Tag: Britpop

Static Moves at The Three Crowns Devizes

Bussing into Devizes Saturday evening, a gaggle (I believe is the appropriate collective noun) of twenty-something girls from Bath already on-board, disembark at The Market Place. One cries out her desperation for the loo, but there’s no detours to another bar en-route for relief, they’re steadfast to their destination, The Three Crowns; a wise choice….

I’m heading that way too, trying to pick up pace and overtake them, so as not to convey I’m some creepy codger following them from the bus! Some lads intervened with a wolf-whistle down the Brittox, I gathered at them and not me. I’ll quip with them to break the ice, in hope they see it’s coincidental that our destinations are the same. It worked, they seemed unconcerned, and giggly.

With a fresh lick of paint it really didn’t need in comparison with others, and a scrumptious selection of designer burgers, The Three Crowns is the go-to pub for gen z coming of age, millennials, and a number of elder diehard party heads who still think they’ve “got it,” because they have, bless ‘em!

But the greatest thing about these cross-generational gatherings at The Three Crowns is the carefree atmosphere without division. Everybody is here to enjoy themselves. They crave a live band to throw high-energy covers at them, era-spanning songs they know, love and can sing along with, and they’ll party trouble-free together. Younger attendees will high five the elders, and dad dancers mingle without mockery, I hoped!!

I’m at the back gate chatting to landlord Simon while tonight’s band is sound checking. It’s this Marlborough-Swindon based band’s debut at The Three Crowns, but I assure him what I suspected, that Static Moves will fit like a glove. Not wanting to blow my own trumpet, but I was bloody right an’ all!

Static Moves are a side-burns, flat caps and pork pie wearing, two-Clives five-piece covers band with keyboards, in self-promoting black t-shirts. Even if these other elements don’t convey Static Moves are bringing a touch of new wave eighties mod retrospection to the table, any band boasting two Clives is a win-win!

Being honest, there have been occasions when I’ve dropped into the Crowns to see a great cover band, yet my desire for originals redirects my zimmer frame over to the trusty Gate, and I’m faced with two half-reviews; not this time. Static Moves are irresistible, and enthral any audience.

The systematics of Static Moves’ repertoire appears to be anything which can be delivered loud and proud like it’s Coventry in 1980 or Madchester in 1990. If a particular song choice isn’t, they make it so it is. Taking no prisoners they were greyhounds out of the starting traps, rarely coming up for air, save a short break.

The frontman isn’t Luciano Pavarotti, needs not to be, but is commandeering, can hold a note, and a dynamic showman, with a habit of launching his tambourine either airborne or into the crowd.

The band compliment the lively mannerisms, though fairly recently formed, all members hold a wealth of experience, which shows. It looks like a tight ship, a new drummer slipping into the kind of camaraderie which reflects onto the audience; they’re having fun, you will too.

Static Moves compact a party into their pocket, and, for want of a less Potterhead analogy, like a Choranaptyxis it expands to fit the available space when they catapult it out upon an anticipated crowd. They told me they were working on some originals, we’ll hold the front page.

There were components to their set, it kicked off seventies, absolutely scorched Primal Scream’s Rocks, then launched tongue-in-cheek into early eighties pop hits like Nena’s 99 Red Balloons, Kim Wilde’s Kids in America and even found time to make one-hit-wonder Tiffany’s smash their own! As you might imagine, this was my personal summit, ‘cos I bought those singles, but I also observed all generations present acknowledging and lapping up those bubblegum classics.

It moved as swiftly as their tempo onto tracks I’d consider were their own favourites, the more less commercial punk anthems like The Buzzcocks, by which time they had the audience eating out of their hands and could’ve pulled any cheesy bygone slush puppy out of their bag and still rinsed it! As it was they took to The Beastie Boys’ Fight for your Right, which was only amusing until they followed it with a grand attempt at Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Despite the diversity, the template of loud and proud prevented pigeonholing, a party band with a big sack of crowd-pleasers and an unrivalled enthusiasm to deliver them. The finale alongside Billy Idol, were millennial showboats, Britpop anthems, you know the one from The Killers, and yeah, they did Wonderwall, but while I deem that cliché, they did it well, and it always gives the youngsters an opportunity to show everyone they have torches on their phones!

Ahem, that’s irrelevant against the positivity of a diverse crowd throwing away their cares for a moment and enjoying themselves. That’s what’s infectious; you’re duty bound to follow suit with a band like Static Moves. I couldn’t physically leave until the deal was fully sealed.

The Three Crowns revel in this infection, and is the reason it bucks the trend of a decline in pub culture. Here is a Devizes lesson in how to do it, they deserve the praise but don’t really need it. Stalwart for a number of years now, most know the Three Crowns is a testament to a memorable night, including, it seems, girls bussing in from Bath. 

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Some Days with Paul Lappin

Paul’s self-made cover to his latest single, Some Days depicts a fellow sitting under a tree pondering life, while an autumn zephyr blows leaves around him, and perfectly sums up the mood of the single….

It’s breezy, everyday contemplation, and as smooth as Fonzie in a health spa, as is Paul’s distinctive, euphoric style! A style which he cites Britpop as an influence, a genre I’m not so knowledgeable about, ergo can’t think of a suitable comparison within it, hence the reason I dub Paul’s prolific outpourings as unique, and also suggest it’s artists like Paul who’ve redirected my attention to its worth.

Maybe you could think of a Britpop group similarly so leniently exquisite, but I always hear an edgy wailing guitar in even the most saccharine. I feel the pink moon rising, this is akin to my most favourite of Paul’s flavoursome releases, the intimate Live at Pink Moon Studios EP recorded during lockdown.

Paul Lappin

There’s a sunny side of the street narrative, in the face of challenges to wreck your optimism, apt for the mood of the sound. In a way, like Elbow’s One Day Like This. Paul levels it up a notch, though, throws his curtains wide but puts his boots on and actually goes out for a sunny ramble! I get the impression that’s when his inspiration strikes, as it feels so honest and homey! And this is the result, try it for size, and check his backlog discography too, for everyone is like this, a winner.

Paul was from Swindon, his Bandcamp bio still suggests this, but he now lives in the South of France. His output reflects the finer quality of life there, such that updating his Bandcamp bio is easy forgotten against wine, good food and music! But to note we’re supposed to review local artists, there’s a tenacious Swindon link to justify mentioning him, and when you hear his beautiful songs you’ll understand why I’m reminding you!

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Familiarity: Barrelhouse Take The Southgate, Roughcut Rebels in The Three Crowns

Familiarity was key for me last night, if last weekend was new, trekking to Swindon for their soul and jazz festival, watching an amazing Gambian musician play a string instrument made from a cow skin covered pumpkin. Cue the theme to Cheers, sometimes I simply want to get down to my local, see a band I’ve seen umpteen times, and love, make no notes, take a few blurry snaps, and naturally, blow off work-day stress by sinking a few ciders too many, and when I do, The Southgate or Three Crowns in Devizes are my go-tos….

Apologies if we’ve covered this ground before, a number of times, but Devizine is a hobby. Therefore, I reserve my right to enjoy doing it! Not forgoing, I enjoy the adventure of finding acts I’ve not seen before and exploring new venues equally to the comfort of familiarity, so when Barrelhouse are in town the temptation is too much to resist; I’m legging it in the April drizzle to catch the bus!

There were two free live music options in D-town last night, both as valid as each other, as usual for a Saturday. The trusty Three Crowns had a new look Roughcut Rebels, those established mod to Britpop local favourites. I’ve had some reservations about recent lineup changes, but I’m aware there’s a new guy fronting the team. I must poke my nose in to investigate. So, too, did former members Finley and Mark, I jested to them that they were on the bench, but substitutions were unnecessary.

Only original lead guitarist, Weller-mod-cut John Burns remains, yet with proficiency cool as a cucumber, the new frontman, Jake Lockhart is unpretentiously smooth, bassist on cue, and a stickman who clearly knows his way around a drum kit. They roll out Kinks and Stones classics delightfully, I’m guessing this is going to go Britpop before long, and while I’d personally favour the setlist works in reverse, I’m not of the millennial majority in the Crowns the Rebels need to appease. I can ascertain they did, from their opening alone.

