Jukebox Romantics 
Packing Up My Knives 
New York State 
 
The film Meat Lovers is a short horror that’s currently enjoying showings at various festivals of film and fright. A key piece of music from the cinematography is Packing Up My Knives from the Jukebox Romantics. Created in collaboration between two of the local punk scene’s artists, the film producer and the band brought their ideas together in the forming of this music video. What had been filed away under the heading Horror Movie Song became the backbone for the evolution of Packing Up My Knives. After discussing the script and the horror slash comedy theme of the short piece, a tongue-in-cheek yet immediately striking soundtrack was in order. We can’t all get to the swanky festivals, myself included, but we can hear the centrepiece song and pretend.  

The music drives in on soaring guitars and a bass that almost hums with quick-paced flow. As the drums snap and crash on waves on percussive fury, the vocals begin. A harmonising and upbeat melody reverses the surge with a story of imagery and dream. The horror motivations and the upbeat composition mix with a positively uplifting and melodramatic foray into fantasy, fun, and film with this classic punk rock attitude. Rolling dynamic drums punch in the controls as the band surges on the acceleration and drag left by their powerful momentum.  

Find all the information and socials on the Jukebox Romantics Linktree
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Read The Room 
Aggravate Me 
Norwich 
 
Punk and alt-rock Read The Room return with another scene setter with the heavy dose of Aggravate Me. The 5-piece band take the power of the guitar riff and supplement it with soaring vocals and persistent high energy. An exciting sound with a huge following already for the one year since they were formed, Read The Room just keep delivering the goods. Since their inaugural EP A Place Like No Other, the radio and the print media have both scooped up the gold and shared it with their audiences. It seems that they really did Read The Room as the sound brings colour and light to every corner. A plethora of influences make sure that the fresh sounding dynamism remains as solid as it did when they first formed, always bringing something new to the front to be brought into the crucible.  
 
A drum and guitar surf in on the wake of a synth wave the sparkles like a glistening tide. The riffs hammer in with a grunge-punk sense of melody and distortion, choppy beats rip the bars into neat little shreds as the vocals drape the music in silky vibrancy. Alana Beardsley-Best offers a delicate edge that’s embroidered with both studs and sequins in a biker gang cross ball gown cloak of fashion. The huge sound of the band drifts like heavy boulders among pyroclastic movement as the energy of the punchy lyrics first floats and then fights the sky with continual lift.  
 
You can follow Read The Room on Facebook  

Instagram 

​and TikTok
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Krista Papista 
VISA Scum Bitch 
Berlin 
 
A protest track partly based on the beautiful Island in the Mediterranean, Cypriote loopholes allow wealthy individuals to buy expensive apartments and then use these to prove European citizenship. With this in hand, they are free to travel all around the EU without restrictions. When people are paying lifesavings amounts for flimsy overcrowded vessels in illegal conditions for an indeterminate detention in Europe and a possibility of being sent back home, let alone drowning or being crushed or frozen to death en-route, how can we tolerate these rich kids getting their own way? What if they’re spending corruption money made from oppressing and annexing? That seems to be why Krista Papista is particularly interested in rich Russian women. It certainly is a freedom of speech moment, what do you think? What do you think of this music, endearingly described as Eurotrash EDM?  
 
A thump of heavy synth sinks into the silence before a happy melody breaks free. Upbeat tones harmonise with resonant overlaps as synths and drums build to craft the momentum of the piece. A laid-back yet heavy dance routine fills the track with a thunderous energy that spatters with warming and lively raindrops. Major keys mingle with the minor as the drums hit bass tones that wander barefoot through foreign flowery fields. Sustained synth sounds conjure blissful moments in between the dynamic and progressive track, layered with passive-aggressive prettiness.  

​Get music by Krista Papista on Bandcamp
 
You can follow Krista Papista on Instagram

and Facebook
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PS. If you want to visit Europe then for heaven's sake take the plane. A Passport is needed, too. Cheap tickets can be found, search here. 

A-Tweed 
Riot Disco Punk 
Rome 
 
Landing on Human Endeavour, the leftfield home of Ransom Note Records, Italy’s A-Tweed offers the sparkling and mesmerising EP Riot Disco Punk. Mixing layers of progressive beats and colouring the scene with abstraction and electronic mastery, A-Tweed has produced 4 extended length edits for us to thrillout to, all in the name of dance and energy. His ethics lean towards the punk scene, a juxtaposition to the mainstream electronic music market. The hardcore sentiments that invade A-Tweed's artistic journey give him a flavour we can appreciate and learn from. This is the title track of the 4 cut EP, Riot Disco Punk. 
 
