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Every week we roundup the best music news from the past week

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News Report

Download Festival line-up grows

News Report

Welcome to a bumper edition of our weekly music News Report! A plethora of festival announcements to get through this week, so let’s get start with Download Festival!

New additions this week included Skindred, SKYND, Dirty Honey, Kid Brunswick, The Velveteers and the incredible Yonaka.

They join a massive line-up headlined by Kiss, Iron Maiden and Biffy Clyro. Other highlights include A Day To Remember, Korn, Shinedown, Volbeat, Rise Against, The Pretty Reckless, Airbourne, The Darkness, Funeral For A Friend, Creeper, Boston Manor, Trash Boat, Holding Absence and many more.

Tickets and info here.

Read our review of Creeper live in London

Teenage Cancer Trust announce annual Royal Albert Hall shows

News Report

Incredible one off gigs in aid of a fantastic charity in an amazing venue. That’s the annual Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall.

This year acts include Don Broco, Yungblud, Madness, The Who, Liam Gallagher and Ed Sheeran.

Tickets are here.

Read our review of ‘Amazing Things’ from Don Broco

Community Festival to return to Finsbury Park

This week also saw the announced return of Community Festival to London’s Finsbury Park.

The bill will include Two Door Cinema Club, The Wombats, Nothing But Thieves, Circa Waves, Pale Waves, Kid Brunswick and more.

Tickets and here.

Read our review of ‘Fix Yourself, Not the World’ from The Wombats

Y Not Festival announce 2nd wave of acts

This week also saw Y Not Festival reveal their second wave of acts including Thursday headliners The Kooks!

Also added this week were Jake Bugg, The Hunna, We Are Scientists, Blood Red Shoes, The Mysterines, Noisy, Daytime TV, MarthaGunn and more.

They’ll join the likes of Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, Nothing But Thieves, Levellers, Pale Waves, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Black Honey, Yard Act, The Futureheads, Dream Wife, Beans On Toast, Lauran Hibberd, REWS and many more.

Tickets here.

Watch Beans On Toast on The Full Pelt Music Podcast

Slam Dunk Festival update line-up

Slam Dunk Festival updated their line-up this week following a couple of drop-outs. Joining the bill are Streetlight Manifesto, Stand Atlantic, Cassyette, MC Lars and more.

The event will also feature Sum 41, Alexisonfire, Neck Deep, Dropkick Murphys, Beartooth, The Used, Deaf Havana, Hot Milk, Cancer Bats, Nova Twins and many more.

Tickets are here.

Read our review of ‘Below’ from Beartooth

Splendour Festival adds second day

Nottingham’s Splendour Festival this week revealed the event will stretch to two days this year with acts including Richard Ashcroft, Supergrass, Razorlight, The Magic Numbers, Ocean Colour Scene and Happy Mondays.

Tickets are here.

Listen to The Full Pelt Music Podcast

New festival Wide Skies & Butterflies set for North Norfolk

A brand new music festival is heading to the Raynham Estate in North Norfolk. Taking place this August, Wide Skies & Butterflies will feature headline sets from The Vaccines, Hot Chip and James!

They’ll be joined by the likes of Editors, Everything Everything, Levellers, Scouting For Girls, Natalie Imbruglia, Toploader, Lauran Hibberd and MarthaGunn.

Tickets and info here.

Listen to our ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast

Gateways Festival reveals line-up

Our smorgasbord of festival goodness continues with Gateways Festival who revealed their line-up this week including headliners Jake Bugg and The Charlatans.

Also onboard for the event are The Subways, Ash, The Sherlocks, Dream Wife, Lottery Winners and many more.

Tickets and info here.

Read our review of The Subways live in Norwich

Suffolk gets new Festival

Suffolk also has a new festival to enjoy this August as At Ease debuts in Euston Park.

The event will feature Kaiser Chiefs, Jake Bugg, Happy Mondays, Natalie Imbruglia and more.

Tickets are here.

What’s your Origin Story?

News Report

The Wombats announce extra tour dates

We move our News Report on now to the latest tour announcements.

The Wombats this week announced a load of additional dates for their upcoming UK Tour.

