Bristol’s Saloon Dion released their debut EP ‘Muckers’ at the end of May via Mucker Records which they followed with a triumphant support slot with Opus Kink at London’s Village Underground.
Militant Girlfriend: Village Green Festival
South East London’s Militant Girlfriend kicked off the spectacular Grrl Zine Fair at Village Green Festival. Surrounded by, quite frankly, some astonishing pieces of DIY art, the three piece delivered a fragile and heart wrenching slice of punk-pop.
The bulk of the set emanated from last year’s self-titled EP. ‘2k17 Was For Dickheads’, a joyous piece of slacker rock, showcased Caitlin King and Liv Wynter’s innovative ability to harmonise. Their blend of fragile pop and punk venom continued on ‘Letters’, a gloriously painful break up song.
Despite the punk ethos, on ‘Marge’ and ‘Re-Run’, they took their style towards the West Coast beauty of the early 70s. The former, a jaw dropping ode to King’s mum. Meanwhile, ‘Re-Run’, was causing the painful re-living of a relationship coming to an end (sociopath alert if it didn’t).
Militant Girlfriend’s ability to channel pain through loving and stirring punk-pop inevitably will take them to bigger audiences.The world cannot be kept from their best years.
Friday 2nd August marks our 8th birthday. Come down to the New Cross Inn for a night of great live music. Tickets available here:
Suspects: Village Green Festival
Complete with Ric Flair “wooooos” and righteousness in their veins, Southend’s Suspects led two-man crusade at Village Green Festival this past Saturday. Few were not saddling up to ride into battle with them afterwards.
The sheer power of their set shook the Idea13 stage. On ‘Armageddon and Me’, such was the ferocity, they made The Stooges and Royal Blood look like the exponents of nursery rhymes. Despite the frenetic chaos they generate, front man Thomas Prescott’s adorable soul shines bright, giving the audience something heartfelt to cling to.
This was personified on the intimate ‘Recovery’. The honesty of Frank Turner’s lyrics combined with the early fire of The Black Keys to create a furious sense of euphoria. Former single ‘Anaphylactic Shock’ took this even further. It was as though Therapy? had joined forces with The Walkmen on their classic ‘The Rat’.
During ‘Mental Health Act’, they drew their battle lines in the sand. For anyone who has ever been lost, it was a welcoming hug in the disguise of a behemoth rock monster.
Heavy. Destructive. Noble. All hail the Suspects.
Friday 2nd August marks our 8th birthday. Come down to the New Cross Inn for a night of great live music. Tickets available here:
Get Cape Wear Cape Fly at Village Underground
A new bar has been set. If you’re going to make a comeback, you need a twelve piece band. You need to take everything anyone has ever known, and, as dear old Edwyn would say, rip it up and start again.
Sam Duckworth’s re-emergence as Get Cape at the village underground displayed everything that’s righteous about music. Jazz, soul, drum n bass, folk and punk all came together for a holistic party for the ages.
When Duckworth is on this kind of form, he transcends music. ‘DNA’ becomes a solemn stand of defiance, not just against Brexit, but for anyone who has ever been downtrodden. With his new band, he takes an indie-folk track like ‘Man2Man’ and makes it so freeing it could be an Ibiza classic.
After the early sing-along classics, a rousing speech about the NHS and new powerhouse single ‘VHS Forever’, one thing is strikingly clear, Get Cape is no longer the plucky underdog with a laptop. He is a musical pioneer and explorer with big adventures ahead.