LTW Newsletter 45 

Welcome Warriors!

Can you dance the tango or strut the polka or fling your partner around to the Tarantella or just dive into the mosh put eyes blazing and screaming like they are on dials? Or do you hug the back of the venue observing the mayhem….it all counts!

Louder Than War writers have been out and about all week somehow combining all of that with taking notes to describe the merry mayhem with reviews that are the backbone to our existence!

Or we have been sifting through the new releases or the plethora of new bands trying to find the now!

In the meantime, I’ve been gearing up to the release of my new book, ‘The Art Of Darkness - The History of Goth’, which might be worth a quick look or a pre-order and is released at the end of March.

There’s been plenty of action this week, First the annual controversy over the Glastonbury headliners which have been deemed ‘too male’. Of course, that’s true but then most people don’t to the festival for the headliners they go for the festival but it seems that every year the people who don't go to Glastonbury have a lot to say about the headliners of a festival they don’t go to! This year the all male headliners hid the fact that its bills are actually 50/50 male/female. Of course, more balance would be a wonderful thing but then we are not booking the headline acts for a huge festival and as Emily Eavis points out there are problems getting the required acts - it looks like Taylor Swift was one and she dropped out and maybe others were just not available. Happily in the future, this will not be as much of a problem and there are many more options beginning to rise up the pyramid (literally)

Glastonbury deftly deflected from Neighbourhood Festival that normally gets slated for the same male thing and they announced a lineup  of northern indie classic.

Long lost band Dark Star according to our reviewer, ‘Dark Star deserve to be up there with the Soundgarden’s and Nirvana’s of the world in stature and aesthetically, never having to care about the rent or whether their van will pass its M.O.T, but just being allowed to spend their time being interesting and relevant in a truly colossal way…’

Sparks have been gods for decades. This wonderful quicksilver band seem to operate on a timeline of their own and every couple of years deliver an equally great pop culture missive dripping in perfect tunes with the two elder gents of Ron still looking scary and Russ still hitting those heavenly high notes as he wraps his larynx around songs of dark humour. The new single somehow is already one of their great and drips with humour and pathos…

Artist Iman Kakai-Lazell has produced a series of stunning art books on iconic underground legends in the last few years and her latest is based on the late and great Mark Lanegan. She was working closely with him on the book before he sadly died last year. The book is an astounding visual feast complete with Mark’s lyrics and specially written passages to compliment the photos and art pieces.

Brix Smith survived the Fall and has been involved in music since then. She is releasing her solo album next month and if it’s all up to the level of this new track, it’s going to be astounding. Loud guitars duel with that classic fifties girl group swagger to create a perfect slice of scented guitar pop…it’s that good.

Sorry to hear of the death of Pulp’s charismatic bassist Steve Mackey who has died at the age of 56. Everyone who has met Steve was touched by his generous and warm spirit and many tears were shed at his passing.

Self Esteem has turned her pop into an emotion drenched 21st-century torch music - pure pop for the people who feel pain and its sounding great. MK Bennet was at the manchester gig to write a brilliant piece about the singer ‘She is a star mind you. Commands the stage with an expression of private amusement, vocals drifting through octaves and ranges seemingly without effort, eyes closed to the memories of her own pain, managed by the knowledge that in turning it into art, it’s a least shared with those who need it, who might need to find it. The shared compassion, the ecstatic release, the adoration, this is how you imagine southern gothic churches raising the roof, raising the dead. This was in the end, the happiest of places, a celebration for us all.’

Suzanne Vega has makes light work of her deserved classic status and is still as compelling as ever as her recent live show in Manchester proved. ‘This singer, Suzanne Vega, held a thousand people in the palm of her hand for an hour and a half and made it seem like nothing and everything. And to some of us, it was everything, as she records the rise and fall of every soldier passing.’

Manic Street Preachers are a classic band but does their socio and political lyrics mean as much to a new generation or have they been overlooked by a switched on youth who very much embrace their concerns without knowing about their existence?

Yungblud wrapped his first UK arena tour with a thrilling Wembley show that combines newfound spectacle with a familiar intimacy. The singer has become a touch point for a generation of lost youth who adore his wild wardrobe and vulnerable presence. Inclusion is important to Yungblud. His songs, which touch on everything from gender identity and prescription pharmaceuticals to mental health and family dysfunction, preach self-acceptance and resisting society’s pressures to conform. His fanbase, the Black Hearts Club, is built on what’s described as a shared sense of unconditional love and communal support.

Dry Cleaning were one of the first of the latest wave of post-punk bands that underlined the durability of the form. They remain massive in a way that many of the originators like Au pairs were never allowed to be and have the space to be as creative.

Hastings Fat Tuesday Festival is fast becoming one of the go-to festivals with its spotlight on the fast-rising south coast music a scene that has already sprouted Nova Twins and many others. The current hottest band in town is the grunge update of the teenage rampage of Hotwax - three young women with big fierce songs that bring the riot to the room - they will be huge by the end of the year - maybe potential future Glastonbury headliner huge?