Hungry “The Jig”
Hungry, one of Manchester’s brightest rising acts, is out with a punk hit. “The Jig,” armed with buzzsaw noise gate and blood-boiling riffs. Raw vocals ripple with political head and heart. “The Jig” has something to say about corruption, dishonesty and embezzlement in the world, and it says it loud with no holding back. Fueled by machine gun rhythm and hard-hitting thoughtfulness, “The Jig” is a song of protest and a wake-up call in the shape of a sonic carnival.
“What has inspired the song? It’s 13 years of Conservative rule and a neoliberal orthodoxy that has given the UK a callout and self-righteous ruling class that views anyone beneath as overdramatic and lazy,” said Frontman Jacob Peck, who is also the mastermind behind “The Jig.” “It seems of late that the governmental system may be revealing itself, one of corruption, dishonesty, and embezzlement. In many ways, the lyrics call for a collective consciousness of that.”
Rebellions scream loud, but it screams at those who provide the reasons. Energetic, highly relatable, and more than ever captivating. “The Jig” puts Hungry at the top of the world while rooting for the underdogs. It makes sense that their music would take off in only a few months after the Cambridgeshire-native jam-kicking four-piece entered Manchester’s atmosphere. It’s stirring. It’s sweaty. It’s loud and disillusioned. They make your mind clearer and your heart pumping.
Led by Peck, the buzz-starting four-piece is complete by drummer Stan Rankin, guitarist Kit Thomas and bassist Jas Malig. “The Jig” is aided by producer Dean Glover, whose hands have blissfully touched cult punk legends such as The Membranes and Inca Babies. He captures the unbending energy of Hungry and gives them a juicy push full of edges and thrones.
Oddysseys “Enough”
With haunting soundscapes making a mood-filled atmospheric impression and mesmerizing melodies linger in your ears with a lingering aftertaste, “Enough” proves that Oddysseys can make you fall in love with your music before a song reaches its end. They draws you into a spiraling and deepening introspection with your heart wide open. Something scenic and impressionistic, but at the same time, emotional and raw. You can’t really escape the influence their music has on you even if you try. There’s just something very special about these guys that gets under your skin. ”Enough” is infectious and intoxicating at the least.
As a pioneer band, Oddysseys forge their own path, one show and one release at a time. In the past years, they have left a trace of musical breadcrumbs from basements, warehouses to legendary venues across the U.S. and Canada. In the past, they have ventured into noise-coiled angsty aggression and so have they explored the elements of grunge and psych, but never the same time until “Enough.” The single marks a new era for Oddysseys. They are at a crossroad of sounds. Breaking and forging.
Through the shattered, fluttering noise came the rasping soar, but then these sharp edged sounds twist and weave into soundscapes, blurring the scenes like sonic panting. The melodies are a mood and a state of mind. They are deep in an introspective and vulnerable space, while it’s also explosive and aesthetic. There are so many different things that organically happen in the music. It traces back to the emotions at core.
Even though dark and depressive in color, there’s heart in the sound, and that’s what makes Oddysseys’ music so relatable. Dug from the underground and brings to you with honesty. They give you storytelling inspired by life, and there’s no pretense or bullshit or whining in their music. Everything in there that’s so sharply contrasting or atmospheric or sad—it’s just life.
“Enough” is at core genuine and authentic to who Oddysseys are as musicians. Together with their next single “Music Video,” they are embracing the next grand journey through a 2-part EP in conjunction tion with U.S. and Canadian tours set in July and September.
Mort Jardin “Delay Decay”
Manchester-based post-punk psychedelic rock act, Mort Jardin shares a nightmarish new album. Bending the boundaries between genres, Delay Decay sees neo-psych swirling in the phantoms of jazz, swing and blues. Pieces and fragments of guitar dissolves into its impressionistic backdrop, composed of booming basslines and hypnotic drum loops. The duality of capture and escape then forms a sonic maze in the deeper dimension of Delay Decay.
As an artist, Jardin never fails to challenge and outdo what he has previously achieved. Delay Decay sees the artist masterfully leveraging his unique sonic instinct while orchestrating an even more complicated soundscape. The track swings between poetry and dream, surreality and disobedience. Psychedelic, but piercingly brutal.
The entire track list compresses of lead track “Soaked in Fever,” “The Logician,” “A Strange Nostalgia,” “Fried Ground,” “When You Are Around,” “Slow Thaw,” “Coastline,” and “Wake Up Marty.”
Check out the new album here:
Street Legal “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow”
“Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow” dives into the subject of nostalgia and reflect on people recalling the good old days through rose-colored glasses. Change evokes nostalgia. In the neon-infused, retro-enriched sonic storytelling, “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow,” just like its piercing title, spares no more words and tackles the highly relatable feeling of nostalgia with Street Legal’s impressionistic, minimalistic execution.
The track opens with a retro groove humbly laced with hazy psychedelic. The blend of synth and rock creates an illusive, alluring soundscape that breathes and shifts along the lyrics. The drums lead the hearts, tuning to the beating and rhythm of a lost decade. There’s a reawakening of feelings covered in dust, traveling across time into your ears.
“Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow” feels like a poetry in the sonic form with words that act the same way our memory does—like a snapshot, the recall of sense, subject, change, and taste. Like when you close your eyes, part of you travels back. But just like the body that stands in the present, its sonic palette is also fresh and exciting.
“Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow” is the debut release from Street Legal. The band teases more new music coming the way and an Australia tour, which will kick off in October. Check out our interview with the band and stay tuned!
Punk Head: I love the groove and the unique sonic palette of “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.” Can you tell us a bit more about the song?
Street Legal: Thank you! It’s a song about growing older and perhaps getting caught up too much in nostalgia—e.g the end of the millennium being the perfect decade to grow up in many people’s minds, when really there were probably things that people were just as anxious or fucked up about back then.
PH: What was your favourite moment in making the music video?
Street Legal: I really enjoyed working with Kris and Harry on bringing their vision to life—the only inspiration or cue I gave them was from a Protomartyr video I really liked and they went from there. I like how the film clip slowly descends into madness.
PH: What do you aim to accomplish in the near future?
Street Legal: The band have been working with engineer Colby Robertson who has worked with a variety of Adelaide bands on a new single which will come out with a film clip later in the year. Then hopefully an interstate tour. Australia is a very big place!
PH: Who are your biggest inspirations?
Street Legal: LCD Soundsystem, Icehouse, Kirin J Callinan. Lately we’ve been listening to Weyes Blood, Coldwave and Ice Spice.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
Street Legal: There will be no refunds available from the concession stand.