Dead Naked Hippies - The Rock'n'Roll Hi-Fives - No Coward Soul

Dead Naked Hippies - Guillotine.

Background - Thrashing into life in late 2016 with their caustic brand of punchy post-punk, Dead Naked Hippies return with their first track of 2018 - the raw, gritty and atmospheric Guillotine. Capturing the trio, and frontwoman Lucy Jowett especially, at their most honest both sonically and thematically, the track builds on a steady release of acclaimed singles.

Opening with a low-key guitar and drum groove, before bursting into fiery life for a cathartic chorus courtesy of Jowett’s trademark vocals, this conflict of duelling musical identities echoes the lyrical messages being conveyed. "Guillotine is an exploration of grief” the vocalist explains, “It’s the fine line between wanting to retaliate to someone who has caused you hurt, versus choosing to cut out the dead weight they have created in your life.”

Serving as an excellent vignette for this universally relatable emotional struggle is just one facet of the track, and Dead Naked Hippies’ ethos as a whole; the connection between the musical identity and personality of the group runs deeper. It’s no coincidence that the band feel so at home in their own skin on Guillotine:

“Dead Naked Hippies has always been about the connection and energy between the 3 of us and our audience, and this has become a lot more prevalent over time. We went into the studio set on capturing some intimate moments so decided it was integral for us to only record what was vital in our three piece set up, adding minimal overdubs,” Jowett reflects from a collective point of view, and then on a personal note – “The lyrics are a release for me after personally facing a difficult past year; it’s the most honest we’ve ever been. A lot of my writing revolves around my own struggles with mental health, and as a young woman facing modern society.”

By creating a vehicle, alongside band mates Joe Clarke (guitar) and Jacob Marston (drums), through which to express and tackle her own internal issues, Lucy and Dead Naked Hippies offer a space for others to do the same. Whilst cutting and scuzzy, Guillotine is also triumphant call to arms: “It’s so important that we stick together and keep it real.” TWITTER. 

Live Dates:
JUNE 21st Sebright Arms, London
22nd Maguire's Pizza Bar, Liverpool
26th Bloc, Glasgow
JULY 4th Oporto, Leeds
6th July - The Green Room, Stockton-on-Tees
10th - The Sesh, Hull
AUGUST 4th Humber Street Sesh, Hull.

Raw and natural 'Guillotine' exudes both power and emotion as the band provide a stripped back rocker. Each musical ingredient interacts beautifully, the vocals are potent and pleading for attention, as Dead Naked Hippies carve out and deliver a very definitive sound.

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The Rock'n'Roll Hi-Fives - C'est La Vie.

Background - The RocknRoll Hi-Fives fronted by sixteen-year-old Eilee Centeno, with her thirteen-year old brother on drums and their mom and dad on bass and guitar, respectively -- will release their debut LP, Re-Introducing the RocknRoll Hi-Fives, on June 29th via Little Dickman Records.

They've been playing music together since both kids were old enough to form words, and have grown from writing rudimentary songs and filming their own music videos around the house to opening for acts like A Giant Dog, Quintron and Miss PussyCat, and most recently, Snail Mail.

Influenced by prime-era guitar pop like The Runaways, T. Rex, and Cheap Trick, The RocknRoll Hi-Fives' songs are high-energy and punk-infused, with Eilee's playful shouts and clever lyrics taking center stage. They've just shared album track "C'est La Vie" -- a song written collaboratively by Eilee and her dad. BANDCAMP.