It only took a few songs to accept these guys had it in the pocket, and it was impendingly obvious the Three Crowns will explode into party mode post-haste, it always does by providing the best tried and tested cover bands. Like I say, familiarity. Time for me to grab my zimmer frame and join my own age demographic down at the Southgate; those Marlborough purveyors of sublime vintage blues must’ve soundchecked by now…

And so it was, The Southgate, as warm and welcoming as ever; found a place in the blossoming crowd of elder gig bunnies, and let Barrelhouse do their thing. If I do local circuit analysis and Marlborough comes up decidedly post-punk new wave and gothic, Barrelhouse better appeal to Devizes, perhaps; the Mel Bush effected blues aficionados. Although Barrelhouse is best served on hometurf, you should see the crowds turn out at Mantonfest; it’s a Marlborough blues phenomenon.

I’ve been telling Devizes this since they first appeared at our trusty Gate, to play to a slight crowd, an attraction which builds with each visit they make. Tonight was no exception. It was medium busy as they presented their wonderful show, squashed into the famous alcove, but with the passion and gusto they possess and input into every gig.

Turning the Southgate into a juke-joint is an easy feat, punters love their blues above all else. Though the Gate strives to bring a wider range, you only need to be there for the monthly Jon Amor Trio residency to confirm this. Barrelhouse is apt here, then, but it remains to be that some regulars still need to take heed of just how much these guys will rock them. Those present know the score now, Barrelhouse came, saw, petted the pub dogs, hung T-shirts over the toilet sign, and entertained superbly, again!

When they come your way, do check them out, I don’t fib, not about this anyway! The band are tight, the blues is vintage, with a fiery modern rock twist, in their calculated, balanced setlist of Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf and other Americana covers, their own compositions which have become as anthemic as the classics to fans, and the brillant rock adaptations such as Motörhead’s Ace of Spades.

Frontman Martin Hands is hands-free, with no instrument other than his confident and convincing gritty delta blues vocals. The band complimented him, Tim is a guitar enthusiast, and his skills shine through. Stuart equally on bass, who acts as compère too. Nick adds to authenticity with harmonica, but it’s no secret he’s an authority both on, backstage, and in music production. 

Even Martin’s fiancé Heidi sporadically guests backing vocals, as do others affectionately dubbed ‘Barrelettes’ when available, giving the band a real family feel.

Encoring Solomon Burke’s Everybody Needs Somebody to Love is standard protocol for Barrelhouse, and they’ve achieved their aim; the pub is pumping, and everybody is dancing. Another memorable evening at the Southgate, you can bet your home most nights are. Check our event calendar for upcoming gigs, but rest assured, thanks to them and the Three Crowns, Devizes remains punching above its weight when it comes to showcasing live local music and while our ticketed events only add to this, there’s gemstones to be found here freely. And we love it!

Gazelles: Follow-up Album from Billy Green 3

Our favourite loud Brit-popping local Geordie and gang are back with a second album. They’re calling it Gazelles, after the previously released single opener Endless Scrolling Gazelles, a sardonic rap on the overuse of social media. Yeah we reviewed that back in 2022, and it sure was a different approach for Billy Green 3, yet the breezy journey cruising interchanging archetypal indie styles dotted with experimentation puts them firmly back on the map…….

There’s three previously released singles on this eleven-track strong album which we’ve covered before, Garden being another stab at social media wrapped in quasi-rap poetry teetering with Geordie mockery, it holds an ironic slate against the charade of social media embodiment. “People posting inspirational memes in one post, and ruining people in the next,” Bill described its subject to me at the time.

Betwixt those, four tunes, Raised Scars is the dreamy side of indie, the Verve, the exotic hopeless romantic melody of I Don’t Really Sleep (‘til You Get Home) drifts more akin to Primal Scream, thumbs up for that, surely showing the trio at their finest. Back to the upbeat rock-rap with one called Not That Deep, swapping back to soulful ballad for With You.

Broken is the third, Britpop still, yeah, but with a melancholic riff drifting over a subtle Latino backdrop, I summed it as “Madchester in Ibiza” back in 2022. Four tunes follow, The Fire Works cherrypicks the euphoric element of the rest and embellishes it, there’s a spoken word section here, and the whole U2 album track feel displays yet another tactic that Billy Green 3 is no one trick pony.

Scars sends us carelessly drifting to shore, another previously released single, it seems, this technophobe must’ve missed due to all being on Spotty-fly these-a-days; hadaway and a shite, Bill, get in touch, oh and “up the toon!” (That’s the only saying I’ve got which sounds anything remotely Biffa Bacon.) Where was I? Lovesick, again a single release from 2023, fuses this hopeless romantic standard Billy Green 3 push, yet waivers between song and this spoken converse over a beat decidedly nineties indie-dance. 

And oh, another reference to the title, Gazelles plays out this beautiful album. Epic closure on the theme of the human disposition versus scrolling through endless media, this one encapsulates every angle explored on the album and rolls it into one conclusion, with a snippet Easter egg at the finale, and that’s my best gamer reference. Superb album, engineered at Potterne’s Badger Sett studio, especially for the wee brit-popper inside us all, though I expected as much, going on the debut Still.

Even if the second album is always a worry, Billy Green 3 can welcome in the new year confident. Put this on, grab yoorself a braan ale, n kick back like Guimaraes int nivvor leaving St James’ Park! But if you need further reading about Bill and his relation to Wiltshire, see here.

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Song of the Week: Paul Lappin

Another wonderful nugget of lonely contemplation from the chillaxed Britpop kahuna, Paul Lappin, formerly of Swindon now residing in the South of France. Unfortunately You makes for our song of the week, and you’ll be drawn into its five minutes of drifting prose and beautiful composition, of that I’m certain.

Paul Lappin

A man of many talents. I love the personal touch of designing your own cover too, in which Paul’s watercolour and pen work has nearly equalled his artistic skill in music. And it goes so well to accommodate the mood of the tune, which is melancholic bliss. 

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Have rally will travel; seemingly the scooterist’s motto, chatting to various friendly clubs nationwide, and individuals too, such as a dapper lone mod who rode up from Bridport on a three hour trek, while loitering with a pint of Thatchers in a field at Lower Farm on the Whistley Road. Overall, it’s more than fair to say, thanks to Devizes Scooter Club’s valiant and sedulous toil, Devizes is firmly on the map of must-do scooter rallies…. 

It would, without this blossoming national appeal have been a massively lesser affair; scooter culture being niche and though a blanket term retrospectively  incorporating mod, skinhead and punk subcultures, isn’t, perhaps, appealing to enough locally to have successfully created something on this grand scale. Those local aficionados, or even with a passing interest in the scene therefore are truly treated, as Devizes Scooter Rally this weekend was spectacular.

There’s various reasons for saying this; a hospitable atmosphere throughout the event from attendees and organisers, a controlled and diligent attitude to structure, the underlying notion you’re not going to get ripped off at the bar or elsewhere, a donation to The Devizes & District Opportunity Centre, a worthy charity indeed, a calculatedly perfect site design from bar, venue to campsite, a wide variety of side stalls, and an apt music programme of talented bands and DJs, but mostly, it was the combination of them all which made it as fantastic as it was.

41 Fords

I spent the finale late night moments with some of the club’s valid members, as they reviewed an overall of the weekend, discussing rights against possible improvements. And with expandable site potential, just how far the annual rally could blossom before it becomes less congenial. As such they’ve set the date for 2024, 26th-28th July; if you missed this weekend put it in your diary, if you went I’d imagine you already have!

Sharp Class

So, I rocked up to wet my whistle on Friday, eager to catch up with those Trowbridge rockabilly stalwarts, 41 Fords, and witness Brighton’s revitalised mod marvels Sharp Class. Being there was another day to come, and I wanted to see you there Saturday, I knocked up a quick review of it: HERE. Saturday though, I’m on Shanks’s pony and up for a party; which was delivered to me uncompromisingly.

Apologies, too late to catch The Butterfly Collective, but my arrival coincided with the Roughcut Rebels’ set. Haven’t seen them since Mark moved to pastures new, but Jimmy Moore makes for a great frontman stand-in for Finley, and it was business as usual for this locally renowned Britpop mod band who plucked covers, like Wonderwall, otherwise cliché if not delivered by such an enthralling group from their extensive repertoire. 

