Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the fourth issue now for free!
Volume four includes an update from cover starsĀ Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, reviews ofĀ new albums from Black Stone Cherry and King Nun, a live review of Theory of a DeadmanĀ plus a special feature on the upcoming Ash vs The Subways tour!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases fromĀ Neck Deep, Within Temptation, Europe, Lake Malice, Filth Is Eternal, NervosaĀ andĀ Sum 41!
Plus new live announcements fromĀ Yard Act, James, Nothing More, VUKOVI, LynksĀ andĀ The Longest Johns.
Finally, we round up the latest additions to ourĀ āDiscoverā New Music PlaylistĀ withĀ Spiritual Cramp,Ā Butterfly HurricaneĀ andĀ Grove Street!
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
This week we begin with the best live announcements from the past week and up first are Skindred!
Coinciding with the release of their new album, ‘Smile’, the group revealed details of three new live dates set for next March. These dates are punctuated by a headline show at the historic Wembley Arena.
Regarding headlining Wembley Arena for the first time, singer Benji Webbe says: āStanding on that stage is a mark of sheer hard work.We have stood upon that stage supporting many truly great acts. Now itās Skindredās time to take the headline slot.You may think youāve seen us, however this is our opportunity to rise, and to step up like never before!My Sound we come to take over and truly come to rock Wembley with a heart full of gratitude and a set full of the most rockinā tunes that we have ever played live. Unity, love and togetherness. Letās āave it. Quadruple XL.ā
This week also saw Simple Plan announce details of a new EU/UK Tour which will begin in January next year!
Support on all dates comes from Mayday Parade and State Champs.
Drummer Chuck Comeau shares, āWeāre super excited to be coming back to Europe and the UK early next year! After an amazing arena tour with our good friends Sum 41 last fall and some incredible festival shows this spring, weāre thrilled to come back on our own headlining tour, playing full shows for our UK and Euro fans all over the continent.ā
āItās gonna be great to play a bunch of new songs from our latest album āHarder Than it Looksā as well as all the fansā favourites from our early records. We might even throw in a few jams we rarely play live to celebrate, as 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the band and the 20th anniversary of our second album,āStill Not Getting Anyā!.
Weāre stoked to bring our friends State Champs and Mayday Parade with us, two fantastic bands that we and our fans love! This is probably one of the strongest UK / European tour line-up weāve ever put together and we canāt wait for it to kick off next year!ā
This week saw Muncie Girls share news of their split. Thankfully the group will treat fans to one final Farewell Tour later this year!
The band shared, “After nearly 13 years, a demo CD, a demo tape, three 12ā EPs, three 7ā singles, a 12ā split record and two albums, weāre saying goodbye to our band Muncie Girls. We started this band when we were 17 and the biggest goal we could muster up was to release a 7ā single. We ended up doing more things and going to more places than we could ever have imagined. We were lucky to be from a town with such a brilliant music scene and venue, the Cavern, and I remember how it felt to travel to so many cities and discover other scenes just like ours.
The community we found ourselves a part of was so special and really became our lives. If it werenāt for the kindness of total strangers putting on shows for us, feeding us and letting us stay at their houses, we would never have been able to do any of the things that weāve done. We were even once temporarily adopted by a family in Texas when we went to play SXSW and they baked us cherry pie and drove us to our gigs. We were taken on a tour around Australia by complete strangers who became some of our best friends. We went to Japan after some strangers offered to book us a tour and we travelled around on trains and borrowed local bandsā gear, guitars, everything. We spent most of our time touring in mainland Europe where we made friends for life, playing in squats, venues, gardens, bunkers, wherever.
I often heard stories of bands having to sleep in their vans or in parks or service stations. We always had somewhere to stay, no one ever let us sleep rough. I know we were incredibly lucky and we have our scene and our friends and fans to thank for that. Weāve relied so much on peopleās kindness; I hope that we were always grateful enough.
Weāve decided to do a farewell tour and we hope that youāll join us at a show. Muncie Girls will always be a massive part of our lives and we will each always play music, just in different projects now. Thank you everyone!”
Stockholm trio, Normandie, have today returned with, āBlood In The Waterā, their first new music since 2021ās āDark & Beautiful Secretsā album.
