Synth-Punk

Today’s Track: The Lovely Eggs (feat. Iggy Pop) – “I, Moron”

July 24, 2021 — Leave a comment

Let’s spend Saturday with something on the certified side of Moronic. New post time!

  • Pictured: Holly Ross (Vocals/Guitar) & David Blackwell (Drums) (2018) (Photo by Alex West/URY Music)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, as always, and I’m coming at you with another daily track on the blog, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every single day! Ever since I heard about the release of their new single ‘I, Moron’, I have been chomping at the bit for the chance to see The Lovely Eggs play live. If you haven’t heard of them before, The Lovely Eggs are a very popular two-piece lo-fi Psychedelic Punk act made up of husband-and-wife duo David Blackwell and Holly Ross, the latter of which used to be the lead vocalist and guitarist of all-female Indie act Angelica. Ever since they emerged on the UK DIY scene with 2009’s ‘If You Were Fruit’ debut, the two have garnered a dedicated cult following for their endearing, anarchic blend of unique political ideas, rough-edged electronic instrumentation and their distinctive sprinkle of humor. Sadly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the band never got to play any of their tracks from last year’s critically-acclaimed album ‘I Am Moron’, but, rest assured, the arrival of the brand new single accompanies a set of rescheduled tour dates, with the two true Eggheads playing venues in locations such as Cambridge, Leeds, York, Stroud, Reading and Birmingham next Spring. ‘I, Moron’ features guest vocals from the godfather of British Post-Punk himself, Iggy Pop. This collaboration came about when Iggy Pop continually played new tracks from their latest album on his BBC Radio 6 Music programme, and the real cult favourites sent him a ‘Thank You’ note. Check out the moronic results of it below.

“Being in The Lovely Eggs we’re kind of used to surreal experiences, but collaborating with Iggy Pop really takes the biscuit” exclaims one half of the duo, Holly Ross, in the team’s press notes, adding, “It’s actually unbelievable. For him to just say nothing but “moron” over and over again fitted in with the sentiment of the song perfectly. He just GOT it. We are all morons. In a world of moronic things. In a world of moronic ideas. You are moron. I am Moron. We are Moron”, to her pick-me-up speech. It’s not something that I’d expect to hear in a dated Hollywood action flick, but it’s definitely something that I’d expect to hear from The Lovely Eggs because nobody does it better. ‘I, Moron’ picks up at the junction that we got off from last year’s ‘I Am Moron’ LP, with Ross and Blackwell guiding the rhythm with filtered vocal sequences, driving buzz-saw guitar riffs, expansive Synth melodies and layers of overlapping backing vocals. An old-school Punk attitude is created through the vague lyrics, which say very little, but go a fairly decent way in adding a substantial substance to the frenzied fusion of instruments. As for the featured spot from Iggy Pop, you could argue that he earns his paycheck pretty easily here, but his hilariously monotone repeat of the one word adds nicely to the Zany heart of the songwriting and the tone. Meanwhile, there are bubbling sequences of keyboard riffs, robotic Synth breaks akin to Air’s sound and explosively paced lead guitar hooks which keep the sonic palette varied enough. The music video is also a great companion piece to the Psych-Punk madness, with a quirky Clay Animation style that compliments both the home-crafted spirit of the music and the slightly deranged calibration of off-kilter humor and clear charisma that Ross and Blackwell have developed their key strengths from over the years. A charming blend of golden age Punk and electronic-infused Psychedelia, ‘I, Moron’ sees them slip between stripped-back Indie and playful electronica with a safe pair of hands on the wheel. For the lack of a less eye-rolling term, it’s an ‘Eggselent’ showing.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘I, Moron’ (Single) (Released on July 9th, 2021) (via Egg Records)

If you want more of this, why not see what I thought of ‘Long Stem Carnations’ here?: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/07/13/todays-track-the-lovely-eggs-long-stem-carnations/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “I Am Moron” (Album/LP) (Released on July 10th, 2020) (via Egg Records)

That’s all I have to share with you today, but I hope that you are as ‘Eggsited’ as I am to see The Lovely Eggs playing in a town near you in 2022. Until then, I’ve got loads of new posts coming to your inbox, starting with another entry in the ‘Scuzz Sundays’ library tomorrow. It comes from a Welsh rock band formed in Newport during the 90’s who haven’t made an appearance on the site until now, and the band have won two Kerrang! Awards in 2001 and 2003. They were inducted to their ‘Hall Of Fame’ in 2019.

