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 ‘angeltape‘ (out April via Captured Tracks), Rob Riggs and Luciel Brown of Drahla talkus through a number of influences. Take it away, Rob and Luciel…
Rob Riggs (bass, vocals): “Like many other records, I heard about this one through London based record shop World of Echo. It made me want to go ballistic and make an improv noise record. I remember saying to everyone “we should make a record like this!” It’s made up of four songs lasting 44 minutes. I love how the first track sounds like the end of a composition as it opens with repeated staccatos, which oddly remind me of ‘HerMajesty‘ by The Beatles, the last tune on ‘Abbey Road‘, one of my all time favourite records. On ‘angeltape’ I’m happy we managed to incorporate some improvised playing on to the record, all of the sax on the closing track was put down on first listen.“
Rob Riggs: “For me, the energy and rawness on these live incarnations further enhance the scope of the bands song writing and musicianship. Recorded in 1977 and co-produced by Tony Wilson, it encapsulates everything that excites me about music and being in a band; the unpredictable strangulation of sounds, the freedom and range of instrumentation, from no wave and funk to tape loops and clarinet, like everything ThisHeat put out, it’s a document of true artistic expression.“
Luciel Brown (guitar, vocals): “I fell in love with this album when it came out. I’d listened to a few earlier FKA songs and thought they were great but this record felt different and quite addictive. I wasn’t really listening to that much music at the time and I think this record was kind of what I needed to break me out of that. I love the mixtape element, how it just changes and splits direction, the recordings of conversations and just the authenticity to it. Favourite track: lightbeamers.“
Luciel Brown: “I’m really into the work of Sharna Osborne, it makes me think of ‘gummo’ and flip phones. I’ve followed them for a while now and their work is both visually and conceptually inspiring. They do a lot of collaborative fashion photography, it’s mainly low-resolution imagery and the colouration is quite saturated and thoughtful. There’s an acne shoot from last year featuring an image where a model is posed, resting one of their baby blue, patent leather, kitten heeled boots on a petrol lawn mower against the backdrop of an 80’s looking interior with a brassy lit wall sconce. They’re just odd images and a great stimulant to create.“
H Hunt – ‘Wrong II‘ (Playing Piano For Dad, 2016)
Luciel Brown: “I find the algorithm thing quite strange and almost never that ideal really, but this song was one of those discoveries to be grateful for. It’s just piano, you can hear the room and the pressing of the keys. It’s a song you want to reach inside of and just stay there a moment and then a moment more. We’d had an idea for one of the album tracks and hearing this song definitely helped spur that idea on.“
‘angeltape‘ is out April 5th 2024 via Captured Tracks! Grab a pre-order of the record right here!
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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!
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!
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.
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 MikeLindsay at his studio in Margate.
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!
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.
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 ‘MyBestFriend’.
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.
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 (ParquetCourts) fronts the aptly named Maxband. Latest single ‘Nothing’s Changed’, from their forthcoming debut album, is a swish indie-rock number with some bite.
Sounding not too dissimilar to ‘Blowdry Colossus’, the latest solo album from Peter Brewis of FieldMusic, ‘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.
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.
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!)
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.
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.
As a massive fan of Savage’s 2017 solo debut, ‘Thawing Dawn’, I was chuffed up to see the ParquetCourts 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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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