'CONFIRMED BACHELOR' RELEASED!

10 November 2023

Time to party!

Today we’re releasing a new album from supreme multi-talent Brontez Purnell! ‘Confirmed Bachelor’ is out now on crystal-clear vinyl and digitally everywhere, go check it out! These twelve songs are of the no-time-wasted variety. Fuzzed-out pop songs, hotly delivered from the heart, often sassy, sometimes sappy, always snappy! We’re talking about jagged riffs galore, bubblegum bounce and Brontez’s vocal racing to bopsome effect.

So much to celebrate! ‘Confirmed Bachelor’ is available to order now.

'DECENT SHAPES' OUT NOW!

20 October 2023

Exceedingly happy that our 158th release stormed into the world today! 'Decent Shapes' by Naarm/Melbourne synth-fogged post-punks Screensaver is a triumph of mood and function.

Pin-sharp dynamics, twisting melodies and seismic tremors of delirious urgency all jostle to stare deeper into the black mirror of now. Krystal Maynard’s dramatic / cavernous vocal is always on point and all ten songs shudder and shimmer into stark reality. Couldn't recommend anything more!

'Decent Shapes' is streaming everywhere from today + a glam gold-pressing is available on LP in all the best shops, including Upset The Rhythm's webshop too.

BACHELORS THEME

18 October 2023

Now we’re talking!

Brontez Purnell returns today with an absolute thunderclap of a single from his forthcoming album ‘Confirmed Bachelor’! ‘Bachelors Theme’ is out now digitally, accompanied by a video made by actor / sad clown / muse, Brandon Flynn. ‘Bachelors Theme’ opens the album and sets the scene perfectly with the heady rush and swoon of it all. Jagged riffs, bubblegum bounce and Brontez’s vocals effortlessly racing to dizzying effect. It’s a tour de force of bop and bravado.

'Bachelors Theme’ is taken from Brontez's cracking new record 'Confirmed Bachelor', out Nov 10th on Upset The Rhythm, available to pre-order now on crystal-clear 180g vinyl here.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR FOR VINTAGE CROP

1 September 2023

Two surprises!

Next Friday we’re releasing a Vintage Crop 7”, woah, secondly it is in praise of spring, OK it’s only just autumn here, but in the other hemisphere the birds are building nests again. Check out the ace video premiered by Raven Sings The Blues, featuring Jack Cherry in three parallel dimensions.

Vintage Crop’s ‘Springtime’ 7” will be released on September 8th by Upset The Rhythm, it's also available to pre-order now.

WA|TER MACHINE - BBC 6 MUSIC SESSION

1 September 2023

Listen again to the wondrous Water Machine live in session for Marc Riley last night.

Four amazing songs shared, plus top chat about car prangs, grannies and Pat The Dog! Enjoy!! Remember… Water Machine’s UK tour starts tonight in Manchester, check out the tour dates, London on Tuesday!

DRAINER - OUT TODAY!

23 August 2023

Here’s screensaver’s new single ‘Drainer’, a fiery anthem for those everyday frustrations that edge you into downer mode. Full video by Rebel Yell up on YouTube now in all its flickering VHS glory. ‘Drainer’ features on the band’s forthcoming album ‘Decent Shapes’, out October 20th through Upset The Rhythm and Poison City in Australia. Available to pre-order now, hup hup!

RAW LIQUID POWER NOW!

4 August 2023

Drink deep!

Water Machine’s sensational 7” EP ‘Raw Liquid Power’ surges into the world today. More whirlpool rapids than tepid puddle the Glasgow gang of four have gathered together spiky riffs, staccato singing and pounding bass / drums into four totemic anthems of art-punk weirdness that brim with irrepressible sincerity.

So much to soak up! ‘Raw Liquid Power’ is available digitally now and on transparent red vinyl from all the best shops and our webstore too.

BRONTEZ PURNELL ON UTR!

3 August 2023

Party hats on!