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New Album Release Friday: Garbage – “No Gods, No Masters”

June 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

‘Taking Out The Trash’ now has a completely different meaning. Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “No Gods, No Masters” (LP) (Released on June 11, 2021) (via Infectious Music)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, just like usual, with the lingo for your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s Friday – and this week’s notable new releases include the debut album from Cleopatrick (Canada’s answer to Royal Blood), the 18th LP release in nine years from the endearingly proactive cult Aussie Prog-Rock ensemble King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, a ‘joint’ collaborative album from US rapper KennyHoopla and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, the latest long-player from the Post-Hardcore legends AFI and the new Minnesota musician Rachel Lime is taking things to an intergalactic level on ‘A.U.’, her debut LP offering. June 11th also marks the release date for ‘No Gods, No Masters’, the extensive seventh LP from 90’s Post-Punk pioneers Garbage. Formed out of the ashes of the bands Spooner and Fire Town, Shirley Manson’s band comfortably filled the void which a declining Grunge genre and a murky phase for Metal left for them, becoming highly significant for a female-fronted punk rock outfit of the time, and they have since sold over 17 million albums globally. The follow-up to 2016’s ‘Strange Little Birds’, Garbage’s new album has been pitched by Manson as “a critique of the rise of capitalist short-sightedness, racism, sexism and misogyny across the world”. Let’s sample the titular single below.

Paired with a music video directed by Scott Stuckey, Manson penned ‘No Gods, No Masters’ as her reaction to the Chilean protests against inequality and corruption when she took a trip to Santiago recently, and she was shocked at the sights of graffiti that had been painted over museums and monuments, until one of her guides checked her, asking her why she was more suprised by the damage being made to statues and the environment more than actual people, saying “That was like a slap in the face” in her press release. Built on Synth-infused guitar riffs and electric-soaked drum sequences, Manson chants refrains like “The future is mine, Just the same/No master or gods to obey” and “Nothing lasts and no one stays/The same forever, so accept the change” above the warmly melodic and Pop-oriented backdrop. Lyrics like “Save your prayers for yourself/’Cause they don’t work and they don’t help” touch on religious conflict, and further lyrics like “You want what’s mine/I want what’s yours” call out to those affected by gun violence. The finale, a final repeat of the chorus, comes after a slower bridge that takes us back to the 1990’s Alternative Rock scene, as Manson croons ” You want what’s mine/I want what’s yours” as the instrumentation crawls to a halt, with acidic Synth riffs and a heavy reverb effect. It feels very catchy and hook-led overall, despite touching on a wide variety of topical issues that carry weight, with a moody vocal performance that feels sub-cultural and an energetic guitar delivery which feels buoyant. It’s also very polished, with the rhythms and the candid vocals being mixed smoothly. Impressively, an underlying sense of warmth permeates throughout the track because it feels familiar and nostalgic to hear the group making a similar kind of music to their peak popularity, but the messages that lie underneath this ‘gentle hug from an old friend’ are moving and spoken carefully. I did think it was a little forgettable. However, I could certainly see it gaining airplay somewhere like BBC Radio 2 since it’s fairly light-hearted and recognizably Garbage overall. A visceral and cutting, but accessible and immediate, piece of nostalgic Punk.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Version 2.0” (Released on May 11th, 1998) (via Mushroom Records/Almo)

If you think that someone’s watching you, then you might not want to check out my earlier blog post about Garbage’s ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’ from last year. If you’re a fan of Manson’s misadventures, however, simply be my guest. Catch up on that here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/09/18/todays-track-garbage-i-think-im-paranoid-1998/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “I Think I’m Paranoid” (Single) (Released on July 6, 1998) (via Almo Sounds)

That’s all for now – today’s ‘Garbage’ has been collected, after all. ‘Scuzz Sundays’ returns in two days time, as always, but, before we get to that point, I’ve got some more brand new music to share amongst you tomorrow. It marks the big return of a cult London band known for compiling archived clips from old public information films along with their guitars, synths, banjo’s and drums – and even including a vibraslap – to create their wildly inventive music. The band also took part in a special performance for BBC Proms to mark the celebration of Neil Armstrong’s moon landings last year. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: The Sleaford Mods (feat. Billy No Mates) – “Mork ‘N’ Mindy”

January 30, 2021 — Leave a comment

It’s just what the Skeleton ordered at the restaurant – Spare Ribs. Time for a new post.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Spare Ribs” (LP) (Released on January 15, 2021) (via Rough Trade Records)

Good morning to you – my name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, it’s time for me to get typing up on the blog about your daily track – and that’s because it’s always been my day-today pleasure to write up here about a different piece of music every day! You might be used to the good old Chinese takeaway on a Saturday – Spare Ribs, perhaps? In this case – “Spare Ribs” has a totally different meaning, and it is also the title of the latest album by Sleaford Mods. Since they formed in Nottingham in 2007 – the Electronic Post-Punk-meets-Rap-meets-New Wave duo have released one album after the other, pretty much every year or so. Known for their abrasive, multilayered electronic instrumentals of DJ Andrew Fearn and the strong East Midlands accent of vocalist Jason Williamson, the duo usually voice their bitter inquiries of Austerity-era, low-class Britain through the harsh musicality of their work. Although this is certainly not a mainstream release, the duo have been enjoying a large spread of commercial success and critical acclaim in recent times. “Spare Ribs” reached #4 on the UK Albums Chart last week, and the lead single of “Mork ‘N’ Mindy” was a #1 hit – but for the UK Vinyl Singles Chart. Many critics have also cited “Spare Ribs” as being the first truly great album of 2021 since it was released via Rough Trade Records on January 15th. The LP’s title refers to “the idea of the amount of people that died from the first wave of Coronavirus: human lives are always expendable to the elites. We’re in a constant state of being spare ribs”, according to Williamson. “Mork ‘N’ Mindy” features Billy No Mates – a standout new artist of last year – and you’ll also find Amy Taylor, of Amyl and The Sniffers’ fame, on the album too. Let’s sample “Mork ‘N’ Mindy” below.