The RocknRoll Hi-Fives on Tour:
6/24: New York, NY - Mercury Lounge (record release show)
7/5: Raleigh, NC - Schoolkids Records
7/6: Wilmington, NC - Gravity Records
7/7: Charlotte, NC - Oso Skatepark
7/8: Charlotte, NC - Lunchbox Records
7/11: Orlando, FL - Park Ave CDs
7/18: Austin, TX - Waterloo Records
7/19: Dallas, TX - Good Records  
7/24: San Diego, CA -  M-Theroy
7/29: Santa Cruz, CA - StreetLight
8/4:  Boise, ID - Vista Bar
8/12:  Indianapolis, IN - Luna Music
8/17: Jersey City, NJ - FM
8/18: Asbury Park, NJ - Asbury Park Yacht Club

Youthful vigour was expected and the promise fulfilled on 'C'est La Vie' a feisty rock and roll song with plenty of punk vibes and a constant flow of hooks. A family that rocks together, stays together (and gives the politically correct brigade something of a dilemma, hopefully). 

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No Coward Soul - Death N Texas.

Background - London-based Americana five piece No Coward Soul celebrate the release of their debut album The Almanac, o n CD and limited edition vinyl with an album launch show at London's Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen on Saturday 14th July.

The album contains 13 tracks written by lead singer Brad Schmauss; inspired by both urban folk tales of the vibrant streets of South London and a childhood among the epic landscapes and beauty of the Alaskan woods.
 
Produced by Jamie Evans (Wildwood Kin) and mastered by Grammy Award winner Robin Schmidt, The Almanac is Americana at it’s best, full of classic country flavours and a heavy slice of soul, alongside the bands impressive trademark harmonies.

Originally from Alaska, singer Brad Schmauss is a London based artist who’s long time musical partnership with Martin Gray (Piano, guitars, vocals) culminated in the fantastic live band No Coward Soul. Gigging across the UK in recent years, the band has grown from a vocal harmony acoustic set up and now includes a sensational rhythm section featuring the Clement - Smith brothers and glock and mouth organ from Egg. The songs on The Almanac reflect the last 3 years of the band’s work together. TWITTER.

'Death N Texas' is one of those Americana songs that helps explain what the genre is. It's wide and encompassing, roots and rock with timeless vibes just flow, traditional and modern styles rub shoulders, and the performers heart and soul is always clear and apparent. I reckon that's also a seal of approval for No Coward Soul.

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Oldermost - Tempesst

Oldermost - Same To Me.

Background - “Same To Me” is the brand-new second single that Philadelphia’s indie rock band Oldermost ahead of the release of their new album How Could You Ever Be The Same? that AntiFragile Music is releasing on Friday, July 13th, following its rollicking lead single "The Danger of Belief”. The introspective song was one of the first written for their new album, and is one of its gorgeous, hazy stand-outs. It’s also frontman Bradford Bucknum’s thesis about love, and how embracing change is a liberating act that permits deeper possibilities of loving someone and loving one’s self. It also highlights the bands’ penchant for creating era-blending Americana-infused rock & roll with a more indie rock vibe in the vein of The War On Drugs (their Philly contemporaries!) or Wilco.

How Could You Ever Be The Same? includes two songs that Oldermost previously released but felt like had a home on the new album, including the undeniable track “Honey With Tea”, and the similarly lush “Finally Unsure”. How Could You Ever Be The Same? also spotlights the bands' evolution into more complex sonic territory, on the heels of the momentum built from the band’s previous releases. Self-produced by the band and mixed by Jeff Zeigler (Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs, Allison Crutchfield) and mastered by Ryan Schwabe (The Districts, Big Thief, Hop Along), the album is an all-star Philadelphia collaboration in the truest sense.

How Could You Ever Be The Same? also highlights the paradoxical blend of neuroticism and mysticism of lead-singer Bradford Bucknum, whose vocal delivery oscillates between semi-theatrical energetic bursts to gentle, sugary crooning. At times, despairing wit and questionable advice buoyantly tumble over a sea of lush strings; at other times, the songs dig their heels in the genre and the classic-rock enthusiasm of Mike Sobel’s guitar, the steady but experimental rhythms of Stephen Robbins’ focused and passionate drumming and Dan Wolgemuth’s unique and melodic bass playing. The music is both familiar, yet fresh - it hints at nostalgia without stumbling into kitsch. At some moments the music sounds urbane, almost high-brow and literary, and at others times, it's wild and unrefined. WEBSITE.

