Gardens are the latest in the long line of garage bands to come swaggering out of Detroit – and they don’t let the side down. Maze Time is the advance track from their forthcoming self-titled debut album and it is a cracker. While in some ways it feels like it could easily have been plucked from the halcyon days of 60s psychedelia with its bluesy … Continue reading Introducing…Gardens
Late again. Tsk. It only took a curry and a bit of ale. My mind wandered, as it often does. It’s now one month until the much anticipated Cave Singers gig in Hoxton, Lahn-don. (Can I send a heartfelt wish into the ether: please play I Don’t Mind. A special and significant song for me. A signpost and a turning point. Fingers crossed.) In fact, … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday (on Saturday), 23rd April
At the end of February we posted about New Zealand’s grunge-popsters Street Chant and their forthcoming album Means. The record was officially released this week and to mark the occasion we have another track from it for your listening pleasure – the intriguingly titled Less Chat, More Sewing. Watch it, then download it! a Means is out on Arch Hill Records. Download Street Chant – Less … Continue reading More From Street Chant
Pink Frost are probably what you would call a shoegaze band, offering as they do, a nice line in reverb and swirling, shimmering guitar work. The Sun comes from their self-titled EP and an album is soon to be in the offing. Visit their Bandcamp page here where you can pick up the three track EP for free. Download Pink Frost – The Sun mp3 … Continue reading Introducing…Pink Frost
The Graceful Slicks make a perfect follow-on from today’s Night Beats post being the meandering jam (pun intended) in the Night Beat’s rumbling sonic sandwich. They are a relatively new band and hail from our own home town of Oxford. We received a cool looking demo CD in the post and having seen some nice words about them from our friend Ronan (who runs Oxford’s … Continue reading Introducing…The Graceful Slicks
Any number of bands cite 60’s Texas psych as an influence, but rarely does a group actually capture what made those bands special. Following their debut EP on Trouble In Mind (which we posted here), The Night Beats have expanded on the bedroom immediacy of their first recordings to create an LP that perfectly captures and modernizes the hallucinogenic and exhilaratingly demonic aura of bands like The … Continue reading New Single From The Night Beats
Folky and ambient with a bit of dream pop and rock and roll. That’s The Great American Canyon Band, and their track A Song For The Rest has been getting repeat plays here. You can find it on their Wild Heart EP. Purchase the EP from their Bandcamp page here. Visit their website here. Download The Great American Canyon Band – A Song For The … Continue reading Introducing…The Great American Canyon Band
We are probably a bit late coming to the Only Thieves who are currently touring in support of their debut album Heartless Romantics that came out in January. However, having taking a listen to their classic bar-room style indie rock encompassing dynamic power pop with a splash of punk rock and a gritty blue collar sensibility that manages to be evocative rather than derivative, we … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Only Thieves
Becca Stevens is a New York-based singer, composer and instrumentalist whose debut for Sunnyside Records, Weightless, was released yesterday. It is her second album, following Tea Bye Sea, which she self-released in 2008. In addition to eight original compositions, the album features interpretations of songs by Animal Collective, Iron & Wine, Seal, and The Smiths. Bold stuff, but thankfully her lovely vocals and words float … Continue reading Introducing…Becca Stevens
Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray are a duo who multi-task on guitars, kick drum, banjo, mandolin, lap steel and harmonica. Their influences include Motown, 60s AM radio country and western movies. In February they packed up and left Chicago to live on the road in their Honda Element for all of 2011, playing about 20 shows a month all over the country. Their new EP … Continue reading Introducing…Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray
The Mad Mackerel 