Williamson states: “Mork ‘N’ Mindy is the sound of central heating and the dying smells of Sunday dinner in a house on an estate in 1982. Concrete, dinted garages, nicotine”, in the press notes for the duo’s recent release, adding: “Where beauty mainly exists in small cracks on the shell of your imagination. Captured perfectly in Ben Wheatley’s video for the song”, as he confirms our suspicions that “Mork ‘N’ Mindy” is lyrically touching on the unromantic view of Britian – where grubby council estates and illegal gambling shots are the UK that some of our nation know. Fearn lays a trap beat, as Williamson spits mannerisms like “Action Man ‘n’ Cindy, I make ’em kiss each other when my mum ‘n’ dad go out” and “I live on a really depressing cul de sac, Where couples get divorced and people come up that you’d never seen before” as he latches onto themes of neglected childhood and troubled upbringing. The lyrics don’t beat around the bush at all, but small and sly lines like: “Wi-Fi’s gone all lo-fi, my arse is feeling too dry” and the odd “just hanging about” adding a very slight crackle of black humor to the verses. The guest spot from Billy No Mates adds new dimensions to their sound, with a New Wave tingle of “You’re not from round here, crash landed about a week ago” and “The furniture’s the same, but the menu’s rearranged” trending towards a slightly more melodic direction. The beat isn’t veering into Disco synths or anything, but the instrumental beats and the rhyme scheme of the lyrics mirror Trance, and it becomes slightly danceable. The ending of “I looked out of the throw, outside of my window” and “Outside there wasn’t anything nice to see” is another hard-hitting affair verbally, but the electronics add a pace that feels melodic enough for the foul-mouthed wordplay to mirror gentle Hip-Hop and a slightly dancey vibe. It feels structured very evenly, with the female vocals of Billy No Mates becoming my favourite part of the track. That said, I probably wouldn’t want to listen to a whole album of this – just because I feel that some of the political messages may wash over me, and the more aggressive sound of the remaining tracks may not sustain my interest. The production, overall, though – is good, and the single gets a thumbs up from me. It does not fall within my wheelhouse for longer listening, but the single attains enough appeal for me to score my approval.

  • Pictured: Jason Williamson (Vocals) & Andrew Fearn (DJ/Synths) (2017) (Photo via Stereogum.com)

Back in September, we joined Billy No Mates in the “Hippy Elite” on the blog. Check out the titular single and hear a sample of Billy No Mates’ solo work on the blog here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/09/08/todays-track-billy-no-mates-hippy-elite/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Billy Nomates” (LP) (Released on August 7th, 2020) (via Invada Records UK)

Thank you very much for checking up on the blog today! As always, it’s time for a brand new entry into the library of our long-running Scuzz Sundays feature on the blog tomorrow, as we take an in-depth look back at one of the Emo-Rock and Pop-Punk classics of the late-90’s until the mid-00’s that influenced the sounds of the present – or may be better off left in the past. Tomorrow’s track comes from a California-born Nu Metal group who have two double platinum certified albums in the US, and they have won two MTV Music Video Awards out of a possible eleven nominations. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Keep Dancing Inc – “No Milkshakes In Hell”

December 2, 2020 — Leave a comment

Chocolate. Strawberry. Banana. Mint. Toffee – Take your pick! It is time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Embrace” (Album/LP) (Released on October 23rd, 2020) (via Sony Music)

I will have you know that my Milkshakes bring all of the boys to the yard! I’m Jacob Braybrooke – and it’s time for me to get writing up all about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to type up about a different piece of music every day! Keep Dancing Inc are one of my latest discoveries – a new Synth-Punk trio from France. They have previously supported Blossoms on a tour through Europe. Their debut album – “Embrace” – was released on 23rd October through Un Plain Simple, a French imprint of the Sony Music label. The track grabbed me with it’s weirdly opaque subject matter, and I think it positions them to be an exciting act to follow in the indie Electronica scene. To bring the new album to life, the trio worked on the production process with Tom Carmichael, who has also produced records for the likes of HAIM, Fat White Family and Jamie Issac over the years – recording twelve tracks together between Paris and Margate in England. On that note, it’s time to pick your poison… or milkshake, of choice – Let’s slurp into “No Milkshakes In Hell” below.

