As promised/threatened (delete as appropriate) I’m continuing on with the pledge to relaunch the Song of the Day feature, and today proves ska is universal.
From Yekaterinburg in Russia, Lollipop Lorry have worked their way to the top of the international ska scene over a twelve year period, getting kudos through a tour of Mexico this year, where the scene is at its apex.
It’s refreshingly fun and carefree sunshine music, as ska should be, and this tune is out today. If anyone could translate I might know the subject, but the amusing speed dating video suggests a frustrating man-hunt! You just have to pick one, Svetlana, we really are all that rubbish, (excluding myself obviously!)
They first caught my attention and affection three years ago when covering the Gaylettes’ rock steady classic, Silent River (Runs Deep) in which one third of Bob Marley’s backing singer trio, The I-Threes, Judy Mowatt takes the lead vocal. Judy’s range is such that this was no easy feat, which front lady Svetlana made a cracking job of, in a sultry and distinctly Russian tinge; I’m smitten, don’t tell the trouble and strife… long distance relationships never work out!
Meaning to bring back this simple and quick feature for a while now, and what better opportunity than a new tune from Cardiff’s reggae virtuosoes Captain Accident and the Disasters?
Nice mellow rock steady number this one, with a sombre theme and contrasting clown in the video. Bring on those happy, happy clowns, for a band who supported Toots and the Maytals on their 2016 UK tour, who Toots Hibbert liked so much to invite them back to do the same for the follow two tours, it could only be more talent than “accident.”
And that’s my song of the day!! Very good, carry on…..
Venturing over to the Barge tonight to catch crazy corsets and getars shenanigans with the Boot Hill All Stars. So, to get me in the mood, supporting act Dry White Bones gets our song of the day…. yee-ha!
And that’s my song of the day!! Very good, carry on…..
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Never fails to bring a smile, Gecko breezes the feel good factor once again with this heartwarming, summery song. Backed up with the most wonderful video produced by Cas Janssen out of many quirky self portraits sent in from worldwide fans; how utterly brilliant can you possibly get?!
And that’s my song of the day!! Very good, carry on…..
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
I could scrutinise my archives, like a minister’s accountant, but without doing so I highly suspect Lady Nade has had a song featured on our Song of the Day feature once before.
Futile to check, as if I’ve implimented a ruling of one song per artist on our feature, which I haven’t. And even if I had, I’m my own boss here, and have every right to override it. And for what? What purpose?
I’ll tell you, shall I? If only to share and spread the word, this is a gorgeous tune, with a video nodding to her home city, Bristol, and its hint of topical affairs, despite the conotations of the song not revealing a similar notion, rather a classic theme of romance.
But the soulful expertise of Lady Nade makes it look so easy, and in this beautifully executed breezy ballad, one can only gasp at her skill and wallow in its splendour.
And that’s my song of the day!! Very good, carry on…..
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Here’s a thing, did you know the Michael and Janet Jackson duet “Scream,” is cited as the world’s most expensive music video, totaling a cost of $7 million? And Wacko dished the cash out of his own pocket?
Despite critical acclaim at the time, reaching number 3 in the UK pop charts, and the retaliatory nature of the song against the tabloid assault on Michael after sexual abuse accusations, I thought, and always will think, it was a bit shit, to be perfectly frank!
Look, I mean, okay, bit harsh were the allegations, so MJ thinks, I know, I’ll bag myself a B-movie spaceship, take my sister off the planet, buy us both matching knobbly jumpers, dance about in zero g, and cough up seven million dollars for someone to film it, that’ll convince the fans I’m not a complete fruitcake.
They didn’t even save enough pennies to get it filmed in technicolor. Input sad face emoji.
Compare and contrast to Devizes-own Jon Amor, who, with just the creativity of Lucianne Worthy, a big chunk of inspiration from Jim Henson and some snazzy blue loafers, pulls off this absolute beauty for the track Rider from the latest album Remote Control.
Smashed it, guys, and it’s in colour too. Proof you don’t gotta do a Wacko Jacko and push the boat out as far as Mars to accomplish something all together entertaining.
And that’s my song of the day!! Very good, carry on….
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Having a great album reviewed fairly recently on Devizine doesn’t exclude you from being in the spotlight of our Song of the Day posts. And if it ever does, call me out on it. Just ask me who hell I think I am, Vlad the Impaler, or something similar.
Check the review of Buy All That $tuff by Andy, here, or just enjoy today’s video, Night Terrors, exposing where the band practice, under the beds of children, obviously! Which kinda makes we wish I was a kid again, as there were no bands practicing under beds back then. Just once I’d like to have discovered, I dunno, the Bangles perhaps, practicing under my bed!
And that’s my song of the day!! Very good, carry on….
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Song of the Day hoggers! Yes, they’ve had a song featured on our song of the day feature once before, and yes, they’ve had so many thumbs up on Devizine in general, thumbs are starting to ache, but The Lost Trades have a new song, getting another thumbs up, a sneak from the forthcoming album, and it simply, without question, has to be our song of the day… I’m the editor, what I sez goes, sue me if I’m wrong, I double dare you!
And that’s my song of the day!! Very good, carry on….
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
My classic excuses don’t wash in an online era; the dog ate my Song of the Day blogpost, I’m certain I put it in my bag when I left school, bull like that.
I know, right. It’s been a while since my last Song of the Day, a post I promised on a daily basis but failed, miserably. I got nothing, no excuse that’ll wash. But the moment you hear this tune from John Smith and Jolyon Dixon, the duo known as Illingworth, you’ll understand the need to bring it back.
They’re the Kenco of local music, instantly, each new song comes across as a rock classic, sounding as if it’s always been swimming around in your head.
But Man Made of Glass is emotionally topical and contemporary. Just, go on, have a listen, and I might be persuaded to realign my promise to bring you a song of the day each day, else I’ll have to change the title to song of the month, which is a bit lack lusture of me.
Pulling my finger out, if you’re looking for someone to blame; Netflix. There, it’s out there. Why has every fair idea got to be flipping twelve season series of 200 episodes each, consisting of a drawn-out narrative a better writer could’ve concluded in a hour and half movie? For God’s sake, bring back live music!
Anyway, I’m waffling, feel free to stop me; that’s my song of the day. Very good, carry on….
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Naarm/Melbourne-based singer-songwriter, Maple Glider releasesd a new single today, “Good Thing.”
Her striking emotionality is at the centre of her performance, which opens with her light and velvety voice accompanied by a sparsely strummed guitar. She wastes no time in revealing the state of sadness she’s in, offering such tenderness and introspection that the listener feels as though they’re inside her bedroom as she plays for herself. Eschewing a traditional chorus, the repeated refrain is more a bookend to each verse. The emotional apex hits in verse three, turning the song into a spectral folk powerhouse with the revelation that she’s cutting ties before things turn sour.
Ziestch explains: “I wrote this song out of a place of defeat. I was really heartbroken at this point, and very confused. I like the feeling of my independence and I think I was afraid of putting energy into the wrong people. Sometimes we make decisions out of fear and sometimes it’s because we know that it is the best decision to make. Those lines can get very blurry.”
And that’s my song of the day. Very good, carry on….
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
We are the mods, we are the mods, we are, we are, okay, you get the gist. Imagine Kate Nash is Doctor Who’s assistant, and they tracked back to Carnaby Street in 1963. If she dressed and performed without raising suspicion that they’re time travellers, you’ve got a general picture of the fantastic Emily Capell.
On one hand, this is fab retrospective meddling, on the other it’s lively and fresh fun, with a beehive hairdo.
There’s nothing here not to like, unless you’re a ret-con rocker and if so, I’ll see you on Brighton beach, pal. All I ask is you aim for the face, so you don’t crease my suit.
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
I know, I accept your question, and let me just say, I think it’s a very good question, one which I fully intend to answer in the fullness of time, but first, let me just say this, and this alone, and let us be totally sure that this is the correct time to, indeed, as you ask, for me to answer that question, one which I think is a very good question, as I may or may not have said and I really feel it is a question which needs answering….and so on, and so forth….
Think I’ve got what it takes for national politics?! I can waffle shit for Queen and country, and yes, I promised a Song of the Day feature everyday, and I haven’t delivered on that promise for a few days now, and any excuse I could provide wouldn’t be fully truthful. That’s why I believe I’ve got what it takes, my capacity to lie is acute, and my moral responsibility is pretty much shot, besides I couldn’t possibly mess it up further than it already is anyway, so yeah; I might stand.
The fact you’re probably all watching real politicians waffling about the easing stages of lockdown, is neither here nor there. I’m going to slip our song of the day in now, when you least expect me to.
And it’s wonderful, earthy folk outfit Strange Folk, with a track called Glitter. You may recall them playing the Vinyl Realm Stage at Devizes Street Festival, you may not. But enjoy, it’s gorgeously fantastical, the kind of escapism we need right now.
Back to reality, why they gotta keep calling it a “roadmap,” for crying out loud? Boris navigating for real and you’d end up driving headlong into a lake.
Strange Folk they might be, but not as strange as those leading us, I might add. The announcement will be on all night, while the Daily Mirror managed to sum it all up, hours prior to the conference, in one neat graphic.
And that’s my song for the day. Very good. Carry on…..
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Nigel writes to confirm he’s from the “Devizes side of Bristol!” Had to laugh about the perceived strictness of an obnoxious aging school teacher, and feel I should explain. While Devizine does offer local news subjects, since lockdown we’ve blown up our border control and now rampage internationally when it comes to featuring arts and music. So, it makes hide nor hair what side of Bristol you come from, or even if you come from Bristol Connecticut, if I like it or I think my readers will, I’ll mention it, and despite the title, Boring, yeah, I do.
Seems we’re alike, Nigel, least in the concept don’t judge a book by its cover, because this nugget of quirky art-pop reminds me of Talking Heads and is far from boring. Nigel explained the meaning, “[it’s] written after spending time with people who only seem to like the sound of their own voice – warning, I may be one of them!” Yep, me too. But if we’re not one of them, we all know one who is.
“The song started off as a Stones/Pistols rant,” he continued, “and has developed into a soft indie rock stomp, with an added lyrical twist at the end.”
It’s the first single from a forthcoming album, Hello Mystery, which I think we need to review nearer the time. Until then, that’s my song of the day, very good, carry on….
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Can you go twice on our Song of the Day feature? No, certainly not, one shot is all, get over it!
Wha? Cabin fever, me? Getting tetchy, perpetual rain the only visible sign of spring, going to need Google maps to locate my local pub if it ever gets back to normal, whatever normal is, been so long, forgotten, might need retraining in how to order a pint… ah, okay, point taken. I’m calm….
Here we go with the brilliant Big Ship Alliance reggae band, who may’ve had a Song of Day before but hey, when you hear this you’ll realise why I’m making the exception to my steadfast iron ruling.
My Life, it’s called, featuring Mitchell Joseph Thompson, and the Alliance introduces us to the incredible Kiano Taylee. At 13, it’s an emotive and sentimental debut single, capturing teenage anguish, bullying and family issues which bear heavy on modern youth. Moving stuff.