Today we’re announcing our new album from supreme multitalent Brontez Purnell! ‘Confirmed Bachelor’ (best album title ever award bagged) will be released on November 10th on crystal-clear vinyl and digitally. These twelve songs are of the no-time-wasted variety. Fuzzed-out pop songs, hotly delivered from the heart, often sassy, sometimes sappy, always snappy!

We’re sharing the first single from the album, a cover of a long-loved Julie Ruin song. ‘Stay Monkey’ is as lively and bopsome as it is lovelorn and restless. Enjoy the music, the cake and the rogue king of rock-n-roll, this is worth celebrating!

‘Confirmed Bachelor’ is available to pre-order now.

ANNOUNCING 'DECENT SHAPES'

28 July 2023

Behold the gold! Australian synth-punks screensaver return this October with an immense, brooding second album titled ‘Decent Shapes’. Loaded with simmering tension, ‘Decent Shapes’ finds screensaver exploring existence eeked out across an ever-growing trash heap of materialism and detachment.

Available on sardonic gold vinyl through Upset The Rhythm on October 20th. Check out first single ‘The Guilt’ now, a spirited call to arms for all who succumb.

ME LOST ME - 'RPG' RELEASED!

7 July 2023

What a privilege it has been to work with Me Lost Me on releasing her brightly alive ‘RPG’ album! Out today on Upset The Rhythm digitally, on CD and as a sky-blue or sky-pink LP, ‘RPG’ is a teeming marvel.

Casting the songwriter as role-play gamer (apologies to all rocket-propelled grenade enthusiasts out there) Me Lost Me works up her songs with folksong and electronics as the warp and weft. It’s an album populated with ancient trees, uncanny zones, mythic recollection and boundless ideas for a lore of tomorrows. Astonishing from every worldly angle, we hope you enjoy it!

‘RPG’ by Me Lost Me is available in all the best shops now, as well as our own modest web foundry here.

FEELING THE 'HEAT!'

21 June 2023

Post-Trash just premiered Me Lost Me's new single 'Heat!', what a solstice souvenir! Foreboding bass lines, chirping birds, flute trills and a powerful upbeat groove abound. 'Heat!' is out now digitally on all the usual platforms, taken from the album 'RPG' out July 7th on UTR.

THE TOADS - OUT TODAY!

9 June 2023

Absolute pleasure to release The Toads debut album today! ‘In The Wilderness’ is a gleeful clatter along the knife edge of life.

The Melbourne quartet have nailed down their sound with sardonic kicks, an expansive vision and ripping absolution from existential drift. The Toads delight in the dour, yet they still pack a punch and keep the whole record beguiling, full of twists, turns and toughing it out!

The Toads’ ‘In The Wilderness’ is out now digitally and on strikingly azure 180g vinyl courtesy of Upset The Rhythm!

WATER MACHINE 7" EP

7 June 2023

Let’s make some waves!

We’re releasing Glaswegian top tetrad Water Machine’s debut 7” this summer! Lead single ‘Water Machine Pt. II’ is released today; prickly yet playful punk, equal parts water and machine! Post-Trash kindly just premiered the gothic blitz of a video featuring a spectre stalking through woodland testing their powers of dehydration. Look out!

Water Machine’s ‘Raw Liquid Power’ EP will be released on August 4th through Upset The Rhythm on transparent red vinyl, ooooh! It is now available to pre-order now.

Go see Water Machine play live!

23/06/23 - London - Studio 9294

21/07/23 - Glasgow - The Rum Shack

01/09/23 - Manchester - Fuel

05/09/23 - London - New River Studios

07/09/23 - Brighton - Pipeline

08/09/23 - Oxford - Divine Schism

09/09/23 - Sheffield - Delicious Clam

FESTIVE TIMES

26 April 2023

Here’s another stunning glimpse into Me Lost Me’s forthcoming ‘RPG’ album! We’re sharing evocative new single ‘Festive Day’ with the world this week. Folk Radio are kindly premiering the official video too featuring the sea, embroidery and some choreographed Morris in the Cotswold tradition, get ready to caper!

SO LONG SOLD OUT!