“This song tells an absurd story”, the band explained in the press release, “It’s about a psychopath who has an addiction for Milkshake”, adding, “The idea was probably inspired by movies like ‘Profando Rosso’ by Dario Argento or John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’, some movies Louis saw when he was writing the lyrics of this song”, and it’s the playful tone of the songwriting which sets us up for the New Wave-inspired production. There’s an unashamedly 80’s Synthpop vibe that wraps the instrumentation and the vocals together, as Louis chants: “I go from town to town, and I bring them down/’Til the frozen liquid hits my brain/and tries to drive me insane” with a cold and tough delivery, but the crescendo of the glitch beats and the sweeping, bouncing synths add a melodic punch to it. Quirky lines like “I stabbed a man with a straw last night” and “I’m a milkshake maniac, Beware of my shake attack” create a narrative that the vocals are almost recounting to us. An undercurrent of Synth-Punk, with some obvious comparisons being drawn to LCD Soundsystem here, keeps the character of the odd, Milkshake psychopath intact, with a definite Neo-Punk sound that evokes Horror Movie synths into the home stretch at the end, where the Drum Machine beats are layered more frantically. It never quite turns into a feel good and upbeat pop anthem though, as the vocals maintain their cerebral rhythms. The bassline teases a more thunderous drop too, but it never quite takes off, and so it retains the Post-Punk edge. It definitely quenches my thirst, which is a bit more than I can often say about Milkshakes in real life. I think it’s a lot of fun, and I think their real share of talent comes in when they create the character of the psychopath and they manage to make him seem quirky and engaging, but retain his bleak and calculated personality, due to the production of the lead vocals. Tres Bien!

  • Pictured: Louis (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Synths), Joseph (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals/Keyboard and Gaby (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (in 2020) (Photo via DIYMag.com)

Thank you for checking out my new blog post! As per usual, I’ll be back for more tomorrow – Join me for an in-depth look at one of my recent deep dives. The track comes from a small local artist from Minnesota over in the United States who self-produces an self-releases his own bedroom pop and lo-fi material. His other project is Sleeping Jesus, and the track was recently featured on The Current’s Song Of The Day podcast series. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: PVA – “Talks”

November 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

Been non-stop listening to a new EP by a band named after Glue… I can’t put it down!

  • Pictured: Josh Baxter, Ella Harris & Louis Satchell in a recent press shot (2020) (Photo via DIYMag.com)

The very history of Glue is a sticky one…Good Lord! Good Morning to you, I am Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally my turn again to get writing up about your daily track on the blog, since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to do so! I’m not actually certain if this new South London-based trio have named themselves after a type of Glue we all used in primary schools, but they are still turning heads nevertheless. Comprised of Josh Baxter, Ella Harris and Louis Satchell, PVA are a new genre-pushing Synth-Punk trio who originally established themselves as an enigmatic force when they started out in 2019. At the time, PVA decided to release just a half-length snippet of one of their tracks onto the wide internet – instead deciding to win over their fans based on the euphoric feel of their live gigs alone. It is an interesting management practice to say the least, especially these days. Yesterday, they released their debut EP, “Toner”, on Big Dada, an imprint of the larger Ninja Tune label, although I originally discovered the lead single, “Talks”, about six weeks ago. Dominic Haley wrote, in an interview feature for the Loud and Quiet website, “Their music mutates around an array of genres”, later adding, “They’re both brutal, and dripping in underground cool, but accessible and totally danceable”. Let’s have a listen to the new single, “Talks”, below.

Filled with 80’s New Wave guitar sweeps which evoke Prefab Sprout and New Order, Balaeric synth work that evokes LCD Soundsystem and Battles, and even a Big Beat-inspired EDM interlude, that evokes Propellerheads and Basement Jaxx, “Talks” is a solid track to get your foot in the door of the diverse music industry with. It feels hard to pinpoint down into a specific term of genre – and I like how it feels quite unconventional and obscure in doing so. The band said, in a press release, that lyrically “Talks is about how we invent games in order to avoid expressing our true feelings or take the risk of being hurt”, explaining, “The song also takes inspiration from real relationships and the fictional relationship between John and Abigail Marston (who are the main characters of video game, Red Dead Redemption). I’m afraid that latter reference hits a blank with me – but I can certainly see some expressive emotions coming through the vocals. Baxter sings, “Even in the furthest reaches, I’ve searched for forgiveness” above the euphoric synth line, which evokes a choppy 80’s rock sound. Baxter croons: “Bound to the heart you gave me” and “Confess about what I thought” in the second verse, duelling over some neat backing vocals from Harris, with an intriguing lyrical wordplay, layered above the New Wave guitar sensibility, which reminds me of Baxter Dury. The hook-led chorus carries along a slick hi-hat rhythm, where off-key Organ patterns evoke Nu-Jazz, and they meet with syncopated drum machine beats reminiscent of Nu-Disco, which even cross paths with warm Post-Punk backing vocals that have an anxious tonal delivery. You end up with a sound that feels quite immediate, and the intricate Funk patterns really end up creating a rather confident formula as the 80’s-leaning Pop sound struts along with the Disco-esque song structure. The vocal delivery feels deadpan too, and this elicits a small touch of humour and Motorik sounds, so I could see some more mainstream eyes looking at this 3-piece for their eclectic style. It all “Sticks” together!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Toner” (EP) (Available to buy from November 20th, 2020) (via Big Dada)