For the record, I was young once too, you know. But, don’t let me get started on my memoirs, it’s a longwinded tale of nothingness but reading the Beano and eating spaghetti hoops. But, that’s my song for the day. Very good. Carry on…..
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
A tad shocked my car fluked its way through its MOT today, first time. Going on the theory good luck is a positive virus, maybe I should get a lottery ticket.
It’s your lucky day too, Song of the Day needs no introduction; Lady Nade, ’nuff said?
And that’s my song for the day. Very good. Carry on…..
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Ever just float around your favourite social media site with no objective in mind, to unexpectedly find something which pounces on you as utterly brilliant, and wonder why you’ve not heard about it before?
Took a second of watching this to establish it’s one of those rare occasions, and not just a pointless scrolling exercise for your index finger. You know the kind, where you only see your mate’s unappealing dinner, a wonky, windup political opinion, or video of a young prankster posing as a magician hoaxing eye candy on a Florida beach.
Took a further second to confirm it’s not to be confused with senior easy listening giant, Andy Williams, rather an indie-pop Bristol-based singer-songwriter namesake, but with an added middle J, a penchant for a funky riff and eye for a beguiling tune.
Check this cracking danceable video out, where one could ponder if the middle J stands for “Jacko!”
Not that I’m usually one to allow a cracking video convince me, even with dancing stormtroopers. So, you should note, he’s on his third album “Buy all the $tuff,” of which you can, here. I’m reckoning I need a window to review this fully in the near future. For now it came as big as a nice surprise as spotting an unidentified circular yellow object in the sky this morning, for a near halfhour! Amazing.
And that’s my song for the day. Very good. Carry on…..
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Self-taught multi-instrumentalist, singer and actor, Darling Boy, aka Alexander Gold adds reminisces about his game childhood with this video for his new single “Tea Drinkers of the World.” An unusual move for this brand of indie-pop, but a colourful and entertaining 16-bit retro game fashioned video; enjoy.
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
If you’ve not heard of The Lost Trades before, you must be new to Devizine! Not a problem, we welcome newbies with open arms.
For further information we have a search bar, use it!There are plenty of archived features on The Lost Trades, Phil Cooper, Jamie R Hawkins and Tamsin Quin: enough for Devizine to be an official fan club! These Song of the Day posts are brief and are not intended to be full reviews.
They’re also about introducing you to artists we’ve not, or hardly ever mentioned much of before. Today’s case differs.
I should explain, we’ve followed the individual careers of this local vocal harmony trio since the website’s creation, and they’re three out of many in through doing this, have become personal friends.
Naturally, there’s a danger to the bias of honest criticism in a reviewer befriending the creators; mainstream artists use “enemy” as a term to describe NME journalists.
Although they’re aware I’d be critical if there was ever anything to be critical about, this is also, never a problem, because, simply, the awkward situation never arises.
Partly, I believe, this is because Devizine isn’t a job, it’s a hobby, and if I thought for a second I’ll unjustly slag anyone off for kicks, then the whole objective of it is compromised. Though it’s a delicate balance to provide honest content and maintain relationships with the talented subjects, there’s no reason to wreck a career, and I’d sooner avoid scribbling anything on the matter at all.
The fact if you do search for the Lost Trades or the musicians which make the trio up, you’ll find a fair amount of matter on the subject, can therefore mean only one thing: there never is a problem because they’re genuinely awesome, and this would still be the case even if they hated my guts. Which I’m not ruling out, but suspect it’s unlikely; least I can hope for is they think I’m a headcase. A friendly headcase, but a headcase nonetheless!
Still, it’s a great song, as ever, with a fascinating homemade video fusing Jamie’s enthusiasm for stop motion animation. Get it here.
And that’s my song for the day. Very good. Carry on….
If you came here looking for an original song by upcoming hopefuls, look away. Chippenham’s Blondie & Ska may not be groundbreaking or looking for a mainstream recording contract, a Blondie tribute act who fuse ska and Two-Tone classics into their repertoire, but what they do they do with a barrel load of lively fun. And, in a nutshell, lively carefree fun is the backbone of ska.
Heores of the live stream currently, booking Blondie & Ska for a party or pub gig in the future, and you can gurantee, if fussy music devotees tut, the majority will be up dancing. For this reason enough, I blinking love this duo, but that alone is plentiful. Like their Facebook page for details of future free streams, it’s an entertaining, unpretentious show.
And that’s my song for the day. Very good. Carry on….
Anytime is a good time for some roots reggae, Sunday morning, doublely so.
Enter one of my favourite current reggae bands, from Madrid, the Emertarians.
They always remind me of an occasion, at a festival in Andalusia. I watched this great French reggae band. The slighty rotound frontman looked rather like the late, great Jacob Miller. After the performance I noted he was standing close to me, watching the following act. I went over in hope of telling him how much I enjoyed their music, praying they spoke English.
I momentarily regretted my school French lessons, which I spent making homemade comics out of text books, as he replied with an adamant no upon asking if he spoke English.
All the vocabulary my intoxicated mind could conjour was “tres bien,” so I repeated it perpetually in true Del-Boy fashion!
Otherwise the meeting was the awkward silence of communication breakdown, in which I suspected they thought I was completely nuts. Not so far from the truth.
So, I namedropped Jacob Miller and suddenly we had understanding and mutual respect for the man. My point is, sometimes the Emertarians sing in Spanish and sometimes English, often the Spanish ones more emotive, but reggae has no language barriers, because it’s spiritual meaning and uplifting ambiance is universal. As with the French Jacob Miller-alike, we were on the same song sheet….
Naturally at that conjunction, I rolled a joint.
And that’s my song for the day. Very good. Carry on….
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s … Continue reading “Ruby Darbyshire: God is Offline”
Congratulations go to folk duo Antonie & Owena for winning the G.S.M.C award for Best Album this year. Yet it’s not their first award, winning best duo at last year’s GSMC, and others. Here’s Something Out of Nothing, which I think explains all you need to know about how and why they won it!
And that’s my song for the day. Very good. Carry on….
Even portions of expressive contemporary pop, the ambience of post-goth and downtempo electric blues of trip hop makes this Staffordshire singer, Darla Jade really someone to watch. With a haunting uniqueness about her voice and style, there’s shards of Evanescence fused with Beth Orton. It’s somehow individually chartable but would also appease alternative rock or goth aficionados alike.
Subscribe to her YouTube channel, hear her own stamp on Radiohead’s Creep, and realise, her talent is so very special.
And that’s my song for the day. Very good. Carry on….
Facebook memories posts a year ago this week we rocked up in the Celler Bar raising money for the Waiblingen Way Fire fund, and makes me stops and think about the years I’ve been smashing out articles on Devizine. So many artists and bands we’ve mentioned, I rarely forget about them, this one I admit I nearly did. Most likely because I didn’t get the opportunity to attend Stoke-on-Trent’s teenage country sensation Emily Lockett’s gig at Dean’s Country Club, then operating at Devizes Cons Club, later at the Cavalier.
So, nice as it is to discover new talent, equally important is to recap. Emily must be nearing her twenties now, and as a musical prodigy from aged 5, her expertise shines through in a matured sense now. This track, Front Porch says it all.
Hi, yeah s’me, keeping up the Song of the Day feature like dedication was as word I know the definition of!
No excuses not to, I mean I am of the generation when Roy Castle clasped his trumpet weekly, ready for the signing off of “Record Breakers.” No, it’s not a euthanasim, Google it whippersnappers.
Might also explain my fondness for brass. Brass is class, and a vital element of ska. Yep, four tunes in and I couldn’t resist sharing some ska with you.
It’s a commonly misguided notion that ska is a retrospective cult here in England. It tends to convey a bygone era of Two-Tone records, boots and braces.
Yet today, while said stereotype has a grounding, ska is an international phenomenon, particularly in South America. I did write a piece about this region’s love for ska, and how it’s roots out of Jamaica bare a different tale from our own.
To show you how fresh it can be elsewhere in the world, and it’s not a reminiscence for a load of overweight balding pensioners as perceived in the UK, here’s all-female bar one Mexican band, Girls Go Ska, who I’m secretly in love with, (so secret they don’t even know themselves….until they use Google translate!) doing an instrumental jam.
Girls and ska; what’s not to like? Have a lovely rest of your day. Very good. Carry on….
Formed just two years ago at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury, award-winning four-piece youth band, 5 Nights at Adyans, look set to release their highly-anticipated debut album, The Turn for the 30th anniversary of the prominent community youth music initiative, Bass Connection, at Salisbury Arts Centre on Saturday 5th September…..
I confess I was uneasy about pressing play on the link they sent. In a chat, a little birdy compared them to Devizes’ export Nothing Rhymes with Orange, likely because said birdy knows how much I like them. While now, NRWO are producing concentrated material merging boundaries, they cut their teeth here with quick and catchy indie-punk-pop. I therefore, assumed this would be along similar lines.
The link sent was 5 Nights at Adyans’ initial takes of songs to appear on the album, in an unedited, raw format. While sometimes raw can work, with thrashy punky sounds it usually doesn’t do the band justice compared to the final masters. However, it’s far from “thrashy,” certainly not “trashy,” and I couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised as I was.
Five tunes, conveniently one for each night at Adyans; I love them all! But the unexpected twist is this; with an incredibly expressive vocal range to make Jim Morrison blush, there’s a majority of elements more akin to classic prog rock riffs than than the punk annihilation I was expecting because of the wonky verbal comparison I received!
Throughout the tracks they sent, there’s swirly psychedelic elements of a sixties acid band, crashing bridges of The Nice, the blues rock of Cream, intense ballad moments and the unstoppable moody layer-building of Led Zeppelin, rather than anything to come out of Busted or Blink 182. The band recently posted a pastiche of the Oasis album cover for Morning Glory to their Facebook page, with themselves posing as Liam and Noel do on it. Here they joked, asking if their fans thought it would make a good cover design; I’d suggest it gives the wrong impression, as I’d not compare this to ephemeral Britpop either.
Darling You Got Me came across as a nicely flowing blues-rock introduction, with a hot step to it, and it was all go from the off. But it was the following, Final Location which especially captured my ear, as the tempo slowed to ballad; if there’s punk there it’s subtle at best, matured. It’s gorgeously expressive and emotive, but Final Location isn’t an exception; it becomes the rule.
Tear it Apart also goes there, albeit upbeat, like Rush. Title track Turn brings the dramatic to an apex. The emotional outpour is in full splendour, would appease anyone coming from an aged rock spectrum, and they’d likely assume 5 Nights at Adyans have been at it since 1976! With this thought in mind, this band could save your multi-generational festival!
