Between the doom metal riffs and darkwave synths, The White Swan gave the world two potential classics with their respective 2016 and 2017 EPs, ‘Anubis’ and ‘The White’. Lovers of heavy riffs were given plenty to mull over with the band’s self-penned material while the heaviest ever version of Wings’ ‘Jet’ proved the Ontario-based doomers also had a sense of fun. Their eagerly awaited 2018 release ‘Touch Taste Destroy’ doesn’t necessarily think much further outside of the box – but then, it doesn’t need to; The White Swan’s gift of riffs combined with an ultimate heaviness sees the three numbers off in particularly great style.
BRADDOCK STATION GARRISON – American Radio
Mixing 90s power pop with a touch of Americana and the kind of rock ‘n’ roll swagger you’d find from Boston’s Tom Baker & The Snakes, Braddock Station Garrison have a great crossover sound. Their fourth album, 2019’s ‘American Radio’ takes a well-established style, but thanks to some solid musicianship and a few fantastic chorus hooks, its ten songs sound anything but stale.
The Fall: Coloured vinyl reissues of Witch Trials & Dragnet coming in May; deluxe 3CD sets also being released
Over the years, the early part of The Fall’s wonderful and frightening back-catalogue has been reissued various times. In May 2019, Cherry Red Records will give the first two albums their best reissues to date.
The first two releases in Cherry Red’s “Fall Sound” reissue campaign, ‘Live At The Witch Trials’ and ‘Dragnet’ will be reissued on high quality vinyl. ‘Witch Trials’ will be available as a limited edition red vinyl, while ‘Dragnet’ will appear as a limited “splatter” vinyl and include a bonus replica 7″ single of ‘Rowche Rumble’.
Kristin Hersh & Fred Abong back in the UK for another run of live dates in March
Throughout the summer of 2018, Kristin Hersh toured extensively for her critically acclaimed album ‘Possible Dust Clouds’. A lengthy run of dates found Kristin and supporting artist Fred Abong visiting all corners of UK and playing at some very intimate venues.
Kristin and Fred are back for another tour beginning on March 8th. For those who missed the previous leg, the new dates involve similarly small venues, so if you’d like to see some great artists up close, the opportunity shouldn’t be missed a second time.
Fred also releases a new EP ‘Pulsing’ on March 8th.
THE RIVEN – The Riven
On their debut EP ‘Blackbird’, The Riven showed a lot of promise. With a fusion of hard rock and blues, the EP presented five songs with an old fashioned spirit and some great vocals, but was rather let down by its recording budget. Sadly, tunes that deserved a huge crunch were all too often left feeling a little muddy.
A lot happened over the next couple of years. The band relocated from London to Sweden, played live shows, gained a recording deal with The Sign Records [home to Wheel In The Sky, Highrider and Grande Royale] and then decamped to Spain to record a full length album.