Thank you very much for tuning into the blog for today’s post! Don’t forget that tomorrow, we will be taking an in-depth look at an ancient classic from Pop-Punk past and Emo-Rock history – as part of our new entry in the Scuzz Sundays series – where we will be looking at a popular band led by a female singer-songwriter who has led a famous solo career in recent years, having since collaborated with B.O.B. and CHVRCHES for a few more mainstream radio hits! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Sneaks – “Do You Want To Go Out Tonight?”

October 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

I’m glad that I have finally found the time to Sneak this one in. It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Sneaks (Eva Moolchan) in a promotional photoshoot (in 2020) (via Sneaks’ official website)

Good Afternoon to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, I’m here to get typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! “Happy Birthday” is a recent album release that has been gaining popularity on the underground Electronic music scene. The record comes from Sneaks, the alias of Eva Moolchan, who is an emerging Post-Punk and Spoken-Word musician based in Washington, DC. The album was dropped on August 21st, and it marks Moolchan’s third full-length album release for Merge Records. It also follows “Highway Hypnosis”, which only came out a year ago, and so this does mark a quick turn-around period coming from the back of her previous LP effort, although she has previously released her early output via Danger Records, including her 2015 debut LP, “Gymnastics”. To spice proceedings up for her latest album release, she has confidently turned to Carlos Hernandez as her mixing engineer. She’s also been in the studio with the Grammy-winning producer Jacknife Lee (Taylor Swift, REM, U2, Editors). Let’s sample “Do You Want To Go Tonight” below.

Jordan Bassett, a journalist for NME, praised Woolchan: “She favours short, sharp, effortlessly cool compositions that worm their way into your conciousness without breaking a sweat”, and there’s an incredible sense of bold ambition that comes with Woolchan’s work on the syncopated staccato beats and her ambiguous songwriting style on “Do You Want To Go Out Tonight?”, the opening track of the new album. Sneaks’ lyrics are noticeably minimal, apart from the use of the track’s oft-repeated title line of “Do You Want To Go Out Tonight/”, which she delivers with a smoky and direct mode of delivery. After a few repeats of the line, the jittering electronic bassline is juxtaposed by a rolling set of percussive Drum Machine sequences, which begin to favour rolling Bell melodies and No-Wave elements of light riffs. It forms a textual outlier for an incredibly 80’s-influenced sound, with a few comparisons to Liquid Liquid and Shirley Manson coming to my mind. The track poses the risk of the continuous chorus line getting stale by the end of the track with it’s repeated nature… but, for me, it really doesn’t. This seems to be because the variation of the electronic sounds are diversified enough to incorporate light elements of Post-Punk and Math-Rock to the palette at a consistent pace, and the track unexpectedly closes off to the swelling sound of an Orchestral pattern of laidback Violin sounds and intense Cello strings, which also manage to give off a rather cinematic and soundtrack feel to the light grooves of the glitched Synthpop sounds and the clear 80’s influences, all delivered within the setting of an IDM-like production method. Overall, the large emphasis on the towering Synthesizer instrumentation, building to an escalating set of String parts, manages to keep the only line of lyrics interesting enough to suffice the, rather short, however, length of the track, and I think that’s a feat certainly above the average level of musicians who create their music under this 80’s-reminiscent Synthpunk banner. After all of that – I think I would fancy a night out.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Happy Birthday” (Released on August 21st, 2020) (via Merge Records)

Thank you very much for reading my new blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with an in-depth look at another recent album release, and we are deviating in style as we look towards the Hip-Hop genre. The single will come from a pioneering American rapper and singer-songwriter who was certainly a part of “The Golden Age” of Hip-Hop between the 1970’s and 90’s and he’s released twelve full-length albums, seven of which were certified Platinum and Multi-Platinum in the US. He is the co-founder of Mass Appeal Records, just to give you another clue. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: A Certain Ratio – “Berlin”

October 3, 2020 — Leave a comment

My calculator was fine yesterday, but it doesn’t work at all now. It just doesn’t add up!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “ACR LOCO” (Released on September 25th, 2020) (via Mute Records Ltd.)