Tickets are here.

Read our review of ‘Nothing’s On But Everyone’s Watching’ from Daytime TV

James Bay announces new tour

Also announcing new tour dates this week was James Bay who will be hitting the road this Spring.

Tickets are here.

Listen to our Spotify Hot List

Nick Alexander Memorial Trust shows featuring Pet Needs and more

The Nick Alexander Memorial Trust has revealed the NAMT On The Road tour for next month with headliners Pet Needs.

They’ll be joined at select shows by BERRIES, Ghosts of Men and Paul Henshaw.

Tickets are here.

Watch our ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast

Static Dress announce headline tour

The last tour announcement in our News Report is a hot one from Static Dress who will play a run of headline shows this April.

Tickets are here.

Listen to ‘sober exit(s)’ from Static Dress on our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist

News Report

Florence + The Machine return with ‘King’

Florence + The Machine – ‘King’

Our News Report turns now to the latest new releases and this week saw the return of Florence + The Machine.

You can listen to the new single, ‘King’, above now and stay up to date with what else is coming here.

Listen to ‘King’ on our Spotify Hot List

Bowling For Soup debut ‘I Wanna Be Brad Pitt’ and announce new album

Bowling For Soup – ‘I Wanna Be Brad Pitt’

Another band releasing new music this week was Bowling For Soup, who returned with new single ‘I Wanna Be Brad Pitt’.

That’s not it though, as the band also revealed that new album ‘Pop Drunk Snot Bread’ will arrive April 22nd!

Listen to the single above, and pre-order your album here.

Fatherson debut ‘Better Friend’

Fatherson – ‘Better Friend’

Fatherson continue to build towards new album, ‘Normal Fears’, which arrives April 1st with new single, ‘Better Friend’.

Speaking on the single, frontman Ross Leighton says, “”Better friend is about losing touch with people when you’re growing up and wishing you were better at staying in touch. Sometimes life gets in the way, but if the last few years has taught me anything life is better with the people you love.

It’s an anthem about friendship and an apology for letting it slip. It was the first song that I wrote for Normal Fears in my old bedroom in Kilmarnock and it really felt like the first normal fear I had going into the record. It became this reference point for melody and groove that the rest of the record built on.

I think everybody has felt a bit out of sorts before and gotten themselves into a space where they lose touch with people that are close to them. This song for me is a reminder to just get back in touch and start to rebuild. I love it!”

Listen to the track above and pre-order your album here.

Listen to ‘End Of The World’ from Fatherson on our Spotify Hot List!

Bob Vylan unveil ‘Health Is Wealth’

Bob Vylan – ‘Health Is Wealth’

One of the most important artists emerging over the last couple of years Bob Vylan have continued to preview their upcoming album ‘Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life’.

The album arrives April 22nd and can be pre-ordered here. Before then you can check out the latest single, ‘Health Is Wealth’ above.

Listen to ‘New England’ from Kid Kapichi & Bob Vylan on our Spotify Hot List!

News Report

Our final News Report section highlights our latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist.

‘THE ANGEL – LOUIS DUNFORD

North London singer/songwriter Louis Dunford shares brand new single ‘The Angel’ from his forthcoming second EP ‘The Popham’.

Speaking about the track Louis says: ‘I wrote this song about my home town. Anyone who’s lived in North London as long as I have will recognise the people and the places I’m talking about in the lyrics. Some that are still here and some that are not. It’s my family and friends favourite song I’ve ever written. Everyone’s London is different. I tried my best to capture ours’ .

‘GIVE IT TO ME’ – CLASSLESS ACT

Los Angeles rockers Classless Act will be joining huge tours with both Dorothy and the Motley Crue/Def Leppard/Poison/Joan Jett Stadium US Tour on their schedule. Check out recent single ‘Give It To Me’ on our Playlist.

IT’S ART’ – BLACKGOLD

Described as masked misfits bringing nu-metal vibes, the mysterious Blackgold emerged from the shadows this week with debut single, ‘It’s Art’.

Check out all tracks on our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist’, and remember to also check out our ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast wherever you listen to or watch your Podcasts. We have multiple Episodes coming this week and just talked with recent Playlisted acts Youth Illusion and Scruffy Bear!

