The Monday Mix: No Monster Club - Harlea - The Darts

No Monster Club - French Revolution / Life Is Flashing Before Your Eyes (Aardvark - Blessing).

Background from Bobby Aherne of No Monster Club - I'm here to tell you about the 'Encyclopedia Project' that I have planned for the foreseeable future: On the first of each month, I'll be releasing a new single (consisting of two songs) that'll be available for free download - or as 'pay what you like', should one be willing to throw some change into the virtual tips jar.

The first instalment arrived on January 1st, containing one new song and a cover of an amazing Vince Collins song from 1984. As I'll be utilising an alphabetical, encyclopedia-based naming scheme, issue #1 is entitled 'Aardvark - Blessing'.

My 2015 and 2016 albums ('People Are Weird' and 'I Feel Magic', respectively) were unanimously acclaimed ~ they were released by indie labels based in NYC & Chicago, and each picked up four stars from The Irish Times.  Website here.

Both 'French Revolution' and 'Life Is Flashing Before Your Eyes' are worth a feature and as I cannot make up my mind on which one to include, here are both of them. If we are going to receive a monthly double helping of indie music this good, then hopefully their virtual tipping jar will overflow!

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Harlea - You Don't Get It.

Background - Birmingham born, North London raised Harlea has shared her new single ‘You Don’t Get It’ (6th Jan 2017) - a snarling second offering, which marries together crushing blues-inflected guitar work, with infectious pop-tinged vocal melodies.

Sparkling evidence that Harlea has truly found her voice, the new track - inspired by “the overt power of being a woman” is a ferocious affair, yet finely balanced in its delivery. Harlea went on to say this about the new single: "It's about living life on your terms and being true to yourself. You do what you want, when you want and how you want. It is defiant of a male world in which women are expected to fit. You either fit her world, her needs, her desires or you don't get her.”

There is only the careful and judicious release of music, when it’s ready and when Harlea is ready. The release of 'You Don’t Get It’ this week - a timeless, assured, sassy rock track that showcases Harlea’s sultry vocals as well as her songwriting ability - comes just ahead of her debut live show. Harlea was asked to perform at The Line Of Best Fit’s Five Day Forecast, which takes place at the Lexington on Friday 13th January and sold out within a week. With blues inspired riffs, and incessantly catchy female-led pop melodies, Harlea's thinking of 2017, and she’s also thinking of 2018. She’s in it for the long-haul, not the quick fix. Website here and Facebook here.

'You Don't Get It' has a bluesy and powerful rocking vibe running through its veins. Harlea's vocals are determined, suggesting that messing with her might be a bad idea, however adding enough melody to give the song some real edge.

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The Darts - Revolution.

Background - The women -- singer and keys player Nicole Laurenne, guitarist and singer Michelle Balderrama, bassist and singer Christina Nunez and drummer and singer Rikki Styxx -- aren’t afraid of having a little fun with their image, to the extent that their chosen band description on their Facebook page reads, “Garage-psych-rock-grrls who will make your head slam and your feet shake. And then there’s the music.”

While The Darts offers a new creative outlet for the ladies, all are already seasoned musicians. Laurenne and Nunez are both veterans of the recently-disbanded Love Me Nots, Styxx has kept the beat with The Dollyrots and Balderrama is a member of the long-running Los Angeles band Brainspoon. One of the standout tracks on The Darts is “I Want Your Fun,” a hook-filled pop rocker that’s equal parts pink bubblegum and black nylon and that includes the line “Kiss me like you’re leaving town,” a lust that’s palpable throughout the record.

The Darts are about to begin a US nationwide tour that’ll keep them on the road through January; after a bit of a break they’ll return to touring in March. Website here, Facebook here.

Jan 14 Phoenix Valley Bar
Jan 18 El Paso Lowbrow Palace
Jan 19 San Antonio Limelight
Jan 20 Austin The Blackheart
Jan 21 Houston Notsuoh
Jan 22 New Orleans Siberia
Jan 23 Auburn DeRailed
Jan 24 Nashville Springwater
Jan 25 Memphis DKDC
Jan 26 Dallas Three Links
Jan 28 Tucson Flycatcher
Jan 29 Phoenix Rebel Lounge.

It was only last month we were saying just how good The Darts EP was and now we have their new self-titled debut album, due January 13 on Dirty Water Records. Second track 'Revolution' typifies the energy and exuberance The Darts can pack into every song. Sometimes full on garage rock with plenty of hooks and enough melodic variations to keep everything interesting, this is one genuine rock'n'roll LP.

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And The Beat Goes On: Ine Hoem - No Monster Club - Neil Brophy Band - Slow Down Molasses - The PepTides

Ine Hoem - Moonbird.

Background promo - Ine Hoem´s voice hits you right in the heart. Her vocal strong sound has elements from both modern electronic music and the jazz universe.

