Exclusive: WATCH a new video for ‘Paper’, from A.L. Lacey’s debut album ‘Lesson’

Words: Andy Hughes

At the tail end of last year, we were chuffed up to have an exclusive stream on ‘Lesson’, the debut album from Bristol based classically trained multi-instrumentalist A.L. Lacey. We’re strong believers in the longevity of a record, certain that reviews, features and the like should not be confined to the weeks leading up to release with nothing to follow.

Good news then that Lacey has a new video out from the record – an engaging optical treat for the track ‘Paper‘, which we’re pleased as punch to have an exclusive of below.

“Ultimately, ‘Paper‘ is about the excruciating highs and lows, and omnipresent cynicism of being in a long-term, long-distance relationship careening towards an inevitable end.” Says Lacey of the track. “Around the time the piece was coming together, I’d been sifting through some old diaries I’d kept in my early twenties (whilst I was in a long-distance relationship of sorts) when emotions seemed more volatile, muddled and difficult to communicate. These writings, in-turn, informed the lyrics and to some extent, the bittersweetness of the melody. 

With the production, we deliberately created a wistful-childlike pop-vibe, hence the sparkling vocals and simple piano chords to start with. That sound ultimately gets taken-over by a driving-force, created by kick drums, looped synths, layered woodwind and swirling keys – all adding to the sense of a sweet-thing doomed, and hurtling off a precipice.”

On the captivating video, Director Sorrell Kerrison:

“After listening to the song, I realised that the beat and movements of the piece reminded me of a Rube Goldberg machine, where each piece triggers off another piece in succession leading to a finale. I ran with this idea, using motifs from the work to propel it along. The animation was made in traditional frame-by-frame, with an initial scanning of some paper to get that texture into a digital piece.”

Released at the tail end of last year via London based label Human Worth, the record is available on a super limited run of ‘Pitch Black’ vinyl, with 10% of all proceeds donated to charity Off the Record – a mental health social movement by and for young people aged 11-25 living in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

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Live Review: Tapir! at YES in Manchester 20 March 2024

Words: Andy Hughes

Right – cards on the table – I bet me and the missus were the only ones in the crowd at Tapir! on Wednesday night at YES who’d met an actual tapir. Two in fact. Most Certainly the only one who’s who’d met a family of capybaras… As it turned out though, I don’t think such a gloat was a requirement for entry as when we opened the door to the basement, it was to a literal wall of people. A lad at the back of said wall eyed us on approach and said “good luck“, like a character in a video game dropping a one liner ahead of the hero’s plight (in this case, getting any sort of view of the band). After a minute or two, a chance crack in the defence offered the opportunity to make a break for it and we took it with gusto, managing to squeak in at the back.

“So this is looking very 6 Music Dads…” My partner suggested of the packed crowd for the first night of their tour (Tapir! that is, not the BBC dads…) Following the meandering poetry of the old boy who was on as support beforehand, we inevitably sailed past the stage time and as I contemplated missing the last tram, the band thankfully got a wriggle on and before too long arrived to much applause. Bird song and the aural woosh and sway of the sea filled the air as on the interludes that separate the three Acts on the brilliantly titled debut album from Tapir!, ‘The Pilgrim, Their God and The King Of My Decrepit Mountain’ (out at the start of the year on the ever dependable Heavenly Recordings). These transitions on the record are particularly captivating and it was the same on the night, with the twinkling, atmospheric seaside sounds really inviting us into their wee world. 

Having only seen the band in their fetching Papier-mâché full head masks on promotional material, I was momentarily gutted to find out they were in fact human, with normal looking heads like the rest of us, rather than giant red featureless domes. It wasn’t all a loss though, as one of the numbers on stage did wear their Papier-mâché head on the opener. It was difficult to grasp how many were on the stage from our vantage, but there was definitely quite a few. With a similar sound to the likes of Black Country, New Road and Caroline, this came as no surprise and is surely a requirement for outfits of their ilk.

Vocalist Ike Gray’s voice had us just as hooked as on record and it was hard not to be taken in by the velvet tones throughout the evening. On early album track ’On A Grassy Knoll, We’ll Bow Together’, Gray’s angelic vocal guided us through in dreamlike fashion, his head back at times, eyes shut, as he drew out its title, making for an invigorating ease into the set early on. Backing vocalist Emily Hubbard had her own star turns too, her solo part on ‘Untitled’ making hairs on necks stand to attention throughout the room. Her combined vocal with Gray on the hushed ‘Eidolon’ was just as heartstopping. 

