Introducing >>> The Stammer

Philadelphia natives The Stammer have just released a self titled EP via Bandcamp that is chock full of flourishing guitar lines, vintage synth leads and hypnotising vocals that combine to provide a most promising debut. Drawing influences from post-punk, art-rock, and authentic garage with a garnish of classic 80s indie the four-piece are understandably, and for once justifiably, starting to create quite a buzz for themselves. … Continue reading Introducing >>> The Stammer

Mad Mackerel Recommends…Justin Farren

Like the wonderful Benjamin Shaw here in the UK, observational singer-songwriter Justin Farren has a world view that is as skewed as it is idiosyncratic as it is unassuming. However, being from across the pond, his is a view coloured by his Californian upbringing and consequently we get 70 second songs about awkward palm trees growing out of concrete, glue guns and anxieties over asphalt burns from sex … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Justin Farren

MM Shorts 110: First Taste of Joe Pug’s New Album

A new album from Joe Pug is just cause for celebration round these parts and The Great Despiser will be released on April 24th. The first taste and following on from Hymn numbers 35 and 101, which have already seen daylight on his Nation of Heat EP, is Hymn #76. It features in this preview video for the album and provides plenty of reasons to … Continue reading MM Shorts 110: First Taste of Joe Pug’s New Album

New Single From Mummy Short Arms

The skewed, surreal and sometimes insane racket created by Mummy Short Arms received a lot of love from MM in 2011 and made it onto a couple of our contributors end of year best of lists for their debut single Cigarette Smuggling. Coming across like a Beefheart for the digital age, vocalist James Allen howls and growls like a cross between Frank Black and Leonard Cohen and that, … Continue reading New Single From Mummy Short Arms

Introducing >>> Bonfire Nights

Bonfire Nights make swirling moody psych-pop: a clash of surf and synth, shoegaze with purple haze, think Virginia Plain meets Jesus & Mary Chain. With mantra like drones, shaking bones and sweet candy overtones, Bonfire Nights like to blur the boundaries. Adopting a minimalist ethos, the band recorded their first self-titled EP on a four-track analogue tape machine. While the approach was modest, the outcome was an … Continue reading Introducing >>> Bonfire Nights

Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday (on Saturday): 3rd March

Slept in this week. Can you tell? Went to London on a (TFI) Friday to meet up with big bro. Looked at some rather amazing paintings, drank a lot of red wine, slept through my train stop and woke up somewhere as sleepy as me. Oops. Just me and a bevvied up hoodie asking me for some more drink. As if. Fortunately, and quite unbelievably … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday (on Saturday): 3rd March

Free Cargo Collective Digital Sampler

Coming via Clash Magazine,  the monthly free digital samplers from Cargo Records are always an eclectic mix and a delight to download and explore. And so it is with the latest one. Featuring twelve tracks and showcasing the talents of amongst others The Men, The Wedding Present, Robert Pollard, That Fucking Tank and Caretaker. We’ve included two of our favourites below in the shape of the back … Continue reading Free Cargo Collective Digital Sampler

Great Lake Swimmers: Free Album Download

The warm, heartfelt folk stylings of The Great Lake Swimmers is a lovely thing to behold and the band have made available an album of stunning live songs recorded at a Royal Canadian Legion pub – dubbed The Legion Sessions. They chose this relaxed, informal setting to capture many of the new songs from latest album Lost Channels and it stands as an intimate and … Continue reading Great Lake Swimmers: Free Album Download