Read our review of ‘A Mouthful Of Magnificent Spite’ from Salvation Jayne

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News Report

We roundup the best music news from the past week!

News Report

Every week we roundup the best music news from the past week in our News Report. To stay up to date with the biggest news be sure to follow us on our social channels:

New additions for Reading & Leeds Festivals

Reading & Leeds News Report

Welcome to another edition of our News Report, where we roundup the best music news from the past week. We start this week with festivals and the behemoth that is Reading & Leeds Festivals. The twin events take place in just two weeks!

This week organisers revealed that Dinosaur Pile-Up, Loathe and Holding Absence will join a bill already including Biffy Clyro, Liam Gallagher, Wolf Alice, Yungblud, Fever 333, Creeper, Wargasm, Bob Vylan, Yonaka, Boston Manor and Demob Happy.

Check here for more details.

Read our review of ‘American Noir’ from Creeper

Bloodstock Festival drop first 2022 names

Bloodstock Festival News Report

Bloodstock Festival this week revealed the first names for their 2022 edition, before the 2021 edition was even over!

Huge names on the bill include Lamb of God, Mercyful Fate, Testament, Bury Tomorrow, Static-X and Butcher Babies.

Tickets are here.

Read our review of Download Pilot Festival

Biffy Clyro head to Margate

Biffy Clyro have a busy summer lined up as they headline Reading & Leeds Festivals alongside shows in Cardiff and Glasgow. A new addition to their schedule is a special show at Dreamland in Margate which was announced this week.

More information on all shows here.

The Dead Daisies set for UK Tour

Rock collective The Dead Daisies are set for a UK Tour later this year. Announcing the tour, it was also revealed support will come from The Quireboys (except Cardiff).

Tickets from here.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes debut ‘Go Get A Tattoo’

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – ‘Go Get A Tattoo’ feat. Lynks

We turn to the latest new releases now in our News Report. The incomparable Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes this week debuted their latest single, ‘Got Get A Tattoo’ which features Lynks.

The track will feature on their upcoming album, ‘Sticky’, which you can pre-order here.

Hear ‘My Town’ from Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes on our Spotify Hot List!

Trivium unveil new single ‘Feast of Fire’

Trivium – ‘Feast of Fire’

American metal lords Trivium have this week unveiled their latest single, ‘Feast of Fire’ which you can check out above. The song comes ahead of their new album, ‘In The Court Of The Dragon’ which you can pre-order here.

Listen to ‘Feast of Fire’ on our ‘Hard & Heavy’ Spotify Playlist

Introducing the ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast!

At Full Pelt Music we are eager to put the spotlight on new music. We recently debuted our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist on Spotify where we feature some of the hottest fresh talent from across the globe.

Now, we are proud to announce the accompanying ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast! Yes, we’ll be talking to some of those bands being spotlighted by our Playlist.

You can find the latest episodes here, or catch the video edition here.

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Read our review of ‘Pressure Machine’ from The Killers

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News Report

We roundup the best music news from the past week!

Full Pelt Music News Report Weekly Roundup

Every week we roundup the best music news from the past week in our News Report. To stay up to date with the biggest news be sure to follow us on our social channels:

Reading & Leeds Festivals add 90 more bands and reveal stage splits

Reading & Leeds Festivals Lineups News Report

The August bank holiday weekend tradition that is Reading & Leeds Festivals just got a whole lot bigger. We start the News Report this week with news that the events have announced a further 90+ acts.

This year the events will feature two massive main stages and now the organisers have revealed the stage splits for each day. As has become the norm in recent years you can expect a pretty eclectic bill across the weekend with something for everyone.

Here are our picks for each day:

Friday will feature sets from main stage headliners Stormzy and Catfish and the Bottlemen plus Declan McKenna, Nothing But Thieves, Sam Fender, Sports Team, Demob Happy, Gallows, Boston Manor, Yonaka, Nova Twins and Wargasm.