There were murmurings from the crowd but for the most part everyone was well behaved, lost in the vibe being dished out. A couple in front of us got a proper sway on during the hypnotic build of ‘The Nether (Face To Face)’, the group vocal having this listener almost floating above everyone else in the room. The band were very charming in their brief introductions – “This one’s about water”, “This one’s about sand” – though not everyone was quite so comfortable in the packed out room. “The views shit isn’t it?” An old feller near us announced to his mate, the same old boy who at times was literally pounding his fist into his palm to a beat that was purely his. On the flip side though, the whispered backing vocals from the crowd on the tremendous ‘My God’ would bring a tear to a glass eye.

We went to hear the record in full and I’m fairly sure we heard the lot (with a wee switch-up of the order – which was absolutely welcomed when ‘My God’ came in early). Debut album ‘The Pilgrim, Their God and The King Of My Decrepit Mountain’ completely captured us from the get-go, a record we’ve struggled not to listen to in full whenever it goes on. Judging by their exit from stage on the night being drowned out by rapturous applause, I should think the sold out crowd were pleased with that. Bigger room next time, please!

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Listen to the sixth episode of ’60 Minutes or less’, the new podcast from Birthday Cake For Breakfast – featuring Steve Davis of The Utopia Strong!

Words: Andy Hughes

Finally – a world class athlete on ’60 Minutes or less’, the new podcast from Birthday Cake For Breakfast! For our sixth episode, we welcome royalty – the only guest thus far with an OBE, former world number one in snooker, Steve Davis.

Amassing 71 major titles over his playing career, Davis remains one of the world’s best-known snooker players. Not content with such a glittering career though, Davis shifted gears dramatically when he retired, moving into the world of music, first as a DJ and radio host, then as one third of The Utopia Strong, trading in his snooker cue for a modular synth.

As you can imagine, Steve didn’t come on to talk snooker, nor did he come on to talk about his brief appearance on TV show ‘The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret‘, rather The Utopia Strong have just released a new record – ‘The BBC Sessions’. Capturing a live session the trio recorded at Maida Vale for Marc Riley’s BBC Radio 6 Music show in September 2022, the record – with its brilliant old school cover – is out now via tastemakers Rocket Recordings.

I first met Steve on a night out in Manchester with local lot Trojan Horse almost a decade ago, drinking beers of varying percentages. Not long after that night, I somehow soon appeared on his radio show, The Interesting Alternative Show. Regardless of his credentials, it really didn’t seem that big of a deal having him pop round to our flat in Whalley Range in his lovely motor to record the show, because Steve was so affable and down to earth. Something which I’m sure you’ll hear yourself from our most recent chat.

Just a heads up, we had a few audio issues with this one – not the fault of Steve, mind you. Nothing major, but there were some niggles. Such is the joy of recording over Zoom. Anyhoo, onto the podcast – enjoy!  

A handy Spotify player is embedded below, but you can find further ways to listen here.

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Live Review: The Jesus And Mary Chain at the Albert Hall in Manchester 23 March 2024

Words: Ben Forrester

Let’s start at the end shall we? My night ended with getting the last train back to the Cheshire countryside, as it usually does. But as it was a Saturday night, it was a total war zone, resulting in a group of sleepy drunk teens being individually slapped by fellow passengers in fear of them missing their stop. Even playing super gnarly, early cuts of the band I’d just been to see couldn’t drown out the young lass screaming into her fluorescent bottle of liquid. Was it worth it, I hear you ask? Spoiler alert folks, it was!

Tonight I struck another vital band off my ‘must see live’ list. I can’t say I’ve ever been a hardcore fan of Glaswegian trailblazers The Jesus And Mary Chain, but I’ve always respected their position in British indie rock and having spent the past few weeks tucking into their well revered back catalogue, I was stoked to be catching them at the second of two nights headlining Manchester’s finest venue, the Albert Hall.

But I admit, I did have another big reason for popping into the city tonight and that was to catch support from London’s latest slowcore saviours, Deathcrash. I’d seen the name for this lot darting about for the last few years, but was only recently turned onto their stunning second album ‘Less+’, which came out late last year. This lot have that classic lo-fi indie meets post-rock vibe, which immediately reminded me of ‘Come On Die Young‘-era Mogwai, Slint and Planes Mistaken for Stars. Totally a bit of me. Tonight they start the first of a fairly long stint supporting The Jesus And Mary Chain around Europe and slot nicely into the bill with their instant vocal hooks and slabs of loud guitars.

