31 Mar 2020

Rocket Probes – March (isolated) playlist





Sex Swing – The Passover
(Filthy krautnoise banger from Sex Swing)

Kooba Tercu - Qasan
(First track of psyched out repetitive sounds to be revealed by this amazing Greek band)

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Rubbernecker
(Latest earworm from the mighty Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs..their new album 'Viscerals' is relased on Friday!)

AHRKH – Beams From a Spiritual Panorama
(Alex from GNOD's latest exploration in meditation)

Teitanblood ‎– The Baneful Choir / Death
(Two impeccable albums of killer sludge...essential)

RMFTM – Eden in Reverse
(Great new track...we have heard the album and it is a belter!!)
RMFTM

Teleplasmiste - A Boy Called Conjuror
(New Teleplasmiste track...the duo featuring Michael J York from The Utopia Strong)

BLOM – Be Kind
(Banging new track from the mighty BLOM)

Holden & Zimpel - Long Weekend EP
(Collaboration in repetitions)

Bushpilot – Already
(Mooney era Can vibes meets noise rock on God Unknown...great album)

Atlantikwall – Anura
(Great kraut experiments)

Horse Lords – Against Gravity
(More great explorations in repetition from Horse Lords)

Weites Luftmeer - Couche Tard
(Fuzzy psych sounds)

Blacknecks - To The Cosmos, Let's Go!
(A TOTS tour van fave)

The Dream Syndicate - The Regulator
(Psych groove)
The Dream Syndicate

Henry Flynt – You Are My Everlovin/Celestial Power
(Droning wonderfulness)

Krokodil – Sunlights Beautiful Daughter
(Hippy groove)

Zen Mother – Beginning
(Like a more techno Fabulous Diamonds, great track)

Slift – Ummon
(Some nice fuzzed wah and grooved psyched sounds + a killer sleeve)
Slift


Muriel Grossman – Traneing In
(Killer jazz)

Rare Bird – Her Darkest Hour
(Nice ending)

Nihiloxica – Tewali Sukali
(More killer tribal techno from Uganda)
Nihiloxica

Praed  – The odyssey of the blue files
(25mins of Lebanese repetitive arabic jazz/electronics)

Master´s Apprentices – Easy To Lie
(70s wah rock, courtesy of Centrum)
Master´s Apprentices


Michele Mercure - Beside Herself
(Great 80s electronic with a bit of a Teeth of the Sea sound in places)

Michele Mercure

Smog – Held
(Classic psyched out groove from Mr Callahan)
Smog

The Eskimo Chain – E.X.O. Incorporated
(New 'concept' soundtrack album from members of The Liberation)
The Eskimo Chain 

BEEATSZ v2.0999f – High Civilisation
(This will blow out the isolation cobwebs....thanks to GNOD for this find)
BEEATSZ v2.0999f 

Dave Pike Set – Walkin' Down the Highway in a red raw egg
(Fuzzed wah jazz)
Dave Pike Set

JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland – Heron
(Future prog on Ipecac)
JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland

Dick Domane – Bad Dream
(Lo-fi fuzzed pop from '74)
Dick Domane

Bored – Feed the Dog
(Sad to hear about the passing of Dave Thomas from Bored/Magic Dirt)

Pailhead – I will refuse
(Also RIP to the mighty Bill Rieflin - such a legacy of great music)

Krzysztof Penderecki  – Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima
(Another RIP - the use of this by Lynch on this Twin Peaks episode is other worldly)

Listen to a selection of these track via the 'updated monthly' Rocket Probes Spotify playlist here:



---

Outlaws of the Sun reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs' Viscerals album


They say:

UK Noise/Doom/Stoner Rockers – PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS – aka PIGSx7 – are aiming high for their new album – Viscerals. As the band have opted for a more groovier and riff-centred sound. The earlier experimental vibes of their previous releases aren’t as noticeable on this record but the band still manage to include some strange experimental sounds on certain parts of the album.

