The Ultra Violets

Image Credit: Craig Taylor Broad

The Ultra Violets are a five-piece band from Kernow in Cornwall. Their line-up is Perran (frontman), Marc (lead guitarist), Adam (bass), and Reece (touring drummer).

Let’s see what they have been up to:

Orange Juice

Windswept indie rock ‘n‘ roll that is begging to soundtrack sunsets this festival season.

Watergate Bay

An absolute riot of an anthem!

Never lose faith in your generation, or the next one for that matter, because within its fire lie behemoth anthems like this, ready to set fire to the world.

Tough Cookie

Image Credit: @flower.up.studio

Tough Cookie are a four-piece band from Dalston. Their line-up is August (singer), Dan (bass), Gav (drums), and Jess (guitar).

The band records and rehearses in their basement below a Church.

Let’s see what they have been up to:

Sandcastles 2008

The opening licks bed in between laid back Echobelly and Pavement, creating a space for their heavier-hitting guitars, sumptuous key changes, and drops in pace to maraud into souls.

Emory

There’s a beautiful simplicity to this song. Romantic woes laid bare with teenage angst, howling guitars and guttural vocals.

With the singles chart a thing of the past for bands, there’s a complacency among new bands to neglect pop sensibilities. Tough Cookie imparts great hooks and pop instincts here. The emotional hook in August’s vocal when the music stops, or the elongated guitar lines from Jess prove that outsiders can make great pop music in alt styles.

More please!

Polo Lounge

Image courtesy of the band

Polo Lounge are a four-piece band who are based near Canterbury. They’re made up of Tom Rich (guitars/vocals/songwriter), Courtland Adams (guitar), Oscar Saunders (bass), and George McGorrin (live drummer).

At the beginning of 20224, Tom began the project as a solo venture before the rest joined in August.  

Let’s see what they have been up to:

L.A.F.S

The carnage and annihilation of cheap pills and excessive booze of nu-rave is reborn on this full-throttle thrill-seeking banger! It’s like waking up with a hangover in a Skins episode, decked out in Casio and Neon striped tees are back!

Brimming full of iForward Russia basslines and Kubichek’s destruction, this should soundtrack chaos across festival tents this summer.

Paradise

Despite being a straighter-up indie-rock number, that youthful sense of mayhem still lingers with great promise, via the nu-rave-meets-math-rock guitars and Rich’s borderline emo vocals.

Montello

Image Credit: Tom Oxley

Montello are a four-piece band from Wigan. They’re made up of Jacob Knowles (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Liam Conway (lead guitar), Jacob Ratcliffe (bass/backing vocals), and
Toby Devereux (drums).

They’ve recently played Stockton Calling and By The Sea and are set to play Bring the Boise and Truck Festival this summer.

Let’s check them out:

Suit and Tie

An effortless rumble of escapism oozes from the guitars, perfectly capturing the band’s mindset as they struggle through their day jobs.

Knowles’ ashen vocals lend the record a gritty warmth, the kind Shane Meadows and Stephen Frears have lit up British cinema with.

Class Act

Joyous 00s indie licks are nudged toward a more intense and poetic realm.  The jagged edges of the Arctic Monkeys and the poetic power of The Libertines licks entwine themselves around Knowles’ soaring and tumbling vocal.

Canned Pineapple

Canned Pineapple are a four-piece band from Brighton. They’re made up of Seán Drury (vocals), Oakley Gardiner (guitar), Gabe Rice (guitar), and Charlie Pringle (drums).

Let’s see what they’ve been up to:

Little Things

From Supergrass to Thin Lizzy to The Strokes. There’s something beautifully retro and cool af oozing from the soul of this record.

My Only Favourite Girl

The reckless abandon of The Only Ones, the coolness of The Strokes’ debut, and the playfulness of Ash unite in a moment of debauched glory.

Morning Crush

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Morning Crush is the moniker for singer-songwriter Tim Ostrosky.

His last EP was produced by the iconic Frank Turner. If that’s not enough, then let’s check out what he has been up to:

If Nigel Could, Then Nigel Would

The abrasive polemic of Beans on Toast and the early folk-punk fire of Frank Turner unite to unearth the next political songwriter to steer souls to the light.

Two Ghosts

The warmth of Kid Harpoon shines through on this enchanting slice of perfection!

Speedial

Image Credit: Leo Cicero

Speedial are a four-piece band hailing from South-West London. They’re made up of Joe Killick (drums), Serena Garrod (guitar/vocals), Millie Kirby (bass/vocals), and Monarch Vavrechka (saxophone).

Having blown us away as John Kennedy’s X-Posure Hot One recently, we had to check them out:

An Altar

Beguiling, witch-like indie-cum-post punk that pulls from the warped splendour of the ‘In Rainbows era Radiohead’.

5000 Lumens

The gentle sonic mutterings of Spring sway with a mesmerising beauty not seen since James Yorkston’s masterpiece ‘The Year of the Leopard’. The mid-point rumblings stray into post-punk before melting into the beauty of John Martyn.

Serena’s vocals bed in between the infectiousness of Tracyanne Campbell (Camera Obscura) and the enchanting nature of Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays).

Still Life

Image courtesy of the band

Stil Life are a five-piece from Blackburn. They’re made up of Owen (singer/guitar), Daniel (guitar), Charlie (guitar), Sam (bass), and Sam (drums).  

The band are life-long mates who have organically grown into the band through their shared love of shoegaze, grunge, and alt-rock.

Let’s see what they have been up to:

Televised

Pulling from the alt-rock majesty of The Guest List, they deliver punishing guitars laced with shoegaze and gothic splendour

Time

An all-time great indie vocal and melody. Owen’s gruffness is hushed to a more angelic stasis, it allows the moonlit guitars to revolve around the infectious delivery and create pure gold.

