Another episode of ’60 Minutes or less’ is in the bag! The new-ish podcast from Birthday Cake For Breakfast returns for episode 12 and with it, we turn to music hot-spot Lancaster for our egg-cellent guest, HollyRoss of The Lovely Eggs! Forgive me the pun, as you’ll soon hear, Holly is not fond of them!
Along with husband David Blackwell, Ross makes up the other half of The Lovely Eggs – a two-headed rock and roll monster that’s been ripping it for fifteen plus years, with a handful of records under their collective belts and collaborations over the years with Pigsx7 and living leg-end Iggy Pop.
Their new album ‘Eggsistentialism’ is out now via their very own Egg Records – a stormer to add to their varied collection, with a number of its singles even bothering the Official UK Charts top 10 in vinyl sales!
A flying visit for this episode as they were deep into the final promotional push, the interview schedule coinciding with their sending of a mammoth amount of records out to their loyal fanbase of egg-heads by hand. We were happy to catch Holly for half an hour over Zoom the week they released the album, to talk about Ivor Cutler, egg-based puns, DIY, soul-searching and their efforts to save The Lancaster Music Co-op.
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One of the UK’s most treasured voices, Beth Gibbons finally gives us her debut solo album. Known best as one third of the incendiary Portishead, Gibbons has weaved in and out of the music world, her band climaxing in popularity in the late 90s, whilst a collaboration with Rustin Man got all the accolades in the early 00s.
Admittedly, hearing a solo record from Beth at all seemed unlikely at some points, but I sure am glad to have ‘Lives Outgrown’ in my ears. Written and recorded over the past decade, Beth self-produced the album alongside long-term Arctic Monkeys producer James Ford and Lee Harris from Talk Talk. This is quite the dream team I think you’d agree, but the results might not quite be what fans of Portishead might expect.
This is a dark, brooding folk record focussing mainly on acoustic guitar and of course Beth’s incredible voice. She has one of those voices that could sound great in any genre, but this atmospheric folk vibe suits her so well, like she’s been churning out records like this for years. Now in her late 50’s, this is an album from the mid course of life. Loss and grief lie at the forefront of these songs, but what you also get is someone who is reflecting on their life and feeling a sense of gratitude of getting through it. ‘Floating On A Moment’ might be of the most iconic moment on the record, an instant classic in my eyes, as a slinky bass line floats around brushed drums, delicate strings and choral backing vocals; Beth sounds elevated and it is completely stunning.
The rest of the album feels a lot starker in comparison, moving through this kind of gloomy old English sound reminiscent of later day PJ Harvey, with smatterings of Thom Yorke; ‘Burden Of Life’ sounds like it should be on ‘I Inside the Old Year Dying’ while ‘Reaching Out’ is very ‘Hail To The Thief‘-esque. But of course, it’s Gibbons‘ writing and performances that make this totally hers. ‘Lives Outgrown’ displays the journey of a life well lived, it’s an album Beth Gibbons could have only made at this point in her life and is a beautifully haunting and glacially engaging comeback. A late night, candle-lit listen if ever I heard one.
Hailing from Liverpool, this ensemble of musicians have been pushing the boundaries of guitar music for well over a decade now. In fact, it’s been eight years since we last had an Ex-Easter Island Head record. What is so fascinating about this lot is how they come up with creative ways of playing guitar, using them percussively or even stripping them apart and repurposing them with keys.
On hearing the minimalist electronica of the title track, I was mesmerised by its gently building beauty. But when I saw a recent live version, my mind was blown seeing that the whole track was played live using guitars and drums, most members playing two things at a time. From that moment, this album brought on a whole new lease of life for me.
This is an incredibly detailed soundscape of experimental music that builds layers of sound, mostly messing around with guitars but also looking into voice and sampling. Now to be frank, ’Norther’ feels like the most, quote on quote, song on the album and to be honest it might be one of my favourite tracks of the year so far… But on repeated listens, the rest of the album sucks you in, steeped in beautiful textures and bewildering sonics that take you off to a new realm.
‘Weather’ is the 9 minute opener that sounds like you’re standing in a rain cloud, while ‘Lodestone’ sounds like you’re moving through a never ending cave of percussive guitars and chimes. This is deep focus music and I’ve found it quite the soundtrack – both in cleaning the house and stargazing. Deep, meditative and smart, ’Norther’ is an impressive effort.
Making waves in the New York underground, these young fired up troops are rapidly making it across the globe, getting headline slots in Europe and getting loads of airtime in the UK. Much like a lot of this current new school crew, Lip Critic are taking a heap of different ideas and mashing them into their own uniquely bonkers sounds.