Saturday will see performances from main stage headliners Post Malone and Disclosure plus The Wombats, Slowthai, I Don’t Know How But They Found Me, Fever 333, Creeper, Ho99o9, Cleopatrick and Bob Vylan.

Finally, closing out the Sunday will be main stage headliners Liam Gallagher and Queens of the Stone Age plus Wolf Alice, The Hunna, The Struts, Yungblud, Machine Gun Kelly, Gerry Cinnamon, Neck Deep and Hot Milk.

Tickets for the festivals flew out when the Government announced their roadmap, but you can check the events websites for more information:

Reading Festival / Leeds Festival

Read our review of ‘Let The Bad Times Roll’ from The Offspring

Royal Blood announce huge 2022 UK Tour

Royal Blood Tour Poster News Report

Royal Blood will be taking over eight of the UK’s largest venues for a huge UK Tour in 2022. The huge dates, which include a stop at The O2 in London, go on sale Friday 7th May here.

However, those that pre-order their new album ‘Typhoons’ from here, will get pre-sale access from Wednesday 5th May!

Read our review of ‘The Greatest Mistake of My Life’ from Holding Absence

Status Quo are once again hitting the road!

Status Quo Tour Poster News Report

The iconic Status Quo are once again hitting the road in 2022. The group will play 14 shows with special guests Flawes. To grab your tickets you’ll want to head over here.

Mason Hill reveal additional dates for their UK Tour

Mason Hill Tour Poster News Report

Mason Hill have added additional dates to their already massive UK Tour. Tickets to the tour are in high demand as the band will also be joined by Hollowstar and Empyre on select dates.

Pick up your tickets here.

Read our review of ‘The Battle at Garden’s Gate’ from Greta Van Fleet

Ash announce special Livestream celebration of ‘1977’

We conclude the live event section of the News Report with some exciting news from Ash.

The band has announced that they will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of their classic debut album ‘1977’ with a very special livestream event. Taking place on Saturday 5th June, tickets to the event can be found here.

Read our review of ‘Sweep It Into Space’ from Dinosaur Jr.

Wolf Alice premiere ‘Smile’

Wolf Alice – ‘Smile’

Wolf Alice are well and truly back. As we start the new music portion of our News Report, we start with their latest single, ‘Smile’. Premiered this week, the track continues to build anticipation for their upcoming third studio album.

‘Blue Weekend’ arrives on June 11th, and you can pre-order your copy now by heading here.

Listen to ‘Smile’ on our Spotify Hot List!

The Wildhearts ready new album

The Wildhearts – ’21st Century Love Songs’

Following their recent, highly successful, livestream event, The Wildhearts have now announced details of their new upcoming album. ’21st Century Love Songs’ will arrive September 3rd and can be pre-ordered here.

Gary Numan unveils ‘Now And Forever’

Gary Numan – ‘Now And Forever’

With the release of his latest album imminent, Gary Numan has unveiled it’s latest single ‘Now And Forever’. You can listen to the track above, and you can pre-order ‘Intruder’ here ahead of its May 21st release.

The Fallen State release ‘River’

The Fallen State – ‘River’

The Fallen State this week released the second single from their forthcoming new album ‘Between Hope And Disillusion’. You can check out the new track, ‘River’ here.

Wargasm unveil ‘Your Patron Saints’

Wargasm – ‘Your Patron Saints’

The incredible Wargasm have this week unveiled their latest single – ‘Your Patron Saints’. Check out the track here.

Wargasm have also announced a headline show at Camden’s Underworld on September 10th. Tickets will be available here.

Listen to ‘Your Patron Saints’ on our Spotify Hot List!

Full Pelt Music announces the launch of The Full Pelt Music Podcast!

To finish the News Report in style, we are proud to announce the launch of our very own podcast! Yes, The Full Pelt Music Podcast will debut on Monday 26th April 2021. Joining us on episode number one will be the one and only Frank Turner.

Be sure to follow us on Social Media for more news. The video podcast will debut here, so be sure to subscribe!

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Read our ‘Independent Venue Love’ feature

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Features

The Year in Review 2020

Photo by Expect Best from Pexels

Full Pelt Music looks back on 2020 for our Year in Review

What a year to pick to review. It’s been a year like no other and not for good reasons.

