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It’s been around 3 years since the release of debut album ‘Aura’ and it appears that during that time there has been a major transformation. This is Mirror Revelations uncaged and letting go; ‘Ignea’ is harder faster and more aggressive; maximum propulsion from the bass and drums, maximum power from the churning synth violence. While …
It’s been around 3 years since the release of debut album ‘Aura’ and it appears that during that time there has been a major transformation. This is Mirror Revelations uncaged and letting go; ‘Ignea’ is harder faster and more aggressive; maximum propulsion from the bass and drums, maximum power from the churning synth violence. While the first album had some lighter touches and an open natural feel this is dense and claustrophobic, an electrically charged swamp of seething effects, a dirty electro hum and echoed vocals. ‘Ignea’ was created by Mexican duo Alam Castillo (bass, drums, synths) and Gabriela Alcala (synthesizers, lyrics and vocal melodies). They toured the UK a few years ago and made a great impression on all of us who saw them and they’re coming back in October to continue where they left off. There seems to be a massive burst of energy and creativity coming from the underground Mexican scene over the last few years with a lot of bands getting records released widely and getting tours abroad. I have no doubt that the music has always been there, but now with the global nature of the underground psych movement (for want of a better word) we’re all getting exposed to it and to music from far and wide, which for me is one of the outstanding things about the whole scene. The song titles tell you what you need to know about where the band’s hearts and minds are at – ‘resist’ ‘burn’ ‘challenge’ – all statements of intent and dissatisfaction, the Mirror Revelations manifesto for much needed change. So, these may be protest songs but they’re also banging psyched-up heavy motorik dance tracks; insanely paced at times and brimming with energy and exuberance. The momentum never lets up throughout the record and there is a wired and gleeful feel which collides and meshes with the atmosphere created which is gritty, pressurized and dystopian. Raw and brutal on first listen, repeated spins reveal strange melodies and frequencies shifting like ghosts just under the surface. If you let ‘Ignea’ into your brain it will open you up and take you apart…a hectic but joyous noise bringing liberation through repetition. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16702" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" data-wp-pid="16702" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-768x768.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-600x600.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-100x100.jpg 100w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mirror-Revelations-Packshot-1200x1200.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-16704 alignright" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_6766-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="326" height="217" data-wp-pid="16704" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_6766-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_6766-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_6766-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_6766-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_6766-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_6766-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 326px) 100vw, 326px" /> Listening to the album is an experience in itself, a speaker rattling punch in the guts, a blast of dark volcanic intensity; live this should be off the scale and I can picture the scene now… feels like a pounding techno-punk end of festival sonic meltdown waiting to happen…a premonition of Fuzz Club Eindhoven festival 2027 I hope…!? Gary Powell, June 2026
Eyeplug speaks with Mirrorball Author Kevin Dowling
A young teenager in the late 70’s I grew up on one of the large council estates that crowded in on Millwall FC. One of my earliest memories is hearing a loud roar reverberate around the tower blocks and asking my dad ‘what’s that?’ He replied in his thick Dublin accent, ‘That’s Millwall scoring... You don’t hear it much.’ At 16 I left school without any qualifications but somehow managed to blag my way into a job at Barclays Bank making tea and licking envelopes. When they caught up with my lack of qualifications they must have liked my tea because rather than sack me they made me enrol in Night school where I got the requisite four ‘O’ Levels including English Language and English Literature. From there I went on to have a mediocre career of long hours that paid the bills.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-16689" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mirrorball-cover-front-jpeg-1-793x1024.jpg" alt="" width="793" height="1024" data-wp-pid="16689" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mirrorball-cover-front-jpeg-1-793x1024.jpg 793w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mirrorball-cover-front-jpeg-1-232x300.jpg 232w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mirrorball-cover-front-jpeg-1-768x992.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mirrorball-cover-front-jpeg-1-300x387.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mirrorball-cover-front-jpeg-1-600x775.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mirrorball-cover-front-jpeg-1.jpg 900w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 793px) 100vw, 793px" /> A young teenager in the late 70’s I grew up on one of the large council estates that crowded in on Millwall FC. One of my earliest memories is hearing a loud roar reverberate around the tower blocks and asking my dad ‘what’s that?’ He replied in his thick Dublin accent, ‘That’s Millwall scoring… You don’t hear it much.’ At 16 I left school without any qualifications but somehow managed to blag my way into a job at Barclays Bank making tea and licking envelopes. When they caught up with my lack of qualifications they must have liked my tea because rather than sack me they made me enrol in Night school where I got the requisite four ‘O’ Levels including English Language and English Literature. From there I went on to have a mediocre career of long hours that paid the bills. Ultimately I’m one of life’s worriers; a catastrophist. So I write; I create an alternative world where worry can’t follow me. Mirrorball is my first novel. I’ve always been drawn to the antihero. The kind of character who stumbles through the shadows yet somehow you root for. My aim is simple: to make readers laugh out loud and shed a tear as Ciarán navigates the darkly comic rites of passage that shape him. Set in the early eighties, Mirrorball moves through the tightknit world of South East London’s Irish community. The story unfolds far from London on a small cabbage farm near Perugia before flashing back three years to a life lived under the glittering scrutiny of a mirrorball, reflecting Ciarán’s every thought, deed and mistake. A life of laughter, family, friendship and love, plus a few shady characters to navigate and a little money laundering. These two worlds collide as exiled Ciarán returns to reclaim his life. I’ve agonised over its genre. It’s difficult to categorise. It’s a rites of passage, part crime but mainly a comedy wrapped around a love story. It’s by no means a romantic comedy; it’s just too gritty for that. Ciarán’s story does not end with Mirrorball, I’m working on the sequel. I see a trilogy, The Chronicles of Deptford. 01. How did you get started in the world of words? Probably not the direction you expected me to go here but … at the age of ten I was unable to read. So I was placed in a remedial class with all the stigma that comes with being a dunce. My teacher Mrs Bishop was ancient and looked like Margaret Thatcher but sterner. So different from the young Led Zeppelin wannabe teachers that haunted the main school. She terrified me into reading. She’d stand over me with a ruler as I read aloud from the colourful children’s pirate series, The Griffin Pirate Stories. When she finally returned me to the Led Zeppelin wannabees, she gave me a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. ‘Pirates for readers’ she said. It was the first “real” book I ever read. Mirrorball is dedicated to Mrs Bishop. 02. Has it been a struggle getting your first book published? Breaking through is brutally difficult. I sent manuscripts to numerous literary agents. They didn’t even send a rejection letter. Agents want proof you already have media attention. Fine if you’ve just been on reality TV or are a celebrity chef but it leaves the rest of us adrift. Fortunately I was introduced to Paul Hallam at Old Dog Books. We went for a beer and I pitched Mirrorball to him. Paul took the manuscript away with him and fortunately he loved it. Old Dog Books took it from there, producing if I say so myself, a high quality paperback. 