Take earth shaking sub bass lines, put two drums on top of that and have a dude shouting, rapping and talking over the top of that and you get a pretty fun sound. ‘Hex Dealer’ is their debut album proper and is a cacophony of vibrant noises that bridge the gap between night club heft and punk snarl. In the same way that Show Me The Body came out swinging with a fresh take on rap-punk, there is a wild ambition and youthful abandon that makes ‘Hex Dealer’ a ripping debut.
This is full of groove, full of attitude and is ready to push you into a sweaty mosh pit. Nearly every tune here packs the same intensity, but ’In The WaWa(Convinced I Am God)’ and ’The Heart’ also show off solid musicianship and strong songwriting. I will say that this record can be a bit full on at times and some tunes hit harder than others. I feel like it’s gonna be one of those albums where I visit a heap of tunes from it, but maybe don’t dive into the whole thing. But as far as debut records go, these dudes have got something insanely cool going on.
‘I am Moron’ seemed like a step up for Lancashire duo The Lovely Eggs. It just seemed to live in its own universe and sounded absolutely massive. It’s been four years since then and it’s lovely to see the rise of these two after nearly two decades doing it. ‘Eggsistentialism’ is their seventh record and again has US producer legend Dave Fridmann at the helm, so you know it’s gonna be another pysch-punk banger! That’s exactly what it is too!
Holly and David are a two piece rock band at their core, with a simplistic drums / guitar set up, but there’s a plethora of synths and drum machines too – we are back on Planet Egg for another alt-pop odyssey. This band are so good at delivering big hooks and I’d argue that this is maybe their most instant record to date; ‘My Mood Wave’ sounds like Teenage Fanclub in their chart bothering days, while ‘People TV’ has Flaming Lips flamboyancy all over it. But of course, scuzzy guitars and crashing drums give this album its punked up attitude, opening track ‘Death Grip Kids’ kicking us off with the incredible line “Shove your funding up your arse”.
‘Eggsistentialism‘ is the sound of a band at the peak of their powers. It’s just got everything. It can be really sincere and sweet, but also totally scathing and full of piss and vinegar. It ups the pysch-pop expansion (which I’m all for), whilst retaining the fuzz rock massiveness that made ‘I am Moron’ so great. This might well be their best record. A true wonder of the British underground.
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As if it’s bloody March already?! Alongside our bumper playlist for the year (bringing together everything we’ve been loving from January through to now), the ‘Listening Post’ returns this month and it’s full of the good stuff!
Ease into spring with our March playlist – 20 tunes, old and new – featuring everything that’s been tickling our fancy of late. Be sure to tell your friends / family / pets too!
The hype for South-London-based sextet Tapir! hadn’t gone unnoticed here at Birthday Cake ForBreakfast HQ, and their brilliantly titled debut album ‘The Pilgrim, Their God and The King Of My Decrepit Mountain‘ is quite the triumph. With shades of BC:NR and Caroline in the mix, ‘My God’ is a heavenly heart-swelling piece that really hits one in the feels.
Having wooed us with their 2019 Sub Pop debut, ‘Junior‘, Montreal outfit Corridor reemerge in 2024 with a new album out next month (which rather cutely is named after the guitarist / vocalist’s cat). Whilst my Duolingo French hasn’t quite got me up to speed on the lyrics, the cinematic ‘Mourir Demain’ is a real slice of loveliness from the quartet where they ruminate on the march towards death.
How’s this for a speedy formation? Having met on a dating app in 2021, Aussie musicians Imogen Grist and Marcus Gordon not only tied the the knot in swift fashion, they also started a band too. Inspired by the likes of Nancy & Lee and Sonny & Cher, their latest single ‘Knife’ is a real hypnotic treat, like the track over the end credits of some bittersweet love story.
Having previously appeared on these very pages mid-Covid 19, around the release of ‘Lip Critic II’, New York electro-punks Lip Critic return off the back of signing to tastemakers Partisan Records with the head-spinner that is recent single ‘The Heart’. Rapid doesn’t cut it, this is one to get the heart rate up.
Four years on from the release of ‘I Am Moron’ (with collaborations with Iggy Pop and Pigsx7 in-between), two-headed Northern noise makers The Lovely Eggs return to 2024 with a new album ready to go! Lead single ‘My Mood Wave’ is properly lovely and calls to mind the fuzz-pop we loved so much from Leeds lot Menace Beach.
Wait a minute, you’re telling me Barry Hyde – him out of our favourite group The Futureheads – did an Ivor Cutler covers record?! Big Ivor Cutler fan. Massive Barry Hyde fan. What a match made in heaven. Whereas Cutler’s original was a quirky twee thing, Hyde really puts a lovely spin on it. Magic.
