Maff - The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer

Maff - Hawaii / Desfile.

Background -  Chilean shoegaze quartet Maff will be releasing 'Hawaii', a new powerhouse single off their coming ‘Melaniña’ EP, slated for release in April. This is Maff’s first sonic offering since blazing a remarkable trail through shoegaze, alternative rock, and noise pop territory surrounding their debut album ‘Maff', released in 2015. This follows up the release of ‘Desfile’, their first Spanish-language single, having only released music in English before this. ‘Desfile’ is about feeling trapped in your life and being in a place you do not deserve to be, surrounded with toxic people and feelings. Gomez sings "Soporto un dia mas, con desechos me toca desfilar” (I hold on one more day...I’m in a waste parade”.

Formed in 2012 in Santiago, Chile by Ricardo Gomez and Nicolas Colombres, Maff’s music blossomed from a love affair with guitar pedals. Their sound was greatly influenced by The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Pixies, Ride, Sonic Youth, and My Bloody Valentine. The current line-up is Ricardo Gomez (vocals, guitar), Nicolas Colombres (drums), Valentina Cardenas (bass) and Martin Colombres (guitar).

Maff is also teasing the new EP with a video for ‘Act 2’. This is the sequel to ‘Act 1’ from the band’s debut album. The video was created by Pennsylvania’s Tim Busko, who also created the video for ‘Act 1’. The new album was inspired by Gomez’ first child Augusta. ‘Melaniña’ is an acronym combining the word ‘melanin’ (a group of natural pigments found in most organisms), chosen since Augusta is slightly albino, with the word ‘niña’, Spanish for little girl. 

Created by Nicolas Colombres, the album cover artwork features an image of Augusta, who witnessed the whole process of creating this EP (songwriting, recording, mixing). “She has been my source of inspiration. This is my gift to her,” says Ricardo Gomez. “During our break between albums, I learned to be a father and learned to play the guitar. I started to write music surrounded by new feelings in my life. It is always fascinating to keep learning new things, and I was fortunate to have these two moment’s crash together in the same period of my life. I locked myself in my home studio and started to write music”.

Maff is virtually the only Chilean band ever to have caught the attention of Creation Records founder Joe Foster, well renowned for his knack for identifying great artists and trends, who says "Maff's music shows the worldwide spread of this particular style of very non rock electric guitar music. A whole world exists in which these guys excel. Love em". FACEBOOK, BANDCAMP.

We have two of the five tracks that make up the 'Melaniña' EP 'Hawaii' and 'Desfile'. Shoegaze might be at the heart of their music however Maff comfortably explore other musical areas from that point, and do so with some original ideas and sounds. Powerful and expansive the band are influenced by some notable artists, they do however, carve out their own styles and should appeal to many rock music lovers.


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The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer - Hard On Things.

Background - Having supported St. Paul & The Broken Bones at the O2 Forum in London and on other UK dates in early 2017, Canadian duo The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer returned to play several shows in their own right in mid-September just prior to the release of their current album, ‘Apocalipstick’.

‘Hard On Things’ is a brand new song by the band. A retro yet classy slab of R&B, blues, soul and rock, it was recorded in late 2017 following a tour to promote the album.

Framed by psychedelic landscapes and world-ending jam-outs, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer ignite the gritty, blues-rock grooves they have been acclaimed for by adding drummer John Raham (The Be Good Tanyas) and keyboardist Geoff Hilhorst (The Deep Dark Woods) into the melting pot as well as the golden voices of Dawn Pemberton, Andrina Turenne, Alexa Dirks (Begonia), Ben Rogers, Khari Wendell McClelland, Erik Nielsen and Ricardo Khayatte. Add equal parts soulful, sweaty vocals and biting guitar and you have an album perfect for any doomsday date-night.