Viscerals sees the band more focused and playing with a lot more confidence and you can feel that from the excellent opening song Reducer. With it’s heavy Noise Rock approach and it’s sneering Punk based outlook on life. The atmosphere is still very raw but the music is heavier and psychedelic in places with the guitars and vocals having the same aggressive tone that Torche first made their names with. Though, PIGSx7 are still very much their own band and when the Psychedelic grooves appear towards the end it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer heaviness of it all.


Second song – Rubbernecker – has a seedy atmosphere with the band playing a more caustic style of music and the heavy Droned Out Doom/Stoner Guitars fit superbly well with lead singer Matt’s wicked vocals that have a cool rebellious feel to them. Though it’s PIGSx7 inventive use of different sounds and genres that make this one of the standout songs on the album. As Rubbernecker is catchy as hell and the band still manage to create a song that’s seedy in all of the right places...

Read the rest here: Outlaws of the Sun

---

Tim Burgess gives Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs 'Viscerals' a spin


Tim says:

@Tim_Burgess
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (@Pigsx7) have a new album coming out this Friday. It’s called Viscerals, They’ll be doing a #timstwitterlisteningparty on Thursday April 9th at 9pm. Join us

Please support the band and preorder the album from your record shop !!

---

Kooba Tercu's new track 'Qasan' in Get into This's Deep Cuts feature


They say:

As the world goes into meltdown, it’s refreshing to know there are still some constants as Rocket Recordings unveil another sensational new signing to their roster.

Athens, Greece sextet Kooba Tercu are atypical of Rocket‘s MO – a rampaging vessel of visceral noise with oodles of malevolent grooves.

And their debut offering Qasan is an aural cement mixer all set to mash your mind into the middle of next week.

Sharing a similar sonic armoury to label mates Sex Swing, Kooba Tercu specialise in an aural meaty grind which tests the senses the max while simultaneously sucking you deep into their dense rubbery drone.

There’s also parallels with fellow Rocket noise heads Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs as a vocal squall-roar akin to Matt Baty emerges from amid the thick smog further assisting the hypnotic tribal mantra.

Five minutes in there’s a cackle and respite before deranged burn-the-house-down shrieks collide with OTT musicality. It’s bloody marvellous.


With June live UK dates lined up (coronavirus permitting) and a forthcoming album Proto Tekno set for May 22, consider ourselves suitably enthused for the Kooba Tercu hellfire house party.  – Peter Guy

Read the rest here: GIT

---

30 Mar 2020

Velvet Sheep interview Matt Baty from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs


They say:

MATT BATY of PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS – Song For Ewe


“SONG FOR EWE” is the feature where artists & music people beloved by VELVET SHEEP choose an obscure song they’ve been listening to that day. Today it’s a welcome return to one of the best bands in Britain, the hypnotically pulverising Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs whose brand new third full length album “Viscerals” (out this Friday on Rocket Recordings) I’ve anticipated with a unseemly slaver, and whose singer I’m lucky enough to indirectly work with in our respective day jobs when I look for music to license for one of my regular CBBC productions. “Viscerals” was recorded in a self-enforced lock-in at guitarist Sam Grant’s studio, before barely 80% of the album had been envisaged, with the limitations of the four walls and the claustrophobia of five sweaty guys bouncing around, sparking an intensely furious and incandescently brilliant new album. They emerged wide eyed ready to slay a burgeoning audience, just hitting their absolute stride, with a clamour of attention and a sold out nationwide tour, only to be sent back indoors for the untimely uncertainty of this crazy and cruel Coronavirus crisis and its unwelcome but necessary lockdown. Recently guitarist Adam Ian Sykes said, “We definitely thrive under pressure. It’s stressful but that stress seems to manifest itself in a positive way”, well the pressure’s truly on now, and something that can help you, whoever reads this at home now, is the neolithic, tectonic plate shifting heavy metal exuberance of “Viscerals”. If Joe Wicks can get you working out your core muscles, something that can really help strengthen your neck is songs like the mighty “Reducer”. And with it’s bellow at the top of your lungs epithet “Ego kills everything” this is also a workout that will not only stretch your trapezium but like Ian McKaye once said with Minor Threat it’ll “Flex Your Head”. It’s a truly visceral thrill to have back on these pages, the inestimably powerful and edifyingly amenable Matt Baty!