21 April 2023

Well this is shaping up into quite the Friday! We now have Normil Hawaiians’ debut double-LP ‘More Wealth Than Money’ back in stock on white vinyl! Stone cold classic! If that was already enticing enough Es’ boisterous debut album ‘Less Of Everything’ has just been re-pressed on neon yellow vinyl too. Both in stock now from our shop and bandcamp, so long sold out!

LINDA SMITH & NANCY ANDREWS shared a big house in Baltimore in 1983 with a continuously revolving cast of artists and musicians. It was there the like-minded artists formed their first band, Ceramic Madonna Head, a short-lived project which included housemates Elizabeth Downing and Peggy Bitzer. By the time the lease was up, Linda and Peggy had decided to move to New York where they would form a new band called The Woods while Nancy and Elizabeth remained in Baltimore and formed a performance art band called Lambs Eat Ivy.

While playing guitar in The Woods in the mid-80’s Linda purchased her first 4-track cassette recorder and embarked on a pioneering decade of solo, DIY home recording with a series of cassettes and 7” records of smart and moody singer-songwriter bedroom pop music. This trailblazing period was recently documented on jewel-box compilation ‘Sky Girl’ and Captured Tracks’ retrospective compilation ‘Till Another Time: 1988-1996.’ During this same period Nancy pursued art, animation and filmmaking. The friends stayed in touch but hadn’t worked on a project together in nearly thirty years.

In 2020, Linda rediscovered in the back of a drawer some old tapes of Nancy’s songs she had recorded for her in the 90’s. In the process of digitizing the old recordings she was inspired to reach out and float the idea of a new collaborative recording project with her old friend. ‘A Passing Cloud’ (Grapefruit/Gertrude Records) is the fruit of their rekindled long-distance musical conversation. All the songs were composed incrementally by passing tracks back and forth between Maine and Maryland, making for some beguiling pop music that draws us in with a carefully rendered intimacy.

RATTLE are a Nottingham based duo, Rattle focus almost exclusively on drums and more drums, beneath a delicate overlay of vocal harmonies and percussive effects. Formed by Katharine Eira Brown and Theresa Wrigley, Rattle began as an experiment in crafting rich songs and melody using drums and voice alone. Their music weaves and intertwines post-punk, minimalism and experimental rock, through off-kilter rhythms, patterns and counter melodies. Rattle effortlessly blend the avant-garde with irresistible melodies and hypnotic drum beats, using rhythm and harmony to create a refreshing sound that is utterly new - a pretty rare feat these days when we're saturated with so much music. Rattle's immense ‘Sequence’ album came out recently through Upset The Rhythm.

RUSSELL WALKER is a 43 year old resident of Hitchin, Hertfordshire who dislikes Piers Morgan's son. He writes / performs on his own as well as in various projects - his most recent releases are Soothers with Malvern Brume (Are You Before, 2023) and I Can't Remember as the Lloyd Pack (Digital Regress, 2023).

LANKUM have gained worldwide acclaim for their engrossing albums and captivating, often euphoric live performances. Comprising brothers Ian Lynch (uillean pipes, tin whistle, vocals), Daragh Lynch (vocals, guitar) alongside Cormac Mac Diarmada (fiddle) and Radie Peat (harmonium, accordion, vocals), Lankum channel a diverse set of influences and histories to create a beautifully rare thing: a songbook from and for the people.

The group’s recent breakthrough album ‘False Lankum’ (Rough Trade) draws on traditional folk songs, but Lankum put their own dark, distinctive mark onto each, leaning into heavy drones and sonic distortion that imparts new intensity and beauty into each track. This record sees the band cement their breakout from the folk genre, creating bold, contemporary music that may be fashioned from traditional elements but is firmly new. “We wanted to create more contrast on the record so the light parts would be almost spiritual and the dark parts would be incredibly dark, even horror inducing,” the band explain. The album’s 12 tracks, composed of 10 traditional songs and two originals, show the four-piece using a new palate to colour their sound in an increasingly experimental way, alongside longtime producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy.

