Bugeye

Having made a splash in 2016 and 2017 with airplay from luminaries such as BBC 6 Music, Steve Lamacq and rave reviews from the likes of God Is In The TV, female fronted, disco-punk band, Bugeye, return with their new single, I’m Not the One and a UK tour with sold out shows.  

Taking obvious inspiration from early pop punk bands such as, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Altered Images with a visual nod to David Lynch and punch-drunk productions, I’m Not The One sees the band take on a slightly darker pop approach than previous offerings, with a video production debut from front women, Angela Martin as the music video director and producer.

Bugeye sound like the bastard child of Ian McCulloch and P J Harvey with this single release by their prodigy seeing them as proud parents with their love-child Bugeye getting top marks for their GCE A level Music Module with I'm Not The One. 

OK, OK that's as surreal a comparison as I can stretch to; but it's as big a compliment as I can pay.

"When dreams in the waking world don’t come true, we expect escapism in our dreams at night, but often receive the opposite which this song and video explore. It's a piece about isolation, about an inner pleading for everything to be OK in the morning, but instead we’re plagued with nightmares.  The lyrics repeat to represent the continued struggle of how we are all waiting for something, mostly an un-articulated something and that we, as humans, can only have respite for a fleeting moment."  

Written by Bugeye front woman, Angela Martin, the song revisits, on a more personal note, taking care of her Mother in her final weeks of life in 2013 where diary notes that later influence the song state; 

"I’m not the one that saves the day, I’m not the smart one that thinks of a cure, but maybe tonight I’ll think of something to ease the coming days to give you peace."

Brian's spinning I'm Not The One on the Radio KC Indie Show April 1st so make sure you tune in from 5-7pm GMT.

MAR21

Bugeye / Heavy Lids / whathappenedonthatisland /Devils in Skirts Wed 19:00 · Hosted by Bugeye

West Street Live Sheffield

APR13

Bugeye / The Empty Page / Hexmaze / Blue Mean Eyes Fri 19:30 · 775 guests

New Cross Inn London

The Slow Readers Club

Well feted after the release of their debut album The Slow Readers Club now bring us their second offering Cavalcade with it's 12 tracks of indie pop infused electro goodness. 

Strong  song writing and vocals overlaid on consumate musicality will see this album push them even further to the fore.

The Slow Readers Club seem to be on the cusp of being the next big musical Manchester thing as this album flows from potential single to potential single with Ralph already having played Start Again many a time on his Radio KC Indie Show.






But it's not just Ralph that's featured The Slow Readers Club regularly as the band's previous four singles have enjoyed extensive airplay on BBC 6 Music and Don't Mind was selected for a coveted slot on Steve Lamacq's Round Table which saw the single awarded a very respectable 7/10 from each guest on the panel.





Playlisted twice on Xfm, featured three times as the station's Shock of the New and with their single Forever In Your Debt selected as one of the top 5 singles of the week in December 2014, it seems that journalist and musician John Robb was absolutely right to predict that 2015 will see The Slow Readers Club breaking through to become one of the most important bands to emerge from Manchester's music scene in recent years.





The Slow Readers Club regularly receive rave reviews for their live shows and 2014's highlights include a sold out show at Manchester’s Night and Day and appearances at Tramlines Festival, Party in the Pines and Blackthorn Festival together with support slots for Catfish & The Bottlemen, The Struts, Reverend and the Makers and The Sunshine Underground.  

The band will be  touring Cavalcade throughout April 2015 and I'd advise you to catch a show near you!

TUESDAY 31ST MARCH

THE MACBETH - LONDON

The Macbeth, 70 Hoxton Street, London N1 6LP
Tickets £5 Click here to buy

FRIDAY 3RD APRIL

THE ABACUS - SCUNTHORPE

The Abacus, 177-195 High Street, Scunthorpe,
North Lincolnshire DN15 6LN
FREE ENTRY

FRIDAY 17TH APRIL

VERVE - LEEDS

Verve, 16 Merrion Street, City Centre, Leeds LS1 6PQ
FREE ENTRY

SATURDAY 18TH APRIL

ACADEMY 3 - MANCHESTER

Manchester Academy 3, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PR
Tickets £8 Click here to buy

THURSDAY 23RD APRIL

THE ROCKING CHAIR - SHEFFIELD

The Rocking Chair, 23 Furnival Gate, Sheffield S1 4QR
Tickets £5 Click here to buy

Desert Ships

Musical news for today comes in the form of a dreamy EP release by Desert Ships called Skyliner. 