Read the rest here: Velvet Sheep

--

Rock Nation reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals


They say:

Anticipated by the single "Reducer", "Viscerals" is the awaited third album of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs , between aggression and experimentation, released on April 3, 2020 for Rocket Recordings.
The badly lit room is empty and there is silence. Suddenly, the door is suddenly knocked down with such a strong kick that the sharp pieces of wood fly everywhere and risk injuring you. Not caring. And suddenly you understand what it is. Eight tracks make their way into your elbow ears, piercing your intestines, after punching you.

Ladies and gentlemen, here are "Viscerals" and they are the Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.


Formed in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 2012, the Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have so far produced an EP "Feed the Rats" (2017) and an album "King of Cowards" (2018). Their sound constantly mixes different genres in which you recognize colorful and surprising influences, going from the electric and heavy sounds of the first works of Black Sabbath to the brazenly prog and experimental ones of the most unexpected and unknown Pink Floyd, those of songs like "The Nile song" ...

Read the rest here: Rock Nation

---

27 Mar 2020

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs 'live Q&A' Rough Trade Transmission announced


Join Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs for a very special 'live Q&A' Rough Trade Transmission at 6pm on Monday 30th March.

This is what RT say:

#RoughTradeTX 04

Monday! @Pigsx7 broadcast an exclusive Rough Trade Q&A Transmission via @roughtrade/@roughtradenyc Instagram TV feeds, celebrating the release of upcoming album 'Viscerals' via @RocketRecording.

Tune in here: Rough Trade

---

Rocking Greece say some words about Kooba Tercu


They say:

The Kooba Tercu delighted to announce that the next full length their album titled "Proto Tekno"  will be released from the historic, independent Rocket Recordings company is based in London (Goat, Pigsx7, Ufomammut, Oneida , Shit and Shine, Petbrick, GNOD, etc.).

The album will be officially released on May 22 , but a preview of the material can be obtained from the video of "Qasan", the first track of the upcoming release that saw the light.

ith Johnny Tercu in front and members of the British Casual Nun and Echo Canyon project , the Kooba Tercu collective joined forces in a ten-day recording which resulted in two albums. The "Kharrub"  released in 2019 (Hominid Sounds, Mafia, Body Vlows) and "Proto Tekno"  which will be released by Rocket Recordings. 

The band itself describes its vision as "a look at a near future in which humanity is trying to find its place. There is some interaction between the old and the new, the city and the countryside, human culture and nature, underdevelopment and technology, domination and coexistence. We are exploring the space between such a dipole and trying to create a sense of optimism and militancy to confront this wonderful new world. "...


Read the res here: Rocking Greece

---

26 Mar 2020

Acordes De Quinta interviews Kooba Tercu


Read an interview with Kooba Tercu to find out all about the band their new Rocket album 'Proto Tekno' here:

Acordes De Quinta

Preorder their album 'Proto Tekno' here: Bandcamp

---

Echoes and Dust reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs album Viscerals


They say:

Let’s start with a quick blitz through the story so far of Newcastle’s Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – or for saving breath purposes Pigsx7. The Rocket Recordings label’s debut Feed the Rats was a three-track uncompromising blast of Black Sabbathian-inspired noise that delightedly saw the only short track ‘Sweet Relief’ even make it onto the Hairy Bikers Show on the usually very conservative Planet Rock Radio station. Its successor King of Cowards occasional sprinkling of space rock organ-swirling demonstrated a wider-increasing exploration; reducing the songs’ lengths it maintained a robust heaviness while also being a far more palatable listen.


