26 Sept 2023

Bonnacons of Doom release electrifying new single 'Signs'

Following the success of first single 'Facing', the mirror masked collective Bonnacons of Doom have now released Signs' the title track from their forthcoming album.

Anonymous member of the band says this about the new single: "Trying to make sense of the world in the age of multiple meanings we see patterns emerging from the ether as a flicker of hope, only for them to disappear into dust. The most banal signifier can be a potent of the heaviest of times while we laugh off our impending destruction. Nagging digital echoes are buried by swathes of organic water only for new signs to emerge."

Watch the eye-popping visualiser for the track 'Signs' above – album 'Signs' is released on 27 October.

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There are three gatefold sleeve vinyl versions of 'Signs' available.

Excited to announce there is a numbered Dinked version that has unique sleeve art, a cutout and keep 'Doom' mask and is pressed on exclusive Silver vinyl:

Preorder Dinked Edition

You can also pick-up a ltd edition Yellow vinyl via Bandcamp and a ltd edition Frosted Clear vinyl via all good record shops:

Bandcamp Edition

-

Building on the intimidating intensity of Bonnacons Of Doom’s self-titled debut, 'Signs' offers a sonic response to the tension between the urge to pursue continuity with our past and to adapt to our changing present. Hypnotic grooves and the monomaniacal intensity of the riff are fractured by digital interplay, electronics and the incantatory vocals of ceremonial leader Kate Smith, coalescing into a metaphysical force which stands defiant of easy categorisation. 

Within these otherworldly manifestations on 'Signs' lurks solace in a place where the transcendent powers of heavy amplification, sonic explorations and forces darker and more unknowable can coalesce to cathartic and redeeming effect. 

Bonnacons of Doom tour supporting Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs is underway, you can still catch them at:

29 September / Bristol / SWX
30 September / Manchester / O2 Ritz
05 October / Sheffield / Foundry
06 October  / London / O2 Kentish Town Forum

And the band have these two headline shows planned:

26 October / London / Moor Beer Vaults  Tickets
11 November / Liverpool / Quarry  Tickets

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21 Sept 2023

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs reveal second track from forthcoming 'Live In New York' Album


Ahead of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs kicking off their UK tour which starts on Saturday in Glasgow, the band have shared another track from their forthcoming 'Live In New York' album which is being digitally released on 27 October.

'Live In New York' is an 8 track live album recorded at the Mercury Lounge on 4th April 2023, and we are now happy to share with you the track 'Terror's Pillow' another fan favourite from latest album 'Land of Sleeper', listen above or you can stream/buy the track here:




Guitarist and producer of the band Sam Grant said this about the track "Terror's Pillow has this waltzy, almost classical feel it had going on, and was constantly trying to push that element more in the writing and production, hopefully giving it a less conventional rock/metal vibe. I like to think it has the air of an unreleased bonus track from Holst's 'The Planets' - though this is more an homage to the massive asteroid currently winging its way to Earth..."

And drummer Ewan Mackenzie said "Our show at Mercury Lounge in Manhattan NYC was the last date of our North American tour, and the final chapter of a wonderful musical adventure for us. We had already had the privilege of playing at St. Vitus in Brooklyn at the start of the tour, and so returning to NYC again felt like a kind of homecoming. The atmosphere was electric that night, there was a magic in the air and a special connection among everyone in the room. As a band, we’ve colloquially come to term the best of our performances as ‘Rinsers’. It’s safe to say that the Mercury Lounge show was worthy of the ‘Rinser’ label."

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Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs up-and-coming shows are:

UK
Sept 23 - Glasgow - Queen Margaret Union
Sept 29 - Bristol - SWX
Sept 30 - Manchester - O2 Ritz
Oct 5 - Sheffield - Foundry
Oct 6 - London - O2 Kentish Town Forum
(Bonnacons of Doom in support)

USA
Oct 29 - Austin, TX - Levitation/Hotel Vegas
Oct 31 - Troy, NY - No Fun
Nov 1 - New Haven, CT - Space Ballroom
Nov 2 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Nov 3 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere
Nov 4 - Washington, DC - The Atlantis

AUSTRALIA
Dec 8 - Victoria, Meredith Music Festival
Dec 9 - Melbourne - Northcote Social Club (headline show)
Dec 13 - Canberra - Basement (supporting The Mark of Cain)
Dec 15 - Sydney - Metro (supporting The Mark of Cain)
Dec 16 - Brisbane - Tivoli (supporting The Mark of Cain)

All tickets and info can be found here: Tickets

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19 Sept 2023

Teeth Of The Sea reveal 'Butterfly House' the second single from forthcoming album 'Hive'

As announced previously Teeth Of The Sea return with their sixth album 'Hive' on 6 October. And we are now thrilled to reveal 'Butterfly House', the second single to be released from the album. 

'Butterfly House' marks a new journey for Teeth Of The Sea. Always fans of synthpop and Italo-disco, a combination of serendipity and instinct led them to combine forces with vocalist and songwriter Kath Gifford (Snowpony/Sleazy Tiger/The Wargs) to create a radiant shard of neon-tinted melancholia. Less visited by the spectres of Baltimora, Bobby O and Laura Branigan than it is a haunting ode to loss and dislocation rendered in vivid colours, it's a song that marks a meeting point between the dancefloor and the ether.

Watch the Mike Bourne made video for 'Butterfly House' above:

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Hive is available to preorder now on Ltd edition LP/CD.

