LTW newsletter 89

Warriors!

I’ve spent the week immersed in Captain Beefheart, trying to bring his desert soundscapes to the wild and windy Manchester January blues. Many have tried to copy the good Captain and most have failed - I guess because he sounds so natural like there was no other way he could sound and the music just poured out of him and the various Magic bands. 

I remember once we played a gig in Moscow about 20 years ago and we met Gary Lucas the guitar player from the last line up of the Magic Band. Gary was a stand up guy and we had a great night - for some reason he was at the gig with his mother who was also a hoot. Turns out that not only did Gary play some great guitar with Beefheart he also came up with the ‘the only band that matters’ marketing slogan for the Clash that must be one of the best bits of marketing ever as people repeat it endlessly like it’s some kind of truth instead of some mad hippy dude in the marketing department of a major label coming up with ad slogans!

In the meantime, whilst the scurrying beats and scurrying beasts and fervent mammals that populate some of the Captain’s songs lay low in their burrows, waiting for the scent of spring to reach their twitching nostrils, we have music to discuss!

Almost 4 years after the Matt Berry released the psychedelic epic Blue Elephant reviewed here (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) he returns with another gem of nostalgic music with ‘Heard Noises’.

There is a palpable anger, laced with disdain, in the lyrics of Helle and the songs are fuelled with a genuine sense of rage. Throughout Elsie is a front woman who grabs the attention throwing herself into every word and striking poses throughout. A slight pause arrives for an audience participation moment for I’m A Vegetarian (But I Still Eat Boys). The crowd duly join in with the refrain of “It’s Disgusting!” as Elsie lays out a depressing view of what it feels like to be female on the receiving end of unwanted attention. 

I remembers as a kid someone had written all the names of all the punk bands that existed down on a list on their school folder and it seemed to get longer and longer and there were some bands you just never got round to hearing and that added to their mystery - one of those was London - who found fame by being the band that put together by John Moss who then joined the late period Damned on drums and then formed the Culture Club - this made this new book about the band doubly fascinating - often the best stories about music scenes are from the bands who were there but not there if you know what I mean. 

Spandau ballet songwriter Gary Kemp has a new solo album out soon - it’s a crafted grown up pop that looks at his life and is a literate work. I interviewed him about his life, the art of songwriting and going to see the Sex Pistols in 1976 and how it changed his life as well as recent his touring playing the Syd Barrett part in Nick Masons’ Saucerful of Secrets - something that he does very well. 

Alan Edwards is the UK’s number one music PR and has a fascinating history - he speaks to me about the art of PR, working with the Rolling Stones and David Bowie as well as being a key PR in the punk days with the Stranglers, Gen X and many others and how he also did PR for the Spice Girls - there some great anecdotes in the interview and also some real insight into how pop culture works. 

The Verve have released their iconic This Is Music for the first time on vinyl. For those revisiting these classics or discovering them for the first time, This Is Music: The Singles 20th Anniversary Edition is a testament to the timeless quality of The Verve’s music, making it a must-have for fans and newcomers alike. This reissue offers a definitive, remastered look at a band that defined an era, ensuring their unforgettable legacy lives on.

We were sorry to hear of the death of film maker and cultural force, David Lynch. The director made some of the greatest films ever that both pushed the narrative and what films could be and were entertaining and drew you. Eraserhead still remains one of the greatest films ever made. 

Bad Nerves

Keeping a watchful eye over the increasing popularity of punk rock and its many variations is a pastime not too many can keep up with in 2025. Keith Goldhanger and Naomi Dryden-Smith pop along to The Electric Ballroom in Camden to see what all the Bad Nerves fuss is about, and come away feeling exhausted.

Pastel

The most potent fusion of Welsh /Mancunian DNA since Ryan Giggs came scorching out of Swinton, Pastels debut album ‘Souls in Motion’ combines dreamy shoegazing atmospherics with swaggering indie-rock classicism, and thrillingly resuscitates a seemingly moribund musical genre.

It’s great to start the New Year with a book that took me on an engrossing and powerful trip through London, physical and spiritual, as filtered through author Johny Brown’s consciousness and vision.

It always gives us a very warm feeling to hear something new from Edwyn Collins, and the Scottish troubadour is back with a brilliant new single of harmonious beauty steeped with soul horns - it's a great, great song.

Seems like many lifetimes since Fugazi appeared out of the ashes of Minor Threat and the DC hardcore scene. they were a band with a strict manifesto and joyous live shows where their linear fusion of hardcore and a chiselled dub created a punk rock with a perfect groove. Their records were great but their live shows were incendiary and off the scale.