On a personal level as detailed within my first blog, ‘The Reluctant Blogger’, I was made redundant from a job I loved, just before Christmas and during a global pandemic! Not nice, but realistically I wouldn’t be writing this blog on this website if that hadn’t happened! The decision to return to writing about music also allowed me to take a look at the relationship between music and my mental health in ‘Mental Health, Music and Me’.

For the world it has been a year of pain, struggle and despair. From the fires of Australia to the flooding of the UK early in the year and now again just before Christmas; there has been no restpite in the year of the coronavirus. Unprecedented is the word of the year, but with Brexit and the ongoing pandemic looming large, the word for next year is probably uncertain.

Everybody has struggled this year, personally and professionally. This struggle is not limited to the music industry but our industry has struggled greatly. The live side of the industry is built on bringing people together and of course that has not been possible since March. The recorded side of the industry has also struggled with delays in recording, producing and distributing.

Recovery for the grassroots of the industry is far from guaranteed. The stark and sad reality is that many musicians and hard working crew members will have needed to have sought alternative employment and the actuality here is that many will never return to the music industry. The fact is many government schemes setup to alleviate the financial pressures on individuals and businesses simply bypassed these people.

Unfortunately the pandemic has also hastened the plight of many grassroots, independent music venues.  We have sadly already lost many venues and there are still many more at imminent risk of permanent closure. We have written extensively about the issues surrounding our industry in our blog ‘Why We Need To #SaveOurVenues’, and we encourage you to get involved in the initiatives highlighted.

This is of course a creative and innovative industry and through struggle we evolve. Much like the loss of my own job bred this website, the loss of touring and live shows has seen the evolution of the livestream. Many musicians have embraced technology and sought new ways to engage with their audiences. We have looked at the rise of this phenomenon in our blog ‘Livestreams: Good or Bad for the Music Industry’.

When looking back on 2020 in the future, the memories will fill everybody with dread. There has however been some fantastic musical highlights despite everything else. We recently revealed our Album of the Year in our ‘2020 Album of the Year’ blog; and the Top 20 list was highly competitive.

2020 has produced some incredible music and that’s where we are going to focus this end of year review. In order to celebrate the successes of a very difficult year we going to look at the following awards – Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Gig of the Year, Festival of the Year and Artist of the Year!

Album of the Year

As mentioned we recently listed our Top 20 Albums of the Year here. This was a highly competitive list as 2020 saw some truly phenomenal releases.

Full Pelt Music’s Top 20 Albums of 2020

We said “It has been a crazy year, and this list has been heavily influenced by that. As mentioned the top of this list is massively impacted by new music I heard during the height of the initial lockdown. ‘Ultra Mono’ was an album that I was already extremely excited to hear; and the stream of songs released during Lockdown only served to raise that excitement to a fever pitch.

Thankfully IDLES didn’t disappoint and when the album arrived it was a pure masterpiece. It shows a natural progression on the bands first two records and grows the bands sound. It still captures what made us all fall in love with the band but by incorporating new elements into the bands sound the album shows that IDLES are no one trick pony.

Above all other releases this year and those that feature in this list, this was the album that we needed this year. In a year where we have all been knocked down one way or another, IDLES and ‘Ultra Mono’ has been a call to arms, to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and keep going.”

WINNER: ‘Ultra Mono’ by IDLES

The Contenders: ‘A Hero’s Death’ by Fontaines D.C., ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’ by Bring Me The Horizon, ‘Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible’ by Enter Shikari, ‘A Celebration of Endings’ by Biffy Clyro, and ‘Sex, Death & the Infinite Void’ by Creeper

Single of the Year

It’s been a good year for both Bring Me The Horizon and Yungblud, with both releasing stunning new records. Yungblud recently hit the number one spot with ‘weird!’ which we reviewed here, and Bring Me The Horizon silenced their doubters with ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’ which we reviewed here.

It shouldn’t therefore be so much of a surprise that their collaboration together is our standout single of the year. Accompanied by an over the top video, ‘Obey’ is a rip roaring tale of corruption and brainwashing, so perfectly fitting for 2020!