Roughcut Rebels, with added Jimmy Moore!

Next up a rare treat, Cath and Gouldy concentrating rather on wider variated Day Breakers outfit, and folk duo Sound Affects, but to have them back under The Killertones guise both more apt for the occasion and a delightful return to their new-wave-two-tone covers set. It was as whatever guise they operate on, perfected and bewitching, with vast improvements from already proficient young drummer, Katy York.

The Killertones

There was me figuring they’d peaked too soon, after ska classics like Pressure Drop, to speed into uptempo two-tone, like The Specials’ Little Bitch and Rancid’s Timebomb, but a sublime set slid nicely into new wave, particularly adroit being The Chords’ Maybe Tomorrow; dammit if Gouldy didn’t go all Morten Harket on us with an offbeat Take on Me, such a rework finale left the crowd spellbound and me realising how much I’d missed these guys!

With Terry Hendrick’s Soul Pressure on the wheels of steel while the headliners set up, a fashion to see the rally into the wee hours, betwixt it regulars at the rally, the south-coast’s longest established ska ensemble Orange Street ripped the roof off.

Terry Hendrick

I could’ve predicted it such, but it didn’t affect the show’s infectious appeal. At an eight-piece complete with brass section, Orange Street are a highly capable homage to Jamaica’s “first national sound,” which infatuated the youths of sixties Jamaica, and thereafter spread worldwide through era-spanning waves. The second wave most memorable to Britain through Windrush exports appealing to mods; the tsunami known as Two-Tone. And to which the band rightfully nodded to, but also provided original engaging material which fits like a glove into such a set. 

Orange Street

The effect is akin to the attraction of the offbeat backwards shuffle, ska, which Prince Buster accidentally discovered during a recording session at Duke Reid’s studio Treasure Isle, not only reflects in the band name, the studio alongside Coxonne Dodd’s Studio One, both located on this legendary Kingston street, the equivalent of Nashville’s Music Row for reggae, but also in their performance which kicked off with a interlude of Madness’s Buster tribute, The Prince. Though it wasn’t long before the opening medley flowed neatly into the Specials’ Dog the Dog, and thereafter the whole spectrum of ska UK chart hits from Bad Manners to The Beat.

While other similar bands attempt to fuse later reggae styles, punk, or general electronica, Orange Street remain faithful to the roots and are therefore a premium choice for an event like this, cradled by a culture nostalgically devoted to it too. And in such, the event is so encapsulating there’s a jollity in the air impossible to hide. Coupled with the wider appeal outside the atypical scooter rally, with this extended and blossoming setup which had taken the Scooter Club weeks to set up, this is rather of festival proportions and equally as brilliant. 

It only leads be to heartfeltly thank and congratulate The Devizes Scooter Club for bringing us another astounding event which offers diversity to our local music circuit, a jolly good beano, and also attracts nationwide fans to our area…even if I’ve been hearing their hairdryers zipping back and forth the dual carriageway all weekend!!

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Remotely possible he misses all the roundabouts, Paul Lappin came from Swindon, now resides in the South of France, yeah, across the water, which is also the title of his latest EP; coincidence? Remotely possible….

It’s been since last July when we mentioned Paul with previous EP, Flowers in the Snow, this new title track is dreamy family reminisces sailing across a tranquil sea. Plucked from his Britpop inspiration, Paul never fails to create a beautiful ambience of meaningful prose, and this hits the spot.

Sophia, the middle track picks up the beat, twirls with the guitar riff closer associated with Britpop, Lee Moulding and Jon Bucket adding drums to this Stone Roses fashioned track, at their smoothest.

Polishes off with Chasing Rainbows, and we return to the dreamy style of the title track, making a wonderful finale. Check it out today, it’s Sunday music for the soul.

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Prince Akeem of Zamunda, that’s the bugger, least the fictional character played by Eddie Murphy in Coming to America, who walks over a shower of rose petals; that’s the Roughcut Rebels gigging in their hometown right now, but replace the petals with “party!” Yes, they dance over a bed of party, waltzing the crowd with them, and punch above their weight for the mod covers championship belt.….

For a band that know they can switch from the Beatles’, Hard Day’s Night, to Jack Bug’s Lighting Bolt, a local crowd will lay the petals for them. More so, they bring the party, as they saunter through them with a breeze of confidence. Confidence in their younger frontman, Fin, but also in the tightness of the knowledgeable band; it’s one not to be missed, as it was in the Three Crowns last night.

In pub with a McDonald’s-paced drinks service, due to its cashless agenda, there’s a marvellous outside venue completely covered with sparkling canope. The boss here knows his customers as he flicks me through his diary; The Three Crowns pays particular attention to accomplished local live cover acts it knows will bring the party, such as People Like Us, Illingworth, Paradox and, as clearly evident last night, those Roughcut Rebels.

They push the boundaries of eras, spanning in comfort any anthem with a mod tinge, and saunter from sixties to eighties, from Rolling Stones to The Jam, yet slide equally as neatly and timelessly as a Fred Perry shirt into Britpop and into contemporary indie sing-a-longs.

Polishing the evening off with the Stereophonics’ Dakota, it’s a scooter rideout through time, from The Who to Oasis, and everything in between. This equates to a highly entertaining show, akin to a Now, That’s What I Call Mod Music compilation album, but live and with Wiltshire hint; I honour Fin doesn’t attempt a cockney accent when reenacting Phil Daniels’ Parklife monologue, because it’s a little west country thing, and it rocks!

With a extensive gourmet burger type menu, The Three Crowns is a golden nugget on our pub circuit, and Finley and Mark of the band are the next stop musically, playing the bank holiday Monday in support of The Reason.

The Roughcuts can be seen again at The Barge in Seend Cleeve on September 2nd, and appear at the highly anticipated Party For Life fundraiser at Melksham Town FC on the 10th September.

Flowers in the Snow; Paul Lappin’s New EP

For want of content during lockdown I broke borders and publicised about music worldwide, gradually crawling Devizine back to its original ethos of focussing on local happenings. Pardon me if I don’t get all Royston Vasey on this EP, recorded in the South of France, for the reasoning is twofold; Paul Lappin originates from Swindon only partially significant, mostly it’s because for music this good I’m willing to break any rules about content I might’ve once made!

Through the album The Boy Who Wanted to Fly, if in October 2020 I raved about the Britpop goodness of Paul and his band, the Keylines, a following live unplugged and largely acoustic release Christmas last year, Live at Pink Moon Studios simply knocked it out of the park for me. Stripped back and set within an intimate lockdown performance, Live at Pink Moon Studios not only reinforced the absolute brilliance of Lappin, it earmarked its place in my all-time favourites, outside the confines of what we review here.

No pressure then, Paul, if I don’t compare this new release to other items currently in review, rather provide assurance to our readers, this again dreamy, mostly acoustic new EP Flowers in the Snow, is immediately enchanting, best paralleled with John Martyn, Jeff Buckley, or Nick Drake, the latter of whom I’d imagine Paul to cite, being the studio name refers to a Drake album.

Though, I feel at times, aforementioned comparisons are somewhat lost in their own era, Paul reflects this too, his work never retrospective, it sounds fresh for the now, as Britpop comes of age, this is matured indie, favourably over a beechwood fireplace in a cabin recollecting times past, with a customary glass of wine.

Three average-length tunes make up this EP, though as suspected, that’s all which is average here. A tale of better times on their way begins the proceedings, a best served acoustically title track. It smooths the soul, quite literally. Moodier soundscape introduction of subtle guitar riff following for track two, Blue and Gold, brings out the best in Johannes Saal’s drums and bass, and Thomas Monnier’s subtle congas.

“The rest of my band were busy with other projects,” Paul explains of springtime, “I spent a week at Pink Moon residential studios in the south of France working on some new ideas with producer and recording artist Saal.” The result is this EP; three songs loosely linked by the theme of the seasons and mixed on a beautiful 1980’s GDR era broadcast desk. “The download includes a 14-minute bonus track of all three songs linked together, as was originally intended.”

