Month: December 2014

Axis Of release new album 23rd February 2015 and announce tour dates!

 

The Northern Irish trio, Axis Of have been winning hearts throughout Europe since the release of their debut album, Finding St. Kilda in 2012. Their records espouse their deep love of music, meeting new people and travel: “The touring we do completely shapes our music and lyrics,” explains Ewen Friers (lead singer and bassist). And on their latest offering, The Mid Brae Inn this is taken to fascinating new emotional heights.

Recorded in the grip of an Irish winter, the daily trek to the recording studio proved to be a mission in itself: “There were deep snow storms and havoc on old coastal roads.  One morning our van’s exhaust was ripped off by a wave.”

The band succumbing to the sea is an apt metaphor for The Mid Brae Inn. Across its eleven tracks, distorted bass swells and soars whilst guitars foam with effervescent hooks.  One can almost taste the salt in the air on album highlights: “Wetsuit”, “Beachcombing” and “Quarrel Reef”.

Axis Of hail from the North Coast of the island, an area which in recent years, has bred some of the country’s most emotive and inspiring acts.  Like others in their scene, Axis Of mix technology with technique and a unique brand of storytelling, deeply rooted in their surroundings: “16,000 years behind, war figures and cyber crimes. The bubbles under Yellowstone, the murderers that we bring home. The gas, the arms, the price, demands. Barry Horne and old showbands.’” – from “The Grey Man’s Path at Night”.

The sound that the bass-player-fronted three-piece has crafted is simultaneously melodic and thunderous – drawing comparison to the sound Biffy cultivated on their crossover Only Revolutions. “Over the last few years we’ve really pushed that idea of ‘poppy but heavy’. I think this record takes that idea and stretches it further at both ends” explains Niall. “I feel we’re now the band we were hinting at becoming, it just required a few hundred shows to get us to this point.”

A record built to be heard live, by men on a mission.  Axis Of: coming soon, to a town near you (hopefully in a van with an intact exhaust).

The Mid Brae Inn will be released on the 23rd February 2015 via Smalltown America.

Confirmed tour dates – more to come!
31st December – Belfast, Empire (Album Launch Night)
25th March –  Aberdeen, Tunnels
26th March –  Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete’s
27th March –  Sheffield, Corporation
28th March –  Cardiff, Moon Club
29th March –  Chester, Compass
30th March –  Wolverhampton, Civic
31st March – Southampton, Joiners
1st April –  Kingston, Fighting Cocks
15th April –  Guildford, Boilerom
16th April – Nottingham Rock City

Screaming Females release new album for February 2015

 “[Ripe] kicks a whole lot of ass.” – Stereogum

“Screaming Females are best known for their aggressive punk rock and Marissa Paternoster’s guitar heroics” – Rolling Stone

“Vocalist Marissa Paternoster roars over chunky guitar chops [on Empty Head] — her iconic snarl driving above colossal riffs — and the outro’s face-melting licks are the frayed ribbons that tie it all together.” – SPIN, December Singles Mix

“Though album cut “Empty Head” is still marked by face-melting shredding, classic rock structures, and a ruggedly stoned chorus, it’s also among the most clear-headed songs the trio has released to date.” – FADER

“Swirling together bits of crusty punk, booming metal, and more melodic hardcore, the trio’s forged a lean, mean anthem with little more than some static guitars, verbose percussion, and Marissa Paternoster’s visceral crooning.” – Consequence of Sound

 

On the cusp of celebrating 10 years as a band, Screaming Females announces Rose Mountain, the New Jersey DIY-punk trio’s sixth LP due 23rd February on Don Giovanni Records. The band self-produced their previous releases (with Steve Albini engineering their 2012 LP Ugly and the 2014 concert album Live at the Hideout) but overturned the long-standing, self-imposed rule this time by bringing in Matt Bayles (Mastodon, the Sword) as a producer.  Setting out with a vision so clear that it almost became a studio mantra, the resulting songs are concise, crisp and melodic, in essence creating at once their most complex and accessible record to date.

Upon listening to the blazing guitar and ecstatic percussion on Rose Mountain, the word “restraint” may not initially come to mind. And while melody has always been a central part of the band’s music, the musicians have often layered them into massive thickets of interlocking sound on previous albums.  However, on Rose Mountain the band was ready to try something more streamlined with Paternoster’s vocal melodies and lyrical themes being pushed into the forefront, while never skimping on the raw intensity they have become known for.

Formed in 2005, Screaming Females is singer/guitarist, Marisa Paternoster, bassist Michael Abbate and drummer, Jarrett Dougherty.  Stay tuned for more info and opportunities to experience the band’s ferocity live on stage – UK dates to be announced soon.

Melbourne’s Twerps to release new album on Merge Records

The Johann Rashid-directed music video for ‘Back To You’, which premiered on Fader, captures Twerps and their radiant local surroundings with a romantic sensibility. The track “recalls the steady, sunny momentum of obvious guitar-pop forebearers like The Chills and The Feelies. “ (Fader)

‘Back to You’ has a vibrant and lighthearted way of addressing the relationship between insecurity and desire. Singer, Martin Frawley contemplates being tied down, letting the listener decide what exactly he’s tethered to.

Twerps will release their debut full-length for Merge entitled, Range Anxiety, on 2nd February 2015 in Europe.

Formed in Melbourne in late 2008, Twerps enjoyed immediate success, releasing a series of vinyl singles and cassettes on various labels around the world. The release of their 2011 self-titled debut album led to appearances at SXSW and CMJ and tours with Real Estate, Mac DeMarco, and others. Not wanting to wait until 2015 to unleash new songs on present and future fans, Twerps quickly recorded the delightful Underlay EP, which Pitchfork described as “songs fraught with universal, emotionally familiar sentiments.”

Twerps are Martin Frawley (guitar, vocals); Rick Milovanovic (bass, vocals, synthesizer); Alex Macfarlane (drums, guitar, vocals); and Julia McFarlane (guitar, vocals, keyboards).