Gnoomes to release a new EP 'Uletai' this Friday

This Friday Gnoomes will release a new two track digital EP called 'Uletai' - listen to the title track 'Ule' above

You can purchase the track digitally from Bandcamp on Friday:

Bandcamp

And you can purchase a ltd edition cassette of the EP from the band on their current tour that starts this Saturday:

30 Mar / Northampton / The Black Prince
31 Mar / Newcastle / Cumberland Arms
04 Apr / Norwich / Voodoo Daddy’s
06 Apr / Sheffield / Delicious Clam
11 Apr / Leeds / Wharf Chambers
17 Apr / London / Strongroom Bar
18-19 Apr / Oslo / Kafe Haerverk
20 Apr / Copenhagen / Loppen
17 May / Berlin / Loge
22 May / Paris / Supersonic
23 May / Angers / Le Garage
24 May / Saint-Poix / Festival Les Mouillotins

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Gnoomes have announced some new music, exactly one year on from the March 2023 release of their critically acclaimed album ‘Ax Ox’.

‘Ax Ox’ reflected something of an odyssey for a complex and inhospitable modern era, an uplifting kosmische travelogue that ran through a gamut of vibrant emotion across its eleven tracks – from kraut-pop, to crystalline techno and skewed ambience. 

And we are very pleased to say that this new two track EP called ‘Uletai, which is led by the 8 minute+ track ‘Ule’, a track that continues the band’s wide-eyed aesthetic of dreampop radiance, bold electronic experimentation and propulsive motorik drive.

“This track is dedicated to our late friend who tragically died in an accident.” says Sasha Painkov from the band, “Although I had recorded the music before his passing, I added vocals a few days after he passed away. Subconsciously, these words appeared before my eyes: ‘Uletai, ‘Tai’,’ which means, “Fly away, vanish.” Fortunately, I had a microphone at home and recorded it right away. Despite the sad background of this track, it remains in a major scale musically. Even as we continue to grieve our loss, we strangely feel our friend’s bright presence shining through the madness that is called reality.”

Following ‘Ule’, is the hypnotic sounds of ‘Tai’. “This track was also conceived around the same time as ‘Ule’.” says Sasha. “Masha and I were jamming at my parents’ house in Russia when we stumbled upon a simple idea that we evolved after relocating to Slovenia. Sonically, I believe this track truly complements the first one. It’s repetitive and trippy but carries more mysterious vibes.” 

Sasha continues “If ‘Ule’ is a track about a journey from this life to another dimension, then ‘Tai’ is about realizing oneself as pure energy. I think, in a way (please, don’t hate me), this is our artistic interpretation of Can’s ‘Future Days’.”

Gnoomes who as a duo are now based in Slovenia (after having to leave their native Russia) are playing shows in UK and Europe in March and April 2024. Another chance to immerse into the sonic wonderfulness of this extremely unique band.

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Swedish four piece 'The Janitors' announce new album 'An Error Has Occurred'

Swedish drone-rockers The Janitors have been on our radar for a while now, after releasing albums on Fuzz Club and Cardinal Fuzz. So we are pleased to announce their new album 'An Error Has Occurred' is being released on Rocket on 24th May.

Watch this great video for the single 'Anger The World' above. The video was made by and stars Jeff Daniel Phillips, who you may know from Rob Zombie's 'Munsters' movie, where he played 'Herman'.

'An Error Has Occurred' can be preordered now via the Bandcamp link below on a lush Orange/Green Splatter vinyl, and housed in an third-eye opening gatefold sleeve:

Bandcamp

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“Everything’s been fucked since David Bowie died or they started up the Hadron Collider,” say The Janitors. This feeling is epitomised in the title of their riveting new album: An Error Has Occurred.

Marking over two decades of activity for the Swedish psych-rockers, the recording is informed by heartbreak and loss as well as the dismal state of the entire planet. For The Janitors, these two polarities intertwine constantly: “What’s personal is political and vice versa.”  

To channel their frustration and anger, the band revived certain songs they’d shelved during the pandemic when working on the acclaimed Noisolation Sessions. They added others, written since, that suited the mood of sticking a middle finger up to the oppressive world around us.   