It was back in August 2016 that we first came across Oldermost and for whatever reason we lost track of them pretty much straightaway. It says something for the band that I knew we had featured them before, and so now we can pick things up again with 'Same To Me' their brand new single. It's a cool and calm rocker that drifts towards Americana and is enriched by some gorgeous vocals and melodic hooks.

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Tempesst - A Little Bit Of Trouble.

Background - Tempesst announce the release of their second EP Doomsday - along with the release of new single ‘A Little Bit Of Trouble'. Detailing an ill-fated encounter with some less than courteous Londoners - the new single signals an exciting step up for the Australian, Sunshine Coast born 5-piece. Speaking a little more on the lyrical beginnings of the song, Toma Banjanin said: “The week we started writing the instrumentals for the track we had a bit of an incident at a pub in east London. Some guys were giving Andy (Toma’s brother, and Tempesst drummer) a hard time about his jacket or hat or something and everyone was pretty drunk. The song was written to capture the memory for eternity."

Following the band’s acclaimed, Adult Wonderland EP - both ‘A Little Bit Of Trouble’, and the band’s forthcoming second EP 'Doomsday' stand as impressive steps forward for the band. Sonically they continue to evolve, experimenting with more instruments, layers and sounds; maintaining their classic 60s / 70s influence but, still giving a very welcoming nod to modern psych, folk, and indie.

"I swear to god they are looking at me again / A little bit of trouble at the end of the line" Toma sings in A Little Bit Of Trouble's stomping verse, suggesting a sense of paranoia, or perhaps remorse for a familiar, reoccurring situation. Set to a backdrop of sun-kissed guitar licks and sumptuous string arrangements - 'A Little Bit Of Trouble' is arguably Tempesst strongest and most potent release to date. Closing the song declaring "I'm leaving all my bad behaviour behind" - Toma is on defiant mission to better himself - no matter who or what might stand in his way.

The forthcoming EP, 'Doomsday' touches on a sense of morality within the band, with Toma explaining "I have been caught in a ‘meaning of life’ spiral which I guess is pretty normal in your 20’s. It’s the first time that I’ve felt so aware of my mortality and it probably doesn’t help that the Facebook and Netflix algorithms keep feeding me documentaries on the topic". The band will be extensively touring the Doomsday EP over the summer months, with a headline UK tour, and US support tour set to be announced in the coming weeks. TWITTER.

Tempesst are another band we first discovered back in the summer of 2016, and the new single 'A Little Bit Of Trouble' is our fourth feature for the band. The bands well crafted alt rock might reflect on a less than happy incident in an East London pub, however the track still sounds warm and inviting to listen too, as the strings and guitars intermingle to great effect, behind refined vocals and harmonies.

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Jaicee Rentz - Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread - Orions Belte

Jaicee Rentz - Superzoomy Space Ships (feat. Kaleb Schnepf)

Background - Teen singer-songwriter Jaicee Rentz hails from the sunny shores of San Clemente, California where the breezy ocean vibes made an indelible impression on her. Themes of nature and space are often swirling around her lovely rustic-Inspired tunes, influenced by the anthemic dance pop of Carly Rae Jepsen and the earthy acoustics of The Lumineers. 

Jaicee’s debut release, Colors, is a striking calling card for her warm, mature vocals and tactile musings - the kernels of which were all received as midnight downloads, captured as song sketches and later fleshed out into full productions at Roshambo Sound. In the studio, Jaicee multi-tracked keys, guitar and banjo while stamping each track with her punchy, nuanced vocals and oddball sound flourishes. A prodigious musical outpouring, reminiscent of early Beck in its tight grasp of sonic scope and psychedelic turnarounds.