At times it’s also the mood-shifting sentiment more akin to soft metal rather than grunge. I mean this as the highest compliment, because moodswing is one thing metal could do exceptionally, when it came to aiming into an eighties pop chart. Think how Guns & Roses timelessly transcend the changing trends with their power ballads, like The Doors did decades earlier, whereas the others “halfway there” and “final countdowning” failed the test of time with their commercially viable pop-rock, now only drunken party night nostalgia can save.
I hope you get what I mean?! Because you can go back to a song like Break on Through to the Other Side; it’s enduring. You can unearth Pink Floyd and listen to them again, find new solace with The Who, but often modern sounds fail to stand that test of time. If the finale of The Turn, Knots has an indie, even grunge twinkle, I’d still liken it more to something classic rock.
There’s no three-minute hero here. All the songs are thoughtfully written and composed, are full-bodied and complete odysseys, but being a debut, I predict, might not necessarily age like fine wine, because here’s a progressive band screaming with potential to produce something far greater than the sum of these current parts, cool though they are. In years to come they should reflect back proudly on this beginning, because it’s exceptionally impressive.
Surprised and impressed, with high hopes, Salisbury-based 5 Nights at Adyans certainly took me on a journey. It never fails to amaze how attuned youth can be, from a sixth form band to achieving remarkable regional recognition recently, vocalist Owen Morgan, guitarist Toby Allen, bassist Jasper Hill and drummer Thomas Clarke might spend 5 Nights at Adyans, but going on this debut, should be spending forthcoming decades concreted into rock history.
Find them on Facebook and Instagram, and await for this debut with as much patience as you can bare!
Formed just two years ago at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury, award-winning four-piece youth band, 5 Nights at Adyans, look set to release their highly-anticipated…
September is a week away; parents will be brushing off school uniforms, but Devizes blues fans won’t be dusting their brooms, because Long Steet Blues…
Whoa! What happened last night at the trusty Three Crowns?! What happened last night at the Three Crowns has clearly happened before, and happens most…
Featured Image: Antony Barkworth-Knight Despite intentionally making his tricks go wrong, Tommy Cooper was actually a skilled magician and member of The Magic Circle. SpongeBob…
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s…
Pleasantly surprised in July when an awesome new single from Devizes’ rootsy Americana with a gothic twist collective, Burn the Midnight Oil revealed a more…
September is a week away; parents will be brushing off school uniforms, but Devizes blues fans won’t be dusting their brooms, because Long Steet Blues Club opens for the autumn/winter season on the first Saturday, the 5th with Lightnin’ Willie and the Poorboys…..
After a long absence the club welcome back one of the club favourites from California, Lightning Willie and his backing band The Poorboys. Lightnin’ Willie has a very distinctive approach to his music. He is a songwriter, singer and guitarist in that order. The sound is an irresistible blend of tradition and spontaneous creativity, with a deliciously insidious emphasis on the groove. It is a compelling, hard swinging brand of blues that, whenever he performs, packs the floor.
He has gone from the low down beer joints to become a staple on the international circuit, with wild stops along the way, from London’s Royal Albert Hall Igniter Series to Willie Nelson’s infamous 4th of July Picnic, where he appeared alongside Paula Nelson, Willie, Bob Dylan, and Leon Russell.
Touring the United States and Europe for over twenty years has given him the relaxed, confident and sometimes humorous quality of a seasoned performer. These attributes have won him stacks of enthusiastic praise from the press while landing his original tunes on numerous film and television soundtracks.
Lightnin’ Willie has the unique knack of bringing his audience into his ‘living room’ and making everyone comfortable while forgetting their problems for a couple of hours. At a recent show with legendary blues man Robert Cray they played to a packed house receiving a well deserved standing ovation. 2018 will find Willie on tour supporting his latest album No Black No White Just Blues.
Willie is backed by his superb band, The Poorboys – Giles King on harmonica, bassist Aaron McRobbie and drummer Paul ‘Nobby’ Birch. Support for the evening comes from Gordon Wood.
ON SALE NOW Advance Tickets are £18.00 from usual outlets or book online (online booking fee applies) Tickets £20.00 on the door.
Surprised your mobile didn’t sound the apocalyptic alarm to notify you about Wessex Water’s hosepipe ban?! Then, you’re a gullible idiot! But being 22,239 voters…
Turned around in just a day, a team of guitar “heir hunters” from Macclesfield called The Stray Chord have reunited Salisbury’s musician Jolyon Dixon with…
Whoa! What happened last night at the trusty Three Crowns?! What happened last night at the Three Crowns has clearly happened before, and happens most weekends; Devizes folk old and particularly the young come to party….
I’m aware of that much. But if the quality of the party rests in the hands of whoever is at the control tower, I’d not witnessed The Hot Juice Project boiling over the sides of this saucepan before.
All I know is one half of this duo, with the capability of sounding like they’ve doubled-up and are an exceptionally loud four-piece band, Jake Lockhart, as an acoustic singer and a short-lived frontman of local mod covers band, The Roughcut Rebels. In the few occasions I’ve met him, he usually comes across charming but mild-mannered, even slightly diffident.
The last time I met him was at the private invite opening of The Birdhouse in Trowvegas. He was entertaining acoustically solo, but being the nature of the event was to show off this fabulous new venue, participants were engrossed in conversation, rather than taking much notice of Jake. It was here we had a quick chat, as he shyly told me of The Hot Juice Project he’d created; a duo where he has creative freedom to replicate covers using loop pedals and other techy tricks.
I made a promise to him to check this out, next time he was doing it locally. So, despite my pilgrimage to the Southgate for Talk in Code, I decided to ensure I allot enough time to attend this too; glad I did, as The Three Crowns was having it.
They’d arrived via a multi-act all dayer gig in the Sham, reportedly under-attended due to insufficient advertising. Equally it can often be a slow start here, where the trend for the younger regulars, governed by economics, is to attend the local Spoons, then descend on the Three Crowns like an exodus, once they’ve acquired sufficient intoxication levels. But hey, despite a humble gathering, The Hot Juice Project were loud and proud, knocking out contemporary indie, punky covers with all the desirable force and quality of a full band.
I returned from the Gate suspecting this wonderful pub and the only one of its kind in town would be considerably fuller. I wasn’t mistaken. It was positively booming there, as The Hot Juice Project were in full flight, and their element. Knocking out beloved covers with such gusto, I was surprised to note Jake and his drummer and second vocalist Jack’s insane diversity and ability to absolutely and wholeheartedly rock out!
If, despite his earned accomplishments as a skilled singer and guitarist, Jake has been wrongly typecast in genre and style, possibly in order to cut his teeth on the local circuit, here, where singalong hard rock covers are worshipped, he shines like a beacon in an otherwise blackened seascape.
The Hot Juice Project selected a repertoire likely to be rejected from the average covers duo, for being too technical, or too hard sounding; such as their grunge finale smelling of Nirvana’s Teen Spirit, and especially those involving raps, such as The Chilli Peppers. But this duo deliver them with fired frenzy, and adroit precision.
It was indeed a sight to see, and for me, a pleasant surprise. I usually take grunge and modern harder-edged rock with a pinch, but the crowd was lapping it up. And it would be impossible for me to deny, if live music was a parcel delivery, The Hot Juice Project is not the courier to dump it in your blue wheelie bin and piss off! They’re the supermarket delivery boy eager for appraisal, who stands and waits until you’ve checked everything off and are satisfied. Perhaps even going overboard and offering to stack it in your fridge for you!
The result is a content crowd at the Three Crowns, and another success for the pub who knows exactly what buttons to press.
I must say, a few seconds delay with wandering between pubs could’ve hindered my ability to scribe both reviews for them. Two teenagers on a moped revved their hairdryer up the curb of the High Street and rallied full force through the dark walkway between the old Wilkos and redundant Four Seasons pub, only to alert two Devizes bobbies, moments before I would’ve walked through it!
Bored kids showing off I figured, ambiguously excused for their irresponsible and dangerous act, because there’s “nothing to do” in Devizes.
Whereas whatever opinion the curtain-twitchers might make of youngsters drinking in a pub, the Three Crowns strictly age check and take safeguarding as paramount. At least they are contained there, and enjoying themselves. And when they are entertained they are not impelled to cause trouble or act in such a manner.
There’s never trouble at the Three Crowns. Townsfolk of all ages respect what the team has supplied far too much, and this reflects into a positive atmosphere with every attendance made. I tell landlord Simon, “they’re actually far better behaved than my generation ever was!” Fact!
It is a testament to what can be achieved in an era of financial doubt and questionable management affecting the hospitality industry, and, as it continues to source high quality entertainment, the cover bands are welcomed by the masses. Many come and rock it, the Hot Juice Project made its mark last night to a colossal applause. The town should be proud of what a welcoming and universal establishment and a vital palace for letting your hair down the Three Crowns remains to be.
Congratulations are due to Wiltshire’s indie-pop sensation Talk in Code, for sealing a second sync representation agreement, this time with Play Equals Sync, a music…
Andy Burnham has urged shops to stop selling disposable barbecues amid the increase of wildfire risk. Meanwhile, Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs uncover horrific scenes of burnt…
Calling all dog-lovers, come and join the Paws Charity Dog Show! A fantastic day out for families and four-legged friends…. Paws Charity Dog Show is in…
Isoceles Theatre Company Brings a Spine-Chilling Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde to The Wharf Theatre, Devizes, on Saturday 29th August….. Devizes, Wiltshire | Saturday 29 August 2026…
Guest written by Half-a job-Bob Hey-ho, Half-a-job-Bob here! Yeah, I’m a real Highways operative, and not just a puerile attempt at humour by a Conservative…
I’ve got this Jetpack app on my phone which allows me to make adjustments to the site. There’s a new feature on it notifying me of articles published on this day in previous years. It revealed that on this day last year I fondly reviewed Talk in Code’s single launch gig at The Vic in Swindon. Some things never change; last night I dropped into the Southgate where Talk in Code smashed it again…
Some stage banter included drummer Jambo claiming he had a “lot to do back here,” reminded me of the year they played the Fulltone Festival where he temporarily mislaid his drumsticks!
At the Vic Talk in Code play their homeground, whereas The Southgate is usually affiliated with blues or folk aficionados, and the Fulltone is an orchestral event. Although these three gigs vastly contrast, Talk in Code look equally comfy at either. If they were a creature from the Harry Potter universe they’d surely be the Occamy, a serpentine with choranaptyxic wings, allowing it the magical ability to grow or shrink to fit the exact size of the space it is in.
Just how the Occamy doesn’t change appearance, only size, neither does Talk in Code change their strictly original set, only to fit, yet still manage to thrill any crowd no matter the diversity of their bookings.
The essence of pop is imitable and “catchy,” not to be niche, or these days of sampling, even wholly original. A factor of non-commerciality is to be a cult. Talk in Code balances this with a popular fanbase, “the Talkers” and this unique yet universal synth indie style which, with multi-era influences any age can reflect off, appeals to a wide range. That’s the secret of Talk in Code and it never fails to entertain.
