More more more. More albums, shall we dance around it all again, Did we say that last time? Maybe. And the time before? Probably? Where were we? Hey, too many albums not enough time, and (some of) these things do demand proper time and anyway, and, and then, and the art demanding to be made and all that goes into that, and you do know we only have time for the good ones don’t you? The good albums I mean, well most of the time, then again sometimes, well sometimes we do have to kind of establish where we stand. And we do know no one reads the editorial bit at the top, well why would they? Why would you? Yes you, why would you? Here’s some more albums, there are so many, the one’s that weren’t delt with yesterday are now all lost underneath the ones that arrived today and that rather good album that landed here last week is burried way down in the mountain with all the others that are demanding time and attention…
Ritual Error – Terminal With Benefits – Is this a game? Is this a game? Is this a game? It’s a side effect so keep your mouth shut; this is an instrumental, the lyrics are profound, someone else’s mouth spoiling this spiky instrumental with unconscious muscle memory and mouth movement, mouth movement ruining there instrumental. It sound like it comes to them easily, that their flow is natural, like it was written in the contract, Ritual Error are a classic noise rock band, a classic London noise rock band, they sound like they’re on a direct line from Homage Freaks and Scissormen, they sound like those bands you say in the best days of the Falcon’s back room or down the Bull and Gate or over in West Hamstead at the Sausage Machine opening for Milk on a bill with Red Eye Express and Kodiac. They sound mean, wired, and yes, that old word we threw around rather a lot back there needs to be thrown again; this band are angular!
Is is the way? This is this way, that’s the way, over there under the pavements, under the seats. Abrasive, shrill, frantic, precise drumming, everything does indeed sound like it’s really is going to fall apart. Tense, taught, tight, vital. Someone said something about howled lyrics about “sexual alien abductions, an island state obsessed with 12-foot immigrants, and booking agents who turn themselves into tattoos to please their clients. Plus, a shit tonne of JG Ballard references”. Crash indeed, but they never quite do, they do always get away with the crushed metallic crumple of it all, no side effects, just that muscle movement; that instrumental is so so right. Great details, they’re not just making a noise, but them none of them ever did, those London noise bands that no one took that much notice of, this band might just be one of the best of them, this album is highly recommended, they are the real proper right on your toes deal…
Gates Of Kiev – Gates Of Kiev (Lazer’s Edge) – They might have a name that immediately plants thoughts of the mighty Emerson Lake and Palmer firmly at the front of your mind, they might have a massively over-driven Keith flavoured keyboard sound and a proper Prog Rock attack but this Dutch band are more a bombastic Deep Purple than they are an ELP. Bombastic is the word; full on, no holding back, plenty of light and shade though and nowhere near ever wanting to escape the 1970s. Sometimes powerfully succinct, sometimes beautifully self indulgent and drawn out, sometimes almost quiet and in the doldrums and waiting dramatically for the windless weather to finally move them on again. Nothing held back here, the release of the trio’s eponymous debut LP kicks off with a thirteen minute epic and okay that back and forth interplay eight and a bit minutes in is pure ELP drama before the Hammond bites down again and yes, they are very very (very) Emerson, Lake and Palmer, actually they’re getting a bit free jazz with it all now…
“Heavily inspired by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the band adopted the name Gates of Kiev, taken from the iconic piece featured on the ELP live album Pictures At An Exhibition. Taking further inspiration from the modern local garage and punk scene as well as the early years of ‘70s prog bands, Gates of Kiev’s live shows have evolved into loud, high energy, over-the-top, intense performances….” – wonder if they’re as good as Dagaband were live? Front rows of Dagaband gigs were dangerous places, flying Hammond organs, flying knives, flying drummers. Gates of Kiev have that intensity (so did ELP!). Right now they’re sounding like they’re in the middle of Deep Purple’s Lazy and thinking of getting atomic with a rooster and yeah I know that lazy of me but you get the idea and there’s a million things to be done here and we really don’t have time to hang around for yet another excellent keyboard driven charge, well we do, we have plenty of time to hang around with this on cool as flip album on repeat but you know, time and tide waits for no one and iv;e got a gig to go to. Gloriously sprawling, forty minutes and only four tracks, the perfect way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of punk rock bores acting like Japanese solders down the pub stroking their double chins and clutching their Rough Trade carrier bags while they go on about the bloody Clash yet again. This is gloriously lean self indulgence, Gates of Kiev rock! Love it, excellent (dreadful cover art though, it better be a gatefold cover, the thickness of the spine is important!)
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Hang on, we’ve got soem live footage….
And…
Mr.Phylzzz – Fear The Lord (Am.Rep) – The band from Chicago, Illinois are back with a new album, actually it came out back in early September but you know how it is, desperate Dan and his cow pies, that and games and ego and music industry people and their power trips and their constantly thinking they’re more important than the actual music that is once more here doing the real talking. Are Mr.Phylzzz sounding even more on this time? I am asking myself that question more than I’m asking you. The alt noise band (id we must put them in a neat little box) sound like they’ve stepped thing up and in doing so headed us further from or maybe further towards the danger. This time the slightly odd band from Chicago are driving in field, they’ve laid it square, they’ve got these colourful details, little unexpected bit when you think you kind of know. It does feel balanced, chips on both shoulders while they stand on your toes –
“This is a record that is all about balancing the light and the dark. its new. its different. it twist and turns but its still phylzzz. we hope you enjoy”
and yes, it does balance the light and the dark, thankfully not that obviously though, almost perfectly unsettling you might say. right risks taken, and if their ow ntram hadn’t been letting them down we’d have told you about it when it actually came out –
“Our new album Fear the Lord is out now via Amphetamine Reptile Records! We recorded this album in 2 parts. Rodeo Clown and Over and Over Again were recorded in April 2025 with Taylor Hales at Electrical Audio in Studio B, the remainder of the album was recorded with Evan Douglas Peters May of 2026″ – Rodeo Clown is surprisingly beautiful, well until it gets up to take a bite, and that guitar sound it so so right as is the album art (made by Thomas Hazelmeyer). “We took a lot of risks with this record which is exactly how we like it”. e like a band who take risks, easy to not take risks and right now you don’t need to be reading our words, you need to be listening to the whole album in one go (not bits of it, listen to it all, you will be rewarded, you can’t just take small bits and make a judgement) and then, well, up to you what you do then, we’re just posting the signposts…
And back to those Dutchmen and their Drunkship of the Mice…
And previously, albums wise that is