“I want to give away my tiny wisdoms” she admits, deflecting focus from her overt grasp on emotive modern pop. Shrugging away comparisons to other top 40 acts in her age bracket, Jaicee innocently assumes the audience for her debut will probably be limited to ‘grandmas and grandpas.’ The truth is that her dialed-in indie sensibilities and unburdened storytelling play beautifully together and smack with the promise of future expansion.

And while Jaicee certainly harnesses the bloom of youth on such off-the-cuff numbers as “Superzoomy Space Ships”, she sounds equally as comfortable with the aching melancholy of the EP’s title-track. “Mainly, I write about living in the moment, since regret has always been a big teacher for me” she reflects, revealing an awareness beyond her years. “I regret a lot of things I didn’t do and there’s a lot of people whom I never had the chance to tell I love them.” INSTAGRAM.

What a breath of fresh musical air 'Superzoomy Space Ships' is! It's one of four songs on the 'Colors' EP where originality and well crafted material rub shoulders, as Jaicee Rentz allows her imagination to deliver some impressive material.

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Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread - Funny In Real Life.

Background - Michael Nau will release his new, full band album ‘Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread’ through Full Time Hobby on 3rd August. ‘Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread’ is the follow-up to last year’s critically acclaimed album ‘Some Twist’ and its extension ‘The Load’ EP.

Following the release of first track 'Less Than Positive' a few weeks back, the band have now unveiled a new single, ‘Funny in Real Life’. “There was a musical language that we created; something without a guiding pattern that you could really just jump into and see where things could go,” Michael Nau says of the process of recording ‘Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread’. He’s wildly poetic, especially when recounting his dedication to music, and the work that led to this particular collection of delicately passionate songs. “These things became the vehicle by which we traveled, giving us reason to spend most of our lives in a van of uncertainty.”

The sprawling new album was recorded in guitarist Benny Yurco’s one-bedroom apartment in downtown Burlington, Vermont. Nau and his collaborators had a cool little set up going in Yurco’s spot — drums and bass took over the bedroom, the guitar amp in the bathroom, Nau’s vocals and piano in the living room, and a vibraphone in the kitchen. It’s the first time one of Nau’s records happened all in one place, and “it feels most like a band record than ever before”. Nau and this particular group of musicians held it down together as a true team, which is why Nau named the record in their honour.

The songs on this layered record sound sunny and familiar, like sharing stories and worries with a close friend on a late summer day. In a gorgeous and natural way, he contemplates his own process, those feelings of uncertainty. “Making it too hard just comes easier,” Nau croons on ‘Funny In Real Life,’ an exquisite meditation on creation and self. “Truth is such a beautiful force/And every time we find the chorus/There’s no second-guessing the real/I don’t ever know how I feel.” FACEBOOK.

The musicianship is impressive and provides a gently paced and refined backdrop on 'Funny In Real Life' a song that registers somewhere on the Americana spectrum. Michael Nau's vocals are both distinct and personal adding character and charm, this should have wide appeal.

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Orions Belte - Atlantic Surfing.

Background - Fans of krautrock/psychedelic rock should check out the latest single 'Atlantic Surfing' from Orions Belte. ‘Mint’ is the debut album by Norwegian inventors, Orions Belte. When looking at the influences for a band, there are few as eclectic and far-reaching than those of this Oslo-based collective. They describe themselves as equally inspired by Nigerian 70s rock, postcards from the French riviera, Formula One races at the Monza track in Italy, to when Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali in the ‘Fight of the Century’ in 1971. Expansive and unique.

Band members Chris Holm and Øyvind Blomstrøm make a living out of touring and creating for Norwegian names such as Sondre Lerche, Young Dreams, and Nathalie Nordnes, and so are almost always on the road and exploring different sounds wherever possible. When their paths crossed for the umpteenth time in 2016, their mutual dream of starting an instrumental project together finally found a spark. Holm’s companion from the Bergen scene, Kim Åge Furuhaug, was the match, and Orions Belte was born.