You can preorder an exclusive, numbered 'Dinked' edition on Neon Pink vinyl that also includes an A2 poster of exclusive art and sew on patch via here:

Dinked shops

Also via a second link below you can preorder a ltd Bandcamp exclusive LP on Yellow vinyl. And finally there is a ltd edition Blue vinyl variant for all shops. All LPs come with colour-coded obi strips...so collect the set:

Bandcamp

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Unfettered by genre distinctions or expectations, the only limits of Teeth Of The Sea - the trio comprising Sam Barton, Mike Bourne and Jimmy Martin - are those of its imagination. It therefore follows that inspiration flowed into 'Hive' from all dimensions, with the band’s sphere of influence - the science fiction, trash culture and cinematic atmospherics by which they’ve fuelled their mission thus far - expanding to take in everything from Italo-disco to minimal techno, from dubbed-out studio madness to their most brazen forays thus far into pop songwriting.

'Hive' is an alchemical headspace where monochrome animates into vivid colour. It may not be a carefully ordered insectoid militia set to overthrow society, but it’s a transmission which transcends anything Teeth Of The Sea have thus far offered in their time on Earth.

Step inside 'Hive', if you dare.

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See Teeth Of The Sea live:

6 Oct / Brighton / Hope & Ruin
7 Oct / London / Walthamstow Trades Club
13 Oct / Preston / The Ferret
14 Oct / Newcastle / The Lubber Fiend
20 Oct / Manchester / White Hotel
21 Oct / Birmingham / Asylum2
22 Oct / Glasgow / Hug & Pint
28 Oct / Bristol / Crofters Rights
18 Nov / Ramsgate / Ramsgate Music Hall

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12 Sept 2023

Goat release new single 'Join The Resistance'

Following on from the single 'Unemployment Office', Goat return with the second track to be released from forthcoming album 'Medicine', which is being released on 13 October.

'Join The Resistance (Edit)' is a call to arms from the band, they say: "The track is celebrating when united people are not following the consensus. Asking the difficult questions and collectively finding your own path through a negative world."

Watch the video for 'Join The Resistance (Edit)', which like the video for 'Unemployment Office' has been created by Oliver Lewis above:

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Due to the high demand for Goat albums we have several gatefold vinyl versions available for you to choose from, as well as a ltd edition CD.

All good UK record shops will also have 'Bohemica' vinyl as well as a 'Black Trip' vinyl version. And non UK stores will have a 'Wavy Cap' vinyl edition:

Preorder here

US Goat fans – our friends at Levitation have two unique versions of the album available via the link below – plus as stated above, all good US record stores will have a 'Wavy Cap' vinyl edition for sale:

Levitation versions (US exclusive)

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The last two Goat shows (until who know when) are happening next month in Portugal, do not miss:

13 October / Porto / Hard Club
14 October / Lisbon / Lisboa Ao Vivo

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31 Aug 2023

Rocket Probes – August 2023 playlist

Bonnacons Of Doom – Facing
https://bonnaconsofdoom.bandcamp.com/album/signs

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Big Rig (Live)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZtd2SWEL7k

Goat – Unemployment Office
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0JDqQoHxo0

Panda Bear & Sonic Boom – Go On Dub (Adrian Sherwood Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9LdPrdXV_8

Mustafa Özkent – Lorke Lorke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xaU9wsLFdc

John Carpenter – The End (John Anthony Scratch Mix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_jrvsmQkA8

Ruffy & Tuffy – If The 3rd World War Is A Must
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsS-Niuzz40

Circus 2000 – The Sun Will Shine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYbeVocR1AE

EL Maryacho / Nowaah The Flood – Nasa
https://elmaryacho.bandcamp.com/track/nasa-nowaah-the-flood-prod-el-maryacho

Dali Muru & The Polyphonic Swarm – Bom Bom Bow
https://stroomtv.bandcamp.com/track/bom-bom-bow

Amon Düül II – Sleepwalker's Timeless Bridge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW0UfVDnjeg

Wau Wau Collectif – Yay Balma
https://wauwaucollectif.bandcamp.com/track/yay-balma

Your Old Droog & MF DOOM – Dropout Boogie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai_5M3EjFqo

Harry Thumann – Sphinx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Zge__luTQpc

Stone The Crows – Ode to John Law
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TypuWqBnf1Y

Dub Syndicate – Ravi Shankar 
https://open.spotify.com/track/2y3x9gthtaRJB4VUChGwBk?si=b5ef4250ebaf4f38

Mulatu Astatke – Nètsanèt (Liberty)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfu2JJSYWmc

Roc Marciano – Trenchcoat Wars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2fNfz767V0

SamGendell – Tate-waku
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dgnASVt3Xw

Aphex Twin – Blackbox Life Recorder 21f
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Ue_P7vcRE

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Listen/follow our updated monthly Rocket Probes playlist:


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Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs reveal live album and more shows

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have announced the release of 'Live in New York' – an 8 track live album recorded at the Mercury Lounge on 4th April 2023. 

The album which will be released digitally on all streaming platforms on 27 October is a perfect document of the band in full, ferocious swing.

Listen to the first track to be revealed from the album above – fan favourite from latest album 'Land Of Sleeper', the gargantuan 'Big Rig'.

Preorder the digital album here:

Bandcamp

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Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have also added some more Australian dates for their December visit, their up-and-coming shows list now reads like this:

UK
Sept 23 - Glasgow - Queen Margaret Union
Sept 29 - Bristol - SWX
Sept 30 - Manchester - O2 Ritz
Oct 5 - Sheffield - Foundry
Oct 6 - London - O2 Kentish Town Forum
(Bonnacons of Doom in support)

USA
Oct 29 - Austin, TX - Levitation/Hotel Vegas
Oct 31 - Troy, NY - No Fun
Nov 1 - New Haven, CT - Space Ballroom
Nov 2 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Nov 3 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere
Nov 4 - Washington, DC - The Atlantis

AUSTRALIA
Dec 8 - Victoria, Meredith Music Festival
Dec 9 - Melbourne - Northcote Social Club (headline show)
Dec 13 - Canberra - Basement (supporting The Mark of Cain)
Dec 15 - Sydney - Metro (supporting The Mark of Cain)
Dec 16 - Brisbane - Tivoli (supporting The Mark of Cain)

All tickets and info can be found here:

Pigsx7.com

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21 Aug 2023

'Thee Alcoholics' sign to Rocket


We are chuffed to announce that South London band Thee Alcoholics are gonna be releasing their debut vinyl album on Rocket in 2024.