Her debut album "Angerville" received tons of positive reviews, and her single "This year" gained a lot of airplay in her native Norway. That song was also used in the Canadian/US TV series "Degrassi".

Ine Hoem has spent the last 12 months in a studio in Gotland, Sweden, together with producer Tobias Fröberg (Ane Brun, Loreen, Anna Bergendahl) and the musicians Lars Skoglund (Lykke Li) and Robert Elovsson (Robyn).

The result is the album "Moonbird", due to be released February 10th. These nine strong songs creates a dark musical universe, and makes you think of artists like Kate Bush and Lykke Li. The first single, and title track, "Moonbird" is out now.

With rich swirling synth sounds 'Moonbird' grabbed my attention before Ine Hoem had even begun to sing. Once she did, then wow! what a fabulous voice, and vocal range. Melodic through and through, this is one fabulous song.

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No Monster Club - Hippocampus Circus Maximus.

Background - No Monster Club has just released the first track from their forthcoming 7" EP - it's a catchy, tropical-tinged pop march that elicited an impromptu conga-line during its debut airing at Electric Picnic over the weekend.

No Monster Club is the cartoonish art-pop brainchild of Dublin's Bobby Aherne - a project that has already produced around a dozen albums containing "the kind of tunefulness that makes a joke of so much contemporary pop music" (The Irish Times).

Emotional Response are proud to announce the release of No Monster Club’s debut US release, which is also the bands’ debut foray into the 7inch vinyl medium! Skillfully mastered to ensure maximum fidelity, this immediately catchy and classic pop EP contains Four jump-up-and-down solid gold bangers, heralding Aherne’s songwriting as it blossoms into dazzling brilliance.

Catch them on tour later this month:
9/24 Louie’s Back Room, Kalamazoo, MI
9/25 Burlington Bar, Chicago, IL
9/26 Pinky Swear, Chicago, IL
9/27 Stone Tavern at Michel’s, Kent, OH
9/28 Coyote Joe’s, Dubois, PA
9/29 The Dev, Utica, NY
9/30 TBA, NYC
10/1 Our Lady of Perpetual Hope, Hempstead, NY
10/5 New Funky Jungle, Providence, RI

'Hippocampus Circus Maximus' may well have been featured just for the song title alone. That it is a bright and uplifting fun tune, secured it. That pop can still make me smile and feel good, is something pretty special, as is this song.

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Neil Brophy Band - Fear of Fear.

Background - Folk Rock from Copenhagen via Northampton, Neil Brophy Band combine powerful lyrics, upbeat folk guitar and iconic banjo & whistle melodies to deliver an infectiously catchy song with a serious political message in the outspoken new single “Fear of Fear”, out 21st October. Infused with a raw, brash Celtic soul sound that recalls the likes of Billy Bragg, The Pogues and Ewan MacColl, “Fear of Fear” mixes reflective lyrics and driving instrumentation to create a catchy and politically charged anti-anthem, bursting at the seams with defiance.

“Right-wing news channels and politicians feed us with their propaganda machine, breeding hatred and fear, which they use to misguide us. ‘Fear of Fear’ as the title suggests, lays out in black and white the lies we are fed.” - Neil Brophy. Brophy originally from Moulton, Northamptonshire, left the UK in 1990 on a backpacking trip and never made it back on a permanent basis. The prolific songwriter busked his way around Australia, NZ and the States for several years picking up songs and stories along the way, honing his craft by combining elements of his travels with social commentary & revelry and moulding into song.

Led by singer and song smith, Neil Brophy, the band has toured extensively in Northern Europe and Scandinavia becoming firm favourites on the festival circuit including multiple festival appearances in Germany, Holland and Belgium. UK festivals include Beautiful Days, Big Session and Middlewhich Festival. Now based in Copenhagen, Denmark, Folk Rock band Neil Brophy Band has been recording and touring since 1998.  With several releases under their belt, the English-Scottish-Danish band’s last single ‘The Record Collector’, released on Record Store Day, was championed by Steve Lamacq, receiving substantial airplay on BBC 6 Music.

Neil Brophy Band will be returning to the UK in October to play a selection of exclusive shows including dates with Blackbeard’s Tea Party.
                
12/10 The Dublin Castle - London
14/10 Adelphi - Hull - Supporting Blackbeard’s Tea Party
15/10 Telford Warehouse - Chester - Supporting Blackbeard’s Tea Party
16/10 FAC251 - Manchester - Supporting Blackbeard’s Tea Party

Music with a message is alive and well with songs like 'Fear Of Fear'. Musically it's something of a modern day folk piece with a sprinkling of Celtic influences. Melodic and catchy, the lyrics cut to the chase, getting the point across, whilst the harmonies, make it just so likable.

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Slow Down Molasses - Levitation Sickness.