If Talk in Code time travelled back to the eighties, there’s little doubt in my mind they’d be a classic band akin to Duran Duran, Level 42 or perhaps Ah-Ha, and they’d be playing a stadium by now. Such is detrimental changes to the music industry they thrive locally, only sporadically reaching further afield. Amidst their fanbase they are that accomplished, and deserved, as they chant their songs back to them as if they really were pop stars. For in which case quantumly, they are.
Goody bags and Lego sets of the band among their merch suggest prime and strategic marketing, still you’ve got to be in the club to know it’s true; Talk in Code will thrill not just you, but your whole family young and old. I looked around at the people dancing at The Gate, as I often do to settle my appraisal as more than personal opinion, and it proves it, each and every time. And that’s why, yeah, I bash on about Talk in Code a lot, but maybe not too much!
I’ve actually a mission at the popular Three Crowns to highlight an act we’ve not mentioned before; the next review I’ll work on. But I could never allow myself to miss a Talk in Code gig at my local. Live music at The Southgate has been such a staple for so long now, it risks folk taking it for granted, but nights like this prove it still has what it takes to be that squeeze box of quality, especially in hosting original acts like Talk in Code.
The guys took a first half of their earlier and more obscure tunes, still rocking the Gate, and a second half whereby they celebrate this continued dedication to creating danceable indie-pop anthems. Safe in knowledge The Southgate was appeased, and I was so familiar the guys would carry out orders uncompromisingly, I headed off early to see what was occurring at The Three Crowns. Had I not been on a promise, I’d have stayed with Talk in Code, because pop demands an affliction for the familiar, at least it does when it’s as perfected as Talk in Code.
As for the Southgate, worthy gigs abound there every weekend. Keep in the loop via our event calendar, and pop down there. I endeavour to list them as they come in, though Facebook shares of their chalkboard can be more sporadic these days, and I forget to take a snap of it when I’m there!!
by Claire Dunford, Co-Founder and Games Master at Chronicles and Companions Images by Simon Folkard Photography What do you think of when you hear Dungeons…
I would like to apologise to Devizes Town Councillor Iain Wallis for incorrect quotes in a spoof article concerning a BBC Wiltshire video we criticised…
You know, there’s umpteen articles, studies, and even a six and half minute YouTube video explaining that Steven Spielberg’s 1993 family sci-fi movie Jurassic Park…
Devizes Film Club is delighted to present the acclaimed coming-of-age drama DJ Ahmet at the Wharf Theatre, Devizes, on Thursday 27 August 2026 at 7.30pm….. Fresh from…
Swindonite and founder member of XTC Colin Moulding released a new single last week, Want It Bad (The Pep Talks and Playing Fields of Old England). It’s previewing a three-track CD single being released via Burning Shed. This is Moulding’s second single in five years, following 2021’s The Hardest Battle, but is it simply a smooth, rose-tinted specs wishful motivation, or is Colin really making plans for Nigel?!
In this single, Moulding continues to explore the distinctly English pop sensibility trademark of XTC, through qualities of melody, rhythm, variety, idiosyncratic subject matter and a bucketload of nostalgia. It began as a song of sport and camaraderie, but soon took on a broader meaning. Colin explained, “although this song started life as a sporting pep talk, it was clear that it could easily be thought of as a mantra for one’s own life ambitions whatever they may be. If you want something in this life you have to really want it. And if you really want it, you’ll get it; that was my mantra.”
And, like Paul McCartney’s Wings, it is a lovely song of motivation from a mature, experienced professional, seemingly themed ambiguously, with meaning that could be interpreted by the listener. It’s the accompanying video which unfortunately feels like a cringeworthy political allegory, and this causes any imagination the listener might have conjured, to collapse within itself.
Colin was born in Swindon in 1955 to a GWR worker and a laundrette wife and lived in Penhill. They were in every essence working class. Through jam sessions he met Andy Partridge around about 1972, introduced him to Terry Chambers and they formed the band Helium Kidz, which changed name to XTC. Through their angular guitar riffs considered pop in an era of punk and new wave, and an abrupt ending due to contractual disagreements with Virgin, they achieved only sporadic commercial success, but attracted a considerable cult following.
There’s therefore every reason for Colin to write a song about wanting it bad. But what is it he wants so bad? The video begins with Great British sporting achievements and more randomly, the Moon landing. Yet it wanders off onto some kind of patriotic kickback to an England of yore, with Colin handshaking a wealthy dummy, driving through the fields in a psychedelic dressed Morris Minor, is adorned with images of Lord Kitchener and spitfires, housewives marching village streets wearing gasmasks, and toy soldiers on a bandstand. The irony is, the video might feel like an Orphism collage influenced by Aardman’s Sledgehammer, but appears to be prompted rather than created by Thomas Walsh, who is renowned for using AI slop. This is suspiciously AI, and I cannot abide by that.
I’ve no issue with patriotism, and rose tinted spec nostalgia, provided it’s divisive and supports equality, and the content here, while glorifying war, isn’t suggesting anything more. Except, similar cringeworthy AI creations are predominately used for far-right propaganda, causing the video to feel uneasily related to such politically motivated imagery; which is a shame. Particularly due to XTC’s most known hit “Making Plans for Nigel,” recently being used, for and against, the rise of Reform and fascism in England.
You can want something bad, you could strive to reach that goal, but, I quiver, as a professional musician, should you sacrilegiously destroy any further creativity with AI? And if you do, how in the good name of England’s green and pleasant land is that nostalgic in any shape or form?!
Nice song, shame about the video! Want It Bad is available on CD from the 18th September, exclusively via Burning Shed.
It shouldn’t be an issue. It should be good news that Wiltshire Council has voted in favour of flying the Pride flag on top of County Hall. But as Newsquest spreads the word, watch local knuckle-draggers gather on social media, competing for the most ingenious objecting comment, which least exposes their homophobia. But, is the…
Devizes Food & Drink Festival announced their program of events last week, and the box office opens at 9am on Monday 10th August. Let’s fill up with what’s on…. As usual the festival opens with a free event, the Street Food & Artisan Market at Devizes Market Place on Saturday 19th September from 10am until…
Ah, here it is then, personally I think, while slightly irking, it’s not the end of the world as we know it, and I’m the most random and sporadic procrastinator I know (it’s taken me a week to get this published!) Though, the thought of having to book at timeslot at the Recycling Centre has…
Despite intentionally making his tricks go wrong, Tommy Cooper was actually a skilled magician and member of The Magic Circle. SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg was a marine biologist, and Benny Hill really was a milkman. In order to deride an art effectively you must first master it. It therefore stands to reason Matthew C. Whitaker, frontman of the cosplay prog-rave outfit HENGE, also has some highly acclaimed solo material….
Matthew takes his February album Songs for the Weary on the road solo this October, opening in Belgium and the Netherlands before touring across the UK, including Frome’s Cheese & Grain’s sister venue The Tree House on Wednesday 21st October.
The one and only time I’ve seen Henge was at the Cheese, making haste for the county border after fondly reviewing their album Journey to Voltus B last year, and it was a gig I’d need to be abducted and lobotomised to forget. Matthew’s solo material can be equally as cosmic, as it drifts through gentle pieces for classical guitar, lush string arrangements, and subtle electronics, but it also contrasts vastly, and is a particularly mellower experience than Henge.
There’s cool jazz sax, whistles, fingerpicked guitar and delicate yet quirky observations in these hushed and patient patterns, taking you along with it as it drifts through space. Songs for the Weary has found a home on BBC Radio 6 Music, with singles Lucid Dreamer and Chestnut Tree championed by Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie, Craig Charles, and Deb Grant.
The run follows a widely praised set of UK and European dates earlier this year, when Whitaker was joined on stage by the album’s producer and multi-instrumentalist Alan Keary. This time, he takes to the stage completely solo.
Manchester-based musician and composer Matthew sings about losing a train of thought, which is apt, it twinkles through you like Bowie at his most exquisite or Paul’s later work with The Beatles, backed by Peter, Paul and Mary, for an episode of Button Moon.
And before you say it, milkman is an art; it can take years to master the three-bottle-grip whilst being chased by an enraged Yorkshire terrier up a garden path.
May 1936, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I stood with his exiled family on Paddington Station. Before being advised to flee Ethiopia, so he could address…
In In 1981 John Sullivan created a deadpan simpleton character for his sitcom, Only Fools and Horses. Immortalised by the late Roger Lloyd-Pack, Trigger would…
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s been playing at recent gigs. Here the track has a subtle piano added, and those wonderful brush drum strokes texturing it with that smooth jazzy ambience, yet with poignant narrative too. Give God is Offline a quick whirl, and bless your ears…
Ruby mentioned working on this song when we talked in May. “It was inspired by our recent trip to Egypt,” Ruby explained, “where we narrowly escaped Dubai’s missile attack by a few hours. When we got to our apartment, we could see down on the street. There were loads of prayer mats, because the mosque was so filled, people had to spill out onto the road. And so that inspired it.”
Its deeper meaning, I presumed, was not to seek faith online, but to look either spiritually or in the real world. Ruby elucidated, “more just the fact that everyone is the same, whether they believe in a different God or they are from a different part of the world, they’re all the same. We’re all just trying to live our lives..”
Sheez, I go away for five minutes and look what happens. Devizes Facebookland turns into the Ok Corral! Seems I must interrupt my lovely mountaineering…
By Charlotte Emily Devizes Town Crier There are some moments when history feels less like something written in books and more like something happening right…
If both Claire and Chloe Grist jest their working and marital relationships are of “left” and “right tit,” respectively, it might explain the reason for…
January last year, The Southgate Inn Devizes announced Jamsters, a monthly Friday night platform for loose groupings and associations created at their regular jam sessions…
Pleasantly surprised in July when an awesome new single from Devizes’ rootsy Americana with a gothic twist collective, Burn the Midnight Oil revealed a more carefree and commercially viable style to their previously darker themed and rawer material. It was enough for James Threlfall to pick it up for BBC Introducing. With a new single out on Friday 28th August called Blood, Sweat & Tears you might be fooled into assuming by the title they’ve turned back to the sombre moods of before. Think again…..
Though frontgirl Chrissy might’ve elucidated, least hinted something darker might be in the pipeline, for now Blood, Sweat & Tears follows neatly on from Slow Burn with an incredible upbeat driving vibe, verging on Shania Twain sassy, yet retaining the cool rock riff of Fleetwood Mac. It’s immediately compulsive, with a danceable and anthemic combo. I find myself contemplating if it’s better than Slow Burn, or not, but with a hook razor-sharpened, it’s undoubtedly on par, and proves it wasn’t pot luck in July.
With this divine product of Potterne’s Badger Set blessing my ears I also find myself reflecting back to an interview we did with the band last November. Guitarist John Lane spoke of achieving such a hook as these last two singles, and expressed the importance of the sound. “First thing people take in is rhythm,” he suggested, “then melody, last of all, lyrics. So if you hook the first bit, you don’t get the second one, then they come back for the lyrics.”
