite the over-enthusiasm of the fog machine shrouding these characters in mystery. Rubin goads the audience with his wryly confrontational DIY fashion, certainly inspired by Vivienne Westwood. Flanked by Jurin and Winans keeping time and intermittently shouting out call-and-response lyrics, Candy & The Kids’ onstage combustion ignites the normally-apathetic crowd into a frenzy of dance, beer splashing everywhere. This is pure, raw NYC punk, the kind of music we grew up wishing we could see at CBGB, smothered in a delicious sugary frosting. These sweet kids bring down the house.

Candy & The Kids are set to debut with The Cover-Up, dropping on January 30, 2024. This seven-track EP is a dynamic collection of covers, delving into the discographies of Metric, The Gun Club, Le Tigre, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Romeo Void, and Bauhaus, for starters. It’s a rich fusion of gritty synth-pop, sharp-edged grooves, and – naturally – a screamin’ sax, crafted to set your hips in motion with its infectious rhythms.

The band plans to mark their release of “The Cover-Up” with a limited-edition cassette, only 50 copies available; featuring all 7 tracks plus two original tracks, showcasing what’s ahead in 2024. Order the cassette at their Bandcamp here.

Follow Candy & The Kids:

• Instagram
• YouTube
• Bandcamp

The post Candy & The Kids Debut “The Cover-Up” Album — Featuring Covers of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Romeo Void, and More! appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

“Curating Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX was a big puzzle,” explains Curses. “Figuring out how to fit all these tracks across 6 different 12″s required a lot of calculations and, to be quite frank, I was never that great at maths. Unfortunately, this meant we had to cut some real heaters off of DEUX. But Eskimo and I decided that we couldn’t let these gems go to dust. I’ve been DJing them loads in my sets, so it was only fair to share them with y’all to DJ and rage to yourselves. So, here it is… the final blast of bonus tracks for Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX: Secret Cuts.”

Secret Cuts is jammed with names both familar and new: the revivalist EBM of Chrome Corps, Ghost Cop‘s sultry horror disco, and the spindly industrial beats of Notausgang are all primed for the DJ’s secret weapon folder. Out on February 7th, the entire release will be available via Bandcamp but, for now, three tracks are available.

Nuovo Testamento – “In My Dreams (Powerhouse Mix)” is an Italo-house stomper. Complete with lead piano, the remix is pure energy.

Unconscious feat. Carnuntum – “Carnivora (LivEvil Version)” seethes in the refined EBM the Italian artist, Unconscious, is known for with a rumbling bassline and mysterious vocals by Carnuntum.

Curses – “The Deep End (Redux)” is a Carpenter-esque gem that would fit nicely with the theme to Christine. Its disco-inspired beat carries the somber guitar and haunting synth pads as they swell and disseminate.

Pre-order here.

The post Curses Announces a Secret Stash of Dance Floor Heaters with “Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX – Secret Cuts” LP Including a Nuovo Testamento Remix appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

The song, “Violets of Your Neck,” would fit as a soundtrack to Beau Brummell’s most melancholic moments, during a reflective stroll through the garden in his most fashionable mourning attire. “‘Violets of Your Neck’ is an obsessive ballad for a love that produces the Fountain of Youth, leaving you as immortal as the violets in her perfume,” says Page of the song.

With a Ferry-esqe dandyism mingled with Mick Karn’s iconic bass work, the song is delicate and sleek: post-punk at its most glam. Part New Romantic, part Gary Numan’s blue era, The Victoriana is the antidote to the doldrum darkwave of today. Listen below:

The 7″ single of “Violets of Your Neck” is available via Dream Recordings.

Follow The Victoriana and Dream Recordings on IG.

The post Tumble into the Post-Punk Romanticism of The Victoriana with “Violets of Your Neck” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.