Ultimate Painting have announced the release of Up!, a record we’re very much looking forward to, and their first for the Bella Union label. It will be out on the 6th April, and is available to preorder here. They’re also heading out on tour (dates below).
The band has also shared a first track from the LP entitled, the meandering, gentle indie-psych of Not Gonna Burn Myself Anymore. Listen to it here.
Live Dates
Thursday 19th April – BIRMINGHAM – Hare & Hounds
Friday 20th April – LONDON – Hoxton Hall
Saturday 21st April – BRIGHTON – Patterns
Monday 23rd April – CARDIFF – The Globe
Tuesday 24th April – LEEDS – Brudenell Social Club
Thursday 26th April – MANCHESTER – The Deaf Institute
Friday 27th April – GLASGOW – Mono
Saturday 28th April – DUBLIN – The Grand Social
Our second individual listing comes from long-standing contributor Chris T Popper, he of the creaking joints and club foot (and yet still the second-best footballer in his family). Another cracking collection of tunes, and you can always listen on Spotify here.
20 Big Thief – Paul
19 Mind Spiders – Running
18 Hooded Fang – Dead Battery
17 Van William – Revolution
16 Staches – Total Commitment
15 Yowl – The Imminent Return
14 Ultimate Painting – Bills
13 Great American Canyon Band – Undertow
12 Flat Worms – Petulance
11 Jacuzzi Boys – Lucky Blade
10 Neighbors – Angel O
To begin my countdown we have the troubled Neighbors. The band are new to me and unfortunately I won’t be getting to hear any new material as they split up earlier this year. Thankfully they did have the good sense to sign off with a cracker. Angel O with its spiky guitars, rhythm changes and Jose Diaz’s Rohena’s distorted vocal ending the song audibly weeping is definitely one to pique my interest in checking out their back catalogue.
9 Parquet Courts – Dust
Dust is everywhere – it’s all around you ‘you’re biting it now’ it taunts. Held together by a driving tempo that breaks occasionally for a trip around all kinds of added extras including traffic noise it’s a celebration of the mundane. Sweep.
8 PJ Harvey – Guilty
The foreboding nature of the beat – a combination of tom tom through a whammy pedal – and lyrics feels particularly pertinent considering what a strange year’s 2016 has been. Decrying the US drone strikes ‘what’s he doing with that stick, which one is guilty?’ and ‘nobody asked us if we’re one of ‘them…’’ feels like a question likely to be repeated in 2017.
7 Magic Potion – Milk
I love the weirdly tuned guitars, slacker attitude and the way it just does it’s thing almost unnoticed. There is a kind of warmth to the whole thing (it was recorded and produced by the band) that seems to permeate and the doleful tones of lead singer Gustaf Montelius are a perfect match to the fab wonky guitar.
6 Terry – Don’t Say Sorry
Melbourne quartet Terry are a band made up of Australian post punk royalty. With members from different bands (including the wonderfully monikered Constant Mongrel) they’ve created an insanely catchy song with the sort of chorus that strikes earworm gold. Obviously I can’t help but sing along with it every time – it’s just instinctive.
5 The Wave Pictures – Pool Hall
This one ambles in to my top 5 with a nicely laid back swagger. Inspired by the disconnection of a society that’s seems intent on closing all our interesting places of social interaction, it’s a bluesy lament to those smoky pool halls now disappeared ‘your past gets closed down bit by bit’ says guitarist/vocalist and songwriter Dave Tattersall, adding (we’re now living)‘…in a bankrupt culture, one that celebrates bongo pop morons and largely ignores the real thing’. About right.
4 Underworld – I Exhale
From humble beginnings it’s when the synth cracks in to life that I Exhale starts it’s inexorable rise to becoming my go to record of the year. How many times did I put this on really loud when I was feeling shitty and found Hyde’s spoken word lyrics carrying me off to a different place, ably assisted by that pounding hypnotic beat.
3 Little Barrie – I.5.C.A.
Little Barrie made an appearance in a previous top 10 of mine and they’ve delivered another beauty with I.5.C.A. Bit of a slow burner, but that filthy opening riff soon pulls you in and the guitar throughout is just extraordinary. Inspired by hallucinatory trips driving up and down Interstate 5 on their last tour goes some way to explaining it’s otherworldly appeal.
2 Terry Malts – Used To Be
I have a real soft spot for Terry Malts, their tune I Was Not There was a big favourite from 2013. Now three years later they’re back with another cracker. I love the lyrics, grieving for a life that is just a nostalgic mirage. Do you want it back how it used to be? it asks before signing off with a ‘not me’ slapping any rose tinted glasses off your face in the process.
1 Yak – Victorious (National Anthem)
The chaos this song provides in just over 2 minutes is quite magnificent. The monster bass break preceding the chorus is proper badass and coupled with the strangulated vocals it gallops along with such an endearing lunacy I knew it was my favourite record of the year pretty quickly. There is something I love about a band doing exactly what they want… and it works a treat.
Tomorrow we have Mrs Mackerel’s dirty dozen. To check out the Italian Job’s top 20 click here or click for the full run down of our 100 favourite tracks (100-76, 75-51, 50-26, 25-1) and albums.
Ultimate Painting – the two singular voices of Jack Cooper and James Hoare, who met when on tour together with their other bands Mazes and Veronica Falls – will release their third album Dusk on Trouble In Mind Records on the 30th September.
The first single is Bills, a track which dives head-first into a perfectly formed, crystalline pool of jangle.