This also expanded their radio Station playlist portfolio as BBC 6 Music became appreciators of the band, and this is where they seem to be gaining most of their enlarging following. With the pre-Covid-19 announcement of their biggest UK headline tour including London’s Electric Ballroom now re-scheduled, you might think huge pressure of expectation might interfere with the band’s development. No need to fear: Viscerals is the sound of a band continuing to evolve their sound into a form which may be their most definitive yet...

Read the rest here: E&D

---

Backseat Mafia reviews Och – II


They say:

OCH, Swedish for ‘and’, recently released their first LP courtesy of Rocket Recordings. This trio, of whom little is known other than a kinship to their label mates Flowers Must Die, have created a collection of beguiling soundscapes and audial epiphanies that can’t help but summon up the freewheeling ‘70s spirit, the small hours head space and the broader sense of adventure that has legendarily dominated the areas of the esoteric.


As a new decade dawns, the music obsessive inhabits a claustrophobic modern era of instant gratification in which they’re seemingly so spoiled by online options and easy access that transcendence can be paradoxically hard to find in the melee. It can be reassuring to be mindful of the way a random discovery in the bargain bins of a second-hand record store or a charity shop can set off sparks of inspiration and untold fascination. A full forty years on, rare though it is to come across a new record in the here and now which conjures up the same sense of ‘other’ as the cryptic artefacts of yore, it seems that one is on the verge of crossing our transom...

Read the rest here: Backseat Mafia


---

25 Mar 2020

Sex Swing reveal 'The Passover' via Clash magazine – the ferocious second single from forthcoming album 'Type II'


To help you through these weird times, we are happy to reveal 'The Passover' – a ferocious second single taken from Sex Swing's forthcoming album 'Type II' which is released on 15 May. 

Rocket's very own John O'Carroll worked with the band to create this video for the single, watch it here exclusively via Clash Magazine.

Watch video

'Type II' can be preordered on CD and LP on Ltd 'Blue/Grey Splatter' via the link here:

Preorder LP/CD

Or you can buy a special on 'Cream/Grey Swirl' and 'Frosted Clear' LPs from your local record shops.



Since their foundation in 2014, this malevolent rogues gallery of luminaries of the UK underground have consistently proven to be capable of projecting vibrations that transcend and usurp any idea of the sum of their component parts. Between them the individual band members have clocked up notable experience sparking tinnitus appearing in bands such as Mugstar, Bonnacons Of Doom, Earth, Dethscalator, Dead Neanderthals and now even IDLES.

If the shows do go ahead, then you will get the chance to be crushed under the might of Sex Swing's live experience at these following dates, which includes a very special Rocket show at The White Hotel in Manchester:

22 May / BE / Kortrijk / The Pits
23 May / NL - Amsterdam / Occii
24 May / BE / Antwerp - Het Bos
26 May / Fr / Paris - Les Instants Chavirès
27 May / FR / Strasbourg / Venue Tbc
28 May / NL - Den Hague / Paard
29 May / BE / Bruxelles / Magasin4
30 May / UK / London - Corsica Studios
04 Jun / UK / Brighton / The Hope & Ruin
05 Jun / UK / Manchester - White Hotel (Rocket Party)
06 Jun / UK / Newcastle - The Cluny




---

24 Mar 2020

Introducing Kooba Tercu – watch video for their debut single for Rocket now via The Quietus


Here is the first track to be revealed by new Rocket signing Kooba Tercu – a six piece band from Athens, Greece. The single 'Qasan' is taken from the bands forthcoming album 'Proto Tekno that is released on 22 May

Watch video for 'Qasan' now via The Quietus: 

Watch Video

'Proto Tekno' can be preordered on 'Blue & White Galaxy' vinyl ltd to 250 copies from the Rocket shop here:

Preorder album

It is also available on 'Frosted White' vinyl that is ltd to 450 copies via your local record shop.