In this I sensed a healthy division between John and Chrissy’s perspectives. Knowing how much thought and creativity Chrissy loads into her writing, drawing inspiration from personal and often emotional experiences, and exporting them into relatable and poignant lyrics, there was a non-confrontational difference. I supposed of this stalemate at the time, “a good blend of opinion is surely necessary to compose the elements of a song professionally.” And that is precisely what they put in, making this song work; the dynamics of pop, a conscious composition where both arguments meet in harmony.
Chrissy taglines the song thus; “some dreams begin as little more than a whisper, an idea that refuses to let go, a vision that quietly demands more of you until ignoring it is no longer an option.” Ah, yes, I can reflect the notion; any inventive mind will tell, that’s the creative juices flowing and the desire to express them. Blood, Sweat & Tears concerns itself with the acceptance of that call, and the feeling of unlocking your potential. As Chrissy says, “breaking through self-imposed limitations and pursuing a future worth fighting for.”
An expressive tenet full of contemplation and self-analysis, it remains positively angled, like Jimmy Cliff on his hard road to travel, but with steadfast faith he can’t turn back because his mind is set. Chrissy views her theme similarly, as a meaningful journey of courage and determination against odds stacked not in your favour. Such concepts are not so uncommon in music, and an acoustic singer-songwriter will expose similar thoughts abound. But here, with Burn the Midnight Oil the prose is perfectly packaged by the sound of her exceptionally accomplished and unified band, complementing her natural vocal balance, and that harmoniousness is what makes Blood Sweat & Tears so complete and engaging.
Here’s their LinkTree, new single is out next Friday 28th August 2026, but you can pre-save it and listen to the last one. I suggest you do. Perks of the job; this one is stuck in my head already!
Earthlings and all other organic lifeforms with a taste for the occult, fortean and general weirdness are heading to The Barge at HoneyStreet the first…
by Ian Diddams images by Michael Stevens – Pharos Photography Shakespeare is credited as having introduced around 1,700 words into the English language, and several…
It looks like fowlers have finally caught them! I mean, wildly flying around, daytime clubbing, karaoke cavorting, supporting and promoting local live music, who does…
For what it’s worth, I’m impartial to the prospect of McDonalds, Tesco too. I’ve got viewpoints to waffle endlessly with no real conclusion, if you’ve…
Our regular historian and Visiting Research Fellow of The Regional History Centre, UWE Bristol, Brian Edwards takes some time to sketch the FullTone Orchestra ahead…
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Yes, we’ve got to praise Trowbridge’s Old Town Hall like we should, because Fatboy Slim is going to be right there, but not right now; the 5th November… bugger, it’s a Thursday!
Ian Sawyer wins the Facebook comment section on this post with “That’s my knees buggered for November then!” Which couldn’t reflect on my own predicament more perfectly.
It’s been decades since my mates and I followed Norm like little lost sheep, yelling “Brimful of Asha on the 45” across Brighton to Glastonbury. But it was an era when I was more able-bodied. Then again, if the Fatboy is still tripping, then why confine myself to my nursing home so soon?!
A great booking, Old Town Hall, whose manager whispered he had a secret when I rapped with him at next door’s opening night at The Birdhouse. I didn’t guess it’d be this groundbreaking DJ. Large it!
Surprised your mobile didn’t sound the apocalyptic alarm to notify you about Wessex Water’s hosepipe ban?! Then, you’re a gullible idiot!
But being 22,239 voters in one seaside town opted, again, for a fascist criminal ringmaster to lead them, and, similarly as stupid, a man named Bruce shoved nine Creme Eggs up his rectum, perhaps we’ve entered the satirical realm of Mike Judge and Ethan Cohen’s Idiocracy, and, therefore the alarm last week was necessary, even if you jumped so much you knocked over your barbecue.
Let’s clear this up before we rap hosepipes. If you’re subject to domestic violence and own a secret phone, yes, you should switch the alerts off on it. Otherwise you should realise any Conservatives or other climate change denying opposition party members taking to their social media encouraging us to switch the alarm off, on a system they themselves installed, are not doing it for your safety or peace of mind, rather an irresponsible and dangerous attempt to slander the current government.
It was not as the dirty Rees-Dogg yarned uninvited on my Faceache newsfeed; Burnham unnecessarily alerting us that it’s summer. While the usage of the emergency alert could be debated, wildfires are spreading on an unprecedented scale across the UK, due to the now undeniable climate change that the previous governments did absolutely zilch to address, therefore, triggered at the request of overloaded fire and rescue officers, the emergency alert was justified. Unless you, your family and friends wish to burn in hellfire whilst erecting flags on lamposts and painting rural roundabouts, apply some common sense and avoid using disposable barbecues for the time being; big ask!!
Equally, a hosepipe ban is unfortunately understandable if we are to reserve the little water we retain in reservoirs. Though this announcement is far more easily attacked, being Wessex Water has faced intense public and regulatory backlash over widespread raw sewage discharges, environmental damage, large shareholder payouts, and rising executive pay amid mounting network failures, it should be the privatisation of public services under question, rather than if you should, or shouldn’t, water your rhododendrons or wash birdshit off your Tesla.
It’s hard to take orders from a company Ofwat finalised an £11 million enforcement package against, requiring Wessex Water shareholders to fund local environmental and infrastructure upgrades after the company failed to properly maintain and upgrade its wastewater network. Even worse when the company was criminally convicted and fined £500,000 following a prolonged sewage pumping station failure at Bowerhill Lodge near Melksham, which discharged untreated waste into Clackers Brook and killed over 2,100 fish.
Or, hey there was that time when a backed-up sewer spilled into a River Yeo tributary in Somerset, resulting in a £300,000 payout by the company toward local river and habitat restoration trusts. But who are we to judge their Chief Executive Ruth Jefferson, after she received her pay rise, taking her total package to roughly £791,000?!
Even if the company itself acknowledged it risked breaching sector-wide environmental bonus restrictions on this pay rise, because they clearly cannot be trusted any further than be thrown, the responsibility remains on us, the public, to not only save water during a drought, but vote for a party with core environmental concerns and pledging to renationalise our public services.
And I say this not because of political sway, but that I consider the extinction of all life on Earth a pretty fundamental concern and “big deal.”
I therefore condemn irresponsible reporting on all environmental issues; that’s relevant, isn’t it? Rather you support your chosen party who backs companies where the utility recorded tens of thousands of sewage spills spanning hundreds of thousands of hours across the south-west of England, if you want to. Free country last time I checked, but tomfoolery on this to sway popular opinion is criminal against no one but ourselves and our future generations, of which we hand them the world in a state similar to what Wayne and Waynetta Slob might leave their council flat.
Therefore I call out reporters like Neil Shaw of Wiltshire’s gutter press Wiltshire Live, for publishing a story about a consumer expert pointing out “a little-known fact about hosepipe bans – claiming not one person has ever been prosecuted for ignoring the orders.”
How insanely irresponsible, despite evidence, it is to encourage rebellious acts against protecting our water supply, for clickbait. For if you continue to ignore the warning, it is akin to acknowledging an absence of police and speed cameras implies you can accelerate to your heart’s desire, only to rundown a child.
Oh, quick, BBC Wiltshire, the Crammer in Devizes has dried up, what should we do?
Send down a reporter who looks like Borat to interview a Conservative town councillor about the Moonrakers folklore!
This is not a novel by Frank Herbert, yet, but, like Lemmings, we strive on with the madness, councillor Maria Hoult for Devizes South complaining that the “Town Council are no longer permitted to water the floral displays and trees.” And good folk perhaps need an emergency alert as they gather online to rage at Wessex Water, throbbing the very backbone out of the water guzzling data centres spreading their message. When the real message should surely be, just because our water companies, politicians and media can’t act responsibly it doesn’t mean you have to follow their example.
The hosepipe ban comes into place on Tuesday the 18th August and lasts forty days, coincidentally the same time period Jesus fasted in the desert with the devil on his back, before they nailed him to a cross, for asking people to be nice to each other. Obviously they didn’t have Facebook back then; is this going to happen every fifty years? It’s an attack on my civil liberties!!
Look, right, I’m not at the top yet, but it’s in clear sight. A round number, of the half century kind, awaits me atop the hill, and there’s no stopping the ride to get off.
I guess reaching these milestone ages causes you to analyse your life somewhat, and if there’s one thing I do know in all my years, it’s that I’ve told some colossal pork pies. Some real stinkers. I don’t know why, other than occupational hazard as a journalist, I’ve no excuses, not one which will wash with you clever lot.
Whether it be for the prestige, the glory, or, sometimes just for the sheer hell of it, just because the golden opportunity arose and I couldn’t stop myself, they just slipped out.
I’m not proud, just saying, you know, get it off my chest. Not compulsively, though, I’d go as far to say the majority of what I say is true.
Why do people say, “I’ll be honest with you…” ? Well duh, I sincerely hope you do anyway, it should go without saying. But the phrase immediately raises the alarm; I’m guessing a whopper is on its way. I never use that phrase on principle. The principle I don’t trust myself to keep to it.
See, what with the whopper, the real damaging kind of fib. I consider my track record on that quite good, I tend to lie to big myself up, but not to put others down. I tend to lie to make light of a situation, rather than darken the notion. I tend not to lie to anyone I trust not to lie to me, and I’ve seen too many of them backfire anyway, so, I’m done with lies, filled my quota but retain decency in not being overly destructive with them; quantity not quality!
And anyway, I don’t lie here, cos I trust you all, I really do. This isnt a tabloid, this is me. Clearly you get what you see, which might be a waffling clown but, hey.
So, Harmony, from Chippenham, on the subject of liars; she’s not singing about me, no sir, not when I say with all the honesty left in me, this young singer-songwriter I’ve discovered via Sheer music, has got something really special. And even if I was lying, which I’m not, I’ve shared the video, to prove it.
And that’s Song of the Day, for the third day. It’s become a popular feature, overnight, honest.
Should you choose to believe that!
Have a lovely rest of your day. Very good. Carry on….
Newly-formed just a year ago, this Birmingham-based seven piece reggae band, Big Ship Alliance started out as possibly the only tribute act to reggae legend Freddie McGregor, but on track to record their own material they’ve teamed up with the outstanding UB40 tribute act, Johnny2Bad for this gorgeous topical debut single.
Featuring Robbie Levi and Stones, aside from my love of all things reggae, the song’s positive message of togetherness and unification during this era of the pandemic makes it more than apt for my second “song of the day” post. Though I did say I wasn’t intending to write anything like a review on this feature, just let you enjoy the tunes, and this is kinda heading a little bit “reviewy.” Probably cos it’s such a nice tune.
I also promised not to waffle; but I’m here now. Something about having your cake and eating it goes in rather appropriately at this point!
More so than being my song of the day, I believe this should be, as the Big Ship Alliance say themselves, “the anthem for 2021!”
Determined to make this feature a goer, as of yesterday’s pledge to add a song each day, ingeniously titled “song of the day.” I know, right, it scares me at times, I’ll be honest!
