Highlight: Twisted Ankle – ‘Cilla Black’

A whole lot of unpredictable noise and abstract nonsense, ‘Cilla Black’ is the latest track and debut video from Twisted Ankle, following their initial demo last year. As unexplainable as the music, the black and white clip just features a fan – not the sort you’d normally associate with music – and the seemingly random phrase ‘Eat A Phone’, which has been revealed as the title of their forthcoming EP.

Highlight: Trampolene – ‘Tom Hardy’

So if even half the things that Trampolene believe to be true about Tom Hardy are, then I can’t blame them for wanting to be him; though if I were them I’d be pretty fucking happy with that anyway. Driving round with walkie talkies to coordinate their tour convoy, you can see from the video just how enthusiastic this band are about each other, music and life in general. ‘Tom Hardy’ (the song now, not the actor) will be on their forthcoming EP, out 12th August. On a slightly unrelated note, if you want to know more behind-the-scenes from Trampolene’s (or at least singer Jack Jones’) life, check the band’s twitter for his ‘bedtime diaries’, a beautifully-penned series of thoughts and reflections on the world.

15 Essential Welsh Songs From 2016 So Far

Another list of songs by artists from my adopted homeland, that all emerged online over the first half of this year and which you’re gravely missing out if you don’t listen to straight away. Seriously, this country doesn’t cease to amaze me with the volume of quality music it produces.

Beach Fatigue – ‘To Die For’
Riot grrrl surf rock from their self-titled debut album on Kool Girl Records

Blood Lips – ‘Burn After Breeding’
Eerie noise rock from a double A side single with ‘Spiders’; new EP hopefully coming soon

Bryde – ‘Help Yourself’
Powerfully emotive indie folk, from ‘EP1’

DISJOY – ‘Pressure’
Dizzyingly dark punk, from ‘Demo’

Estrons – ‘Drop’
High-octane indie rock, recently played on daytime radio one

Esuna – ‘Paramount’
Expansive yet intense mathiness from the EP ‘Epilogue To Departure’

FALLS – ‘Get Well Soon’
Danceable noise punk from the EP ‘One Hundred Percent Strong’ on Venn Records

Florence Black – ‘Honey Your Away’
Heavy blues rock from the EP ‘Florence Black’

Helen Love – ‘A Boy From Wales Called Gareth Bale’
Candy coated kaleidoscope punk, probably the only football song I’ll ever like

HODAD – ‘Leather’
Erratic jangly noise, featuring former members of WªLL

Lovers Open Fire – ‘Circa’
Psych-y dark rock from a band that I can find no news about, other than a few gigs in North Wales

Masts – ‘Don’t Go Off’
Complex emo punk, from their debut album ‘Adversaries’ on Jealous Lovers Club

Stay Voiceless – ‘Those Kids Have No Idea Whatsoever Of What Went On At Stalingrad’
Earwormy alt-rock – in the old school sense. But if they ever release another single with a title that long, I’m not covering it ;p

Tom Jenkins – ‘Still Alive’
Soaring, soulful folk rock from his debut EP ‘Screamdogs’

Totem Terrors – ‘No Homes’
Defiantly blunt post punk from the EP ‘Freeze Tracks’

Highlight: Tibet – ‘I’ll Put You In My Pocket’

After putting out their first physical release ‘Above The Moon’ a couple months ago, Tibet have just shared the video for ‘I’ll Put You In My Pocket’, the lead single from that double EP. Showing the band messing about in the woods surrounded by wild garlic flowers, the clip naturally captures their playful spirit interlaced with more introspective moments. The trippy aesthetic of images layered over each other, often in excessively bright colours adds to the loosely psychedelic vibe of this song. The band are currently roaming around the UK playing pretty much every festival going, and are also opening for Kaiser Chiefs at the inaugural On The Pitch in Cardiff’s SSE Swalec stadium this very afternoon!