The band have these UK shows planned for June which obviously we hope will happen, but who knows yet:

05 Jun / Manchester / White Hotel (w/ Sex Swing/GNOD/Steve & Kavus DJ)
07 Jun / Newcastle  / TBC
09 Jun / London / The Seabright Arms
10 Jun / Bristol / The Lanes
11 Jun / Leicester / TBC

-

Press release:

Arriving via a triangulation of Athens, Crete and London, yet existing at a psychic intersection between the ruins of crumbling infrastructure and an intimidating future dystopia Kooba Tercu have seen fit to take arms as only they see fit. ‘Proto Tekno’ is their mission statement writ large - a potent and pulverising collection of incendiary jams fuelled by the modern age yet transcending it with vicious style. Equal parts groove-driven mantra, red blooded freakout and experiment onslaught, this is the sound of a fearless band raging against the dying of the light.

Led by Johnny Tercu, and sharing common members with bands like hypno-rock force Casual Nun and electronic experimental outpost Echo Canyon, this collective joined forces over a ten-day studio session in which a furious bout of creativity and chemistry led to not only their second album ‘Kharrub’ (which emerged as a release split between the London-based Hominid Sounds and the Greek labels Mafia and Body Blows) but this - their third voyage into the unknown via coruscating noise and infectious rhythmic drive, and their most powerful and captivating to date.

Confident that all formulas are fundamentally there to be mercilessly rearranged, and that a sheer force of will can easily transform the ridiculous into the sublime. ‘Proto Tekno’ seamlessly travels from a fuzz-bass headbanger like the opener ‘Benzoberry’ to the mantric blowout of ‘Qasan’ (assaulting CAN-esque dimensions equal parts caustic and cinematic)
and from the sleazy swagger of ‘Cemento Mori’ (redolent of the suave machinations of Girls Against Boys) to the polyrhythmic drive of the ceremonial centrepiece ‘Fair Game’, while maintaining their unique full-throttle intensity and generosity of character. There’s Melvins-style groove to be had on ‘Proto Tekno’ (Kamehameha’) ‘just as much as Beta Band-style songcraft (‘Puppy Pile’) yet these disparate influences coalesce vividly into an invigorating and intimidatingly confident assault on the senses.

The band themselves clarify their standpoint as “creating a vision of short-term future and trying to find humanity’s place in that world. Coming from Greece, all the futuristic elements take another turn as developments in technology and commerce take time to filter through in peripheral countries and are often skewed.” 

“There’s a certain interplay between old and new, urban and rural, human civilization and nature, poorly maintained underdevelopment or disruptive technology and surveillance, domination and symbiosis. We’ve been exploring the space between such dipoles and trying to create a sense of optimism and militancy to face this brave new world.”

Inhabiting a modern era in which creating art, as the Fluxus group originally proposed, is more than ever a revolutionary act in itself, ‘Proto Tekno’ stands as much as formidable monument to insurrectionary spirit as it does the furious clanguour of six heads in an overheated rehearsal room. It’s a weapon of psychic defence just as much as a love letter to the three ‘R’s of repetition, repetition and repetition. Yet as the ongoing battle against adversity gathers momentum, one thing is for certain - you’ll want Kooba Tercu on your side.



---

Joyzine reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals


They say:

Where on earth do you begin when writing about Newcastle’s finest, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs? What is it about them that just makes them one of the best bands EVER? I’m not talking about right now, but I mean EVER. For me, they have that brutal loudness that I constantly crave from music. The distorted vocals, the haunting guitars, the thrilling drums, the tense atmosphere. The way they make you feel as if something is corrupting your brain; give me it. Give me all of it.

