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Good Health, Good Wealth ft Fredwave - You Don't Know Me
We review the latest single ‘You Don’t Know Me’ from London based duo Good Health Good Wealth.
London’s Good Health, Good Wealth returned last week with their new single ‘You Don’t Know Me’ featuring additional vocals from Fredwave.
*banner image courtesy of Alan Wells Photography.
‘You Don’t Know Me’ was written after a fake festival promoter ripped off the duo. The duo was due to play a festival alongside Tinchy Stryder and Toploader just off the A13. A rare chance for a new act to step out in front of an older, more eclectic crowd to win hearts and minds. In reality, they played to 12 people and some burger vans. Scams have come a long way since the Prince of Nigeria emails.
Single artwork courtesy of Fear PR
Sonically, it’s their sleekest moment to date. Chic in sound, bleak in nature. Vocalist Bruce Breakey is bedding between Rich Archer (Hard-Fi) and Simon Franks (Audio Bullys). The gritty nodes lend the lyrics a weight of despair that would drag most under!
The grit and charm of The Streets, Audio Bullys, and Burial spelt out an alternate reality to reside in in the 00s. They painted pictures of subcultures, clubs, and post-rave squalor, but hope and optimism were never out of sight. Their characters, rich in the game of chance, taught lessons in drugs, nights out, and love from the position of the underdog.
Good Health Good Wealth tap into that sonic but reflect the stark futility of life in 2025 for anyone under thirty. Work doesn’t pay, and the housing market is a cruel joke. Despite this, they, like others, persevere with their passion projects, knowing there are no record deals or life-changing publishing advances, which were once a way out of towns and cities with integrity intact.
Good Health, Good Wealth merges the promoter's lies, the lack of opportunity, and their fallibility (“flying off the handle down the local on a school night”) to further push their sense of being the underdog. Hope that was tangible twenty years ago is now merely a twinkle in their eye, and for that, they are a triumph of the human spirit!
Cast – Faraway
Liverpool’s iconic Cast returned this month with their new single ‘Far Away’. The lead single from their upcoming album ‘Love Is The Call’ (released Feb 16th) was recorded at Space Mountain Studios with Youth (Shed Seven / Embrace) in Spain.
*Image and artwork are courtesy of Fear PR.
Pre-order ‘Love Is The Call’ here.
2017’s ‘Kick Up The Dust’ felt like a big moment for Cast. Frontman and songwriter John Power rediscovered his purity of songwriting on ‘Further Down The Road’ and ‘How Can We Lose’. Liam ‘Skin’ Tyson’s live magic began to filter through on the title track, but, crucially, Power and Tyson’s melodies began to touch hearts on ‘Baby Blue Eyes and ‘Paper Chains’.
What Cast tapped into seven years ago has been doubled down on ‘Faraway’. The melody is so instant you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for a lost B-side circa ‘Mother’s Nature Call’. Power’s has matured into a gravel-tinged angelic career best. It breeds harmony and a sense of peace throughout this exploration of a world that doesn’t care or listen anymore.
Power’s state of repose filters through into Skin’s playing. The freeness of his guitar glistens on horizons as far as the eye can see, but crucially, they infect the mind further. The spirit of the West Coast, Shack, and Richard Hawley’s romanticism ooze through the guitars with a hazy, undeniable reassurance.
It may have been seven years, but that itch was worth waiting for! This Cast classic will demand the best from Liam Gallagher to top on tour this summer!
LOCK-IN – Red Stripe Remedy
Lock-In, though, are never down for the count. Their introduction of strings and as Leak howls “It’s life, Its Life, It’s life”, a chink of light emerges. Faint, but bright enough to reassure us that we’re not alone.
Hertfordshire school friends Lock-In return with the second single from their upcoming debut EP ‘On To The Next’. ‘Red Stripe Remedy’ follows the fan favourite ‘Easy’ and was recorded at Premises Studio in Hackney with Curtis Elvidge producing again.
Images and artwork courtesy of Fear PR and Joe Lowe.
