Let Me Downs
Broken Promises Felony Records Based in Washington, the emo-punk trio Let Me Downs are almost ready to release this year’s high-energy new album. Their 2000’s punk rock sound carries the flame into 2025 and ensures the genre and sound maintain their effectiveness on the dancefloor and on the stereo. To kick off the party the band provide us with the second single from the record, Broken Promises. It follows on from December’s One More Round that no-doubt put a bit of festive cheer on the playlist even when it’s based on punk rock. With a lyric video made by the superstar film-producer Matt Powell and cream cameraman Doug Reimer, Broken Promises shunts a dose of nostalgia and emotional intelligence into the airwaves. An upbeat melodious guitar riff opens the tune with a solitary instrument. The band joins in after the first round of the melody, chords bump up the energy and the drums and bass thrash out the quick-paced rhythm. An evolution of the notes then churns the music in a rotation of chugging palm-muted and melodic breakdowns. Lyrics enter just as the music becomes whole, the guitars finding a new pattern that takes the progression into new dimensions. A voice full of feeling takes a full-frontal assault to the lyrics, extreme emotional projection gives way to class musicianship as the scale always hits the mark. I don’t think many people can pull it off, but that’s why these are the pros. It feels like it’s 1999 and we’re listening to that brand new sound, INXS and Blink 182 with a bit of Megadeth in there to make it kick. Great stuff. You can get the music by Let Me Downs on Bandcamp Follow Let Me Downs on TikTok and Facebook For your consideration: Punk Women: 40 Years of Musicians Who Built Punk Rock 
pMad
Feed Galway The independent post-punk and gothic rock solo artist Paul Dillon returns as soon as the year begins with his latest single Feed. Known as pMad, he produces rampaging riff-based compositions that drip with shadow and etherealism. On the heavy side, with a dose of loud we usually find in hardcore bands, pMad makes up for his musical solitude with a wall of sound Donald Trump would be envious of. Speaking of politicians, Feed is about how a world of war, poverty, disease, one-upmanship, and mistrust means that our souls are being starved of everything they need to grow. The song offers an escape, into ourselves, where we can create a dreamworld that nourishes the soul from within. Sounds like it’s worth a listen. Atmospheric synthesiser launches the music forward. Delicate guitar plucks span chord shapes as the drumming builds across soaring notes of blues. pMad sings with his gothic inspired voice. A poetic dream sensation crafts itself over the music as it builds gradually across progressive bars. It surges with mathematical clarity, breaking free from chains the song begins to fill spaces before unknown and create new boundaries to gracefully overcome. A lyrical tragedy with a carefree element of free-flowing guitar, the juxtaposition of aesthetic comes together to make a great sounding rock song. You can buy the music from pMad on Bandcamp You can follow pMad on Facebook X and TikTok PS. Are you a ROX Star? Claim your free tokens and earn interest. 
The Chameleons
Second Skin Live At The Camden Palace Some gigs are so memorable that they get played over and over. The band in their peak, the crowd filled with the excitement of their trending new album, the crackle of the electronics, it all adds up to an experience to be lived on repeat. Breaking the UK music scene in 1981 with their debut, The Chameleons shot to fame in the post-punk and pop music scene as their sound captured the spirit of the moment and dictated the future progression of the fashion. A plethora of post-punk and melancholy pop bands emerged during this time, with The Chameleons being one of the big names that made it to the top of the festival poster where ever they performed. Their iconic show at London’s Camden Palace has been put to limited edition vinyl in a brand-new pressing that captures the night in its entirety. To entice the fans to invest in this beautiful set of records, the final 4th side consists of tracks recorded in Barcelona at their phenomenal 1985 Arsenal gig. The middle 80s Mancunian sound is always relevant with aspects of rock and soul mixing with angsty sentiments that resonate with the youth and their contemporaries. The drum fill brings out a wave of guitar that’s buffeted by reverb and chorus, encapsulating the classic post-punk sound. The riff builds the emotional scene, as a scale of introspective notes casts a shadowy light over the room. The lyrics begin, a despairing timbre to the voice lends a spooky and melancholy edge to the music. An upbeat hypnotism meets downswings of feeling as the dramatic delivery casts tragic serenades through choice melodies. Live energy fizzes through the crowd as the song progresses into a well-known chorus. The band release their mojo with a musical escape from the formula and the structure shifts along with the vocal key. A swaying energy of momentum barrages the room as the story continues, intensity rises and a free-floating moment takes the air away in a rush of realisation. A surge of passion and emotional projection brings everything back down to the ground as the band fills the space with the roar of distorted chord progression. A post-punk opera condensed into 6 and a bit minutes of pure feeling, Second Skin from The Chameleons comes alive in Camden. Merch, merch, merch Any vinyl left? Check on Moochin' About Records' Bandcamp Find out more on The Chameleons' website Follow The Chameleons on Facebook and X Finally, you have the sounds but you need the look. Support this journal by using the code WELCOME at checkout for 10% off. Retro and Vintage Fashion. And here is the full live show from The Camden Palace. 
