DUCKING PUNCHES NEW VIDEO 'SMOKING SPOT' // FROM NEW ALBUM 'ALAMORT' OUT 16 FEBRUARY 2018 // PREORDER NOW

Ducking Punches have released their latest video for 'Smoking Spot', another new song taken from forthcoming album Alamort. The new album is out 16 February 2018. Preorder here.

'Smoking Spot' is a dizzying thrill-a-second rush of splintered guitars, cascading percussion and chest-pounding vocals. With a tangible yearning to break free rippling through the track, the song has its head and heart possessed with notions of escapism. As filmed at one of the band's own old haunts and headspace hideaways, the accompanying music video offers an intimate reflection of the song's lyrical themes. Watch 'Smoking Spot' below:

Opening up about the new single, plus the touching tribute to a close friend of the band's hidden within the video, Dan Allen of Ducking Punches said:

"This is a song about a private place I have with my buddies, where we've made some of the brightest memories. We'd often drive out there if someone was having a bad time and take in the expansive world around us, realising how small we all are, which in turn would alleviate the pain of our problems. It's humbling and grounding at the same time. We shot the video and let off a bunch of fireworks at one of these spaces. The fireworks that grace tons of our videos act as a tribute to my closest friend that we lost. Smoking spot is for friendship, for love and for those shared burdens on tired shoulders."
 
Around the release of the album, the band will also be playing a series of live dates including a launch party at London’s The Lexington (16 Feb) and an un-missable hometown show at The Arts Centre in Norwich (17 Feb). 

Catch Ducking Punches at the following dates:

FEBRUARY 2018
16 London @ The Lexington
17 Norwich @ The Arts Centre

APRIL 2018
27 Bolton @ The Alma
28 Shelby @ Pop Punk Pile UpFestival.
 
MAY 2018
05 D-Deutzen, Germany @ Rock am Kuhteich
25 Hamburg, Germany @ Gängeviertel festival
26 Braunschweig, Germany @ B58

JUNE 2018
16 Bavaria, Germany @ Indie Festival

JULY 2018
13-15 Tábor, Czech Republic @ Mighty Sounds

With more to be added.

Ducking Punches are: 
 
Dan Allen  // Pete Wright // Marcus Gooda // Ryan Hillier

facebook.com/duckingpunchesuk / Twitter: @duckingpunches / duckingpunches.bandcamp.com
 

DUCKING PUNCHES NEW ALBUM 'ALAMORT' OUT 16 FEBRUARY 2018 // LISTEN TO NEW SINGLE 'SOBRIETY' NOW // 2018 ALBUM RELEASE & LIVE DATES

East Anglian alt-rockers Ducking Punches release their fourth studio album Alamort on 16 February 2018. 

Preorder on CD, vinyl and download.

Fresh from its stripped down live version for the XMROB1 Truck session, the full-band studio version of 'Sobriety' is here for you to hear right now. 

Speaking about close-to-the-bone subject matter that inspired the track, Dan Allen said:

"Sobriety is a song that outlines a lot of my addictive personalities, something myself and a bunch of my friends have struggled with over the years."

With the album's title taken from an archaic term meaning 'half dead from exhaustion', Alamort offers a solemn pretext to the nerve-shattering lifestyle and backbreaking work ethic that formed the backdrop of this often brutally honest record. Allen said:

"Alamort seemed a fitting title for what myself and the band had been through recently. Some of these songs are frighteningly honest but it has been really therapeutic to write. Themes of the album range from crippling self-doubt to death, friendship, love, witch-hunters, addiction and hope."

Given the intense circumstances and frenzied emotions that occupied the writing process, it is perhaps unsurprising that the sound of this record finds the band meddling with musically darker arts. Casting off any former folk associations, on Alamort Ducking Punches veer wildly into post-punk and hardcore territories with a resultant sound more daredevil than anything that they've produced before.

Alamort was tracked and mixed at Crooked Rain Studio in Leeds by Bob Cooper (Nai Harvest / Citizen / The Orielles) and further mastered at Sonic Iguana Studio by punk-rock guru Mass Giorgini (Anti-Flag / Rise Against).

Tracklisting

1. With Unfounded Hope
2. Smoking Spot
3. Distant Shadows
4. Missing You Is Killing Me
5. The Club With No Name
6. Witches of Valais
7. Sobriety
8. Face the Faxe
9. I Ruin Everything
10. I Was Uncomfortable

Around the release of the album, the band will also be playing a series of live dates including a launch party at London's Lexington on 16 February and an unmissable hometown show at The Arts Centre in Norwich on 17 February.