The brainchild behind Thee Alcoholics is our good friend Rhys Llewellyn, who keen Rocket fans would recognise as the drummer of the band The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers, who's album 'Whose Side Are You On (a title and sleeve, that scarily predicted the future) Rocket released in 2008. The trio that made up the Hi-Fi killers was completed by the extremely talented Jonathan Richards and the low end frequency master of Tony Mountford on bass, who is also a member of Thee Alcoholics!!

Rhys's Rocket credentials don't end with the Hi-Fi Killers – after leaving the band he joined Hey Colossus and was the drummer on the three albums Rocket released; In Black and Gold and Radio Static High from 2015 and The Guillotine from 2017.

So having Rhys back in the Rocket fold is a huge honour, for as well as being a good friend, we are huge fans of his musical prowess too.

Up to now Thee Alcoholics have released two must have 7" singles and cassettes on Wrong Speed Records, plus a great live LP on Human Worth Records.

Details for Thee Alcoholics album are still to be finalised, but an early 2024 release date is being planned – so watch this space for more info. And in the meantime if you see Thee Alcoholics are playing at a venue near you, then we implore you to check them out – especially if you love bands like The Heads, The Fall, The Butthole Surfers and the music of Kevin Martin, if those references get you excited then you will definitely want to get inebriated on Thee Alcoholics.

Up-and-coming shows:
30th August - The Prince Albert, Brighton
23rd September - The Beehive, Shipley
24th September - The Hatch, Sheffield
30th September - The Garage, London


Photo by Suzi Corker

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15 Aug 2023

Bonnacons of Doom reveal new album 'Signs'


Mirror masked collective Bonnacons of Doom return with 'Signs'  – their second album for Rocket Recordings. The 8 track album of Trans Pennine hypnotic music is released on 27 October.

Watch the visually stunning video that was directed/edited by the album sleeve artist and band member Sam Wiehl (with help from Scenegraph Studios) for the first single to be released, the powerful sounds of 'Facing' above.

-

There are three gatefold sleeve vinyl versions of 'Signs' available.

Excited to announce there is a numbered Dinked version that has unique sleeve art, a cutout and keep 'Doom' mask and is pressed on exclusive Silver vinyl:

Preorder Dinked Edition

You can also pick-up a ltd edition Yellow vinyl via Bandcamp and a ltd edition Frosted Clear vinyl via all good record shops:

Bandcamp Edition

-

Building on the intimidating intensity of Bonnacons Of Doom’s self-titled debut, 'Signs' offers a sonic response to the tension between the urge to pursue continuity with our past and to adapt to our changing present. Hypnotic grooves and the monomaniacal intensity of the riff are fractured by digital interplay, electronics and the incantatory vocals of ceremonial leader Kate Smith, coalescing into a metaphysical force which stands defiant of easy categorisation. 

Within these otherworldly manifestations on 'Signs' lurks solace in a place where the transcendent powers of heavy amplification, sonic explorations and forces darker and more unknowable can coalesce to cathartic and redeeming effect. 

See Bonnacons of Doom on tour supporting Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs:
23 September / Glasgow /  Queen Margaret Union
29 September / Bristol / SWX
30 September / Manchester / O2 Ritz
05 October / Sheffield / Foundry
06 October  / London / O2 Kentish Town Forum

And the band have these two headline shows planned:
26 October / London / Moor Beer Vaults  Tickets
11 November / Liverpool / Quarry  Tickets



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11 Aug 2023

Launch300 is available to stream from today


To celebrate our 25th anniversary this year we put together a very special compilation album – which coincidentally, was also our 300th release!

Simply titled 'LAUNCH300' this Bandcamp exclusive compilation is finally being released today on all streaming and digital channels.

The album features unreleased tracks by Centrum, Gnod, Goat, J. Zunz, Och, Shit & Shine, Smote and The Utopia Strong. The album's beautiful art is by the infamous French 70's artist Philippe Caza, that has been exclusively licensed for this release.

"LAUNCH300 measures out the widescreen horizons of Rocket Recordings as it embarks on the next quarter century - a label with its feet on the ground and its head mapping out a defiant course for the unknown. Get on board." 

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8 Aug 2023

Goat announce October release of brand new album 'Medicine'


We are always extremely excited when we can share with you new music from Goat. 

And here we have 'Unemployment Office' the first single to be revealed from Goat's new album 'Medicine' which is being released on 13 October.

Watch the Oliver Lewis created video for 'Unemployment Office' above.

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Due to the high demand for Goat albums we have several gatefold vinyl versions available for you to choose from, as well as a ltd edition CD.

First up, via the Bandcamp link below we have two versions on offer 'Golden Teacher' vinyl and 'Blue Legs' vinyl:

Bandcamp

All good UK record shops will also have 'Bohemica' vinyl as well as a 'Black Trip' vinyl version. And non UK stores will have a 'Wavy Cap' vinyl edition.

US Goat fans – our friends at Levitation have two unique versions of the album available via the link below – plus as stated above, all good US record stores will have a 'Wavy Cap' vinyl edition for sale.

Levitation (North America fans)

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There is a consistently restrained, warm feel across the whole of 'Medicine', and the band suggest that the overall theme of the album is about “the impermanence of life in different ways: sickness, relationships, love, death and how our time is finite”.