03. Where did you see the first piece you had written in print, how did that feel? Six large boxes arrived on the door step unexpected. Instead of opening them I went to the pub for a livener. It was a defining moment, so I walked away. What if I didn’t like the finished product? Also I’d so enjoyed the creative journey I didn’t want that to end. Finally my wife Sharon bullied me into opening a box. They looked great. It caught me off guard how emotional it made me. There it was a real physical book in my hands. It was like all those years I’ve been hiding in this parallel universe and now I can show people around. Show them what I’ve been doing there. In that moment I realised it’s real. I wrote it. It’s a real book! BUY YOUR COPY HERE! 04. What was the main reasons that you started to write seriously? Escapism. I had a job in a bank working impossible hours. I was never very good at maths and daydreaming meant my attention to detail was always just off. So I wrote. Writing gave me a world to escape to. A parallel universe that let me switch off the constant worry of the reality of trying to hold down a stressful job, paying the mortgage and all the routines life throws at you. 05. What’s a typical working day like when you are writing? I can go weeks without writing a word. I’ve learnt not to force it. On these days, if I do open the laptop it’s usually to torment existing sentences, picking and prodding at already written words. Then someone tells a funny story down the pub, or I hear a song that triggers a memory (not necessarily mine) and a whole stream of consciousness flows. On these days I start early with a cup of tea and an 80’s indie playlist and I just write. I don’t worry about grammar, spelling or facts, you can’t allow them to get in the way of creative genius! I save corrections for non-creative days. The dog gets to go on numerous walks whether she likes it or not. These walks extract me from the word crunching and allow me space to just let the story develop in my head, hoping I won’t forget by the time we get back home. I might write a thousand words on a good day. And then spend three weeks agonising over them. 06. What were your younger experiences that helped to shape your later mindset? Growing up on a sprawling, rundown council estate in South East London was an experience in itself. It was all about the banter. Verbal sparring using sharpened wit. Looking back, it was the perfect apprenticeship for a wordsmith; language was currency, timing, rhythm and delivery was everything. You held your own with nothing but words… until you went too far. It was a harsh time. Violent. Words came in handy, allowing me to talk my way out of a few precarious situations. To be fair a few I didn’t. We were a poor community, so we made our own entertainment. I grew up surrounded by brilliant, funny storytellers down the youth club, the football dressing room, the social club, the terraces or the pub. People who could turn a trip to the corner shop into an epic saga. They taught me early on that truth is stranger than fiction — and that you should never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Mirrorball is essentially a tapestry of other people’s funny anecdotes, stitched together into a patchwork of humour and love set against a harsh backdrop. 07. What was it like to be young and involved in Street Cultures, what were your pointers and outlook? We’re talking late 70’s into the early 80’s in the tower blocks next to Millwall. Back then you either drifted into football hooliganism, drugs or the record shop. I chose the record shop and with a few likeminded souls used our pocketful of red bus rover tickets to criss-cross London chasing gigs and clubs. From the local haunts — Lewisham Odeon, Deptford Albany, Woolwich Tramshed — all the way to the Clarendon in Hammersmith or The Dublin castle in Camden and every stickyfloored venue in between. I always had a soft spot for the Lyceum on the Strand, but my heart still belongs to The 100 Club. We got heavily into the Medway garage scene. We were constantly seeing The Milkshakes, who had that raw, BeatlesinHamburg energy. So many great bands around at that time… The Prisoners and The Playn Jayn come to mind… the latter still the best live band I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t all gigs and clubs. A lot of it was running away from punks, skinheads and psychobillies. It was a violent tribal era, a time of youth tribes and you needed to understand where you stood with each. I went for an indie post punk look, stealing my dad’s old 60’s jackets. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16692" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Kevin_Dowling_2.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="571" data-wp-pid="16692" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Kevin_Dowling_2.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Kevin_Dowling_2-300x286.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /> 08. What was that period like for you as a young man outside of the Music world? I was 16 in 1980. What a decade. My mates had bands, but I couldn’t sing and I couldn’t play. I didn’t mind. I was the watercarrier. That said, while never a musician, I never felt ‘outside of the Music world’. Back then, it wasn’t about talent or status — it was about being there. It was a constant rollercoaster of gigs and discovery. I felt very much part of the Music world. 09. How did the Media distort what was going on with youth culture at that time? I don’t think it was so much distorted, more just missed the point. The chase for sensational headlines completely drowned out what was really happening. Newspapers and TV leaned into stories of youth violence and moral decline, feeding the outrage of an older ‘paying’ audience. What the media ignored was the cause of that chaos and the creative effect it would have. The cause being boredom born from economic collapse, disillusionment, mass unemployment, and widening inequality… exclusion. The effect being the most important cultural revolutions of the era; the rise of DIY music and selfmade culture. What the mainstream media failed to grasp was that the late 70’s and early 80’s weren’t just chaos or danger, they were defined by creativity under pressure. Young people, shut out of economic opportunity, turned frustration into invention. Built their own DIY cultural spaces. They snatched music and arts from the middleclass, Oxford educated types. Anyone could buy a cheap guitar and jump on stage. They built their own DIY platform out of frustration. It was a period of intense, selfgenerated creativity which the mainstream media missed completely. 10. What music, films and books helped you to the pathway of all things alternative? Thursday morning meant the NME. One of only three ways to see who was gigging. The others being word of mouth and the abundance of corrugated iron, that sealed off bomb sites, covered in fly posters. I’d sometimes buy Melody Maker and photocopied Fanzines from record shops that never seemed to make it past issue two. So many bands and songs. Such a creative era. Following on from the staples like The Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Clash and The Specials, there was a whole second tier of great bands like The Redskins; The Chords; Milkshakes; Playn Jayn; Screaming Blue Messiahs; The Fall; Magazine; Pere Ubu, Wire and early Ultravox (John Foxx). Special mention for Deptford Fun City, the short lived punk/newwave record label which promoted emerging Deptford bands, meaning Squeeze and Alternative TV had a huge impact on me. I still love the light blue LP centre label of Deptford High St. Favourite songs… PIL’s Death Disco. I Roy’s Don’t Touch I Man Dread. Costello’s Watching The Detectives. Magazine’s Shot By Both Sides and Psychedelic Furs We Love you. Ask me next week and it will be different. Films never featured heavily for me. I don’t think it was a great era for film. Eraserhead (which still disturbs me), Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man come to mind. Books would have to be George Orwell especially Animal Farm and Homage to Catalonia. As does Primo Levi’s If Not Now, When? and Jack Kerouac’s On The Road. A bit later came a writer I really relate to; Roddy Doyle and his Barrytown Trilogy. Doyle brought a real workingclass voice – real humour and heart. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-16647" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3.png" alt="" width="358" height="132" data-wp-pid="16647" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3.png 907w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-300x111.png 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-768x284.png 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-600x222.png 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 358px) 100vw, 358px" /> 11. What other books do you wish you had written? Treasure Island; published in 1883. With all the modern day distractions it’s still able to capture the imagination. Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, more than a gangster book, It’s about family; it just feels so real. Roddy Doyles’ A Star Called Henry, so funny yet so gritty. 12. How has the internet changed what you do? The internet hasn’t changed what I do but it has both a positive and negative influence. Writing with nostalgia is a balancing act. Authentic detail matters; was that song even out then and could you genuinely buy a Wagon Wheel from the sweetshop back then? Is Wagon Wheel one word or two? Important questions that need to be answered. Thankfully, the internet lets you check those things in seconds. The flip side is the internet tempts you into everything except writing. One moment you’re verifying the release date of the B52’s, Give Me Back My Man (1st August 1980), the next you’ve fallen into a shopping spiral and ordered yet another box of Popper Point pencils. A bored writer’s natural predator is the shopping cart top right of your screen. That’s why I try to leave the research (and browsing) for non-creative days. 13. Do you have any advice for wannabe authors? Just crack on. Write for yourself and write about what you know but don’t be frightened to stray from your lane; just not too far. Don’t write for commercial success. There are very few JK Rowlings. I think it’s important to roughly know how your story ends then just let the words have their fun getting there. Let them go off-piste. Yes have a framework, but wonder. Some of my favourite paragraphs I’ve written have just come out of left field. Asking for feedback is like daring someone to tell you your daughter’s ugly at her christening. So find someone who’s both close enough to care and honest enough to tell you those draft pages you gave them to critique are ugly. Finding this person is not easy but so important. 14. What projects are you planning for the future and please feel free to plug your latest book? Promoting Mirrorball. We had a very successful Book Launch hosted by Garry Bushell and it’s selling well. Intention is to maybe do a couple more book launches. That, and trying to get the book in front of the right people to review/champion. Getting momentum going is a tough gig but I’m from the DIY generation! We also need to think about a digital copy. For me It will always be about holding the paperback in my hands but I need to move with the times. I think it would make a great adaptation to screen and would love for one of the streaming services to show interest. I’m about 23,000 words into the sequel to Mirrorball. Only another 23,000ish to go. I’m hoping to be done for Christmas. I had my first meeting to discuss the art work for the cover last week which makes it feel all very real and exciting. I’m also working on a novel called Skie but that’s a story for another day. 15. What has been the reaction so far to your first book? It’s been great. People have been really supportive and reviews have been very positive. We just need to get it to a bigger audience. BUY YOUR COPY HERE!