So, enjoy this fantastic tune, let the good vibes roll and have a great rest of the day. Same time tomorrow then?
Irregularly I share a music video to our Facebook page with the status “song of the day,” or week, or whenever, as if it’s a daily occurrence. When the reality is it’s a big, fat fib on my part, it’s only when I happen to find such a video and can be arsed to share it. What-cha gonna do, sue me?
So, just in case your lawyer says you have a case, I thought I’d streamline this sporadic idea for 2021, make it an actual feature on the site rather than a Facebook post, and show off that I know what long words like “sporadic” mean.
Little more gone into it than this, you should be used to it by now. I’m not going to review them, just embed them here for your own appraisal and entertainment purposes. Potentially, it’ll be a groundbreakingily breif post, a simple but effective phenomenon, and something I can do without missing the Simpsons.
The challenge is consistency; whether I actually stick to the idea or, like others, it’ll be a flash in the pan. Who knows, this could be the start of something beautiful, this could be the thing they’re talking about in decades to come. A holographic Ken Bruce could be asking “what was the very first Devizine Song of the Day” in a Pop Master 200 years from now.
And you can answer it with who I bestow this honour, Atari Pilot. They’ll be revelling in the triumph of the hour if it wasn’t lockdown, I bet.
History in the making then, the only issue I foresee is I over-waffle any old crap, which is, incidentally, not what’s happening now and rarely does here; I had to explain myself, didn’t I?
Okay, I get message; here it is then, enjoy the tune, enjoy the rest of your evening. Good job, carry on.
Formed just two years ago at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury, award-winning four-piece youth band, 5 Nights at Adyans, look set to release their highly-anticipated debut album, The Turn for the 30th anniversary of the prominent community youth music initiative, Bass Connection, at Salisbury Arts Centre on Saturday 5th September…..
I confess I was uneasy about pressing play on the link they sent. In a chat, a little birdy compared them to Devizes’ export Nothing Rhymes with Orange, likely because said birdy knows how much I like them. While now, NRWO are producing concentrated material merging boundaries, they cut their teeth here with quick and catchy indie-punk-pop. I therefore, assumed this would be along similar lines.
The link sent was 5 Nights at Adyans’ initial takes of songs to appear on the album, in an unedited, raw format. While sometimes raw can work, with thrashy punky sounds it usually doesn’t do the band justice compared to the final masters. However, it’s far from “thrashy,” certainly not “trashy,” and I couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised as I was.
Five tunes, conveniently one for each night at Adyans; I love them all! But the unexpected twist is this; with an incredibly expressive vocal range to make Jim Morrison blush, there’s a majority of elements more akin to classic prog rock riffs than than the punk annihilation I was expecting because of the wonky verbal comparison I received!
Throughout the tracks they sent, there’s swirly psychedelic elements of a sixties acid band, crashing bridges of The Nice, the blues rock of Cream, intense ballad moments and the unstoppable moody layer-building of Led Zeppelin, rather than anything to come out of Busted or Blink 182. The band recently posted a pastiche of the Oasis album cover for Morning Glory to their Facebook page, with themselves posing as Liam and Noel do on it. Here they joked, asking if their fans thought it would make a good cover design; I’d suggest it gives the wrong impression, as I’d not compare this to ephemeral Britpop either.
Darling You Got Me came across as a nicely flowing blues-rock introduction, with a hot step to it, and it was all go from the off. But it was the following, Final Location which especially captured my ear, as the tempo slowed to ballad; if there’s punk there it’s subtle at best, matured. It’s gorgeously expressive and emotive, but Final Location isn’t an exception; it becomes the rule.
Tear it Apart also goes there, albeit upbeat, like Rush. Title track Turn brings the dramatic to an apex. The emotional outpour is in full splendour, would appease anyone coming from an aged rock spectrum, and they’d likely assume 5 Nights at Adyans have been at it since 1976! With this thought in mind, this band could save your multi-generational festival!
At times it’s also the mood-shifting sentiment more akin to soft metal rather than grunge. I mean this as the highest compliment, because moodswing is one thing metal could do exceptionally, when it came to aiming into an eighties pop chart. Think how Guns & Roses timelessly transcend the changing trends with their power ballads, like The Doors did decades earlier, whereas the others “halfway there” and “final countdowning” failed the test of time with their commercially viable pop-rock, now only drunken party night nostalgia can save.
I hope you get what I mean?! Because you can go back to a song like Break on Through to the Other Side; it’s enduring. You can unearth Pink Floyd and listen to them again, find new solace with The Who, but often modern sounds fail to stand that test of time. If the finale of The Turn, Knots has an indie, even grunge twinkle, I’d still liken it more to something classic rock.
There’s no three-minute hero here. All the songs are thoughtfully written and composed, are full-bodied and complete odysseys, but being a debut, I predict, might not necessarily age like fine wine, because here’s a progressive band screaming with potential to produce something far greater than the sum of these current parts, cool though they are. In years to come they should reflect back proudly on this beginning, because it’s exceptionally impressive.
Surprised and impressed, with high hopes, Salisbury-based 5 Nights at Adyans certainly took me on a journey. It never fails to amaze how attuned youth can be, from a sixth form band to achieving remarkable regional recognition recently, vocalist Owen Morgan, guitarist Toby Allen, bassist Jasper Hill and drummer Thomas Clarke might spend 5 Nights at Adyans, but going on this debut, should be spending forthcoming decades concreted into rock history.
Find them on Facebook and Instagram, and await for this debut with as much patience as you can bare!
The larger than life superstars from CSF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING return to Devizes, Wiltshire on July 11th for a very special edition of SATURDAY NIGHT SLAM,…
Midnight oil has been burning at Potterne’s Badger Set studio as Devizes’ most impressive and talked about upcoming band, Burn The Midnight Oil takes it…
September is a week away; parents will be brushing off school uniforms, but Devizes blues fans won’t be dusting their brooms, because Long Steet Blues Club opens for the autumn/winter season on the first Saturday, the 5th with Lightnin’ Willie and the Poorboys…..
After a long absence the club welcome back one of the club favourites from California, Lightning Willie and his backing band The Poorboys. Lightnin’ Willie has a very distinctive approach to his music. He is a songwriter, singer and guitarist in that order. The sound is an irresistible blend of tradition and spontaneous creativity, with a deliciously insidious emphasis on the groove. It is a compelling, hard swinging brand of blues that, whenever he performs, packs the floor.
He has gone from the low down beer joints to become a staple on the international circuit, with wild stops along the way, from London’s Royal Albert Hall Igniter Series to Willie Nelson’s infamous 4th of July Picnic, where he appeared alongside Paula Nelson, Willie, Bob Dylan, and Leon Russell.
Touring the United States and Europe for over twenty years has given him the relaxed, confident and sometimes humorous quality of a seasoned performer. These attributes have won him stacks of enthusiastic praise from the press while landing his original tunes on numerous film and television soundtracks.
Lightnin’ Willie has the unique knack of bringing his audience into his ‘living room’ and making everyone comfortable while forgetting their problems for a couple of hours. At a recent show with legendary blues man Robert Cray they played to a packed house receiving a well deserved standing ovation. 2018 will find Willie on tour supporting his latest album No Black No White Just Blues.
Willie is backed by his superb band, The Poorboys – Giles King on harmonica, bassist Aaron McRobbie and drummer Paul ‘Nobby’ Birch. Support for the evening comes from Gordon Wood.
ON SALE NOW Advance Tickets are £18.00 from usual outlets or book online (online booking fee applies) Tickets £20.00 on the door.
by Ian Diddamsimages by Ian Diddams, Shakespeare Live “Hamlet” is arguably Shakespeare’s most widely known play, with an estimated tens of thousands of performances each…
Mantonfest, the longstanding gem on Marlborough’s event calendar, finalised for another fantastic year last night, with metal-driven mayhem, as the sounds of AC/DC ripped across…
Whoa! What happened last night at the trusty Three Crowns?! What happened last night at the Three Crowns has clearly happened before, and happens most weekends; Devizes folk old and particularly the young come to party….
I’m aware of that much. But if the quality of the party rests in the hands of whoever is at the control tower, I’d not witnessed The Hot Juice Project boiling over the sides of this saucepan before.
All I know is one half of this duo, with the capability of sounding like they’ve doubled-up and are an exceptionally loud four-piece band, Jake Lockhart, as an acoustic singer and a short-lived frontman of local mod covers band, The Roughcut Rebels. In the few occasions I’ve met him, he usually comes across charming but mild-mannered, even slightly diffident.
The last time I met him was at the private invite opening of The Birdhouse in Trowvegas. He was entertaining acoustically solo, but being the nature of the event was to show off this fabulous new venue, participants were engrossed in conversation, rather than taking much notice of Jake. It was here we had a quick chat, as he shyly told me of The Hot Juice Project he’d created; a duo where he has creative freedom to replicate covers using loop pedals and other techy tricks.
I made a promise to him to check this out, next time he was doing it locally. So, despite my pilgrimage to the Southgate for Talk in Code, I decided to ensure I allot enough time to attend this too; glad I did, as The Three Crowns was having it.
They’d arrived via a multi-act all dayer gig in the Sham, reportedly under-attended due to insufficient advertising. Equally it can often be a slow start here, where the trend for the younger regulars, governed by economics, is to attend the local Spoons, then descend on the Three Crowns like an exodus, once they’ve acquired sufficient intoxication levels. But hey, despite a humble gathering, The Hot Juice Project were loud and proud, knocking out contemporary indie, punky covers with all the desirable force and quality of a full band.
I returned from the Gate suspecting this wonderful pub and the only one of its kind in town would be considerably fuller. I wasn’t mistaken. It was positively booming there, as The Hot Juice Project were in full flight, and their element. Knocking out beloved covers with such gusto, I was surprised to note Jake and his drummer and second vocalist Jack’s insane diversity and ability to absolutely and wholeheartedly rock out!
If, despite his earned accomplishments as a skilled singer and guitarist, Jake has been wrongly typecast in genre and style, possibly in order to cut his teeth on the local circuit, here, where singalong hard rock covers are worshipped, he shines like a beacon in an otherwise blackened seascape.
The Hot Juice Project selected a repertoire likely to be rejected from the average covers duo, for being too technical, or too hard sounding; such as their grunge finale smelling of Nirvana’s Teen Spirit, and especially those involving raps, such as The Chilli Peppers. But this duo deliver them with fired frenzy, and adroit precision.
It was indeed a sight to see, and for me, a pleasant surprise. I usually take grunge and modern harder-edged rock with a pinch, but the crowd was lapping it up. And it would be impossible for me to deny, if live music was a parcel delivery, The Hot Juice Project is not the courier to dump it in your blue wheelie bin and piss off! They’re the supermarket delivery boy eager for appraisal, who stands and waits until you’ve checked everything off and are satisfied. Perhaps even going overboard and offering to stack it in your fridge for you!
The result is a content crowd at the Three Crowns, and another success for the pub who knows exactly what buttons to press.
