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Making a punk record is easy. Just ask anyone. Well, anyone who hasn't actually ever made one, that is. Behind the three chords and drug-soaked lyrics is a whole lot of hard work, planning and in the case of Dune Rats second album, The Kids Will Know Its Bullshit, and a fair bit of self-reflection since their 2014 self-titled debut. With this method tried and tested, the boys decided the new album is a different beast. They would take their time, write and rewrite, build and pull apart, until the songs felt right ... Singer and guitarist Danny Beusa explains:

With the first album, we still didn't really know what we were doing as a band musically. We just liked playing music together and smashed out the songs in a month 'cause we hadn't put out an album yet. So, this time we focused on making an album that was Dunies sound, figuring out that was the funnest thing.

Helping Danny, BC Michaels and Brett Jansch out on Production is their long-time touring friend Zac Carper from LA band FIDLAR. Working with Zac had been thrown around the tour bus for a while and was cemented when Dune Rats joined Fidlar on their North American album tour late 2015. Zac's progression as an artist and producer between FIDLAR's first and second albums had definitely inspired Dunies to run at this record in a new way. Recorded at Head Gap in Melbourne, The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit is the sound of a band working together with their best mate to make rad tunes with hundreds of beers and laughs along the way - a 30 minute anxiety trip of stoner pop.

FIDLAR were a band that could have been easily typecast, but Zac really raised it, he didn't alienate the previous audience but opened them up to think fuck, they're not just a bunch of dudes who drink beer, and skate and shake and bake' or whatever it is...'

Like their most recent single, the very drug innuendo-laden Scott Green, with the seriously-funny-and-great interactive video clip, which came about after a day in Joshua Tree asking everyone Who's Scott Green', and getting one of the best possible answers from a guy at a grocery store: Dude, I survived cancer, I get it delivered to my house, do you wanna come to my house and smoke a bowl and we'll get you delivered weed!' Of course after they finally made it back to the studio, it was time to work.

The first taste of this album, Bullshit, had Dunies having to convince Zac was a positive term.

He got insulted for a while coz he was still learning our sense of humour, after their set we'd come and say That was bullshit', and it took a few shows before they said 'Well what was wrong with it', and we were like Nah, bullshit good!'.

Other songs aren't quite as complimentary, but show a deeper thought process than before, as Danny recalls:

Lyrics to us were always second to playing the music. So sitting down and thinking what's the song actually saying' was a big step up. For instance Buzz-Kill is based around Brett's angry neighbour.. and how he represents a whole bunch of fuckwits who are 45 year old white privileged males, who have their boat (still angry), and they're cunts to everyone. Coincidentally the timing worked with Trump getting in....

BC also recalls the band making one of his songs a bit more fluid:

We'd come up with ideas, stupid songs about nothing and then turning it so it was open to interpretation. Like 6-Pack is about underage drinking but also about broken homes and finding a second family in your friends.

Add to that the mission statement Don't Talk, the jangly riffs and almost philosophical nihilism of Demolition Derby and Braindead, Never Gonna Get High and Counting Sheep's sagely advice to their less sensible selves, the reminiscing and Johnny Marr chord shapes of Like Before, and Mary's hypnotic chord pattern, Im pretty sure Dune Rats have worked out who they are.

Danny sums it all up.
I think with Dunies the best thing is its all three of us always, there's no sick song writer, there's no I am the lyricist and singer', we all sing, we all write lyrics, we all do it. The one thing we've wanted to be is not be the greatest musicians, we not trying to recreate the wheel, but when there's a lot of people that are pretty fake or doing it for different reasons, were just doing it so we can keep doing it, playing live shows and being us three doing it genuinely. It's kind of a weird thing where we finally made the album that we wanted to make, and we just wanna keep touring and being best buds'

The Kids Will Know Its Bullshit was written wherever Dune Rats hung their smoking devices: in various beach shacks along the east coast of Australia, in the middle of Joshua Tree and in a speeding RV along a US highway, and recorded at Head Gap in Melbourne.