It’s all about the dynamics with this crew – most tunes in the set start off minimal and grow into something enormous. My favourite moment being ‘Empty Heavy’ from the latest album, which totally rips apart the Albert Hall when it kicks in, strobe lights going like mad. The band all stand in place, gently nodding in unison, almost entranced in their sound, particularly when they really take their time to reach a crescendo. There are moments where everyone locks in and it’s hard not to be pulled in as I find myself swaying with absolute purpose, awaiting the drop.  

It’s really enthralling stuff – the quiet bits are gorgeously textured and tonally twinkling, while the loud bits really fill the room, the bass especially slicing through in a lovely heap of chunky fuzz. I said to my compadre / faithful Ed after the set that whilst I think the surroundings of the venue really suited Deathcrash, seeing this in a smaller, packed out sweatbox would be transcendent! But in short, I really like this band, they are well up my street and the set tonight was proper lovely. It seemed to capture the hearts of the hardcore Mary Chain heads in tonight too, all slowly and agreeably bobbing away in unison.

I had to smile at an excitable old boy stood behind me at the bar who shouted “OH FUCK” as he heard the crowd scream together when the lights dimmed ready for The Jesus and Mary Chain to enter the stage. As we all rushed our orders and stumbled through the seating section of the Albert Hall, I made it back to our Ed to catch the band kick us off with sassy new track ‘JAMCOD’. 

Now, tonight is also quite a special night for the brothers Reid, as it marks the first fully fledged day that their eighth album, ‘Glasgow Eyes’, has been out in the world. Arriving to very complementary reviews, the album sees the band adhering to the swaggering rock ’n’ roll they’re known for, but with a strong electro pulse underneath it, which reminds me a lot of mid-era Primal Scream, who are of course fronted by the band’s first drummer, and still dear friend, Bobby Gillespie. 

The new stuff sounds really fun, though I do find some of the lyrical content on the record a bit cringe (trying to cling onto their youth perhaps). Musically, it still retains that coolness that has exuded this band for all these years and tunes like charged up opener ‘Venal Joy’ and the moody ‘Chemical Animal’ really slot into their greatest hits nicely. 

But of course, the hits really cut through here and the band give us a taste of all eras. From the late 80s indie rock power of tracks like ‘Head On’ and ‘April Skies’ to the crunchy, punishment pop of ‘In A Hole’ and ‘Taste of Cindy’, everyone is all in! From the mosh pits down front to the hands in the air dancers at the back with us, the tunes still sound as vital as they ever did and if that wasn’t enough, they bring psych pop hero Jane Weaver to do backing vocals on the last two tracks, ending the main set on the classic ‘Just Like Honey’. 

Vocalist Jim announces before they launch into the aforementioned hit (in his soft Scottish lilt), “If you stomp yer boots loud enough, we’ll come back”. Both parties oblige – boots are stomped and the band come back on to finish up on a few more. At this point, I’m frequenting the merch desk, eyeing up the solid spread on tonight. I’ve heard that The Jesus and Mary Chain are definitely ones to see live and now I totally get why. The guitars are loud, the tunes are ace and still 40 years on, this lot feel like an effortlessly cool band with so much left to say.

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Do Not Miss: Cold Comfort at The Talleyrand in Levenshulme 21 March 2024

Words: Andy Hughes

We recently wrote of what a treat it is to venture somewhere new for a live show, eschewing regular haunts for Stockport Plaza and, back in December, The Carlton Club in Whalley Range. This Thursday, it’s a pleasure once again to skip town in favour of a gig in Levenshulme, the south Manchester hotspot that’s home to The Talleyrand, a lovely wee bar and live venue.

Off the back of a number of support slots in Manchester of late, solo noise outfit Cold Comfort (a.k.a. Northwich based musician Ben Forrester) returns for his first ever headline outing, bringing his raucous, energetic live show to the fine people of Levenshulme. 

Known for prior endeavours in Bad Grammar, GUG and under the moniker of Peaks, Forrester has been prolific as Cold Comfort, releasing a number of singles, as well as two full length albums.

Support comes from Welsh / Ukrainian hyperpop artist NØELLE, Northern electronica artist Engines and former champion Stones Throw Beat Battler, Astrolayb!

Tickets are just over a fiver via Seetickets or you can grab one for just under a tenner on the door.

