Feral Five ft: Sisteray 'Algorithm Prison - Video Of The Week

Brian's favorite video this week is Feral Five ft: Sisteray 'Algorithm Prison' Reconstructed, and it's one of the best single releases I've heard in the last two years! Post Electro Punk at it's absolute best!

Feral Five profess to playing Electro Punk Dance Music with snarling guitars, stabbing synths and ferocious beats, which they do in spades and this release is a tribute to that!

Fellow Londoners Sisteray (who were on the bill at the Ralph's Life CD launch in Proud Camden as were Feral Five) bring a fresh punky attitude to this single)





Sisteray are an in your face post-punk live band who from the first chord dominate from the stage and take the crowd on a whirlwind journey of musical joy and a perfect match for Feral Five on this single release.

Video Of The Week then for week commencing Monday 20th August. After a lifetime of listening to Pop Pap this is the real deal and deserves to dominate the airwaves and needless to say it's getting a spin on Brian's Next Radio KC Indie Show of Sunday 26th August 20th.

LUMER

Following singles Blunder and Futile, which caused a stir in the music press with video premieres on Upset and Gigslutz plus radio support from Radio X and BBC Radio 1, Hull post-punks LUMER return now with their new standalone single Gruel.

If you thought it was grim up north, then this distinctly dystopian, and highly addictive guitar driven, bass heavy gem will only help reinforce that image.

With slots at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in 2017’s UK City of Culture Hull (the band’s home town) and also Dot to Dot festival in Manchester when it's released, Gruel takes LUMER to new heights in their very short life and meteoric rise as “a band to watch out for in 2017/18”.

On Gruel the four-piece have branched out into something borderline schizophrenic, with their twitchy guitar riffs and warped vocals giving way to something softer and more down-tempo. If you're a fan of Killing Joke you're gonna love this.

Ralph is playing this explosive new single on the Radio KC Indie Show of May 28th so tune in between 5-7pm.

To quote lead vocalist and bass player of LUMER Alex Evans: 

"Gruel is about jealousy, anger and escaping false thoughts.

We had a lot of inspitations for Gruel, but mainly it's a combination of Goth and Post Punk bands like BauHaus and Viet Kong (Preoccupations) as well as being inspired by our environment. Practicing in a datk, damp warehouse building in Hull has shaped the dark nature of the song."

Stocksnskins

Ralph's recently encountered the musical stylings of  Stocksnskins who are post punksters who seem to render poetry via electronic music. Ralph decided to have a quick word to find out.

Ralph: What is Stocksnskins then? 

Ade: "We're a duo with me on vocals and Rich on bass" - replied Ade (who's on vocals).

Ralph: "How do you fit in genre-wise?"

Ade: "We nod towards post punk electronica mixing lots of beats and bass with poetic spoken word and the odd rants. We formed in May 2016 in Bournemouth. and have been played on the Neil Lomax Teenage Kicks radio show a few times and supported Endea at Sound Circus, Bournemouth."




Ralph: "How are you developing things?"

Ade: "Firstly, massive thanks to Radio KC for featuring us on Track Of The Day and Ralph's Indie Show. 

We've played pub gigs and open mics in Bournemouth. Open mic nights are a great supportive platform for local artists to get noticed. Our vision for the future is to support local bands in and outside of Bournemouth and to try and play some bigger venues."




Ralph: "How can we become more acquainted with Stocksnkins?"

Ade: "Our music is on Soundcloud and our first EP Protective Environment was released in November 2016. We have also released Arthur, High Street Heaven and Boscombe By The Sea shortly after as singles. Our latest releases are Jimmy and Pop Is Dead, whilst the second EP Apologetic Hunters was released a while ago. Our third EP Medicated Ghost Towns was released at the end of last month and it's available now.




Ralph: "Any performances planned?"

Ade: "Our next gig will be at Cafe Reflections in Southampton. Date to be to be confirmed." 








With that we parted company, however you can hear the Stocksnskins single New Generation this Sunday on the Radio KC Indie Show if you tune in. It's a quirky electro Ian Dury-esque social commentary diatribe that sticks quite nicely in your head. Sorted.

JUXTA

If you like your post punk downright dystopian and delightfully dirty (alliteration is my muse) then have I got the album for you.

Welcome To Your Life is the long awaited second album from JUXTA, one of the most important bands on the indie scene right now.

Combining high energy punk rock with dark industrial sounds JUXTA draws on a range of influences from Joy Division to Nine Inch Nails to devastating effect.

