uk hard rockers dead man’s knee are all about ‘pleasure’ in new single
By Dein Moore*, AFROPUNK Contributor
‘Pleasure’ is Dead Man’s Knee’s no-holds barred hard rock debut single that lyrically sets out to explore the shame prevalent in rock and roll over its hedonistic past.
I had found out about this band through a friend of mine and have been really hooked on their delivery, power and presence. There are not many black lead rock bands in UK but as someone who is also in a black lead band I felt a certain kinship to that fact and they’re also really good and totally worth a listen.
Now with their latest single, I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ 😉 to listen in first and I have to say There’s a freewheeling sense of experimental progression akin to Funkadelic, and a contemporary hard rock edge like QOTSA at their most Led Zeppelin, but frontman Del’s vocal approach recalls the rootsy body singing of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. It all combines to make a fearsome three minute head banger that’ll have you shaking out on to the streets, bopping to your nearest dive bar to break every new years resolution you thought you were serious about.
I’m quite excited to hear what comes next and here’s you can also have a listen in too:
* Dein Moore on Instagram: @deingerous
brooklyn funk and rock quintet cries out for justice in the epic “tragic city”
From the spoken word intro to the spacious electric piano, On High’s debut single “Tragic City” traces a line back to the 70’s with a decidedly modern spin. The collaboration between Kareem Bunton and Konstance Patton adds some punk energy into a classic funk sound. It’s a song that cries out for the people of Brooklyn caught between a constantly expanding playground for trust fund kids and start-up billionaires on one side and rising sea levels on the other. The quintet’s debut EP Never Die is slated for an April release. Stay tuned.
a retro-afrofuturist tribute to sun ra: rock and soul act barrence whitfield and the savages
Barrence Whitfield and the Savages’ latest record Soul Flowers of Titan is like travelling back in time to imagine the future. It’s a raw and raucus work of Afro-retrofuturism inspired half by the imagery of Sun Ra and half by the rock and soul coming out of the middle of the country in the 50s and 60s. The music would be at home on an early Stax or Chess record, but it’s a straight up trip to the stars in homemade rocket ship.
Over lean throwback blues and soul riffs, Whitfield shouts out message of love both cosmic and terrestrial. Highlights like “Let’s Go to Mars” and “Sunshine Don’t Make the Sun” update the hot rod era for the 24th century. Who needs the open roads of “Rocket 88” when you have the open skies and an actual rocket? Soul Flowers of Titan revels in the absurdity of its concept while turning in 36 minutes of retro soul classics. Like Sun Ra himself, it’s just weird enough to work but doesn’t get in its own way. At the end of the day, what matters is the hooks and the energy, and Whitfield’s got both.
don’t let anyone use you in post-punk uk rockers shopping’s new video ‘suddenly gone’
Post-punk band Shopping’s new visuals for their track ‘Suddenly Gone’.
“It’s about feeling used and undervalued in a relationship or, more generally, as a queer and/or a person of colour making music or art in the UK and how that can feel very draining. You can feel overlooked for years and then suddenly tokenized when your identity becomes buzz-worthy or fashionable”, says band member Rachel Aggs.