The ‘Medicine’ of the title may refer to a number of salves, or this value of relationships and love: “For our families, friends, society, this could be done through the use of psychedelics, through meditation, through learning from other people, staying curious and never settling for a ‘solid’ identity” says the mysterious Goatboy from the band.

At times the album’s sound has nods to classic Swedish 70s psych/prog/folk acts such as Arbete & Fritid, Charlie & Esdor and Träd, Gräs & Stenar. However, there was nothing conscious about the way the album turned out, as the band “were just trying to move along as freely and open-mindedly as possible”. A new sound that grew out of their recent work on the pagan folk soundtrack to Shane Meadows’ The Gallows Pole.

But whatever your dosage, and regardless of your remedy, it is now time to take your medicine.

See Goat live:

10-12 August / Gothenburg / Way Out West Festival
17-20 August / Brecon / Green Man Festival
13 October / Porto / Hard Club
14 October / Lisbon / Lisboa Ao Vivo



4 Aug 2023

Moundabout's new album 'An Cnoc Mór' is released today



“A deep sense of devotional wonder.”
Electronic Sound

“A musical contemplation of the megalithic.”
Terrascope

“A lesson in neolithic ritual & otherworldly transcendence.”
Louder Than War

“One of the most powerful musical statements this year.”  
Weirdo Shrine

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Moundabout, the duo featuring Gnod's Paddy Shine and Phil Masterson follow the success of last year's album 'Flowers Rot, Bring Stone' with an incredible new long player called 'An Cnoc Mór' which is out now.

'An Cnoc Mór' is available on ltd edition Mushroom coloured vinyl via the link below or from all good record shops:

Buy 'An Cnoc Mór'

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'Cnoc Mór na nGaibhlte' (or The Big Hill Of The Galtees) is an imposing sandstone and shale peak in Munster, from which vantage point the horizon retreats to impossible-seeming distances. A place Paddy and Phil chose as base camp for their latest expedition into a new form of psychedelic Irish folk music.

Getting lost in liminal zones, at thresholds, where boundaries merge is key to the Moundabout sound. "Moundabout has always been about getting out in the surroundings" says Phil, "Hiking, swimming, chatting and experimenting with certain substances. 'An Cnoc Mór' was recorded with all those influences… just minus the substances. Sun, snow, hail and wind, there was no choice but just to be out in it & be inspired."

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31 Jul 2023

Rocket Probes – July 2023 playlist

Teeth Of The Sea – Megafragma
https://teethofthesea.bandcamp.com/album/hive

Moundabout – The Hills Hum Hymns
https://youtu.be/9uGlNBo4MyE

Petbrick – Sleepless Eternal
https://open.spotify.com/album/3uAcPbXs1kfBIEZDChEZxC?si=BEjzms1cTjOqJyp01T85og

V/Z – Suono Assente
https://ad93.bandcamp.com/track/suono-assente

Valley Entertainment – Headcleaner
https://valley-entertainment.bandcamp.com/album/headcleaner

Staran Wake – Staran Wake
https://handsinthedarkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/staran-wake

Haruomi Hosono – N . D . E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=wcmNYJvYHyg

Kool Keith & Real Bad Man – Serpent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O41j5DmJh-4

La Tène – Ecorcha/Taillée
https://lateneband.bandcamp.com/album/ecorcha-taill-e

Lary Norman – U.F.O
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=wcmNYJvYHyg

Buttholes – Dum Dum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pp7jnwtA9Q

Dâdalus & Bikarus – Voran
https://dadalusbikarus.bandcamp.com/track/voran

Dub Syndicate – Socca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVDceX0w9no

Selventer – Mezmerizer
https://selvhenter1.bandcamp.com/album/mesmerizer

Annelies Monseré – Shells
https://horn-of-plenty.org/track/shells

Laurie Spiegel & Don Christensen - Donnie and Laurie
https://lauriespiegel.bandcamp.com/track/donnie-and-laurie

Mohamed Jamal – Mili Ma Mal Hawa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPoPUnSTlm0

Black Merlin – Fire Dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j9xl9M9r98

SANAM – Bell
https://sanambeirut.bandcamp.com/track/bell

Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Play It Kool
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P5D3-NEqhdU

Tommy McCook & Dillinger & The Upsetters – Dub Organiser Re-Edit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7epuU-ZRz-U

Sunbirds – Spanish Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qovmid9DsA

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Listen to/follow our updated monthly Spotify playlist:


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26 Jul 2023

Moundabout reveal second track from forthcoming album 'An Cnoc Mór'

Moundabout, the duo featuring Gnod's Paddy Shine and Phil Masterson follow the success of last year's album 'Flowers Rot, Bring Stone' with an incredible new long player called 'An Cnoc Mór' which is released on 4 August.

Listen to the second track to be revealed from the album 'The Hills Hum Hymns' via the link above.

Phil from Moundabout says this about the song "The Hills Hum Hymns plays out like a long controlled exhale of self into the surrounding landscape to reverberate off the crags and rocks before returning completely stripped of ego, language and self identity and infused with the timeless mystery of the non human world. Listen to the hills."

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'An Cnoc Mór' is available on ltd edition Mushroom coloured vinyl via the link below or from all good record shops:

Preorder Ltd LP

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21 Jul 2023

The Holy Family – Go Zero is released today


“...a fabulous return for The Holy Family - long may they reign.”
4/5 Shindig Magazine

“Veering on the dark side of psych folk as a whole, revelling in its own ritual, brazenly sacrificing everything within chanting distance.” 4.5/5 NARC Magazine

“It’s a great dense trip with dramatic voodoo and accelerated velocity.” Monolith Cocktail

Today sees the release of The Holy Family's gargantuan second album - the dark kosmische sounds of 'Go Zero'

For those who are unaware The Holy Family is the brainchild of David Jason Smith (The Stargazers Assistant/Guapo) and he is joined on this album by Kavus Torabi (guitars), Sam Warren (bass) and Emmett Elvin (piano and Rhodes) and Joe Lazarus (Drums). The album was mixed by Finnish studio wizard Antti Uusimaki (Circle/Pharaoh Overlord etc).