Handsomely hazed vocals and inventive melodies combine with rhythmic vocabulary that draws equally and naturally from psych rock, hard funk, and soul. It's the work of an assured craftsman with a preferred set of sonic parameters and shows off the band's skill in a lucid, loose fashion. The lo-fi sizzle and compression gives it the feel of an artefact, a lost treasure transmitted through decades of overdubbed tapes which matches the stunning and occasionally unsettling artwork for the cover by VICE-featured illustrator Steph Hope.

The band have successfully drawn on the psychedelic as well as the electronic and indie - you’d be forgiven for making comparisons to the likes Unknown Mortal Orchestra or Khruangbin here. Orions Belte sound like they’re in their own galaxy - a galaxy where they are soundtracking cosmic movies that haven’t been made yet, where landscapes are coloured in as they’re hurtled past and where music is the only language spoken by everyone. WEBSITE.

With a driving Krautrock orientated beat and moments of psychedelic bliss 'Atlantic Surfing' clearly has it's comparisons, however as for me they are only very good ones, I see no problem with that. As the band are credited with a variety of styles, if they are of this standard, then I can only wait with anticipation to hear the full album.

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Telete - Sons of Bill - Treetop Flyers

Telete - Like Honey.

Background - Following shows with Julia Jacklin, Rainbow Chan, Totally Mild, Hatchie and high praise for their deeply affecting sound, akin to "being mown down in a field of violets", Perth chamber/dream pop duo Telete (Teh-leh-tee) announce the wide release of 'Spectator', their surprise debut EP on Friday 22 June. Their new single 'Like Honey', delivering "what it says on the tin" (Nat Tencic, triple j) is out now.

Drawing inspiration from acts such as Broadcast, Julia Holter and Beach House, Perth’s Telete (Mai Barnes & Hayley Ayres) weave strings, synth lines and canned percussion together to build warm-hued compositions that simmer underneath intimate vocals.

Telete's "dramatic and delicate" heartrending version of a lullaby (Declan Byrne), 'Like Honey' has already oozed its way onto playlists for triple j Home and Hosed, triple j Unearthed, Triple R's Out On The Patio, RTRFM's Out To Lunch and more. Plush with thick synths and strings, the track swirls brightly in waltz time around a comforting, centrifugal sadness.

"I wrote [Like Honey] after an awful breakup last year, and I remember bawling my eyes out as I scribbled down the words. But every time I sang them, they hurt less. There’s a strange comfort in saying an uncomfortable truth out loud: you take something you’ve internalised, a feeling that you carry in your stomach and chest and heart, and you push it all the way back out." - Mai Barnes. BANDCAMP.

'Like Honey' is a gorgeous mixture of chamber and dream pop that is sensitive and engaging, allowing beautiful atmospheric soundscapes to emerge. It's one of eight tracks on the new EP, and I have to say, there is not one track that fails to charm and dig some deep musical hooks in. Telete have something very special going on here, one that is well worth checking out.

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Sons of Bill - Firebird '85.

Background - Central Virginia’s band of brothers, Sons of Bill, have announced the release of their new album 'Oh God Ma'am' on 29 June on Loose.

Following the release of singles 'Believer/Pretender' and 'Easier', they have now unveiled new track 'Firebird '85'. "I guess the song is technically “about” a construction worker having a strange redemptive daydream about getting off work. Or maybe he's dead? Still not sure", James tells Uncut Magazine, "I just like the idea of ordinary people, living out their ordinary lives, lost in some grand, cosmic drama inside their own head. It’s how all of our lives are. Just another feel-good song about the inner void."

'Oh God Ma’am', Sons of Bill's latest LP is the band’s most coherent artistic statement to date-- subtle, risky, and sonically ambitious.  Recorded both in Seattle with west coast indie legend Phil Ek (Shins, Fleet Foxes) and in Nashville with Sean Sullivan (Sturgill Simpson) and mixed by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol) the album shows the Wilson brothers moving beyond the galvanic Americana-rock comfort zone of previous efforts, for a more elegant and restrained sound-- a darker, and more complexly layered rock record that manages to be the band’s most emotionally intimate and sonically expansive.  Insistent, dancey rhythms and dreamy, hook-filled, pyrotechnics abound, creating a deceptively anthemic mood around songs that are in and of themselves intensely introverted.