Tour Dates:
Thu. March 1 — Boston, MA @ Great Scott *
Fri. March 2 — Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre *
Sat. March 3 — Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel *
Sun. March 4 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s *
Tue. March 6 — Washington, DC @ Union Stage *
Wed. March 7 — Asheville, NC @ Mothlight *
Thu. March 8 — Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover *
Fri. March 9 — Atlanta, GA @ 529 *
Sat. March 10 — New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa *
Sun. March 11 — Houston, TX @ The Secret Group *
Mon. March 12 — San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger *
Wed. March 14 — Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas Annex (SXSW) (11:25pm)
Thu. March 15 — Austin, TX @ Latitude 30 (SXSW) (10pm)
Fri. March 16 — El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace *
Sat. March 17 — Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge *
Sun. March 18 — San Diego, CA @ Whistle Stop *
Tue. March 20 — Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
Wed. March 21 — Los Angeles, CA @ Resident * #
Thu. March 22 — San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop #
Fri. March 23 — Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar #
Sat. March 24 — Seattle, WA @ Vera Project #
Tue. March 27 — Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Wed. March 28 — Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen &
Thu. March 29 — Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar &
Fri. March 30 — Toronto, ON @ Baby G &
Sat. March 31 — Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz &
* = w/ French Vanilla
# = w/ Lithics
& = w/ Tyvek
transport into the occult with black metal rockers zeal & ardor’s headbanging “baphomet”
Self-described “American slave and black metal” band Zeal & Ardor are back with their first new song since their 2016 debut album, Devil Is Fine. “Baphomet”, which is a reference to the pagan idol worshiped by the Knights Templar representing universal balance, is as infectious as headbangers come, propelled by a double bass that you just can’t shake.
Known for their sophisticated take on blues and metal, “Baphomet” takes the band’s sound to new heights. Carried by the repeated refrain “right hand up / left hand down,” the song not only paints a picture of the Sabbatic Goat idol’s most common depiction, but displays Baphomet’s symbol of equilibrium in its seamless blend of the two genres. And, as anyone who has made it through 2017 will tell you, it’s that sort of balance that is so necessary today.
Stream “Baphomet” below!
wake up to the way things really are in rock band radkey’s light-bulb moment anthem “not smart”
St. Joseph, Missouri-based brothers trio Radkey blend punk, soul and rock in this catchy tune they told Clash is “about waking up and accepting that you’re starting to feel the pain.”
the immortal sister rosetta tharpe has never sounded better than on the remastered ‘live in 1960’
By 1960, the rock revolution Sister Rosetta Tharpe helped kick off was already in full swing, but the great gospel singer wasn’t done changing the world. She’d recorded her first sides in 1938, and by 1942 was praised in Billboard, saying “It’s Sister Rosetta Tharpe for the rock-and-roll spiritual singing.” The first rock and roll song, “Rocket 88,” would be recorded 9 years later by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, with a young Ike Turner on piano. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was rock before rock was rock.
Live in 1960 first came out in 1991, mastered from tapes of Tharpe’s 1960 European tour. Backed only by her inimitable Gibson SG and stomping foot, Sister Rosetta Tharpe sings through a collection of some of her best-loved songs and her unique takes on classics like “Down By The Riverside” and “Peace In The Valley.” The sparse recording highlights her revolutionary guitar technique, particularly on the raucous “The Gospel Train.”
The vinyl remaster from Org Music takes this rare document of the artist at her best and gives it a little shine, without losing the raw emotional performance that made Live in 1960 such an amazing record. The stomps, once a literal footnote sometimes vanishing into the noise floor, are made more prominent, giving Tharpe’s incredible solos even more weight. They wisely left in the little bits of tape hiss and audience responses that give it that immediacy and honesty, just adding a little clarity and definition to what was already a perfect album. If you’ve never heard Live in 1960, there’s never been a better time to experience this essential album.
Live in 1960 is out now, on black and multi-colored vinyl in select stores.
premiere: rock out through the ups and downs of human existence with new york rock band the liza colby sound’s “white light”
Self-described “part shaman, part seductress,” Liza Colby’s has been dubbed the New York Queen of Rock N’ Roll for her infectiously mystical, sexy sound. Fronting the trio The Liza Colby Sound, the singer consistently makes music for both the saints and the sinners, with no part of the human experience off limits.
The latest single from the band, “White Light”, is a culmination of that passion for exploring all of the far reaches of life. A mellow track carried by a powerfully anthemic chorus, “White Lights” touches upon the different stages of growth, and the decisions we are forced to make as we walk through them.
“It’s a psychedelic journey through the human existence,” Colby explains.
Take a listen to the track below!