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What’s On Michael Portillo’s iPod: The Oscillation

Here at Birthday Cake For Breakfast, we like to get to the heart of what an artist is all about. We feel that what influences them is just as important as the music they make. With that in mind, ahead of releasing new album ‘The Start Of The End‘ (out May via All Time Low Records / Dinked), Demian Castellanos of The Oscillation talks us through a number of influences. Take it away, Demian…

Words: Andy Hughes

Sonic Boom – ‘Things Like This (A Little Bit Deeper)’
(All Things Being Equal, 2020)

“I love the synth textures here, like an enveloping warm blanket that I listened to a lot when it came out in 2020. There’s so much warmth and hi-end fizz which seems to cover every spectrum of sound without seeming cluttering… It’s quite a slab of frequencies yet gentle on the ear at the same time.

‘The Eternal‘ was pretty heavily influenced by a lot of the synth sounds on ‘All Things Being Equal‘ and the overall sound filtered through for the next couple of years into making the new album. I’ve been influenced by Kember ever since hearing ‘Playing With Fire’ aged 17. He was one of the first pop-minded artists I heard talking about a huge array of influences, including avant garde and drone composers, and is a master of layering many sounds to create a cumulative effect that I find quite mind-blowing… There’s always some new layer or sound to find within the tracks.“

The Sand album Desert Navigation
(2011)

“I just remembered I was listening to this a fair bit when I started the album and it influenced the track ‘Body Electric‘. I think Tom Relleen gently frog marched me to the counter of a record shop in France with this Sand album when we were on tour. I think they are a duo. It’s a pretty weird and interesting record from early 70s, early Pink Floyd/Syd Barret vibes almost, but elements of Tangerine Dream… A lot of cool keyboard textures and weird sounds, quite experimental. The first track is really cool, with this strange tremelo/throbbing bass sound. It’s a real grower of a record.“

Loop – ‘Mother Sky’
(Black Sun EP, 1988)

“I’m always going on about this track but it had a huge impact on me when i first heard it, and Loop have been an ongoing influence on most of my records. It was an undeniable influence on the song ‘Mantra’ from the new album. I can’t find the whole EP on youtube but this is from the ‘Black Sun’ record/EP.

I know it’s a Can song but I way prefer Loop’s version… The vocals, guitars, everything. I think they totally took it to another level sonically and made it their own. This just has an incredible focus and intensity to it… But it also sounds open and spacious, whereas the original makes me feel quite claustrophobic and mental. Maybe I’m just too fragile ha ha.

Loop’s version sounds like they heavily analyzed what aspects they wanted to keep and there’s a surgical precision to every sound, nothing is out of place. The drums and percussion are amazing too. Like Jaki Liebezeit, John Wills has a great trippy bounce and feel with his playing, I’m not sure if he even does one fill, apart from the percussion overdubs, but manages to keep you totally hooked for 10 minutes. A truly hypnotic track, it’s like listening with a microscopic ear, you can kind of move around from one sound to another. It never ceases to amaze me.“

Pepe Martinez y Los Flamencos

“When my ears get totally blown or overwhelmed, mainly at the stage of mixing, I find it helpful for my sanity to give myself a break and get away from the awful racket I’m making. I like quite a lot of solo or duet guitar classical and flamenco music, not that I have any knowledge of it… Just a few records I’ve picked up in charity shops that have some great tracks on them. Here’s a flamenco one. I also really enjoy Tárrega, Fernando Sor and a few others I can’t remember right now.“

The Jonathan Fitoussi album Imaginary Lines
(2016)

“I love what this guy is doing. This album is really cool. I came across him via a Hands In The Dark record called ‘Diagonals-Live In London‘ which is awesome. Not sure what to say about it but I like him a lot, along with Bitchin Bajas and DSR Lines.“

‘The Start Of The End‘ is out May 24th 2024 via All Time Low Records! Grab a pre-order of the record right here!

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Live Review: Folly Group at YES in Manchester 14 March 2024

Words: Andy Hughes

It’s funny to think that such a memorable live gig experience involved being hardly able to see the actual band. Such was the case the last time (and maybe first time) I saw Londoners Folly Group, back in 2021 at Manchester Psych Fest. Downstairs in the basement of The Ritz, in a part of the venue I only knew existed seconds before entering the room, I squeezed into the space with a packed crowd of clued up, likeminded punters to catch the hotly tipped outfit. With a view pretty much obscured by a series of pillars, I caught the occasional glimpse of the drummer’s knee or maybe a shadow against the back wall, but it ripped regardless, their sweatbox set a blistering must-see on what was a shit-hot, post-Covid line-up of the inner-city festival.

