10th December 2016: Vital Idles 7" launch at Titwood Bowling Club, Glasgow

Celebrate the launch of the debut 7" by Vital Idles (out 09/12/2016 on Not Unloved Records) with a knees-up in a bowling club!

When? 10/12/2016 (a Saturday!) between 19:00 & 23:00

Where?  Titwood Bowling Club (take the train from Glasgow Central to Pollokshields West - the first stop! - and it's about a 4 minute walk!)

How much? Only 4 quid on the door.

Joining Vital Idles will be:

Current Affairs: Strident, utterly compelling post-punk from the dark side whose members can also be seen tearing it up in Shopping, Anxiety and Kaspar Hauser.

Sham Gate: Niall's performances teeter on the edge of total collapse and total euphoria. Expect complete in-the-moment musical freedom!

Pig's Nest: Talked about in hushed tones, these cats are rarely seen live. Musho and David are 40% of the mighty Mordwaffe, the other 60% being 75% of Vital Idles.  Yeah!

Hard Left at The 13th Note (27/11/2016)

Glaswegians!  There's a rare chance to witness Hard Left's oppositional '77 punk barrage downstairs in The 13th Note a week on Sunday.  Come along and pay your respects to Mike Schulman and Stewart Anderson and thank them profusely for all those incredible Slumberland Records and 555 Recordings/Emotional Response releases that have illuminated the last quarter century.  Two of Glasgow's most abrasive and exhilarating groups will be sharing the bill with them: Kaspar Hauser and Anxiety.  Between the mayhem, I'll be playing some records and endeavouring not to kill the vibe.  It'll be ferocious but that seems like a suitable response to how 2016 has panned out.

There are Facebook events for the Glasgow gig as well as the Demand The Impossible tour.

The Sticks "No Sustain e.p." (Market Square Recordings)

Paul Messis's Market Square Recordings has, for Not Unloved's money, released some of the most consistently enjoyable singles of recent years.  Its latest missive is a fantastic four-tracker of prickly, but adorable when you get to know it, post-punk by Brighton's The Sticks.  It's good to have The Sticks back on vinyl. I'd assumed them defunct as a few years have passed since I bought their M'Lady's Records single and their name hasn't cropped up all too much since.  Any of the tracks on "No Sustain e.p." would hold its own among the myriad astute picks on Dynamite Hemorrhage or Futures and Pasts playlists.  Those with a fondness for The Fire Engines, The Pheromoans and groups of that ilk should enjoy pulling awkward Anglepoise lamp-style shapes to The Sticks.  MSR 14 is released in an edition of only 300 so swift purchasing action is in order!

Planet Jazz "New To Try" (Crocodile Records)

Two years ago the reactivated Crocodile Records released an ace 7" by The Phrogs which earned a few hastily tapped words on Not Unloved.   Next up for Crocodile is a fizzing 4 tracker from Cornwall's skinny tie/shaky leg merchants Planet Jazz.  "New To Try" bursts out of the traps with youthful vigour and never lets up for two minutes.  It's sure to lift the spirits of those who remember the prime powerpop of the turn of the 80s and anyone who treasures their #1s 7"s as much as I do.  Keep an eye out for it!

Out November 1st (pre-order up soon)

Some recent favourites

Los Cripis show up in Glasgow way more frequently than you would expect for a group from Argentina.  Their latest show with Current Affairs, Still House Plants and (Brighton's) Mortgage in the roasting basement of the Transmission gallery was another pleasing kick to the shins.  They still do slightly stern art pop better than most and their latest 7", "Restaurant" (Glad Fact), has already elbowed its way to the front of the recent purchases pile on a fair few occasions.

Somehow I completely lost touch with what Hozac Records was up to.  It was only when The Jeanies 7" landed in Monorail Music recently that I was reminded of their existence and went poking around on their Soundcloud page where I found faithful adherents of the early 80s Paisley Underground sound, Soft Candy.  Without doubt they have a fondness for The Rain Parade and who can blame them?  "Bixarre Luv Pyramids" won't earn itself any column inches in The Wire but you can bet your Chelsea boots that, should they hear it, Shindig! will flip their Brian Jones wigs over it.