‘Apocalipstick’ is the follow up to 2014’s ‘A Real Fine Mess’, which received considerable recognition in their home territory for the Vancouver, Canada based duo of Hall and Rogers. This included a ‘Blues Album of the Year’ Juno nomination (2014) and wins for ‘Blues Album of the Year’ and  ‘Alternative Album of the Year’ at the WCMA’s (2015). Their previous release, ‘Checkered Past’, also won them the ‘Blues Act of the Year’ gong at the SiriumXM Indies (2013). They have had songs featured on television shows such as: ‘CSI’, ‘NCIS: New Orleans’, ‘Bitten’, ‘Killjoys’, ‘The Good Wife’, ‘Blue Bloods’ and the aptly named TV movie ‘Lizzie Borden Took An Axe’. WEBSITE.

Our second feature for The Harpoonist and The Axe Murderer who first impressed us in August of last year. 'Hard On Things' is a bluesy rocker with more than a few soulful vibes along the way. The duo are potent, the hooks dig deep, this is one very gorgeous song.


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Terra Lightfoot - Lomelda - The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer - Castle Black

Terra Lightfoot - Paradise.

Background - The artist’s strengths as a songwriter, vocalist and performer, memorably showcased on her last studio outing, Every Time My Mind Runs Wild, are even more evident here. With New Mistakes, Lightfoot offers up something rare: the kind of genuine document that can only come from a road-tested breed of songwriter and performer. The song premiered today at American Songwriter.

Terra creates soulful rock that has landed her on stages alongside Gordon Lightfoot, Built To Spill, Guided by Voices, + more. Her most recent LP Everytime My Mind Runs Wild was released last year to critical acclaim and has already accumulated hundreds of thousands of streams. This new album sees her focusing her rock, blues, and soul influences into a clear creative vision.

Terra Lightfoot on “Paradise”: For me, “Paradise” is about letting go of perfection in love. It’s not wrestling with the problems and missteps in our relationships but embracing them. I think it's a more realistic way to look at love and it gives me some comfort to know I'm not standing there with rose-coloured glasses on.  “Paradise” actually started out as a different song called “Thunder” that was a huge hit at our shows. On the last day of tracking the record, I had this crazy idea that I wanted to change the words because I wasn’t happy with all of them, so I set up a pillow fort and a guitar in the tracking room, went to work… and ended up with a new verse melody and completely different lyrics. Gus and Werner liked the new verse so much they said, “Okay, now go write a chorus to match that verse” — and “Paradise” was born!

"Paradise" is the lead single from Terra's upcoming LP New Mistakes, out October 13th on Sonic Unyon. Photo credit - Dustin Rabin, Website here, Facebook here.

Our third feature for Terra Lightfoot in less than a year, this time with the new track 'Paradise'. It's a foot stomping rocker where Terra's powerfully melodic vocals, carry enough rock'n'roll edge, to blend seamlessly with the soundtrack.


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Lomelda - From Here.

Background - Lomelda has shared "From Here," the latest from her upcoming album, Thx. She has also been announced for Mirrors Festival taking place on 28th October in London. Venue and stage time TBC.

Hannah Read, who performs under the moniker Lomelda, makes music that is textural and spacious. Her words are suggestive snapshots of loosely knitted observations, depicting quiet moments between friends and lovers and half-remembered celestial occurrences. In her songs, the memory of the past and glimpses of future stretch out on either side of you, and the present is unsteady and always shifting. 

If you were to ask Hannah Read what Lomelda means, you'd probably end up with some kind of non-answer and a new topic. It is a guarded secret reserved for those who really pry. It is a high school attempt at describing something vast and powerful yet uniquely quiet and complex. And it is ever-changing. Lomelda is about memory, intimacy, and the tragedies of distance. As a band, it has appeared in several forms over the years, but always, to Hannah, Lomelda has been about discovering friendship and connection. Close collaborators have become closer friends. And when you see Lomelda, when you hear it, it is apparent that Hannah cares deeply about the connection made with the people on stage, the connection with you. Bandcamp here, Facebook here.

We featured Lomelda back in July stating then that "her vocals are gentle, a little vulnerable perhaps and beautifully melodic, supported by some fresh, intricate and understated music."  'From Here' carries a little more weight or body to the soundtrack, and Hannah Read's vocal delivery trades up accordingly to the increase in energy, doing so without losing any of her fabulously intense charm.


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The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer - Get Ready.

