Hot Sauce Pony – Burnt Ends

With the debut album from Hot Sauce Pony prowling anticipation, the UK outfit unleash its first lure in the shape of the carnally seductive Burnt Ends. The track is a ravenous teaser of that forthcoming self-titled offering, a song which has calm, beauty, and ruin colluding for a frustratingly but imperiously short one minute plus.

Formed in 201, the London band consists of vocalist Caroline Gilchrist, guitarist Ross Davies, bassist Stephen Gilchrist, and drummer Anna Dodridge. Their sound is a unique fusion of noise and punk rock with grunge, post punk, and hardcore hues. They call it Avant Hard; we call it in regards to the new single feral sensuality. The track and the upcoming Steve Albini (Pixies, Nirvana, PJ Harvey) album follow a first single in Fenced In which aroused rich attention and intrigue. Burnt Ends more than builds on its ear grabbing success and thick potency with a moment where extremes unite to devour the senses with beauty and ruin.

From its first breath Burnt Ends had us licking lips, the charred growl of the bass a bestial temptation matched by the just as roasted snarl of the guitar. Swiftly the melodic siren tempting of Caroline’s vocals drew ears deeper into the cremated offering, the slow manipulative swing of Anna’s beats just as irresistible. Like a fusion of Horse Party, Morass Of Molasses, and Mudhoney with a whiff of Young Marble Giants yet firmly individual, the track just got under the skin and into the psyche as hips continued to sway to its primal groove.

Such the pleasure, it really does frustrate when the track stops suddenly and without warning barely a clutch of seconds past its first minute. It leaves nagging, teasing fingers though as its elements continued to echo in thoughts long after departure.

Leave them wanting more is the key to success some say, and without doubt the hunger for the band’s eponymous debut album is on the point of rabidity thanks to Burnt Ends.

Burnt Ends is released June 22^nd via Brixton Hillbilly. The band also has first single Fenced In available as a free download  @ https://soundcloud.com/brixton-hillbilly/fenced-in-by-hot-sauce-pony

Upcoming Hot Sauce Pony live dates:

23rd June Club 85, HITCHIN

30th June Betsy Trotswood, LONDON

16th August – HY-Brazil, BRISTOL

https://www.facebook.com/hotsaucepony/

Pete RingMaster 20/05/2018

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

This is the Sound of Sugar Town Volume 2

In the past, compilation albums showcasing the talent of a local area were a prevalent and exciting exploration which certainly for us opened the door to a host of great artists and lustful obsessions. A less prominent opportunity these days, far far less as splits seem to be more in favour, there have been a few releases keeping the tradition alive. One was the excellent THIS IS THE SOUND OF SUGAR TOWN released late 2015, an ear pleasing spotlight on the vibrant DIY driven music scene in and around Bury St Edmunds. Now the people behind the album, again in union with R*E*P*E*A*T Records and Pure Deadly, return with Volume 2 and another large clutch of Suffolk goodness.

As the first it comes wrapped in the fine art of Kate Jackson and has been released as a download and Ltd Edition 12” album with all profits being donated to local charity Julian Support, which helps people with mental health issues to lead independent lives. It gets right down to juicy business with opening track SHE from psychedelic noise poppers SUN SCREAM. The quintet swiftly has ears entangled in a sultry melody, the guitar soon joined by imposing beats and a grumbling bassline. Part seduction, part intimidation, the track shares quick magnetism especially as the vocals lay their own harmonic charm over the heated and already successful persuasion. Offering one delicious hook and an instinctive catchiness, the track is a potent start to the album and introduction to the captivating outfit.

Returning from a potent place in the first volume, alternative art rockers CATHEDRALS & CARS ​offers up THE CONCIERGE for its successor. Like a fusion of PiL and The Wedding Present, the excellent track is a jangle loaded, rhythmically agitated shuffle with its own inescapable virulence in character and adventure. A post punk hook from vocalist/guitarist Jack Stevens simply hits the spot as too his web of melodic acidity whilst the rhythmic union of bassist Danny Robertson and drummer Steve Long easily infects limbs and spirit.