Muffled metal mixes with deep and resonant bass thumps, just shy of the sub range. A bouncy ethnic vibe enters, springy tones offering loose and elastic harmony. Crunch beats then hit with footstep like marching sound pushing us into the meat of the track. Strange whisperings frolic across the top edge of sound as involving melodies begin to churn and chunter in ploughing motions of dance. A semblance of sonics drifts across the rhythmic landscape as the landmarks shift and evolve as distance increases from the start. Intelligent is an understatement, this track lends aspects from a plethora of instalments, compositionally, rhythmically, tonally, and theoretically. A loose connection between sections keeps the pulse continuous yet offers a full mix of elements that craft ever increasing facets to the sound. 
 
Get music by A-Tweed on Bandcamp

Follow A-Tweed on Facebook

andInstagram

No Writer 
The Wheel 
London 
 
They’re a huge hit on social media, with Pete and Vinnie Play exhibiting their guitarist’s skills to legendary degrees. The show is about the music and their personalities, which is what makes their sound so memorable and enjoyable to hear. Since discovering their following and with a keen interest in delivering the goods for their fellow human beings, a band and a single were definitely in order. No Writer seems like my worst nightmare, what would we do without little old me (OK I’m 5ft8.5 and I’m 43). But listen, that’s what music is for, the intriguing name is not to be taken personally. We all love a bit of guitar mayhem, twin strings harmonising and throwing riffs around like hand-grenades of pleasure, and No Writer are here to give us exactly what we want.  
 
The music throws a suplex on the ears with a blastbeat and a thrust of palm-muted shredding. The chords rage like a formula one engine on the striaght, and it just keeps going. No corners on this dragrace, and no chintz either as these two dudes are full of masuline power and energy. Their licks remind you of Arch Enemy and Fear Factory with their melodic death metal onslaught and chugging rhythmic riffs. There are no lyrics, who cares? If you love the sound of an electric guitar and the meaty punch of heavy metal at its 11 and a half, then No Writer have the same effect as the virtuoso talents of the 80s made anew like Dr Who with all the modern fandanglry.  

Find out more on the Pete and Vinnie website  

​You can follow No Writer/Pete and Vinnie Play on Instagram

and TikTok
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Gale Forces 
Last Man Under The Moon 
Seattle 
 
When Jade Devitt decided a band would be a good idea back in friendly 2014, the scene was set for the onslaught of Gale Forces. He’d already played drums for Engine Kid and This White Light which made his mark on crowds across the area. Putting out the now famous self-titled EP in the same year, he worked hard to bring the full-length Strawberry Peak a few years later. At this time, it was mainly Jade on his own making all the music. His creative reach clearly more than capable of putting a full-band sound together in the studio, he wanted to put a group together for the next leg of the journey. 2023’s Highlights Of Existence revealed the classic playing of Gabe Van Benschoten of Mossbreaker on guitar and Issac Carpenter from Awolnation on drums. Gale Forces is now a four-piece as the bass phenomenon Peter Forslund joins the fold to complete the sound. Last Man Under The Moon conjures a time before modern ideas were a reality and human beings lived according to their wits. When we had to rely on our eyes and ears to make sure we were safe, and we lived in large groups that took responsibility for the whole, things were a lot different for us. Exploring this seemingly distant concept, the ancestral memory is rekindled on this heavier side of Gale Forces.  
 
A roar of feral distortion causes the earth to quake before a slow and nasty beat takes control. The direction is forward, across rocks and heath, a rumbling motion chugs like a traction engine through the thick of the world. Elements of Orange Goblin and Type O Negative resonate in the dynamic music pinned to tight and emotion-led drum riffs that build and break with oceanic power. The thrust of guitar thunders along the track as the bass holds key and time to the drifting vocals. Blues and rock mix in a darkly transparency as flavours of jazz and folk lend clever little quirks. Last Man Under The Moon is a soaring anthem to hypersensitivity and intuitive movement.  
 
 You can follow Gale Forces on Facebook

and Instagram
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