WINNER: ‘Obey’ by Bring Me The Horizon feat. Yungblud

‘Obey’ – Bring Me The Horizon feat. Yungblud

The Contenders: ‘Model Village’ by IDLES, ‘Space’ by Biffy Clyro, ‘Trouble’s Coming’ by Royal Blood, and ‘Protect The Land’ by System Of A Down

Gig of the Year

I was lucky enough to catch some fantastic shows early in the year, you know BC (before Covid!), and Stereophonics, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Kaiser Chiefs and Fontaines D.C. all deserve special mention.

For my Gig of the Year however I’m again looking to the Covid era.

When life has drastically changed and you’ve been deprived of the opportunity to do something you love, you learn to savour those moments more. For me, as somebody that in 2019 attended some 93 gigs, the loss of live music was devastating. Of course, many people have endured much worse in 2020, particularly at the height of the initial national lockdown; for me however, I was just desperate for live music.

The opportunity to watch real, live music again thankfully emerged (if only for a short time) at the end of summer. Frank Turner lives by the moto “Always on Tour”, and he wasn’t going to let a global pandemic get in the way. An innovative location for a socially distanced gig was Nottingham Arboretum, basically a bandstand in a park. The result was a stunning if unusual setting for a gig which came to life when night fell and Turner serenaded the sold out crowd with his biggest hits.

A great supporting cast including Tash Bird, Holly Carter and Beans On Toast helped to make this show one to remember. The musicianship on show was fantastic, as was the togetherness and gratefulness of an audience desperate to once again forget life’s stresses and enjoy an evening of music. It was a powerful evening that brought tears to many an eye, and that’s why it wins our Gig of the Year award.

WINNER: Frank Turner @ Nottingham Arboretum (20/09)

Nottingham Arboretum

The Contenders: Stereophonics @ Kentish Town Forum (21/01), Kaiser Chiefs @ Brighton Centre (30/01), Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes @ Alexandra Palace (15/02), and Fontaines D.C. @ Norwich UEA (24/02)

Festival of the Year

The coronavirus pandemic completely obliterated the 2020 festival season, as early optimism that some festivals would survive was eventually swallowed whole by this horrible virus. With social distancing in place, festivals just were not possible. But didn’t I say that the music industry is the most creative and innovative industry? Whilst some promoters attempted to arrange socially distant shows, tours and festivals, few succeeded; with even Live Nation cancelling a huge programme of drive in shows.

I was lucky enough however to venture to two such festivals at the Norfolk Showground near Norwich. A mixture of entertainment was laid on in a specially designed arena with socially distanced ‘pods’ maintaining the necessary safety measures. Brickfest was a one day festival focussing on covers band with a handful of original acts like headliners Bad Touch thrown in. The day was a huge success given the circumstances, as was our 2020 Festival of the Year – Wild Fields Festival!

Wild Paths Festival debuted in Norwich last year with acts gracing venues across the fine city. This year the event embraced the outside arena and rebranded as Wild Fields Festival over two days was an eclectic line-up on offer. The first day featured great sets from many young artists including Lauran Hibberd, Indoor Pets, Another Sky and headliners Gengahr.

Even through the greatest adversity the power of the arts shines through and Wild Paths was a shining example of how to put on a safe, fun and thoroughly entertaining festival during a global pandemic.

WINNER: Wild Fields Festival

Brickfest at the Norfolk Showground, also host of Wild Fields Festival

The Contenders: Brickfest

Artist of the Year

Our final award is for Artist of the Year. In a such an unprecedented and difficult year this award is going to an act that has considerably contributed to making the year better. Fantastic new music has played a hugely positive role in improving a hard year. With this in mind that means that IDLES, Biffy Clyro, Enter Shikari, Bring Me The Horizon, Fontaines D.C. and Yungblud are all in the running for this award.

Beyond that however real live music when possible has been an even greater high than normal. As such Frank Turner enters the running as an act I somehow managed to catch live this year some four times including the aforementioned Gig of the Year.