The first album featured the attention grabbing and now sadly demised quintet of Voter Kernel, four of which return this time around with bassist Bobcat Whittaker as JANET STREET SLAUGHTER. Offering up a visceral fusion of indie, punk, and noise rock going by the name of THE SENSITIVE SIDE OF BILL SYKES, though it is hard to pin down their striking sound, the band prowls and crawls the psyche, their salacious touch as dirty as it is invitingly warped led by the equally individual and off-kilter vocals of guitarist David Jago. In any collection of songs a few hit personal tastes more than others and this treat did just that with psychotic intent.

The broad landscape of sound within the Bury St Edmunds scene has always been one of its potent features and enticingly represented across Volume 2 and clearly represented by the likes of THE WILSONS with their Americana flavoured rock ‘n’ roll and the raw punk rock of THE CUTS. The first of the two shares IF IT WASN’T SO SOON, a track from their 2015 album Crow which has feet tapping and head bobbing in no time. There is an instinctive energy to the encounter, signs of a band having fun and doing what lights their own fires. A same feeling comes through their successors, a band we can tell you little about having found no sign of them anywhere else online but The Cuts track HOMETOWN is more than enough to brew a hungry appetite for their raw and rousing punk rock.

Side one is completed by firstly by a band that has already had our juices flowing with their previous offerings. GAFFA TAPE SANDY recently released their debut EP Spring Killing and for the album provide a track which made up part of their impressive first single Smart Dressed Guy. A boisterous and inventive slice of the band’s highly addictive garage rock/punk infused pop ‘n’ roll, L’APPEL DU VIDE, as their whole sound, dares you not to get involved physically and vocally, the song openly manipulative with the vocal unity of guitarist Kim Jarvis and bassist Catherine Lindley-Neilson as the rhythmic bounce of drummer Robin Francis guides the tiller. They are followed by the bracing and abrasive sounds of BRACKEN, a predatory and senses consuming tsunami of sludge thick, stoner ripe doom. Formed in 2013, the quartet has bred a trespass which invades every corner of the senses and imagination, SLAVES PT. II an uncompromising slab of that punishing pleasure.

No example of Bury St Edmunds sounds can be without the mighty HORSE PARTY, increasingly one of the most exciting propositions within the British music scene. With vocalist/guitarist/bassist Seymour Quigley one of those behind the two compilations, there is no surprise the band appears again but a crime if they had not and brought us the outstanding LOOKING FOR LIFE. Always a band revealing a keen diversity of sound, the track is a smouldering and seductive slice of surf coated indie rock. It is pure bewitchment, an enchantress behind the siren tones of vocalist Ellie Langley and an echo of the core imagination and quality within the band’s writing and music.

Through the resourcefully catchy indie rock exploits of SUBURBAN MINDS with SUNBREAK and the alternative rock fuzz of MOONMAN from THE VIRTUES, intrigue and pleasure is reinforced, the first of the two a quartet seriously whetting the appetite for their just released debut EP, I’ll Exist Again When I Wake Up while the second is a four piece creating a tapestry of sound with a host of atmospheric and textually potent styles from Brit Pop and indie to alternative and psych rock.

Singer songwriter JACK RUNDELL calms things down with his country/folk spiced track WICKED WORDS, a fun and infectious stroll with a grin on its face while SIAH teases the imagination with their compelling mix of classic and melodic rock smoked with post punk/new wave nurtured adventure through SUSIE SMOKES. It is an unpredictable and intriguing fusion of sound which works a treat within their album proposal; a fascinating brew matched in temptation by the closing punk lined grunge ‘n’ roll of TUNDRA. Lo-fi and raw, and increasingly tempting, VACATION (CHEER UP CHUCK) brings the album to a strong close whilst emphasising what a rich and exciting landscape can be found in the surrounds of Bury St Edmunds.

This Is The Sound Of Sugar Town Volume 2 is out now through R*E*P*E*A*T Records / Pure Deadly and available @ https://repeatfanzine.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-the-sound-of-sugar-town-volume-2

 https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsTheSoundOfSugarTown     http://www.juliansupport.org/

Pete RingMaster 19/07/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Sly Palms – Self Titled EP

As they introduced themselves to us with their debut release, we introduce you to the individual Weirdo Wonk sounds of Sly Palms and one magnetically enjoyable self-titled debut EP. From the ever giving Bristol music scene, the British quintet brew up their own individual fusion of garage, psych, and blues rock described as “Nick Cave meets Go Go Bordello through the Doors.” All are references which add up as you listen to the five tracks making up their first release but also imagine the involvement of essences from My Baby, 13th Floor Elevators, and Horse Party and you have a fuller if still not quite accurate inkling to the band’s imaginative adventure.

