Mean Motor Scooter - Jonny Taylor - Billy Momo - Table Scraps - Trudy and the Romance - The Night Ships

Mean Motor Scooter - Wavespotting.

Background - Texan quartet, Mean Motor Scooter, hit the road in support their debut full-length. Mean Motor Scooter is a four-piece Garage Rock band from Fort Worth, Texas. Their self-titled debut EP came out in August 2015. In March 2016 the band released two singles "Naked Brunch" and "Such a Seducer."

They were awarded "Best Rock Band" at the 2016 Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards. In 2017 the group was awarded "EP of the Year", "Band of the Year" and "Artist of the Year" by the Fort Worth Weekly. Their first full length record, Hindu Flying Machine was released in October 2017 by Dirty Water Records USA.

Mean Motor Scooter are Sammy Kidd - Guitar and Vocals, Joe Tacke - Bass and Vocals, Rebekah Elizabeth - Organ and Vocals, Jeff Friedman - Drums and Vocals. France's DIG IT Magazine was overjoyed by the arrival when they exclaimed " "Masterfully out-of-control. Exploding the limits of the genre. Just monumental." - Dig It! (FR). FACEBOOK, BANDCAMP.



We featured Mean Motor Scooter last month however the opportunity to share another song and provide their tour details is a little to good to pass up on. 'Wavespotting' is an incendiary blast of wild garage rock, with epic portions of punk insanity, would you expect anything less from this band?

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Jonny Taylor - Diamonds.

Background - Jonny Taylor is incredibly pleased to share the arrival of his new album Dig Deep, an eclectic yet cohesive collection of songs balancing on the edge of contemporary rock with a hint of grunge and a pinch of hard country. Debuting at #3 on the iTunes Singer Songwriter chart and four years in the making since Jonny’s debut Something to Say landed in the ARIA charts, Dig Deep is loaded with classic songwriting throughout, spearheaded by the thoughtfully penned and guitar driven single Diamonds.

Following on from the upbeat Better Day, Jonny says of Diamonds, "Life doesn't always go our way. Things pop up every day to test us, even when we think we've got it all figured out. Diamonds touches on the notion of just moving forward, no matter what's thrown our way." An emotionally charged musician, Jonny seamlessly fuses his skill for a great melody with his passion for a meaningful story. That natural approach is evident in Dig Deep with the songs creating an expedition through life - delivered in a beautifully produced, high impact, high-energy album.

As an exceptionally committed touring artist based in the small rural WA town of Dumbleyung, Jonny's life on the road has earned him a reputation as one of the hardest working and most powerful young singer songwriters around, often averaging 180 shows annually. 2018 looks to be no different as national dates are starting to accumulate including slots at the coveted Tamworth and Sydney Country Rocks festivals.

With Better Day scoring airplay around the country and Diamonds sure to follow suit, the timing couldn’t be better for Dig Deep to cement Jonny Taylor as one the brightest prospects Australia has to offer. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


With his distinct and natural country rock vocals, Jonny Taylor gives 'Diamonds' depth and feeling and plenty of energy that engages the listener. The level of maturity and confidence he brings to his music is perhaps there in part due to his time spent touring, where clearly he has developed considerable talent.


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Billy Momo - We Need Another Shovel.

Background - Billy Momo is a Swedish 7-piece band with diverse musical roots and an instantly recognizable sound. The songwriters Tomas "Barba" Juto and Oskar "Orren" Hovell and their assorted band of merrily bearded men produce music that sounds like it grew out of the warm soil of the American South, yet with a distinctive Scandinavian flavor thrown into the mix.

With three full-length albums already in their catalog, Billy Momo now release a three song EP called "Umbrellas, wings and magic things". The new songs combine the sprawling quirkiness of the first albums 'Ordinary Men' and 'Drunktalk' with the high-end production of their latest effort 'Seven Rivers Wild'. Fans will recognize the D.I.Y. spirit and the musical eclecticism, yet find fresh blood in the ever-expanding horizons of the band's creativity. Newcomers will hear a deeply personal and instantly intriguing sound which draws from many sources, yet sounds like nothing else.

The flavors of Billy Momo are rich and varied, deep grooves meet soulful harmony vocals, with lyrics probing the sometimes murky waters of personal experience. The wide stylistic range of the musicians can take the songs on surprising detours while always remaining true to the core sound.

A Billy Momo live performance always features their quirky sense of humor, which often has a dark undercurrent, and the members of the band are all characters that take on a life of their own during the concerts, with an almost theatrical flair. Their various life stories (which may or may not be rooted in reality, who can tell for sure?) weave tales of broken hearts, debauchery and sometimes more sinister themes.

The intimidating and vaguely threatening Preacher Man, the easygoing charmer Barba, the banjo-wielding raconteur Orren, the playful and usually guffawing Gramps, the colorful soloists Hot Lips and The Head and the mysterious and ever-sarcastic The Coffa make a fascinating cast of characters that keep the audience intrigued and amused throughout the performance. FACEBOOK.