But this year is different, new albums and live shows whilst normally the lifeblood of our industry almost feel insignificant when you look at the horrors witnessed across society, both inside and outside the music industry. One saving grace for many this year has been the arrival of the music livestream. A number of those already mentioned have dabbled if not excelled in this activity.

Our winner however has taken this new outlet to heart. They have provided joy and distraction to thousands of people during what must be a record setting number of livestreams. More than that, they have managed to raise an amazing amount of money for a cause I have already championed in this blog. That cause is of course the Save Our Venues campaign and our Artist of the Year is clearly that man again, Frank Turner!

In 2020, Frank Turner has probably played more real shows and more livestreams than anybody else. He has recorded and released new music including collaborations with NOFX and Jon Snodgrass. He has produced the fantastic new Beans On Toast record. He has thoroughly entertained and provided much needed distraction from the real world to thousands; and he has raised an incredible amount of money for charity.

In reality Turner deserves a medal, but what we can give him is our Artist of the Year award!

WINNER: Frank Turner

Artist of the Year – Frank Turner

The Contenders: IDLES, Biffy Clyro, Enter Shikari, Bring Me The Horizon, Fontaines D.C., and Yungblud

2020, a year we will all be hoping to forget very quickly, but there has been some great music released. All focus now however is on 2021 and those vaccinations. We hope that sooner rather than later we will be able to safely gather again in those venues and fields to watch our favourite artists in the flesh.

There will also likely be an avalanche of new music coming our way with artists having been isolated with their creatively for company. Let’s just hope that not every song is about lockdown!

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News Report

13th – 20th December 2020

Full Pelt Music – Weekly Music News Report

Ramblin’ Man Fair reveal Saturday Main Stage Lineup

Europe set to Rock The Night at Ramblin’ Man

Every year Ramblin’ Man Fair fills Mote Park in Kent with the finest rock n’ roll. They have now unveiled the main stage line-up for Saturday 17th July 2021 and it looks great! A very special acoustic set from Clutch promises to be a must see performance, plus also announced are Those Damn Crows and Monster Magnet.

With Special guests still to be announced the day is already looking packed with Europe set to close the night out. With Christmas upon us, don’t miss The Final Countdown for tickets here.

Steelhouse Festival Anniversary event gets bigger!

Steelhouse Festival just got bigger and better!

This week’s News Report is full of festival goodness as we all hope we can spend the summer rocking out in a field. So why not make up for lost time? The fantastic Steelhouse Festival have added four amazing bands to their already stacked anniversary event lineup, and it’s the weekend after Ramblin’ Man! Double-header anyone?

With Europe, Black Spiders, King Creature and Hands Off Gretel added to a line-up already including Anthrax, Therapy? and Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, Steelhouse are celebrating in style; and you can too by picking up your ticket here.

Burn It Down Festival reveal final lineup

Burn It Down Festival looks to be on fire!

Another festival completing its lineup this week is Burn It Down Festival, which is set to take over Torquay in September. The lineup looks like pure fire with the likes of Dinosaur Pile-Up, WSTR, Nova Twins, Vukovi and Wargasm all set to burn it down! Don’t waste any time, grab your tickets here.

Your City Festival is heading to Stoke-On-Trent

Your City announces line-up for May 2021

Another festival to unveil a brilliant lineup this week is Your City festival which is set for May 2021 in Stoke-On-Trent. The lineup already includes the fantastic October Drift, Hands Off Gretel and Salvation Jayne. You can join in the fun by grabbing your tickets here.

Skinny Lister return with 2021 Tour

Skinny Lister announce 2021 tour

The always enjoyable Skinny Lister are back with a new tour set for 2021. With a new album also on the horizon, be sure you pick up your tickets as soon as possible here.

Yungblud adds extra dates to UK Tour

Yungblud tour gets bigger!

We recently reviewed the new Yungblud album ‘Weird!’ (here), and told you that he was set for number one and world domination. Well, he already has that number one and now his tour is set to confirm his world domination. Thankfully for fans that tour has now gotten bigger! You really don’t want to wait on these tickets, which you can find here.

Bullet For My Valentine unveil ‘Venom’ spiced mead!

Bullet For My Valentine unveil ‘Venom’ spiced mead!