Not long after, Folly Group followed up the release of their debut EP ‘Awake and Hungry‘ with another EP, ‘Human and Kind‘ (in addition to the small matter of appearing on Metronomy’s collaborative ‘Posse’ EP), before finally releasing their highly anticipated debut full length, ‘Down There!’ at the start of 2024. On these very pages, we suggested that their debut album “matches the same energy and excitement as that first EP” and sure enough, we were chuffed up to get another glimpse of them – this time in the less intimate, though much more visually appealing, Pink Room at YES. 

There were a few hairstyle changes since our last outing with Folly Group, certainly on the part of the now long haired vocalist / drummer Sean Harper. Tapping a stick against his leg as he opened up the set with the spoken word intro for the title track from ‘Awake and Hungry‘, his voice carried through the room almost dreamlike, bassist Tom Doherty suitably in a trance as he crouched down low, staring into the distance, before the quartet kicked things off proper and the thumping and shouting soon came in. Following a great gallop towards its end, Doherty nearly galloped off stage himself, exiting through the back and swiftly returning with set lists for the band, booting over guitarist Louis Milburn’s equipment in the process. “A peak behind the curtain…” Said Harper with a laugh.

Along with percussionist Kai Akinde-Hummel, the noise of the drums sounded immense from the off and there was something so hypnotic about the two bodies hitting away, one stood and the other sat, four arms moving almost in unison. A force together in full flow, Akinde-Hummel’s hair was flying all about him as he vibed off the beat of ‘Four Wheel Drive’. On their debut EP, there were whispers that they were the UK’s answer to Canadian outfit CRACK CLOUD and on Thursday night, Harper did nothing to shift this, yelping away in his black tank top like a southern Zach Choy, glistening as he sang with a similar intensity. There was a hint of N0V3L too (the offshoot of CRACK CLOUD) on debut single ‘Fashionista’, brilliantly opened with a great plink plonk intro from Akinde-Hummel.

As light gleamed off the tuning peg of the bass, an elderly lady to my left filmed half a song with the flash blinding from her camera phone. Guitarist Milburn bounced about on the tips of his toes on ‘Pressure Pad’, his expression often of the ‘let’s ave it‘ variety (when he wasn’t catching a look at his bandmates with a big smile on his face). He announced that his hands had been numb for the first two songs as he’d put Deep Heat on for his stiff neck and forgot to wash it off. Deep Heat a triumph, he was soon jumping up and down and slapping the ceiling above him on fan favourite ‘Butt No Rifle’, as Harper belted out the chorus, vocals whizzing past my head towards the stage from a number of energised individuals behind me.

Akinde-Hummel – moments after shaking the hell out of an egg shaker – jumped behind the kit on ‘I’ll Do What I Can’, but was practically bouncing out of his seat as he thumped away. Harper, having switched places, held onto the microphone stand for dear life as they raced through the rapid chorus, using his fists and palms on the various bits of percussion rather than his sticks. He became a bit more of a Bowie type when up on his feet, more the pouting frontman than the sweating shouter behind the drums.

A right tasty pit opened up toward the end of ‘Frame’, closer from new album ‘Down There!’, and as we got shoved aside to make space for the joyous celebration from a select few, even the old fella stood in front of us got stuck in (later literally jumping on stage and shamelessly crawling past the drum kit to grab a set list…)

Unsurprisingly, given some were literally crawling on stage just to get a piece of them (!), Folly Group returned for a swift encore following much appreciation from the crowd. A big 1-2 thrill ride followed with personal favourites ‘Sand Fight’ and ‘I Raise You (The Price of Your Head)’ keeping the crowd moving without much of a breath between the two songs. As they hammered through the latter, percussionist Akinde-Hummel jumped down into the crowd and handed a cowbell and a drumstick to one lucky punter who had been singing back every word all night, the overjoyed fan soon clanging away as Akinde-Hummel screamed out the chorus and the band thundered away on stage.

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Listen to the fifth episode of ’60 Minutes or less’, the new podcast from Birthday Cake For Breakfast – featuring Peter Brewis of Field Music!

Words: Andy Hughes

Off the back of the first four ‘60 Minutes or less‘ episodes – featuring guests Joe Casey of Protomartyr, Paul Hanley of The Fall, Philip Frobos of Omni and Jonathan Higgs of Everything Everything – it’s a trip to present our fifth episode, featuring Peter Brewis!