Whereas previous recordings were often layered up gradually, this time the full band (Henric Herlenius, Jonas Eriksson, Anders Thorell and Wilhelm Tengdahl) rehearsed intensely together before laying down everything live, over two days and nights, in a converted missionary church.  

The songs on Side A have the menace of Melvins, the swagger of The Stooges and the cosmic heft of The Heads. These are the more simply constructed and poppier pieces... or so the band believe. (One friend of theirs did consider this “delusional”.)

‘In A Bliss’ acts as the album’s radiant centrepiece. A palette-cleansing love song which recalls The Jesus And Mary Chain at their most starry eyed, it finds The Janitors searching for solace and strength in straightforward companionship. 

After this come the dronier numbers, drawn out with soundscapes and textures influenced by The Velvet Underground’s sonic experiments and the equally immersive atmospheres of electronic acts like Massive Attack. Hence, ‘Operator’ swings threateningly like a space-rock Swans, while the approach on ‘Farewell Spacegirl’ is jazzier and more meditative.  

“It can be hard to muster up some, or even any, positive energy at this point in time,” says Henric. “We are eternally grateful to have the creative output that this constellation gives us. Neither me or Jonas would probably be here, or be the same people we are, if it wasn’t for The Janitors. We’ll leave you with a quote from an old anarchist: ‘Every society gets the criminals it deserves.’” 

See The Janitors live:

24 May / Stockholm / Geronimos FGT
29 May / Bristol / The Crofters Rights
30 May / Northampton / The Black Prince
01 Jun / London / Peckham Audio

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The Utopia Strong's 'The BBC Sessions' is released today

The Utopia Strong's 'The BBC Sessions' album is released  today. 

'The BBC Sessions' were originally recorded live at Maida Vale for a Marc Riley session on BBC 6 Music in September 2022, the five tracks capture The Utopia Strong stretching themselves and continuing to develop their aural explorations.

You can preorder The Utopia Strong's 'The BBC Sessions' on Ltd Edition Black vinyl and CD via the link below, or from your local record shop:

Bandcamp

The band approached this session differently, as usually pieces are improvised and developed live over a longer period of time. “When we hit a point where all three of us really had something going, we would continue while the proverbial tape was rolling,” says Kavus Torabi, “So, the shorter pieces are the result of about ten or fifteen minutes playing that you wouldn’t have heard.”

The history of BBC Maida Vale Sessions is familiar to The Utopia Strong. As musicians, and lifelong music fans, the legacy - the importance - of such recordings is not lost on them. Space and place influence creativity, as is the case here, and the sleeve is a loving homage to those classic BBC releases, affectionately nodding to Strange Fruit Peel Sessions from days of yore. 

See the band live:

04 Sep / Leeds / Headrow House
05 Sep / Whitby / Flowergate Hall
06 Sep / Manchester / The Yard
07 Sep / Homington / St Mary's Church

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Obey Cobra sign to Rocket and announce new album 'Mwg Drwg'

 

We are thrilled to reveal that we are going to be releasing a new album by the unique, genre pushing four-piece from Cardiff, 'Obey Cobra'.

'Mwg Drwg' is the follow-up to the bands debut 'Oblong' which was released on Mat Batty's (Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs) label Box Records.

Watch the video for first single 'Ten of Wands' via the link above.

This is what the band have said about it:

"The Mari Lwyd - a horse skeleton dressed in white sheets and adorned with ribbons - is a Welsh folkloric custom. In both history and the present day, for Wassail, the Mari Lwyd leads a procession, knocking on the doors of local houses trying to gain entry through song. The people who live in the houses deny the Mari Lwyd from entering, again through song, and the two sides continue this call and response until either the householders eventually relent, and the Mari Lwyd is allowed in and given food and drink... Or must continue without on their journey.

In the music video for Ten of Wands we follow the Mari Lwyd. An outsider and outcast from the edges of the earth, wandering through historical spaces void of humans, eventually ending at the open sea. Ten of Wands tells of a reading and premonition, given to lead singer K Wood, taken with a pinch of salt."