And what do the Dune Rats think about their second album

According to Brett it's Fucken sick. Everyone is so stoked that we did it all together.. this big process of us doing all this shit

Making a punk record is easy. Just ask anyone. Well, anyone who hasn't actually ever made one, that is. Behind the three chords and drug-soaked lyrics is a whole lot of hard work, planning and in the case of Dune Rats second album, The Kids Will Know Its Bullshit, and a fair bit of self-reflection since their 2014 self-titled debut. With this method tried and tested, the boys decided the new album is a different beast. They would take their time, write and rewrite, build and pull apart, until the songs felt right ... Singer and guitarist Danny Beusa explains:

With the first album, we still didn't really know what we were doing as a band musically. We just liked playing music together and smashed out the songs in a month 'cause we hadn't put out an album yet. So, this time we focused on making an album that was Dunies sound, figuring out that was the funnest thing.

Helping Danny, BC Michaels and Brett Jansch out on Production is their long-time touring friend Zac Carper from LA band FIDLAR. Working with Zac had been thrown around the tour bus for a while and was cemented when Dune Rats joined Fidlar on their North American album tour late 2015. Zac's progression as an artist and producer between FIDLAR's first and second albums had definitely inspired Dunies to run at this record in a new way. Recorded at Head Gap in Melbourne, The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit is the sound of a band working together with their best mate to make rad tunes with hundreds of beers and laughs along the way - a 30 minute anxiety trip of stoner pop.

FIDLAR were a band that could have been easily typecast, but Zac really raised it, he didn't alienate the previous audience but opened them up to think fuck, they're not just a bunch of dudes who drink beer, and skate and shake and bake' or whatever it is...'

Like their most recent single, the very drug innuendo-laden Scott Green, with the seriously-funny-and-great interactive video clip, which came about after a day in Joshua Tree asking everyone Who's Scott Green', and getting one of the best possible answers from a guy at a grocery store: Dude, I survived cancer, I get it delivered to my house, do you wanna come to my house and smoke a bowl and we'll get you delivered weed!' Of course after they finally made it back to the studio, it was time to work.

The first taste of this album, Bullshit, had Dunies having to convince Zac was a positive term.

He got insulted for a while coz he was still learning our sense of humour, after their set we'd come and say That was bullshit', and it took a few shows before they said 'Well what was wrong with it', and we were like Nah, bullshit good!'.

Other songs aren't quite as complimentary, but show a deeper thought process than before, as Danny recalls:

Lyrics to us were always second to playing the music. So sitting down and thinking what's the song actually saying' was a big step up. For instance Buzz-Kill is based around Brett's angry neighbour.. and how he represents a whole bunch of fuckwits who are 45 year old white privileged males, who have their boat (still angry), and they're cunts to everyone. Coincidentally the timing worked with Trump getting in....

BC also recalls the band making one of his songs a bit more fluid:

We'd come up with ideas, stupid songs about nothing and then turning it so it was open to interpretation. Like 6-Pack is about underage drinking but also about broken homes and finding a second family in your friends.

Add to that the mission statement Don't Talk, the jangly riffs and almost philosophical nihilism of Demolition Derby and Braindead, Never Gonna Get High and Counting Sheep's sagely advice to their less sensible selves, the reminiscing and Johnny Marr chord shapes of Like Before, and Mary's hypnotic chord pattern, Im pretty sure Dune Rats have worked out who they are.

Danny sums it all up.
I think with Dunies the best thing is its all three of us always, there's no sick song writer, there's no I am the lyricist and singer', we all sing, we all write lyrics, we all do it. The one thing we've wanted to be is not be the greatest musicians, we not trying to recreate the wheel, but when there's a lot of people that are pretty fake or doing it for different reasons, were just doing it so we can keep doing it, playing live shows and being us three doing it genuinely. It's kind of a weird thing where we finally made the album that we wanted to make, and we just wanna keep touring and being best buds'

The Kids Will Know Its Bullshit was written wherever Dune Rats hung their smoking devices: in various beach shacks along the east coast of Australia, in the middle of Joshua Tree and in a speeding RV along a US highway, and recorded at Head Gap in Melbourne.

And what do the Dune Rats think about their second album

According to Brett it's Fucken sick. Everyone is so stoked that we did it all together.. this big process of us doing all this shit

Seven albums into her career 'Stolen Hearts' reveals a new facet of Lyytinen's artistic persona. In the past she has integrated elements of both hard rock and pop into her music. This time out, encouraged by her producer, Erja now flings the doors wide open to express what she describes as: heartbreak, frustration, disappointment, fear of loss and yet, at the same time, the deepest love.'

