BEEHIVE CANDY

The Soft Underground - Ghosts. Background - NYC-based The Soft Underground may hail from the outskirts of Manhattan, but have been hailed as modern decedents of the touchtone bands from Seattle’s 90’s alternative scene. Formed in 2010 by drummer, Andrew McCarty and guitarist, Charlie Hickey, the band quickly began to write, perform and record original music. Their mode of working involved perfecting their musical beds and then casting the correct guest vocalist for each song, working in the rock genre in a similar way that French electro innovators Air recruit collaborators for their tracks. Guests have included Nick Redmond (Star & Micey), Brannon Barnett (The StoneCoats) and Rick Steff (Lucero, The Afghan Whigs, Hank Williams Jr.) What emerged from these collaborations was unique yet accessible to the mainstream, and their debut album, 2015’s Lost in Translation, garnered positives nods from The Big Takeover, Music Street Journal and Alt Nation. The latter was quick to nail

The West Coast Feed - You Belong To Me. Background - Honoring the collective legacies of Memphis, Muscle Shoals and New Orleans, The West Coast Feed – eight members strong -- generates a modern and electrifying swagger rock/soul experience. The tight backbeat of the rhythm section, a vibrant three-man horn section, tandem electric guitars and a soaring violin set the stage for the commanding voice of charismatic front man, Jesse Butterworth. Since the Seattle, WA-based band’s formation one short year ago, The West Coast Feed has filled clubs and theaters by word of mouth, drawing audiences to an experience of sound and sensation that makes sitting still impossible. With their highly anticipated self-titled full-length debut, founding member/guitarist and accomplished recording engineer Matt Woll polishes the sweat, grit and energy of the band into a sonic studio shimmer. Jesse Butterworth’s résumé includes fronting an award winning, label- signed band with a #1 radio hit, on the

Frontperson – Tick-Tock (Frontrunner) Background - Frontperson is the new project from Kathryn Calder (vocalist and keyboardist for The New Pornographers) and Mark Andrew Hamilton (who has released six albums as Woodpigeon). The duo are pleased to share the video for “Tick - Tock (Frontrunner)” the first single from their debut album, Frontrunner, out 21 September on Calder’s own Oscar St. Records label. The video shows a track and field event shot backwards in slow motion, which is also reflected in the album artwork. For the making of their debut album, Frontperson were joined by Melissa McWilliams (drums, drum machine), Jen Sévertson (bass, also of Peach Pyramid), Clea Foofat (cello, also of Raleigh and Dojo Workhorse), Foon Yap (violin), Marek Tyler (percussion, also of nêhiyawak), and producer Colin Stewart (The Cave Singers, Dan Mangan, Black Mountain). BANDCAMP . 'Tick-Tock (Frontrunner)' opens with an understated vibe, the melody gently creating some refreshing h

Favours - In The Night. Background - Favours are a band that that you will never hear from…unless we need something. Born out of personal rediscovery, we sing of the delightful fantasies and harsh realities of adulthood. How fitting that we practice in an office space after hours. “In The Night” is a ballad for those stuck in an unfulfilling cycle of repetition. Recorded with Josh Korody (Dilly Dally, Weaves) at Candle Recording Studio, it’s about escaping from the banality of the day and longing for the dreams that seem just out of reach. Dreams of star-crossed lovers destined to meet in another world, or those who do meet and cannot be together, tearing them apart at the seams. The eerie, cult vibes of “In The Night” were brought to life in a house abandoned for over two decades. Having a blank canvas and the ability to conjure up any world we wanted allowed us to dream up the weirdest one possible. Influenced by stills from our favourite Criterion films and the Sannyasins o

The Callas With Lee Ranaldo - Acid Books. Background - The Callas' latest single with Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, "Acid Books" is out this week with its taut, post-punk grooves and hypnotic, scuzzed-up guitar lines, The Callas will find favor with fans of The Velvet Underground, The Horrors, and Neu!. Meet The Callas…Led by brothers Lakis and Aris Ionas, the pair helm a Greek-based art, film and music collective, as well as hosting art and music events at their studio/performance space in Athens–the Velvet Room. As a band, The Callas feature Aris on guitar/vocals, Lakis on bass/vocals, as well as Chrysanthi Tsoukala on drums/vocals and Marilena Petridou on percussion. In 2016, the group collaborated with Lee Renaldo (Sonic Youth) on a soundtrack for their film The Great Eastern, and they have teamed up once again on The Callas upcoming LP Trouble and Desire due out October 26th via Inner Ear Records/Dirty Water Records. Discussing their work together, Ranaldo exp