Morlocks
The S.N.A.F.U. Principle v3.0 Sweden Comprised of Gothenburg’s J. Strauss, Innocentius Rabiatus of Darkside Cowboys, and KMFDM’s Käpt’n K, Sweden’s Morlocks are starting the year with a monumental EP. Blending thumping darkwave and sinister electronic adventures with the throb of classic industrial metal, the massive sound this band creates has so many angles with influences ranging from Ministry to Mozart to Mortiis, a searing blade of cutting-edge composition meets time-tested frameworks and sound mixtures that people get all over. Released on the 10th, the 5-track record titled Amor, Monstra Et Horrore Profundi on Metropolis Records takes you by the collar and drags you into a shady universe of Goblins, mysterious lakes, and strange compendiums of feeling. This featured track, The S.N.A.F.U. Principle v3.0, plus The March Of The Goblins which follows, are re-recordings from their collector’s edition first album, For Your Pleasure? With a professional standard that was unavailable at the time, the brilliance of the music receives its due with a modern version the band can apply their latest sound to. Let’s see what all the fuss is about. An epic orchestral prelude takes us into realms of fantasy championship and legendary storylines. A few vocal samples instil a captivating empire of feeling as the synths and drums begin to churn and drive the forward momentum. A chunky guitar riff takes the lead with vibrant and rhythm-based motifs that punch through the bars with quick and palm-muted perfection. A growly and harsh vocal reverberates through the soup of rhythm, melody, and atmosphere knitted tightly together by the expert technicianship of the band. Gruesome and harrowing inflections of the vocal give a black metal feel to the delivery as the industrial rhythms pound like machinery on hard-nosed steel fixings. Full-body impulses line the walls of the track as ferocious guitars splendidly alchemise with thunderous electronic style drumming and thick cakes of synthesiser. You can get music by Morlocks on Bandcamp You can follow Morlocks on Facebook and Instagram Want to browse rare music on eBay? You'll support this journal with any purchase. Wake Up And Smell The Ripped Paper On This Christmas Morning With Ellie Walker And The Folly25/12/2024 
Ellie Walker And The Folly
This Christmas Morning Cambridge When Saturday Night Gym Club remixed I Know by Ellie Walker with a dance music twist, her stunning voice became something of a commodity. A series of live shows and a debut album have made all the right moves and fans are dripping with anticipation for the next thing. Following from 2023’s Sink Or Swim, the band have been enjoyed on a massive scale with her music even being featured on an advert for Rotary Watches. Now with a full band, endearingly named The Folly, the folk singer is completely in the Christmas spirit with This Christmas Morning. A tongue in cheek classic about an elf called Frosty and a fairy called Eve, the magic of the big day is reinvented and packaged beautifully for an alternative to the same old hits we endure each year. Let’s get another earworm. A ticking clock brings on a homely sense of quiet stillness. Ellie Walker begins her song, the music coils like windy snowfall and glistens as the dawn light reflects and shines. Ellie’s voice is an instant hit, a beautiful timbre and a clear elocution gives her voice a timeless polish and feel that only she can own. The folk style classic delivery provides nestled spots on all the syllables and takes notes like flowers picked from the colourful meadow of summer memory. A joyous and story-filled folk number, the song reminds us that even if like me, you’re on your own today, we’re never alone with magic and friends just a heartbeat away. You can follow Ellie Walker and the Folly on TikTok X and Instagram London Rock Phenomenon The Kut Spares A Thought For Gloria While We’re Waiting For Christmas24/12/2024 
The Kut
Waiting For Christmas Criminal Records The Kut is back to welcome in the festive cheer and bring home a message of care for everyone at this open-hearted time. Waiting For Christmas is the charity single that raises funds every year and has now entered its fifth annual release. A fantastic ballad sung by The Kut and set to a moving music video; the grunge rockers tone down their cacophony to show us their more tender side. We still get a great rock song and the Christmas spirit is entangled like last-year's fairy-lights well within the music. This year’s charity, chosen by The Kut, is White Ribbon Charity and for every sale of the record, £1 will go to them. What do they do? White Ribbon feels that men and boys need to be educated on how to treat women and make a genuine effort to end violence against women. No one’s saying that all men and boys are going to hurt women unless they’re taught. Like Santa knows, some of us are naughty and the rest of us are nice. Most people of all genders are perfectly safe to be around. Men and boys are statistically more likely to be involved in violent crime against their partners and their friends so a gender-specific approach is needed to address this. It may feel discriminatory for a lot of men and boys, we just have to take one for the country on this. Women and girls need us. Mutual respect across genders is of course essential for healthy relationships and for staying out of trouble, and for some, knowing how to manage emotions is a real problem. Whether you’re upset, angry, or attracted, you can’t let your emotions break the rules with anybody. There are plenty of legal and safe ways to express yourself. So that being said, the charity message loud and clear, let’s give the song another listen and I’ll describe it with today’s ears ready. The Kut enters with her synonymous voice, the punk twinge layers like icing on the lush flow of bluesy sombre musicianship. Guitars and bass play a slow melody of picked chords, roots, and fifths on a scale of minor introspection. As the chorus hits, the band revs up a gear and pushes the energy into an orbital destination. Once the rockets are fired, and the celebration fulfils, a new verse brings us back down to Earth, where trouble and worries still mingle with the tinsel and baubles. We can lend them our peace in these caring days, free from judgement, making peace with the moment to welcome in an empowered new year. One step at a time will be enough for anybody. You can get the record from The Kut website Follow The Kut on Facebook and Instagram Listen to The Kut on Spotify Join Razors The Kut group on Facebook |
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Sound Read Six
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