Okay, so I’m guessing spring on Flowers in the Snow, dead reckoning Blue and Gold is summer, but the last tune confirms, it’s winter; Not Hiding Just Sliding is perhaps the most experimental, such a beguilingly unassuming melody, holding you out to dry in want for more. This is an exceptional set of flowing songs, no two-ways about it, if the seasons really came and went as smoothly as this, I’d still be wearing a t-shirt and khaki shorts through the bleak midwinter!

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Melancholically drifting over a subtle Latino riff, Broken is the surprising new single, out tomorrow (Friday 22nd July,) and it’s gorgeously chilled, like lounging on a porch-swing with a touch of bourbon, while mizzle rejuvenates the charred grass. It’s the morning-after pill from a heady beach party, yet don’t rush off with the idea Bill has done gone turned into a bossa nova star or anything rash like that!

Thankfully more air-conditioned Santana than gold bikini-clad Shakira, we’re some way even off what Oakenfold might spin at some Balearic archipelago chillout zone, because Broken retains the model Verve-Embrace come new wave mod indie sound of Billy Green’s past tracks, just with a subtle nod to something retrospectively Latino, akin to Morcheeba’s Big Calm, or Screamadelica; something like that. “Think Cafe Del Mar…in Newcastle,” our Geordie frontman Bill pitches it to me, rightfully.

Phone speaker listening never does a song justice, I must break the habit, but it took me seconds to fall in love with this tune, despite lack of amplification. Fond of this, because it works, key is the simplicity against overthinking, at least with such a style, I put to Bill.

“I think so,” he replied, “I had an idea that I wanted to have a two-chord structure, and the emotion would come through the story in the lyrics, I’m not really had any songs with a complete narrative arc, so that was the very loose plan, once I had that we just build the instrumentals around the lyrics and that ebbed and flowed…” And it has itinerant romantic narrative, as tranquil as the sound, working as a cruising solo song, or maxing-relaxing with a loved one… just don’t try the aforementioned gold bikini-clad Shakira look in an accompanying video, Bill, it’s only going to lower the poignant nuance of a superb tune; well done, guys, very summery!

Trending……

Thieves Plan Unplugged Gig at Brokerswood

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Rowdefest 26 Lineup Reveal!

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Billy Green’s Garden

To deal with my forgetfulness I have a to-do-list. The only issue with my to-do-list is I forget I started it; Billy Green released a new single last month, it’s a poetic stonker of indie-rap, with his usual nod to Britpop, and still it fell through the floodgate. Apologies to Bill, but it’s a convenient time to bring it up, as he gigs at Trowbridge’s Pump next Friday, May 27th, for Sheer Music.…..

What makes it even more exasperating for me, is that I was gossiping about the man himself, with Pip Phillips of People Like Us at Long Street Blues Club, what was it, just last week?! All good things, reminiscent of when they were in the nineties indie band, Still, together. Because Billy Green has a history, and it’s savoured in a nimble and accomplished style of the time; zip your tracksuit jacket up to the chin and hide your swirly pupils under a Kangol bucket cap!

The impression of Still remains a forefront for Bill, who named his 2020 album after the band, and followed it with a preceding collection of lost demos, made with the band mid-nineties. Tales of musical happenings in times of yore, before I landed on planet Devizes, always fascinate me, and I never tire of hearing about the blues bands of an era long past, with good folk like Exchange-owner Ian James. Yet Billy echoes out his antiquity, The Pump gig will incorporate his songs from the Still album, which relish in this bygone fashion, adroitly.

Billy Green @ Still

Surprised I was to note the quasi-rap poetry of this new tune, Garden, but twas a pleasant one. Teetering with his Geordie mockery it holds an ironic slate against the charade of social media embodiment, “people posting inspirational memes in one post, and ruining people in the next,” Bill describes it to me; I know that sentiment, probably a smidgen guilty myself, Bill, you bloody stickler!

Though hints of the everyday rap style of The Streets, it’s wrapped rather in the upbeat jaunty attitude of Blur, awash with Britpop influences of acts like James, for example. But don’t take my word for it, ere, have a listen yourself mate, and you’ll be mad-for-it too; sorted.

Trending…..

Doctor Faustus Sells His Soul…. in Devizes!

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Rooks; New Single From M3G

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Paul Lappin & The Keylines Live at Pink Moon Studios

If you need a breather from the perpetual cycle of cliche Christmas song mush, do yourself a favour; Paul Lappin & The Keylines released a live EP last week, it’s as “name your price” on Bandcamp, and I’ll wager my Christmas stocking and all of its contents, you’ll eternally thank me for the advice.….

On the 12th November 2021 Paul Lappin & The Keylines invited a few close friends and family to Pink Music Studios in France for a chilled evening of wine, food and live music. This EP is a recording of five of the songs performed during that session. For a tenacious link to our ambiguous local rule, note while now residing in France, Paul is originally from Swindon.

Back in October 2020 we fondly reviewed his studio album The Boy Who Wants to Fly, celebrating its vibrant Britpop rock, immersed in some astute and genius song writing prose. And in turn, we were allowed to use the outstanding single Broken Record for our Julia’s House charity compilation. For which, you might suggest, I’m duty bound to sing the praises of everyone who contributed, to which I’d reply, yeah, only partly but unnecessary, just shut up and listen to this; Live at Pink Moon Studios is utterly gorgeous.

If Broken Record packs a punch, and The Boy Who Wants to Fly meanders between forthright rock and tenderer acoustics, this little piece of wonderful revels in the latter. So much so, it smooths out of the restrictions of a label like Britpop, though subtle shards of it remain, and is comparable to acoustic folk rock from way beyond the subgenre, say, as steady and emotive as Nick Drake.

In the past I’ve made comparison to our own song-writing local legend Jamie R Hawkins, in their shared ability to twist a narrative so deeply into sentiment, tears will well; this EP comes closer to my point than I’ve ever heard from Paul. It’s so wonderfully placed subjects, wistfully glides your mind away, on the journey with Paul, like all good acoustic should.

The first two tunes, After the Rain, and Lying Awake in the Dark both come unplugged versions from The Boy Who Wants to Fly, Slow and Steady featured on his 2018 album, Move On, and I’m uncertain of the last two, Seeds of Doubt and Set in Stone, perhaps they’re new, or exclusive to this EP. I’m far from all out intending to research their origin, as it’s just to easy to be set adrift on the songs, relishing in the moment.

Morish simplicity, man and guitar composition you’ll crave it never ends, and I can honestly say, I don’t think I’ve hit the replay button with such haste before! Paul is at his dreamiest, fluffiest and virtually subterranean in his deliverance of these masterpieces.

Subjects not so unusual but handled with the proficiency to wow, of lost or found love, picking up with a bongo drumbeat and wailing electric backing guitar at track three, Slow and Steady, with a chorus dripping of anthemic Britpop, of Oasis or Verve in their prime, yet maintaining that spellbinding acoustic goodness.

And for the last two tunes of mysterious origins, are perhaps my favourites, Seeds of Doubt, is a self-analysis theme, mind-bogglingly passionate, and the parable soulful finale, Set in Stone, as is with a live album, there’s a wholesome rawness about it, echoing honesty and scrupulousness throughout, you feel like you’re a guest into a secret meeting, you feel a part of it, and that, is simply, beautiful.

Trending….

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Spearmint’s Holland Park

As spacey as Spaceman 3, I get a whopping chunk of cleansed retro Madchester with the opening of Holland Park, the new album from one of ‘Britain’s best kept secrets’, Londoners, Spearmint. The album drops tomorrow, September 17th, on WIAIWYA Records, and is produced by acclaimed journalist and musician Rhodri Marsden, known afor playing in Scritti Politti.

Story checks out, with there’s a clear Scritti Politti influence going on here, The Boo Radleys, Belle & Sebastian comes over in waves too. The follow-up to their acclaimed 2019 album Are You From The Future? This is one rich, uplifting record.

It mellowly plods but picks up with the third tune, Walk Away From Hollywood, only to be followed by a strings-based honour to Bowie, in a kind of Mike Berry’s Tribute to Buddy Holly. Shirley Lee, frontman of Spearmint explains the meaning behind the first single released from Holland Park, “Since Bowie Died isn’t about David Bowie, it’s about the rest of us. I remember hearing the news at the start of 2016: it didn’t seem real. Then as things came to pass that ear and since, I felt like our world had become a harsher place from that moment on, as though it had ‘opened the floodgates’. I know others felt the same way, so we wanted to capture this feeling in the song, but add some hope too.”

