Mad Mackerel Recommends… Health&Beauty

Health&Beauty have signed to Wichita Recordings, who will release their sixth full-length studio album, No Scare on the 5th August. The Chicago-based three-piece have shared the first cut from their new record, a track entitled Wartime. The original version of the song featured a lyric and melody borrowed from Neil Young’s Hey Babe (from American Stars and Bars) but they could not get consent to use it … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends… Health&Beauty

Nickel In The Jukebox (Vol. 18)

Still wading through a massive backlog of high calibre new tunes. Here are ten more of all shapes and sizes for you to check up on and decide hit or miss…   Mud Howlers – Magic Place  [RIYL: Desert-Blues, Led Zeppelin, Richie Valens ]   Mark McGowan – Fugazi  [RIYL: Soulful country, Johnny Cash, Otis Redding]   Casper Skulls – Mink Coats  [RIYL: Noise-punk, Screaming Females, … Continue reading Nickel In The Jukebox (Vol. 18)

Welcome Back… Howling Owls

It is nearly five years since we have heard from Howling Owls, still one of our favourite ever discoveries in the ten years of MM. A hugely underrated band, we thought Florida’s finest had slipped back into the everglades… So it was quite a surprise, and an unexpected pleasure to get a short e-mail announcing a new single with the typically excellent title Same Circus, … Continue reading Welcome Back… Howling Owls

Nine Songs You Should Have Heard This Week

It can never be seen as a bad week when you have brand new songs from Okkervil River and the Low Anthem to share. And not only that, we have seven other new tunes for you as well from the likes of Father John Misty, Psychic Ills and The Gotobeds. Dig in. Okkervil River – Okkervil River R.I.P. The Low Anthem – The Pepsi Moon Father John Misty – … Continue reading Nine Songs You Should Have Heard This Week

The Great Escape – Day 3

A final day building up the step count trudging between venues. This time choosing to start at a free all day gig at Bleach which was not an official GE event, and was nearly 3,000 steps away, but worth it all the same for Nots and Nap Eyes. The former, a blistering all-female foursome from Tennessee, peeled what paint was left from the walls and the … Continue reading The Great Escape – Day 3

The Great Escape – Day 2

If one thing really irritates me then it is the bloke (it is always a bloke) at the back of the gig who, at the end, opines how the band “were a bit too samey”, or they “didn’t quite get it”, or it “was OK, but nothing special”, or they’ve “seen it done better by other bands” and then goes on to list a load … Continue reading The Great Escape – Day 2

The Great Escape – Day 1

I travelled down to sunny Brighton in the company of Test Match Special for a second visit to The Great Escape – sadly this time without the company of Chris T Popper, or anyone else for that matter. After parking in a dingy basement NCP, which could easily have been the setting for a murder in a gritty crime drama, I arrived at my (admittedly budget) hotel … Continue reading The Great Escape – Day 1