Welcome To Your Life will be available to download via Bandcamp and available to stream on Spotify from March 24th and it's on Ralph's 'One To Watch' list for 2017.



JUXTA is primarily one man's industrial post punk journey, whilst using guest musicians and collaborators to explore the daily mental struggles and conflict that people face in their day-to-day existence. Having become a musician late in life, 49 year old front-man JJ writes retrospectively, combining social observation and personal experience from his 20's through to his 40's creatively affording us a vivid insight.

A well needed remedy to the everyday, mundane tedium of commercial radio JUXTA aims to bring back peoples passion for music, and that's why Ralph's Indie Show on Radio KC will be featuring the lead track from the album Welcome To Your Life on Sunday February 12th.

One Eyed Wayne

It's been a couple of years since One Eyed Wayne first graced the hallowed pages of Ralph's Life with a review of their then newly released single After The Break. 

Well the good news is that the track features on the shiny new One Eyed Wayne album Attack Of The Luxury Flats.

It's 10 tracks of pure punky feelgoodness a la Blockheads with a bit of Wreckless Eric and a bit more of that UK Subs vibe that graces After The Break.

They recorded and released the album completely independently with 50p of downloads and £1 of CD sales in December going to The Joe Strummer Foundation.

In this time of fresh faced young 'guitarpop' bands One Eyed Wayne make a refreshing retro change with their bouncy, sing-along Streetcore-esque tunes delivered with no small amount of Hornsey swagger. Just what you'd expect from a band that have been around the musical block a few times.

Needless to say we'll be playing a track or two on the Radio KC Indie Show.

One Eyed Wayne are:

Steve Donoghue- Vocals & Guitar

Pat Joslin – Mandolin & Keys

Donny Donads – Bass

Dean Leggett – Drums and Percussion

Kynchinlay

The last time I wrote about Liverpool band Kynchinlay was last year on the release of their Drink Me EP when I 'accused' them of sounding like SAHB (no bad thing says I) and exploring their darker side.  Well these post punkers have released another five track EP and it's no surprise that it's called Dark Age.

Kynchinlay continue their ominous industrial assault on our ears as lead track I Be Hopin batters them before quirkily walking on the wild side with a slightly Lou Reed-esque (complete with 'the coloured girls going' oooh oooh) vocalising. The mood darkens again as they bring in mean and moody bass and guitar.

It's a slightly more stripped back but no less ominous Kynchinlay that features on second track Wide Awake with its introspective lyric, whilst Back To What She Knows is almost like the soundtrack to a David Lynch movie with it's thumping bass and swirling guitar overlaid with mean and moody vocal.

Fourth track in BatJazz and it's the spirit of Alex Harvey influenced Kynchinlay we're getting with this ska-like batshit crazy track. My personal favourite on the Dark Age EP.

They finish of with Shudder and once again their blend of guitar and bass is immaculate. Kynchinlay have fused together classic rock 'n' roll with their own brand of psych punk to give their fans a guaranteed live favourite which has already featured on Radio KC.

Crumplehorns

Casting the unsigned Indie net wide on Twitter to get some tunes for this weeks show on Radio KC I snagged the slightly elusive yet interesting Scarborough band Crumplehorns.  On first listening I was whisked back to the early days of Wedding Present  gigs and lo and behold on checking their info they've been tagged as 'striking a claim for being the best British Indie band since The Wedding Present'.







They formed in 2013 after a chance conversation between David Yates (artist and musician) and legendary Nightingales front man Robert Lloyd. Their 7” vinyl single 'Simon Says' is to be released on Lloyd's Big Print Records on John Peel Day, Friday 25th October and launched at a free gig in The Spa Pub, Scarborough and the gig will be headlined by The Nightingales.

David, aka Jehan, has been providing artwork for Nightingales album covers for nearly a decade. As with his art, the Crumplehorns' music addresses personal struggles such as alienation, mental illness and loss, as well as wider environmental and social issues.

The songs are grounded in post-punk/DIY ethics of the late 1970's. Bitter lyrics are delivered over fast, catchy guitar and a backbone of bass and drums. Interspersed are keyboards and sax.

'Simon Says' is about a confused and broken relationship. Desperately wanting to please in order to stay with someone who really does not want you.

'Harold's Eye' is a series of still images created with words about injustice in a variety of ways over the years.

Donations at the launch gig and profits from the sales of the single will be donated to the charity MIND.

The Crumplehorns are currently writing and rehearsing new songs for release in 2014, whilst David is working on artwork for the next Nightingales album.  With shades of The Cure and Joy Division winding through 'Harolds Eye' I can't wait to see what next year brings!