 Their new record Viscerals comes out at the start of April and with the world clearly going headfirst into Hell at the moment- they’ve pretty much nailed the best record to listen to as you socially distance yourself from everything and everyone (it’s for your own good!) They have created a beautiful monster of a record; it is tormenting and loud. I adore it and I’m putting it up there as one of my favourite records of the year, easily.


 As someone who is obsessed with bands like OM, Sleep and Noothgrush, this record by Pigs is phenomenal. I can hold it as highly and as dear as Sleep’s Dopesmoker for sure. Songs like ‘New Body’ are absolutely out of this world. The sheer rage in the vocals and determination to create something truly frightening and honest is so apparent, and I have nothing but love and respect for the band for daring to be like this, and to constantly...

Read the rest here: Joyzine

---

20 Mar 2020

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs postpone April/May tour to next year


Unsurprisingly Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have had to move their up-and-coming April/May shows to next year, the band have said this:

Here is the update on our UK touring plans, due to the postponement of our April/May dates. All tickets are on sale now. Tickets for Newcastle, London, Brighton, Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Manchester that you have already purchased are valid for the new dates. Some shows been upgraded too, where that was possible. Oh and we’ve added a date in Cork too.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Stay safe and Lets Rock.

Nov 12 - Leadmill - Sheffield
Nov 13 - Komedia - Bath
Nov 14 - Sin City - Swansea
Nov 19 - Waterfront - Norwich
Nov 20 - Engine Rooms - Southampton
Nov 21 - O2 Academy - Leicester
Nov 25 - Invisible Wind Factory - Liverpool
Nov 26 - Empire - Belfast
Nov 27 - Dolan’s - Limerick
Nov 28 - Whelan’s - Dublin
Nov 29 - Kino - Cork
Dec 02 - St Luke’s - Glasgow (tickets from April 25 remain valid)
Dec 03 - The Lemon Tree - Aberdeen
Dec 04 - Summerhall - Edinburgh
Dec 05 - Northumbria University - Newcastle (Star & Shadow tickets from April 3 & 4 remain valid)

Rescheduled dates
Jan 27 - SWX - Bristol (Thekla tickets from April 18 remain valid)
Jan 28 - Town Hall - Birmingham (tickets from April 17 remain valid)
Jan 29 - Albert Hall - Manchester (Gorilla tickets from April 16 remain valid)
Jan 30 - Stylus - Leeds (tickets from April 24 remain valid)
Feb 04 - Concorde 2 - Brighton (tickets from May 1 remain valid)
Feb 05 - Electric Ballroom - London (tickets from April 30 remain valid)
Feb 06 - Electric Ballroom - London (new date added, on sale now)
Feb 12 - Rock City - Nottingham (Rescue Rooms tickets from April 29 remain valid)

Their new album Viscerals is out on 3 April...please preorder a unique 'tour only' colour now direct from the band here: Pigsx7.com

---

19 Mar 2020

50 signed copies of PETBRICK on sale now


Tomorrow (Friday 20th March) Bandcamp are waiving all their fees so all money goes to bands and labels - read about it here: Bandcamp

So to tie in with this we have just put up 50 signed copies of PETBRICKS album 'I' up for sale – so if you want one, and want to support the band and Rocket then buy it tomorrow (from midnight to midnight USA Pacific Time).

Order from here: PETBRICK

Please note: 
These signed copies have tiny damage in one corner which happened during transit, not huge but we want to mention it - plus have reduced the cost to compensate.

---


18 Mar 2020

Echoes and Dust reviews Teeth of the Sea live in Birmingham


They say:

It’s a calming and reverent space. . . into which Teeth Of The Sea are blasting their lucid dreaming space-rock soundtracks. Once you settle into the unfamiliar band/audience dynamics, and get comfy in the pews, it offers a chance to soak up the widescreen layers of their sound. It was nice to give it your full attention without fellow punters pushing past spilling beer down your leg or chattering inanely and only the odd, shamefaced, spot of phone bothering. Sam Barton’s trumpet feels at home in here, calling to the heavens and ringing out pure above the mesh of processed sounds from Mike and Jimmy.

