Browsing Tag punk
Knife Club – When My Eyes Are Heavy
I’m excited to introduce you to the very first single of Knife Club. This band was formed by three experienced musicians of the Brighton music scene: singer/bassist Chris Hollands, drummer Dave Bishop and guitarist Louis May. They came together in an attempt to make something different to what they had done before, but also modern and relevant.
When My Eyes Are Heavy is a blast of fresh energy, influenced by bands such as Idles, Interpol and Thee Oh Sees. Knife Club recorded this debut at the Levellers’ Metway Studio, where it was produced by Toby May (The Maccabees, The Electric Soft Parade, Clearlake). Those are great references in my book!
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 45)
Before the digital revolution, release strategies in the music business were clearly structured; the big-shot artists all came up with new material in October and November, well-placed to fully benefit from the tradition of exchanging presents at Christmas. The start of each new year was the best moment for emerging artists to drop new music, as the established ones had already shot their bolt in the months before.
However, things have changed since the arrival of – especially – the streaming platforms. They lowered the bar to put out music to a potentially worldwide audience, causing a diarrhoea of releases throughout the year, particularly on New Music Fridays. Personally, I love it, but the downside is, that we’re now in a situation of quantity over quality…
This is where Carte Blanche Music comes in! Each week, I listen to as many new songs as I can, but I only add the best tracks to my Carte Blanche Music Spotify playlist. Those additions are then narrowed down into my alphabetically ordered ‘best of the best’ list Werner’s Weekly, which is your compass to the music that matters.
This week’s edition is below, with links to my original recommendations. You can listen to the songs via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar.
- The Proclaimers – Then It Comes To Me (Wildcard this week)
- Isaac Gracie – Show Me Love (Wildcard last week)
- Arthur Adam – O
- Clean Cut Kid – Emily
- Club Drive – Satisfied
- Reel Big Fish – You Can’t Have All Of Me
- Roads To Roam – Believe
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
Reel Big Fish – You Can’t Have All Of Me
At the end of the 80’s, Fishbone were one of the earliest ska punk bands. They were a real treat live. The 90’s gave us acts like No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, Smash Mouth and Rancid, but the last two centuries, hardly any ska punk band achieved mainstream success anymore. Wouldn’t it be great to have a ska punk revival?
Maybe Reel Big Fish can lead the way again. Probably best-known for their early singles Sell Out, She Has A Girlfriend Now and a-ha cover Take On Me, the band have never really been away. But their new single You Can’t Have All Of Me is their best in recent memory. Back to the old days, in a good way. Even better: a new album, Life Sucks… Let’s Dance, is announced for December. Party on, dudes!
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
Calva Louise – I Heard A Cry
Calva Louise are a London based trio, consisting of Jess Allanic (vocals, guitar), Alizon Taho (bass, backing vocals) and Ben Parker (drums, backing vocals). A band on the rise, that’s for sure. They will certainly be liked by people who loved Shampoo in the mid 90’s, or Girli, more recently.
I Heard A Cry, a wonderful slice of bubble gum punk rock, is Calva Louise’s fourth single. It’s the second track to be lifted from their debut album (which is set for release early next year). The upbeat song features fuzzy guitars, a thumping bass line and Allanic’s trademark biting vocals on the one hand, but obvious pop sensibilities and tons of fun on the other. But listen quickly, for it’s over in just 2 minutes.
The band say about the track: “I Heard A Cry deals with the misinformation we often feel regarding what’s happening elsewhere in the world. But at the same time, it’s about the will of many people who are trying to inform themselves.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
Girli – Day Month Second
Is acid punk a genre? If not, North London’s Girli (born Milly Toomey) may just have invented it. Her new single Day Month Second comes 294 days, 9½ months, 423.360 seconds after the track Hot Mess, that I already liked so much.
“Day Month Second is my breakup anthem,” she says. “It’s about wanting to get over someone so bad but not being able to shake the memory of them and how they messed you around. It’s an angry, sad, but also liberating tune.”
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 24)
Monday morning, Werner’s Weekly time! Long story short: here it is, your compass to the music that matters:
- The 1975 – Give Yourself A Try (Wildcard this week)
- Yukon Blonde – Too Close To Love (Wildcard last week)
- Betty Who – All Things
- Bob Moses – Heaven Only Knows
- Calogero – 1987
- Gurr – Hot Summer
You can listen to all of these tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar and click on the links above for more information.
As always, this ‘best of the best’ playlist is only the tip of the iceberg. You can find much more great new music in my 2018 container playlist Carte Blanche Music, which I updated with fine fresh tracks by Dagny, Efecto Mariposa, Interpol, The Smashing Pumpkins, Suede, Sunset Sons, The Vaccines, Young Gun Silver Fox, Youngr and many more in the past week. Enjoy!
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
Gurr – Hot Summer
Laura Lee and Andreya Casablanca both studied North America Studies in their home town Berlin in 2011. Laura used to walk around with a Joy Division tote back, and Andreya had a Ramones one, so they became friends. A year later they decided to start a band.
Hot Summer is their new single. It may sound like a summer celebration, but in fact it’s an anti-summer song. Gurr says about the song: “We wrote the song on a very grey day in London and I think this added to us focusing on the darker sides of summer. (…) It’s a celebration of the imperfect summer, and everyday neurosis.”
Hot Summer is equal parts Bangles and The Breeders.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 10)
In terms of quantity, it was a huge week for new music. But it wasn’t a particularly huge week for great new music.
Still, artists like Albert Hammond Jr., Blossoms, Digitalism, Nemesea, Simple Minds, and Turin Brakes put out recommendable new songs, all of which – and more – you can find in my ‘best of 2018’ playlist Carte Blanche Music.
But besides the latest two Wildcards, only four tracks made it onto this Monday’s edition of Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. You’ll find them, alphabetically ordered as always, below:
- Everything Everything – Breadwinner (Wildcard this week)
- Bonnie McKee – Sleepwalker (Wildcard last week)
- Brand New Friend – Girl
- Hoshi – Je Vous Trouve Un Charme Fou
- Janelle Monáe – Make Me Feel
- Nicole Atkins – Brokedown Luck
Click on the links for the full story in all its glory, while listening to the six of them through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. 19 minutes well-spent! ?
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
Brand New Friend – Girl
Punk rock isn’t dead. Each decennium has its heroes, from the Ramones and Sex Pistols via Green Day and The Offspring to Sum 41 and Blink-182. Will Brand New Friend be next in that list?
Brand New Friend is a band from Northern Ireland, led by brother/sister vocalists Lauren and Taylor Johnson. They released their debut EP American Wives in 2016, but their first full length album Seatbelts For Aeroplanes is due for release on 27 April. Girl is the first single off it.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 38)
Last week was a great week for new music. Only in the past seven days I added great new songs by David Gray, Foo Fighters, Honeyblood and Shout Out Louds to my 2017 container playlist Carte Blanche Music. Even Skipper Wise, who scored his last (and only) hit Standing Outside In The Rain in 1990, is back with a beautiful new track.
As every Monday morning, you can find my favourites of this whole bunch – in alphabetical order – in Werner’s Weekly, below. The tags underneath this post indicate the variety you will experience while playing these songs. You can do this through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. For more information about any of the tracks, simply click the respective link. Enjoy!
- Sol Heilo – America (Wildcard this week)
- Calogero – 1987 (Wildcard last week)
- Frida Sundemo – Gold
- Girli – Hot Mess
- JohnnySwim – First Try
- Pacific – Life In Short
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a cd club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Charts.
