Listening Post – February 2024

Words: Andy Hughes

Eagle-eyed readers might’ve spotted the lack of a ‘Listening Post’ at the start of the year. We’ve been a bit busy launching a podcast you see – ’60 Minutes or less’ – live now, featuring interesting chats with Joe Casey (Protomartyr) and Paul Hanley (The Fall)!

That doesn’t mean we’ve had our ears closed to new music, mind. Alongside our bumper playlist for the year (bringing together everything great throughout 2024), the ‘Listening Post’ returns this month and it’s full of good stuff!

Ease out of January and into February with 20 tunes, old and new – be sure to tell your friends / family / pets too!

Fulu Miziki – Pieteron

With a name that roughly translates as “music from the garbage”, Ugandan outfit Fulu Miziki look like superheroes from an early 80s Troma film series, decked out in eye-boggling attire, playing a number of instruments that they themselves have upcycled. Latest single ‘Pieteron’ is a heart-racing mover-and-shaker to get your body bopping!

Pissed Jeans – Moving On
(Half Divorced)

Off the back of releasing brutal standalone single ’No Convenient Apocalypse’ last year (one of our Top 50 songs of 2023!), Pennsylvania’s Pissed Jeans look to 2024 with the release of their sixth album, ’Half Divorced’. Lead single ‘Moving On’ treads a little lighter than the last single, but still thunders ahead in chest-pumping fashion, the chorus becoming an instant earworm after just one go. 

Dana Gavanski – How To Feel Uncomfortable
(LATE SLAP)

Early contender for single of the year, ‘How To Feel Uncomfortable’ is a riveting, Cate Le Bon style wonk-pop affair that’s had us hooked since it was released early last month. There’s a hint of LUMP in the mix too, which makes sense given that the new album from Dana Gavanski was recorded with Mike Lindsay at his studio in Margate.

BODEGA – Tarkovski
(Our Brand Could Be Yr Life)

Rejoice – a new year comes with news of a new record from BODEGA! The new Yorkers have dipped into their back catalogue, putting together a new record of material originally written almost a decade ago. Anthemic lead single ‘Tarkovski’ is a joy, capturing everything we love about the outfit in a sparkling four minute package. TAKE ME TO THE ZONE!

We actually heard a number of cuts from the record in a live stylee a number of years back and can confirm they sounded rad back then!

Omni – Plastic Pyramid
(Souvenir)

PUMP! PUMP! PUMP UP THE PYRAMID! Ahead of releasing their fourth full length later this month (via Sub Pop), Atlanta’s Omni return with possibly their catchiest single to date. Featuring the fitting coolness of guest vocalist Izzy Glaudini (a first for the trio), ‘Plastic Pyramid’ is a swish post-punk delight and yet another addictive addition to their oeuvre.

Ty Segall – My Best Friend
(Three Bells)

Sounding very much like a ‘Rated R’ b-side, Californian cool lad Ty Segall once again shines with a groove-tastic, fuzzy number about his canine companions, Fanny and Herman. As a dog owner, I sing to my own dog constantly throughout the day, so I feel a kinship with Ty and the gnarly ripper that is ‘My Best Friend’.

Gustaf – Starting and Staring
(Package Pt. 2)

Following the release of their debut album ‘Audio Drag For Ego Slobs’ in 2021, Brooklyn’s Gustaf return this spring with its follow up, ‘Package Pt. 2’. Groovy new single ‘Starting and Staring’ is a stone cold bop, capturing some of the energy and intensity that vocalist Lydia Gammill and the rest of the crew bring to their live shows. 

Maxband – Nothing’s Changed
(Maxband On Ice)

I love how as soon as the chorus hits in this one, it’s like – oh that’s one of the Savage’s! Switching out drums for guitar and taking on shared vocal duties, Max Savage (Parquet Courts) fronts the aptly named Maxband. Latest single ‘Nothing’s Changed’, from their forthcoming debut album, is a swish indie-rock number with some bite. 