It's pretty much a year to the day since I was introduced to the wonderful music of Billy Momo. 'We Need Another Shovel' continues where they left off last time around, the bands Americana vibes are there alongside some refined pop sensibilities. The video adds a little humour and lots of atmosphere to this fabulous song.


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Table Scraps - Sick Of Me.

Background - Table Scraps have announced their new album 'Autonomy' and premiered a brand new track from it, 'Sick Of Me'. On the song, Scott Vincent Abbott of the band has said “'Sick of Me’ is about when friendships stagnate and minor annoyance gives way to mouldering resentment. 

Then juxtapose that feeling on top of a jangly sunshine pop backdrop (or as close to that as we ever get!). The echo of our breeze block 5m x 5m (and very un-soundproofed) room also perfectly suited the track’s claustrophobic feel. It’s dedicated to everyone just about keeping a lid on telling that one person how you really feel and cutting them loose.”

Their upcoming LP is due out via Zen Ten on February 23rd. Table Scraps have also announced a string of dates supporting the likes of Swedish Death Candy, Black Lips & more. FACEBOOK.

Live Dates::

NOVEMBER
20 - Hare & Hounds, Birmingham (w/Black Lips)
22 - Bierkeller, Bristol (w/Black Lips)
25 - Old Blue Last, London (Free entry)

DECEMBER
9 - The Five Bells, New Cross (w/Peeping Drexels & HUSSY)
12 - Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds (w/secret headliner)

FEBRUARY
23 - Foodhall, Sheffield
27 - Hope & Ruin, Brighton
28 - Shacklewell Arms, London

MARCH
1 - 60MPC, Bournemouth
2 - Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
3 - Old England, Bristol


'Sick Of Me' is straight to the chase garage punk, where energy, menace, and emotion is packed into just over two minutes of angst ridden rock.

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Trudy and the Romance - Junkyard Cat.

Background - With whip-smart imagination and tongues firmly lodged in cheeks, Trudy and the Romance are nowhere boys for the 21st century. Following the release of singles ‘Is There A Place I Can Go’ and the stomping ‘Twist It, Shake It. Rock & Roll’, Trudy today release their ‘Junkyard Jazz’ EP.

Along with Dream Wife and Pixx, Trudy were another of 20 artists picked out of 1200 applications nationwide to have been awarded PRS momentum funding to go towards the recording of their debut album slated for the end of next year. Champions on the wireless come in the form of John Kennedy, BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens & Phil Taggart and 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq. KCRW have also given the group their backing with plays coming in from Marion Hodges, Dan Wilcox, Jason Kramer, Chris Douridas among many others.

With the introduction of keys player Alex Stephens Trudy and the Romance have become the complete package, otherworldly, odd and tightrope-dancing somewhere between reality and fantasy, on show in the band’s recent VEVO Dscvr Session.

“We’re real-meets-cartoon… kind of tacky but great, y’know, it’s trashy,” Trudy’s singer and guitarist, Olly, explains. “It’s a bit like Ralph Bakshi’s Cool World, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mary Poppins or Space Jam.”

The group have just completed a second UK headline tour playing packed venues up and down the country with slots supporting The Fall and Happyness and appearances at Swn, Ritual Union and Mirrors festivals. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


Trudy and the Romance are back for a fourth appearance on Beehive Candy and this time they impress with 'Junkyard Cat'. The bands "Mutant 50's Pop" is in good form, their individual and stylish swagger everywhere, and just enough feel good vibes to put a smile on my face.

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The Night Ships - Half The World.

Background - Half The World, the new single of Dutch-Australian duo The Night Ships, is a song drawing together different melodic and rhythmic elements from countries across the globe, resulting in a beat-driven anthem that will lodge itself in your bones. 

The bass was recorded in South Africa, and the sitar, tar and percussion were recorded just off the Naqsh-e Jahan square in Iran. Translated, its name means “half the world”, and points to the city of Isfahan’s majesty and beauty, as well as the population’s joyous underground celebration of music and dancing. In the same way, the contributors to the song, which include a choir of singers from The Netherlands, the US, Canada, Uruguay, France, England and Ireland, a violinist from Chile, and stunning album artwork from an Australian designer, round off the song’s global reach.

The lyrics of the song are a call to action to women in all countries – and to men – to combat the tyranny of violence, oppression and discrimination that women face every day as half of the world’s inhabitants. It is also a tribute to the work of women, past and present, who strive together to change the world, and to make it a place where men and women in all countries can experience equal rights, opportunity and status. Half the World is a warning that the future itself is bound to change, and that such change is inevitable. As a song with sweeping harmonies, sumptuous strings, and a driving beat, you won’t be able to stop at one listen…

Half The World is released this week on BERT Music (a division of TCBYML) and available for purchase/streaming on all known digital platforms. FACEBOOK.

The Night Ships have created a fascinating and genre defying song with 'Half The World', which somehow packs so many styles and directions into the song and yet remains both coherent and catchy.

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