Following on from their much anticipated sell out show at The Barbican on 4th May 2023, Lankum will return to London in December 2023 to play The Roundhouse - their biggest headline gig to date.

RACHAEL LAVELLE is a Dublin born singer and composer who captivates audiences with her arresting voice and humorous observations on existence. Her debut album, 'Big Dreams', was released in November 2023 to widespread acclaim. ‘Big Dreams' is an existential coming-of-age album that chronicles the journey of a young woman searching for direction & meaning in a very strange world.

THE HOMESICK are Elias Elgersma (Vocals, Effects), Jaap van der Velde (Vocals, Effects) and Erik Woudwijk (Drums). The Homesick fuse post-punk rhythms with melodic whimsical pop into an experimental blend of great songs. The Dutch group have been around since their first EP Television from 2013 and released their debut album Youth Hunt (Subroutine) in 2017. Hailing from the backwater Frisian municipality of Dokkum, the band enjoy exploring the extremes of their music. Their albums play with this ambiguity as they incorporate dark post-punk alongside sure-fire pop earworms. Their second album The Big Exercise (SubPop) from 2020 inverted this sound, second-guessing their core chemistry as a live unit. Where the debut album incorporates vocals drenched in reverb, warped synths and distorted guitars, the Big Excercise leaves a hint of romanticism through the baroque elements such as piano, acoustic guitar, percussion and clarinet.

Shortly after the release of The Big Exercise they individually started to explore new musical directions. Guitar and bass were dropped as Elias and Jaap searched for other sounds playing keys, sample boxes and more new rhythmic instruments. “We wanted to come up with something that we can dance to”, Jaap says. “After these last two years we very much felt like this is what we need now.” The new songs are unmistakably The Homesick and at the same time like you've never heard them before. The third and self-titled album by The Homesick will be released now.

TARA CLERKIN TRIO are Pat Benjamin, Sunny Joe Paradisos and Tara Clerkin, three musicians involved in a number of cult Bristol bands over the years before confidently settling down in triangle formation. They are inspired by and borrow from jazz, trip hop, electronica, psychedelia & minimalism, twirling the non-pretentious strands of these threads together into a trippy green winged-cloak, adorning Arthur Russell and dripping in blue jam.

Their self-titled debut LP was released in 2020 and was a sleeper hit, coming in at 35 in the Wire's top 100 albums of the year and in Bleeps top 10. Their latest EP, ‘On The Turning Ground’, was released on World of Echo in November. Whilst their inspirations might be centreless, but the trio still possess a very obvious anchor in the form of their hometown. Bristol stands as a city of multitudes, heterogenous and vibrant in such a way as to allow it to renew and remake time and again. Tara Clerkin Trio drink from that same well, duly reflecting a rich musical heritage built on fwd-facing electronic subcultures and experimental urges. As such, ‘On The Turning Ground’ finds them subject to their own subtle internal evolution, the pervasive sense that you've caught them mid-bloom, on their way to becoming but never anything but themselves.

THE PHEROMOANS were formed in Brighton in 2005 as a quartet of Alex Garran, James Hines, James Tranmer and Russell Walker, and played their first concert in at the Freebutt in Brighton in January 2006. Russell moved to London shortly after, putting the future of the band in doubt. Combinations of the above line-up along with new member Christian Butler-Zanetti. They would play sporadically in London with promoters such as Upset The Rhythm at venues such as Bardens Boudoir in Dalston. The sound was a very basic take on UK DIY bands such as Swell Maps, along with obscure garage rock bands from the 1960s as documented on retrospective compilations such as Back To The Grave. What set the band apart from their peers was a complete disregard for musical competence and rehearsing, along with the effort Russell Walker put into his lyrics. They made a CD to start selling at gigs in 2007, and gradually recorded that would make up the material up that would be included on several singles and a debut LP on the New York label Consulsive in 2011. Also in 2011 Dan Bolger stepped in to add a more electronic dimension to the band's offering. Several releases followed, with Scott Reeve replacing James Hines as drummer following a dispute. The early 2020s saw founding member of the band Alex Garran moving to Stavanger in Norway, and Christian Butler-Zanetti to Okinaya, Japan. In stepped Brighton resident Henry Holmes and work began on a forthcoming album in Lewes, recorded as usual by James Tranmer.