'Go Zero' is available to buy on ltd edition yellow vinyl via the link below or on ltd edition green vinyl via your local record shop. Both versions come packaged in a delicious die-cut sleeve. The album is also available on ltd CD.


See The Holy Family live at: 
4 Aug / London / The Grace Tickets
5 Aug / Herefordshire / Unorthodox Paradox Festival




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19 Jul 2023

Other Side Promotions presents: A Rocket Recordings night of discovery


Other Side Promotions are putting on a special Rocket 'psych' night in November:

Smote
Och
Marlene Ribeiro
Flowers Must Die
+ Teeth of the Sea DJs

Saturday 25th November
Strongroom Bar, 120-124 Curtain Rd, London EC2A 3SQ
Doors 6:15 (until 2am)

Buy tickets here

This is going to be Och's first ever UK show and there are rumours flying about that it 'may' be Flowers Must Die's last ever live show outside of Sweden! So make sure you are there at 6:40 to see FMD kick off the evening's night of musical discovery in one helluva style.

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18 Jul 2023

Teeth Of The Sea announce the release of their sixth album 'Hive'

We are thrilled to announce Rocket Recordings faves Teeth Of The Sea return with their first album since 2019's 'Wraith'. The band's new album 'Hive' will be released on 6 October.

Listen to the first track to be revealed from Hive, the behemoth that is Megafragma, a nine-minute avant-epic that could sit comfortably next to Stereolab/Nurse With Wound's ‘Simple Headphone Mind’ and Roxy Music’s ‘The Bogus Man’...no joke, this track is that good!!

Hive is available to preorder now on Ltd edition LP/CD.

You can preorder an exclusive, numbered 'Dinked' edition on Neon Pink vinyl that also includes an A2 poster of exclusive art and sew on patch via the link below:

Dinked Edition

Also via a second link below you can preorder a ltd Bandcamp exclusive LP on Yellow vinyl:

Bandcamp Edition

And finally there is a ltd edition Blue vinyl variant for all shops. All LPs come with colour-coded obi strips...so collect the set!

-

Unfettered by genre distinctions or expectations, the only limits of Teeth Of The Sea - the trio comprising Sam Barton, Mike Bourne and Jimmy Martin - are those of its imagination. It therefore follows that inspiration flowed into 'Hive' from all dimensions, with the band’s sphere of influence - the science fiction, trash culture and cinematic atmospherics by which they’ve fuelled their mission thus far - expanding to take in everything from Italo-disco to minimal techno, from dubbed-out studio madness to their most brazen forays thus far into pop songwriting.

'Hive' is an alchemical headspace where monochrome animates into vivid colour. It may not be a carefully ordered insectoid militia set to overthrow society, but it’s a transmission which transcends anything Teeth Of The Sea have thus far offered in their time on Earth.

Step inside 'Hive', if you dare.

See Teeth Of The Sea live:

6 Oct / Brighton / Hope & Ruin
7 Oct / London / Walthamstow Trades Club
13 Oct / Preston / The Ferret
14 Oct / Newcastle / The Lubber Fiend
20 Oct / Manchester / White Hotel
28 Oct / Bristol / Crofters Rights
18 Nov / Ramsgate / Ramsgate Music Hall



4 Jul 2023

Goat announce the digital release of their score for 'The Gallows Pole'


GOAT return with ‘The Gallows Pole’, their second soundtrack album, following their score for the 2017 British independent horror film ‘Double Date’.

‘The Gallows Pole’ is a three-part Element Pictures production, written and directed by Shane Meadows that is being aired in the UK on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

This digital album which is released on 7th July includes five brand new tracks from the score and three existing tracks Shane Meadows selected from their back catalogue.

Listen to one of these new tracks from the score 'Jazzman' here:

Listen to Jazzman

-

Presave/preorder 'The Gallows Pole' Score here

Presave album

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The themes and imagery of Benjamin Myers’ source novel seem to be the perfect fit for GOAT's mystical, pagan aesthetic. The series, based in rural 18th century Yorkshire, tells a fictionalised tale based on the true story of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners, which became the biggest fraud in British history.

GOAT were already fans of Meadows’ work, in particular the various iterations of ‘This Is England’, and understood the importance of music to him, noting that: “Music is a central part to everything he has done” and describing it as a “blessing” when they were approached about the project.

The score to ‘The Gallows Pole’ will be released digitally and on Bandcamp on 7 July, with a vinyl release to follow in 2024.

-

Goat have a handful of shows coming up:

28 July / Geneva / Scene Ella Fitzgerald Festival
10-12 August / Gothenburg / Way Out West Festival
17-20 August / Brecon / Green Man Festival
13 October / Porto / Hard Club
14 October / Lisbon / Lisboa Ao Vivo

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30 Jun 2023

Rocket Probes – June 2023 playlist


Moundabout – Sacred & Profane
(Great new track by Moundabout from forthcoming album)

The Holy Family – Go Zero Suite: Pt.II
(10 min + monster!)

Thee Alcoholics – Live At The Piper
(Put that in ya pipe)

Tom Zé - Mã 
(Great repetitions)

Wolf Eyes – My Whole Life
(Basement psychedelia)

Sabu Martinez – My Christina
(Great groove...cheers to Cherrystones for as always dropping the best tunes)

Oro – Stop The War
(Banging)

Brìghde Chaimbeul – The Savings Bank Live
(Pipes)

MC5 - Skunk (Sonically Speaking)
("You really ain’t seen nothing yet!")

