More cherry picking through the mountain of albums, more picking of the cherries, the never ending pile of demanding cherries that find their way here on a daily basis. You surely know the policy by now, we do, on the whole, only feature the albums and things we feel positive about. We really don’t have time to clutter up these already overloaded pages with negative reviews of things that do nothing for us, there isn’t the time or space, there isn’t any need, here’s another six…

Maria Iskariot – Wereldwaan (self-release) – Every single thing about this album (with the possible exception of the cover art, don’t judge the book by the cover) is brilliant! This is just what we need! And yes, there is a every chance that there will be a need for more exclaiming in this review! I have no idea what they’re shouting about but I instinctively know they’re right, they’re singing in Dutch, they’re from Ghent, Belgium and following that statement I did, for the record m’lud, just read a translation of their lyrics and no choking on any of the spit she cannot stand here, everything is sound (you can never be too careful these days although in this case it was rather obvious) 

“Attention Attention. You shall not despair! Magic and mystery is amongst us. We speak to you, our friends of foreign tongues, in a way that is not about understanding. Life is a play of mirrors that exists only as a reflection of and in each other. Look at us and see yourselves”. 

She does like to scream and really you need to just stop reading this and just go down down there and hit play and as Kate just said, crank it up and play it loud! Never mind who Kate is, Kate knows. This is urgent, passionate, emotional Dutch-language new wave punk rock goodness. It sounds like this is a necessity rather than a choice for the four of them. The members of Maria Iskariot say they have no answers to your questions (so it says here), that they’re reaching out anyway, reaching out with a “wet hand, a wink, a scream, a mess of noise and emotion for anyone who’s danced the Waltz of the Hopeless more times than they’d like to admit”. But it really isn’t a mess, yes there is noise, emotion but they’re sharp, aware, focused, they’re vital, this a far from a mess.  

This, their debut album Wereldwaan (“World Delusion”) is punk that we’re told doesn’t preach, something that does indeed feel like it refuses to look away. They talk of something that’s both a joyful protest and a sharp, complicated love letter to life itself – something that’s “written from inside the confusion, the guilt, the rage and the absurdity of our time”. Self-released and distributed via Burning Fik (NL) and Montgrí (ES), you’re probably going to have to go make an effort search it out, it is well worth doing so.

There’s a clear sense of purpose here, as well as what they say is “a deep love for distortion”, and we’re in a rush to catch up here, almost as much of a rush as they’re in to get this energy and emotion out there – “Formed in 2022 by frontwoman Helena Cazaerck and guitarist Loeke Vanhoutteghem – who first bonded over language and DIY ethos at a literary festival – the band found its full shape with the addition of drummer Sybe Versluys and bassist Amanda Barbosa. What began as a personal outlet quickly grew into a collective voice: part panic attack, part poetic pamphlet, part riot – but with tenderness, too. The band doesn’t break things (there’s already enough broken); they build, scream, whisper, and hold space”.

“The name says a lot: Maria Iskariot fuses the sacred (Maria) and the damned (Judas Iskariot), pointing straight to the band’s fascination with moral tension, contradiction and collapse. That duality runs through everything – in their sound, their lyrics, and their presence. They make music about growing up, feeling lost, confronting complicity, and trying to find slivers of hope inside the overwhelm. It’s aggressive and intimate, messy and meticulous, playful and deeply serious”.

And that really is the key thing here, the hope, the positive energy, the empowerment felt (whoever you are dear listener), proper proper proper punk rock, deeply deeply serious. This is brilliant! As Helena puts it; “We are four people that have found each other. Being a gang, having fun and creating something meaningful together, is our way of coping with the madness attacking us from inside and out. We try to make something beautiful out of frustration, unwanted complicity, greed, finger-pointing, ugliness. We choose life. We choose not falling for the temptation of depression or aggression. We choose to be friends, not colleagues, we choose to be adventurers not competitors. We choose togetherness not efficiency. We choose expression not the measure stick. We speak to you, our friends from different languages, in a way that is not about understanding.  We don’t have solutions for the problems that surround us. We don’t claim to know the answer. We only show the alternative.” This is a brilliant album for so many reasons, you need this band, you need this attitude, we all do. Brilliant! (sw)  Bandcamp / Website / Instagram / Linktree