APOSTILLE is a man who's torn through enough soundsystems to know the difference between gesture and meaning. Alongside running his own DIY record label Night School Records, Glasgow native Michael Kasparis has previously made forays into the realm of hardcore punk with his groups Anxiety and The Lowest Form. Throughout all this, his solo electronic venture Apostille has continued to evolve with each twist and turn of the world. What started off as a quest to whip up a mood and force that into a song has steadily become more of a mission in communication. The third Apostille album, ‘Prisoners Of Love And Hate’, was released on Night School last September.

DEAN RODNEY JR. is an artist and the lead singer of Dean Rodney Jr. & The Cowboys. In this latest project he puts on the golden suit and riffs about food, jiggling body parts and more over tight disco pop. Backed by Rosie Ridgeway, Jack Barraclough, Tom Hirst and Robyn Steward, you better watch out as there’s a new sheriff in town! Their debut album ‘The Yeehaw Moment’ is out now. Dean was also the frontman of The Fish Police, has collaborated with Ravioli Me Away and during lockdown, Dean wrote and recorded 54 albums, describing a fictional alternative version of the present day, Dean TV World.

MARY LATTIMORE is a harpist and composer living in Los Angeles. She experiments with her Lyon and Healy Concert Grand harp and effects. Her solo debut, The Withdrawing Room, was released in 2013 on Desire Path Recordings. Lattimore also writes harp parts for songs and recordings, performing and recording with such great artists as Meg Baird, Thurston Moore, Sharon Van Etten, Jarvis Cocker, Kurt Vile, Steve Gunn, Ed Askew and Fursaxa. Her debut solo record for Ghostly International, 'At The Dam', was recorded during stops along a road trip across America and released in March 2016. The next year, she compiled sounds from her past life in Philadelphia for a cassette tape titled 'Collected Pieces'. Released in May 2018 to acclaim from the likes of NPR, Pitchfork, and The New Yorker Lattimore's next album 'Hundreds of Days' presented an expression of mystified gratitude for the natural world.

‘Goodbye, Hotel Arkada’ (Ghostly International), Lattimore’s new LP, speaks not just for its beloved namesake - a hotel in Croatia facing renovation - but for a universal loss that is shared. Six sprawling pieces shaped by change; nothing will ever be the same, and here, the artist, evolving in synthesis, celebrates and mourns the tragedy and beauty of the ephemeral, all that is lived and lost to time. Documented and edited in uncharacteristically measured sessions over the course of two years, the material remains rooted in improvisation while glistening as the most refined and robust in Lattimore’s decade-long catalog. It finds her communing with friends, contemporaries, and longtime influences, in full stride yet slowing down to nurture songs in new ways. The cast includes Lol Tolhurst (The Cure), Meg Baird, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Roy Montgomery, Samara Lubelski, and Walt McClements.

HOUSE Of ALL appeared earlier this year, followed by a magnificently-received debut album and two UK tours. Praise was immediate and ecstatic, in spite of controversy from former management of The Fall, who took offence at Martin Bramah's off-the-cuff description of the band as "part of The Fall family continuum". Despite this self-evident fact - Bramah was The Fall's original singer before switching to guitar, and with the other members (Peter Greenway, Paul Hanley, Steve Hanley and Si Wolstencroft) HOUSE Of ALL collectively spanned the entire length of The Fall's career. Controversy arose, resulting in a full Guardian article on the band months before the album's release - a scant three days after it was announced.

Their two brief tours were flawless; nearly every show sold out, and the latter tour was bolstered by "Bay City Pistols", a limited package that sold out in two weeks.Even before the first album was released, HOUSE Of All re-entered the studio to record a still-mysterious second album, which will be debuted on the April 2024 dates.