The chances are that you if you're aware of Erja Lyytinen, you consider her a blues artist in the most familiar sense. It's a perfectly excusable assumption. The petite bottleneck guitarist has spent 15 years involved in a gradual but steady ascent of the ladder of the European blues market, her most recent studio record, 2014's 'The Sky Is Crying' being an homage to a childhood hero, the late Elmore James. Since then the lady that the Blues magazine refers to as the Finnish slide goddess' has given birth to twins, undergone changes in her personal and professional lives nd emerged with a fresh, re-energised attitude.

With the exception of long-standing guitarist Davide Floreno, Lyytinen worked with a new group of musicians in Helsinki during the summer of 2016 and then proceeded to step even further outside of her comfort zone when multi-platinum selling engineer and producer Chris Kimsey agreed to participate in the sessions. Kimsey is best known for having worked on many of the biggest selling albums by The Rolling Stones but his CV also includes the likes of Led Zeppelin, Peter Frampton, Marillion, The Quireboys and The Psychedelic Furs among many others. Lyytinen was thrilled to fly to London to record her lead vocal tracks and then sit back and watch as the Englishman mixed the results at a studio called The State Of The Ark, equipped with a desk once owned by EMI.

In fact, 'Stolen Hearts' was mixed on said console - the same one that Kimsey had often used with the Stones. Chris said that it was like meeting an old girlfriend after many years,' recalls Erja. He sat in front of the desk and his magic started to happen.'

Of course it would be misleading and foolish to describe 'Stolen Hearts' as a complete reinvention for Erja Lyytinen. The self-descriptively named 'Slowly Burning' is a languid, melodic slice of fruity blues-rock.

However, its hook-laden and decided funky title cut is something different altogether, and it's easy to appreciate why Kimsey fell in love with 'Black Ocean', a cool slice of 1970s-influences rock built upon a strident, sassy riff and garnished with one of Lyytinen's finest guitar solos to date. And let's not forget closing number Broken Eyes, noteworthy for its stripped-back feel and a formidable, emotional vocal display. I felt that I had the ingredients to make something extraordinary and different,' says the little lady. And you know what She was right. So you think you know it all about Erja Lyytinen

Seven albums into her career 'Stolen Hearts' reveals a new facet of Lyytinen's artistic persona. In the past she has integrated elements of both hard rock and pop into her music. This time out, encouraged by her producer, Erja now flings the doors wide open to express what she describes as: heartbreak, frustration, disappointment, fear of loss and yet, at the same time, the deepest love.'

The chances are that you if you're aware of Erja Lyytinen, you consider her a blues artist in the most familiar sense. It's a perfectly excusable assumption. The petite bottleneck guitarist has spent 15 years involved in a gradual but steady ascent of the ladder of the European blues market, her most recent studio record, 2014's 'The Sky Is Crying' being an homage to a childhood hero, the late Elmore James. Since then the lady that the Blues magazine refers to as the Finnish slide goddess' has given birth to twins, undergone changes in her personal and professional lives nd emerged with a fresh, re-energised attitude.

With the exception of long-standing guitarist Davide Floreno, Lyytinen worked with a new group of musicians in Helsinki during the summer of 2016 and then proceeded to step even further outside of her comfort zone when multi-platinum selling engineer and producer Chris Kimsey agreed to participate in the sessions. Kimsey is best known for having worked on many of the biggest selling albums by The Rolling Stones but his CV also includes the likes of Led Zeppelin, Peter Frampton, Marillion, The Quireboys and The Psychedelic Furs among many others. Lyytinen was thrilled to fly to London to record her lead vocal tracks and then sit back and watch as the Englishman mixed the results at a studio called The State Of The Ark, equipped with a desk once owned by EMI.

In fact, 'Stolen Hearts' was mixed on said console - the same one that Kimsey had often used with the Stones. Chris said that it was like meeting an old girlfriend after many years,' recalls Erja. He sat in front of the desk and his magic started to happen.'

Of course it would be misleading and foolish to describe 'Stolen Hearts' as a complete reinvention for Erja Lyytinen. The self-descriptively named 'Slowly Burning' is a languid, melodic slice of fruity blues-rock.