Tiny Eyes - Just Saying. Background - When your songwriting theme is love it can often feel like a road too well travelled. From the rose-tinted idealisation of new love, to the emotional tempest of love lost, we’ve heard the story retold in countless variations; we get the picture. Enter Tiny Eyes with his latest song ‘Just Saying’, the first single to be taken from his forthcoming debut album, released next year. ‘Just Saying’ is about the less documented side of our strongest emotion.  It’s about the banal and the familiar, the quotidian journeys we go through with our lovers from sunrise to sunset, through mild annoyance to peaceable reconciliation, and then into bed again to repeat tomorrow. Featuring his partner Martha Bean on backing vocals, and made entirely at home on his trademark old 20’s piano with percussion patched together on a laptop, it’s a sonically adventurous ode to reality that endears itself to the listener through Tiny Eyes’ unique observational storytelli

Team Picture - EVE. Background - The six-piece Leeds-based Team Picture have just shared the video for their ltd. edition 7" single 'EVE' - released on Come Play With Me. 'EVE' is a re-working of a track by fellow Leeds trio, Laminate Pet Animal. Recorded and released initially under the band’s alias, ‘Group Photograph’ for West Yorkshire-based label, Come Play With Me, the new video arrives hot off the back of their recent 6 Music-supported mini-album, ‘Recital’, and just ahead of a headline at Camden Assembly Hall on July 27, 2018 for Come Play With Me/War Child. “We chose to mangle 'Eve' after sharing one side of a 7" with Laminate Pet Animal's original, excellent, version of the song,” says Team Picture frontman, Josh. “We didn't bother trying to recreate the original because we knew we had nowhere near enough bloopy and bleepy machinery, so we came at it as a re-imagining of the source material.” Speaking about the video for ‘EVE’, vi

Sonny Falls - Easy To Lose. Background - Chicago based indie rock band Sonny Falls shares the lead single "Easy To Lose" off their forthcoming LP Some Kind Of Spectre, due out 8/17 on Sooper Records (Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, Sen Morimoto). On "Easy To Lose" the band addresses the way a toxic situation can be all-consuming. It is about codependency in all forms, like addiction or an unhealthy relationship. The rest of their forthcoming album deals with the same themes. Over 10 tracks, Sonny Falls’ Some Kind of Spectre finds songwriter and frontman Ryan 'Hoagie Wesley' Ensley exploring the nuances and complexities of relationship; whether with a person, a drug, or even just a mindset. While the album contains explicit references to heroin and the opioid epidemic, metaphorical lyrics create space for the listener to insert their own meaning. Hoagie makes obvious reference to particular issues that have plagued he and his loved ones, but the flexibility of interpr

Moderate Rebels - Beyond Hidden Words. Background - London-based “Anti-Music Collective” Moderate Rebels release ‘Beyond Hidden Words’, from their just-completed second album, due out in November on Everyday Life Recordings. Describing it as an ‘un-song’, Moderate Rebels say, “We’re not sure what this music is exactly. It arrived with us as a feeling, then a defiant chant, a repeating half hallucination set to building noise, an invocation of strong communal power and hope, through the confronting of the uncomfortable, and the taking of some personal responsibility for being part of that conversation… The sound of a dream, set to the dream of a sound.” ‘Beyond Hidden Words’ arrived as an experiment, as much Moderate Rebels material has, from posed questions: “Can 3 chords and ‘the truth’ still work in 2018?... At what point does repetition become psychedelic?... Once you lose track of structure and time in music, do you get any sense of the infinite?” “We know ‘Beyond Hidden Words

Gaffa Tape Sandy - Meat Head. Background - Rising garage rockers Gaffa Tape Sandy launch their punishing new single Meat Head, building on their brand of high-octane, adrenaline-fuelled rock ‘n’ roll delivered with a vital message. “Meat Head was written as an attack on the type of mind-sets people harbour which involve believing that they somehow own or have the right to the body of another person”, the band stated. “The song is intended to be a pointed finger, an accusation and a vexed comment aimed towards reckless attitudes that exacerbate rape culture. It’s a topic we feel strongly about, and so wanted to perform with passion and indignation”. With drummer Robin Francis’ viciously executed pre-choruses and bassist Catherine Lindley-Neilson’s fierce vocal delivery, the subject of the song can be widely felt within the performance just as much as the lyrics, adding to the wave of momentum surrounding the trio heading into the summer months. One of NME’s 100 Essential Acts for 2