We finish this week with our latest installment of random band merch just in time for Christmas! Metallica Monopoly or You Me At Six Hot Sauce not for you? How about Bullet For My Valentine spiced mead? The metal titans have this week unveiled their own brand of spiced mead named ‘Venom’ and you can get yours here.

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Album Reviews

Yungblud

‘weird!’

Yungblud – ‘mars’

Yungblud, or Dominic Richard Harrison to his friends, has been on the cusp of world domination since the release of his debut album ‘21st Century Liability’ in 2018. Now it appears he is finally ready to take up that mantle. His second album ‘weird!’ came out on Friday and is a stunning piece of work that may well be recognised as his masterpiece when all is said and done.

From the opening notes of ‘teresa’, listeners are thrown headfirst into the captivating world of Yungblud. The album transcends genre as Yungblud manages to blend tender with ferocious and emerge with outright pop. The crossover appeal of this album will be huge with all ages and persuasions finding the content very accessible. Yungblud comes of age with this release and has set a very high standard for his future output to reach.

‘cotton candy’, ‘strawberry lipstick’ and the exceptional ‘mars’ build this party of an album perfectly to its middle section, which is absolutely packed with sing-a-long anthems such as ‘superdeadfriends’. It has to be said that ‘love song’ sounds like a huge anthem, and is a subtle change of pace together with ‘god save me, but don’t drown me out’ before the electric trio of ‘ice cream man’, ‘weird!’ and ‘charity’ raise the bar again.

As we get towards the albums finish we see Yungblud collaborate once again with Machine Gun Kelly to fantastic effect on ‘acting like that’. It’s then down to ‘it’s quiet in beverly hills’ and the prophetic ‘the freak show’ to close out this superb collection of music. With this release Yungblud has achieved that seemingly rare feat of actually living up to his enormous potential. Expect to see the name Yungblud everywhere from now on, and with music this good, deservedly so.

Categories
Album Reviews

Bring Me The Horizon

Post Human: Survival Horror

Bring Me The Horizon – ‘Obey’ with YUNGBLUD from ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’

“Bring Me The Horizon aren’t heavy anymore”.

If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard this said over the past five years, I’d definitely be able to buy a ticket to their 2021 tour. Well, based on ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’ that’s just what their critics need to do. Hopefully this would show them just how silly this statement is.

Bring Me The Horizon are a band that have constantly evolved throughout their career, and yes that means that not every song is a head banging, scream your lungs out belter. It doesn’t mean however that they have lost their teeth. This new EP takes the best elements from throughout their career and combines them in one stunning masterpiece of an album.

The release of ‘Ludens’ back in 2019 was lauded as a return to form and ‘Paradise Eve’ released mid-lockdown teased a heavy edge to this release. Even I’m surprised though as the band come straight out of the gates with the ruckus ‘Dear Diary’. ‘Paradise Eve’ and the Linkin Park tinged ‘Teardrops’ follow and by the time you reach the fantastically mad YUNGBLUD collaboration ‘Obey’ even the most disillusioned old school fan will have their foot stomping and their head banging.

There has certainly been a quirkiness to Bring Me The Horizons recent releases such as the much maligned ‘Amo’. On ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’ that quirkiness is embraced and even emboldened. The combination of ‘Itch for the Cure (When Will We Be Free?)’ and ‘Kingslayer’ featuring Babymetal is insane. Insanely good that is. I dare anybody not to have the chorus stuck in their head after listening.

‘1×1’, ‘Ludens’ and the curious Amy Lee collaboration ‘One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be in Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death’ close out this brilliant EP. It’s a relentless statement from the band from start to almost finish. ‘One Day…’ is an interesting choice to end on and is probably the weakest track on the EP when held in context of the EP. As a standalone piece of music however it’s an enjoyable if unexpected composition. Adding it to the end of this EP however has done both the song and the EP a disservice.

I very much doubt however that Bring Me The Horizon will care. This EP continues the evolution of a band very much willing to experiment and test the boundaries of their capabilities and their fans patience. Quite possibly this EP represents the most complete sample of the band to date and I for one cannot wait to witness the majesty of these songs live.