I must say, a few seconds delay with wandering between pubs could’ve hindered my ability to scribe both reviews for them. Two teenagers on a moped revved their hairdryer up the curb of the High Street and rallied full force through the dark walkway between the old Wilkos and redundant Four Seasons pub, only to alert two Devizes bobbies, moments before I would’ve walked through it!
Bored kids showing off I figured, ambiguously excused for their irresponsible and dangerous act, because there’s “nothing to do” in Devizes.
Whereas whatever opinion the curtain-twitchers might make of youngsters drinking in a pub, the Three Crowns strictly age check and take safeguarding as paramount. At least they are contained there, and enjoying themselves. And when they are entertained they are not impelled to cause trouble or act in such a manner.
There’s never trouble at the Three Crowns. Townsfolk of all ages respect what the team has supplied far too much, and this reflects into a positive atmosphere with every attendance made. I tell landlord Simon, “they’re actually far better behaved than my generation ever was!” Fact!
It is a testament to what can be achieved in an era of financial doubt and questionable management affecting the hospitality industry, and, as it continues to source high quality entertainment, the cover bands are welcomed by the masses. Many come and rock it, the Hot Juice Project made its mark last night to a colossal applause. The town should be proud of what a welcoming and universal establishment and a vital palace for letting your hair down the Three Crowns remains to be.
Part environmental lecture, part live performance, and part immersive sonic journey, The Grass & Time Soundscape Lecture offers a unique way to celebrate National Meadows…
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Featured Image: Gail Foster. Features extracts from reviews by Andy Fawthrop, Ian Diddams and Madelaine Blake. Does it ever stop?! The weekend is upon us…
I’ve got this Jetpack app on my phone which allows me to make adjustments to the site. There’s a new feature on it notifying me of articles published on this day in previous years. It revealed that on this day last year I fondly reviewed Talk in Code’s single launch gig at The Vic in Swindon. Some things never change; last night I dropped into the Southgate where Talk in Code smashed it again…
Some stage banter included drummer Jambo claiming he had a “lot to do back here,” reminded me of the year they played the Fulltone Festival where he temporarily mislaid his drumsticks!
At the Vic Talk in Code play their homeground, whereas The Southgate is usually affiliated with blues or folk aficionados, and the Fulltone is an orchestral event. Although these three gigs vastly contrast, Talk in Code look equally comfy at either. If they were a creature from the Harry Potter universe they’d surely be the Occamy, a serpentine with choranaptyxic wings, allowing it the magical ability to grow or shrink to fit the exact size of the space it is in.
Just how the Occamy doesn’t change appearance, only size, neither does Talk in Code change their strictly original set, only to fit, yet still manage to thrill any crowd no matter the diversity of their bookings.
The essence of pop is imitable and “catchy,” not to be niche, or these days of sampling, even wholly original. A factor of non-commerciality is to be a cult. Talk in Code balances this with a popular fanbase, “the Talkers” and this unique yet universal synth indie style which, with multi-era influences any age can reflect off, appeals to a wide range. That’s the secret of Talk in Code and it never fails to entertain.
If Talk in Code time travelled back to the eighties, there’s little doubt in my mind they’d be a classic band akin to Duran Duran, Level 42 or perhaps Ah-Ha, and they’d be playing a stadium by now. Such is detrimental changes to the music industry they thrive locally, only sporadically reaching further afield. Amidst their fanbase they are that accomplished, and deserved, as they chant their songs back to them as if they really were pop stars. For in which case quantumly, they are.
Goody bags and Lego sets of the band among their merch suggest prime and strategic marketing, still you’ve got to be in the club to know it’s true; Talk in Code will thrill not just you, but your whole family young and old. I looked around at the people dancing at The Gate, as I often do to settle my appraisal as more than personal opinion, and it proves it, each and every time. And that’s why, yeah, I bash on about Talk in Code a lot, but maybe not too much!
I’ve actually a mission at the popular Three Crowns to highlight an act we’ve not mentioned before; the next review I’ll work on. But I could never allow myself to miss a Talk in Code gig at my local. Live music at The Southgate has been such a staple for so long now, it risks folk taking it for granted, but nights like this prove it still has what it takes to be that squeeze box of quality, especially in hosting original acts like Talk in Code.
The guys took a first half of their earlier and more obscure tunes, still rocking the Gate, and a second half whereby they celebrate this continued dedication to creating danceable indie-pop anthems. Safe in knowledge The Southgate was appeased, and I was so familiar the guys would carry out orders uncompromisingly, I headed off early to see what was occurring at The Three Crowns. Had I not been on a promise, I’d have stayed with Talk in Code, because pop demands an affliction for the familiar, at least it does when it’s as perfected as Talk in Code.
As for the Southgate, worthy gigs abound there every weekend. Keep in the loop via our event calendar, and pop down there. I endeavour to list them as they come in, though Facebook shares of their chalkboard can be more sporadic these days, and I forget to take a snap of it when I’m there!!
Get ready for an unforgettable family day out as Circus Cortex BizZzar brings its award-winning Big Top spectacular to Devizes from 9–12 July 2026….. Performing…
CrownFest at The Crown in Bishops Cannings is making a fantastic comeback this July with a stellar lineup, particularly supporting local acts, begging the question,…
Summer Solstice in Wiltshire; it’s a crowd-puller, but even forty years after the Battle of the Beanfield and decades of attempted commercialisation, it remains a…
Swindonite and founder member of XTC Colin Moulding released a new single last week, Want It Bad (The Pep Talks and Playing Fields of Old England). It’s previewing a three-track CD single being released via Burning Shed. This is Moulding’s second single in five years, following 2021’s The Hardest Battle, but is it simply a smooth, rose-tinted specs wishful motivation, or is Colin really making plans for Nigel?!
In this single, Moulding continues to explore the distinctly English pop sensibility trademark of XTC, through qualities of melody, rhythm, variety, idiosyncratic subject matter and a bucketload of nostalgia. It began as a song of sport and camaraderie, but soon took on a broader meaning. Colin explained, “although this song started life as a sporting pep talk, it was clear that it could easily be thought of as a mantra for one’s own life ambitions whatever they may be. If you want something in this life you have to really want it. And if you really want it, you’ll get it; that was my mantra.”
And, like Paul McCartney’s Wings, it is a lovely song of motivation from a mature, experienced professional, seemingly themed ambiguously, with meaning that could be interpreted by the listener. It’s the accompanying video which unfortunately feels like a cringeworthy political allegory, and this causes any imagination the listener might have conjured, to collapse within itself.
Colin was born in Swindon in 1955 to a GWR worker and a laundrette wife and lived in Penhill. They were in every essence working class. Through jam sessions he met Andy Partridge around about 1972, introduced him to Terry Chambers and they formed the band Helium Kidz, which changed name to XTC. Through their angular guitar riffs considered pop in an era of punk and new wave, and an abrupt ending due to contractual disagreements with Virgin, they achieved only sporadic commercial success, but attracted a considerable cult following.
There’s therefore every reason for Colin to write a song about wanting it bad. But what is it he wants so bad? The video begins with Great British sporting achievements and more randomly, the Moon landing. Yet it wanders off onto some kind of patriotic kickback to an England of yore, with Colin handshaking a wealthy dummy, driving through the fields in a psychedelic dressed Morris Minor, is adorned with images of Lord Kitchener and spitfires, housewives marching village streets wearing gasmasks, and toy soldiers on a bandstand. The irony is, the video might feel like an Orphism collage influenced by Aardman’s Sledgehammer, but appears to be prompted rather than created by Thomas Walsh, who is renowned for using AI slop. This is suspiciously AI, and I cannot abide by that.
I’ve no issue with patriotism, and rose tinted spec nostalgia, provided it’s divisive and supports equality, and the content here, while glorifying war, isn’t suggesting anything more. Except, similar cringeworthy AI creations are predominately used for far-right propaganda, causing the video to feel uneasily related to such politically motivated imagery; which is a shame. Particularly due to XTC’s most known hit “Making Plans for Nigel,” recently being used, for and against, the rise of Reform and fascism in England.
You can want something bad, you could strive to reach that goal, but, I quiver, as a professional musician, should you sacrilegiously destroy any further creativity with AI? And if you do, how in the good name of England’s green and pleasant land is that nostalgic in any shape or form?!
Nice song, shame about the video! Want It Bad is available on CD from the 18th September, exclusively via Burning Shed.
A Little Bit Of French Polish Andy Fawthrop As the Devizes Arts Festival rolls majestically towards its final weekend, there’s no chance that the bus is anywhere near running out of fuel. There was plenty of gas left in the tank last night to bring us into the streets of Paris to hear…. but what’s…
Two years ago we fondly reviewed I’m Ready Now, a debut EP from Bath’s Poppy Rose. I praised her unique take, her thoughtful prose and intelligent metaphors, but it was a collection of songs each with separate thoughts. Poppy’s new EP, Let’s Go Swimming is on another level, has a singular theme throughout, and a…
by Ian Diddams images by Ian Diddams & Devizes Arts Festival Harry Baker is a former world champion poetry slammer and German speaker with a mathematics degree. Whether the three are related is open to conjecture but all three feature in one way or another in his work. At the age of twenty he won…
Despite intentionally making his tricks go wrong, Tommy Cooper was actually a skilled magician and member of The Magic Circle. SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg was a marine biologist, and Benny Hill really was a milkman. In order to deride an art effectively you must first master it. It therefore stands to reason Matthew C. Whitaker, frontman of the cosplay prog-rave outfit HENGE, also has some highly acclaimed solo material….
Matthew takes his February album Songs for the Weary on the road solo this October, opening in Belgium and the Netherlands before touring across the UK, including Frome’s Cheese & Grain’s sister venue The Tree House on Wednesday 21st October.
The one and only time I’ve seen Henge was at the Cheese, making haste for the county border after fondly reviewing their album Journey to Voltus B last year, and it was a gig I’d need to be abducted and lobotomised to forget. Matthew’s solo material can be equally as cosmic, as it drifts through gentle pieces for classical guitar, lush string arrangements, and subtle electronics, but it also contrasts vastly, and is a particularly mellower experience than Henge.
There’s cool jazz sax, whistles, fingerpicked guitar and delicate yet quirky observations in these hushed and patient patterns, taking you along with it as it drifts through space. Songs for the Weary has found a home on BBC Radio 6 Music, with singles Lucid Dreamer and Chestnut Tree championed by Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie, Craig Charles, and Deb Grant.
The run follows a widely praised set of UK and European dates earlier this year, when Whitaker was joined on stage by the album’s producer and multi-instrumentalist Alan Keary. This time, he takes to the stage completely solo.
Manchester-based musician and composer Matthew sings about losing a train of thought, which is apt, it twinkles through you like Bowie at his most exquisite or Paul’s later work with The Beatles, backed by Peter, Paul and Mary, for an episode of Button Moon.