Now this – this is your kitchen dancing DEVO record, I reckon. Just the other evening I was cooking in the kitchen, breaking off to energetically dance with our Plummer Terrier to cuts from the incredibly 80s sounding ‘Shout’. ‘Puppet Boy’ is catchier than that 100 day cough that’s been doing the rounds.
Due to the haze of the pandemic, it feels like the last METZ record ‘Atlas Vending’ came out only a few months ago, rather than almost four years ago (!) Time playing tricks the way it does, METZ returned at the tail end of February to take our minds off it with not one, but TWO new singles from a forthcoming new album! ’99’ just clinches it for us, a raging return with a chorus heavy on the repetition that just won’t quit!
Upon hearing ‘Riding Cobbles’ for the first time, it came as no surprise to hear Cate Le Bon was involved in the making of A. Savage’s latest record, ‘Several Songs About Fire’. Full of quirks, this sounds very much like something you’d hear on a DRINKS record (the Le Bon collaboration with Tim Presley of White Fence), full of plink-plonk instrumentation and dreamy dual vocals.
I don’t know how it happened, but BBC Radio 3 is now a regular fixture in my weekday mornings and Saturday afternoons. Love that ‘J to Z’! ‘Grow’ was a recent discovery from it, a riveting jazz bopper from the team at Planet Q, the collaboration between players Kyoko Takenaka and Tomoki Sanders, two artists from the Japanese diaspora.
All this talk of artists not having released a record for three or four years – Liverpudlian lot Ex-Easter Island Head have not had a new album out since 2016! Last month saw the quartet release the title track from their forthcoming new album ‘Norther’ (out May via Rocket Recordings) and first impressions call to mind the type of instrumental wizardry that blew us away on that last Horse Lords record. Spellbinding bit of kit, this!
The Fall – No Bulbs 3 (Call For Escape Route)
Fell into a bit of a Mark E. Smith lyrics rabbit hole just the other day learning about ‘No Bulbs 3’. Is it about a junkie? Is it really about someone unable to find a belt to hold their trousers up in a messy flat? Whatever the case, it’s an infectious piece from one of my favourite lineup eras of the Northern leg-ends.
What a dream this is from British-Nigerian artist and composer TonyNjoku. From a new EP out this May (via the ever dependable PRAH Recordings), ‘La Ruée‘ is engrossing from note one, a classical piece that isn’t afraid to blur the lines with electronic and ambient leanings.
Part of the Sub Pop Singles Club to start off the year, it’s always a joy to hear new music from London based trio Vanishing Twin. ‘Life Drummer’ is a moody banger that hardly lets up, its abstract lyrics adapted from a chapter from ‘The Listening Book’ by W.A. Mathieu.
Following the release of their debut single ‘The Giant‘ in October 2023, Southern lot Pencil set phasers to stun with their delightful new single ‘The Window’. The first act from Moshi Moshi Records’ relaunched Singles Club, the new single reminds us of some of the loveliness encountered on Modern Nature records. Nice to see Cai Burns in the mix too, the ex-Kagoule guitarist / vocalist whom we’ll always have time for.
Hearing this for the first time the other week, I thought Ouija Psych Pop super group TheMoonlandingz had a new single out! Sadly not, but this is just as good – a trippy, psych adventure called ‘Moon Pale and Moon Gold’ from multi-instrumentalist Jennifer Baron and all her mates.
We loved William Doyle’s ‘Great Spans of Muddy Time’ record from 2021, so were chuffed up to hear the Londoner had a new album on the way this year. The snappy ‘Now In Motion’ is a cucumber cool burst of wonky art-pop that sounds like Field Music at their best.
Yeti Bones and theOGM, the New Jersey duo Ho99o9, explode into 2024 with the nails ‘A Machine Of’, a brutal blend of hardcore, industrial and hip-hop that makes one want to punch a hole in the sun on its heaviest moments. Ahead of its release, the pair’s socials suggested we “brace for impact” – too right!
It’s getting silly now with Leeds, isn’t it? For years now, all the new and super exciting outfits seem to have emerged from Leeds and we can’t get enough of them! On ‘R&B’, taken from their forthcoming debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’, band of the moment English Teacher explore ideas of imposter syndrome on a moody post-punk number that calls to mind fellow Leeds lot Drahla.
Yet another wonk-pop winner from the forthcoming Dana Gavanski album ‘LATE SLAP’. We’ve compared the London based artist to Cate Le Bon before (and to be honest, I can see us doing it again and again), but we can assure you that such a comparison is a huge compliment. Funnily enough though, it’s actually Talking Heads that provided the influence on this one, which is just as good!
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