Time for the MM countdown of our favourite tracks of the year to begin. Over the next few days we’ll be revealing our top 100 tracks and top 30 albums of 2015, with contributions from Mrs Mackerel, Chris T Popper, Polly Pocket and Franca. We’ll also share their personal choices with you next week.
So without further ado, here are numbers 100 through to 76.
100 Ultimate Painting – Woken By Noises
99 Samantha Crain – Elk City
98 Diet Cig – Dinner Date
97 Cruising – Safe Corridor
96 Gold Class – Life As A Gun
95 Beach Slang – Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas
94 Arborist – Twisted Arrow
93 Kodiak Deathbeds – Borderline
92 Summer Twins – Demons
91 Together PANGEA – Blue Mirror
90 Tallest Man On Earth – Dark Bird Is Home
89 Wilco – Random Name Generator
88 James McMurtry – South Dakota
87 J Fernandez – Between The Channels
86 Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & The Cairo Gang – I’ve Been A Long Time Leaving
Today our new Conservative government showed their true, reprehensible colours with the backdoor announcement of their plan to amend the Hunting Act and usher in a return of the cruelest and most savage of all cruel sports. It seems apt therefore that we have an excellent new song from Ultimate Painting that also lambasts this out-of-touch, arrogant, and thoroughly loathsome bunch.
The duo of James Hoare (Veronica Falls) and Jack Cooper (Mazes), have announced a new single (I’ve Got The) Sanctioned Blues (released 28th August). It’s taken from will their forthcoming sophomore album, Green Lanes (which is released on the 7th August via Trouble In Mind).
The song laments the unfair benefits system (the sanction of the title, in this instance, being a penalty you get if you fill in a form wrong / miss an appointment) and reminds us (as if we needed it) that the Conservative way has always been particularly hard and cruel (that word again) on the less fortunate members of society.
Today’s message from the powers that be appears to be that whether you are unemployed or disabled, a fox or a deer, the government will hunt you down.
Thank goodness we still have bands like Ultimate Painting to actually stop and point out the moral bankruptcy of our country’s leaders, that so many blithely appear to swallow without blinking these days.
Damn good song too…
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Join the 87% people who oppose hunting for pleasure by supporting the League Against Cruel Sports here.
The duo of Jack Cooper(Mazes) & James Hoare (Veronica Falls) are Ultimate Painting. Having already posted excellent two tracks from their self-titled debut album, we now have the title track from said record to share with you.
It is perfectly described as “a woozy & deliberate tune whose simple melody is complimented by two intertwining guitar lines that ride off into the sunset.”
After a too long hiatus, we’ve resurrected our best of the month mix capturing our favourite tunes from October’s posts, plus a couple of new tracks too. So more than 25 songs to discover…dive in!
The September Girls – Veneer
Dark-hearted pop smothered in drenched feedback
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God Damn – Horus
A red-hot burning molten pot of pop hooks and grinding, bludgeoning riffs and rhythms.
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The Voyeurs – Stunners
Indie-psych rockers new single with nods to the tribal stomp of the Glitter Band and Iggy Pop to the colder, starker vignettes of Berlin era Lou Reed.
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Dirt Dress – Revelations
Cultivated racket of guitars, horns, and drums that mixes surf rock with synths in a curiously beguiling way.
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Amazing Snakeheads – Can’t Let You Go
More trashcan voodoo punk blues without parallel.
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Ultimate Painting – Ten Street
Excellent retro style, casually lacksadasical, take on jangly indie rock with echoes of Pavement and Lou Reed.
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The Wharves – The Grip
Gracefully minimal psych-rock with fuzzed out folk invoking the reverberated spook of 60s girl groups topped with crunchy guitar and thunderous drumming.
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Maggie Bjorklund – Fro Fro Heart
Brooding, profound and unforgettable standout from Danish pedal steeliest and singer’s new album.
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Gwyneth Moreland – Slaughterhouse Gulch
Perfect blend of authentic, classic country that feels as genuine as it does timeless.
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Menace Beach – Come On Give Up
Fuzzily insistent indie rock.
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Elijah Ocean – Bring It All In
Particularly fine example of classic backwoods, porch-rocking folk.
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The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Heat
Eastern tinged, gritty psychedelia.
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The Wave Pictures – Pea Green Boat
Dr Feelgood style blues riffs melded with typically quirky and literate vocals.
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Eaves – As Old As The Grave
Rich, tender, melancholia from new singer-songwriter.
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Elliott Brood – Nothing Left
Rollicking, infectious Americana cut through with bluegrass, folk-rock and a definite glam-rock flavour.
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Daddy Issues – Ugly When I Cry
Wonderful slab of downbeat grungy pop that drips with acerbic irony and a healthy dose of cynicism.
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The Don Darlings – If You Can’t Be Good
Masterpiece of southern gothic Americana
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Parkay Quarts – Uncast Shadow Of A Southern Myth Townes Van Zandt, Warren Zevon, and Dylan are evident points of departure this lonesome tale about “two men tragically colliding in the deep south“.
Saint Agnes – Where The Lightning Strikes
Blues stomping, dirty rock n roll number with psychedelic organs, screaming guitars and haunting harmonica.
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Justin Townes Earle – Dreams (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Classic take on a classic track.
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Kyle Adem – I Go On
Haunting, satirical autobiography of loss and the person one becomes in solitude, sung with convincing desperation.
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Curtin – Big Blue Crown
Hazy track that creates a slow-burning and hypnotic soundscape.
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To finish we have new tracks from brilliant psych-rockers Pontiak, the burrowing, ominous Underneath Us Like A Snake, and Soft Fangs stunningly gorgeous and woozy Dog Park.