Speaking of the track, frontman Philip Strand says, āBlood In The Water is about how “hurt people, hurt peopleā, how negativity is contagious and how it can lead people into negative spirals, where they unknowingly hurt the ones around them.ā
‘Dark & Beautiful Secretsā subject matter drew heavily from Philipās religious childhood, as the band moves into a new era, ‘Blood In The Water’ touches on that a little and acts as the perfect bridge.
āEven though i left the church at a very young age, I was raised with the belief that every person is born with a clean slate, and then our experiences and traumas form us as people. I’ve always seen hurtful people as damaged, sad and maybe even wrongfully judged by their behaviour, rather their past. Nobody was born evil, it’s something we pick up along the way and usually comes from pain and suffering in some way.
With this song, i wanted to get into the mind of the hurtful/hurt person and try to understand their behaviours and patterns. “Love me til my heart stops, hit me like a freight truck” is one of my favourite lines. Iām positioning love as a drug, with the personās tolerance building, leading them to seek being really blown away by their feelings, to cover the pain inside.ā
Haunt The Woods have shared their new single, ‘Now Is Our Time’, which you can check out above.
The track comes from upcoming new album, ‘Ubiquity’, which is released on September 29th.
The band comment: “Written during the global lockdown, ‘Now Is Our Time’ is an angered proclamation of the struggle to sustain oneself in this modern world. Forced to sell our lives by the hour in order to survive, without security or peace of mind and without a feasible alternative.
“Now is the time for change, and the only way for change is to come together against the oppressive, archaic system we find ourselves living in.”
This week saw Delaire The Liar share new single, ‘angel number.’, which you can check out above!
The track will feature on upcoming new EP, ‘Self Defence’, which is set for release on September 1st.
Speaking on ‘Self Defence’, the band said: āIn the throes of desperation, there’s no telling the lengths a person will go to preserve themselves or their loved ones. This EP presents a series of fictional scenarios to challenge the typical understanding of self defence. The usual themes surrounding the topic are present; antagonism, violence, action and reaction, but with a focus on the more drastic instances that require a less reflexive and more considered approach. Instances that require a deeper understanding of the self, emotional capacity for pain, physical capacity for punishment, moral detachment and sacrifice for the benefit of yourself or someone else. This EP explores whether there is any defence too drastic or too difficult to justify when love, pride and responsibility is involved.ā
Grove Street are next up in our News Report with their latest single, ‘Ulterior Motives’, which you can of course check out above!
The single is the latest taste of their upcoming debut album, ‘The Path To Righteousness’, which is out on September 29th.
“Ulterior Motives is a song that goes through the motions of someone who is stuck in a toxic and abusive relationship with someone or something – be it a partner, friend or substance, or even a vice like gambling – and cannot find a way out. They keep getting pulled back into the situation at hand; theyāre in love, addicted, and canāt see the impact of damage thatās being done to them, because theyāve got rose tinted glasses on.
The second verse changes focus from the relationship/addiction itself to how people around that person turn a blind eye to whatās going on, because itās easier for many to just play ignorant to issues than to call it out or address it, which in turn just enables the problem to manifest further.
The outro finds the person coming to the realisation that theyāre better off out of the relationship/addiction, and in order to live a better life they gotta move on.
Musically this is one of our favourite tracks on the record, I feel like it captures our sound as a whole perfectly; from the bouncy hip-hop inspired grooves in the intro that lead into the thrash feel. The outro is personally my proudest part of the record, I remember writing that and being so surprised with myself – like, where the fuck did that come from!!” – Sandy (guitars)
“The Ulterior Motives video started life as a ‘Tour Survival Guide’ skit imagined by Sully (vocals). We were spitballing ideas in the van about all the trials and tribulations we’ve faced being in a touring band, reminiscing about all the previous funny ventures weāve experienced together. Most of these skits are based on true stories, like the time our van got clamped in Slovenia and Joe (bass), using nothing but brute force, managed to rip it off. We hope that other bands can relate to our experiences, and itāll also give people an insight into the touring lifestyle.” – Josh (drums)
Sydney Sprague has shared new single, ‘Nobody Knows Anything’, which you can check out above.
The tracks features on new album, ‘Somebody In Hell Loves You’, which is out September 15th.
āWhen I started writing songs for this record during covid lockdown it felt like the movie had ended and the credits had rolled on life but we were all still here for some reason,ā explains Sydney going into the process of recording the new album.