However, its hook-laden and decided funky title cut is something different altogether, and it's easy to appreciate why Kimsey fell in love with 'Black Ocean', a cool slice of 1970s-influences rock built upon a strident, sassy riff and garnished with one of Lyytinen's finest guitar solos to date. And let's not forget closing number Broken Eyes, noteworthy for its stripped-back feel and a formidable, emotional vocal display. I felt that I had the ingredients to make something extraordinary and different,' says the little lady. And you know what She was right. So you think you know it all about Erja Lyytinen

London-based post-punk four-piece, H. Grimace announce their debut album 'Self Architect', which is set for release April 7th via Opposite Number.

Offering some insight into the new single, the band said "'Land/Body' is a song which took inspiration from the idea that we are living through the end of nature and what changes have occured from the likes of mass production and standardisation. It delves into the possibilities that this has effected our sense of belonging and roots as Hannah sings 'Nothing thrives in uniformity', truly resonating that notion."

The upcoming debut album follows on from 2015's sold out 'I Am Material' tape and the critically acclaimed 'Royal Hush' 7', which came out last year. 'Self Architect' reveals a sharper and more empathic feel to the band's already relentless output.

Made up of Hannah Gledhill (vocals/guitar), Marcus Browne (guitar), Corin Johnson (bass) and Diago Gomes (drums), H. Grimace masterfully hone in on their part shoegaze, part post-punk compositons on their upcoming debut. The foundations of which are laid by the integral guitar pairing of Marcus Brown and Hannah Gledhill, from Yorkshire and Melbourne respectively.

Singer Gledhill's vocals and lyrics are self-reflective and question contemporary social pressures to do with image, work, power and our connection to the land. The collaboration in the album's opening track '2.1 Woman' features poet and artist Vivienne Griffin who critiques the constant pressure exerted on women to create better and better versions of themselves.

These new songs have been recorded with long standing engineer and friend Rory Attwell and mixed by both Rory and Ben Greenberg, formerly of 'The Men' and currently in Sacred Bones-signed Uniform, who the band met and found an instant affinity with on their extensive US tour last year. H. Grimace will be bringing their vigorously captivating live show to the UK this year.

London-based post-punk four-piece, H. Grimace announce their debut album 'Self Architect', which is set for release April 7th via Opposite Number.

Offering some insight into the new single, the band said "'Land/Body' is a song which took inspiration from the idea that we are living through the end of nature and what changes have occured from the likes of mass production and standardisation. It delves into the possibilities that this has effected our sense of belonging and roots as Hannah sings 'Nothing thrives in uniformity', truly resonating that notion."

The upcoming debut album follows on from 2015's sold out 'I Am Material' tape and the critically acclaimed 'Royal Hush' 7', which came out last year. 'Self Architect' reveals a sharper and more empathic feel to the band's already relentless output.

Made up of Hannah Gledhill (vocals/guitar), Marcus Browne (guitar), Corin Johnson (bass) and Diago Gomes (drums), H. Grimace masterfully hone in on their part shoegaze, part post-punk compositons on their upcoming debut. The foundations of which are laid by the integral guitar pairing of Marcus Brown and Hannah Gledhill, from Yorkshire and Melbourne respectively.

Singer Gledhill's vocals and lyrics are self-reflective and question contemporary social pressures to do with image, work, power and our connection to the land. The collaboration in the album's opening track '2.1 Woman' features poet and artist Vivienne Griffin who critiques the constant pressure exerted on women to create better and better versions of themselves.

These new songs have been recorded with long standing engineer and friend Rory Attwell and mixed by both Rory and Ben Greenberg, formerly of 'The Men' and currently in Sacred Bones-signed Uniform, who the band met and found an instant affinity with on their extensive US tour last year. H. Grimace will be bringing their vigorously captivating live show to the UK this year.

To those who embraced 2000’s Nixon—Lambchop’s fifth album, whose luscious country soul grooves provided the sprawling Nashville collective with a significant British breakthrough that even found them selling out London’s 2,500-capacity Royal Festival Hall—the deceptively gentle Is a Woman, delivered two years later, administered a quiet but compelling shock. Gone almost entirely was frontman Kurt Wagner’s euphoric, Curtis Mayfield-esque falsetto, replaced by a tranquil, contemplative vocal style; and instead of the joyfully warm brass arrangements that had encouraged Zero 7 to remix “Up With People,” one of Nixon’s standouts, pianist Tony Crow now took center stage, teasing out gentle, ingenious melodies. The contrast was acute.