And…

Magic Wands – Cascades (Metropolis Records) – US dark dream-pop duo Magic Wands are releasing their new album any moment now, Cascades is mostly a lush poppy gothy thing, a swirling-armed female-voiced goth-pop thing that now again nods towards a killing joke of a bite or two – “We wanted to capture a sense of movement and energy, like rushing water flowing from a fountain or cascading across mountains into a landscape,” states Dexy Valentine. “Water represents a release of energy, emotions, creativity, a vision.”. The Los Angeles twosome aren’t really breaking any new ground here, they aren’t threatening any kind of musical revolution, they are mostly just a harmlessly enjoyable slightly fluffy goth-pop duo who make nice polite dream-pop, sometimes, that’s enough  – Bandcamp

CxBxT – .After ( – CxBxT is a new collaborative project consisting of Japanese singer, songwriter, and filmmaker Tujiko Noriko, musician and composer Adrian Corker, and percussionist George Barton that stepped into the studio for the first time together last summer in London, the emerging six tracks that form new album .After, were recorded in a day and a half with some material later overdubbed. Primarily recorded live with multiple mics and chains of effects by Ben Locket, the improvised music came out of instruments which were already in the studio including piano, percussion, various synths and also instruments brought in, including shakuhachi, melodica, bass, guitar and sounds recorded on and played off acetates. Corker and Tujiko originally recorded as a duo and Barton later added tuned percussion, drums and musical saw. Corker further added fields recordings made with sound recordist Chris Watson.

What we have is a set of rather mysterious pieces, mysterious in terms of the sound, the etherealness of it all. Slow moving soundscapes that are almost threatening to be songs in a rather positive way, beautifully voiced, beautifully played. Different, we like different. Sound art experiments pulled together so they become deliciously detailed songs that quietly engage rather than indulge in that self-serving way things of this nature can often do. Well worth your time and ears and well, go find out for yourself, here it all is…    Bandcamp

Dead Otter – The Sentinel (Riot Season/Echodelick) – That bit there sounds like a lark’s tongue might have been dipped in aspic, that tasty bit half way through the excellent second track Ezquerra. Most of the time so far the instrumental band from Glasgow are sounding like a slightly psychedelic heavy rock band who aren’t quite jamming – surely they sound too formed to just be a another jamming band, it sounds like these pieces might have evolved out of jams? Or maybe they’re just very (very) good at keeping their jams lean? They have been doing it for long enough, It all sounds rather good, rather crafted, mostly mellow,  bits of relaxed Sabbath, bits that sound like early Budgie or Man, right now they’re working it up and threatening to go stand on a runway while waiting to takeoff, this is good! And really there’s nothing slightly about the psychedelic nature of what they’re doing, this is psychedelic riff heavy proper old school heavy rock that sometimes heads towards a more mellow space rock state of mind.  

“Dead Otter are an exploratory rock outfit based in Glasgow, crafting out there jams since rock music was invented in 1995. Also should be noted that we’re 100% Otter friendly” – It does have you wondering why they are called Dead Otter? That guitar sound is almost perfect,  that have it all just spot on and as they say themselves, these people are first rate front line inter-dimensional guitar wielding heavy psych explorers and right now they’re really galloping thought the nine rewarding nine and a bit minutes of the title track. And I honestly hadn’t noticed when referencing Hawkwind and standing on runways up there that the closing track on this fine fine album is a glorious version of one of Hawkwind’s finest piece Assault and Battery (this one does have lyrics), worth the price of admission for the Hawkwind cover alone, excellent version. Excellent album, righteous stuff. 

Hang on, let’s consult A.I – “The phrase “lark’s tongue might have been dipped in aspic” is not a common idiom, but it refers to the title of the 1973 King Crimson album, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic. The title itself has a specific, evocative meaning derived from the idea of a delicate item encased in a solid, heavy substance”. Well the strangely named Dead Otter don’t sound in any kind of way delicate, they do sound rather refined, certainly solid, of heavy substance. Hang on, let’s ask A.I another one; Why are the band Dead Otter called Dead Otter A.I? 