The spirit of Bowie courses through the record as a leitmotif, and hallmarks their typically sublime mellow brit-pop infused melodies. A record that “explores what it’s like to be in a band, what it’s like to have walked away from being in a band, what music means to all of us, and how it feels to lose your heroes.”

A concept album in the vein of the subject it depicts, Holland Park has a running theme of a seventies rock group who never quite hit the big time, based on the singer Shirley’s father’s band. It comes to its apex at The Streets of Harlesden, the following title track with an everyday chit-chatty quality, similar to Scott Lavene we reviewed yesterday, and a striking instrumental called Black Vinyl. All mood setting like a slumbering Who rock opera. There’s a dreamy but uplifting ambiance here, and it’s beguiling.

Once it winds back to the mellow Britpop for a few tunes, the penultimate is the oddity, a sudden blast of sonic punk, called She Says She Wants to Save the Pigs, and it returns with its hallmark for an uplifting romantic finale.

Spearmint plan to premiere the album live in London in November, followed by shows in Brighton and Bristol, with further gigs being planned for 2022.

win 2 tickets here

Trending….

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Winter Festival/Christmas/Whatever!

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Devizes Winter Festival This Friday and More!

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Snow White Delight: Panto at The Wharf

Treated to a sneaky dress rehearsal of this year’s pantomime at Devizes’ one and only Wharf Theatre last night, if forced to sum it up…

Roughcut Rebels Hit Trowbridge

If I was ever to be privileged to interview Bruce Springsteen, which I doubt I would be, I’d like to ask him of his thoughts now he’s 71, of penning a song called Growin’ Up at the tender age of 23. Similarly, I’d probe Pete Townshend, only a year young than the Boss, over lyrics of My Generation, which go, “hope I die before I get old!”

Yet, despite its title, I view My Generation to be less about a specific generation, and more about the attitudes of youth, and with this in mind, it could easily be placed into any subsequent generation. The Oasis cover aside, for this opens another Pandora’s Box I’m not willing to go down (I’ve a gig to review here,) it’s fair to say, akin to any song of the “mod” genre, it’s timeless.

To believe the “mod” is wrapped in sixties nostalgia is only partly factual, London’s emerging mod-girl sweetheart, Emily Capell sports a beehive hairstyle, but often sing-raps, like Kate Nash, and collaborates with Dreadzone. Similarly, the age demographic of Devizes-based mod cover band, The Roughcut Rebels spans generations, particularly now young Finley Trusler fronts it; still, he stands, belting out a vigorous and eloquent cover of My Generation.

It’s my reasoning for trekking to Trow-Vegas, keen to finally scrub “must see Finley fronting the Roughcuts” off my to-do-list. He got the job with two gigs before lockdown, thankfully bookings are returning for the band. For through his musical journey, started in the Devizes School boy band 98 Reasons, which branched off to duo Larkin with Sam Bishop, and still works with cousin, Harvey, as the Truzzy Boys, his cool demeanour stage presence and exceptional talent has to been celebrated. Query being, how would this fair with a proficient, yet older mod cover band?

The answer; very well indeed, thanks for asking. I jested with Fin outside the pub, asked him if he had to learn the songs senior to him, and he replied “not really.” This, and their dynamic performance, of course, proved my “mod is timeless” theory. In an explosive manner and highly entertaining show, they rocked Mortimer Street’s The Greyhound, and could do the same for any given venue.

Think of the eras the term encompasses, from The Beatles, Stones, Kinks and Spencer Davis through to The Jam and Purple Hearts, onto Ocean Colour Scene, The Stone Roses, to Britpop, Oasis and Blur, and modern times like Jake Bugg’s Lightning Bolt, The Roughcut Rebels got them all covered, and, loving every minute of it, they took the slight crowd with them.

To blend A Hard Day’s Night into a set with A Town Called Malice, swiftly move onto Park Life, or The Day We Caught The Train, and return with the Kingsmen’s Louie Louie, displays their ability and keenness to incorporate and fuse epochs, and they do it with certain ease. Grant Blackman’s expert drumming and John Burn’s bass played upfront gives it oomph, while Mark Slade adds the succulent and memorable rhythms, topped by Finely’s accomplished vocals, accompanying guitar or else showy tambourine timekeeping like a young Jagger giving it Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Roughcut, huh? Yeah, they are a cut far above the average cover band on the circuit.

As for the venue, The Greyhound, I like it, in the shadow of The Pump, a long-bar town pub unexpectedly clean and tidy, with hospitable staff and drinks cheap as chips. Without so much as a blackboard, it could’ve done with promoting its live music event, as a regular told me he was unaware of it and only popped in because he heard the music. Consequently, the crowd was slight, and all-male (ladies, if you want to bag yourself a drunken Trow-Vegas native in a cheap polo shirt, this place is for you) but through the excellence of the Rebel’s music, all were up dancing.

Here’s a great local covers band which will pull in an age-spanning crowd to your pub, and spur them to spend at your bar; because there’s an anthem or ten for all generations, and it’s lively, accomplished and entertaining.

Trending…..

Chatting With Burn The Midnight Oil

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OUT NOW! Various Artists 4 Julia’s House

As a nipper I’d spend days, entire school holidays, making mixtapes as if I worked for Now, That’s What I Call Music! In the era before hi-fi, I’d sit holding a microphone to the radio’s speaker, adventurously attempting to anticipate when Tony Blackburn was going to talk over the tune, and just when In the Air Tonight peaked with Phil’s crashing drums, my dad would shout up the stairs that my tea was ready; eternally caught on tape, at least until my Walkman screwed up the cassette.

Crude to look back, even when I advanced to tape-to-tape, I discovered if I pressed the pause button very slowly on the recording cassette deck, it would slide into the next song, and with a second of grinding squeal Howard Jones glided into Yazoo!! Always the DJ, just never with the tech! Rest assured; this doesn’t happen on this, our Various Artists compilation album, 4 Julia’s House. And oh, have I got some news about that?!

Huh? Yes, I have, and here it is….  

We did it! Thanks once again to all our fabulous contributing artists, our third instalment of detailed sleeve notes will follow shortly, but for now, I couldn’t wait another day, therefore, I’ve released it half a day early, this afternoon!

Buy it here!

Now all that needs to happen is to get promoting it, and you can help by sharing news of this on your social media pages, thank you. Bloggers and media please get in touch, and help me raise some funds for Julia’s House.

I’ve embedded a player, in which you should be able to get a full try before you buy, I believe you get three listens before it’ll default and tell you to buy it. I hope you enjoy, it has been a mission and half, but one I’d gladly do again.

Please note: there are many artists giving it, “oh no, I was going to send you a track!” Fear not, there is still time, as I’ll causally start collecting tunes for a volume 2, and when the time is ready and we have enough songs, we will do it. It might be for another charity, I’d personally like to do another raising funds for The Devizes & District Opportunity Centre, but that’s unconfirmed as of yet.

You know, sometimes I think I could raise more money with less effort by trekking down through the Market Place in a bath of cold baked beans, but I wanted to bring you a treasured item comprising of so many great artists we’ve featured, or will be featuring in the near future on Devizine. Never before has all these artists been on one huge album like this, and look, even if you don’t care for a particular tune, there’s 46 of them, check my maths as I pride myself on being exceptionally rubbish at it, but I make that 22p a track, and all for such a worthy cause!

Track listing details part 1
Track listing details part2
Click for info on Julia’s House

“We are so grateful to Devizine and all of the local artists who are taking part in the charity album to raise funds for Julia’s House. We don’t receive any government funding for the care we give to families in Wiltshire, so the support we receive from our local community is so important.”

Claudia Hickin, Community Fundraiser at Julia’s House

Andy J Williams; Buy all his $tuff!

I’m sure it’ll shock you to hear, I made a technical hitch, best described as a cock-up. It seldom happens, blame my masculinity; the wife often reminds me men cannot multi-task. We featured the indie-pop Bristol-based singer-songwriter Andy J Williams last month, as part of our Song of the Day feature, and I promised to review the whole album “Buy all the $tuff,” which was released at the beginning of February.