Signs

A well-worn anthemic style? Yes, but the sense of momentum motoring through it is undeniable. A swelling sense of fog builds an almost unbearable tension through the guitars and Sam’s vocals, whilst the bassline conjures a violence! All are blown away by the brutal solo that could soundtrack every great cinematic hero's return.

Radio Free Alice

Radio Free Alice is a five-piece outfit that formed in Sydney but is now based in Melbourne.

Let’s see what they have been up to:

Rule 31

The dystopian melodies of Fontaines DC combine with the Orwellian poetry of Suede on this soaring and tumbling indie masterpiece.

Look What You’ve Done

With the coolness of Roxy Music and the art-rock sway of Talking Heads, the band pulls from the greats to inform a future of great indie tunes once again.

Plastersun

Photo Credit: Arber Joca

Plastersun are a five-piece band based in Southampton. Fergus McLean (lead vocals), Rai Owen (drums), Oliver White (guitar), Valentina Longo (bass), and Stephen Baker (guitar) hail from the South and met at Southampton University.

Let’s see what they have been up to:

Death by Misadventure

Marquee Moon licks that groove with Talking Heads’ Machiavellian stature, whilst McLean straddles Luke Jenner (The Rapture) and Henry Dartnall (Young Knives) vocally.

Their imagining of the 00s NYC and various post-punk and nu-rave aspects of the UK scene is bolstered by their poignant lyrics of the perilous industry they’re breaking into. Pete Doherty may have emerged from the scene they’re dipping their toe into, but Winehouse and Walden did not.

How many slick basslines can pose such deep philosophical questions?  

Delusions of Grandeur

While the lyric remains razor sharp, sonically they begin to cut loose and reignite scenes of dancefloors filled with chaos!

Bermudas

Image courtesy of the band

Bermudas are a four-piece from Leeds who formed in school eight years ago. They’re made up of Matty (lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist/lyricist/songwriter) Owen (lead guitarist/lyricist/songwriter), Scott (bassist), and Tyler (drummer).

Let’s check out their debut single:

Twice

Psychedelic rolling guitars, blessed with great optimism, lean into Cast and Ocean Colour Scene’s freest moments of the 90s.

Cutting through the bombast is Matty’s raw, gravel-tinged vocal. He adds a level of desperation and working-class fire that will see legions of fans storm the front barriers just to be near him.

Star Print Clad

Image Credit: Kenny Yong

Star Print Clad are a five-piece band based in Brighton. They are Joseph Rohan, Anthony Lane, Otto Frohmader, Jared Thode & Tom Barrick

Let’s check them out:

Melanie

Their latest single is their most melodic to date, sees Rohan’s vocals stray from Jeff Buckley to Caleb Followill (Kings Of Leon). His ability to move from ragged to soulful elevates this mid-tempo track to another level.

Angel in Evergreen

Tinged with Springsteen’s sense of adventure and Sam Fender’s infectious guitars, they set sail on a joyous adventure.

The vocals bed in between the unison of Springsteen and the frayed edges of early Johnny Borrell, giving the band the rough edges their sound deserves.

Too Heavy To Bear

Nestling between T-Rex and Free, they unfurl a dirty throwback of a single.

The Kellows

Image Credit: Lance Burkitt

The Kellows are a four-piece band from Sheffield. They consist of Will (vocals/guitar), Evan (guitar/vocals), Reuben (drums), and Charlie (bass).

Next month, they play coveted SXSW in Texas for End of the Trail Creative. Let’s see why:

Do You Want Me To?

Beset with the urgency that starts scenes, changes fashions, and causes joyous mayhem. The breathless vocals and razor-sharp guitars feed this vitality which will inevitably give birth to a new wave of great bands.

Breathe Me In

Angelic vocals, fizzing drums, and indie guitars that sway like a crowd lost in the moment.

Poised with great drama, The Kellows soar and tumble with a creative ease that belies their fledgeling days.

Clover

Image Credit: Byron Turner

Clover are a four-piece band from Edinburgh. They’re made up of Declan Campbell (singer/rhythm guitar/songwriter/admin) Connell Naysmith (lead guitar), Callum Glendinning (bass), and Mary Stewart (drums).

The band formed at music college, and next month, they headline Sneaky Pete's in their home city for This Feeling.

Let’s check them out:

Biding My Time (On Your Throne)

Campbell’s lo-fi vocals give birth to a romanticism that is instantly infectious. There’s a grittiness to his poetry that brings Scottish peers Shambolics’ melodic rumblings to the fore.

Naysmith’s guitar parts, brief in the early stages, blast out like signal warnings: greatness is coming! A statement that becomes fact during his solo. Loosely tinged with the wilder moments of Peter Green and Noel Gallagher’s yearning to escape, he conjures pure gold.

Click the image below for tickets to their March gig:

Elgin Drive

Image courtesy of the band

Elgin Drive are a five-piece from Fife in Scotland. Their line-up is made of Kellar Harris (rhythm guitar), Matty Lamb (lead vocals), Marc Baker (lead guitar), Joe Kane (drums), and Connor Muir (bass guitar).

Let’s check out their debut single:

Pretty Glasgow Sky

Gritty landscapes clashing with textures, a tried and tested rock n roll formula that’s delivered with panache here.

Lamb’s vocals are angelic yet defiant, gliding towards the escapist joy of Baker’s solo. His guitars inject the poignancy of The Courteeners’ early work with the jingle-jangle meanderings of the DMA’s to forge something beautifully robust.