Bonnacons of Doom's Esus released today

Bonnacons of Doom's new EP Esus is released today as a special edition cassette that is ltd to 100 copies.

Esus, a four track EP features a brand new composition called ’Esus’ and three incredible remixes by Liars, JD Twitch (Optimo) and Capac - all three are remixes of songs taken from their S/T debut album.

Unfortunately we have sold out however the band will be selling them on their up-and-coming shows below, or you can buy WAV/MP3s below here: Rocket Bandcamp

17 Sep / Huddersfield / The Parish
18 Sep / London / The Lexington
19 Sep / Brussels / Magasin 4
20 Sep / Berlin / Sneaky Snake Festival
21 Sep / Strasbourg / La Grenze
08 Nov / Bristol / The Lanes
09 Nov / Middlesbrough / Middlesbrough Town Hall

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Listen to Teeth of the Sea and The Utopia Strong special on Reprezent Radio

Listen to Teeth of the Sea and The Utopia Strong special playlist they created for Ailbhe Máiréad's  Reprezent Radio show...

You can listen here: Reprezent Radio

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FREQ reviews The Utopia Strong

They say:

Composed of British-Iranian musician and composer Kavus Torabi (of Knifeworld, Guapo, Gong and Cardiacs fame), Coil and Téléplasmiste’s Michael J York, and Steve Davis (yes, snooker’s number one of yore, now fully bewitched by all things modular), The Utopia Strong‘s self-titled debut LP is a light and airy piece of work.

Theirs is an embryonic exploration with an appreciation of Cluster‘s tune-leeching lactose and a slight kosmische kiss to its eel(ing) curves. I was expecting something wholly motorik, pumped to the nines in commerciality, but was pleasantly surprised to experience a bunch of ideas that are happy finding their own narrative.

The weevilling magnetics of “Emerald Tablet” and the building trajectories of “Konta Chorus” both demonstrate a lovely crafted vibe. The sun-dappled contours of the first chorusing in lush swiping motions, the latter chewing on trippy melodics and keystroke ascends that are begging for an ’80s type of twelve-inch EP kitchen sink remix. The deftness of touch here is impressive, the palette a delicate array of colour jivering in soft melodic interjection...

Read the rest here: FREQ

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Listen to JD Twitch (Optimo) remix of Bonnacons of Doom exclusively via The Quietus

This Friday sees the release of Bonnacons of Doom's new EP Esus – the EP features the amazing title track and 3 banging remixes of tracks from their S/T debut album by Liars, JD Twitch (Optimo) and Capac.

And you can hear the dance-floor destroying Optimo remix of Solus ahead of release exclusively now via The Quietus

Esus is being released as a special edition cassette that is ltd to 100 copies, we have sold out however the band will be selling them on their up-and-coming shows below, or you can buy WAV/MP3s below here: Rocket Bandcamp

17 Sep / Huddersfield / The Parish
18 Sep / London / The Lexington
19 Sep / Brussels / Magasin 4
20 Sep / Berlin / Sneaky Snake Festival
21 Sep / Strasbourg / La Grenze
08 Nov / Bristol / The Lanes
09 Nov / Middlesbrough / Middlesbrough Town Hall

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Soundblab reviews The Utopia Strong

They say:

Much will be made of the fact that snooker legend Steve Davis is in The Utopia Strong. But it will come as no surprise to snooker fans or music fans (I’m both). The Nugget has long been known as a huge music fan in snooker circles and famously brought Magma over to London to play some gigs in the 80s. Music fans would have seen him pop up with increasing frequency as a DJ on the radio and at festivals and gigs. Indeed the band first met when Davis and Kavus Torabi (Gong/Cardiacs/Knifeworld/Guapo) DJed at Glastonbury in 2017 and hung out with Korabi’s Guapo band-mate, Michael York. That this is not a vanity project or novelty item for any of band is immediately apparent from playing their self-titled debut.


Emerald Tablet starts out pleasantly with bright electronic sounds. A nice guitar figure joins and it is like a lighter Tangerine Dream, but it is over too soon. There is more of a groove to Konta Chorus as the band combine sounds to build up a rhythm in much the same way as Stereolab used to. Over the electronic rhythm, Torabi layers some more guitar ideas. Again it is very light for this kind of synth-heavy music and all the better for it. It gives it a kind of hippie/pastoral feel and would fit in on The Wicker Man soundtrack. There is a bit more scene-setting on Swimmer as the synth chords build and a rhythm is added. Keyboards arpeggiate against each other and the rhythm drops out to let the synths hold sway for a minute of pretty ambience before the rhythm joins back in. Unquiet Boundary is a brief interlude of BBC Radiophonic Workshop sounds and ambient chords...