Joe Leek’s harsher and more jagged licks allow the “what if” Graham Coxon joined Two Door Cinema Club to develop joyfully. Where ‘Easy’ tapped into a more melancholic sonic, ‘RSR’ sees Lock-In take another step toward marrying their natural optimism with more serious songwriting.
Every generation has its band(s) tackling the human release from the 9-5. What’s different about Lock-In’s submission to the genre is its emotive poignancy. As frontman Benjy Leak sings “Lost in the 9-5, we only work to stay alive”, it’s tinged with a forlornness not seen with songs of this ilk before. It serves as the perfect reflection of the dire times we’re struggling through. When The Enemy sang ‘We’ll Live And Die’ in these towns, Tom Clarke conjured images of people still brimming with hope despite the decay. ‘Red Stripe Remedy’, sixteen years later, demonstrates what it’s like to exist in those towns; six for a fiver being one of the only hopes left for so many.
Lock-In, though, are never down for the count. Their introduction of strings and as Leak howls “It’s life, Its Life, It’s life”, a chink of light emerges. Faint, but bright enough to reassure us that we’re not alone.
There are just too many dreams in this wasteland for you to leave us all behind.
Click the image below for tickets to their biggest ever show at Lafayette next April:
The Rifles – The Kids Won’t Stop
East London’s cult heroes The Rifles have returned with their first new single in seven years. ‘The Kids Won’t Stop’ was released on the 24th of November via Cooking Vinyl. It’s the first single from the upcoming album ‘Love Your Neighbour’ and is due for release on April 26th, 2024.
*image and artwork courtesy of Fear PR.
Pre-order ‘Love Your Neighbour’ here.
Despite the long absence of new material, the band has proved their worth creatively with the stunning Abbey Road acoustic album, and frontman Joel Stoker’s recent solo album (The Undertow) has also come in for high praise. Will the new single stack up?
Forty Seconds in and Grant Marsh’s archetypal drum rolls ignite the band's glory days. When The Rifles catch fire like this, few can match their emotive spirit. The band adopts a mature songwriting style, adopting aspects of the Madness classic ‘The Liberty of Norton Folgate’ in this reflective piece.
With a seven-year hiatus in the studio and continued success on the live circuit, The Rifles could be forgiven for being out of touch with the people on this new helping. Alas, Stoker’s lyrics easily tap into everyday life, portraying the hectic pace that ordinary folk must endure. Where ‘No Love Lost’ would have hit full throttle with this discourse, the band's twenty-year wisdom chimes, allowing space to reflect upon what’s important amid the chaos. It’s here the song's true beauty emerges. The “ba la la” and Luke Crowther’s brief solo serve as a reminder the simple things are the best, and must be grasped now youth is fading in the rearview mirror.
Marrying middle age with the riotous sonic fans have come to love could have been tricky. Perhaps it’s the reason for a seven-year break? Whatever the reason, The Rifles have navigated it with joy and contentment, which will keep fans happy and any leather-clad motorbike crisis at bay. As such, ‘Love Your Neighbour’ has become one of 2024’s most eagerly anticipated albums.
Joel Stoker – The Undertow
The Rifles frontman released his debut solo album ‘The Undertow’ which was recorded at his home studio Right Hook Recording in Walthamstow.
The Rifles frontman released his debut solo album ‘The Undertow’ this past Friday. It was written during lockdown and recorded at his home studio Right Hook Recording in Walthamstow, with contributions from drummer Brendan O’Neill and fellow Rifle Dean ‘Deano’ Mumford on piano.
During lockdown, Stoker noticed a thematic pattern emerging in his lyrics. His struggle with depression and anxiety were informing everything. Stoker’s vocals often lent the mayhem of The Rifles a forlorn melancholia. It tempered the raucousness of the anthems swirling around him. On ‘Undertow’, he strips back the sonic to set his soul and demons free.
