Music

After 18 years The Jesus And Mary Chain have announced they will be releasing their new album, Damage And Joy, in 2017. To tide us over until it drops next year the Reid brothers have debuted that album’s first single, “Amputation”. Since their reunion in 2007 JAMC have been teasing new material and other than a one off, “All Things Must Pass” in 2008, this is the first taste of what they have been working on and I am delighted to say it’s nice to have them back.

It’s been ten years since Nashville’s Apollo Up! released the post hardcore blowout Chariots Of Fire and that amount of time felt right for Yewknee Records to announce that the album will be getting a special vinyl release to commemorate.  Featuring a sparkling new mastering job by John Baldwin (Public Image Ltd, Jesus Lizard), the lead single and album opener “Walking The Plank”, sounds as angry and vital as it did a decade ago.

Slowmotions is the project of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Brassell. After forming the band in Nashville and releasing the first Slowmotions album Quick Potions in 2009, Brassell left Music City for the sprawl of Los Angeles. His new album The Domes is the direct consequence of that move.

HEALTH have just released a new video for "L.A. Looks" from their 2015 album Death Magic.

The new Theophilus London/Ariel Pink track “Revenge” just dropped via Fools Gold and has immediately made the world seem a little bit brighter. All bop and bounce and filled with one of the hookiest vocal melodies that I’ve heard recently, “Revenge” capitalizes on the strengths of both of its notorious collaborators. The song kicks off with a strong four on the floor kick drum that is complimented with a bass line that is so dug into the groove it’s practically buried up to it’s knees.

If you can’t be a rock star, at least you at eat like one, right? In 2008, Denny’s, America’s monument to chronic insomnia and poor eating habits, unveiled the Rock Star Menu, a feast for the senses honouring that celebrated synergy between music and food, particularly during the wee hours of the night when the show’s over and we’ve got nothing to eat but our feelings and maybe a Moons Over My Hammy.

Peter Peter's new video for "Bien Réel" is initially underwhelming, but evolves quickly to match the energy of the second single from "Noire Eden."

Directed by Bertrand Touchard, the video relies heavily on the Droste effect - or "mise en abyme" for you art kids/Quebecers - but the multiple exposure shots make this a must watch, but maybe with the audio off. As beautiful as the song is, I can't help but feel like I'm listening to Thom Yorke sing in French. 

Sub Pop’s mighty Pissed Jeans are back. The first single, “The Bar Is Low”, from their upcoming album Why Love Now dropped today and it’s perfectly as angry, sarcastic and scathing a song as you would expect from the Philadelphia-based post hardcore purveyors.  All grinding bass and authoritative riffs, “The Bar Is Low” is an indictment of today’s male and how often so many of the men that we look up to end up being revealed as awful people.