“The reason why the band Dead Otter is called Dead Otter isn’t definitively known, but it could be related to a member’s pet otter or be an intentionally gruesome name with a contrast to their fondness for otters. The name doesn’t mean they are against otters; rather, they have expressed that they are otter-friendly, which adds a layer of irony to their name. 

Speculative origin: One theory is that the band is named in honour of a pet otter that belonged to a member and has since died.
Irony: The name creates a stark, potentially gruesome image, but the band members have noted their affection for otters, suggesting the name is ironic rather than literal.
Band’s identity: The band is an exploratory rock group from Glasgow, known for their improvisational sound, and their name is a part of their unique identity”

This A.I beast is full of it. This Dead Otter lot have it all down just right, excellent album, that guitar sound, from the the very first note, is just perfect. The album artwork is by Luke Oram, that deserves a mention.

Bandcamp / www.riotseason.com / Dead Otter’s own Bandcamp/back catalogue

TiCKLES – Sugar & Plastic Plates – (Stolen Body Record/A Tant Rêver du Roi) – They sound like a lot of bands, they were sounding rather like Sonic Youth a moment ago, now they sound like The Rapture and that Misfits theme tune and apparently his heart feels cold as ice, they’re from France, he sounds Irish for some reason. Jagged post punk or some kind of indie noise rock or a cocktail of all of that, they kind of like a lot of things but there is something about them. Whoever they are or wherever the band based in Nantes, France are actually from, they’ve got a lot going on here. it all sounds very current, very of this moment, or any of the moments that have been the now in the last twenty or so year. They sound urgent, wired, committed, punchy, like they wanted to be something else, they’re shouty, or at least yer man out front is, they’re angular and what if I just answered the phone and it easy to have fun but this doesn’t sound like fun, it sounds to serious to be fun, it does sound urgent, they sound urgent, too urgent for plastic plates, they do their thing well, they’ve got something, they don’t sound like they’d take no for answer but then they say there’s no one on the phone. I like them. (sw)     Bandcamp

Eastfield – Eastfield (Grow Your Own Records) – One-two-three-four, all aboard for some more of that fast no messing infectiously good punk pop that Eastfield like to dish out. Shout shout, let it all out, these are the things we can’t do with out, faster than a charging Brush Type Four or at least one of those Sprinters or indeed a Turbostar, mind the doors now! Last time we encountered anything to do with the legends that are Eastfield it was in a pub that has the severed head of a Class 37 in the backyard just after the best festival of this year, The Greatest Gathering. Eastfield know the score, an iron horse don’t need no hooves, moral high ground reached, no ticket dodged, the high plain drifter looking down and hurry up harry. Eastfield do it all with a massive smile on their collective face, they’ve got that love, that Blyth spirit, that thrill of catching the last train home and not having to sleep on the platform all night. Hello this Joanie, I’m sorry I’m not home, please leave your name and number with the Port Talbot Transport Police, Eastfield sing lots of songs that don’t take long. Proper no messing English punk pop and if you ain’t got love for it, you ain’t got a hope, all aboard the last train outta Santa Fe or a train depot in Glasgow or Clapham Junction with a caffeine junction or Tulse Hill? Actually no, that was bus wasn’t it? Go ask Carter, Eastfield do have a lot of Carter USM about them and hey ho, here we go. Have the self declared Urban Rail Punks ever sounded so good? Please stand behind the yellow line, see it, say it sorted, there are no boring Eastfield songs… Excellent. (sw) Bandcamp / Website

Previously…

ORGAN: Albums, albums, albums – The ethereal spiritual beauty of Chimehours, the epic depth of Belgium’s Psychonaut, the heartfelt looseness to the way Horse Jumper Of Love play, the return of Chicago’s alt-rock noise makers Cougars, the post-rock of All India Radio and…