Background - Armed with a sack of harmonicas, a mess of foot percussion and a road-worn Telecaster, Shawn Hall (The Harpoonist) and Matthew Rogers (The Axe Murderer) kick out raw and primal blues while electrifying the genre with a lightning bolt of new life. Hall and Rogers limit their sound to whatever they can play between them, using only their mouths, hands and feet. Hall provides soul-tinged vocals and blues harmonica, while Rogers simultaneously lets rip on guitar and foot percussion.

These days it feels like our world is on the verge of collapse. But it’s with near-end times in the breeze  that we plunge deeper into the pleasures of sex, revelry and entertainment. ‘Apocalipstick’ begins with  the doom-laden warning call of ‘Get Ready’ (to be released as a UK single). Set to a contrastingly  bouncy drumbeat, Shawn Hall alerts us to “Get ready for the hard times / Get ready for the heavy load  / Get ready for the who knows what”. “Ben Rogers [guest vocalist] first sang ‘Get Ready’ to us by the  piano in the basement of my home,” says Hall. “It was instantly familiar to us and embodied this loose  campfire-like group vocal thing, which carried right into the recording sessions. The beauty of this song is the impression of hopefulness it leaves you while layered in a bed of chaos.” With the fate of  the world certainly in question, ‘Apocalipstick’ delves into lustful begging with ‘Pretty Please’,  summons complete heartbreak in ‘Treat Me Kind’, while ‘Nancy’ and ‘Forever Fool’ touch on themes of bullying and revenge. 

Framed by psychedelic landscapes and world-ending jam-outs, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer ignite the gritty, blues-rock grooves they have been acclaimed for by adding drummer John Raham  (The Be Good Tanyas) and keyboardist Geoff Hilhorst (The Deep Dark Woods) into the melting pot as  well as the golden voices of Dawn Pemberton, Andrina Turenne, Alexa Dirks (Begonia), Ben Rogers,  Khari Wendell McClelland, Erik Nielsen and Ricardo Khayatte. Add equal parts soulful, sweaty vocals  and biting guitar and you have an album perfect for any doomsday date-night. Website here.

Some chunky rhythmic rock vibes, provide just the right musical arrangement for the vocals and soulful harmonies on 'Get Ready'. It's a catchy rocker where energy and passion are there in equal amounts!


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Castle Black - Trapped Under All You Know (EP).

Background - NYC’s female fronted punk-rock/grunge outfit Castle Black  have just released their new EP Trapped Under All You Know. With gritty female vocals backed by powerful but masterfully layered instrumentation, their music demands to be heard. Reminiscent of famous acts such as Sleater-Kinney, The Dead Weather, Hole, Savages, and Bikini Kill, Castle Black brings an infusion of genres and influences to their music, hurtling through social anthems and pure emotion.

The album kicks straight into gear, with the first track “Seeing In Blue” providing a driving anthem, full of lively drums, hooky melodies and demanding lyrics. The track premiered earlier this month via The Big Takeover. The album’s intriguing title, Trapped Under All You Know, comes as a line from the song “Blind Curtain”. “That line/title was decided upon because it best represented the themes of this album and the trajectory of the songs as ordered on the album,” shared vocalist/guitarist Leigh Celent.

Celent described the EP as a cohesive project, which provides a story experience when consumed in its entirety. Despite this purposeful intention, she also invites listeners to take away their own interpretations. “…while I may have written a song from a certain perspective, that doesn’t mean the words can’t be emblematic of other situations. There have been times that I’ve started writing a song about one thing, but by the time it was done, it was about something else, or a different perspective on the initial topic.”

In addition to their talented instrumentals, Castle Black utilizes vocal harmonies heavily throughout. “It’s been a running joke in the band, that if we want to add something outside of the three instruments, just ask Lisa to vocalize it! So, some of her vocal parts end up being these wordless vocals for this very reason and we like how it contributes to the overall vibe.” Website here, Facebook here.

From the first song 'Seeing In Blue' the band set out to ensure the new EP 'Trapped Under All You Know' doesn't disappoint. The mixture of frenetic punk orientated pieces alongside some hook laden grunge keeps the four song collection powerful and pleasing throughout.

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