Benny the Butcher feat. Westside Gunn - Echo Long
(Another essential Gunn jam)

Maya – Synthezoid Heartbreak
(A head-nodder)

The Monks – Black Monk Time
(Still rages)

Peter Peter – Motorbikes
(From the great Copenhagen Cowboy series)

Mandy, Indiana – 2 Stripe
(Rhythms, synth n' noise)

Afet Serenay - Maden Dagi
(Turkish psych classic)

J.C Heavy – Is this Really me
(Groove rock)

Flower-Corsano Duo – The Four Aims
(Sounds for the summer)

Paddy Kingsland – Changes Soundtrack
(Haunting series...cheers for the loan Mike Bourne)

Devo – Auto Modown
(Fuzzy)

Czar - Tread Softly On My Dreams
(70's classic)

Fugazi – Arpeggiator Demo
(Give the drummer some)

Butthole Surfers – Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac
(Rest In Power Teresa)

Listen to/follow our updated monthly Spotify playlist:


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Launch300 – our 25 Anniversary compilation is released today


To celebrate our 25th anniversary this year we decided to put together a very special compilation album – which coincidentally, was also our 300th release!

Simply titled 'LAUNCH300' this ltd edition, Bandcamp only compilation is released today and features exclusive and unreleased tracks by Centrum, Gnod, Goat, J. Zunz, Och, Shit & Shine, Smote and The Utopia Strong. The album comes packaged in beautiful original artwork by the infamous French 70's artist Philippe Caza, that has been exclusively licensed for this release.

You can buy this amazing album on ltd edition 'Silver Galaxy' vinyl via the link below – there will only ever be one pressing of this:

Bandcamp

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Operating from a 1998 launchpad in Bristol, Rocket's questing vision has made them pathfinders for a particular kind of psychic terrain. The label may have been founded on disparate and dissolute passions, yet its stubbornly uncompromising ethos has always been to push beyond boundaries into areas which even the true heads have thus far never ventured. To celebrate a quarter century on the outer realms of exploration, naturally these voyagers have some special ventures planned, LAUNCH300 is just one of these - a vital celebratory compilation collecting together eight of the current Rocket roster, all offering full-throttle salvos of metaphysical salvation.

LAUNCH300 measures out the widescreen horizons of Rocket Recordings as it embarks on the next quarter century - a label with its feet on the ground and its head mapping out a defiant course for the unknown. Get on board. 



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27 Jun 2023

The Holy Family reveal epic new track from forthcoming second album 'Go Zero'

The Holy Family reveal the second track from their all-immersive forthcoming album 'Go Zero'.

For those who are unaware The Holy Family is the brainchild of David Jason Smith (The Stargazers Assistant/Guapo) and he is joined on this album by Kavus Torabi (guitars), Sam Warren (bass) and Emmett Elvin (piano and Rhodes) and Joe Lazarus (Drums). The album was mixed by Finnish studio wizard Antti Uusimaki (Circle/Pharaoh Overlord etc).

The new track to be revealed 'Go Zero Suite Pt.II' is a 10 minute+ epic piece of music, listen in full via the link below. This is what David Jason Smith said about it: 

"This reveals the group in full stream of consciousness mode & doused in percussive colour. A gargantuan Motorik Psych pilgrimage to the end of the night. Out in the mindless void. What lies beyond the bright clusters of angled space? The infinite gulf of darkness?? Or is the Garden of Eden within reach?  GO ZERO... GO ZERO..."

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'Go Zero' is available to preorder on ltd edition yellow vinyl via the link below, or on ltd edition green vinyl via your local record shop. Both version come packaged in a delicious die-cut sleeve. The album is also available on ltd CD:

Bandcamp

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See The Holy Family live at:
4 Aug / London / The Grace (tickets go on sale here)
5 Aug / Herefordshire / Unorthodox Paradox Festival



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21 Jun 2023

Celebrate the summer solstice with new music from Moundabout



Moundabout, the duo featuring Gnod's Paddy Shine from Phil Masterson follow the success of last years album 'Flowers Rot, Bring Stone' with an incredible new long player called 'An Cnoc Mór'.

Watch the John O'Carroll made video for 'Sacred & Profane', the first track to be revealed from the album via the always reliable The Quietus, who also interview the duo here:

The Quietus

'An Cnoc Mór' is available on ltd edition Mushroom coloured vinyl via the link below or from all good record shops:

Preorder Ltd LP

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Moundabout’s glorious second long player is named after Cnoc Mór na nGaibhlte (or The Big Hill Of The Galtees) an imposing sandstone and shale peak in Munster, from which vantage point the horizon retreats to impossible-seeming distances. Paddy Shine, of psychedelic powerhouse GNOD, and Phil Masterson, of cult groups Los Langeros, Damp Howl and Bisect, chose this as base camp for their latest expedition into a new form of psychedelic Irish folk music. Inside a “yurt-like structure” they began recording, with Shine also making field recordings in places where “the energy felt good”. It is one of Ireland’s tallest mountains (the 12th at 918m above sea level to be precise) and prized by hill walkers as being one of Ireland’s 13 ‘Munros’. Masterson adds that one of Moundabout’s more memorable hikes was to the top of The Big Hill on a day it was so windy they could barely stand up straight, and then on the way back down the pair became “pleasantly lost”.

It is this getting lost in liminal zones, at thresholds, where boundaries merge, that is key to the Moundabout sound. The Galtees is an Irish mountain range where the counties Tipperary, Cork and Limerick, while their debut album, which drew inspiration from Irish neolithic culture of passage tombs and burial mounds Flowers Rot, Bring Me Stones, was recorded in Roscommon at the junction between counties Westmeath, Offaly and Galway. Shine adds: “We seem to have found ourselves recording and finishing albums in places where the boundaries have become blurry.”