Recorded at Malthouse Studios with Dom Mitchinson (Spectres, Oliver Wilde), the EP quickly has ears enticed with Bottle Of Sin, the new single from Sly Palms. Immediately the opener teases and tempts with its spicy percussive grooving and new wave like movement, early XTC coming to mind in the song’s unpredictable quirkiness before things settle a touch around the vocal lure of keyboardist Louise Schwarz. Poking beats and jabbing swings collude with her fine vocals, that eighties hue merging with a brewing blues revelry as the song grows even more flirtatious and irresistible with each passing second. Additional discord only adds to the pleasure, the song mere notes away from chaos at times and only blossoming with boldness because of it.

Things are a touch more reserved from hereon in across the EP but no less enjoyable as the swarthy rock ‘n’ roll of Spanish Song proves. With sultry blues melodies uniting with hazy psych nurtured sighs, the song has the same mischievous nature as its predecessor but strolls along with a less agitated gait. Lead vocals this time are taken by guitarist Ian Cross, or it could be fellow string picker Alex Davies or indeed drummer Jake Cheesman; whoever the supplier their grainy tone only adds to the Tom Waits spiced proposal swiftly tempting and pleasing ears. The warm keys and floating harmonies of Schwarz similarly enthral and add to a creative drama which is no less potent within next up River Rhein. With a rockabilly/country rock coaxing to its catchy shuffle, the song has the body bouncing, gently at first but with increasing vigour as crescendos of rock ‘n’ roll erupt across its increasingly heated body.

The bass of Jaime Botella is a perpetually appetising throb within all tracks, adding an instinctive pulse and often growl which is especially alluring within the more unkempt climate of Slaughterhouse. The track is superb, challenging the first for best track honours with its rowdy rock ‘n’ roll and expectation defeating devilment of sound and imagination.

The more lo-fi presence and touch of Wall brings things to a potent close, the song a dance of harmonies and rattling rhythms as the band weaves another slice of off kilter sound as blues, garage, and psych rock as it is simply ear exciting rock ‘n’ roll.

With potential as vocal in every song as existing imagination and adventure, Sly Palms have made a powerfully persuasive introduction to themselves with their debut. Already they have nurtured something unique about themselves and intriguingly we, like they, have only just scratched the surface.

The Sly Palms EP is released July 14^th.

14/07/17 – E.P. Launch Party @ The Old England

10/08/17 – The Louisiana, Bristol

24/11/17 – St. James’ Wine Vaults, Bath

https://www.facebook.com/SlyPalms/

Pete RingMaster 11/07/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Mannequin Death Squad – Eat Hate Regurgitate

After the rousing scuzz enticement of latest single KYMS, Australian duo Mannequin Death Squad uncage their debut mini-album Eat Hate Regurgitate to confirm all the mightily good things found in said single and it’s just as magnetic predecessor.

Emerging last year, Mannequin Death Squad consists of El and Dan; one girl, one boy who between them play and swap guitar and drums whilst offering their potent union of vocals. A striking presence on the Melbourne underground scene, the pair sparked attention with the single Sick earlier this year, following it up with the even more impressive and gripping KYMS a few weeks back. Both feature upon Eat Hate Regurgitate alongside a trio of new proposals which simply whip up attention and appetite for their scuzz punk devilry.

Released via the excellent UK indie Integrity Records (Million Dead, Horse Party, Valentiine), the release opens up with the raw magnetism of KYMS, a track raging “against the relentless pollution of our planet, the song inspired by a hatred of those who continue to defile and pollute the earth.” Plaintive strains of guitar make the first touch, swinging rhythms and caustic riffs the next as Dan vocally bursts into view with the warm tones of El in close attendance. It is raw and inviting, fiery and captivating, hooks and grooves a weave of temptation as the pair vocally dances around the senses. The track’s infectiousness is virulent but only part of the picture as darker shadows and textures blossom as the song progresses, its finale of an imposing and enjoyably oppressive nature breeding blues grooves and a sludgy climate before going out in a blaze of raw rock ‘n’ roll.