Sometimes you pick up records thinking you know what you’re going to get and expecting to be in familiar territory….this one caught me off-guard and most definitely took me to places I didn’t anticipate..Upupayama (essentially Alessio Ferrari who plays all the instruments on the records) have released 3 studio albums and one live set over …
Sometimes you pick up records thinking you know what you’re going to get and expecting to be in familiar territory….this one caught me off-guard and most definitely took me to places I didn’t anticipate..Upupayama (essentially Alessio Ferrari who plays all the instruments on the records) have released 3 studio albums and one live set over the last few years and throughout all these releases have created a shifting world of strange beauty. There is certainly continuity here with that ethereal feel still apparent but the sound has taken a twist towards a more direct approach; more powerful and with a lot more swagger – more ‘rock’ than previous albums – that’s rock in a reverb-heavy gritty psychedelic 70s soundtrack style. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16677" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" data-wp-pid="16677" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-600x600.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upupayama-Honesty-Flowers-Packshot-3000-1-1200x1200.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> The opening track ‘Fliiim/Lalimph’ runs to 11 minutes and is an odyssey in itself; propelled from the start by tribal percussion and bass then an overload of wah-wah guitar effects it leads you through a frenetic tribal dance and then breaks halfway through for a more reflective flute interlude before coalescing again into trippy psychedelic drift and shimmer. This feel of an epic journey or unfolding story is also reflected across the length of the whole double album as it ebbs and flows and flickers through different tempos and atmospheres, transcending ‘normal’ song structures in favour of a rising and falling episodic approach, with the opening 6 tracks overall (slightly) heavier and more frenzied than the rest of the record which feels more rooted in the unique Upupayama world we know from previous records. By the time you get to the third track ‘Mystic Chords Of Memory’ you’re spellbound and in a different world… a charged voodoo funk wigout with echoes of Agharta/Pangaea era Miles Davis letting it all go in Japan – pounding percussion and mystical driving pagan fuzz, sweat soaked and intense and trance inducing. The whole album is a mind expanding polyrythmic excursion through a cascade of images and atmospheres – it’s a festival site at dawn, a voodoo ceremony, a pagan gathering, a 1970s black magic movie or a surreal fantasy world…wherever your head takes you. ‘Honesty Flowers’ keeps alien time and speaks in exotic new tongues and will have you moving to different rhythms ….a ceremony in 11 parts…time slows down, reality shifts and time fades. Upupayama have always sounded elemental and spiritual with plenty of pastoral and rustic moments but here show a newfound grit and groove; here there are some heady doses of visceral funked up, fuzzed up occult frequencies….coming from deep within the underworld to feed your head.. Gary Powell, May 2026 Available from Fuzz Club Records
‘IV’ by White Canyon and The 5th Dimension
If you are at all familiar with the previous 3 album releases by White Canyon & The 5th Dimension you’ll have some idea of what to expect from their latest release ‘IV’ – their swirling, 60s-tinged psych rock infused sound remains but things have not stayed the same and the sonic and lyrical world …
If you are at all familiar with the previous 3 album releases by White Canyon & The 5th Dimension you’ll have some idea of what to expect from their latest release ‘IV’ – their swirling, 60s-tinged psych rock infused sound remains but things have not stayed the same and the sonic and lyrical world they have created has entered a new, more assured state with the atmosphere getting even denser and the sound even richer. ‘Silver Womb’ sets the scene; a beguiling and cinematic start to the whole experience which creates the mystical earthy atmosphere that remains throughout the entire set. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-16664 aligncenter" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-IMG-20210716-WA0007-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" data-wp-pid="16664" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-IMG-20210716-WA0007-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-IMG-20210716-WA0007-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-IMG-20210716-WA0007-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-IMG-20210716-WA0007-600x400.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-IMG-20210716-WA0007.jpg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> ‘Gravestone Lips’ is a thumping bassy tribal stomp that builds into grinding dirty drone and feels like a sister track to album closer ‘Wicked Eyes’, a dusty rock ‘n’ roll tale of seduction and a spell that can’t be resisted. The sound on both is big full on psych rock ‘n’ roll, and wouldn’t be out of place on an old Black Angels album. Elsewhere the musical landscape expands and new elements emerge into their traditional sounds. Where The Dreamers Go’ feels like a blissed-out fever dream of creation; forces being summoned and shaped into actions; kundalini rising, spirits gathering. Musically it sounds like a slight shift in focus but it’s also firmly earthed in the familiar world that the Brazilian duo inhabit – devotional and ceremonial, rich in ancient symbolism. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-16665" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-PSX_20221029_193933-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" data-wp-pid="16665" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-PSX_20221029_193933-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-PSX_20221029_193933-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-PSX_20221029_193933-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-PSX_20221029_193933-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-PSX_20221029_193933-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-PSX_20221029_193933-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-16668 alignright" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-WC5D_231124_27-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" data-wp-pid="16668" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-WC5D_231124_27-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-WC5D_231124_27-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-WC5D_231124_27-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-WC5D_231124_27-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-WC5D_231124_27-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Copia-de-WC5D_231124_27-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> ‘Alumia’ is in 2 parts – initially a brooding dark synth drone which then bleeds into a seductive percussion heavy ritual with an eastern flavour. ‘River Song’ continues the vibration and slower tempo and could be the track used to sum up the whole White Canyon & The 5th Dimension feel and sound and mission –bewitching and dark but gentle and soothing. The more diverse approach to sound is exemplified by the beautiful ‘Flesh And Bones’ – haunting and spiritual, with a loping bass line, brittle guitar and an overall sound more overtly influenced by 80s UK post punk than anything they’ve released before. The album feels like an invitation to a secret world of mystery and insight, images flicker to mind and fade away into the darkness, memories float to the surface of the mind just out of reach. You don’t so much listen to a White Canyon & The 5th Dimension record as immerse yourself in it and go with the flow, follow their lead. Gabriela and Leo Vaith share vocals within individual songs throughout the album and this works fantastically, adding to the intimate and enveloping feel of the album. They seem to have more fully harnessed the power of their sound with this new release, it’s finely crafted and bigger in scale. ‘IV’ plays as a hymn to the earth, to the unseen forces that Leo and Gabriela clearly believe in and focus on…if you share those beliefs you’ll feel at home straight away here and if you don’t…well, let the album work it’s magick and see where it leads you… Love IS the law… Gary Powell, April 2026 Check here for news on forthcoming vinyl release – currently available on download here.