āEverything was just floating in this void and because of that I felt like I had all the time in the world to just do whatever I wanted. It was weirdly the freest I’ve ever felt. Writing became a way to entertain myself and make myself laugh instead of a way to wallow. I spent a lot of time reflecting on the past and the people around me and processing things Iād never been able to. I was able to be more honest than Iād ever been in my songs. The fact that I’m able to share them now feels a little scary because when I was writing them they were really just for me, but I hope they can bring people the same sense of escape that they brought me.ā
Lewis continues, āThe animated music video (by Studface Productions) was influenced by āone flew over the cuckooās nestā and is set in an old rundown insane asylum. This is the archaic perception of mental health and we wanted the video to symbolise that society has thankfully escaped those outdated ways of thinking and the band are rescued by an unlikely hero; Atticus T. Mouse.ā
Danish newcomers Cold Culture present you with their infectious new single āDownfallā
“Downfall is about when the person you need the most is being distant, in a difficult time in your life. A lot of feelings and thoughts go through people, when theyāre unsure of what they want, which can lead to mistakes, and misunderstanding.” – Mads Zelasny (Vocalist)
Tribe of Ghosts – ‘HIVE’
Brightonās Industrial / Post Metal band Tribe Of Ghosts have today shared a brand new single titled āHIVEā.
āWhen we were writing Hive, we felt that we were at a point where we understood our sound and what we wanted to create. With this in mind, we wanted to craft a song that sets the scene of the world that we build with our music, that explores the electronic and the organic, and declares our intent of giving into the chaos that oozes out of us on stage and in the writing process.” – Guitarist Adam Sedgwick.
Our News Report now looks at the best new releases from the past week and up first are Greta Van Fleet.
The group this week debuted new single, ‘Farewell For Now’, which you can check out above.
The single comes from upcoming new album, ‘Starcatcher’, which is out on July 21st.
āOn āFarewell For Nowā we express the sentiment of our longing to stay on stage and savourĀ the magic created by the audience-music phenomena,āĀ notes bassist Sam Kiszka.Ā āBut we must pack up and go to the next place to do it all over again; as always, weāll be back soon.ā
Ahead of new album, ‘I Inside The Old Year Dying’, PJ Harvey has shared new single, ‘I Inside The Old I Dying’, which you can check out above.
The album is set for releases on July 7th, and to celebrate Harvey has revealed new tour dates.
On the single PJ Harvey says:Ā āThis delicate and beautiful song eluded us until the very last day in the studio. Over the previous five weeks we had tried so many times to capture it and failed, and/but then John reinvented the feel of the guitar pattern. Ā As he was demonstrating it in the control room, Flood handed me a microphone and pressed record whilst I sat next to John trying to work out how to singĀ toĀ it. The result somehow captures the ethereal and melancholic longing I was looking for.
In the lyric everyone is waiting for the savior to reappear ā everyone and everything anticipates the arrival of this figure of love and transformation.There is a sense of sexual longing and awakening and of moving from one realm into another ā from child to adult, from life to death and the eternal.ā
This week saw K.Flay announced that new album, ‘Mono’, will be released on September 15th.
Accompanying the news was new single, ‘Shy’, which you can check out above.
On the single, K.Flay says, āIn my music, Iām so comfortable being loud and brazen, but in my personal life, I can be a bit shy. Especially when it comes to romantic relationships. I wrote this song after Iād just met my (now) girlfriend. And I sent it to her out of the blue. I guess I only know how to flirt through songs? It worked though. Ā āDave Hammer produced this one and he and I have this crazy energy between us. I think when we get together to make music we’re able to disregard the ‘shoulds’ and be purely creative together. A lot of the guitar parts were just freestyle takes, us messing around,Ā but there was a wildness to them that hit us both in the right places.āĀ
On the album, āI started making this record as a person with two working ears. I finished it with only one and this is also the first record for which, from start to finish, I was sober. Ā āMONO is about navigating loss, about looking your aloneness in the eye and deciding not to drink or vape or have sex or watch a television show, but to stand there and accept it, to understand its power. There is only one person on this earth with your mind, your creativity, your perspective. You’re a first and last pressing, a 1 of 1, and 1 is a scary number, but life is scary and funny. And sad. And beautiful. I hope this record is a reminder of that, and how we are all experiencing our aloneness together.ā
Our News Report continues with new music from former The Temperance Movement frontman Philip Seth Campbell.
This week Campbell debuted new single, ‘Magical West’, which you can check out above.
Campbell has announced that his new album, ‘City Lights’, will be released on September 1st and a UK Tour will take place later this year.