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Preorder 'Mwg Drwg' on Ltd Edition 'Blue Vinyl' via the Bandcamp link below or from your favourite record shop: 

Bandcamp

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Reflective of a band operating by nobody’s rules but their own, Obey Cobra here are just as adept with bracing noise as sinister disquiet. Taking influences as diverse as Diane Arbus, David Lynch and Sonic Youth, they balance out heaviosity and grace on the likes of the majestically discordant ‘Ten Of Wands’ and the glacial yet pulverising ‘Blue Hour’. Meanwhile; on the title track, the band excel themselves by sculpting a Jesus Lizard-esque rhythmic pulse, eerie vocal abstraction and the crepuscular downtempo atmosphere of Massive Attack’s ‘Mezzanine’ into a uniquely haunting dreamscape.

Produced by Petbrick’s Wayne Adams, 'Mwg Drwg' is where the weird and eerie are amplified to intimidating proportions. It’s where grotesquely and beauty happily cohabit. It’s the eldritch chill of ‘Ghostwatch’ in which strange dimensions lurk in the suburbs. It’s an aural exorcism of William Friedkin proportions that demands your immediate attention.

See Obey Cobra live:
19 April / London / The Lexington

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Alison Cotton's new album 'Engelchen' is released today

"Heartrending storytelling by deeply poetic folk spirit."
Uncut

"Spellbinding."
4/5 Shindig

"Some of the most moving and powerful music you're likely to hear this year." 
The Sleeping Shaman

Alison Cotton's new album 'Engelchen' is out now. An album inspired by the story of Ida and Louise Cook, two remarkable women who helped arrange the paths of refugees out of danger in 1930s Nazi-occupied Europe.

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'Englechen' is available on 'Swirl vinyl' via the Bandcamp link below, or on clear vinyl from your local record shop:

Bandcamp

The great 'Feeding Tube Records' are releasing the album in North America.

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See Alison live at these following dates:

23 March / Gregynog Hall / Newtown 
28 March / Glad Cafe / Glasgow
29 March / The Lubber Fiend / Newcastle
30 March / Bishop's House / Sheffield
31 March / Rise / York
05 April / St Pancras Old Church / London
18 April / South Street / Reading
20 April / Carnival Records (RSD24) / Great Malvern
27 July / DK / Sønderho / Fanø Free Folk Festival
29 July / Arts Centre / Colchester 

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Watch exclusive footage of Gnoomes playing live

Watch this great live footage of Gnoomes playing the track 'The Neighbor' from latest album 'Ax Ox', filmed in Angers in 2023.

Gnoomes are hitting the road this year and you can see them at:

Mar 06 / Ljubljana / Kino Šiška

Mar 30 / Northampton / The Black Prince

Mar 31 / Newcastle / Cumberland Arms

Apr 04 / Norwich / Voodoo Daddy’s

Apr 06 / Sheffield / Delicious Clam

Apr 11 / Leeds / Wharf Chambers

Apr 17 / London / Strongroom Bar

Apr 18/19 / Oslo / KAFÉ HÆRVERK

Apr 20 / Copenhagen / Loppen

May 17 / Berlin / Loge 

May 22 / Paris / Supersonic 

May 23 / Angers / Le Garage

May 24 / Saint-Poix / Festival Les Mouillotins

Ax Ox can be bought on ltd edition LP from here:

Bandcamp

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It's Bandcamp Friday!

It's Bandcamp Friday....so as always it is the perfect time to pick up something great from the rocket Bandcamp. 

Four of Rockets latest releases are:

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Ex Easter Island Head – Norther LP
The band's first album since 2016 and the first on Rocket – we are so humbled to be releasing this unique album by the incredibly unique band.

The Utopia Strong – The BBC Sessions LP/CD
You need this for the cover alone! Chuffed to be able to release this great session onto a physical format – a very nice stopgap until the next album proper.

Alison Cotton – Engelchen LP
Alison returns with a new album of incredibly powerful songs, an album that starts with an immersive side long track, essential listening.

Thee Alcoholics – Feedback LP
This mighty album by The Alcoholics was released last week onto a very unsuspecting but now an extremely grateful world. Get intoxicated.

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Not only that, we still have ltd copies of the albums we released at the end of 2023 by Teeth Of The Sea, Bonnacons Of Doom, Yoke and Goat etc. 

Also our Bandcamp is stocked-up of lots of European distributor warehouse finds that we had shipped back. So as always, there's lots of great releases and t-shirts from many of your Rocket faves awaiting you:

Rocket Bandcamp

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