Oh the Frippery of it all, I tend to repeat myself when under stress or dealing with unnecessary ornament in architecture, dress, or language. Shall we write a new editorial now? Oh the endless demand and like we said last time, who needs a damn editorial let alone a new one? No time for editorials, let the actual music do the actual walking and the actual talking. Exact same thing again, another five (or so) slices of music that have passed our way recently and however you like to slice it and of course it was the price of oranges and here comes the editorial. Don’t be flippant she said, how could it ever be flippant? I can’t remember why she said that now, in one ear, out the other. We have a bad attitude here apparently, no respect for those who work in the music industry, well no poop Sherlock, have you only just worked that one out?
Five? There’s something rather compelling about five. Cross-pollination? Five more? Is there another way? A better way? A cure for pulling flying haddocks out of the clouds? Is there a rhyme? Is there a reason? Was there ever a reason? What do reasons make? Five more? Snake oil? Everything must go and no, we never do and the proof of the pudding is in that proof reading. When we started this thing, oh never mind, it doesn’t matter why we started this damn thing and like we asked last time, does anyone bother reading the editorial? Does anyone ever actually look down the rabbit hole or is it all just method acting? We do really try to listen to everything that comes in, we do it so you don’t have to, we are very (very) very very picky about what we actually post on these fractured pages or about what gets played on the radio or indeed what we hang in a gallery. Cut to the chase, never mind the editorial, skip this bit, there’s loads of music further down the page, well five or so pieces of music that have come our way in the last few days and what’s Wordsworth? Just the basic facts and links and those sounds (and visuals), that’s surely all you need from us?
Here we go, five more slices of music that have recently come our way, this time we start with something from London…
1: MADMADMAD have returned, here’s something new from the London based whatever they are? This is a first taste on an EP called Run that’s coming out later in the year. More when it does come out I expect. Find it via Bandcamp
2: Oasis Boom have just started making moves over there in France, we did mentiong them a few days back. The one-eyed horse is involved of course, yet another Lyon thing on the always intriguing Dur et Doux label, here’s a first taste of their album that’s coming in September. More via the Bandcamp page. They’re busy hand screenprinting album covers right now…
3: Nodega – The press release headline reads “Thrash-punk quintet Nodega, from NYC, emerge with their high-speed debut Rot In Helvetica dropping 18th July via Chrysalis”. Well they sound interesting, a new band you say? Not sure about that thrash-punk tag yet, it takes more than one swallow to make a summer, and this track is all we’ve heard so far from this new band already on a major label. They’re in London at the Shacklewell Arms on August 2nd, we shall see, on the strength of this one excellent track, so far so good although they probably are something to do with soemtimes brilliant sometimes not quite so good NY art punk band Bodega, which of course would be right in line with something Bodega would do…
“Today, they share “Quantify”, about which they declare, “Obey your Wall Street and Silicon Valley masters and continue ranking (and quantifying via number or star) every experience.” so says the press release.
Here, coincidentally, in a way that results from chance despite being very unlikely, is a touch of Bodega at their best, that whole album of this one song sung in different languages is vital…
4: Autoheart – “Hello, want to get in touch in regards to London-based, queer, indie pop trio Autoheart who will release their fourth studio album Heartlands on 15th August via their own O/R Records thru AWAL” said the email. We do of course read every e.mail and check out everything, we may not have time to answer them all, we do pay attention though…
“Earlier this week the band shared the album’s third single, Indigo Chateau, a song about those moments when the world says no — and you get up and build a new one anyway. Written as a response to a culture increasingly hostile to trans and queer lives, Indigo Chateau walks a fine line between beauty and defiance”, it also does all the walking so you don’t need out talking, it wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think it worth our time and space”. Excllent video directed by long-time collaborator Joseph Wilson. More about Autoheart under the video…
“Produced by the band and mixed by Danton Supple (Coldplay, U2, Pet Shop Boys), Heartlands is pop for overthinkers: big feelings, bigger choruses, and the occasional dissociative episode. A little bit camp. Maybe a lot. It’s crying at the disco – with harmonies. The record is a tribute to the landscapes they encountered on the road across the U.S. on their sold-out 2024 tour – neon-lit truck stops, weathered diners buzzing with late-night chatter, and long, quiet highways at dawn. But it’s the fans – the “Heartheads” – who left the deepest mark. Heartlands is a love letter to them: a reflection of America as both real and imagined, part emotional reckoning, part dreamscape.
“Our fans call themselves ‘Heartheads’, which is perfect,” says guitarist Barney JC. “They’re this incredible, artistic, supportive community who’ve sort of willed us into existence – they believed in us when no one else did, and made our music part of their lives and their own creativity. ‘Heartlands’ is where we all live, spiritually speaking. Maybe it’s a kind of imagined queer refuge – a place of psychological escape where people like us can find each other. That feels more necessary than ever right now.”
Autoheart have long defied classification, blending indie guitar hooks with lo-fi disco, soaring piano ballads and electronic textures. With over 3 million monthly Spotify streams and 5 million monthly YouTube views, they’ve built a devoted global following drawn to their open-hearted lyricism and fiercely independent ethos. Their 2021 viral hit “Stalker’s Tango” became a cult favourite in anime and cosplay circles, catapulting them onto global charts”.
Autoheart have three UK dates in October, Manchester @ Rebellion [sold out], London @ Oslo Hackney [sold out] + Dingwall’s, sandwiched between 36-date North American tour in two legs – September and November – by far their biggest to date. Looking to add additional UK dates early 2026.
5: Už jsme doma je avantgardně-punková česká kapela or for those reading in English, “Už Jsme Doma, (pronounced oosh-smeh-dough-ma) is Czech progressive punk band”, they are legendary, they’ve been around for some forty years now and we haven’t mentioned them for ages. Už Jsme Doma crossed our paths today because they’re doing things with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Faun Fables in Czechia as those much anticipated Sleepytime European dates kick off. Here’s something that came out on Cuneiform Records in 2010 for those who might not have heard them before…
5: Zenden Greenpurp – Six into five and stop press, meanwhile in Reading the theatrics of Zenden Greenpurp and a gig or a gathering of strange prog flavoured bands. a day of what he or they call “experimental prog, metal and psychedelic rock”, that features A formal Horse and a whole day’s worth of bands, the flyer will tell you, I’m in a thankless rush right now and the news only just indirectly landed here on the afternoon of the day before the gig that on on Saturday 12th July. Hey bands, can’t cover things if you don’t tell me things, posting it on your social media doesn’t mean the algorithm let’s anyone sees it. Do get into the meat of that mini album, it is well proggy as someone rather fishy once said…
Previously…
THE ORGAN 