Photo by Johan Vipper Delancey
meet the band keeping the south african hardcore scene alive: life below
By Bob Perfect / Bubblegumclub*, AFROPUNK Contributor
Nobody Told Life Below That South African Hardcore is Dead
South African hardcore is pretty fucking dead. There are a few bands, a few shows, and a few people keeping the genre, in some variation or the other, “alive”, but it’s a far cry from the glory days of spin kicking your friends in the face and running around in a circle to indiscernible noise with a couple hundred people.
The old hardcore scene has grown up and largely moved on to jobs that are the antithesis to the music they grew up listening to… or just other things. The current crop of impressionable youths who, once, might have thrown down to Go! Go! Bronco, now get psychedelic with the likes of Black Math. Things change, you know?
I think somebody forgot to tell that to Life Below.
Life Below are four dudes who grew up in the Durban hardcore scene and have become one of the last living reminders that it ever existed. Mitch Harper (vox), James Strachan, (guitar/vox) Steven Ilbury (bass) and Brendan Meintjes (drums) all got involved in their community of stage dives and high fives when they were teenagers. I remember sharing many a moshpit in churches and dive bars with each of them.
If I remember the story correctly, Mitch, Brendan and Steve started a death metal band when they were 15, but they never played any shows. Brendan and James later formed We Were Archers, who managed to gain a few fans, but suffered from not sounding like the local bands who were cool at the time.
Then the scene kinda dissolved around them despite all of Steve’s efforts with Noisefix – a blog turned production/promotion company that focuses on bringing over international hardcore and metal bands. All the bigger bands broke up, nobody really filled their place, and the scene moved on to pop-punk and popping pills to EDM. So, naturally, in 2014, in twilight of the once flourishing Durban hardcore scene, the 4 of them got together to start Life Below.
Since then, they’ve put out a solid first offering with their ‘I’ EP and earned a reputation for having one of the most passionate and energetic live shows in the country. Much wailing, gnashing of teeth and things of that nature. But that’s not why we’re gathered here today, dearly beloved.
We are gathered here because last week they put out, for my money, the second best hardcore release to come out of the country after Conqueror’s ‘Life on Repeat’.
Grim Reality is ferocious, fierce and fucking phenomenal. It kicks off at breakneck speed with ‘Idle Hands’ and only slows down (barely) for the odd break-down and for track 4, ‘Heavy Chains’, the noticeably slowest track on the 7 and a half minute, 5 track long EP. Life Below don’t mince words and they don’t waste time.
They know how to fill a short space of time with a hell of a lot of noise, whilst still giving you a bit of space every now and then to catch your breath. It’s chaos and disorder woven into melody. Grim Reality is the culmination of 4 cats growing up on metal and hardcore making the music they want to hear. The death metal influence still shows with their love of blast beats and furious riffage but they mix it deftly with punchy break-downs and Mitch’s vocals are distinctly pissed-off hardcore.
Grim Reality is like a punch to a Nazi’s face, violent yet satisfyingly so.
It hits hard and quick, but leaves you feeling cathartic. While hardcore may be “dead”, it doesn’t really matter. Life Below have put out one of the best hardcore releases in South African history, regardless of what’s popular now, which, at the end of the day, embodies the spirit of what hardcore is meant to be.
Life Below will be launching Grim Reality this Friday at The Winston Pub in Durban. They’re joined by Scrapyard Bones, Codes and Violence. Here’s the Facebook event.
Below is a taste of Grim Reality. Give it a listen.
*This post originally appeared on Bubblegumclub
progressive rockers our fears plant an earworm with their melodic new single “northern lights (a song for barbara)”
Rockland County, NY rock band Our Fears are out with another melodic single, this time with “Northern Lights (A Song for Barbara)”. A heartfelt, instantly likable lullaby for “Barbara”, Our Fears are never shy from going all out and their latest release is no exception. Taken from their upcoming album “Hopeful. Hopeless“, here’s hoping there’s more Sad Bastard Music to come!
Northern Lights (A Song for Barbara) by Our Fears
Wanna see a “Northern Lights (A Song for Barbara) music video? Help the boys raise money to bring it to life.