The impressive start is followed by Sick, a volcano of scathing pop punk with more bluesy flames in its melodic kiln as thumping and slightly predacious rhythms roam. Like a mix of My Baby, Karn8, and Valentiine, the track seizes ears and appetite swiftly, only tightening its hold midway as again the band suddenly twist into a whole new creative landscape which lifts things to another addictive level.

The muscular poppy romping of Sky comes next, its feisty canter carrying hues of bands such as Jack Killed Jill and The Melvins whilst creating its own character of unpredictability while Van Gogh snarls and aggressively bounces along before slipping into something more melodically and seductively comfortable. It is a strain of persuasion which switches between full-on assault and that bordering on salacious coaxing, casting a tempting which weakens knees in between having them feverishly stomping around. A great live air to the track only accentuates its glory, it challenging the opener for best track honours.

The album is concluded by the similarly addictive and enterprising Down, another swinging from bold energy to harmonic calm and leaving a greed for more in its wake. The track sums up everything great about Eat Hate Regurgitate and the Mannequin Death Squad sound in its four minutes plus and why so many are becoming rather excited about the twosome.

Eat Hate Regurgitate is released October 21^st via Integrity Records.

https://www.facebook.com/mannequindeathsquad/   https://twitter.com/MannequinDsquad

Pete RingMaster 19/10/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Scare The Normals – Creepy Brainfood

Pic Steven Clark

Providing Creepy Brainfood and plenty to keep ears and imagination excitedly busy, the second album from UK sextet Scare The Normals recently saw its outing on CD to back up its already potent digital release. The album brings thirteen socially conscious off-kilter boogies together for a warped adventure fuelled by the band’s unique fusion of electro, funk, hip hop, and psych rock ‘n’ roll, and that is to simplify their mouth-watering engagement.

Hailing from Bury St Edmunds, Scare The Normals first caught our years with their contribution to the excellent This is the sound of Sugar Town album, a compilation of bands currently lighting up the Suffolk market town’s musical landscape. Their track Tomorrow was a slice of sonic magnetism which in hindsight only gave one aspect to the band’s sound now being enjoyably discovered upon the kaleidoscopic Creepy Brain Food. With thanks to Seymour Quigley of Horse Party, another of the town’s essential propositions, who sent the release our way, Creepy Brainfood offers more aural flavours and imagination drenched hues than a Rio carnival.

It starts with Enter the Temple, a gateway into the album through voice and resonance initially but soon becoming a throbbing lure with warning sirens and sonic squelches. Vocalist/MC, like a side show barker, makes the final invitation before the listener finds himself lost in and absorbed by in the funky saunter of Four Hornets and a Goose. Carrying a Disraeli and the Small Gods feel to it, the song strolls along with a swinging body and sultry flirtations of guitar, its pulsating psychedelic coated body ridden skilfully by Illinspired’s insightful lyrical and rap prowess.

By its close the song has the body and imagination firmly involved and ready to embrace the jazzy funk revelry of Heavy Grammar. As in its predecessor, a throaty bassline from Mikey BassandStuff spines the rhythmic shuffle of Simon Chapple around which Gish’s guitar, with a host of other electronic and fuzzy textures, dances with infectious enterprise. Nineties band Honky comes to mind during the track, but fair to say a passing thought again in something unique to Scare The Normals with the vocal blend as persuasive as the tapestry of aural flirtation around them.

The following Deeper Water is the first track to feature a guest appearance from Deftex legend MC Chrome. Straight away it has a swampy air and feel, a glorious thick bluesy tempting which soon blossoms exotic textures and Eastern melodies in its elegantly flowing body. The union and contrasts of the two vocalists is just as mesmeric, their raps at times almost mischievously duelling especially leading up to and during sizzling eruptions into rock ‘n’ roll devilry. The track transfixes as it gets hips swaying, a reaction the album manages to majestically achieve at every twist and turn including through next up Naga Viper. Predominantly a celestially lit instrumental with again worldly aural colours gracing its bubbly jazz funk, the song simply romances the imagination before Brass Leaf shares its suggestive drama of sound and word to repeat the previous rousing alchemy at play with its own individual carnival.

Through the short punk theatre of Dicky Metcalf Pawned his Pistol, a track playing with a Ripping Yarns like mischief as it touches intimate tragedy, and the even briefer noir lit meander of Bob’s Passion, Scare The Normals reveal more of their diversely adventurous exploration and theatre. Shaped by their bold imagination, each provides a new pasture to embrace with samples and dizzying spins of wax by Dr. Ughh adding to the ear gripping fun.