Acme Boy By Phil Strongman interview by Jay Strongman
Interview with Phil Strongman by Jay Strongman on Phil’s new book ‘ACME BOY – The Birth Of Punk & Anti-Fashion’ When I first took my kid brother Phil down to Chelsea’s Acme Attractions in the King’s Road, in the late summer of 1975, I had no idea that he’d be designing clothes for them a …
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-16642 size-full" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="675" data-wp-pid="16642" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3.jpg 1000w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3-300x203.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3-768x518.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3-220x150.jpg 220w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3-600x405.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /> Photo: Dave Parkinson Interview with Phil Strongman by Jay Strongman on Phil’s new book ‘ACME BOY – The Birth Of Punk & Anti-Fashion’ <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16647" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-300x111.png" alt="" width="300" height="111" data-wp-pid="16647" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-300x111.png 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-768x284.png 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-600x222.png 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3.png 907w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> When I first took my kid brother Phil down to Chelsea’s Acme Attractions in the King’s Road, in the late summer of 1975, I had no idea that he’d be designing clothes for them a year later. Nor that I would be, for a time, the manager of the follow-up shop BOY (now the brand known as BOY LONDON). In ’75 Phil was still in school and I had just left school and, for both of us, Acme was part of a semi-secret society – a society that only started to go overground in the last half of 1976 as the Sex Pistols, Banshees and The Clash exploded across the front pages of the music press… and then the national press. Although Acme’s future customers were to include everyone from Bob Marley to Nick Lowe – to Joe Strummer to Sid Vicious to Peter O’Toole – within a couple of years it was half-forgotten, and by the 1980s some would say it was a totally faded memory, even in its former King’s Road location. So, on a strangely clear line to London, I asked Phil a few questions about how, and why, he’d finally written an in-depth book about Acme and the early days of BOY. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16635" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ACME-BOY-cover.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="1273" data-wp-pid="16635" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ACME-BOY-cover.jpg 900w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ACME-BOY-cover-212x300.jpg 212w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ACME-BOY-cover-724x1024.jpg 724w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ACME-BOY-cover-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ACME-BOY-cover-300x424.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ACME-BOY-cover-600x849.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16647" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-300x111.png" alt="" width="300" height="111" data-wp-pid="16647" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-300x111.png 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-768x284.png 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-600x222.png 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3.png 907w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> 01. Why a book about Acme Attractions and BOY? Well, there’s been quite a few books about Westwood and McLaren and their shop at 430 King’s Road, Chelsea, how it helped launch the punk look and the Sex Pistols etc. But if SEX / Seditionaries was the Big One – The Beatles, if you like – then Acme Attractions was the alternative – the Rolling Stones, say – the big rivals to SEX for over two years. Acme was part of that story and connected with helping push other musical bands of some influence – Chelsea, Generation X, Billy Idol, The Damned, Throbbing Gristle etc… and there’d been no Acme book. I know Don Letts and Jeannette Lee did an Acme booklet some six or seven years ago but it is just that; a booklet – or pamphlet. It’s only 28 or 30 pages, and that includes photos. A lot had to be missed out to fit it into such a small format. And then there’s the start of BOY which was quite interesting. Bizarre things happened – it’s not every design/fashion book that features bootlegging, new musical genres and tank attacks. 02. But why write it now? Ninety-nine percent of it was actually written well over a year ago – getting books published is still a super-slow business – but the main prompt was John Krivine agreeing to do a series of interviews. He was the founder of Acme, the co-founder of BOY, and he and the late Steph Raynor were the guys who first employed me there as a teenage designer. So I then ended up in a hotel at the edge of a desert, talking with John for hours and finding out loads of things I hadn’t known before. And, of course, this year is the 50th anniversary of the birth of UK Punk and both Acme and Boy were important parts of that scene. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-16641 size-full" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_4.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1414" data-wp-pid="16641" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_4.jpg 1000w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_4-212x300.jpg 212w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_4-724x1024.jpg 724w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_4-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_4-300x424.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_4-600x848.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /> Photo: Sheila Rock 03. What’s the difference between street fashion then and now? Then, and right up til the late 1990s, trendies and art students customized their clothes, added stuff, painted things, dyed them. Now they just copy a look they’ve seen online. Back then, it was different – when you and I first went looking for Acme it took hours to find it. It was literally underground, you had to make an effort to track it down – and it led to big changes. Whenever I see a fashion exhibition about the changes since the year 2000 it all looks the same to me… although people do say, ‘Oh no no, those trainers in 2003 were this colour white – and in 2009 they were off-colour cream white…’ You need a magnifying glass to see the difference. Who knows? Who cares? 04. Manager Don Letts – who’s now at BBC Radio 6 – and assistant Jeannette Lee – now the Rough Trade CEO – were the stars of Acme, and early BOY, did you get along with them? Yeah, I think so. They were a little older – I was sixteen when I first went in – but we got on. Jeannette called me Phil the Mod because I had all these R&B, Bluebeat and Soul singles – and because I was always chatting to Steph about mod, he’d been a leading light in the 1960s and seen all the groups, bought all the clothes and was an ace Face. I also had a couple of Vespa scooters and the one you helped me repaint Miami Blue, I sold to Acme for fifty quid and a couple of peg pants. So I took the engine out and they installed it in the middle of the shop. 05. What were the clothing items that stand out for you at Acme and BOY? Before I joined the design team – which was basically me, Steph and Helen Robinson – Acme were doing some fun-fur jumpers with big see-thru plastic panels across the chest. They looked very striking on girls – though I only ever saw one girl wearing one – especially when worn with our PVC jeans with see-thru yokes at the back. And there were also the pull-on shirts with elasticated waists, made with striped Wemblex fabric. And some black shirts made with a rubber-style fabric and bike jacket zips, crossover. When I joined we did the strap parachute shirts which looked good plus a load of slash-neck t-shirts in cire with chains, mesh etc. The red and black red mini-skirts were pretty slick for the time. But, in number terms, it was all small-time really, quite underground – there were only a few dozen of each of these items ever made, sometimes less – most of the stuff that really sold well at Acme were the pegs, the pointed shoes and the old stock Wemblex shirts. Of the BOY stuff I think some of the subsequent t-shirts were pretty strong. Riot, Join the Professionals etc. I remember us doing a couple of samples together there – Philip Salon had gone by then, he’d been the grudging sample machinist at one point – but they weren’t manufactured. Loads of drawings and samples looked good but weren’t made up at all. Making stuff was always a problem for Acme and BOY. 06. What’s your best memory of Acme / BOY? Hearing Augustus Pablo’s ‘King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown’ on the Acme sound system a few minutes before Jonathan Richman’s ‘Roadrunner’ came blasting out. On the wall there were 1950’s fleck jackets and new Sta-Prest – well, they were new to me – and there were also some cool-looking people in the shop and lots of talk of new music and new music groups. We’d rehashed the past and something new and innovative was clearly starting to come through. We’d missed the 1960s party but now we were making our own. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16647" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-300x111.png" alt="" width="300" height="111" data-wp-pid="16647" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-300x111.png 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-768x284.png 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-600x222.png 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3.png 907w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> 07. What’s your worst memory of Acme or BOY? When a huge gang of Teddy Boys attacked people outside BOY, spring ’77 – and then they attacked the shop. I go into it in detail in the book because, for quite a few moments, it was life and death stuff, and only my second experience of such violence. 08. What was the big difference between SEX and Acme? Acme was still cool but it was also friendlier. It was interactive – there were sometimes notices and stuff pinned-up. And I felt that I could design for them, and I did. SEX was a closed shop. ‘We know it all’. Some of the clothes were brilliant, though some got increasingly gross as it became Seditionaries, but it was generally a bit depressing for an aspiring designer like me. And a bit scarey for girls too. I knew girls, daring girls, who would go to parties and night-clubs wearing just underwear and a see-thru mac – but they just would not go into SEX. The barbed wire, the porno quotes on the wall, the rubber masks… it was all too threatening for them. Cost-wise too there was a difference with 430 King’s Road – Acme’s peg trousers were £10 and then £12, in SEX they were £20. A big difference, £20 is around £200 now. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-16640 size-full" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3_.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1414" data-wp-pid="16640" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3_.jpg 1000w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3_-212x300.jpg 212w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3_-724x1024.jpg 724w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3_-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3_-300x424.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_3_-600x848.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /> Photo: Dave Parkinson 09. Did you often see Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood in 430 King’s Road? In 1976 I only saw Malcolm in SEX twice. The first time he didn’t recognise me from the Pistols’ gigs and so gave me the whole salesman bit about the cire t-shirts being especially made and ‘being great value for money’. The second time he recognised me and so we talked a bit about the Pistols who were still playing the 100 Club at that point – he was much more fun then, and he was always funny But after the Pistols got signed to EMI in early October ’76 I never saw him in the shop again, ever – I just used to see him at the Glitterbest office.But Vivienne was in SEX and then Seditionaries at least two or three times a week, right up until the very end. 10. Would you say those teams – McLaren-Westwood, Krivine-Raynor – were artists? Oh, Malc was for sure – as was Viv at times. They saw things in those terms, revolutionary art. The first dozen Anarchy shirts they did, Malc insisted on hand-painting some of the stripes on. He’d always wanted to be a fine artist but life got in the way. In a way he’s as important as people like Picasso and Warhol. Steph and John, on the other hand, were talented nostalgia hustlers who became street fashion leaders by accident – and then gave a platform to young designers and creatives. Again, almost by accident… although I have to say, with their jukeboxes, classic cars and clothes, they were incredibly stylish people. Steph’s life was his art, though it got a bit messy after the Acme highpoint, as things often do. 11. Are you surprised that BOY London has lasted and is still sometimes worn by celebs like Rihanna, Madonna, Charli xcx? Not really surprised, no. It had close to 20 stores worldwide at one point but then most of them went – I don’t think there’s a single BOY store anywhere now, they just have small corners of other people’s shops. I think it could have been handled a lot better but John left the biz in 1985 and Steph wasn’t really a dedicated designer or a serious businessman – a character, with real charisma, but not a planner. He was always ahead of the game – his PX store kinda launched the Blitz / New Romantic thing – but he couldn’t really plan ahead. Money isn’t everything, of course, but in business terms, Vivienne Westwood Ltd was worth £90 million when she died a few years ago. Which is about a hundred times more than Steph was worth when he passed in 2021. John K is still with us, thank God, sitting by his swimming pool in the desert. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-16639 size-large" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_2_-866x1024.jpg" alt="" width="866" height="1024" data-wp-pid="16639" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_2_-866x1024.jpg 866w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_2_-254x300.jpg 254w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_2_-768x908.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_2_-300x355.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_2_-600x709.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Acme_Boy_2_.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" /> Photo: Martin Brading 12. What do you hope your book ultimately does? I hope it ultimately sells! Sorry, I had to say that. No, seriously, I hope it gets older people remembering and reliving those times, they were creative, hopeful times – and I’d like to think it might just get some young people away from the boring dogma of ‘now ideas’ and ‘now fashion’. It’s depressing that so many people, 18-30, get all their ideas about style, about fashion, about the world and even politics from sloppy sources such as CNN, Sky or the BBC. They’re all a bit too bland and woke. Or they get ideas from TikTok, which is even worse. And I also hope to remind commentators that people like John Krivine, Steph Raynor and Roger Burton should be remembered – they were something, they were really influential. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16647" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-300x111.png" alt="" width="300" height="111" data-wp-pid="16647" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-300x111.png 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-768x284.png 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3-600x222.png 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/buy-on-amazon-button-png-3.png 907w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16651" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-cropped-Jay_strongman_eyeplug_2026-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" data-wp-pid="16651" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-cropped-Jay_strongman_eyeplug_2026-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-cropped-Jay_strongman_eyeplug_2026-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-cropped-Jay_strongman_eyeplug_2026-768x767.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-cropped-Jay_strongman_eyeplug_2026-600x599.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-cropped-Jay_strongman_eyeplug_2026-100x100.jpg 100w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-cropped-Jay_strongman_eyeplug_2026.jpg 891w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> Many thanks Jay, from all at www.eyeplug.net
