The Elfish Presleys – Santa Was a Rockin’ / Will Santa Come Down the Chimney

It is December and we all know what that means, the assault of the Xmas single; something notably worse than that obscenely patterned sweater your Gran knitted or the curry kit your partner brought you when misunderstanding the request for something hot and spicy. It is an element of the festive season the world will forever have to endure but at times there is a glimmer of hope, a once in a blue moon unveiling of something to get lustful over. This year it all starts with such a treat courtesy of The Elfish Presleys and the double A-sided single Santa Was a Rockin’ / Will Santa Come Down the Chimney.

   The release comes from Norm Elliott of Norm and the Nightmarez fame, who has only just released the outstanding single, She under his own name. Now he gets all festive on us through a download only single released via the great UK label Western Star and thankfully shows bad taste and songwriting does not have to be part of Christmas.

Santa Was a Rockin’ instantly has ears and feet leaping within its fifties seeded rock n’ roll stroll and spicy melodic temptation. With the pulsating upright bass aligning with crisp beats as Norm’s guitar spins an infectious web of smiling enterprise, the track proceeds to have hips swaying and skirts swirling with its energetic shuffle. It is the perfect party track, an incitement to see halls and front rooms a blur of movement with its The Stargazers (eighties band) meets Big Bopper festivity.

Accompanying it, Will Santa Come Down the Chimney offers a more relaxed and sultry atmosphere under a noir lit sky as surf laced guitar and mellow flames of sax wrap the croon’s emotive lyrical heart. There is a touch of Bobby Rydell and Reverend Horton Heat to the song but spicing to something as ever, and shown throughout his career to date, distinctive to Norm Elliott in sound, voice, and mischievous composing.

Certainly an abhorrence of Christmas ditties will continue with us but we are ready to make exceptions when it is something special, and Santa Was a Rockin’ / Will Santa Come Down the Chimney is certainly that. Having a party? Then you really need this to get it off with a big swing.

Santa Was a Rockin’ / Will Santa Come Down the Chimney is available now via Western Star as a download only release @ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Santa-Was–Rockin-Elfish-Presleys/dp/B017BHBTG8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1446460104&sr=8-4&keywords=the+elfish+presleys

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Pete RingMaster 03/12/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

Haxby Swango – The Lately Low

Finding something particularly unique in music is not always an easy task but that is exactly what British alternative electronic duo Haxby Swango offer in sound and through their new EP The Lately Low. Both are an exciting and riveting proposition embracing a host of contrasting flavours within off kilter electronic waltzes, and seriously compelling.

The union of guitarist/vocalist Hutchy Swango and keyboardist Jack Swango, Haxby Swango can be described as a slightly deranged mix of Asylums, G.R.I.M, Mr. Kitty, and early Cure, but then again still far aside of that such the originality and imagination fuelling certainly every track upon The Lately Low. Recorded with producer Howie Weinberg (Nirvana, Beastie Boys, Best Coast), the virulent infection of idea and sound seduces ears and incites appetite within its first breath, a success already made with Anonymous Records who signed the pair upon hearing them and now release their new fascination of electronic enterprise.

     The EP opens with Telephone and quickly has the senses and thoughts engaged as keys lay the foundation for the tantalising vocals of Hutchy. Initially wrapping ears with a boyish smoulder loaded with distinctive expression and tone, he quickly slips into a catchy rap within the increasingly dramatic flavour of sound. There is a touch of Great Imitation to the song as melodic and hip hop hues join the perpetually evolving electronic landscape. As lyrically alluring as it is vocally and sonically magnetising, the song quickly has body and passions aflame, its success quickly backed by that of its successor.

The Trapezist Sees Everything opens with an exotic Asian coaxing, which within a few sultry breaths blossoms into a temptation of melodic seduction and emotive expression crowded by pulsating textures. Again rap, hip hop, electro rock, and more collude to weave the captivation, though it is the vocals which steal the bulk of the focus even as bubbly rhythms and a spicily shimmering ambience make a potent persuasion too. Fair to say, with it all combined the result is one mesmeric and wonderfully bewildering adventure.

Next He Won’t slips in on emotive keys and an accompanying sample, spreading it’s tempting in a slightly slower misty lure compared to the more energetic incitements of its predecessors, though again synths alone have a tenacious gait and heart to their inescapable persuasion. Also as the first two songs, it nurtures a romancing of the imagination and a greedy appetite, an affair again equipped with a creative schizophrenia which leaves unpredictability as fiercely persuasive as the sounds and ingenuity it breeds.

The next track is called Schizo, a title feeling apt for the body of sound within the EP, and of course for the individual askew majesty of the outstanding track. Mercilessly catchy and virulently bold like a kaleidoscope of sound, the song is an irresistibly shadowed carnival of emotion and creative intent shaped and coloured by just as exploratory keys and the ever beguiling vocal croon of Hutchy. The Yorkshire lilt of his voice also offers a great hue to the whole tapestry of song and release, the closing L’ost a final confirmation of that and the invention and craft conjuring up The Lately Low. Enticing and enslaving with a sublime blanket of melodic beauty and creative rabidity, the song simply leaves a hunger for more in tandem with thick pleasure behind.