Jokes aside, it’s time for your daily blog post! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, you guessed it, I’m here to type up about your daily track on the blog since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing about a different piece of music every day! Named after a line from Brian Eno’s 1974 track, “The True Wheel”, A Certain Ratio were formed in 1977 in Greater Manchester by bass guitarist Jeremy Kerr, lead guitarist Peter Terrell, rhythm guitarist/trumpeter Martin Moscrop and lead vocalist Simon Topping. At the time, A Certain Ratio were one of the first bands to debut on Tony Wilson’s Factory Records in 1979, with their unique blend of Nu-Funk and Disco-Rock, influenced by New-Wave Rock production and Latin percussion, leading the group to become prominent figures in the Avant-Funk and the Math-Rock genres, particularly in the underground Indie Rock music scene of the UK during the 1980’s and 1990’s, with the band going through several line-up differences, and went on to eventually score seven different releases on the UK Top 10 Independent Singles Chart. In recent years, the band have been reissuing their back catalogue of five albums on the Mute Records label. For the first time since 2008, the band have just released a new album, “ACR Loco”, that was produced mostly by the trio of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and drummer Donald Johnson. Speaking of the project, Kerr explained to NME that: “This album is a culmination of everything we’ve ever done”. Take a listen to “Berlin” below.

“Berlin” features backing vocals from New Order and Primal Scream’s well-known backing vocalist Denise Johnson, who sadly passed away in July. On her passing and the track, Moscrop told the press: “Denise will be missed so much by us, but her soaring voice will live on forever in our music and we are so blessed to have recorded with her on ACR Loco”. There is certainly a tragic backstory to the production of this track, then, and I feel as though its only amplified or enhanced by the idyllic and soft-spoken moods of the new track. Jezz Kerr updates the group’s retro sound with gentle nods to a more contemporary style of production, with a bubbling series of digital synths as he whimsically sings: “It will kill you if you dare, it will be a wave to drown you” over a taut, frizzled guitar rhythm and fluid drum machine riffs. Kerr’s vocal delivery is dry, and even deadpan to a point, as he effectively forms a ballad about mental anxiety and emotional depression. He wistfuly croons: “Every step you take is, someone else’s” during the mid-point of a rhythmic bridge as we continually build to a chorus that feels more direct and much less cerebral, even sounding punchy and hook-driven to a certain extent. It sees Kerr layer: “You never ever leave, your head alone” above a flickering, electronic keyboard synth line which vicariously spins off into a post-Kraftwerk, Motorik disco aesthetic. Johnson’s female vocals add a bit more lyrical texture to the proceedings, as she adds: “You never, ever, leave your head alone” to add a graceful impact to the work of an old-school Post-Punk group using a pulsating drum rhythm and timely vocal themes to challenge their original sound, whilst also retaining an old-school feel with the synth work, which is probably most comparable to New Order’s work from the mid-2000’s era. Overall, it just sounds like a group returning because they know what they’re doing, and that’s a good thing.

  • Pictured: Jezz Kerr (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Martin Moscrop (Lead Guitar/Trumpet), Peter Terrell (Rhythm Guitar/Engineering), Matt Steele (Keyboard/Synths) and Donald Johnson (Drums/Percussion) in an official photoshoot image to promote “ACR LOCO” (in 2020) (Photo Credit: ArtRockStore.com)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! Tomorrow marks the time for another weekly installment of our Scuzz Sundays series, which recently celebrated it’s 1st year anniversary. As always, we’ll be going back between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s to have a listen back to an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk classic from the time period, to see if it can hold up to the modern times (Or to see whether it was actually any good in the first place, in most cases, to be honest). If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Yukon Blonde – “You Were Mine”

September 17, 2020 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Jeff Innes (Lead Vocals/Writer), Brandon Scott (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), James Younger (Bass Guitar), Rebecca Gray (Keyboard/Synths) & Graham Jones (Drums) (2020) (Photo via Dine Alone)

Good Morning! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, just like always, I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A Canadian 5-piece Indie Rock group from Kelowna, British Columbia who are now based in Vancouver, Yukon Blonde have been touring the globe for almost 15 years, and have played numerous live sets at highly established music festivals such as South by Southwest, along with breaking out from winning the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group Of The Year in 2013. “You Were Mine” is the latest single taken off their upcoming fifth studio album, “Vindicator”. which is the first album to be written, produced and recorded entirely by the band in their own studio. You can buy their new album from 13th November, via Dine Alone Records. It comes highly anticipated, and it’s title is a nod to how the band felt upon it’s post-production completion. On “You Were Mine”, the group’s front-man, Jeff Innes, told Kill Beat Music in a press statement: “James brought the initial idea to the table, and after several hours of jamming, eating Scooby-snacks and drinking Churchill martinis, it started to fall apart in the most perfect way imaginable,” he stated. “I feel like this song somehow epitomizes the spirit of a successful collaboration in our band. Words like ‘compromise’ had no place in that session; everyone sings leads at some point, everyone plays everything. It’s certainly among our favourites from the record.” Let’s see how it all came together on the single below.