Musicians you wait for like buses, then two come along at the same time, and accidently I mind-merged them. Even joked in our Song of the Day post not to confuse Andy J Williams with his namesake senior easy listening giant, then mixed him up with someone else, whose name is nothing remotely similar. The only parallel is they’re both from Bristol, though many are, but being as the other artist’s album involved in this cock-up isn’t released until next week, both got put on the backburner. My virtual to-do-list saved the day; acts as my brain.

Extend a short story longer, here’s an apology to Andy, and a belated review of “Buy all the $tuff,” which is very worthy of not being missed out. To begin with his cohesive band firmly behind him, there’s a Britpop feel, I sensed, vocally, a similarity with Trowbridge’s finest, Phil Cooper, if Phil was aiming for pop. But there’s a lot going on here, influences are wide but mould into each other exceptionally well; a tad tongue-in-cheek at times too. It’s indie on the outer crust, but with a dynamite mantle blending of layers which incorporates funk, new wave post-punk, art-pop, and contemporary electric bluesy-folk, all with equal measure and passion.

Reminisces flood my neurons upon initial listening, of how eighties electronica fused funk into pop, a kind of “funk-lite,” avoiding the substantial seventies untainted funk vibe, and through post-punk new wave, rewrote the club-pop formula. Bands like Duran Duran and Roxette spring to mind, I’d even go as far as Michael Jackson meets Huey Lewis, but while I’m aware there’s a bizarre subgenre called “funk metal,” pleased to report Andy doesn’t get that heavy! This is more like musical cubism, with a skilful composition akin to King Tubby’s mixing board, and it comes out the other end as extraordinarily unique beguiling pop.

Don’t take the opening Britpop track as red, the next, Post Nup, opens up this funk riff, but no matter where it takes you, lyrically this well-crafted too, written with thoughtful prose. There’s topical subject matter amidst the archetypical romance, including the referendum and social media, but no theme distracts from the overall musical presentation. Night Terrors, for example, works opposite to Jon Amor, who uses Elvis Costello pop to create a more frivolous blues, Andy maintains pop by adding elements of electric blues. Then, piano solo, layered with subtle percussion. Andy rinses a fine ballad, undoubtedly the most evoking track on the album, Stay.

Buy This $tuff reaches an apex immediately after, Something to Believe in is masterfully danceable, bathed with handclaps and a funky riff, it is to Andy what Superstition is to Stevie Wonder. From here on, the album takes to this upbeat terpsichore concept. It’s highly entertaining.

Ballads follow, Celia and Now She’s Gone are particularly adroit, but you know Andy isn’t going to end this with melancholy. Be Mine returns to rock as it’s mainstay. Radicalised equally comes in hard, with an electronica feel. And Your Truth Hits Everyone is anthemic, concluding there’s a need to ponder what the Beatles would sound like if still around today, with Britpop, new wave electronica, and clubland techno at their disposal. Through this, I might provide a suggestion.

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Skates and Wagons: Path of Condie

If I’d one criticism of Britpop, during its heyday, least that which the pop charts threw at us, was, in an era of progressing technological electronica, embedded deep in my psyche, Britpop, to me felt regressive. I argued at the time, if The Beatles were still together, in their prime, they’d be producing techno or drum n bass, for they were trailblazing, innovative and progressive. Whereas, picking on Oasis, particularly, being they seemed to strive to be a Beatles tribute as far as I could see, were relapsing to a previous generation.

Then the crossover crossed back over. If waning was a heady dawn of the nineties where rock fused electronica on the Madchester scene, towards the end of the decade The Prodigy were advancing with an almost punk slant, and Noel Gallagher was lending his vocals to the Chemical Brothers. To pick the era apart now is futile, no one remembers what the fuck was going on most of the time!

Let’s agree to disagree, put it in the past and note today, retrospection is big business, and there’s nothing wrong with songs which hark back to the sixties, for it was pioneering but more importantly, divine and inspiring. Particularly when, rather than regenerating cover songs, but acting as a base of inspiration. We see a lot of this; from the sixty’s British blues scene to bubble-gum pop, but perhaps not produced with as much passion as Skates & Wagons.

Skates & Wagons

They sent me a link to their album, Path of Condie on Boxing Day, so apologies it was put on the backburner but I had Scrabble tiles to lay and Quality Street to puke. The EP I reviewed previously appears to be taken down, and I’m unsure why. The album, is akin to all I mentioned about the EP, only more so. If regenerating Britpop is tiresome and monotonous to you, you need to check this Oxford duo, because they manage it with the precision, innovation and splendour of classic pop-rock and blues of that sixties period, with bells on.

I mean sure, it opens with an interesting approach, Chevron Waltz proves this is going to be no everyday indie-Britpop ride, it is indeed as the name suggests, a waltz. If we’re going to revel in compassions, I’ll cite The Kinks or Small Faces, The Spencer Davis Group, The Troggs, but predominantly the Beatles, more than Oasis. Plus, we’d need to break it down with the fab-four’s individual preferences. Opening then is experimental, merging traditional styles of music is certainly McCartney, yet the majority, like Indian Summer rolls smooth, like the later Beatles, Sane Again is anthemically mellowed; very George Harrison.

But this is an album which builds progressively, just like the sixties did. The earlier tunes, initiate sixties pop, and sit at radio-friendly three-to-four-minute timings. Mr Wake Up, for example, explains how it’s going to roll for the time being, beat-based shards of classic pop-rock. But things liven up at Conversation with God, the walt reprise towards the end nuances the album is progressing the entire decade and we’re midway. Waste of the Sky is subtly psychedelia, like the opening to the beatnik period.

It’s this equidistant section where Skates and Wagons really shine, it’s as if we didn’t need the 1980s, we were fine where we were. Catchy tracks like The Man Who Never Sleeps and All the Love mirror the advancing changes of the middle of the decade, and bring us in line with classic seventies rock bands like Genesis and ELO.

It leaves you dripping for the concentrated, lengthier compositions the trend which followed via Floyd and Hendrix et all, and Skates and Wagons deliver. As Path of Condie develops it builds to more ending with a beautiful eight-minute composition, Yesterday’s Love. It’s beguiling and timeless splendour, catchy as pop, definitive as classic rock.

If we’ve seen a relived trend with scooterists and mod culture recently, these guys are a hot contender to front such a movement, as opposed to a Britpop throwback band going through archaic motions. Though there’s often a dispelling, or more, overlooked aspect with the current trend, in the interesting and natural progress to the late-sixties beatnik and flower-power movements; scooterists don’t go for that, and while there’s nothing so “way-out” as Zappa on offer through Skates & Wagons, it does reflect those initial, optimistic changes of the mid-sixties. And in this notion, is what divides the duo from the bulk standard; yeah, fab, love it!

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Paul Lappin Wants to Fly

Tad snowed under with the plethora of great new music at the moment, but delighted to hear Swindon’s breezy Britpop fashioned artist, Paul Lappin has progressed from the few singles we’ve reviewed fondly in the past, to release an album of all new material, this week. So, yeah, apologies for lack of advance notice, The Boy Who Wants To Fly is out now, and very worthy of our attention.

It binds all the goodness of the singles into something you can nourish extensively, there’s a real concentration of composition here as each track drifts adroitly. It’s astutely written pensiveness, nicely implemented, with the expertise likened to our own Jamie R Hawkins; I’ve made this comparison before. This moulds what could be great acoustic into a full band experience, handsomely; As Billy Green 3 are accomplishing this side of the M4, but let’s not get all road map. Best way, imagine George Harrison present on the Britpop scene, and you’re somewhere lost in Lappin’s world.

Not a lot standout in theme, Paul mostly takes on the classic subject matters, sometimes optimistic romance, often uplifting reflections on past observation, such as the title track which Paul clarifies, “it was originally written for my young nieces and nephews, but listening to it now I can also hear a lot of my younger self in there.” But there’s a nod to current affairs, such as the citation towards the refugee crisis in the wonderfully executed Song for Someone.