Catch Ducking Punches at the following dates in 2018 with plenty more to come. Keep checking our Gigs page:

FEBRUARY

16 London @ The Lexington
17 Norwich @ The Arts Centre

APRIL

27 Bolton @ The Alma
28 Shelby @ Pop Punk Pile-Up Festival

MAY

05 Bergisch, Germany @ Rock am Kuhteich
25 Hamburg, Germany @ Gängeviertel Festival
26 Braunschweig @ B58

JUNE

16 Bavaria, Germany @ Indie Festival

JULY
13–15 Tábor, Czech Republic @ Mighty Sounds

facebook.com/duckingpunchesuk / Twitter: @duckingpunches

THE RPMS RETURN WITH NEW SINGLE 'YOUR GHOST' OUT NOW // EXPANDED LINEUP - BIGGER SOUND // UK 2017 TOUR DATES

Straight off the back of a string of summer gigs and festivals up and down the country, The RPMs are back and all revved up with a bigger sound on latest single 'Your Ghost'. It's an upbeat keyboard-driven number fusing widescreen melancholia against a classic backdrop of modern indie pop. Buy the single here.

The RPMs released their second EP Agents Of Change in June 2017 through Xtra Mile Recordings. The release revealed a band getting to grips with coming of age in an increasingly volatile world with the band offering their take on the hold of social media upon modern life.

Fuelled by the support they have received from national radio on singles from the EP 'Oh My God' and 'Things I Forgot To Do’, the band is continuing to evolve their sound. They have always been about writing very hooky pop songs wrapped up in an indie package, but they are more and more about making you dance too. They've never been afraid to embrace pop music. They wanted to create a sound that was the sum of all their influences, old and contemporary, mixing electronic music with live instruments. With that they decided to bring keyboards and lead guitar in to liberate the songwriting as well as Gethin Pearson (Mallory Knox / Charli XCX / JAWS), a talented and creative producer from Wales, onboard to open up new possibilities with the aim to create something with a polished production and huge melodies and choruses.

With a fresh single out the band are gearing up to hit the road running with new tour dates, so keep your eyes and ears peeled as the band road test new material at a venue near you…

Catch them live at the following dates (or look at our Gigs page):

NOVEMBER 2017
25 Leeds @ Kazoopa Festival
30 London @ Sebright Arms - Abbie McCarthy's Good Karma Club

DECEMBER 2017
01 Manchester @ The Castle Hotel
02 Birmingham @ Sunflower Lounge
03 Glasgow @ Garage (Attic Bar)
07 Brighton @ The Hope and Ruin
09 Southampton @ Heartbreakers
10 Guildford @ The Boileroom

The RPMs are:
Jack Valero - guitar, vocals
Miguel Cosme - bass guitar, vocals
Callum James - drums, vocals
Ollie Summers - lead guitar
Chris Bowden -  keyboards  
 
facebook.com/TheRPMsOfficial / Twitter: @The_RPMs / www.the-rpms.co.uk
 

BEANS ON TOAST IS 'THE UNLIKELY GYMNAST' // NEW VIDEO FROM 'CUSHTY' // DOUBLE TROUBLE TOUR WITH SKINNY LISTER

Getting into shape for his upcoming UK tour, Beans on Toast releases a playful new single, 'The Unlikely Gymnast', taken from his new album Cushty out 1 December 2017. Preorder now.

Arriving on the eve of his biggest UK shows to date, the new track comes with an athletic new video and a short story to set the scene, as written by Beans himself.

As a 36-year old, self proclaimed ‘drunk-folk’ singer, vowing to “make gymnastics sexy again” is a bold statement. Making that same vow to a family of professional gymnasts opens up a can of worms.

'The Unlikely Gymnast' is a humorous be-careful-what-you-wish-for tale to rival the best of them: the true story of how one drunken promise can set you on course for unexpected circumstances and soon have you eating your own words.

Starring some of the real gymnasts he encountered on that fateful day he spilled the beans, and filmed at the Scarborough Gymnastics Academy in which they perfect their art, Beans on Toast’s latest video is an attempt to come good on his promise to bring sexy back to the sport. You decide the results.

As for that tour, have a look at dates below (or right here on our gigs page).

NOVEMBER 2017

21 Leeds, UK @ Stylus
22 Manchester, UK @ O2 The Ritz
23 Glasgow, UK @ Oran Mor
24 Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK @ Newcastle University
25 Sheffield, UK @ The Leadmill
28 Birmingham, UK @ Glee Club
29 Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
30 Norwich, UK @ Waterfront

DECEMBER 2017

01 Cambridge, UK @ Junction
02 Leicester, UK @ Dryden Street Social
06 Cardiff, UK @ The Globe
07 Southampton, UK @ 1865
08 Exeter, UK @ The Phoenix
09 Bristol, UK @ SWX Bristol
10 London, UK @ Koko

 facebook.com/beansontoastmusic / Twitter: @beanstoast / www.beansontoastmusic.com
www.youtube.com/beansontoasttube/ 

WILL VARLEY NEW ALBUM 'SPIRIT OF MINNIE' OUT 9 FEBRUARY 2018 // LISTEN TO 'ALL THOSE STARS' // UK HEADLINE TOUR

Will Varley is pleased to announce details of his fifth studio album, Spirit Of Minnie, released 9 February 2018 through Xtra Mile Recordings. Preorder it now.