LANKUM have gained worldwide acclaim for their engrossing albums and captivating, often euphoric live performances. Comprising brothers Ian Lynch (uillean pipes, tin whistle, vocals), Daragh Lynch (vocals, guitar) alongside Cormac Mac Diarmada (fiddle) and Radie Peat (harmonium, accordion, vocals), Lankum channel a diverse set of influences and histories to create a beautifully rare thing: a songbook from and for the people.

The group’s recent breakthrough album ‘False Lankum’ (Rough Trade) draws on traditional folk songs, but Lankum put their own dark, distinctive mark onto each, leaning into heavy drones and sonic distortion that imparts new intensity and beauty into each track. This record sees the band cement their breakout from the folk genre, creating bold, contemporary music that may be fashioned from traditional elements but is firmly new. “We wanted to create more contrast on the record so the light parts would be almost spiritual and the dark parts would be incredibly dark, even horror inducing,” the band explain. The album’s 12 tracks, composed of 10 traditional songs and two originals, show the four-piece using a new palate to colour their sound in an increasingly experimental way, alongside longtime producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy.

Following on from their much anticipated sold out show at The Roundhouse on Dec 13th 2023, Lankum will return to London in May 2024 to play the Hackney Empire, performing ‘False Lankum’ in its entirety!

LANKUM have gained worldwide acclaim for their engrossing albums and captivating, often euphoric live performances. Comprising brothers Ian Lynch (uillean pipes, tin whistle, vocals), Daragh Lynch (vocals, guitar) alongside Cormac Mac Diarmada (fiddle) and Radie Peat (harmonium, accordion, vocals), Lankum channel a diverse set of influences and histories to create a beautifully rare thing: a songbook from and for the people.

The group’s recent breakthrough album ‘False Lankum’ (Rough Trade) draws on traditional folk songs, but Lankum put their own dark, distinctive mark onto each, leaning into heavy drones and sonic distortion that imparts new intensity and beauty into each track. This record sees the band cement their breakout from the folk genre, creating bold, contemporary music that may be fashioned from traditional elements but is firmly new. “We wanted to create more contrast on the record so the light parts would be almost spiritual and the dark parts would be incredibly dark, even horror inducing,” the band explain. The album’s 12 tracks, composed of 10 traditional songs and two originals, show the four-piece using a new palate to colour their sound in an increasingly experimental way, alongside longtime producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy.

Following on from their much anticipated sold out show at The Roundhouse on Dec 13th 2023, Lankum will return to London in May 2024 to play the Hackney Empire, performing ‘False Lankum’ in its entirety!

THE REDS, PINKS & PURPLES is the post-indie project of Glenn Donaldson from San Francisco who releases songs like monthly postcards to a loyal following, amassing a huge catalogue of cathartic guitar pop – releasing 8 LPs over the last 5 years (on Tough Love, Slumberland). Donaldson’s hazy, melodic DIY pop captures a cinematic mood, with Donaldson referring to films like “Summer of ’42” and the influence of the classic 4AD catalogue of the 1990s. This style informs much of Donaldson’s prior and current ventures of course (The Ivytree, Vacant Gardens, and a dozen projects in between) but now The Reds, Pinks & Purples have taken the mantle, embracing this instinct for instrumental or dreamier modes of pop songwriting. The band debuts in the UK in June 2024 as a five-piece made-up of musicians from SF's thriving indie-pop underground.

THE REDS, PINKS & PURPLES is the post-indie project of Glenn Donaldson from San Francisco who releases songs like monthly postcards to a loyal following, amassing a huge catalogue of cathartic guitar pop – releasing 8 LPs over the last 5 years (on Tough Love, Slumberland). Donaldson’s hazy, melodic DIY pop captures a cinematic mood, with Donaldson referring to films like “Summer of ’42” and the influence of the classic 4AD catalogue of the 1990s. This style informs much of Donaldson’s prior and current ventures of course (The Ivytree, Vacant Gardens, and a dozen projects in between) but now The Reds, Pinks & Purples have taken the mantle, embracing this instinct for instrumental or dreamier modes of pop songwriting. The band debuts in the UK in June 2024 as a five-piece made-up of musicians from SF's thriving indie-pop underground.