Browsing Tag

POISON IVY

Izzy and the Black Trees reached the pinnacle of empowering post-punk with their standout single, Liberate

Posted on 22 January 2023

London-based Polish powerhouse Izzy and the Black Trees barbed the post-punk genre with socially progressive spikes in the standout single, Liberate, taken from their second album, Revolution Comes in Waves. It’s easily the best thing to happen to post-punk since Christian Death unleashed Only Theatre of Pain in ’82; at least this LP is provocative for all the right reasons!

Izzy Rekowska’s organically magnetic vocal lines come alive around the calls for a better future for women the world over as the tribally awakening drums add a commanding backbeat around the psych-tinged guitars that will be a hit with Poison Ivy and Glenn Branca fans.

It isn’t every day you encounter a band that is so alchemically more than the sum of all creative parts. Izzy and the Black Trees have exactly what it takes to take you on a scintillating ride that opens your mind to the possibility of a future where feminist records only serve to show us how far we have come – not how far we have to go.

Following the release of the sophomore LP, Izzy and the Black Trees will be hitting UK festival stages, including Sound City in Liverpool – you won’t want to miss it.

Listen to Liberate and the LP in full on Spotify.

Follow the band on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Post-Punk urgently bites back in Night Gallery’s single, Suddenly

Posted on 14 October 2022

Post-Punk is back with vengeance in Night Gallery’s new album, Caught Hiding, which features the standout single, Suddenly.

The Peter Hook-Esque stabbing basslines and chaotically kaleidoscopic sonics of Poison Ivy pull together to create the ultimate anthem for those ailed with the kind of off-kilter psyche that is so accurately portrayed in the lyrics. The portrait of the tendency of mental tilts creeping up on you at whiplash speed and the toll that takes is as striking as it is resonant.

Night Gallery found the perfect balance between emotionally raw and sonically finessed with Suddenly. Few post-punk revivals hit the mark as urgently and viscerally. Ben Nelson’s ability to vocally boomerang from Ian Curtis to Julian Casablancas-style energy is something no one will be quick to forget.

Caught Hiding will officially release on October 14th. Check it out for yourselves on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The alt-rock nomad, Charlson, moved into darker synth rock territory with his single, Night Sounds IV

Posted on 14 October 2022

Alt-rock nomad Charlson bravely extended his synth-dripping single, Night Sounds IV, across an epic 7-minute duration. While that track length may make Gen Z recoil in fear, this 00s indie-loving millennial was absorbed by every dark synth-dripping progression.

With a similar vibe to Johnny Marr’s debut album, Night Sounds IV from the independent artist’s forthcoming album, Night Sounds. It’s an energetic introduction to Charlon’s new venture into indie rock territory. One which pays a nuanced ode to Poison Ivy’s decadence and the Generation Terrorists era of the Manic Street Preachers in the crunchy guitars in the second segment of the enduring cry in the dark before it breaks into an orchestral laced outro.

The high energy of the release that comes complete with synthy blues motifs is an apt sonic reflection of those feelings that plague us when our heads hit the pillow. It certainly won’t help you sleep, but it’s a gregarious extension of solidarity for anyone with haunted self-awareness. Jack Kerouac’s quote of ‘the only people for me are the mad ones’ certainly springs to mind.

Night Sounds is due for release on October 14th. Hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Post-punk meets jazz blues in The Illucid’s defiantly protestive single, Stone Cold Soldier

Posted on 2 March 2022

Taken from their debut EP, Somebody Else, The Illucid’s jazzy post-punk standout single, Stone Cold Soldier, couldn’t have fallen onto our radar at a more sobering time. The catchy rock hooks from the British Indie band almost feel like an act of defiance in today’s chilling geopolitical climate.

On the basis of the frantic bluesy piano keys, the theatrical vocal lines and their ability to squeeze euphoria from darkness, The Illucid almost becomes the thinking man’s Nekrogoblikon while they deliver their Magazine-style enigmatic energy in the single that shames the cold inhumanity behind the eyes of stone-cold soldiers.

Not many bands can convince me that they’re worthy of seeing live with just one single, but the Illucid are easily one of the best outfits to come around since Melt Yourself Down. Get them on your radar.

Stone Cold Soldier is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DR SATSO – Sour Milk: Sonically Frenetic Psych Post Punk

Posted on 26 December 2020

‘Sour Milk’ is just one of the riotously dark and psychedelic tracks to feature on DR SATSO’s debut album ‘A Sour Milk Experience’.

For the non-discerning fans of Psych who stay in the safe confines of the overhyped works of the Beatles and Pink Floyd, the soundscape may be as pleasant as ingesting sour milk, but those with an affinity for truly mind-warping, rhythmically disturbing alternative music will definitely want to delve into this monolithic feat of Psych, Post Punk, Garage Rock and Punk.

As the bouncing frenetic guitars emit enticing similarities to the Oh Sees, the rest of the instrumentals coalesce to bring a cold cutting energy to the galvanizingly pioneering soundscape while the vocals will be a hit with any fans of Poison Ivy, Magazine and SERVO.

While Sour Milk hasn’t done my need to witness fuzzy and frenetically insurgent music live any favours, it did affirm that DR SATSO is undoubtedly one of the most viciously revolutionary artists to hit the airwaves in 2020.

You can check out Sour Milk along with the rest of DR SATSO’s sonically visceral album via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

SUR NATE has dropped his latest piece PO!SON !VY

Posted on 24 April 2020

SUR NATE has dropped his latest single ‘PO!SON !VY’’ combining that intriguing sound of Ambient RnB through this smooth and infectious track.

Beginning with a faded quiet vocal that slowly builds up the atmosphere and begins to creep up, as the vocals begin with the steady and slow rhythm that cuts through the background. The voice tends to fade away and falls behind the rhythm as that tends to overpower each element.

The vocals tend to get distorted in places as they flow in and out of the melody, keeping everything at a fairly relaxed pace and more on the quieter side in terms of volume.

Give this one a listen by SUR NATE as he embraces his RnB sound through this new piece.

Check out SUR NATE’s POISON IVY by heading on over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Karley Myall