Well, what a week. There really is nowt so funny as folk: if a few more of the adult population learned how to expunge a meaningful mea culpa once in a while, wouldn’t we all rub along a bit better? Is this resistance to accepting responsibility for one’s actions something we learn with age? Vulnerability is not a sign of weakness, nor is making the … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday
We’re a bit late with this one we know, as it has been doing the blog rounds for a little while and we have been meaning to post it for ages. The reason is we have caught ourselves humming and nodding along to Shadow by Grass Widow on countless occasions recently. It is from their forthcoming album Past Time, due next month on Kill Rock Stars. Grass … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Grass Widow
We discovered the delights of Bridal Party from the good folk over at Sonic Masala. Immediately boasting one of our favourite covers of the year so far with the Tim Burtonesque sleeve to Born Again On Dark Star, the band are offering a completely free download of the album on their Bandcamp page here. Not even asking for an e-mail address in return either. The music is a … Continue reading Introducing…Bridal Party
Truth is MM was pretty ambivalent about the debut album by The Mt St Helens Vietnam Band. It was solid certainly, good without being memorable enough to make us want to hit repeat very often. However, the two tracks we have been sent in advance of follow-up Where The Messengers Meet are a different beast altogether. Both songs, the new single Hurrah, and Leaving Trails are … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Mt St Helens Vietnam Band
Here at MM we have a soft spot for The Bees (or A Band of Bees as they are known over in the States). Maybe it’s because they have a base in Ventnor in the Isle of Wight, a place we know well and love very much, and maybe it’s because of that location that they they effortlessly seem to craft some of the sunniest, … Continue reading New from The Bees
Secret Colours are purveyors of a very fine blend of psych-pop with a classic retro feel that has more than an echo of the late 60s and early 70s heyday for such things. Their self titled LP gets a release on August 3rd (though you can stream it all over on their Bandcamp page) and Jellybean the taster track we have is evocative of lava … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends Secret Colours
A little while ago we posted about The Streets on Fire and their rather magnificent forthcoming album This Is Fancy. The record, the band’s first full length, gets its official release tomorrow and we have a new track for you to sample and, better than that, three copies of the vinyl to give away. For those that don’t know, Streets on Fire play a brilliantly … Continue reading New from Streets On Fire and Vinyl Giveaway
Pretty confident we’ve given you a hat-trick of great posts and songs now. After the skewed, unsettling brilliance of Lower Dens and the promise of newbies Rare Grooves comes the downright catchy, 60s inspired, garage-psych of The Fungi Girls (who you won’t be surprised to learn are an all boy trio from Texas). We first became aware of them last year with promising debut album Seafaring … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Fungi Girls
Rare Grooves have emerged from the ashes of The Widow Babies and are a duo consisting of Tabor Allen on drums and Danny Miller on guitar. They got in touch with their self-titled debut 7″, which came out recently and we’ve been thoroughly enjoying it. The band name made us (wrongly) think we were going to hear a throwback to a northern Soul band, but … Continue reading Introducing…Rare Grooves
Tuesday next week will see the release of Twin-Hand Movement, the debut album by Lower Dens. It is the new vehicle for the renowned, but as yet relatively unknown, Jana Hunter. Weirdly beautiful, it is throbbing, insistent drone-pop on the one hand and haunting, ghostly freak-folk on the other. It brilliantly mixes styles and approaches in a way that is accessible, surprising and despite some … Continue reading Mad Mackerel (thoroughly) Recommends…Lower Dens