The press release with the EP described The Lately Low as “a Lynchian sideways look at contemporary pop music that’s stuffed with disturbing imagery and strange tangents.” That is a great summing up of the EP but still only one aspect to the rich dimensions and layers making up one of the year’s major treats.

The Lately Low EP out now on Anonymous Records @ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-lately-low-ep/id1055378862

http://www.facebook.com/haxbyswango   https://twitter.com/haxbyswango

Pete RingMaster 04/12/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

Despite My Deepest Fear – Selfish Generation

Photo: http://www.joebrady.co.uk

It has been two years since UK melodic metalcore sextet Despite My Deepest Fear released their very well-received Make Or Break EP; time which, on the evidence of its successor Selfish Generation, has seen the band dig deeper into their imagination, uncap bolder adventure in their songwriting, and hone their sound into one fiercely enjoyable incitement. Their new EP is an attention grabbing protagonist, a carnivorous beast with a seductive heart as able to chew up and spit out the senses as it is uncaging an enthralment of melody rich temptation. With maybe major originality arguably not as potent as all its other aspects, the six track involvement suggests there is still the big potential of richer and more unique treats to be come from the band off of the back of this impressive encounter, that alone exciting to be honest such the impressiveness of Selfish Generation.

Formed in 2010, London hailing Despite My Deepest Fear drew on inspiration from the likes of We Came As Romans and The Devil Wears Prada in the creating of their dramatic and enjoyably invasive sound. The Make Or Break EP awoke a host of new fans and appetites for its flavoursome confrontation, its success emulating and stretched again by a live presence which has seen the band make acclaimed appearances at festivals like Breakout in 2014 and Camden Rocks this year, undertake a UK headline tour and a series of dates across Europe with Italians Hopes Die Last. Fair to say Selfish Generation has been an eagerly awaited and anticipated proposal which now here, is sure only to stir up stronger spotlights and greedy attention upon the band.

     Selfish Generation opens up with its title track and indeed new single/video, immediately cupping ears in a rich emotive melody and a slightly portentous atmosphere, within which guitars weave a web of intrigue in league with the drama of keys. In no time the hostile nature of the track erupts, the stabbing riffs and spicy grooves sprung by Arron Yarrow and Olly Meager laying welcome siege to the senses along with the grouchy rhythms and harsh vocal squalls. There is a familiarity to the tempestuousness of the song but equally a fresh and individual character too which is more accentuated by the clean vocals and developing swinging gait of the track. We cannot say which of Ryan Endacott and Nick Nowak provide the coarse and mellow vocal persuasions but each is swiftly impressive and a striking texture in the roar of the track and indeed release.

The following F.Y.F continues with the shadowed air and noir toned ambience of its predecessor but sculpting its own furious and rousing incitement aligned again to flowing melodies and evocative contagion. The barbarous beats of drummer Toby Barnswarda take no prisoners to match the primal attitude of riffs, whilst bassist Julian Murray conjures an alluring shadowing to it all which perpetually grips ears and sparks further predation within the tempest. As across all proposals within Selfish Generation, it is a superbly bred and blended collusion of contrasts, the savagery intricately and seamlessly merged with creative and impassioned brutality; Stranded instant back-up of that success with its initial electronic shimmer within elegant keys subsequently overwhelmed by caustic assaults from riffs and rhythms led by the blaze of raw vocals. Nevertheless the calmer and beauteous elements are still working away, springing through the ebbs and flows of the antagonism to breathe heart spawned reflection and air into the turbulence. The track is constantly a revolving proposition, its body sweeping fluidly through its weave of emotions and enterprise to continue the mighty start of the EP.

The Repressed follows suit in design whilst creating its own insatiable theatre of power, craft, and increasing drama. It does not quite match up to the earlier successes on the release yet is a mighty lure in its inventive brutality and resourceful enticing through the melodic maze which emerges whilst its successor Infinite, unleashes a hellacious brawl with the capability of opening up moments of virulently catchy temptation. Where it wins though is in the full diversity making up these opposites, the invention blurring their lines and skilfully uniting them in one of the major peaks within the EP.

The release is brought to a formidable close by Long Way Home; Despite My Deepest Fear as now expected invading the listener with rabid energy and hostile craft, unveiling a fascinating weave of melodic and sonic imagination throughout, here with a deep rooted exotic hue and seduction to its imagination. The track provides a tremendous conclusion to Selfish Generation, a final thrilling and skilled slab of ferocity and craft.

Despite My Deepest Fear have returned with a bang, with a release which suggests they are heading towards being one of those doing the inspiring whilst providing this year with one of its most enjoyable metalcore offerings.

The self-released Selfish Generation EP is out now @ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/selfish-generation-ep/id1048897037

January 2016 Tour dates:

15.01.15 Northampton – The Racehorse

16.01.15 Manchester – AATMA

17.01.15 Glasgow – Audio

18.01.15 Newcastle – Think Tank

19.01.15 Birmingham – The Rainbow

20.01.15 Basingstoke – Sanctuary

21.01.15 Plymouth – Underground

22.01.15 Swansea – The Scene 2

23.01.15 Bridgwater – Cobblestones

https://www.facebook.com/dmdfuk/   https://twitter.com/DMDFuk

Pete RingMaster 03/12/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/