The Shed Project - Our Fear Is There Power

Bolton outfit The Shed Project have returned with their new single ‘Our Fear Is There Power’. Relesaed on Friday 26th May (One Love Records), it was produced by Danny Heyes and recorded Ivy Studio.

The debut album witnessed the band in an open mood as they told tales from their lives. Tinged with nostalgia, they traipsed their lysergic past from the North West to Amsterdam. On ‘If You’re Getting Busy (You’re Getting Better)’ they began to merge their diary-style storytelling with broader messages about tackling mental health. This new style of tying together the uber-personal with the universal continues on ‘Fear The Power’ as they manifest their angst about the government and press alongside a clarion call.  

Image and artwork courtesy of the band.

While the tempo may have dipped, this is their hardest sound. Like a caged tiger, they prowl with a visceral intent directed at the 6 toed pony fuckers running and ruining this country and the press that enables them.

Polemic is not something naturally associated with the rock ‘n’ roll of the North West but it’s always loitered in the hearts of Ian Brown and Noel Gallagher. Roy Fletcher’s success here proves the icons could have been more overt in with their lyrics. His line in the sand is met with haunting licks and a bassline desperate to break its leash. Together, they spiral with the baggy ease of The Charlatans towards the eruption of psychedelic guitars. It’s far less a solo and more a howling of hatred and despair wrenched from the gut. A fitting tonic to a week that witnessed more evidence of Johnson’s contempt for us all.

Trippy and tribal, The Shed Project continues to expand their sound on this offering. Rock ‘n’ roll, for so long has been about youth culture. What The Shed Project have proven is, it should be about rebel culture. Their true outsider status proves the future is always unwritten!

One love: The Stone Roses @ Wembley Stadium

"I'm eating sand when I need air"

Perhaps an understandable mood for London considering its terrorist attacks, the appalling loss of young life in Manchester and the unnecessary tragedy of Grenfell Tower. The concourses were awash with talk of the latter as its blackened state loomed depressingly in the backdrop of this great stadium. 

Thank God, then, for four Manchester icons. Superstars to this adoring 90,000 crowd, they still represent everything great about working-class people in the UK. With roots firmly in the mid-80s Paisley scene and a peak in the second summer of love, The Stone Roses shows just how brilliant working-class people can be when they unite with passion and love.

Opening with ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, a vast euphoric release is unleashed the moment Mani snaps out the thumping bass line of this classic. Everyone knows a greatest hits set is coming but, the early appearance of the Mersey-psyche singles ‘Elephant Stone’, ‘Sally Cinnamon’ and Mersey Paradise’ gave a sweltering crowd a brevity so badly needed. Squire’s gliding guitars are exquisite as the spirit of Roger McGuinn echoes around this huge crowd. 

Whilst the Roses have been back in the consciousness for a few years now, the sense that every live gig is something special has not faded.