I’m getting shards of Tom Petty’s Freefalling, particularly with the title track. Story behind the album reaches back six years, when Paul was looking after an isolated farmhouse in the Occitanie region of the south of France, coinciding with a particularly motivated period developing song ideas. “Most of the songs on the album were written within the first few months of arriving at the house,” he explains, “the melodies came during long walks in the surrounding hills and vineyards, the lyrics were penned in local cafés.”

Haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting Paul yet, but through the openness of his songs you feel like you know him already, and that constitutes an exceptional song-writer.

Ten tunes strong, optimism drops by the eighth, The Eye of the Storm, and darker, heavier elements ensue, if only for a track. “Eye of the Storm was a reaction to how helpless and frustrated I felt to all the crap that was going on at the time,” Paul elucidates. Life was Good is critically observant too, but retains the feel-good factor, and that sums the general ambiance of the entire album. Common with creative geniuses, they shy, and this self-indulgence uneasiness I see in Paul. “Entering the For The Song competition in 2019 changed all that,” he expressed when he won with the song Life Was Good, boosting his confidence, which has ultimately led to this worthy and proud album; as he rightfully should be. I urge you to take a listen.

Bill Green’s Still Lost Demos

Spent a recent evening flicking through old zines I contributed cartoons to, relishing in my own nostalgia. Not egotistically admiring the artwork, or even laughing, rather cringe at most of it. More so because every publication has a backstory; where I was, what the hell I was up to, and thinking, if at all, at the time. It’s like Gran’s photo album, to me. But I guess reminiscing is symbolic of this pandemic year, nought else happening.

With that in mind, Bill Green of local self-titled Britpop trio Billy Green 3 has a great story to tell, ending with a retrospective release on the streaming platforms. He met Simon Hunt at a party, they liked each other’s jumpers, shared a love of music from the Beatles to the Stone Roses, and hung out on the guest list with Chester’s indie rock band, Mansun on their ’96 tour.

Billy’s mate John ‘Jimmy’ Burns “simply wanted to be in a band and dressed well.”  Never having played their instruments before, let alone in a band, one night they decided to form one with another of Billy’s friends, Mark Molloy. “We” Bill explained, “jumped about to ‘The Jam’ and had often spent nights drumming along on bars and tables.”

With Mark on drums, Simon on Vox, Jimmy on bass and Billy on guitar, Still was forming. Yet I guess Bill was reminiscing this foundation when deciding upon a name for his debut album as the trio, back in January, which we cordially reviewed, here.

“I’d written a few songs,” Bill continued, “so we set up second-hand instruments in Marston Village Hall, and banged out a few tunes, no covers mind.”  He had been DJing the ‘Vroom!’ Club, at the Corn Exchange. “Ian James was kind enough to put us on that Christmas and New Year’s, and people actually came to watch, a band was born.”

Still played the local circuit and even had a dalliance with Virgin Records, having spent a day travelling around London knocking on doors and dodging receptionists and PAs. They booked studio time with Pete Lamb’s studio in Potterne, followed by more studio time at Holt Studios, where a personnel change saw Andy Phillips join on drums and later, James Ennis on guitar.

As a five-piece they played into early 1999, before calling it a day and believing the recordings were lost. Simon Hunt recently unearthed the cassette, much to Bill’s delight, and the demos have been remastered “and tidied up a bit,” with the help of Danny Wise. Returned to Bill, who has enthusiastically released it as an album called Destruction at the beginning of the month. “And here they are,” he excitedly called, “as a permanent record of the biggest indie band ever from Devizes…. called Still!”

“I’m just shocked that Marston has, or had a village hall,” I expressed.

“Rubble when we finished playing!” Billy kidded, possibly.

These are raw demos, but brilliantly echo a time of yore when Britpop was in the making and a newfound generation of garage bands were spawning like a wart on the bottom of commercialised pop. What is great about this album, aside the backstory, is it represents all those early influences of the scene and mergers in a way we might today take for granted, but were, in essence, different scenes and youth cultures divided by decades, at the time. Yes, these may have been bought together by his more defined recent album, Still, but this is essential history for fans of that album, as it opens the casing and shows the very workings of it. Similarly, it works more generally than that, as an insight for fans of the genre.

For if influences of Britpop’s ‘big four’ are represented here, in the jaunty attitude of Blur, the maladroit studiousness of Pulp, the euphoric ballads of Oasis, and the brashness of Suede, there’s also arty punk rock and psychedelic reprises, like Elastica’s affection for Wire, even the Beatles.

There are echoes of Britpop inspirations, ‘Respect Now’ feels like it’s drawn from the genre’s eighties influences; the Jam, up to the Stone Roses. Yet tracks like ‘Happier Now’ ring drum-based upbeat riffs, but slating postpunk vocals, and the sobering drone of The Smiths. Whereas, ‘Pale Impression, Man’ is closer indie enthused from post-punk gothic, rather the end of the era anthems, like the track ‘Catch,’ which rings Suede or The Verve.

‘Lady Leisure’ just rocks, simple; this was produced at Pete Lamb’s, along with the other first bout of garage-style rock, ‘Happier Now’, and ‘Superstars,’ the latter savouring the sound of the Kinks. Perhaps the most poignant are two the love ballads, which along with ‘Catch’ were recorded at Holt. Bill informed me, “‘Gav4Saf’ was a fledging love song written for a friend’s wedding.” But the beautifully crafted ‘LoveSong’ is a missing piece of Oasis, and as a stand-out ballad is the only track rightfully to be reworked for Billy Green 3’s modern album Still. The finale is the title track, with a sublime rolling bass guitar, Who-like.

 “We hope there are some people who will listen and remember those heady days as fondly as we do,” Bill expressed, “it’s basically demos but such good memories!” It may help, but is not, I reckon, essential. I reason, quite regularly, that finding the early recordings of any artist is often more worthy than the celebrated later releases, when eagerness overrides rawness and economical recording sessions. They brought out the original enthusiasm, the roots to greatness. I favour ‘The Wild, Innocent and E-Street Shuffle’ rather than Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA,’ for example. Even delve into bootlegs of Steel Mill, where despite the boss not being frontman, you can hear a distant echo of genius harking from the background. ‘Destruction’ is out now, as well as the single, ‘Catch,’ across the streaming sites, (Spotify) a notable antiquity of the local music scene.

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Indie Networking and Long Coats

If social media is the rearguard in music’s battle against the Coronavirus lockdown, there’s plenty of battalions networking at this last stand, and physical location is no issue. A virtual realm is borderless, and for this reason, while Devizine is concentrated on content local to Wiltshire, there are many avenues worthy to waiver the rule for. So, expect us to cover some bands and artists without borders, ones I’ll connect with through social media, such as the Facebook group I’m here to mention, as is the group’s tenet.

That said, Ollie Sharp is a young performer from within our geographical catchment, Bath, who recently set up said Facebook group for indie music, called, aptly, The Indie Network. Its welcoming and dynamic attitude is gaining attention. I joined, they cast a thread of introductions; made me feel old! Funny cos it’s true, pipsqueaks by comparison. Young enough to have to Google my antiquated phraseology, like cassette tapes and Danny Kendal. Some poor guy confessed he was older, at 43, at which he faced compassionate reassurances such as, “it’s only a number.” I knew then to keep my gob shtum, so I stated I was “old enough to know better, too old to care.” Least it’d do no good for our Kieran from Sheer Music, who also joined, to grass me up as an old skool raver, historical to those barely an itch!

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Though we’ve jested before about the era of yore where never the twain would indie kids and ravers mingle, Mr Moore and I, and come to the conclusion I’m exempt on account of my eclectic taste. Let it be known now, I like the sound of Ollie’s recently formed band The Longcoats, and it’s just the sort of thing which allows Kieran to win the genre argument! It’s breezy, placid indie, acceptable on a larger scale than predecessors, much least my aging preconceptions, bit like what our Daydream Runaways and Talk in Code are putting out; and I like them. I even refer to them as “our,” see, like a northern working-class family. Shoot, pass my Smiths tee Mr Moore, I’m an indie kid! (kid used here in its most unlikely definition.)

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Anyway, I digress. We’ve reached the part of the show where the artist mumbles “is this codger going to actually review my single?” Apologies for my Uncle Albert moment, ha, there was me thinking Boris had made arbitrary tangents trendy. There’s no telling some, he’s a bastard. However, we’ll never get going if I branch into politics.