The set up of Shine on acoustic guitar, Masterson on electric guitar, both on vocals and sparse electronic accompaniment from antique Hammond drum machine Shine found in his auntie’s attic and old analogue synth, plus field recordings, remains the same but this time the pair push further out on tracks such as ‘Step In Out Of That’ which calls to mind Egypt-based free psych trio The Dwarfs Of East Agouza and reaches its apogee on the glorious, sunburst of New Weird Éirana ‘Instinct, Eye And Mind’ which treads in the footsteps of Michael Chapman at his most ragged and echoes the borderless fourth world guitar peregrinations of Mike Cooper.

If the voyage that Flowers Rot took us on was one out of modernity into a vibrant megalithic antiquity, it feels like 'An Cnoc Mór' is taking us even further back. Masterson says: “These hills were hills long before homo sapiens set foot on them, gave them names and stories and insulted them with egotistic concepts such as ‘conquering them’.” The pair agree that getting out into the environment is an essential ingredient in the Moundabout process, although one thing has changed. Masterson puts it simply: “This album was made by two sober boys after a big hike up a big hill.” Shine elucidates: “Drink and drugs had been slowing me down and

really not inspiring me at all. I don’t think we need that stuff to play together because we naturally find a way into the music anyway. Moundabout has always been about getting out in the surroundings, hiking, swimming, chatting and experimenting with certain substances. 'An Cnoc Mór' was recorded with all those influences…just minus the substances.”

He concludes: “The vibe of 'An Cnoc Mór' for me is all about being completely present and in awe of the harsh beauty of nature. I had such poor phone and internet signal out there for a month that it allowed me to get quiet and get in the now and explore the landscape and think about it without constantly Googling shit. It was January when we were there and we got all the weather: sun, snow, hail and wind. There was no choice but just to be out in it. I love that.”


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20 Jun 2023

Rocket in Ramsgate


We are thrilled to announce that the wonderful venue Ramsgate Music Hall are hosting a special Rocket 25 night on Saturday 18th November.

Rocket in Ramsgate
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Teeth Of The Sea
Smote
Alison Cotton

Ramsgate Music Hall
18th November
7.30pm

£18.50 tickets here: 
Rocket in Ramsgate

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This is what Ramsgate Music Hall say about the night:

To celebrate 25 years of Rocket Recordings, we are thrilled to announce a special show featuring three of our favourite artists on the label. Join us on Saturday 18th November as welcome Teeth of the Sea, Smote and Alison Cotton!

Rocket is an indie label very dear to our hearts, and we feel honoured to host such an occasion in our tiny chamber of noise. Darkest Kent salutes you, Team Rocket! Here's to many more years ahead...

"Responsible for some of the most forward-thinking British (and international) records of recent years, committing to wax the wonderment of astral rejecters Gnod, the ephemeral adjacent post-rock of Teeth of the Sea and the ecstatic trance of Goat" - Loud and Quiet

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16 Jun 2023

Watch footage of Goat performing at Le Guess Who Festival


Last November Goat played the wonderful Le Guess Who Festival – you can now watch some of the mesmerising set here.

Tracklist:
Under No Nation
Gathering of Ancient Tribes
Do The Dance
Disco Fever 
Goatman

The line-up for this years Le Guess Who is extremely good, so if you haven't got a ticket, do yourselves a favour and pick one up!



Goat have some shows in 2023 confirmed, do not miss:

28 July / Geneva / Scene Ella Fitzgerald Festival
17-20 August / Brecon / Green Man Festival
13 October / Porto / Hard Club
14 October / Lisbon / Lisboa Ao Vivo

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31 May 2023

Rocket Probes – May 2023 playlist

The Holy Family – Bad Travelling
(A dark repetitive mantra of a new track)
The Holy Family

Julie's Haircut – Plaster Mask EP
(New music from your fave Italians)
Julie's Haircut

Shit & Shine – 2222 and Airport
(Another really great album from S&S)
Shit & Shine

Thee Alcoholics – Power
(Powerful!!)
Thee Alcoholics

Tomaga – Ersangerkreig
(Love this track)
Tomaga

Cluster – Heiße Lippen
(Classic)
Cluster

A'Bear – Ignition unite
(Repetitions)
A'Bear

Okay Temiz / Johnny Dyani - Witchdoctor's Son
(Immersive Jazz sounds)
Okay Temiz / Johnny Dyani

Phil Upchurch – Voodoo Chile
(Fuzz)
Phil Upchurch 

Waiting Mode – Enjoy The Silence
(JP from GNOD/Holy Scum on Tesla Tapes)
Waiting Mode 

Kapibara - Część Trzecia "Smutek nie musi być negatywny"
(This is good)
Kapibara

Raptus – Count Down
(Mutant Funk)
Raptus

Westside Gunn – Big L & Half a Mil
(Loivi'n the Gunn)
Westside Gunn

DRMCNT – RX Live Sessions
(Heavy sounds from thee alcoholic)
DRMCNT

Kammerflimmer Kollektief – Mäander
(An old fave in Mission Control...sounds like a Rocket release)
Kammerflimmer Kollektief

Sonny Sharrock – Black woman
(Turn up loud)
Sonny Sharrock

Vacuous – Dreams Of Dysphoria
(Great British Death – produced by Wayne Adams)
Vacuous

Holden – Blackpool Late 80s
(Classic Holden)
Holden

Ak’chamel, The Divinatory Monkey and the Sovereign Plumed Serpent – Phallus Pallace
(Tribal texan sounds)
Ak’chamel, The Divinatory Monkey and the Sovereign Plumed Serpent

Tina Turner – Keep on walkin'
(Rest In Power)
Tina Turner 

Listen to/follow our Rocket Probes spotify playlist:



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26 May 2023

Goat score Shane Meadows new series The Gallows Pole


The BBC  have announced the exciting news that the Shane Meadow's directed, three part series based on Benjamin Myers book ‘The Gallows Pole’ will be premiered on BBC2 and iPlayer on 31st May.