Marcos Resende & Index – Behind the Moon
(Marcos Resende & Index)

Sounding not too dissimilar to ‘Blowdry Colossus’, the latest solo album from Peter Brewis of Field Music, ‘Behind the Moon’ is a brilliantly wonky pop piece of the ‘Mother Earth’s Plantasia’ variety. From a recently “unearthed” self-titled debut album recorded in Rio de Janeiro in 1976 from progressive Brazilian instrumental musician Marcos Resende.

(Photo Credit: Courtney Deutz)

Uranium Club – Small Grey Man
(Infants Under The Bulb)

We were filled with utter delight upon waking up one morning in January to discover The Minneapolis Uranium Club had not only resurfaced, but that there’d be a new album on the way – their first since ‘The Cosmo Cleaners’ back in 2019. New single ‘Small Grey Man’ is a total trip, their quirky DEVO vibes making for a welcome return. 

Diode – Tomothy
(Diode)

Oh we do love rapid-fire synth-punk gnarliness on Birthday Cake For Breakfast. Dig this from Los Angles outfit Diode, a super catchy speed-run that packs in so much, but is somehow just over a minute long (just how we like It!) 

Half Man Half Biscuit – She’s in Broadstairs
(Cammell Laird Social Club)

From Birkenhead with love, amazingly it’s taken me 20 years to discover the brilliant ‘She’s In Broadstairs’, but there’s no looking back now. Piss-funny and invigorating all at once, a top turn from Half Man Half Biscuit.

Jane Weaver – Perfect Storm
(Love In Constant Spectacle)

Psych-pop funkiness on this infectious cut from Jane Weaver, ‘Perfect Storm’ being the opener from her forthcoming new album ‘Love In Constant Spectacle’, out this April. It’s more than easy to get lost in this proper hypnotic, cosmic jam.

A. Savage – Out Of Focus
(Several Songs About Fire)

As a massive fan of Savage’s 2017 solo debut, ‘Thawing Dawn’, I was chuffed up to see the Parquet Courts vocalist return once more in a solo capacity with the release of new album, ‘Several Songs About Fire’. Closer ‘Out Of Focus’ is a heart-swelling slice of loveliness that sounds like the perfect soundtrack to a sunny Sunday jaunt in a sleepy European village.

Drahla – Default Parody
(angeltape)

Off the back of a few knockout singles these past few years, Leeds / Wakefield collective Drahla finally follow up their 2019 debut album ‘Useless Coordinates’ with a full length, due out this spring. As they so often do, Drahla knock it out of the park instantly, new single ‘Default Parody’ being a jagged post-punk head-wrecker, elevated as ever by the cucumber cool vocal of Luciel Brown.

USA Nails – Cathartic Entertainment
(Feel Worse)

Making their label debut with One Little Independent Records next month, USA Nails kick off new album ‘Feel Worse’ with the gnarly, chaotic ’Cathartic Entertainment’, yet another blistering ear-ringer that has had us making that smell-the-shit face all month. What a way to open a record!

Donny Benét – American Dream
(Infinite Desires)

Sounding like the sort of thing David Earl would cook up for a jingle on Chatabix, Donny Benét’s ‘American Dream’ is a total nostalgic funk-fest. With an aesthetic not too dissimilar to fellow countryman / weirdo Alex Cameron, it’s taken a sixth album for us to discover Benét, but with ‘Infinite Desires’, we’re happy to be on board.

Group Listening – Frogs
(Walks)

It feels very on brand for Group Listening to open up their newest single ‘Frogs’ with – you guessed it – 60 seconds worth of frogs chattering away. The ongoing musical collaboration between Paul Jones and Stephen Black (a.k.a. Sweet Baboo), their forthcoming album ‘Walks’ will be their first collection of completely original compositions. With a hint of an Italian cinema score to it, ‘Frogs’ is a luscious pool to swim in.

Dog Race – It’s The Squeeze

Love an oddball vocal, me! On top of a moody but inviting, keep-you-on-your-toes instrumental, vocalist Katie Healy captivates on ‘It’s The Squeeze‘ with an almost theatrical performance. Freshly signed to Fascination Street Records, one gets the feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from Londoners Dog Race!