Background - Levitation Sickness is the new single from the bands third studio album 100% Sunshine. This follows up from last years record Burnt Black Cars, the record which helped propel the bands career forward and gained support from Q Magazine, Noisey & Clash Magazine to name a few drawing comparisons to Slowdive, Toy and My Bloody Valentine for their blend of shoegaze and stoner rock. Th album was released 2nd September 2016 via Noyes.

Formed in 2006 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Slow Down Molasses rank among Western Canada’s finest musical exports. Their third album, 100% Sunshine, will be released on September 2, 2016 on Noyes Records, and forges new sonic territory for the band while retaining their unique hybrid of ’90s Anglophilia and contemporary Canadian rock. 2015’s Burnt Black Cars was hailed as “drug-drenched psych-pop” by Q magazine and “immediately memorable and timeless” by The Line of Best Fit, with the band going on to share the stage with the New Pornographers, Swervedriver, Built to Spill, Preoccupations (fka Viet Cong) and the Besnard Lakes. 

Veterans of festivals across North America (SXSW, CMJ, NXNE, Sled Island) as well as European (Incubate, End of the Road, Liverpool Sound City, Great Escape, Reeperbahn, Nouvelle Prague), the band are renowned as a euphoric live experience, with Exclaim praising their “huge, stadium-ready sound and colourful presence”. Slow Down Molasses are singer/guitarist Tyson McShane, drummer Jordan Kurtz, bassist Chris Morin, guitarist/keyboardist Aaron Scholz, guitarist Levi Soulodre and keyboardist/singer Jeanette Stewart.

Live Dates:
6 Sept @ Club Kukuun ­ Hamburg
7 Sept @ Culture Container - Berlin
8-11 Sept @ Incubate Festival, Tilburg, NL
16 September @ Amigos, Saskatoon - record release show.

'Levitation Sickness' is the second song we have featured from Slow Down Molasses new album. The bands distinctive sound, remains quite hypnotic, with lush powerful music and vocals packed tightly into the mix.

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The PepTides - Don't Believe in Love.

Background - Hailing from Ottawa, Canada, The PepTides is a nine-member band with a distinctive larger-than-life pop sound. The five vocalists and four instrumentalists draw on funk, electronic and disco influences. They have been described by the Ottawa Citizen as “the B52’s crossed with The Manhattan Transfer backed by Arcade Fire.”

A snapshot of Canadian diversity, The PepTides is a collection of women and men with a kaleidoscope of identities: English, French, Ukrainian, Mexican, Guyanese, Cree, Acadian, Armenian, Scottish and Lgbtq. The group is noted for its extravagant live performances featuring thick vocal harmonies, theatrical choreography and colourful visuals. The PepTides’ songs juxtapose upbeat music with lyrics that comment on far-reaching themes like love, hate, revenge, sex, religion, war—and getting ready for dates.

In 2013, The PepTides garnered national attention by producing a full-length album in collaboration with Stuart McLean of CBC Radio’s Vinyl Cafe. They performed selections from the album live on the 20th anniversary recording of the show. Their 2014 release Love Question Mark was lauded by Exclaim! as “an ambitious collection of fun, daring, unadulterated, true blue art.” For Those Who Hate Human Interaction (2010) was named best album of the year by the Ottawa Citizen.

The PepTides EP, released in September 2016, features all-new recordings of the band’s greatest hits—including the summer single “Don’t Believe in Love,” which aired on commercial radio from coast to coast in Canada and received positive reviews from DJs internationally. The band has charmed audiences at major music festivals (RBC Bluesfest, Ottawa International Jazz Festival), bars (Blacksheep Inn, Horseshoe Tavern), showcases (NXNE, Folk Music Ontario), and theatre festivals (SummerWorks, Undercurrents).

M3TV’s take on The PepTides says it all: “Mixing their stunning vocals with funk beats underneath a soulful sound, an abundance of theatrical dance moves and kitschy quirks, they defy any genre or description. One must simply see them to believe them.”
 
Upcoming Fall Tour dates (with more to come):
 Sept 9 - Thyme and Again - Ottawa, ON
Sept 10 - Live on Elgin (matinee & evening shows)- Ottawa, ON
Sept 15 - Queens Univeristy - Kingston, ON
Sept 30 - Junction City Music Hall - Toronto, ON
Oct 22 - Gallery Studio (CS Art) - Ottawa, ON
Nov 1 - venue TBD - Montreal, QC
Nov 11 - Heartwood Concert Hall - Owen Sound, ON
Nov 12 - Old Town Hall – Almonte, ON.

Beyond being a vibrant and colourful live act, The PepTides create melodic and hook laden songs as the featured track 'Don't Believe in Love' demonstrates. One of six on the bands latest release, it's a consistently creative collection of music that mixes funk, pop and soul vibes with a huge element of energy.

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