And we are thrilled to finally announce that the series has been scored by Goat - plus as well as tracks by other bands the three episodes also feature some classic tracks from Goat’s back catalogue. 

So tune in.

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23 May 2023

The Holy Family announce their second album 'Go Zero'


We are really happy to announce the return of The Holy Family, with the all-immersive new album 'Go Zero'.

For those who are unaware The Holy Family is the brain child of David Jason Smith (The Stargazers Assistant/Guapo) and he is joined on this album by Kavus Torabi (guitars), Sam Warren (bass) and Emmett Elvin (piano and Rhodes) and Joe Lazarus (Drums). The album was mixed by Finnish studio wizard Antti Uusimaki (Circle/Pharaoh Overlord etc).

Watch the haunting animated/live action video made by the extremely talented Tom Brewins for the first track the be revealed from the album, the repetitive mantra that is 'Bad Travelling':

Watch Video

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'Go Zero' is available to preorder on CD plus ltd edition yellow vinyl via here:

Preorder Ltd LP/CD

And also available ltd edition green vinyl via your local record shop – both  vinyl versions come packaged in a delicious die-cut sleeve.

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See The Holy Family live at: 
4 Aug / London / The Grace (tickets go on sale here Wednesday at 10am)
5 Aug / Herefordshire / Unorthodox Paradox Festival

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The Holy Family – Go Zero

The second album by underground rock-and-beyond shapeshifters The Holy Family comes complete with a heavy concept for the psychedelically inclined, and pairs this with music which does this justice and then some.

‘Go Zero’ follows up the British group’s widely praised self-titled debut from 2021 and – says foundational member David Jason Smith – “is based on a hypothetical theory that there is no such thing as ‘the future’. We are continually moving forward into our past until we arrive at our birth – creation – the Tree Of Knowledge… or ‘Going Zero’, as I’ve termed it.”

It figures, then, that over some 40 minutes the five musicians conjure a sound that exhibits an affinity with great experimental totems down the ages, in a manner that’s avowedly forward-facing and stamped with their own identity. All involved boast a pre-Holy Family CV to turn clued-in heads: Kavus Torabi (guitars), Sam Warren (bass) and Emmett Elvin (piano and Rhodes), along with Smith himself, were all members of the mighty Guapo. Finnish studio wizard Antti Uusimaki (Circle/Pharaoh Overlord etc), who co-sculpted the eight tracks on ‘Go Zero’ into their final form, is also a collaborator of Smith’s from the Guapo days. Drummer Joe Lazarus is new to the band – taking over that role from Smith, who largely concentrates on vocals and synths here – and his versatility is never in doubt, as his rhythms pull in myriad directions, blurring the lines between jazz, prog and psych rock.

Work began on this album in the summer of 2021, effectively as soon as ‘The Holy Family’ was released, with Smith writing and recording the music for ‘Go Zero’ in his home studio. Torabi, Warren, Elvin and Lazarus were gradually brought into the fold to add their parts, before being subject to alchemical post-production by Uusimaki.

Later, in the autumn of 2022, two pieces were laid down with the full band in each other’s company. One, ‘Hell Born Babel’, flies out of the traps with a sinewy post-hardcore bassline: people who know Sam Warren from Thumpermonkey, another band of his, will be forewarned of his way with a stout groove. The multi-layered freakout that follows might have a cattleprod effect for those listeners and others, nevertheless. The other, the second section of the three-part ‘Go Zero Suite’, tops ten minutes and is an improvised colossus with both Lazarus and Smith drumming. Rife with hypnotic repetition and circuit-frying Rhodes, if you dig anything from Can to Boredoms to Oneida to Guapo themselves, step this way.

Though The Holy Family’s musical inspirations are multitudinous, and rarely if ever obvious, the lyrics nod to a distinct literary source – namely ‘Vorrh’, the trilogy of fantasy novels by cult British author Brian Catling, who died in 2022 while ‘Go Zero’ was being assembled. In these books, the Vorrh is “an impenetrable sentient forest, older than mankind, believed to house all knowledge” – and in the same way that the name The Holy Family references an Angela Carter work, Smith explains, “the track titles ‘Chalky’s Eyes’ (had been eaten by flies) and ‘The Watcher’ are direct references to characters in the book.”

Catling was also a renowned visual artist, with his installation works acclaimed by the art establishment even as he rejected many of its trappings – often subverting traditional ideas of the gallery space. He saw art and literature as almost one and the same, sitting at his kitchen table switching from canvas to manuscript and back. Smith, similarly, has created artworks alongside his recorded output since the early days of Guapo (some ending up on album covers), and has presented audiovisual work in unconventional or ‘outsider’ locations. He cites his grounding in DIY music culture for this impulse, but shares with Brian Catling a strong individualist streak and desire to plough one’s own furrow. Explaining the similarities between creation of music and art, he says: “At some point the lightbulb moment occurs. I see what the musical direction has the potential to be, then shape the material in the same way I would conceive a sculptural installation.” 

With the vocal delivery pitchshifted and timestretched, and the music occult-adjacent, doomladen, dense and hazy – yet concealing outbursts of splendid melody – with ‘Go Zero’, The Holy Family have returned with an album that unfurls elegantly, even while big time discombobulation is occurring. 




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