The album continues with its title track; another song breeding rich evocative shadows around poetic melodies and suggestive keys while sharing a darkly hued tale which crawls through ears into the imagination and psyche. The track is superb, a spellbinding hug as sinister as it is seductive and irresistible.

Luminous Footprint comes next with sonic and electronic spatters of sound almost as candescent as its title suggests. The bass brings a Cure like tone to the emerging track too, reinforcing its initial lure before another funk infested tango lifts feet and sparks hips into flirtatious motion. The Pigbag-esque instrumental borrows body and spirit with ease; passing both when finished on to the fleeting throbbing bass led swing of Sarcastic Fringe Head. One minute in length the track again has swift involvement drawn and carried on by the excellent Tomorrow. Maybe providing the biggest twist within Creepy Brainfood, the song is an enthralling enticement of electro rock with an eighties air recalling the likes of The Normal and Naked Lunch. Its mysterious electronics and prowling rhythms lay the seeds to a compelling infestation of the passions, attitude laced vocals and sinister almost cinematic sonic endeavour completing the inescapable lure of the thrilling encounter.

The psychedelically glazed soundscape of New Adventure brings the album to a close, Chrome again guesting with alongside DJ Tags. Their vocal craft including that of Illinspired creates a spiky and stirring jab to a track which gracefully envelops the senses if with a slight edge to its mystical floatation. It is a great end to an album which just grows and shines brighter with every listen, each venture finding something new to explore and become intimate with.

Scare The Normals are like few other bands, if any, and Creepy Brainfood a journey through unconventional pastures of sound and imagination which everyone deserves to get a helping of.

Creepy Brainfood is out now @ http://scarethenormals.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SCARE-THE-NORMALS-60881200139

Pete RingMaster 17/05/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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

She Drew The Gun – Memories Of The Future

Fronted by and centred round songs inspired by the real life experiences of Louisa Roach, She Drew The Gun is a proposition easy to get physically and emotionally involved with, especially with debut album Memories Of The Future leading the way. The eleven track release is a romance of evocative sound and insightful word wrapped in the most delicious melodic and harmonic temptation. It is also a collection of songs unafraid to embrace shadows of the heart and life in its often wistful but always mesmeric weave of voice and sound.

The Wirral hailing She Drew The Gun sound lays somewhere between dream pop and folk punk, the former the predominate hue in the project’s unique proposal. It is a sound and certainly style honed by Roach through her early days performing at open mic events and various acoustic shows. The linking up with percussionist Sian Monaghan added another depth and shade to her music which soon after found eager support from Steve Lamacq. With bassist Jack Turner joining up, the trio received an invitation to perform a BBC introducing live session at Maida Vale last year which was backed by numerous acclaimed underground releases, all leading to the creation and unveiling of debut album Memories Of The Future. With the line-up since completed by keyboardist Jenni Kickhefer, a jump to 2016 sees a year looking like being a major event in the emergence of the band led by the release of  the James Skelly (The Coral) recorded album’s and new adventures into the UK live scene, not forgetting that She Drew The Gun has just been announced as winners of the Glasto ‘Emerging Talent’ Competition.

Memories Of The Future opens up with Where I End And You Begin, a gentle swing of a song with fuzzy air and the instantly distinctive tones of Roach enveloping ears with seductive prowess. Harmonies only add to the coxing as rhythms add their slightly darker but no less forceful touch. There is a bit of fellow UK band Horse Party to the song but quickly it shows itself an individual as Kickhefer’s keys lay a tender evocative breeze upon the senses and an imagination already stirred by Roach’s lyrical charm.

The excellent start continues with the similarly magnetic Since You Were Not Mine, a siren of melodic and harmonic enslavement from band and Roach. For indefinable reasons, and as its predecessor, there is something familiar about the song but nothing easy to pin down as it has thoughts and body swaying to its poetic waltz before If You Could See takes over charming ears with its slightly darker emotion and more haunted ambience. Spatial yet intimate, the song finds increasing zeal in its gait and catchiness without ever hitting anything beyond second gear, a restraint which bewitches as potently as the wash of melancholic beauty serenading ears.