A North East musician of note, alongside brother David, Peter is the other half of the brilliant Field Music. He’s also released a solo record as The Week That Was (which recently celebrated a 15 year anniversary) and collaborative albums with Paul Smith and Sarah Hayes.

In October 2023, Peter released ‘Blowdry Colossus’ – a solo album of mostly-instrumental wonky synth-pop, influenced by the likes of Yellow Magic Orchestra. ‘Blowdry Colossus’ was the first solo outing from Peter since The Week That Was in 2008, though as with that album, brother David played on both records.

The recording of this actually took place back in late 2023 – ahead of a sold out show at The Castle Hotel in Manchester, I caught up with Peter in the glamorous backstage area (or should I say a tiny room above the stage stuffed with equipment…) If you had Peter discussing making a metal album on your podcast bingo card, you’ve won a prize!

As ever, if you like what you hear, give us a rating, tell your loved ones and share on the internet (or maybe even print off transcripts and hand them out in the street).

A handy Spotify player is embedded below, but you can find further ways to listen here.

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This One Song… TTSSFU on I Hope You Die

Tell you what – we love hearing from artists when things go right. We equally love hearing from artists when things go dreadfully wrong. A song that was a piece of piss, written in 20 minutes? Or years in the making and a bastard to write?

Whether it’s a song that came together through great duress or one that was smashed out in a short amount of time, we’re getting the lowdown from some of our favourites on the one song that they can’t stop thinking about – in their own words.

In addition to being the lead guitarist for rising Manchester outfit Duvet, Tasmin Stephens a.k.a. TTSSFU has got a new solo record out – ‘Me, Jed and Andy‘, out now on Fear of Missing Out Records! Here she talks us through the single ‘I Hope You Die‘. Take it away, Tasmin…

Words: Andy Hughes (Photo Credit: Der Fotoautomat)

“‘I Hope You Die‘ is a very important song to me as it was about something horrible I went through. I wrote the drums and guitar after trying to play with more interesting chords and then the lyrics came naturally as I thought “i hate you I hope you die“ sounded like a good chorus and I wanted it to maybe make people uncomfortable? I heard a song by Elvis Deppressedly a long time ago called ‘I can’t wait for you to die‘ and I’d never seen a more blunt title – it made me feel a bit odd and uncomfortable, but now I understand. I think sometimes people can be so disgusting and wicked they shouldn’t exist anymore.

When I was writing it, it kinda felt like a manic victory, like when you sneeze and feel like a new person, I felt really evil. Everything just came out – all my anger for this person was put into something I could be proud of. 

I wrote and recorded it all in one day as the idea came about, which is something I do for almost every song. I can hear the music in my head, it just takes a little time to play what is in my brain properly, but I always try to get it all done in one day because otherwise I get lazy and leave it. I learnt this tip off Will Toledo from Car Seat Headrest, he mentioned how he recorded like three albums or something crazy in a matter of months from just getting each song done in one day and I thought that was really smart. You can lose your spirit if you have a break.

I’m a really big fan of The Strokes so for the recent stuff I’ve tried to make music that’s more inspired by them and The Drums, I like a fast bpm and sort of just thought why am I making slow songs when I could just make a fast paced song, because that’s what gets me going. Other than that, for vocals I’m always thinking of people like Broadcast, Soko and Mazzy Star.

I only started performing live at the end of last year in December, so playing this live has been a new thing for me after just being a hermit and doing music from my room and never leaving. I didn’t know if I’d like it but these songs mean a lot to me. I’ve been very honest, I thought singing a song about a traumatic situation would make me curl up and cry or trigger me, but it didn’t – I actually think it’s quite amusing. Most of the shows I’ve played, people have never heard of me or my music and I think it’s really funny for like 50, 100 or more to be asked if they have ever wanted to kill someone. I like the uncomfortable look on their faces – I like how it sets the vibe off. It’s been healing for me and I mean what I say – I believe abusers don’t deserve anything.“

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a/s/l: MAQUINA

Remember the days of the old schoolyard? Remember when Myspace was a thing? Remember those time-wasting, laborious quizzes that everyone used to love so much? Birthday Cake For Breakfast is bringing them back! 

Every couple of weeks, an unsuspecting band will be subject to the same old questions about dead bodies, Hitler, crying and crushes.  

This Week: Ahead of releasing their debut album ‘PRATA’ (out April 5th 2024 via Fuzz Club Records), drummer Halison of Lisbon trio MAQUINA answers a series of inane questions!

