This time around at the Singles Bar, we bring you a couple of familiar names, but a whole world of brand new sounds from artists making their first appearance here, and in the case of a punk act, a plug for their very first studio recording! Among the eight picks, you’ll find an inspired cover tune, some great indie pop with a rootsier edge, and even an up and coming Irish act who appear to be in a bad mood… As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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Husband and wife duo Brand New Heartache deliver smart indie pop sounds fused with an Americana tinge on their current single ‘New Alchemy’. Once you’re struck by the uptempo nature of the arrangement here, it’s easy to turn your attention to some very smart harmonies which jostle against the rather busy music, and yet retain the kind of smoothness you’d more likely associate with an Americana recording. Eleese and Matthew Meschery’s tones work together brilliantly. Eleese’s higher register immediately catches the ear, but the track is mixed in such a way that Matthew’s almost smokier style is never lost in the mix, no matter how busy the tune gets. Throw in a bright sounding piano with a slight 80s feel and the kind of driving melodies that sat at the heart of some the greatest pop rock tracks of the mid to late 80s, and you’ve got yourself a winning formula.
Hot on the heels of their previous single ‘We’re The Freaks’, Dany Laj and The Looks have returned with ‘Tell It To You’, a track that taps a little further into the band’s retro charm. From the outset, the performance comes loaded with a 60s inspired rhythm topped by a surf-ish guitar, creating a summery mood. With Jeanette’s bass high in the mix, the spacious approach taken between guitar chords never feels too loose, and by the time the band hit a power pop infused chorus hook, more of the signature Looks sound pushes forth to share something with even more of a feel good vibe. As is often the case with this band’s work, some of the charm also comes from their no frills approach: ‘Tell It To You’ offsets the retro pop core with a strong garage rock aesthetic, giving the performance a live feel that appears a little more homespun than most, resulting in something fans will definitely enjoy. [A new album from Laj and The Looks will be released on September 18th.]
By choosing to open your studio recorded debut with a siren, a burst of feedback and two rounds of clattering guitar riffs that are ideally suited to the end of a track, you’ve automatically set your audience on edge. Having set up a really uneasy feeling, Mancunian/Dutch anarchopunks Bombstrap then push ‘The Green Dress’ forward with a superb sounding bass rattle akin to Chuck Dukowski’s work on Black Flag’s ‘Damaged’, before tackling some great D-beat influenced noise pulling from Discharge and Natterers, fused with the more accessible tones of X’s ‘Los Angeles’ LP. Accessible in this case is relative however, as this track is absolutely furious. A couple of rhythmic quirks keep everything interesting, but it’s almost impossible to tear your ears away from the howls of fury delivered by a vocal that comes absolutely without compromise. Labelled “caustic” and “explosive” by the band’s PR team, ‘The Green Dress’ is set to tear through the punk community without remorse.
It’s always a pleasure when Bad Mary release something new, but with ‘Mouth Fulla Fire’, the US punks have delivered one of their biggest sounding, most melodic tunes to date. From the moment a chunky bass introduces the track and a dirty rhythm guitar pushes everything forward, there’s already a feeling that the band are reaching for a more mature sound, but Amanda Mac’s vocals offer a definite familarity and really seal the deal by sharing a crying tone that brings even more of a melodic edge to the band’s alt rock/punk chops. It’s not all knockabout fun here, either, since the band makes time for an extended middle section which adds a fantastic twist via some bass led grooves, a couple of soaring guitars and quieter vocals. There’s a lot packed in to just under four minutes, but those already familiar with Bad Mary are pretty much guaranteed to love what they hear.
It’s hard not to hear the pulsing synths and incessant rhythms that drive ‘Nowhere Now’ by Mass Minor and not think of their sometime label-mates KMFDM. That said, a rising, 80s influenced synth brings something a touch more commercial here, and a quieter, more aloof vocal style during the verse gives Mass Minor a very different slant. These mechanical and cold factors would be powerful enough to sell this track even if very little else happened, but a shift into something slightly metallic, slightly more industrial brings a pleasing edge for a bigger chorus hook, while a soaring vocal clings effortlessly to something a little more melodic. With a familiar heart and a lot of energy, lovers of the spikier end of the electronica spectrum should find more than enough to enjoy within these four minutes.
Heavy acoustic strums and deep echoing sounds set an ominous mood in place during the intro of Chasing Abbey’s ‘Greedy Pigs’, which turns out to be a perfect first impression. From there, the Irish band don’t ever venture into a place that feels any more positive, instead filling the bulk of this current single with downbeat tones to compliment a lyric exploring corporate selfishness. Despite a dark tone, the strident folk rock melody is very strong throughout, perfect for a moody vocal, and by the time a few Gaelic phrases creep in alongside a very folky banjo accompaniment, the music blends the traditional and contemporary in an impressively flawless manner, showing how this band is capable of showing confidence without blatant showboating. Overall, this presents something sophisticated yet accessible, and although it doesn’t reach as deeply into a world of folk as their earlier ‘Saoirse Saoirse’, there’s more than enough to make this single hold up.
Earlier in 2026, instrumental trad/prog metal crew Angels On The Battlefield released a heavy but melodic reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom of The Opera’, and now they’ve returned with another reworked track. This time, the source comes from their own material, in the shape of their 2013 debut ‘On The Wings of Dragons’. The new recording is better at almost every turn: the drums punch through with a bigger intent, the main guitar riff feels a tough grubbier but without losing too much of its melody and the sharper edges of the rhythm definitely feel more direct. The biggest change here, though, is the addition of keys, filling the melody with a wall of sound that adds a symphonic element to the performance. This might be a turn off for those not into the sympho influenced bands, but rest assured, the lead guitar work and parts of the core melody still pull a huge amount of power from classic and proggy metal influences, so there’s still a huge punch. Bigger and more bombastic, ‘…Dragons’ now stands as a mature work, capable of really flying the flag for underground metal. If it attracts new ears, then this re-recording really has been a worthwhile exercise.
Last up, here’s an inspired cover. Singer songwriter Eddie Skuller has dug deeply into the Tom Waits catalogue and unearthed a track that’s only really known to the true fans. ‘You Can Never Hold Back Spring’ was recorded for the 2005 film ‘The Tiger and The Snow’ and released on Tom’s rarities and oddities anthology ‘Orphans’ the following year. Despite being a work from “later Tom”, it finds Waits in full crooning mode, a style which has been retained here by Skuller. In fact, very little has been done to change the original melody. It’s worthy of a listen, of course, purely for the fact that Eddie’s smoother vocal makes the track far more palatable to those who’ve never found a love for the Waits rasp, and the way he places a jazzier tone against a sparsely arranged upright bass forms the core of a great late night listen. His lighter tones also bring out a little more emotion from a lyric that’s full of gentle anguish, sitting perfectly against a few sparingly applied guitar strums that cling onto a Marc Ribot-esque tone.
July/August 2026