Following 2016’s much praised Kingsdown Sundown and a sold out show at London’s Union Chapel, the new album marks a distinct change of direction for the singer songwriter, as it's the first time he has recorded with a full backing band. Produced by Cameron McVey (Massive Attack, Portishead, Neneh Cherry), the new album expands on the pared back musical palette of Varley’s previous sound, all the while retaining his gift for painterly, affirming and immediate lyric writing.

Listen to opening track 'All Those Stars' below.

For the first time, Will assembled a full band to draw out the galaxy-spanning atmosphere within the core of his songs. A nod to his previous brush with Ursa Minor, 'All Those Stars' brings you into the warmth, and invites you to admire the grain of the songs while lost in the ambience. By the time you reach the halfway point, 'Statues', Will's songs have been lifted by pedal steel, violins, piano, bringing them a visual quality, like seeing things in colour for the first time. The title track is a career highlight – a tale that recalls folk-storytelling traditions and folklore (“to us she is vast and ancient, to the universe she is still a child”) with the swell of its drama built from an eerie collage of acoustic sounds, a reminder of how potent a vision an intimate room of unplugged musicians can conjure. The album closes with a story of humanity, our place on the Earth and our curiosity, and our follies, set to an ebbing and flowing ocean of strings guided by the pull of the band at its heart. As ever, Will has taken us on his travels, asked big questions and explored further than before, away from the stark rolling hills of Kingsdown Sundown to the wide, expansive and mysterious landscapes of Spirit of Minnie.

Image: Brett Walker

After a run of UK shows the album will come out on the same day he plays his biggest headline show to date at the iconic 02 Shepherds Bush Empire. Will is accompanying the announcement by releasing a brand new track from the album on Spotify and other digital platforms along with his entire back catalogue which, until now, could not be found on any streaming sites.

Aided by McVey’s nuanced, widescreen production and the warm cascading sound of his new band, ‘All Those Stars’ offers the perfect first glimpse into ‘Spirit Of Minnie’, straddling Will's sound and style from past to present. Counting the likes of Billy Bragg, Valerie June and Frank Turner as his fans, and with tours scheduled across Europe and America, the young songwriter from Deal seems poised for a huge 2018.

Spirit Of Minnie tracklisting

1. All Those Stars
2. Seven Days
3. Screenplays
4. Breaking the Bread
5. Statues
6. Spirit of Minnie
7. Let It Roll
8. Postman
9. Insect

UK HEADLINE TOUR (all upcoming Will Varley dates on our Gigs page)

JANUARY
30 Birmingham @ 02 Institute 3
31 January @ Nottingham @ Rescue Rooms

FEBRUARY
01 Leeds @ Brudenell Social Club
02 Edinburgh @ La Belle Angele
03 Manchester @ Club Academy
06 Southampton @ 1865
07 Cardiff @ The Globe
08 Bristol @ Trinity Centre
09 London @ Shepherds Bush Empire

facebook.com/willvarleymusic / Twitter @WillVarleyMusic / www.willvarley.com

MÖNGÖL HÖRDE RETURN // TOUR DATES IN JANUARY 2018

It's been quiet these past three years. Fences have been repaired and stand tall, houses have been rebuilt, thatching reliably dry, and life is peaceful. If a bit dull.

But – listen – a distant rumbling. The far-off hills are billowing dust, kicked up by the wind no doubt. Or...something else. Watch your steppe.

Möngöl Hörde – Frank Turner (vocals), Matt Nasir (baritone guitar, The Sleeping Souls) and Ben Dawson (drums, ex-Million Dead) – return in January 2018 for four live dates across the UK – Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London.

They last played at Reading Festival in 2014 and it was uncertain whether (if ever) the Hörde would come back for more. Prayers, dreams and tweets have now been answered as the threesome take advantage of Frank's brief downtime between tours to return.

Make way for them in January 2018:

25 Glasgow @ King Tuts
26 Manchester @ Academy 3
27 Birmingham @ O2 Institute
28 London @ Scala

Tickets will be available on Friday, 17 November 2017.

You can buy Möngöl Hörde's self-titled album here.

Conquest, fury and reckoning await you all. It should be a lot of fun.

First emerging and playing two tiny shows in August 2012 plus Reading and Leeds Festival, Möngöl Hörde released one of 2014's most twisted and ferocious albums with their self-titled debut through Xtra Mile Recordings. They then tackled a brief UK summer tour including a second appearance at Reading and Leeds before Frank and Matt went back to their day jobs and started writing and recording Frank Turner's sixth album Positive Songs For Negative People.

http://www.mongolhorde.co.uk/