Read the rest here: Soundblab

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The Quietus interview's The Utopia Strong

"Cue the noise"

Ahead of Friday's album release – read this great interview by The Quietus's Paddy Clarke with The Utopia Strong, it reads:

Kavus Torabi, Michael J. York and former snooker player of impeccable taste Steve Davis have formed a new band, The Utopia Strong. Here, they tell Patrick Clarke the tale of their extraordinary debut album, compare snooker to Supernormal, and explain why they want their music to be joyous and generous

Interviewing Kavus Torabi, Michael J. York and Steve Davis about their band, The Utopia Strong, feels a little bit like talking to three teenagers who’ve just had their first single played on the radio. You’d never guess that Torabi and York are musicians of considerable standing with the likes of Coil, Gong, Current 93, Knifeworld, Teleplasmiste, Guapo, Cardiacs and more on their CVs, or that Davis was the most dominant force in snooker throughout the 1980s, the fourth-greatest player in the sport's history on the all-time rankings and a man who once single-handedly organised and promoted a three night residency for French prog-leviathans Magma just so he could see them play. The three are giddy with excitement for the release of their self-titled debut album on September 13, forever interrupting each other to poke gentle fun, constantly in hysterics at each other’s jokes.

“It really did feel like finding your best mates at school,” Torabi says, beaming. “Three is a funny number for friends, sometimes you get two people who are always in competition, but we got on so well together. Steve’s girlfriend describes The Utopia Strong as the sound of three guys falling in love!”


“It’s pathetic, isn’t it?” Davis laughs. “I’ve just had my 62nd birthday and all I’m looking forward to is when my album comes out! What fun that I can do that. It’s so easy to become tired with life, but the thrill of this has given all of us such a boost. From my perspective I didn’t think I’d get as much enjoyment from anything in my life in a work capacity once I’d retired from playing snooker.”...

Read the rest here: The Quietus

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Mamuthones announce rare London show

Italian psychedelic-freak-disco-punk band Mamuthones are heading to London for a rare show on 8 December at the ever faithful Shacklewell Arms.

Info and tickets can be bought from here:  Club The Mammoth

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Julie's Haircut reveal new single 'Sorcerer' and Italian tour dates

Italian collective Julie's Haircut return with their second album for Rocket called 'In The Silence Electric'. The album is released on 4 October and you can watch the video for their second single to be taken from the album called 'Sorcerer' above.

In The Silence Electric is available on CD and three different ltd vinyl versions.
You can preorder a special 'White/Clear colour-in-colour vinyl' version from here: 
Rocket Bandcamp 

There is also an 'indie shop' exclusive on 'Pink vinyl' and another ltd edition shop version on 'Green vinyl'.

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With a driving, mantric intensity, like something the band Suicide would have locked into, ‘Sorcerer’ fully embraces a fury and incandescent splendour that also reminisces the more menacing end of Stereolab's psychic assault. All is subsumed by a bold singularity of intent, amidst a colourful firestorm of electronic monomania and indelibly memorable vocal hooks. 

‘In The Silence Electric’, is the latest record from a band with a long history of sonic otherworldliness, it is notable for its deft balance between hypnotic radiance and extrasensory intensity, between beatific calm and palpable anger. Yet it’s also a record which has arrived through a strange process of osmosis from a band confident enough to let subconscious and metaphysical aspects steer them in the appropriate directions.

The band have added a series of Italian dates in October and November – so their full list of shows now reads:

25 Sep / FR / Saint Etienne / Disorder Club
26 Sep / BE / Gent / Café Charlatan 
27 Sep / BE / Paris / Supersonic
28 Sep / UK / Bristol / The Lanes
29 Sep / UK / Newcastle / The Cumberland Arms
01 Oct / UK / Glasgow / Broadcast
02 Oct / UK / Chester / The Live Rooms
03 Oct / UK / Leicester / Soundhouse
04 Oct / UK / Manchester / The Peer Hat
05 Oct / UK / London / Shacklewell Arms
11 Oct / IT / Carpi/ Kalinka
12 Oct / IT / Firenze / Glue
18 Oct / IT / Torino / Spazio 211
19 Oct / IT / Monza / Tutto il Nostro Sangue @ Scuotivento
21 Nov / IT / Cagliari / Karel Music Expo
23 Nov / IT / Livorno / The Cage
30 Nov / IT / Roma / Angelo Mai
10 Jan / IT / Milano / Ohibò
11 Jan / IT / Bologna / Locomotiv

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Watch The Utopia Strong live at Supernormal via The Quietus

In August The Utopia Strong played our favourite festival Supernormal and the ever amazing IMPATV were there there to capture it in all it's glory. You can watch the entire gig now exclusively via The Quietus

Watch here: The Quietus

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Listen to The Utopia Strong Freak Show takeover

Over the weekend Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone and Freakier Zone had two The Utopia Strong specials.

Steve created a special playlist for Freakier Zone which included Teeth of the Sea listen here: Freakier Zone

And Mike and Kavus were interviewed about the project on Freak Zone, listen here: Freak Zone

The bands S/T debut album is released in all good record shops and streaming sites this Friday: Rocket Bandcamp

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