From its opening rhythmic shuffle Chains has feet in eager movement with hips, increasingly so too as its infectiousness roams the low key but open drama of rhythmic and electronic enterprise as vocal captivation plays. The song is an enslaver of body and appetite, as too the following Pebbles with its acoustic hug where Roach steals attention from the world with voice and guitar. It is a success she constantly repeats as in the jazz and folk scented What Will You Do. It is a glorious enchantment that quickly and increasingly seduces the passions especially with its touch of  creative theatre which reminds of Gabby Young & Other Animals but also in its relaxed but virulent tempting too. The track is just another triumph in an already lofty range of such and joined straight way by Poem where voice and word command attention as around them guitar and keys provide an equally provocative climate; this time Young Marble Giants being sparked as a relatively close hint to its majesty.

A pulsating resonance echoes across the sounds of I Am Not Alone next, the song a hypnotic pop croon as emotive as it is infectiously compelling, whilst the following Be Mine takes ears into another acoustic romance courted by the romance of stringed and key spun shadows aligned to rhythmic drama. Both tracks put a hex on the senses, inciting rapturous smiles in return for their unique endeavours before the rawer tenacity of Pit Pony takes the album into another enjoyable twist of imagination with its Red Blood Shoes tinged pop ‘n’ roll which has the body bouncing and appetite greedier still.

Closing on the warm solemnity of Or So I Thought, voice and keys an emotive ‘psalm’ for the senses, Memories Of The Future leaves ears and pleasure basking. It is a spellbinding collection of tracks bred from songwriting which seems to instinctively connect with the listener. The buzz around She Drew A Gun has been feistily brewing in past months and now it is very easy to see and hear why; with even greater things surely yet to come the way of the band and us.

Memories Of The Future is released April 22^nd via Skeleton Key on CD, vinyl, and download across most stores.

Upcoming Live Shows

APRIL

22 YORK – The Fulford Arms

24 GLASGOW – The Hug & Pint

26 BRISTOL – The Louisiana

28 LONDON – The Victoria

29 LIVERPOOL – Buyers Club

30 BIRMINGHAM – The Sunflower Lounge

http://www.shedrewthegun.com/   https://www.facebook.com/SheDrewTheGun   https://twitter.com/shedrewthegun   https://www.instagram.com/shedrewthegun

Pete RingMaster 21/04/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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

Horse Party – Horizons

Pic by Jeff Higgott

Regular readers to The RingMaster Review will know we have enjoyed an on-going affair between ears and music with UK trio Horse Party ever since they emerged in 2012 and unveiled their first pair of songs in Clarion Call and Back To Mono.  Since then, as their sound and imagination has grown and evolved, each single, EP, and indeed debut album, Cover Your Eyes, has bred a lustier and greedier appetite for their post punk/indie rock seeded adventures. Now the Bury St Edmunds hailing band has a new album to excite and draw spotlights their way, and in Horizons, one suspects and hopes, the key to deserved major attention.

Horizons is a compilation of sorts; a collection of the tracks released by the band across 2015 through EPs and singles. For fans there is the added bonus of a previously unreleased track and for newcomers, Horizons is an A-Z to why Horse Party is for so many British rock ‘n’ roll at its inspiringly majestic best. Released via R*E*P*E*A*T Records, the album is a kaleidoscope of the imagination and dark yet vibrant sounds which the threesome of vocalist/guitarist Ellie Langley, vocalist/guitarist/bassist Seymour Quigley and drummer Shannon Hope weave into their songwriting and acclaimed live shows. The fact that the tracks are laid out in release order also reveals the growth in the band’s sound over the past twelve to eighteen months alone.

It opens with the two tracks which started 2015 off in major style as a 7” vinyl single. Out Of Sight is first and instantly entices ears with a dour yet flirtatious bass riff. From its first breath, the outstanding song prowls ears and imagination, a predacious air to bass and guitar leading the seduction as beats crisply land around the just as swiftly alluring voice of Langley. Though it broadens its expression and melodic touch, the song never loses its darkly hued and persistent beckoning, even as rawer rock flames accompany the new zeal and energy fuelling the vocals. With psych rock lighting adding to the potency, the track is inescapable anthemic rock ‘n’ roll which is quickly more than matched by Receiver.