Desert Ships are composed of Mikey on vocals and guitar, Daniel on bass and vocals with Claude on drums and vocals and forming in 2012 then releasing their debut album Doll Skin Flag in the same year.  The album, produced by acclaimed musician and producer Mark Gardener formerly of seminal shoegaze band Ride was met with huge critical acclaim.







Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records described the band as having “some great fucking songs” and Mark Gardener described his time working with Desert Ships as “a total pleasure, a total trip.”

The London based trip-tonic Desert Ships describe their sound as heavily cinematic. Haunting guitar loops and hypnotic grooves allow the dream-like melodies to weave in and amongst each other, while the three-part vocal harmonies bring a spacey, ambient tint to the eclectic mix.  Comparisons have been drawn with the likes of Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, and at times even the rousing film scores of John Barry.  Lead singer Mikey describes the band’s music as “a reverb drenched apocalyptic experience”.

Desert Ships have played numerous festivals since the release of Doll Skin Flag, and toured with the likes of The Prodigy, Band of Skulls, Babyshambles and The Rifles as well as radio airplay from XFM's John Kennedy, BBC 6 Music's Steve Lamacq and BBC Radio London Calling's Gary Crowley.  They consistently receive radio play on local stations in the UK, US, Europe and South America.









The Skyliner EP is trip-tastic and Desert Ships are psychedelic as you can get, kicking of with the shoegazy title track Skyliner which drifts dreamily into the excellent Shell Shock. They follow that up with Heart Beats which has shades of Rubberbear, before finishing with the more industrial and edgy Ausgang, my favourite on the EP and for me it's a 9/10.




Gigs

Sat 8th Nov

 EP Launch: Cherry Cola club night at The Purple Turtle, Camden, London.

IC1s

Summer's nearly here and band's are starting to get their new releases out there and IC1s are no different.  June 3rd sees the release of their latest single 'Growing Up, Going Down'.  Ralph's had a sneak peak at the new single and it's a proper rock n rolla.  It's a guitar driven anthem that'll sit well with any Festival crowd and a definite hat tip to their musical influences.

From the first guitar riff it grabs you, shakes you and doesn't put you down until the last note!

Ic1s are Daniel Coburn - Vocals, Jesse James - Guitars, John Campbell - Guitars, Andy Faulkner- Drums and Jacob Osman - Bass and they're all in your face Indie pop at its absolute best.

IC1s debut single ‘Levitate’ saw success as the 2nd most downloaded new entry in the ITunes Alternative Singles Chart in its week of entry, resulting in a chart position of #195 in iTunes Top 200. Follow up single ‘Karma’ featured on Soccer AM and in Q Magazines as 'Track of The Day'. The track peaked at #40 in the alternative charts during in Christmas week with the band donating all profit to UK homelessness charity Shelter.

In 2011 band worked alongside Gary Powell (The Libertines) and his 25 Hour Convenience Store label.  Oasis discoverer, and all-round musical hero-maker Alan Mcgee, The Stone Roses’ Mani, Steve Lamacq and many more can all be credited as fans.  The band have since shared venues and festival stages with indie giants such as The View, The Charlatans, The Cribs, The Rifles and mainstream acts such as Tinie Tempah.

April 2012 saw the band release 'Not Perfect' as part of a compilation entitled ‘Emerging Icons’ curated by Kaiser Chiefs.  In February 2012 the band headlined the final date of ‘HMVs Next Big Thing Festival’ and were invited to play The Olympic & Paralympic Games on the Emerging Icons Festival Stage in the Olympic Park.

If this single gets the airplay it deserves then we should be seeing them hit the Festival circuit next year.