A Synth-Punk band known for previously embracing more minimalist and keyboard-oriented rock groove music, “You Were Mine” also marks a stark departure in sound to the NYC-Punk sound of their previous album and that comes along with their new single also being the first entirely self-produced single to come from the Innes’ home studio… and kitchen. “You Were Mine” has a fairly minimalist opening, as Innes contemplates: “I keep pretending that you were mine, When I’m all alone” over the top of a moderate piano riff and a light, Synth-driven R&B hook. The second verse’s repeat of “I keep pretending that…” causes the danceable elements to shift dramatically to a more neo-psychedelic, Acid-Pop altered state. Innes’ spins a mellow Spoken Word rap, reciting: “Summer came in the blink of an eye/Nothing remains, but the sheltering sky/Cast under cancer” over a slowed, more Dream-Pop geared soundscape that keeps the R&B-inflictions audible, but the stuttering Drums provide more of a morphing ambience than before. A calm interlude persists at a breezy, if jaunty, fashion. Shortly after this, Innes’ drowns his vocals in a heavy Auto-Tune effect to halve the tempo, and bring the sense of wonky production to the forefront a little more aggressively than before, with a quickly revolving Piano section and a tonally fluctuating Groove line bring the track to a danceable and hopeful, although not necessarily fast-paced, close. It’s quite hard for me to figure out if I really like the new track or not, and that’s just because it feels very different to the style of output that Yukon Blonde have delivered in the past. That’s a very good thing, as it means we’re not getting a retread of what’s come before again. However, on the negative end, I’m not sure if it really does enough to stand out from the likes of (You saw it coming…) Tame Impala and MGMT. The atmosphere is very reminiscent of Tame Impala’s “Let It Happen”, and the pop-friendly hooks also highly remind me of Foster The People, a band who I often find to be overlooked. The concern is that, here at least, it feels a little bit un-even and it doesn’t quite mish-mash R&B and more LCD Soundsystem-influenced NYC-Punk fully cohesively, with a middle section that drags a little and the self-reflective lyricism not quite managing to touch me where it hurts. On the other hand, I am looking forward to seeing what the band do with their new direction and the creative freedom of the individual production methods. I have a feeling this track will probably grow on me over time. But, as for now, I’m sadly left a bit apprehensive.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Vindicator” (Available from November 13th, 2020) (via Dine Alone Records)

Thank you for reading this post! Tomorrow, I’m making the long travel back to my university in Staffordshire to restart actually having a life again, so the daily post will have to be pre-written in advance! We’re going to take an in-depth look at an easy classic from 1998 with a band name that reflects the opposite of what the quality of their music has proven to live up to be! The band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1993 and – unusually – they have managed to keep their original band line-up intact over the decades since. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Billy No Mates – “Hippy Elite”

September 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

A little birdy once told me she’s close friends with Larry Loner. It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Billy Nomates” (Self-Titled LP) (Released on August 7th, 2020)(via Invada Records UK)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, like always, I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my routinely day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! The amusingly named “Billy Nomates” is the alias of British singer-songwriter Tor Maries, who told The Guardian that she started playing in bands in her 20’s, which sadly never went anywhere, and it led to a period of depression. It was a live gig from Sleaford Mogs that rekindled her passion for writing music, and she set up shop with her laptop, and she began floating between Bristol and Bournemouth to write, produce and perform her own material again. She originally hails from the Melton Mowbray area of the rural North East county of Leicestershire. Her No Wave style straddles between the old-school punk of Nick Cave, the youthful energy of Sonic Youth, and the Jazz-fuelled Americana of Emmylou Harris. Maries’ debut album, a self-titled LP, was released on August 7th via Invada Records in the UK, and she mastered her new album with Portishead’s Geoff Barrow as her engineer. Describing her record, she told NME in a recent interview: “In a world of Yes Men, I’ll be a No Woman, thanks”. Let’s sign for the “Hippy Elite” below.

Giving her take on climate emergency and global environmental pollution, Maries’ instead subverts your pre-conceptions with “Well, I wanna save the Whales too, but it’s a f***ing Wednesday afternoon, so a Canvas Bag and a smile is the best I’ve got for you” with a razor-sharp sense of anecdotal wit, after declaring to herself as “It’s okay, I’m a terrible person” as a mid-tempo, gentle Drum Machine beat loops itself over the top of a bitter, repelling bass guitar riff. Some of these lyrics turn out to be the funniest I’ve heard during the year, with “Well, one time, I cycled all the way home/Because this planet is our only one/But nobody saw it, and I felt all the worse for it, and it wasn’t my bike” truly standing out as an honest highlight. Later on, “If I had all that money in my pocket, drank all that local beer and ride that ego rocket” pokes fun at the wealthy, higher conservative elitism. The chorus is an expansion of these ideas presented in the post-chorus bridge, as Maries’ spitefully recites: “All the things they do, I don’t disagree/Purgatory, for me” before she wonders: “If I could only quit my job, and join the Hippy Elite” as the electronic Synth beats start to take shape, and the electric guitar riffs continually keep up a mid-tempo pace and form a groove that sits along the consistent bass guitar melodies with relative ease. There isn’t really a whole lot going on here melodically, with the focus remaining mainly on Maries’ resentful vocals and the attitudinal, genuinely funny lyricism. However, she builds the track with solid use of electric lead guitar patterns and riff-driven bass chord production to carry her personality across, along with recurring, programmed Synth beats and subtle, yet polished, electronic Drum textures that keep the momentum from lowering too much, as if to keep meandering around, as the lyrics glide between one comical rhyme to another. It skews poetic, but there are also elements of Country and Desert-Rock creeping in. Overall, I find this to be thoroughly entertaining throughout and the humor successfully manages to keep itself afloat and never get uninteresting due to the 60’s and 70’s New-Wave Punk template of her musical formula. I think it takes a longer time to properly connect with than some of the other recent output that’s been featured on the blog as new releases lately, but it’s re-playable and mature, like a fine wine. The achievement is that it’s a real grower.