Down in the fourth row the sound is great; clear, loud and detailed. Although later discussions reveal it was less reliable in the balcony and the bass was causing the fittings to buzz and rattle elsewhere. The set draws mostly on 2019’s fantastic Wraith album, loosely following its template of gathering intensity. No strangers to unusual live situations, last year they played original new music to accompany the ‘Apollo Moon Shot’ screening at The Science Museum. Some of that music makes it into the set tonight about which I can tell you two things. Firstly, it’s great and second, the stuff they chose to include continued in the vein of Wraith, which is just fine by me.


Much of the joy of Teeth Of The Sea is that they have one foot in this rarefied world of screening soundtracks and exploratory art rock diversions, but keep the other planted on the monitor of rock ‘n’ roll, embodied in Jimmy Martin’s flying V guitar and Marshall stack, set up in place of the altar. There’s a moment when the mostly subtle washes of the light show turn to vivid bleeding blue-and-yellow bands. and it’s briefly like watching an old German TV clip of some hairy kosmische adventurers getting their freak on. Still, as they build to an intensity that’s starting to feel a little out of place in here, it’s less that spirit of rock than a double shot of thumping techno that charges to the front. By the time they finish with ‘Gladiators Ready’ it’s ridiculous. The sound is huge, like dinosaurs stomping up and down the aisle, and I’m helplessly grinning in mad amazement at the absurdity and brilliance of it. Magnificent.

Read the full review here: E&D

---

17 Mar 2020

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Rough Trade instores postponed to August


We are sad to announce that the up-and-coming Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs RoughTrade instores have been postponed until August, they are now gonna be:

Rough Trade Nottingham
Aug 22nd
Info

Rough Trade Bristol
Aug 23rd
Info

Rough Trade East
Aug 24th
Info

These are extremely tough times for everyone but please, you can support the band, shops and us by preordering the album from Rough Trade here: Rough Trade

Thanks

---

Nawakulture reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals


They say:

Learn to turn the pig seven times in his mouth, and then it will go on its own.
The British magma surheavy, holding at the same time very fat sludge / doom, psychedelic perching, convoluted noise rock, industrial hammering, progressive research, resembles especially by its creeping and sinister form to a sneak attack , there is no risk of escaping this hammer-pestle led by a savage voice (why not think here of UNSANE , RUST SEASON and others?), we also do not escape hypnosis and l imperious desire to shake the noggin, especially when the tempo gets a bit excited like on the enjoyable World crust or Halloween bolson !


A real fucking treat that this sonic tank that would roll down the right slope towards its audience and then have fun playing the zig-zag to disturb the crowds and do better damage. Typically what we needed there right away, thank you! 

Read the piece here: Nawakulture

---

11 Mar 2020

Consequence of Sound reveals Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs video for new single 'Rubbernecker


Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs return with their second single from forthcoming album 'Viscerals' - which is released on 3 April.

The single called 'Rubbernecker' sees the band at possibly their most melodious yet, redolent of the debauched swagger of Jane’s Addiction. Though their trademark heavy-riff sound is still ever present and as ever punishing.

Watch the excellent animated video created by the very talented Rafael Bonilla Jr now via Consequence of Sound: COS



"The lyrics of 'Rubbernecker' explore feelings of desperation and eroding senses of community in a world that's seemingly gone completely mad," says singer Matt Baty. "The central character is the clown, who attempts to detach himself from the world he observes as chaotic and unruly. The more he isolates himself, the more he yearns for kinship but the ever growing forces that reinforce his terror of the outside keep him rooted in his confinement. It's a sad song really." 