To discover the true spirit of Is a Woman, however, one need only listen to the remarkable “My Blue Wave,” one of the band’s finest recordings to date. Here, Wagner depicts a world of helpless tragedy in which comfort can nonetheless be found in the smallest of gestures, as he journeys from the contented sight of his pets—“You lay around the house… Just bones and squirrels inside your head”—to recollections of a devastating phone call from friend and bandmate William Tyler: “And William called and tried to tell me /

That his sister’s boyfriend has just died / He’s not sure what to do / And I’m not sure what to tell him he should do / Sometimes William, we’re just screwed / In my blue wave.”

The career path of Redd Kross has been a long and winding one. Starting out as part of the burgeoning Los Angeles South Bay punk scene in the late 1970's. Kids hanging out at the legendary Church in Hermosa Beach that served as the head quarters of Black Flag, along with the living quarters of some of it's members.

There they picked up instruments and begun. Brothers Steven & Jeff McDonald joined by future Circle Jerks guitarist, Greg Hetson & future Black Flag vocalist, Ron Reyes.

Members came and went, the nucleus of the band, the McDonald brothers always at the helm though guiding the band from it's early roots as a thrashy punk rock band through to the metamorphosis of power pop titans.

Third Eye was their debut major label release on Atlantic Records, their third long player over all.

Featuring the hit singles that should have been, Annie's Gone' and 1976'. Third Eye was jam packed with catchy hooks, slick production and memorable tunes. Sadly, it was the only album on Atlantic Records.

Released originally in 1990 in the golden period of the major label's deciding vinyl was dead', and compact discs were the future (remember them) Third Eye' was only briefly available on vinyl in the U.S and saw extremely limited released on vinyl in Europe.

Subsequently Third Eye' has become increasingly hard to find on vinyl. That's now been corrected.

On its fourth record - Sincerely, Future Pollution - Timber Timbre coats the stark, sensual sound of 2014's Hot Dreams in an oil-black rainbow of municipal grime. It is the cinema of a dizzying dystopia, rattled by the science fiction of this bluntly nonfictional time.

Sincerely, Future Pollution stands out in Timber Timbre's catalogue of imagistic records, with Taylor Kirk and band-mates Mathieu Charbonneau and Simon Trottier taking a unique approach to Timber Timbre's process of sonic invention. Kirk wrote the songs in late 2015/early 2016, then arranged the music over a very focused' Montreal winter with the veteran Timber Timbre members.

If each Timber Timbre record is framed in genre play, on Sincerely, Future Pollution, the components are the most askew: the glam of Roxy Music, the plaintive pop of Talk Talk, the disquiet of Suicide, the invincibility of Talking Heads, the haunting This Mortal Coil. All (and more) unlikely references are present, tethering Timber Timbre's experimentation to points of familiarity. The range is an acute angle from New Age to Popular French Disco Revival like Daft Punk and Air, filtered through Timber Timbre's painterly imagination. Freshly exhumed, Sincerely, Future Pollution is a portent from the bygone year 2016.

On its fourth record - Sincerely, Future Pollution - Timber Timbre coats the stark, sensual sound of 2014's Hot Dreams in an oil-black rainbow of municipal grime. It is the cinema of a dizzying dystopia, rattled by the science fiction of this bluntly nonfictional time.

Sincerely, Future Pollution stands out in Timber Timbre's catalogue of imagistic records, with Taylor Kirk and band-mates Mathieu Charbonneau and Simon Trottier taking a unique approach to Timber Timbre's process of sonic invention. Kirk wrote the songs in late 2015/early 2016, then arranged the music over a very focused' Montreal winter with the veteran Timber Timbre members.

If each Timber Timbre record is framed in genre play, on Sincerely, Future Pollution, the components are the most askew: the glam of Roxy Music, the plaintive pop of Talk Talk, the disquiet of Suicide, the invincibility of Talking Heads, the haunting This Mortal Coil. All (and more) unlikely references are present, tethering Timber Timbre's experimentation to points of familiarity. The range is an acute angle from New Age to Popular French Disco Revival like Daft Punk and Air, filtered through Timber Timbre's painterly imagination. Freshly exhumed, Sincerely, Future Pollution is a portent from the bygone year 2016.