Ibibio Sound Machine – Got To Be Who U Are
(Pull The Rope)

A decade on from the release of their self-titled debut album, Ibibio Sound Machine have just announced a new album is on the way – ‘Pull The Rope’ – the news arriving via show-stopping, sultry dance-a-thon lead single ‘Got To Be Who U Are’. London-born Nigerian vocalist Eno Williams graces the records cover once again and rightly so, having put on the usual powerhouse performance as expected!

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This One Song… USA Nails on Feel Worse

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.

Off the back of announcing their new album ‘Feel Worse‘ (out March 22nd 2024 via One Little Independent Records), guitarists / vocalists Steven Hodson and Gareth Thomas of USA Nails talk us through their new single of the same name. Take it away, Steven and Gareth…

Words: Andy Hughes (Photo Credit: Patrick Smith)

Steven: “Right, I’ll be completely honest here, I don’t really think I was involved much with the writing of the music of this tune. I remember listening to demos of songs Dan, Tom and Gareth were working on and planning to record with Wayne (Adams – Petbrick etc) and I’m pretty sure this was one of them. The three of them recorded a bunch of music they had written in London whilst I was doing raindrops and eating butter pies in Chorley, then sent me the mixes and I shoehorned some guitar and moaning in there. It wasn’t our usual way of working and I found the whole process quite hard. Not being present when a song is being formed was strange for me as I’m a bit of a practice room sergeant major.

We thought we’d have a bit of a theme with this record and laughing at the misfortune of others, or schadenfreude, seemed like a fun topic to explore. ‘Feel Worse‘, the song, is about the horrible nicknames kids give each other at school. Sometimes playful comments and ribbing can be taken to heart and definitely as kids we go through these learning curves of being complete shits to our nearest and dearests. Being a teacher myself I’ve had to support loads of spuds through these types of issues. Some would label it bullying but, at times, I’m not sure if that is helpful. I think the harm comes from a place of insecurity from the perpetrator.

I had no idea of what to play guitar-wise on this song so I just turned two horrible distortion pedals on and mashed my hand on a nasty chord then bent the strings around in the middle 8. I love Gareth’s mad guitar bits in this section too. I also did a bit of ‘spelling the song title out’ in this bit, a bit of a homage to ‘Be Aggressive‘ by Faith No More.

So yeah. Try not to make people feel worse… but ultimately, you probably will… but yeah, try not too.“

Gareth: “The writing for this song and a bunch of the songs from the album was a bit different as Steven says, now that he’s moved back up north, and the rest of us are down in London. Steven is always such a tornado of momentum when we are writing together, so we had to try and figure out a new way to work. I think it can be useful to force yourself to do things in a different way sometimes though, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone can help you break new ground, but it can also obviously be quite challenging.

At first we felt quite rudderless, and at times the process didn’t feel ideal as we were used to having a quick back and forth in the room and then – bang – song is written. But it was quite painful getting started on stuff as a 3, trying to figure out where to leave space for other guitar parts and vocals. In a way it was a bit of an experiment, writing in this way, and we’ve learnt a lot about how to make it easier on ourselves next time. Having said that, I love this number now, and the bunch of songs we ended up with, so i guess, the ends justify the means?

We made the video ourselves, as we almost always do. I originally had some ideas about doing a narrative based video, but got cold feet at the last minute so ended up doing something more abstract, as my visual art sort of background is more based in analogue photography and such.

I had this idea about projecting and refilming band footage onto different textures and shapes but couldn’t quite get it to look good. So, bit of a brainwave maybe – I sellotaped a chopstick to a turntable, and stabbed a ball of crumpled up paper on the top of it and projected onto that. Turned the lights down in the room and then got super close up with my camera and ended up with the weird rippling effect you see. So all the effects are totally practical, which gives me a huge sense of smugness. Though to be honest if I was clever enough to achieve this digitally I would have, I wouldn’t know where to start with that sort of thing though. Danny on the other hand, is all about that stuff, so keep an eye out for his video for one of our next singles!“

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