Former singles ‘Walls Fall’, ‘My Own War’, and ‘Wave Of Hope’ delve into his battles with anxiety. ‘Walls Fall’, a sombrely defiant record, tackles the struggle to be working class and admit your struggling. The sense you must keep ploughing forward builds a tenseness forever lurking no matter how powerful his indie-soul vocal soars. ‘My Own War’ deposits Americana and Shack influences whilst his sense of isolation grows. Stoker’s ability to forge his trials with such soaring melodies throughout is the chink of light we should all cling to. It’s on ‘Wave of Hope’ where Stoker truly exceeds. The battle to comprehend his plight is illustrated via Arcade Fire’s carnival spirit and Stoker's CSNY-esque solo. Despite the melodic euphoria, self-doubt pervades and leads him to the conclusion his life is based on luck:
“I've been riding a wave of only hope”
Then, in a moment songwriting genius, Stoker lights up the ultimate quandary of all men the UK:
“But I won’t make no attempt to ring the alarm”
Image & Artwork courtesy of Fear PR.
Stoker’s delivery here is a rare Rifles moment of fist-aloft power. The melody circumvents the destructive power of the sentiment which highlights the trouble men expressing unseeable pain.
Stoker looks beyond just his own struggle and folds in his partner to ‘Like I Love You’ and ‘Can’t Stop The Tears’ to ramp up feelings of guilt and despair. Inspired by Michael Kiwanuka’s ‘Cold Little Heart’ he paints images of a man desperate to repent. Issues of codependency and desperation to keep the one sure thing in his life alive (“feel like a stranger to myself when im alone…I hope I get to you in time”) are lit up by his Kiwanuka meets Buffalo Springfield solo. On ‘Can’t Stop The Tears’, he acknowledges his inability to express himself:
“I keep you in my heart where the walls are hard to climb”
The anguish builds as he attempts to unlock yet more emotional turbulence:
“And I get tired / sick and tired / and I I try hard to figure it out”
All the while, nodes of Motown and Mick Head guitars playing shine like gold apce with his heaven sent vocal.
Despite the discourse, ‘The Undertow’ is an album of sumptuous melody. No matter the inner turmoil, the songwriting commands the respect of Mojo and NME readers alike. ‘Until I Find My Mind’ strips back his work with The Rifles, delivering joyous hymnal vocal uplifts. ‘Down At The Undertow’ flirts with the Ocean Colour Scene classic ‘Day Should Last Forever’ and the genius of Madness’ ‘The Liberty of Norton Folgate’, slapping Village Green Preservation Society’ on the bum as it saunters by. Then, on ‘The Valley’, the eloquence of ‘English Rose’ and folk of ‘Mariners Way’, he deftly delivers a message of hope and survival for anyone struggling to cling to.
After two decades with The Rifles, making any solo album was a brave decision. To tackle his living nightmares and chart a musical course a world away was truly courageous. Delivering an album of the year contender should be used as a case study of hope to all who need it.
LOCK-IN - Easy
The Essex via London indie-pop outfit have returned with their new single ‘Easy’. It follows their raucous headline slot at Truck Festival and a sold-out show at Signature Brew Haggerston.
The Essex via London indie-pop outfit have returned with their new single ‘Easy’. It follows their raucous headline slot at Truck Festival and a sold-out show at Signature Brew Haggerston last week. ‘Easy’ was produced by Curtis Elvidge at Premises Studios in Hackney.
At times, it threatens to ignite into a Two Door Cinema Club party but such is the emotional heft, it remains in its world-weary lane. It breeds a lonely but never detached sonic, which is where Lock-In have thrived best to date.
Image courtesy of Fear PR.
Joe Leak’s choppy licks pull from Bloc Party’s ‘So Here We Are’ and The Wombats circa ‘Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life’ and produce images of a forlorn soul dusting themselves down for another shot at glory. It’s Indie noodling that will soundtrack a thousand summer romances soon to end this month but leave scars for a lifetime.
Everything culminates with frontman Benjy Leak’s rapid-fire roar of “Don’t go, don’t leave, please stay with me”. He may not have Bono or Ashcroft’s ability to summon the guttural anguish vocally, but his frantic state pulls from the everyman state of despair with more integrity.
Photograph’s courtesy of Oscar Blair.