  • Pictured: Billy Nomates pictured in promo materials for the Farmfestival in Somerset (in 2020) (via PR/press shoot)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As always, I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, with an in-depth look at the latest single from another new album that was, rather coincidentally, released on the exact same day as the debut Billy Nomates album. It marks the second joint-album collaboration between two incredibly talented, no-nonsense Black musicians, as producer L’Orange links up, again, with US rapper-lyricist Solemn Brigham, for a new sequel to their defining work for label Mello Music Group’s portfolio. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Severed Heads – “All Saints Day (2015 USA Tour)”

August 29, 2020 — Leave a comment

Basement Jazz would ask: Where’s Your (Severed) Head At? It’s time for a new post…

  • Pictured: Tom Ellard (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar/Electronic Percussion) and Stewart Lawler (Synths/Keyboard/Engineer) (Current band lineup) at Unsound Festival 2016 (Photo Credit: Paulius Illius/www.SecretThirteen.org)

Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I am writing about your daily track on the blog because, as like always, it is my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! “All Saints Day” has always gone down as a cult classic, from what I gather. It’s probably because of my age, but I just saw this track listed on the KEXP schedule, and I thought the artwork looked really amusing, but I’ve never actually listened to this record. So, it’s going to be as much as a new experience for you as it will be for me, for today. According to my research, this is one of the most popular tracks to ever be performed by Severed Heads, a cult favourite Australian Experimental Electronic Prog-House group, which has seen several line-up changes throughout the years. This track was taken from their eighth LP record, “Rotund For Success”, released in 1989. As with the bulk of the group’s discography, the album has been reissued several times over the years by different labels, in different formats and versions. This late-80’s iteration of the duo saw Tom Ellard work with Stephen Jones on Synths and Production, but the current line-up sees Jones getting replaced by Stewart Lawler on Engineering and Percussion. In any case, Severed Heads has become known for their off-kilter style of production, experimental pop-driven hooks, and twisted splicing effects. Let’s listen to their 2015 USA Tour dub of the track below.

With the history of Severed Heads in their career seeming almost as strange as the highly experimental, IDM-driven style of their music, “All Saints Day” incorporates a House-laden melodicism into a harsh, although not abrasive, electronic synth bassline and a groovy, but slightly distorted, snare effect. It often feels like some kind of “Wrong” or “Broken” auto-tune machine, with Cymbal samples being looped backwards and delayed pedal effects making the club-rolling dancefloor House beats sounding a little bit sideways. There is enough of a melodic Synthpop element to the track though, with a trendy late-80’s synth-oriented club sound and spoken word vocals that often feel comparable to Pet Shop Boys or Bernard Summer. The smooth synth-rock development replaces a grating percussion sample, sounding like a door loudly creaking, from the opening. The vocals flutter above a Disco-Rock layering, going: “For I am willing to believe/Wishing to be strong, Fighting on your side”, over the top of curiously appealing, monstrous vocal samples and the brassy, prominent Synth-Strobe stabs. An unintelligible female vocal loop, a manipulated jumble of celestial Drum blips, and an ethnological, almost tribal, backing vocal loop compete against each other in the bizzare cloud of experimentation. It’s very off-kilter, but it’s well-paced throughout and feels fairly cohesive, but it’s wonky enough to add a touch of charm and warmth. It somewhat feels like a product of it’s time, with innovative 80’s synth stabs and hefty use of the Analogue synth hardware that was new and exciting in it’s heyday, but it also feels very intentionally off-kilter and appealingly unstable enough to have a timeless effect. If it came out tomorrow, I don’t think that anybody would question it much, but you could point directly to its influence. To conclude, it does have “me” written all over it judging by my own personal tastes, and I think this is a really cool tune. I would love to see a revival of this niche dance scene.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Rotund For Success” (Released on 31st October, 1989) (via Volition Records/Nettwerk)

Thank you very much for reading my daily music blog post! As per usual, I will be back tomorrow with your new weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays, the feature where I pick an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk relic from between the late-90’s and the mid-00’s to see if it can hold a candle to modern standards! If you are a fan of Burnout Paradise, the classic racer video game from 2008, you’ll be in for a blast from the past tomorrow, so make sure you don’t miss out on it! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/