Helicon have been flying high for a few years now but have just raised their game even further and are set to blow the musical landscape wide open with this one; ‘Arise’ – just released on Fuzz Club – is a game changer right from the beginning of the opening, title track. Once it swirls …
Helicon have been flying high for a few years now but have just raised their game even further and are set to blow the musical landscape wide open with this one; ‘Arise’ – just released on Fuzz Club – is a game changer right from the beginning of the opening, title track. Once it swirls into life it takes just seconds to launch you into new realms; it’s a celebration, expansive and laid back, full of soul and fire and it feels like some sort of a crescendo even though it’s only the first track. So far, each Helicon record has been very different to the one before, moving away from generic psych and any sort of predictability, delving further into new zones and hipper territory altogether. After the debut self-titled album, the ‘Zero Fucks’ 10” and then the ‘This Can Only Lead To Chaos’ LP it felt like they’d taken the guitar riffs and psych stylings way beyond their normal boundaries and could probably continue in that way for years..but then along came ‘God Intentions’, cinematic and reflective and with even greater depth and vision, different to anything else around and a unique twist on urban psychedelia . And now….boom! they’ve hooked up with Californian avant dub electronica guru Al Lover and dropped this monster! Helicon have always been collaborators like no other band I’ve ever known, always happy to embrace other influences and to work with and support other bands and artists. After swapping ideas and working remotely on demos the American producer and DJ hooked up with the band In Glasgow and the album showcases the results of these alchemical musical meetings. The partnership might seem unlikely in a way, but the connection is obviously a strong one and they’ve worked some serious voodoo together. It’s big and bassy and danceable, but it’s still very much Helicon, it’s still got that grit and psych punch; never slaves to genre conventions anyway the collaboration has pushed all involved deeper into new textures and sounds. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-16615 alignright" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/JP-HUGHES-X-AL-LOVER-ALT03-1-194x300.jpg" alt="" width="203" height="314" data-wp-pid="16615" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/JP-HUGHES-X-AL-LOVER-ALT03-1-194x300.jpg 194w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/JP-HUGHES-X-AL-LOVER-ALT03-1-664x1024.jpg 664w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/JP-HUGHES-X-AL-LOVER-ALT03-1-768x1185.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/JP-HUGHES-X-AL-LOVER-ALT03-1-996x1536.jpg 996w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/JP-HUGHES-X-AL-LOVER-ALT03-1-1328x2048.jpg 1328w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/JP-HUGHES-X-AL-LOVER-ALT03-1-300x463.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/JP-HUGHES-X-AL-LOVER-ALT03-1-600x925.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-16614 alignright" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="313" height="313" data-wp-pid="16614" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-768x768.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-600x600.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-100x100.jpg 100w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Helicon-Arise-Packshot-1200x1200.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 313px) 100vw, 313px" /> Previous single ‘Backbreaker’ follows the opener – crunchy and driving, an immense melodic rush, a collision of east and west – guitars, beats, sitars, there’s even flute in there somewhere… and it is the most ludicrously catchy thing I’ve heard in years..it should come with a health warning… it’s been living rent free in my head for about 6 months now and I have feeling it’s there permanently! There is huge variation throughout the album – instrumental ‘Tabula Rasa’ is pumping bass-driven almost post-punk, like The Cure in the early days but with added abandon and zest and that unique Helicon energy, while ‘Not A Thought’ is a densely whirling fuzz mantra and ‘It Won’t Stop’ lays down baggy beats, a thunderous low-end and a devotional higher than the sun rhapsodic feel, hypnotic and trippy. ‘Adjust The Dosage’ is slower and more restrained, devotional and grand; that trademark Helicon ability for lifting your soul. How do they continually come up with emotive guitar lines like that? Expressway to your emotions every time… ‘We Don’t Belong’ and ‘Midnight Mass’ push out even further – the former starts with synths and a pulsing bass then morphs into a pumping trancey psychedelia while the latter is a dubby soundscape, dark and trippy, big and spacey and epic – both tracks as far from psych-by-numbers as you can get. The album signs off with ‘Goodbye Cool World’; spoken word poetry over slamming crunchy trip hop with a sacred hymnlike quality, psychedelia with a conscience, exalted and poignant and totally out there… ‘Arise’ has a Screamadelica-like disregard for genre constraints and audience expectations; gleefully assembling elements from a massive range of influences. Yes, it’s that good that it belongs in a sentence next to that landmark album. Anything goes, if it’s cool, they use it. Each track has so much going on and such a rich texture that you’ll pick up new elements with each listen. There’s nothing minimalist about this record….this is a sensory overload. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-16616" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Copy-of-3-AL-LOVER-MT-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" data-wp-pid="16616" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Copy-of-3-AL-LOVER-MT-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Copy-of-3-AL-LOVER-MT-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Copy-of-3-AL-LOVER-MT-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Copy-of-3-AL-LOVER-MT-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Copy-of-3-AL-LOVER-MT-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Copy-of-3-AL-LOVER-MT-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> Photo: Sonja Flemming and Matthew Taplinger/CBS ©2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Even with the risk taking and experimentation and addition of new textures the record still has that special Helicon thing that is hard to describe – that ability to make songs that feel timeless and part of you and that see into your head and know what you’re thinking. They seem to genuinely love what they do and that comes over clearly both on record and especially when they play live. Audiences pick up on it and feel part of it and the atmosphere created is always special; I can’t wait to see and hear them translate this into a live show; it promises to be a hell of an experience. Imaginations are untethered here; ‘Arise’ is densely layered, exuberant and full of colour from start to finish. And groovy as fuck of course… Al Lover and Helicon have concocted a total and instant classic – the perfect remedy for the daily existential dread out there. Without a doubt the coolest record of 2026…exhilarating and joyous and exactly what the world needs right now. Gary Powell, February 2026 Helicon live dates Buy ‘Arise’ here
An early dose of salvation delivered to us for the new year…Golden Hours are back with ‘Beyond Wires’, following up 2023s self-titled debut…and they’re back with a lush evocative masterpiece, once more on Fuzz Club records. The latest offering is as dark and poetic as you’d expect given the previous release and the history and …