Support for the tour comes from Alice Faye.
Speaking of the new record, Campbell explains: āāCity Lightsā is everything I know. The album flowed naturally, each song informing the next. Itās half new songs and half older unfinished pieces. Iāve been writing it since I was 16, all through my 20s and my years in London, through moving home to The Temperance Movement, touring, resting and having a family.ā
Speaking of his varied career and the bumpy road heās traversed to get to this point, Campbell adds:Ā “A new band here, a new project there, a change of direction again and again until, suddenly there was calm and the time to think. In a small studio just outside Glasgow, with pictures of Bowie, Jagger, Neil Young and Tom Waits, I recorded an album about my whole life. I had no desire to shed my skin. I was perfectly comfortable in it for the very first time.āĀ
‘Discover’ New Music Podcast alumni James and the Cold Gun have shared their latest single, ‘Bittersweet’, which you can check out above.
The track features on upcoming their self-titled debut album, which is out on July 21st.
Speaking on the album, frontman James Joseph says, āWe can’t wait to get this album out into the world, it’s a no frills rock and roll ripper recorded ourselves in the garage where we first started jamming as a band, we think it’s a great introduction to what we’re about at our core, loud, energetic guitar rock…ā
Grove Street share, ‘The Path to Righteousness’, the title-track of their debut album.
“The Path to Righteousness represents and explores escapism & the importance of having outlets or vices to help forget about the struggles of life, and the paradoxical irony of how escaping every day life improves every day life,” says guitarist Sandy.
While drummer, Josh, adds, āthe track itself came together pretty organically in the practice room. I remember listening to Suicidal Tendencies and Power Trip at the time and wanted to capture a hybrid of groove and fast thrashy vibes. We wanted the last section to build and then finish strong and heavy. The repetitive vocal hook was added last minute in the studio, but it fast became my favourite part!āĀ
Rituals – ‘Living Blind’
Rituals share their new single, ‘Living Blind’.
On the track, the band says:
āThe release of Living Blind feels like a turning point inĀ Rituals. Lyrically based on the lack of awareness for others issues, problems and grief. Living in a world in which people only take and fail to give to one an another. With our debut Download Festival performance, tours in the UK and Ireland andĀ our biggest ever sold-out headline in Newcastleā¦There’s never been a better time for the band to be releasing this track.ā
Any Given Sin – ‘Cold Bones’
Any Given Sin share ‘Cold Bones’ from debut album, ‘War Within’.
As a military vet often faced with the horrible news of duty’s permanent scars, frontman Victor Richie dug deep inside himself for the lyrics. “I wrote it by myself on the piano,” he recalls. “I was in the military for seven years, and I had a lot of friends commit suicide. We lost too many of our buddies in Iraq and Afghanistan. This song is about those people, but it could be for anyone who has lost a friend under similar circumstances.”
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
Up first this week is the latest news from Download Festival who this week added additional bands whilst also confirming the stage splits for each day.
The Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot headlined event will also now feature the likes of State Champs, Puscifer, Hundred Reasons, Static Dress, Cancer Bats and more.
Following the announcement of new album, ‘Starcatcher’, last week, this week has seen the news that Greta Van Fleet will be back out on tour later this year.
The UK will see the band tackling arena shows in London, Manchester and Glasgow with support from Mt. Joy.
Our News Report continues with Atreyu who have also announced when they will return to the UK. Alongside their EU tour the band will play a run of eight dates in the UK this November.
Continuing the theme of bands announcing their return to the UK, Danko Jones have revealed a full EU and UK tour for this Autumn that will finish at the Garage in London.
We segue our News Report now from tour announcement to new music as Dream Wife unveiled both this past week.
As the group get ready for the release of new album, ‘Social Lubrication’ on June 9th, they’ve set up a full UK tour set to take place in October.
Support for the tour will come from Ash Kenazi.
The band also had more new music on offer with new single, ‘Orbit’, which you can check out below.
Dream Wife – ‘Orbit’
On the single the band explain, āWritten through the joy of jamming together and locking into the groove like a multi limbed space age organism, Orbit has a dance rock edge from the early noughties of bands like New Young Pony Club and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Lyrically, it was inspired by post-lockdown London coming back to life and sharing a space through friendship and community. And how each day you never know whatās in store for you or how a stranger can become someone close to you – for a day, a heartbeat, a phase, or a lifetime.ā
Next up we have Skindred who have this week shared their new single, ‘If I Could’, which you can check out above.