And before you say it, milkman is an art; it can take years to master the three-bottle-grip whilst being chased by an enraged Yorkshire terrier up a garden path.
by Mick Brian images by Nic Proud and Wharf Theatre Giovanni Boccaccio in the 1330s wrote a poem, “Teseida”, principally about two knights, Arcite and…
Holidaymakers from across Swindon & Wiltshire are being invited to attend one of the region’s newest travel events this summer as Swindon Travel Hub hosts…
by Ian Diddams images courtesy of Devizes Arts Festival, Ian Diddams and Graham Lloyd When one considers cricketing controversies, one maybe thinks of World Series…
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire, you’re most likely familiar with, unless you joined Devizine family reader’s circle today, has a new song on YouTube, one she’s been playing at recent gigs. Here the track has a subtle piano added, and those wonderful brush drum strokes texturing it with that smooth jazzy ambience, yet with poignant narrative too. Give God is Offline a quick whirl, and bless your ears…
Ruby mentioned working on this song when we talked in May. “It was inspired by our recent trip to Egypt,” Ruby explained, “where we narrowly escaped Dubai’s missile attack by a few hours. When we got to our apartment, we could see down on the street. There were loads of prayer mats, because the mosque was so filled, people had to spill out onto the road. And so that inspired it.”
Its deeper meaning, I presumed, was not to seek faith online, but to look either spiritually or in the real world. Ruby elucidated, “more just the fact that everyone is the same, whether they believe in a different God or they are from a different part of the world, they’re all the same. We’re all just trying to live our lives..”
My Show Of The Festival Andy Fawthrop Another headliner from the Devizes Arts Festival hit town last night…. Robert Vincent came to the Corn Exchange,…
A talented local performer from Devizes is set to share the stage with international star Jason Donovan this summer as part of Fulltone Festival ’26. …. Grace Sheridan,…
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Pleasantly surprised in July when an awesome new single from Devizes’ rootsy Americana with a gothic twist collective, Burn the Midnight Oil revealed a more carefree and commercially viable style to their previously darker themed and rawer material. It was enough for James Threlfall to pick it up for BBC Introducing. With a new single out on Friday 28th August called Blood, Sweat & Tears you might be fooled into assuming by the title they’ve turned back to the sombre moods of before. Think again…..
Though frontgirl Chrissy might’ve elucidated, least hinted something darker might be in the pipeline, for now Blood, Sweat & Tears follows neatly on from Slow Burn with an incredible upbeat driving vibe, verging on Shania Twain sassy, yet retaining the cool rock riff of Fleetwood Mac. It’s immediately compulsive, with a danceable and anthemic combo. I find myself contemplating if it’s better than Slow Burn, or not, but with a hook razor-sharpened, it’s undoubtedly on par, and proves it wasn’t pot luck in July.
With this divine product of Potterne’s Badger Set blessing my ears I also find myself reflecting back to an interview we did with the band last November. Guitarist John Lane spoke of achieving such a hook as these last two singles, and expressed the importance of the sound. “First thing people take in is rhythm,” he suggested, “then melody, last of all, lyrics. So if you hook the first bit, you don’t get the second one, then they come back for the lyrics.”
In this I sensed a healthy division between John and Chrissy’s perspectives. Knowing how much thought and creativity Chrissy loads into her writing, drawing inspiration from personal and often emotional experiences, and exporting them into relatable and poignant lyrics, there was a non-confrontational difference. I supposed of this stalemate at the time, “a good blend of opinion is surely necessary to compose the elements of a song professionally.” And that is precisely what they put in, making this song work; the dynamics of pop, a conscious composition where both arguments meet in harmony.
Chrissy taglines the song thus; “some dreams begin as little more than a whisper, an idea that refuses to let go, a vision that quietly demands more of you until ignoring it is no longer an option.” Ah, yes, I can reflect the notion; any inventive mind will tell, that’s the creative juices flowing and the desire to express them. Blood, Sweat & Tears concerns itself with the acceptance of that call, and the feeling of unlocking your potential. As Chrissy says, “breaking through self-imposed limitations and pursuing a future worth fighting for.”
An expressive tenet full of contemplation and self-analysis, it remains positively angled, like Jimmy Cliff on his hard road to travel, but with steadfast faith he can’t turn back because his mind is set. Chrissy views her theme similarly, as a meaningful journey of courage and determination against odds stacked not in your favour. Such concepts are not so uncommon in music, and an acoustic singer-songwriter will expose similar thoughts abound. But here, with Burn the Midnight Oil the prose is perfectly packaged by the sound of her exceptionally accomplished and unified band, complementing her natural vocal balance, and that harmoniousness is what makes Blood Sweat & Tears so complete and engaging.
Here’s their LinkTree, new single is out next Friday 28th August 2026, but you can pre-save it and listen to the last one. I suggest you do. Perks of the job; this one is stuck in my head already!
Pride month finds me wondering if Pride events are actually needed more in our smaller market towns where awareness and acceptance is perhaps lesser than…
Wiltshire Music Centre is launching the Make Music This Summer programme, a vibrant 19-day programme of musical activities for children, young people and families….. Designed…
Images by Jess Worrow A busy late spring weekend across the county, with major events from Bradford-on-Avon to Swindon, but I’m bringing quality acts I…
Tickets are now on sale for Frome Festival’s silver anniversary year, taking place between the 3rd – 12th July, 2026. Three hundred events are scheduled…
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Yes, we’ve got to praise Trowbridge’s Old Town Hall like we should, because Fatboy Slim is going to be right there, but not right now; the 5th November… bugger, it’s a Thursday!
Ian Sawyer wins the Facebook comment section on this post with “That’s my knees buggered for November then!” Which couldn’t reflect on my own predicament more perfectly.
It’s been decades since my mates and I followed Norm like little lost sheep, yelling “Brimful of Asha on the 45” across Brighton to Glastonbury. But it was an era when I was more able-bodied. Then again, if the Fatboy is still tripping, then why confine myself to my nursing home so soon?!
A great booking, Old Town Hall, whose manager whispered he had a secret when I rapped with him at next door’s opening night at The Birdhouse. I didn’t guess it’d be this groundbreaking DJ. Large it!
Surprised your mobile didn’t sound the apocalyptic alarm to notify you about Wessex Water’s hosepipe ban?! Then, you’re a gullible idiot!
But being 22,239 voters in one seaside town opted, again, for a fascist criminal ringmaster to lead them, and, similarly as stupid, a man named Bruce shoved nine Creme Eggs up his rectum, perhaps we’ve entered the satirical realm of Mike Judge and Ethan Cohen’s Idiocracy, and, therefore the alarm last week was necessary, even if you jumped so much you knocked over your barbecue.
Let’s clear this up before we rap hosepipes. If you’re subject to domestic violence and own a secret phone, yes, you should switch the alerts off on it. Otherwise you should realise any Conservatives or other climate change denying opposition party members taking to their social media encouraging us to switch the alarm off, on a system they themselves installed, are not doing it for your safety or peace of mind, rather an irresponsible and dangerous attempt to slander the current government.
It was not as the dirty Rees-Dogg yarned uninvited on my Faceache newsfeed; Burnham unnecessarily alerting us that it’s summer. While the usage of the emergency alert could be debated, wildfires are spreading on an unprecedented scale across the UK, due to the now undeniable climate change that the previous governments did absolutely zilch to address, therefore, triggered at the request of overloaded fire and rescue officers, the emergency alert was justified. Unless you, your family and friends wish to burn in hellfire whilst erecting flags on lamposts and painting rural roundabouts, apply some common sense and avoid using disposable barbecues for the time being; big ask!!
Equally, a hosepipe ban is unfortunately understandable if we are to reserve the little water we retain in reservoirs. Though this announcement is far more easily attacked, being Wessex Water has faced intense public and regulatory backlash over widespread raw sewage discharges, environmental damage, large shareholder payouts, and rising executive pay amid mounting network failures, it should be the privatisation of public services under question, rather than if you should, or shouldn’t, water your rhododendrons or wash birdshit off your Tesla.
It’s hard to take orders from a company Ofwat finalised an £11 million enforcement package against, requiring Wessex Water shareholders to fund local environmental and infrastructure upgrades after the company failed to properly maintain and upgrade its wastewater network. Even worse when the company was criminally convicted and fined £500,000 following a prolonged sewage pumping station failure at Bowerhill Lodge near Melksham, which discharged untreated waste into Clackers Brook and killed over 2,100 fish.
Or, hey there was that time when a backed-up sewer spilled into a River Yeo tributary in Somerset, resulting in a £300,000 payout by the company toward local river and habitat restoration trusts. But who are we to judge their Chief Executive Ruth Jefferson, after she received her pay rise, taking her total package to roughly £791,000?!
Even if the company itself acknowledged it risked breaching sector-wide environmental bonus restrictions on this pay rise, because they clearly cannot be trusted any further than be thrown, the responsibility remains on us, the public, to not only save water during a drought, but vote for a party with core environmental concerns and pledging to renationalise our public services.
And I say this not because of political sway, but that I consider the extinction of all life on Earth a pretty fundamental concern and “big deal.”
I therefore condemn irresponsible reporting on all environmental issues; that’s relevant, isn’t it? Rather you support your chosen party who backs companies where the utility recorded tens of thousands of sewage spills spanning hundreds of thousands of hours across the south-west of England, if you want to. Free country last time I checked, but tomfoolery on this to sway popular opinion is criminal against no one but ourselves and our future generations, of which we hand them the world in a state similar to what Wayne and Waynetta Slob might leave their council flat.
Therefore I call out reporters like Neil Shaw of Wiltshire’s gutter press Wiltshire Live, for publishing a story about a consumer expert pointing out “a little-known fact about hosepipe bans – claiming not one person has ever been prosecuted for ignoring the orders.”
How insanely irresponsible, despite evidence, it is to encourage rebellious acts against protecting our water supply, for clickbait. For if you continue to ignore the warning, it is akin to acknowledging an absence of police and speed cameras implies you can accelerate to your heart’s desire, only to rundown a child.
Oh, quick, BBC Wiltshire, the Crammer in Devizes has dried up, what should we do?
Send down a reporter who looks like Borat to interview a Conservative town councillor about the Moonrakers folklore!
This is not a novel by Frank Herbert, yet, but, like Lemmings, we strive on with the madness, councillor Maria Hoult for Devizes South complaining that the “Town Council are no longer permitted to water the floral displays and trees.” And good folk perhaps need an emergency alert as they gather online to rage at Wessex Water, throbbing the very backbone out of the water guzzling data centres spreading their message. When the real message should surely be, just because our water companies, politicians and media can’t act responsibly it doesn’t mean you have to follow their example.
The hosepipe ban comes into place on Tuesday the 18th August and lasts forty days, coincidentally the same time period Jesus fasted in the desert with the devil on his back, before they nailed him to a cross, for asking people to be nice to each other. Obviously they didn’t have Facebook back then; is this going to happen every fifty years? It’s an attack on my civil liberties!!
devizine.com 