Words: Andy Hughes (Photo credit: Francisco Cabrita)

a/s/l?
30, M, Lisbon.

Who is your favourite Simpsons character?
Otto Man the school bus driver.

What T-Shirt are you wearing?
Hetta’s long sleeve (great band from portugal tho).

What did your last text message say?
A bunch of random emojis.

What’s the last song you listened to?
Versinken – Blanche Biau.

How did you meet the people in your band?
Long story short: I have known João since 2017 (I guess) and Tomás a fews years later, introduced by Chaby, a good friend who also mixed our 1st album.

What’s the first record you bought?
Man It Feels Like Space Again – Pond.

What was your favourite VHS growing up?
Pocahontas, it was the only one I had :] 

When was the last time you cried?
Few days ago.

Have you ever kissed someone & regretted it?
I don’t think so.

Best Physical Feature?
I think my hair.

Worst physical feature?
My index finger I guess :3 

Reasonably ok/not bad feature?
I guess my ear.

Do you have any pets?
Yes, a cat she’s beautiful<3

Ever picked up any injuries on tour?
Not bad ones.

What did you do for your last birthday?
Had some beers with my friends, great night.

Name something you CANNOT wait for?
The release of our 2nd LP.

Do you have a crush on someone?
Yes, Blanche Biau :$ 

What’s the shittest experience you’ve had as a musician?
We couldn’t play loud.

If you could go back in time, how far would you go?
Far enough to watch a concert of CAN, NEU and Kraftwerk. 

How do you want to die?
Peacefully.

What’s your favourite thing about pizza?
The dough.

What are you craving right now?
A bath.

Have you ever been on a horse?
Yesss many times, I even fell from a horse when I was kid hahahha

What did you dream about last night?
I don’t remember 😦

If you could go back in time and kill the baby Hitler, would you?
Well, not sure if I could kill a baby, what about helping him to get into the arts? Possibly, the history would be different. Or kill the priest that saved him when he was a child hahah.

Do you like Chinese food?
Yes, not my fav but sure!

Have you ever been on TV?
Local TV back in Brazil yessss.

Ever meet someone famous?
Yes Mac DeMarco, he was doing some solo concerts in Lisbon – he wasn’t so famous at the time, so after the gig we spent some time together, such a kind person. 

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A drummer.

‘PRATA‘ is out April 5th 2024 via Fuzz Club Records! Grab yourself a pre-order of the record here!

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This One Song… Charles Moothart on Hold On

Tell you what – we love hearing from artists when things go right. We equally love hearing from artists when things go dreadfully wrong. A song that was a piece of piss, written in 20 minutes? Or years in the making and a bastard to write?

Whether it’s a song that came together through great duress or one that was smashed out in a short amount of time, we’re getting the lowdown from some of our favourites on the one song that they can’t stop thinking about – in their own words.

Bandmate of Ty Segall (Fuzz and Ty Segall’s Freedom Band) and a solo artist in his own right, Charles Moothart talks us through the song ‘Hold On‘ from his new solo album ‘Black Holes Don’t Choke’ (out now via In The Red Records). Take it away, Charles…

Words: Andy Hughes

“The process of writing and recording ‘Black Holes Don’t Choke‘ was really fun, but also fairly tumultuous. I wanted to make an album that felt different from anything I had made before. I wanted it to sound like me, but in a way that hadn’t been heard to people who don’t know me personally. Or maybe even in a way I hadn’t heard myself yet. I was shifting the lyrics around a lot. I wanted to retain a direct simplicity, and this can make it difficult to represent complex ideas. Obviously this is something that makes lyricism enjoyable and interesting (to me), and it’s also what makes it challenging.

The sonics on this album were meant to be fun and sharp – keeping a nostalgic warmth but also running with colder modern touches. Basically, I had a lot of ideas of how I wanted to bring some new and some familiar elements together, but the path to actual execution wasn’t always totally clear to me.

‘Hold On‘ became the secret key. I would work it over and over, trying to get the drums to feel right; trying to get the main riff to pop out or sit back in the pocket. I couldn’t make it sound right or feel right. I eventually decided to approach the rhythm section with more of a chop and screw mindset. I sampled a take of my drumming and did subtle shifts in EQ to each sample and messed with the BPM and the sample length on an MPC in order to make it sound a little more bumpy. Adding layers of mellotron to get a more dramatic feeling to the turns of the riff opened up a new door, and eventually I realized this song was the cornerstone of the album. Whether or not it’s the strongest song I can’t say objectively obviously because I am way too close to the music. But my obsession became “make ‘Hold On‘ work as the second song of the album and it will bring everything together.” This created a sense of pressure on the song for me that made me feel really self conscious about certain elements – not only of ‘Hold On’ but of other songs on the album as well.