The track comes from new album, ‘Smile’, which is out on August 4th.
Frontman Benji Webbe recalls that the track was inspired by lockdown and how much he hated 2020 and the effect it had on the world. āOn the other hand, 2023 is a different story,ā he says. āWeāve released new music and weāre still to drop another few monsters from our album āSmileā. Weāve got the KISS tour coming, and weāve also got our headline tour supporting the new album. So 2023, to me, looks like a very exciting time to be in Skindred. Iām very optimistic about the future!ā
The Amity Affliction debut ‘Not Without My Ghosts’
The Amity Affliction – ‘Not Without My Ghosts’
This week also saw The Amity Affliction release their latest single, ‘Not Without My Ghosts’, which features Phem, and you guessed it – you can check it out above!
The new album of the same name will be out on May 12th.
It was a big week for James and the Cold Gun as they announced that their self-titled debut album will arrive on July 21st!
Accompanying that announcement was new single, ‘Something to Say’, which you can check out above.
Speaking on the album, frontman James Joseph says, āWe can’t wait to get this album out into the world, it’s a no frills rock and roll ripper recorded ourselves in the garage where we first started jamming as a band, we think it’s a great introduction to what we’re about at our core, loud, energetic guitar rock…ā
Another band approaching the release of their debut album is Militarie Gun who will release, ‘Life Under The Gun’ on June 23rd!
This week the group shared the latest single from them ahead of that album. You can check out ‘Very High’ above.
The record is inextricably linked to Sheltonās past. āI grew up in a household with family members struggling with addiction,ā he explains. āIt was an oppressive force. We were always wondering, āIs it going to be a good day or a bad day? Are the cops going to come today? What am I going to come home to after school?’ā
On the album, āThis is what I thought we sounded like all along,ā Shelton laughs. āItās always felt like a melody-forward band to me, but I think now weāre finally achieving what I was always setting out to do.ā
Willie J Healey has shared his latest single, ‘Little Sister’, which you can listen to above.
The track features on upcoming album, ‘Bunny’, which is due for release August 25th.
Willie says āThe whole era is something that I love. Long before making āTwin Heavyā, I had always listened to funk, soul and R&B, but for some reason it never translated into my own music. Really my inspiration was just the feel of things.āā
He goes on to say about āLittle Sisterā specifically “We recorded it in New York, just one take, it was magical. I remember spending a couple of hours learning and messing around with it and then it was done. I really just enjoy playing music that makes you feel really good.ā
Lottery Winners – ‘Letter To Myself’ feat. Frank Turner
Lottery Winners had more music to share this with as they debuted their new single, ‘Letter To Myself’, which features Frank Turner. You can listen to the track above.
The band are set for the release of their new album, ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’, on April 28th!
With just a month to go until their debut EP ‘Youāre Welcome’, out 19th May, Lambrini Girls share new single āLads Lads Ladsā about toxic masculinity.
“In order to be a lad, make sure to follow the following guidelines: excessive drinking, harassing anyone with a pulse and starting fights. Most importantly, make sure to never talk about your feelings as this simply cannot be associated with manliness. Lad culture is the shit stain on the bathroom floor and toxic masculinity is the toilet paper that refuses to unstick from the shoe of society. Nobody wins.” says the band.
headcage – ‘false gold’
Alternative Post-Hardcore band headcage have shared their brand new single āfalse goldā.
āWith this track Iām trying to lay down the premise of always wanting more from life, as in wealth, status or fame but ultimately realising the people and culture that those things predominantly exist in are not the world I come from or identify with in any way, shape or form. To put it simply, it’s something Iāve always wanted for so long, and is also something I hateā. – Vocalist, Leyum Pattinson.
Grove Street – ‘Lessons of the Past’
Recently signed to UNFD, get yourselves acquainted with Grove Street via recent single, āLessons of the Pastā!
āGrove Street becoming a part of UNFD felt like it was meant to happen,ā says guitarist Sandy. āA label that fully believes in us and wants to nurture our growth as a band is a rare thing to be seen. This band started out as fun between friends, we never had any expectations of reaching the levels we have and with UNFD behind us we can push those levels even further.ā
Speaking of the track, the band share, āLessons of the Past focuses on police brutality, abuse of power, systemic oppression and racism. People not taking a stand against these things only encourages them to manifest further, and we as people must do better to hold those in power accountable.”