'Oh God Ma’am' is a coming-of-age record for an over-stimulated age-- equal parts post-adolescent anxiety and old-soul humility-- literate, gorgeous, and darkly contemplative. WEBSITE.

Sons of Bill will tour the UK and Europe in August:
Mon 13th - The Hope, Brighton (UK)        
Tues 14th - Omeara, London (UK)            
Weds 15th - Tunnels, Bristol (UK)              
Thurs 16th - Brudenell, Leeds (UK)              
Fri 17th - Broadcast, Glasgow (UK)         
Sat 18th - Soup Kitchen, Manchester (UK)      
Sun 19th - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham (UK)
Tues 21 Aug - Blue Shell, Cologne (DE)
Weds 22 Aug - Milia Club, Munich (DE)
Thurs 23 Aug - Musik & Frieden, Berlin (DE)
Fri 24 Aug - Stage Club, Hamburg (DE)
Sat 25 Aug - Once In a Blue Moon Festival, Amsterdam (NL).

Less than a month since Sons Of Bill first graced our pages we now have the follow up track 'Firebird '85'. The Americana qualities are again notable, albeit this time the band take a more country rock direction, doing so with refinement and plenty of heart.

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Treetop Flyers - Needle.

Background - London soulful country rock outfit Treetop Flyers return with their eponymous third album, due out on 24 August via Loose. Weaving blissful 60s tinged West Coast Americana with a British rock’n’roll swagger, the album oozes with soulfulness, thanks to singer Reid Morrison’s rich, warm vocals, stunning close harmonies and the atmospheric warble of a Mellotron.

The band shared video for the taster track "Needle" (directed by long-time band collaborator Sam Ford) via Clash, who called it; "a bold, vivid return, one that finds Treetop Flyers pushing themselves further and further". The song is based round a looped section at the end of a record about not wanting a moment to end. As Reid explains; “I had just got out the shower and I was listening to an old Ted Hawkins record. I lost track of what I was doing and heard this noise, I couldn't work out what it was but it sounded like the best drum sound I'd ever heard… with the old school hiss and everything. I thought my flatmates were playing a tune or something. I then remembered I had put the record on and the record had reached the end but had this perfect loop.”

The band was originally formed by Reid Morrison, Laurie Sherman and Sam Beer, who met whilst playing in other projects as part of the West London folk scene. Although their name, Treetop Flyers, will always be linked to the Stephen Stills song, they settled on it as they all felt like outsiders but have stuck together ever since through line-up and life changes. They have most recently been joined by Rupert Shreeve on drums, who has added another dimension to their style and took the songs in uncharted directions that were previously out of reach. On the new record they are also joined by saxophonist Geoff Thomas Widdowson from Loose label mates Danny and The Champions Of The World.

Treetop Flyers follows the band’s two previous critically acclaimed albums, their debut The Mountain Moves from 2013, which was praised by The Guardian who wrote that it; “effortlessly captures the spirit of late-1960s west coast pop-rock: the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,” as well as Q, who wrote that they; “share with Midlake custody of a brood of Buckingham/Nicks-era Fleetwood Mac licks, likewise the Mac’s mood of unrequited yearning.” Their second album Palomino, from 2016 was praised by Uncut, who called it; “a fittingly great-sounding record, with the band magically tight and melodically assured as they play songs bathed in an evocative ’70s West Coast glow, while drawing on influences including outlaw country, soul and Nigerian psych.” WEBSITE.

It's always pleasing to see country rock music spread it's wings beyond North America, and with 'Needle' the Treetop Flyers not only do that, they do so with grace, style and plenty of natural feeling. This is one very special song, the soulful vibes are everywhere, I am mightily impressed!


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