In three years, Lock-In have gone from the lo-fi 00s revivalism of their debut single ‘Teenager’ to ‘Easy’, a much broader and textured emotive piece. The journey isn’t the stark 0 to 60 that rock ‘n’ roll documentaries have you worship at the temple of. Rather, this is the sound of relentlessly honing the craft alongside youthful adventure. From hard work to romantic risk-taking, Lock-In are here to teach you life lessons to young and old!
Joel Stoker – Walls Fall
Two singles in, deeply personal ones at that, Stoker has already proven his solo adventure is one of serious merit.
The Rifles frontman follows up his sublime debut single ‘My Own War’ with the new ‘Walls Fall’ (Cooking Vinyl). Stoker wrote and recorded all the parts at his studio except for piano (played by fellow Rifle Deano Mumford and drums (Brendan O’Neill).
Images courtesy of Patrick Ford and Fear PR.
Recorded in his garden studio, Stoker uses a confessional writing style to highlight his struggles with OCD and anxiety. As he decrees, “Down here you don’t turn and run / no doubt the show goes on” he purveys the inner turmoil of struggling in a working-class community. Whilst the world is changing, decades of “stiff upper lip” and “man up” have left their mark.
‘Walls Fall,’ sombrely defiant like a ‘Bob Marley polemic, never stops moving forwards. The heartfelt acoustic guitars and the soulful reflections of Michael Kiwanuka set sail on this pensive but positive tale of keeping your head above water. Like a great scriptwriter, he offers a moment of genuine hope to all emphasise via his CSNY-esque guitar solo and rousing outro.
The guitars, intense a la Young initially but begin to sprawl with Stills’ majesty to serve up the chink of light needed. Like on the ‘My Own War’, they’re accompanied by Americana brass via the Scouse maestro Mick Head. It allows the closing stages to drive toward a subtle sense of euphoria.
Two singles in, deeply personal ones at that, Stoker has already proven his solo adventure is one of serious merit.
Click the image below for tickets to his upcoming live dates:
Rosellas - Somewhere Inbetween
Manchester’s Rosellas have released their new EP ‘Somewhere Inbetween’ via This Feeling Records. The EP was written by the whole band and produced by Oliver Shillito.
Manchester’s Rosellas have released their new EP ‘Somewhere Inbetween’ via This Feeling Records. The EP was written by the whole band and produced by Oliver Shillito. Image and artwork courtesy of Fear PR>
Former singles ‘Switch Off’ and ‘Hideaway’ catapulted Rosellas to the front of the pack of The UK’s band scene in recent months. Their smooth rock ‘n’ roll pre-pandemic began to spark with a directness that didn’t demand attention, it took it. On ‘Switch Off’, they bridge that older sound to their new fire with an effortless that leaves no one behind. Frontman Drew Selby slots into a vocal groove honed on the likes of ‘Slowdance’ and ‘Common Ground’ but, now a brash, desperate sense of purpose looms lyrically and sonically.
This compulsion is doubled down on ‘Hideaway’. Selby’s vocal more urgent, willing to fray at the edges is partnered with the more celestial moments of The Verve’s classic ‘A Northern Soul’. With Shillito at the helm, they’ve found a space to sprinkle the psychedelic nuggets of the Byrds and Shack alongside their newfound sprawling power.
‘Bare Your Soul’ and the new single ‘Come Alive’ tread similar paths structurally, culminating in Selby’s sublime guitar parts. The former unites the more immediate moments of ‘The Second Coming’ with the melodic supremacy of ‘Urban Hymns.’ As Selby decrees “so come on, speak it easy” images of Haigh Hall, Knebworth, and Heaton Park glint in the eye. Ollie Appleby’s basslines create a tumultuous fog that allows Euan Mail and Selby’s guitars to emerge in a visceral blaze of glory.
The EP closes out with a glimpse of what is yet to come from this fine band. ‘Thunderstorming’ goes beyond the immediacy of teenage kicks and explores the world of Oasis b-side ‘Shout It Out Loud’ with hints of Neil Young’s ‘Cortez The Killer’. It witnesses the band moving into MOJO's front cover territory.
The Rosellas have begun a new chapter on this EP. Their inclination to reflect thoughtfully is now dancing with the kind of rock ‘n’ roll that the UK yearns for on big stages. It’s only a matter of time.