Director Rafael Bonilla, Jr. adds, "The video is about the band being trapped in limbo and forced to perform in a circus for the dead kids that reside there. They are watched over by a clown that kills them off one by one, kind of like a slasher film, which entertains the kids more than the circus acts. A lot of the imagery in the video is inspired by the painting 'The Harrowing of Hell' by Hieronymous Bosch."



The band have also added 13 more UK dates for November and December to the list of scheduled shows they have coming up:

03 Apr / UK / Newcastle - Star and Shadow *SOLD OUT*
04 Apr / UK / Newcastle - Star and Shadow *SOLD OUT*
05 Apr / UK / Bristol - Rough Trade *SOLD OUT*
06 Apr / UK / London - Rough Trade East *SOLD OUT*
07 Apr / UK / Nottingham - Rough Trade *SOLD OUT*
16 Apr / UK / Manchester - Gorilla *SOLD OUT*
17 Apr / UK / Birmingham - The Mill
18 Apr / UK / Bristol - Thekla *SOLD OUT*
24 Apr / UK / Leeds - Stylus
25 Apr / UK / Glasgow - St Luke’s
29 Apr / UK / Nottingham - Rescue Rooms *SOLD OUT*
30 Apr / UK / London - Electric Ballroom
01 May / UK / Brighton - Concorde 2 *SOLD OUT*
01-03 May / DE / Berlin / Desertfest
9-11 Jul / SK / Trenčín / Phonda Festival
01 Aug / UK / Lake District / Kendal Calling Festival
29 Aug / NL / Eindhoven / Fuzz Club Festival
31 Jul / UK / Oxfordshire / Truck Festival

New dates:
12 Nov / UK / Leadmill / Sheffield
13 Nov / UK / Komedia / Bath
14 Nov / UK / Swansea / Sin City 
19 Nov / UK / Waterfront / Norwich
20 Nov / UK / Engine Rooms / Southampton 
21 Nov / UK / O2 Academy / Leicester
25 Nov / UK / Invisible Wind Factory / Liverpool 
26 Nov / UK / Empire / Belfast
27 Nov / IR / Dolan’s / Limerick 
28 Nov / IR / Whelan’s / Dublin 
03 Dec / UK / The Lemon Tree / Aberdeen 
04 Dec / UK / Summerhall / Edinburgh 
05 Dec / UK / Northumbria University / Newcastle 

Also, incase you hadn't heard...due to the cancellation of SXSW the up-and-coming US headline shows have been effected and then band are now unable to play Brooklyn and LA this coming Friday and Sunday respectively. Refunds are available at point of purchase. But the band will be back soon, watch this space!


'Viscerals' is available to preorder now on two different ltd edition LP versions from your local record shop now. Also Rough Trade have their own version with an exclusive free CD. You can preorder 'Viscerals' on CD and ltd edition t-shirts direct from the band here: 


Or presave the digital here: Digital

---

9 Mar 2020

Louder Than War give Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs album Viscerals a 9/10 review


They say:

There are many strange things about Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs (Pigs x7 from hereon) who are releasing their third album Viscerals, but one of the oddest is how they have won such a big following from the 6 Music crowd who normally eschew an out and out rawk act.

Yet somehow they have done what so many great rock bands have failed to do and win broad appeal, which is even more impressive when you consider just how uncompromising this Geordie quintet’s sound is.

It’s been a seven-year road to this third album, and yet again there has been a definite step forward in ambition and songwriting from the critically acclaimed King of Cowards, but retaining their very Northern bloody mindedness. This might be because Pigs x7 only had about 20% of the album written before decamping to guitarist Sam Grant’s Blank Studios, so there is a live feel to the songs which captures some of the astonishing intensity of their shows.

Opener Reducer sets the tone as madcap vocalist Matt Baty’s roars out ‘ego kills everything’ over spacey guitars and solos from Grant and Adam Ian Sykes as their rock solid rhythm section John-Michael Hedley and drummer Christopher Morley lock down a tight groove...

Read the rest here: Louder Than War

---