“Used to Being Used” is the single I was sent, the earlier one of two on their Bandcamp page. It follows a blueprint of indie-pop, there’s a trudging guitar riff, a theme of dejected ardour, yet it’s done with skill, catchiness and promising aptitude. The latter single, Drag, which came out in March takes a similar tempo, and cool attitude; there is no need to be angry in an era which accepts the genre, so ever with edge but only enough, The Longcoats create a beguiling and entertaining sound to appeal wide.

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Last year guitarist Arthur Foulstone and drummer Kane Pollastrone added to frontman Sharp’s lone act, which bridged the gap between band and solo artist. The final piece of the puzzle came upon recruiting permanent bassist Norton Robey. With the assistance of producer Jack Daffin, The Longcoats have created a defining sound which is appealing and instantly recognisable.

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There is nothing about this Bath four-piece indie-pop-rock band here, I’ll be honest, which will act as their magnum opus, but an auspicious start dripping with potential. Here’s one to watch, with their debut EP ‘October’ in the pipeline, here’s hoping it’ll reach us before the month of its namesake.

But it’s not so much about the individual band here which maketh this article, rather the conscious efforts to unite and network, thus creating a scene. Even through this era of wishing for a live gig, the networks thrive, perhaps even more so. Ollie also created Wise Monkey Music, a multi-media music and events promotion company based in the Southwest, of which we look forward to hearing more of; attention, the like Facebook group The Indie Network is likely to bring. They even let this aging raver in, dammit; though my white gloves and whistle must be in a box in the loft somewhere, it’s a deceased stereotype, of which I’m glad.

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I do find though, as someone who glued and photocopied zine after zine, aside the mass media driven pop tripe, the underground thrives as it ever did, the internet only creates an easy route in. Just like the bands of the now, such as The Longcoats and others rapidly joining the group, what’s not to like about it?

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Billy Green 3; Should not be Moved

On my holibobs last week, local Geordie Britpop/mod musician Bill Green of trio Billy Green 3, (not to be confused with the British-Upper Canadian scout who saw victory at the Battle of Stoney Creek, naturally) messaged a YouTube link to his debut single, “I Should be Moved.” Promised to get on it this week, finally made it; procrastination rules, but glad I did.

Impartial towards Britpop, it’s not Marmite, I take it or leave it. In my defence, during the era rave was the thing, Madchester just a slice and not a principally progressive slice when compared with breakbeat. To shock horror of Oasis fans, I sauntered past them on the NME Stage at Glasto 94; never heard of them, never cared to; I was hunting hi-tech party vibes, not a Beatles tribute.

I try to decipher if my appreciation of the genre has matured, or if it’s the forceful sixties-mod element which, while present in Britpop generally, seems particularly prominent in Billy Green 3’s style. The words and riff echo a Britpop classic for catchiness, studio noise and tambourine intro and, especially, the chorus though, rings the simplicity of sixties mod. With the modern component of a perfectly placed sample, the circle is complete, Samuel L Jackson’s one-liner as Pulp Fiction’s Jules Winnfield completes it. “Sounds great, Bill,” I replied after a tinny listen on my phone’s speaker, because it does. Grown on me more, now I’ve got it on loud.

If anything, the magnitude of this slick three-minute ride spurs me bookmark Billy Green’s next local gig, though none listed yet; watch this space. Meanwhile I wanted to gage Billy about what the recording side equates to. “I assume it’s an original song,” I asked, “written by you?” and fired several other minor questions all at once, at least England was one-nil up…. at that point.

“First recording with the new project, me and a young lad called Harvey Schorah on drums, backing Vox and all-round vibes,” Bill replied. “I wrote the words and music, played guitar, bass and sang lead and backing vocals. Martin Spencer [The Badger Set, Potterne] produced. He’s a magician, essentially, he took the song in my head and made it come out of the speakers; just love this creative process in addition to the recent live shows.”

On what this will spur, Billy explained, “second song in mixing as we speak, and then hopefully will work out how to put them out as a mini EP.” Posted on their Facebook page today, we may get a listen to it, Lose Our Way, at 7pm.

Drafting my next question, for the review lead us onto football, I mouthed my thoughts that England are sitting back on a 1-0 and then, oh dear (or words to that effect!)

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“Brilliant,” Billy added, “the review, not the football, they were poor on the first half apart from the penalty, still time though; being a Newcastle fan sometimes optimism is all you have!”

This fell appropriately onto my last question; does Bill think Newcastle had a scene during the Britpop era to rival Manchester?

“Prior to Britpop I think,” He suggested, “later 80s, there was a label called Woosh, my mate’s band, the Nivens were on there and ran on Flexi discs. There’s a retrospective out called C87 which was named after the NMEs C86, but a couple of decades later, they’re on there, so jangly guitar pop; the Nivens actually opened for the Smiths. Club nights at the Broken Doll and the Riverside, basically was my musical apprenticeship, introduced me to so many great bands. Moving into the 90s, there was more of a grunge scene with Cranes etc, now there is a resurgent drone scene with a hotel in Byker putting on Japanese noise artists, it’s a bit bonkers.”

“Bonkers could describe any current pop scene in the UK though,” I scoffed.

“Fair point,” Bill nodded, “Alan McGee doing his bit for guitar bands with the Creation23 label, and This Feeling are putting on some good nights. I work in London a bit, so have been to a few of their club nights. Met up with the now defunct the Shimmer Band from Bristol, who I thought were destined for great things. DMAs came out of that scene, from Australia, and are now heading festivals, think Shame came up through there, my mate’s band Free Money are booked in, they even did the last Lexus ad, which is a bit mad. I guess I’ll always be a fan of the get a group of mates together and play in a garage until someone notices you route.”

Well, that’s been the ethos for many a decade and never did the garage scene of the sixties any harm. Stuff the Simon Cowell karaoke TV show fiasco, Billy Green 3 is archaic in fashion, just enough to know the score, yet fledgling to fit into the burgeoning music scene here; I think “I Should be Moved,” puts a stamp on that; take a listen and decide for yourself.

 

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No Clowning with Six O’clock Circus at The Southgate

So, yeah, broke my 2019 hibernation and ventured out last night. I know right, but Calne-based, Six O’clock Circus blasted an otherwise mild night at the Southgate with some passionately executed mod, punk and indie covers; right up my street and kicking down my door.

 
Loud and proud, regardless of the five-piece squashed into Devizes’ answer to the O2 arena, singing toward the wall, plus having gigged the afternoon in Boughton Gifford, and Friday evening with Devizes-based, Burbank, for a Big Yellow Bus fundraiser at the Bug & Spider, they never waned, pulling a fine ensemble of indie covers out of their bag, for the first half, but not before an introduction of the Kinks and Who.

 
Six O’clock Circus, started at nine o’clock, but despite poor punctuality of their namesake, and lack of clowns, I loved the starter, then it went a bit Britpop; Travis, Stereophonics, James and Shed Seven representations. Yet I nodded through with appreciation, their precision awarded even my non-favs with worthy magnitude. Though I personally like my indie served, as they did towards latter section of the first half, with Primal Scream and the Coral, and overall would favour more mod, of the Jam, which ended the first half, Six O’clock Circus delivered them all feverously, and favourably, with ardent appreciation of their influences.

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A quieter night at this haven for live music allowed me to notice the cloudy cider tariff on the wooden beam, where at least one hairy hippy usually leans, obscuring the menu. So a double-whammy for me, securing a love for the Southgate I’d joyfully shout to the hills and back.

 
Undoubtedly, said cider played it’s part but I supposed the band tightened with every tune. A swap of instruments, promising a “seventies love-song,” they completed by knocking out a genuine “Pretty Vacant” before the break. It was clear Six 0’Clock Circus had no intentions of delivering us a ballad at all, neither attempt something experimental, as the second section banged in with The Buzzcocks’ classic, Ever Fallen in Love, and slipping nicely into London’s Burning by the Clash.

 
So, the evening’s entertainment leaves me now stamping a thoroughly deserved recommendation on Six O’clock Circus, perfect for the thirty-forty-fifty somethings function or pub circuit, and with that said, I’m off to make a bacon butty.

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Six O’clock Circus on Facebook, give em a like!

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