Martha – Please Don’t Take Me Back
(Specialist Subject)
According to the internet, it’s been 10 years since Martha released their debut single. Since then the County Durham quartet have become darlings of the DIY punk scene, smashing out consistently brilliant records full of sharp pop melodies and ripping guitar leads. ‘Please Don’t Take Me Back’ is their fourth album and is very much a continuation of what has come before it. I’ve said this in the past, but sometimes it’s all about a band that can lock in a winning formula and nail it every time, which is very much the case here.
A press quote I recently read likened Martha to sounding like a mash up of Blink 182 and Los Campesinos! Though I can’t hear much of the former, I can definitely hear that punk pop energy blended beautifully with the pensive indie pop of the latter. From the moment ‘Beat Perpetual’ hits, it feels like you’re being hugged by an old pal!
The strong songwriting skills hold up as ever, with lyrics ranging from heart on sleeve break up songs to tirades on the shit tip we live in. There aren’t many bands that can write a song as chipper as ‘Hope Gets Harder‘ and include the lyrics “Fuck this place, I hate it”. That’s something Martha do really well, lyrically commenting on something either really personal or political, but adding a sugar rush hook on top. It’s all about instancy with this band, getting a point across with conviction and gusto.
I’ve always been a fan of the lead vocal switch ups between songs, in the same way Rolling Blackouts C.F. bring in different perspectives and different tones on each track – there’s a togetherness and bond within the playing and songwriting that binds it all together perfectly. As well as ‘Baby, Does Your Heart Sink?’ and ‘Please Don’t Take Me Back’ boasting impossibly catchy punk rock choruses, there’s some lovely, jangly 80s inspired guitar pop moments that shine bright on ‘Neon Lung’ and gorgeous closer ‘You Can’t Have a Good Time All of the Time’. Basically, Martha are very good at what they do; honest, aware and anthemic, ‘Please Don’t Take Me Back’ sees them at the top of their game.
Shit And Shine – New Confusion
(Rocket Recordings)
I’m always a sucker for a good band name, so naturally I was very drawn to Shit and Shine. The brain child of Texas born musician Craig Clouse, Shit and Shine has been about since 2004 and has bust out so many records not even Wikipedia has caught up. Admittedly, despite always smiling when I saw the name, it’s only been through the wonderful Rocket Recordings that I have been switched on to the project and subsequently intrigued by Craig‘s latest output, ‘New Confusion’.
It’s pretty difficult to describe the sound of Shit and Shine, essentially it’s all about mashing up samples and hypnotic melodies to a mind altering degree. ‘Annoyed’ is a high octane start, centred around a fuzzed up to fuck bass line dominating a battered old drum pattern as siren-esque sounds screech around them. It’s menacing but brilliant. ‘Cocoa Leaves’ follows with a more lo-fi beat but a just as enticing synth bass melody, as various film samples dart in and out of its bewildering psychedelics. To be honest, it’s one of the coolest pieces of electronica I’ve heard this year and it’s hard not to get lost deep within it.
The remainder of the record seems to fixate a lot on sample fuckery – tracks like ‘Miami’ and ‘Shipped’ may be based around some soulful, vintage grooves but their repetitiveness can get a bit nauseating. Closer ‘Robbed’ definitely brings it back, packed out with the bolshy bass lines and warped beats that kicked off the record so well. In short, ’New Confusion’ has some shining moments (pun intended); it’s edgy and atmospheric in all the right places. It might not keep that up consistently, but there’s enough clout here to keep those that like their beats on the experimental side engaged.
Sugar Horse – Waterloo Teeth
(Small Pond)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Sugar Horse sure are grafters. Despite putting out a mammoth debut album last year, and subsequently touring its arse off, the Bristolian quartet always had their eyes on what’s next. It was actually in the Christmas break of last year that work on a new release was well underway. And here we have ‘Waterloo Teeth’, a four track EP that sees the band collaborate with a bunch of their talented pals to create their most ambitious release so far.
I like how ‘Disco Loadout’ has been described as an anti-Sugar Horse track. Clocking in at just under two minutes, this is the opposite of their usual sprawling song structures, opening the record with a cacophony of blood curdling noise, assisted with a nightmarish vocal performance from Debbie of metal’s brightest hopes, Heriot. The remaining three songs all comfortably double/triple the opener’s length as the band work through the progressive tendencies we know them for.
The mix of shimmering, goth-y melodies and earth shaking doom riffage still very much dominate the rest of this EP, but it’s how Sugar Horse really push these dynamics to the max that shows off an evolution in sound. This is in part thanks to getting friends on board to either beef up the heavy or bring in some sumptuous textures when the distortion pedals are clicked off.
Members of Conjurer bellow on ‘Gutted’, Will from Black Peaks / Skin Failure adds sax and screams to the shape shifting title track, while Mike Vennart, Dev from Idles and Connie from Wych Elm all help make ‘Super Army Soldiers’ the most soaring piece of music Sugar Horse have created. To be honest, that’s only just a few names that have contributed here, with loads of familiar faces within the underground rock scene popping in to either do something nasty or something very pleasant.
I’ve always liked the two filters of Sugar Horse – it’s either bone crushingly heavy or it’s gloriously uplifting and for a 20 minute EP, ‘Waterloo Teeth’ really does take this to the next level and explores their love for sludge, indie, shoe gaze, doom and 80s power pop. The sky really is the limit with Sugar Horse and I am always excited to see where they’ll take us next.
In 2018, Manchester based musician Joe Oxley released one of the best debuts of the year. Blending psych, shoegaze, synth pop and industrial rock, ‘Psychic Data’ was a perfect introduction to the world of TVAM. It lit up a bunch of AOTY lists – I think it was Piccadilly Records that turned me onto it, the record subsequently becoming my soundtrack to walking around late night Manchester half cut during the winter of 2018. Needless to say, many were pleased to hear a brand new single back in March, which little did we know was the beginning of a whole new campaign.
Finding the well suited home of Invada Records, TVAM is back back back with second album ‘High Art Lite’. If you liked the buzzy bass lines, slicing guitar riffs and psyched out tendencies of the first album, then you’re sure to dig in here. As previously mentioned in this rundown, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, which Oxley very much adopts on album two.
All the killer references I loved before fall back into place, the My Bloody Valentine wooziness, the Nine Inch Nails tension and mid-era Primal Scream clubbiness. There’s definite highlights here, ‘Double Lucifer’ destined to soundtrack a scene in a thriller movie, while ‘Semantics’ is a slice of 90s inspired electro rock that is sure to melt rooms in a live setting. There is a feeling of cool that oozes across the track list, acting as a melting pot of only the best alt rock offshoots.
In complete honesty, I did go back to the first album after spinning this a few times and found myself much more invested in the songs there. I think the first record felt a bit sharper in the hook department, whereas ‘High Art Lite’ is more about expanding on its electro psych palette. But ultimately all the key ingredients are there, which to me makes for a decent return and a strong stepping stone from a clearly clued up musician.
Like what you see? Why not stick around and check out the other articles and interviews!
Don’t forget to follow Birthday Cake For Breakfast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Birthday Cake For Breakfast 