Foolishly, my copy of Lady Wray's debut lp is still in the to-be-listened-to pile, its shrinkwrap intact .  On the evidence of the "Do It Again" 7" (Big Crown), however, it will be bursting with production detail, melodies to get you through the day and a voice that goes through the gears as easily as a vintage Jag.

I've pestered the good folks at Rubadub three times this week to no avail for a copy of the latest Omar S 12",  "Sky Train" (FXHE), which boasts an unexpectedly soulful vocal by Nite Jewel.  If there's a more uplifting, soul cleansing track around just now, it's yet to reach these ears. 

Omar S feat. Nite Jewel "Sky Train"  (1min 18sec sample)

NUSONIC 001: Vital Idles - My Sentiments b/w The Garden (teaser!)

Finally, the time has come to share the teaser for NUSONIC 001 with the world!  I've loved Vital Idles since witnessing their first gig in May, 2015 - I wrote about it here - and that love has only increased with each successive gig and with the release of their demo tapes.  If ever a band was suited to 7" vinyl it's Vital Idles so Not Unloved is super-excited to be able to help them onto their rightful format.

Tell the world!

Here's the blurb:

Vital Idles are Jess, Nick, Matthew and Ruari. In 2015 they leapt fully formed from the fertile intersection of Glasgow's visual art and music undergrounds. Their early live shows were a revelation, all ecstatic dancing and incisive tunes that betrayed an affection for the pioneering run of 7"s from the dawn of Rough Trade and the more pop slanted sounds from the worldwide DIY boom that followed. NUSONIC 001, the first release on Not Unloved Records, marks their vinyl debut following two stirring demo tapes and highlights a group equally adept at abrasive postpunk ("My Sentiments") and saucy pastoral pop ("The Garden"). Fans of Kleenex, Primetime and The Smiths are urged to take note!

Still stuck on 7" singles!

In the 80s I loved Crackerjack. The best bit was when somebody got gunked (as happens 39mins 35secs into this clip).  I've bought so many records but gone to so many gigs of late (there's been quite a run in Glasgow in recent weeks: Terry/Woolf/Anxeity, Moritz von Oswald, The Goon Sax/Boys Forever/Spinning Coin, Cavern of Anti-Matter, Colleen Green/Cassie Ramone/The Pooches, Bill Orcutt/Okkyung Lee etc. etc.) that on those rare evenings when I do actually sit down to listen to them it feels akin to being sat in a Crackerjack gunking booth, voluntarily pulling the cord and getting soaked to the skin by new music.  At the most recent gunking these are the 7" singles that widened Not Unloved's eyes the most:



What a heart melting slice of bounce-pop!  Tangible Excitement! have tremendous pop pedigree, being a collaboration between Scott Stevens, (singer with The Earthmen, Summer Cats), Stewart Anderson (Boyracer and a million other fab groups) and Mark Monnone (The Lucksmiths, Monnone Alone etc).  For good measure Louis from The Zebras/Bart and Friends guests on guitar, too.  On the flip there's an irresistibly fizzy cover of Tiger Trap's much cherished "Puzzle Pieces" that rivals the original in terms of sheer joy.



I don't think I'll be hearing from any lawyers if I say that The Jeanies have a fondness for the records of Big Star and Milk'n'Cookies.  That, of course, is no bad thing and when they can craft melodies as instantly memorable as "Amilee", they'll earn admiration for more than just having fine record collections.



At a recent gig a friend declared that they were officially over the 60s garage sound and never needed to hear or see another group so fixated on that period ever again.  It being 2016 and hence a whole five decades since the bulk of the touchstone records of that ilk were released, I could see their point.  Then I heard the latest blast of downer garage jangle from Hamburg's The Wrong Society's and knew I wouldn't be turning my back on that sound anytime soon.  The sombre "Don't Know Why" on the flip is particularly beguiling and would earn its place among the greats on any one of my favourite volumes of the Teenage Shutdown series.