All of this combined and helped show me what the song was going to be about. 

“I’ll hold my weakness. Let it balance out my pride.
It’s no secret that our shadows make us shine.”

The song is a meditation on strength and weakness. Humility and pride. It’s really hard to lean in to being yourself. Especially when you’re making something vulnerable and creative. Even if you don’t want to emulate others, shutting down the critical filter between your creative brain and the physical execution is really difficult. Sometimes that filter is what helps you make the best creative decisions. Other times (more often in my experience) it’s more powerful to own whatever “imperfections” you have and lean into them. These nuances are what make us human. And humanity is what makes us connect on creative and emotional levels. This applies to all relationships as well – creative, emotional, physical.

So ‘Hold On‘ really is the most important song on the album for me. It still gives me a feeling of vulnerability when I hear it back or when the band is playing it live. Which is fun, and it’s nice to be reminded to embrace that mindset in that moment.“

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Album Review: Liam Gallagher & John Squire – S/T

Words: Ben Forrester

Having had an absolutely mammoth 2022, with a number one album landing here in the UK the same weekend as two sold out Knebworth shows, you can forgive Liam Gallagher for wanting a break. But John Squire had other plans! Joining LG onstage to play Oasis epic ‘Champagne Supernova’ at said gigs, it was in rehearsals that Squire mentioned he was writing a record and needed a vocalist. With John’s band The Stone Roses being pretty much the reason the Gallagher’s started a band in the first place, Liam was keen to get his ear around John’s demos and after swapping song links, ranging from Hendrix to the Bee Gees, the duo were off to LA! 

Fair play, they’ve done a blinding job in keeping it a secret, as it was only in January that the news broke with the release of single ‘Just Another Rainbow’. Even then, the album was kept under wraps, so I was chuffed to find out a full length was done and ready to go! The reason for my excitement came from ‘Just Another Rainbow’ being a perfect slice of psychedelic indie. It felt like a match made in heaven, with Squire’s unmistakable guitar tone soaring above Gallagher’s iconic vocal. Both performances were sterling and arguably the best they’ve done since their respective first bands and for me, it’s a contender for single of the year already! 

Liam had claimed that this album featured the best parts of the Roses and the best parts of Oasis, and though I can clearly hear both bands ring through, to me a lot of this feels like an homage to the 60’s. Of course The Beatles and The Rolling Stones lie heavy in these tunes (‘Make It Up As You Go Along’ features Liam’s finest Lennon impression to date), but I can also hear strong hints of The Small Faces and Roxy Music, which I think adds brighter pop tones across the track-list.

There’s some lovely crossovers here. Anthemic opener ‘Raise Your Hands’ sounds like ‘Itchycoo Park‘ if it was written for the Oasis album ‘Don’t Believe The Truth’, whilst the glorious ‘Just Another Rainbow’ is laced with Stone Roses sharpness through a Hendrix psych / blues filter. Truth be told, I would have been happy with an album of songs that all sounded like the latter as it’s a definite highlight, but there’s too much fun to be had elsewhere to keep the consistency levels high.

I’ll be honest, lyrically it can veer to the cheesy side of things quite often, but given its flower power feel, It kinda works against the pep of the arrangements. It’s actually quite nice hearing Liam inject a bit of attitude into John’s words, ‘One Day At A Time’ featuring the amusing line; “I know you’re happy in your suburban trance, you should have fucked me when you had the chance”. There’s something that feels very human about this record, it’s not just love songs, but the mundanities of life tend to creep in a lot, ‘I’m So Bored’ being the most relatable, with its ode to doom scrolling; “I don’t live here anymore, I live in my phone”. 

This feels like a good bit of fun to me, two old friends getting together to pay homage to the band’s that inspired them and inspiring each other to get the best performances they’ve delivered in years. Squire is still shit hot, with killer licks all over this record, while Gallagher sounds way less compressed and pristine as he so often does on his solo records. Here his vocals fizz with a direct rawness. It made me laugh seeing fans were dissatisfied with this record, acting as if they were going to come and redefine Rock N’ Roll. This is a playful album that plays into nostalgia and friendship and if you take it at face value, you’ll get a big old kick out of it. I wasn’t expecting to be quite so charmed by this record, but it totally makes sense that this pair would make a dream team!

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