Rolla – Hey You
Don't wait to be found
Come along with our sound
Image and artwork courtesy of Fear PR
Manchester’s Rolla follow up on their tour with Kasabian with their new single ‘Hey You’. The single is taken from their upcoming debut EP ‘Nothing Less Than Everything’ which will be released on April 5th.
It’s bizarre how a band so seminal as The Verve have remained so uninfluential these past 15 years. Exit Calm was a fine exponent of their work in the early part of the last decade but no one else has really stood up. Like buses, two have come at once in recent times from Manchester. There’s been Pastel, who have been beautifully in tune with delicate jams of ‘Storm In Heaven’. Whereas Rolla have pulled in the power of ‘A Northern Soul’ and the sprawling melody of ‘Urban Hymns’.
If Noel Gallagher had possessed Nick McCabe’s guitar ability then ‘Hey You’ could have been the sound of the Oasis’s third album. Luke McConnell and Tom Paddon’s guitars have that hissing power of Oasis’ live presence circa 95-97 but, with the deft touches of McCabe. The latter’s influence looms much larger creatively as the band takes you on a journey without a destination to free your soul. The yelps of ‘Rolling People’, the howling furore of ‘A New Decade’, and the perilous defiance of ‘Come On’ unite on what is, as close to pure art as rock ‘n’ roll can sound.
Frontman James Gilmore harness the more melodic moments of Tm Meighan’s time in Kasabian alongside a venom not yet seen. The demonic nature of Richard Ashcroft on ‘This IS Music’ and ‘No Knock On My Door’ ooze from his soul whilst his brother Luke’s bass throbs with the grooves of criminally underrated ‘Gravity grave’.
Rolla’s ascent to the top not only looks inevitable, it looks gloriously volatile. They throb with danger and excitement at every turn. They are reigniting the mysticism of the rock star and it’s intoxicating.
Click here for the last remaining tickets for their UK tour:
The Skinner Brothers - Lonedon EP
Not resting on the laurels of ‘Soul Boy II’, London’s The Skinner Brothers have returned with their new EP ‘Lonedom’.
Images & artwork courtesy of Fear PR
here is our track-by-track review:
Lonedon
Frontman Zac Skinner’s vocals should be iconic by now. On this latest offing, he has the gruffness of beans on Toast, the insolence of Jamie T but, crucially it’s his soul-boy persona that shines brightest. Theirs an air of the 80s wide boy donning the finest Fila jacket sipping G&T’s surveying the chancers who know better to cross him.
Despite the coolness of the record, their anxiety permeates throughout as our protagonist struggles to belong in London. The big smoke is a vibrant joyous place full of choices if you can afford it. For anyone slipping financially, mentally, or emotionally, it can be a pressure cooker waiting to blow. The Skinner brothers take those infectious laid-back licks of The Astors and the chilled bombast of Eddie Floyd for a walk along desolation row. The solo that blasts out twice takes the band to another level altogether. The Coral’s ‘Magic and Medicine’ unites with Miles Kane’s dreams of rock star status to conjure a perfect blend of isolation and toxicity.
The Mellow
It may lack the 100 overdubs but, it embodies Ashcroft’s sense of freedom on ‘Urban Hymns’. Spikey lyrics, stoner melodies, and escapist guitars unite to create bugged-out rock ‘n’ roll for the 4am finishers.
Loaded Gun
Jamie T’s guttural glory combines with a Fatboy Slim–esque riff. This is gloriously unhinged debauchery set to unite groups of mates on both triumphant and failed nights out for a generation. It has a raw sense of adventure destined to be a catalyst for another wave of bands.
Make It Count
The effortlessness of Peter Bjorn & John and Foster The People flirting with the lo-fi magic of Ian Brown’s unfinished Monkey Business.
The Skinner Brothers are on tour throughout October:
OCTOBER
1st - Manchester, Neighbourhood Festival
2nd - Blackpool, Bootleg Social
6th - London, O2 Academy Islington
9th - Guildford, The Boiler Room