Highlight: Florence Black – ‘Fiesta’

For their first ever music video, Florence Black simply took all their gear up a mountain, set up and proceeded to play with some spectacular Welsh scenery as a backdrop… not even letting nightfall stop them! It’s awesome how well the stunning setting suits their bluesy hard rock sound, and you can just imagine the sheep in the next field rocking out to it… The video is for ‘Fiesta’, a song taken from their self-titled EP, available on itunes now; and the band’s next Cardiff show is the Friday of Red Sun festival, which takes place in various venues on Womanby Street across the last weekend of July.

Highlight: Joanna Gruesome – ‘Pretty Fucking Sick (Of It All)’

Being their first output since last year’s second album, Joanna Gruesome‘s new single ‘Pretty Fucking Sick (Of It All)’ is the debut release featuring their current line up. Made up of leftover cuts from ‘Peanut Butter”s sessions reworked to fit the new vocalists, these songs continue in the same vein of bittersweet dream-punk this band have always been so damn good at. There’s also a video for the A-side, with both tracks available digitally now and a physical 7″ coming soon via Fortuna POP!.

Highlight: Deadlines – ‘Sprawl’

Tonight is the last night of Deadlines‘ mini-tour to celebrate the release of their new EP, and in the most pure spirit of DIY, it takes the form of a house show in the band’s hometown of Cardiff. This choice of setting makes perfect sense when you listen to ‘Sprawl’, as these are intelligent, socially and environmentally conscious songs which capture the ethos of punk without resorting to stereotypes. Taut vocals dominate much of the band’s sound, as is necessary to accentuate the purposeful lyrics; but around this is complex music that enhances and captivates without detracting attention. The final track brings the pace down without losing any intensity, letting the instrumentation shine beneath more of the spoken samples that occur throughout this record. With melodic punk being fairly common in alternative music at the moment it’s easy to be derivative, but ‘Sprawl’ stands out not just for being smart and perceptive, but for sounding far from straightforward too. The EP is out now via A Jingle Four Records, and can be downloaded from bandcamp or bought on cassette from the label.

Highlight: Deadlines – ‘Fermi’

So throwing litter around your own living room might seem a bit of a strange activity, but in their new video Deadlines do just that to emphasise the point they’re making in ‘Fermi’ about the often-ignored effects of the throwaway culture inherent to consumerism. Socially aware music is in far too short supply compared to the problems our society has, and with its rasping vocals backed by tuneful indie-punk, songs like this make insight far more attainable to those open to it. What too many people don’t realise and this band assert is, punk isn’t dead, it’s just no longer about three chords and slagging off royalty. ‘Fermi’ is the lead single from forthcoming EP Sprawl, which will be out 6th July via A Jingle Four Records. They’re celebrating the release with a mini-tour that weekend, accompanied by Jaded and including a Cardiff house show on the Saturday (9th).

Highlight: Helen Love – ‘A Boy From Wales Called Gareth Bale’

So I’ve written previously about a couple of the other Wales Euro2016 songs, but they felt kinda like what was expected to exist, the ‘official anthem’ and its ‘unofficial alternative’. Helen Love‘s contribution to the pack is something else entirely – an impulsive, joyous ode to the team’s brightest hope, with a horrendously simple chorus that even football fans can’t forget and an earworm of a melody that ensures no one else will either. ‘A Boy From Wales Called Gareth Bale’ was written with chantability at its core and so much genuine excitement that even the most cynical (i.e. me) can’t escape getting caught up in it, and after last night’s performance this song would appear to be a self-fulfilling prophecy too. The single is out now via Alcopop! Records; with a cover designed by Panini Cheapskates, who are hand-drawing all 800 Panini stickers in 30 days for charity – you can find out more about that here.

Highlight: Human Heat – ‘Demo’

Human Heat are a new project from members of esteemed Cardiff bands Masts and Deadlines. More melodic than anyone familiar with either of those would probably expect; that’s not to say these are to any extent pop songs. Introduced by a reference from an 80’s sci-fi/horror movie, strewn with odd rhythms and unexpected twists, this demo balances its indie tendencies with strange deviations and an inevitable underlying punk bite. It’s gonna take quite a few listens to hear everything that’s going on here, and that’s not a bad thing. Oh, and it’s free (unless you’re feeling generous) from their bandcamp.