It has taken East Anglian alt-rock trio Jukebox Monkey six long and traumatic years to follow up the momentum created by their decisively emphatic debut album, but its final release is one which emphasizes the band’s determination to continue creating music, albeit in a darker, more reflective manner, as emphasized by this release’s singularly declarative and reflective title.
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One of Monk’s greatest regrets as a music fan, first and foremost, and journalist, is that he never managed to get around to seeing the double-denim clad powerhouse that was Status Quo live and in the flesh. Not that it wasn’t for the lack of opportunity… all through the dark years when many acts refused to play our home city of Belfast, the Quo popped up more often than pimples on a teenager’s cheek, playing virtually every venue which still had electricity running… but, somehow, despite their ’12 Gold Bars’ being one of the first compilation albums he bought with his hard-earned pocket money, the boss man never made it to a show, hence the reason why he has to rely on the likes of this, the first in a series of curated archive recordings coming our way over the coming months to remind us of the potency of a band who lived for playing live (sic)…
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After the break-up of The bEAT in 1983 Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger decided to continue working together in a new venture which became General Public. They only managed two albums – 1984’s ‘…All The Rage’ and ‘Hand to Mouth’ two years later, both of which enjoyed greater success in the Ünited States than in their home country. This week sees both albums get a re-issue on vinyl for the first time since the original 1980s pressings, as Jim R now explains…
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According to our newest recruit, Scottish four-piece She Burns Red find not only their sound, but their messages of self-empowerment and togetherness on their self-released first album ‘Out of Darkness’, available 15 September. Following their earlier EP, ‘Take Back Tomorrow’ in 2020, a Kickstarter campaign making this newest offering possible, and myriad personal challenges amid the Covid lockdowns, ‘Out Of Darkness’ takes us on the emotional journey and sets its resolution to these nine punchy, energetic tracks of quintessential guitar rock, as young Georgia now explains…
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There have been some last minute changes to the line-up for this weekend’s sold-out Steelhouse festival.
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