On its fourth record - Sincerely, Future Pollution - Timber Timbre coats the stark, sensual sound of 2014's Hot Dreams in an oil-black rainbow of municipal grime. It is the cinema of a dizzying dystopia, rattled by the science fiction of this bluntly nonfictional time.

Sincerely, Future Pollution stands out in Timber Timbre's catalogue of imagistic records, with Taylor Kirk and band-mates Mathieu Charbonneau and Simon Trottier taking a unique approach to Timber Timbre's process of sonic invention. Kirk wrote the songs in late 2015/early 2016, then arranged the music over a very focused' Montreal winter with the veteran Timber Timbre members.

If each Timber Timbre record is framed in genre play, on Sincerely, Future Pollution, the components are the most askew: the glam of Roxy Music, the plaintive pop of Talk Talk, the disquiet of Suicide, the invincibility of Talking Heads, the haunting This Mortal Coil. All (and more) unlikely references are present, tethering Timber Timbre's experimentation to points of familiarity. The range is an acute angle from New Age to Popular French Disco Revival like Daft Punk and Air, filtered through Timber Timbre's painterly imagination. Freshly exhumed, Sincerely, Future Pollution is a portent from the bygone year 2016.

Re-run of the 2004 number 1 album by U2 on vinyl. Contains the hit singles "Vertigo", "City of Blinding Lights" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". Features the 11 tracks on the original vinyl and 16 page booklet.

The October 1971 release of American Pie catapulted Don McLean to stardom, and the ensuing three years saw him touring internationally and recording further albums whilst coming to terms with his huge success. This superb live set was taped for broadcast on WNYU-FM in New York's legendary Bottom Line club in April 1974, and contains several of his best-known songs. It's presented here complete with background notes and images.

HOLE'S APPEARANCE AT THE FESTIVE LIVE 105 GREEN CHRISTMAS EVENT AT COMMUNITY THEATER, BERKELEY, CA ON 9TH DECEMBER 1994 REVEALS A AMRKED TORMENT IN COURTNEY LOVE'S LIFE AND CAREER. RIDING ON THE SUCCESS OF HOLE'S WIDELY ACCLAIMED SECOND ALBUM LIVE THROUGH THIS, LOVE WAS FAST BECOMING THE SUBURBAN TEENAGE ICON. SADLY FOR COURTNEY LOVE, SHE WAS ALSO IN DESPERATE TURMOIL, STRUGGLING WITH THE SUDDEN DEATH OF HER HUSBAND KURT COBAIN AND HER BAND MATE KRISTEN PFAFF SHORTLY AFTER THE ALBUM'S RELEASE. CONSIDERING THE PERSONAL TURMOIL AND THE EVER-ENCROACHING MEDIA SPOTLIGHT, LOVE'S RESERVE IS RESOLUTE EVEN WHEN IT APPEARS TO THE AUDIENCE THAT SHE IS BARELY IN CONTROL. HER PERFORMANCE THROUGHOUT BLEEDS ANGER, FRUSTRATION AND APPARENT VULNERABLITY THAT MOCKS THE AIMLESS, POSTERING RAGE OF MANY OF HER PUNK CONTEMPORARIES.

HER RAGE IS ENDLESS, SUPREME AND JUSTIFIED.

Sweet Little Sixteen

Draculas Son LP, visual artist Jockum Nordstrom and music producer Joakim Ahlund (Les Big Byrd, The Caesars, Teddy Bear Stockholm) team up for a second LP, this time Draculas Son. Now availble on Junk Yard Connections here for stay. Keep it Indie!

Original WLIR FM broadcast live from Malibu Beach Club, Long Island NY in June 1981

[R] Medley: American Woman / Truckin' Off Across The Sky /

'Under the influence of the Beatles, the Group Sounds movement swept Japan in the mid-1960s. This esteemed compilation - out of print for over two decades - gathers a dozen of the wildest tracks in the genre, spanning surf-rock, fuzzed-up R&B and even psychedelia. It's presented here complete with a full-colour booklet offering background notes on each artist, and is sure to thrill fans of the further reaches of garage rock.'