The second track shows a fleeter foot in energy and rhythms, almost bounding into view as riffs jangle and entice around the just as thickly coaxing vocals of Quigley. A delicious nagging seeded in post punk and punk with a slither of noise rock to it, the song dances around the senses, only increasing its tempting as transfixing harmonies expose lust in an already eager appetite and hooks toy with an alternation of slim and inflamed bait. Like a mix of like Au Pairs, Joy Division, and Morningwood, the track is simply irresistible.

album cover by Kate Wood

What I’d Do steps forward next, its strolling gait and intensity another reserved but vibrant beckoning with emotive hues lining voice and melodic enterprise. The steely tone of bass holds ears tight from within the hazy but openly textured song, its dark touches courting the melancholically evocative tones of Langley as well as the more sultry strains of guitar. A slice of psych/rock pop, the song has a Forever Still meets Stevie Nicks air to it, and easily casts its spell on attention before Horizons shares it’s more relaxed but no less provocative presence. Quigley again takes the vocal lead, his potent presence nestling compellingly within a landscape which uncages moments of tempestuous energy and sonic voracity. There is surprisingly a touch of The Housemartins to the song and indeed a whiff of Paul Heaton to Quigley’s expression though once more what emerges is a song as distinct to Horse Party as their name.

A brand new song in the shape of For All I Know follows and swiftly has ears engrossed and enjoyment stirred as a solemn mix of guitar and bass suggestiveness wraps the equally mellow vocals of Langley and the magnetic rhythmic enticement of Hope. It is another with fire in its belly though that is held in check for the main even with the thick nudges of Hope’s swings, the drummer as shown throughout the album, able to create anthemic incitement without disrupting the emotive flights of songs.

A hypnotic nagging steers Paydirt into ears next, its persistent jab of beats colluding with scuzz kissed riffs as minimalistic but potent grooves flirt. In full swing, the track is a bracing proposition which sonically sizzles whilst in its more mellow moments it is monotone sculpted romancing of the senses, and throughout, an addictive breath-taking stroll cast in dark emotions and predatory shadows. It just lights up air and ears, melancholy lined vocals a single seduction among many shared by the song before Animal similarly provides a rousing and compelling experience. As Langley’s almost challenging tones align with choppy rhythms, the track enforces quick submission to its expanding lures. Everything about the song provokes with aggressive intent yet only flirtation is felt as Hope harries and bass and guitars stalk and erupt. That tempting is especially arousing in the passage of surf rock seduction which has body and thoughts aflame in a moment, as echoed by the lyrics, which is like the glorious eye of an equally thrilling storm.

The acoustic hug of the darkly lit and captivating October enchants next, Langley alone and in vocal union with Quigley mesmeric within the blues expressed guitar before Money Talks saunters in on a scuzzy lure of riffs. Gentle slithers of guitar and catchy beats align with the initial tenacious draw and subsequently the siren-esque call of the vocals, it all finding extra drama in the occasional bursts of intensity which punctures the highly infectious persuasion.

Essences of noise rock and new wave creep into Rocket Science next; its canter a lively enticing within post punk shadows and blues lit sonic suggestiveness. Predictability is never an element within a Horse Party song, a point tenaciously shown here as volatile textures and energies engage with the outstanding encounter’s absorbing and seductive serenade.

Smouldering surf rock inspired melodies shape the beauty of Looking For Life next, the song an elegant and radiant shimmer of melodies and harmonies around resonating rhythms. It is a bewitchment of ears, a sonic smooching of the senses and quite delicious epitomising of another quality in the Horse Party creativity, that every listen just makes a song more compelling and impressive.

The emotive soothing of Howling At The Sun surrounds the imagination next, the twin vocal seducing as rich and dramatic as the brooding atmosphere and sounds around them whilst Gratitude Falling brings the album to a spellbinding close with its evolving tapestry of beguiling sound. From a single melody, the track courts a thick growl of bass and a sharp guitar jangle, going onto breed scuzzy expulsions of tempestuous sound whilst all the while Langley grips ears with her narrative and magnetic tones.

Horizons is simply one of the year’s musts; an essential invitation not only into the creative arms and charms of Horse Party but to one of the new breed destined to inspire the future of British rock ahead.

Horizons is released on download and CD on April 1^st via R*E*P*E*A*T Records and @ http://horsepartyparty.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/horsepartyparty    https://twitter.com/horsepartyparty

Pete RingMaster 22/03/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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