An early dose of salvation delivered to us for the new year…Golden Hours are back with ‘Beyond Wires’, following up 2023s self-titled debut…and they’re back with a lush evocative masterpiece, once more on Fuzz Club records. The latest offering is as dark and poetic as you’d expect given the previous release and the history and previous form of the band members , but this one seems even more direct and powerful. It’s one of those rare records where every track sounds like a single (so I’m not going to describe each one – you need to hear them!) and each instrument seems in the spotlight at different times. I confess to being a bit bass-obsessed so I’m always listening out for it but it would be miraculous if a sweeter, more satisfying bass sound makes it to vinyl all year – often a fat, threatening low-end rumble and at others nimbly lurking and snaking around the drums – the way the two interact is a big feature of the album. The twin guitars blaze and fuzz in epic style making the whole thing sound beautiful and grand and noisy…. The vocals are taken in turns and shared equally between Hakon (guitar) and Wim (bass); both have deep rich baritones that work perfectly with the widescreen cinematic lyrics; shadowy tales and distressed anthems – ragged and velvety in turns, portraying a twilit world of love, loss and the strange drama of existence lit up by flashes of hope and light, a strung out modern blues, hymns of fuzz and reverb. The whole set manifests a resigned or questioning melancholy but at times a venomous menacing undercurrent takes over and there is plenty of rock ‘n’ roll thrust and swagger. No single genre tag fits for this record as there is a pure and timeless feel to it, and although there’s certainly an early 80s post punk feel and sound – dark, driving and enigmatic – there are other, less straightforward elements lurking, little unexpected cracks and bursts of sound and atmosphere that seem to crawl out from the storm and set this apart from anything obvious and predictable. It will be no surprise to more gothic leaning listeners that this rich brooding soundscape, which to non-believers might appear too desolate, can be an uplifting and life affirming experience, and that’s certainly how this feels to me. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16594" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-300x300.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="300" data-wp-pid="16594" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-600x600.jpeg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-100x100.jpeg 100w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cover3000x3000-A-1200x1200.jpeg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> The Golden Hours set at Fuzz Club Eindhoven a few years ago was one of the highlights of the weekend for me and they’ve just announced that they’re back in 26! While we wait for that I highly recommend finding yourself a copy of ‘Beyond Wires’ – it’s a truly heroic album. Gary Powell, January 2026
Mellowmaker – new Black Market Karma album on Fuzz Club records
The Black Market Karma journey continues….it seems like Stanley Belton, who writes and records all the sounds on this album, is currently firing out these nuggets at will and each time takes us further into his world, revealing more of his vision. ‘Mellowmaker’ is a close relation and perfect companion to last years ‘Wobble’ also …
The Black Market Karma journey continues….it seems like Stanley Belton, who writes and records all the sounds on this album, is currently firing out these nuggets at will and each time takes us further into his world, revealing more of his vision. ‘Mellowmaker’ is a close relation and perfect companion to last years ‘Wobble’ also on Fuzz Club – liquid grooves over rattling drum loops, vocals beamed in from another time and place; still hovering in a liminal zone somewhere between realism and escapism – evoking strong memories and flashbacks that I can never quite put my finger on or pin down The title track lays the course for the rest of the album; warped chugging guitars clattering drums and those distinctive dreamlike faraway vocals spinning out shimmering memories from a parallel universe – so many ideas, vibes and different instruments packed into just over 6 minutes but still coherent and organic feeling. ‘Soft & Heavy’ takes us even further into the mystery…the rhythm section weaves and tumbles and the keyboards bring out the beauty of everyday life that sometimes only music can reveal – the soul and substance underneath the grey dull surface layers. It really is a beautiful piece of music, transporting and uplifting. Later in the album ‘Nautodelia’ has a similar feel – slower paced and dripping with wistful sweet nostalgia; timelessly transporting you to idyllic golden hazy times. Even though it all feels like there’s a unifying concept behind this, something intangible that only Stanley himself understands fully, there’s still plenty of variety on the record’ – ‘Jellylegger’ is pure and poppy and upbeat, ‘Lagging Through The Soup Of Yesterday’ has a grumbling bassline propelling an elastic Madchester dance groove and surreal electronics, and neatly leads into recent single ‘Adoration’ which might just hint at new directions – it sounds totally contemporary. The ghosts of psychedelia past are long gone; hip hop drums, electronic quirks and some epic sounding guitar give a more urban and much darker feel and bring the record to a grand cinematic end and leave us waiting for the next episode in the Black Market Karma story. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16511" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" data-wp-pid="16511" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-768x768.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-600x600.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-100x100.jpg 100w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BMK-Mellowmaker-Packshot-1200x1200.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> ‘Mellowmaker’ is out there on the borderlands, a mystic transition zone where classic psychedelic pop textures meet bang up to date drum loops and enough reverb and fuzz to keep the psych heads happy. It’s all slightly lo-fi, raw and earthy in feel but full of texture; quirky English psychedelia, melancholic but with a yearning, inspired flavour- the everyday world seen through kaleidoscope eyes. It seems like the band pull bigger crowd in Europe than they do over here in the UK which I really hope can change soon, they deserve a wider audience . Stanley Belton should be seen as a songwriting national treasure and the current live lineup of Black Market Karma make a wonderful noise on stage as they proved recently at the Eindhoven Fuzz Club festival. If you get the chance catch them in action, get yourself experienced… Gary Powell, June 2025
Totally wired – ‘Monkeypunch’ by The Dirt
‘Are you angry?’ asks Jack Horner shortly after The Dirt launch into ‘End Game’ the second track on their second album ‘Monkeypunch’. He clearly is and so should we be too – if we’re not angry at the state of the country and the world at this point in history we may as well all …
‘Are you angry?’ asks Jack Horner shortly after The Dirt launch into ‘End Game’ the second track on their second album ‘Monkeypunch’. He clearly is and so should we be too – if we’re not angry at the state of the country and the world at this point in history we may as well all give up now. The scene has already been set during the intro – these are dark times requiring resistance and togetherness. What follows is a bizarrely life affirming stomp through modern times, portraying a real darkness, a rough guide to the decaying urban jungle but at the same time projecting hope. It’s a rallying cry and a call to arms but much more than that, it’s also a blistering guitar overload assault on the senses and an album that will propel The Dirt on to great things. The husband and wife duo (Jack on words/vocals, percussion and Sachiko Wakizaka casting spells with guitars and pedals) have been building real momentum over the last 18 months or so, spreading the word via regular gigging up and down the country, tirelessly promoting themselves and other DIY acts, promoters, writers and venues on social media and just generally being out there and visible in and around the grass roots music scene. This record feels like the culmination of all that effort, a fitting end to a period of development and the start of the next bout of frantic activity. With this searing, adrenalin rush of an album behind them things will really start happening around this band… If you’ve seen them live you’ll have a good idea of what to expect – Jack is a force of nature, wired and full of pent up barely controlled energy, spewing out words, bursting at the seams to…let it all out, exorcise the demons, purge the frustration, reveal the scabrous state of society and it’s injustices. While he leaps around the stage Sachiko cooly works her magic, the calm directing the storm, seemingly effortlessly firing out the warped and fuzzed up carnage. Whatever alchemy she works produces sounds with real bite and intensity, a hint of menace and a big dose of cool. There is an equal amount of force coming from both sides of the stage and the two very different components fit together perfectly. That’s true for the album as well – this is equally about the music, feel and vibe as it is the words and messages. The combination of the two elements is the key here – this is not just poems set to backing music or hastily chucked together lyrics; this feels like a plan. ‘Monkeypunch’ surpasses any expectation I had of it; the sound is rich and deep (no surprise as it was recorded at Jason Shaw’s Fuzzface studio), a punchy psych-punk blast of fuzzed up rock ‘n’ roll. The beats are propulsive, straightforward and dancey and the guitar sound is blistering – at times a searing future punk snarl at others sleazy alien surf riffs with a twisted rockabilly edge. There’s some dark visions here – especially the triptych of ‘Darwins Law’ ‘Demon Seed’ and ‘Oak’ – hellish landscapes, brooding and earthy guitars, claustrophobic horror set to a defiant scathing guitar, Sachiko gleefully firing out electrostatic bursts of fuzz and reverb backed by thumping lo-fi drums. ‘Oak’ is a stunning composition, taking us even deeper into the underworld, a darkly poetic rumbling nightmare of decaying horror – a redemption song of sorts; you’d struggle to find anything as chillingly, authentically gothic sounding as this. The dystopian future is not a sci-fi nightmare, we’re living it now and The Dirt are providing the soundtrack. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16499" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" data-wp-pid="16499" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover-768x768.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover-600x600.jpg 600w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover-100x100.jpg 100w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cover.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> Although loosely aligned with the current psych scene in the UK – they’ve shared the stage with many of the bands involved – The Dirt don’t really sit neatly in that category; this feels new, a different take, a future shock sci-fi punk with a grinding rock n roll swagger that the Mary Chain would be proud of – more a politicised grittier version of The Cramps than a strung out BJM. Twisted surf guitar and angry ranting haven’t gone so well together since the Dead Kennedys! ‘Monkeypunch’ feels to me like exactly what we need right now – a rightfully agitated antidote to the poison we feel around us every day, a reminder that music can make a statement and take a stand without needing to be pious and miserable – because this album kicks arse musically and will get audiences bouncing and revelling in the infectious energy and joy. A welcome, rousing assault on the senses and the imagination. Are you angry? – you should be. Are you dancing? – you will be. Protest and survive with a grin on your face! Welcome to the ‘Monkeypunch’ Released August on Sister 9 Recordings Gary Powell, May 2025
I have to confess to not being aware of The Men until Fuzz Club released their ‘New York City’ record in 2023 and the album length ‘Sessions’ shortly after. Turns out they’ve been around for a good while and released a wealth of music; listening back to older productions they’ve got a distinctive sound, but …
I have to confess to not being aware of The Men until Fuzz Club released their ‘New York City’ record in 2023 and the album length ‘Sessions’ shortly after. Turns out they’ve been around for a good while and released a wealth of music; listening back to older productions they’ve got a distinctive sound, but it never seems to stay the same and that’s evident here as this isn’t like recent outings at all and it seems they get even more direct and focussed with time. We blast off with the furious ‘Pony’ and following that you get another 12 short sharp shocks of high voltage rock ‘n’ roll, all of it electrifying, raw and primal. The spirit of early proto punk is evident throughout, back when the emphasis was on dirty grinding rock ‘n’ roll with catchy tunes – think Heartbreakers, MC5 and Stooges. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ARTWORK-1024x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-16451" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ARTWORK-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ARTWORK-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ARTWORK-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ARTWORK-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ARTWORK-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ARTWORK-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> It feels like a much-needed release of pent-up frustration; chunky guitar riffs, short spiky solos and a manic rhythm section, drums furious and explosive (almost D-beat on ‘Control’). The gravelly vocals give a strong feel of strangled desperation, weatherbeaten and damaged. There’s spectral boogie rock piano buried in a couple of tracks, and some rich saxophone in the title track and everything is infused with a ragged bluesy undercurrent. The New Yorkers hardly let up the pummelling pace except for on the menacing 70s satanic doom riffing of ‘The Path’ and ‘Get My Soul’ and on the slightly more chilled scuzzy psych pop of ‘Charm’ with guest vocals from Jessica Poplawski and a hint of keyboards that cut through the primitive thunder. ‘Buyer Beware’ captures the sound and feel of a dark sweaty underground gig; pure, authentic and direct; an unpretentious classic take on having a good time while the world turns to shit around us. Full speed sonic violence, kicking against the pricks, kicking out the jams. This is a garage rock album loud and proud, a gritty and abrasive snarly animal of a record – skull wrecking mind warping goodness! Gary Powell, February 2025
Bristol’s Stolen Body Records have a real knack for unearthing a range of disparate bands and bringing them to our attention, with no genre shackles holding them down – early champions of acts like Al Lover and Ivan The Tolerable and in recent years being a big part of the rise of the likes of …
Bristol’s Stolen Body Records have a real knack for unearthing a range of disparate bands and bringing them to our attention, with no genre shackles holding them down – early champions of acts like Al Lover and Ivan The Tolerable and in recent years being a big part of the rise of the likes of Karkara and, most obviously, Slift. Add another French band, the 6-piece Stuffed Foxes, to that list! This isn’t their first release but they’re new to me and definitely warrant attention.. It’s impossible to pin the album down as it constantly shifts styles and song structures – from the weighty shoegazey implosions of opener ‘Biting The Dawn’ and the title track, to the jerky twitching guitars of ‘Merry Xmas’ and ‘Pretend To Be A Dog’, and quite a few tracks that defy description and occupy a number of zones at once. The band seem to inhabit the same headspace as current noise makers such as Spectres and Sex Swing but also seminal post punk legends Wire and Gang Of Four but you can’t really define the record on that as there is also the occasional descent into crushing shoegaze soundscapes and on a number of tracks the ghosts of Steve Harley and ‘Hunky Dory’ era Bowie seem to pay a fleeting visit. ‘Standardized’ is an eclectic record, fresh and full of ideas; an agitated art punk experiment; a new wave of no wave… Stuffed Foxes sound cerebral, weird and ever so slightly Wired and have got me intrigued…luckily they are heading to the UK for a handful of live dates in February 2025 so we’ll soon be able to see what they’re about! <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="819" height="1024" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/467479162_18285093265243388_2589542846679364803_n-819x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-16444" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/467479162_18285093265243388_2589542846679364803_n-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/467479162_18285093265243388_2589542846679364803_n-240x300.jpg 240w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/467479162_18285093265243388_2589542846679364803_n-768x960.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/467479162_18285093265243388_2589542846679364803_n-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/467479162_18285093265243388_2589542846679364803_n.jpg 1350w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px" /> Gary Powell December 2025 <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-Stuffed-Foxes-Standardized-Digital-Cover-1-1024x1024.png" alt="" class="wp-image-16443 size-full" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-Stuffed-Foxes-Standardized-Digital-Cover-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-Stuffed-Foxes-Standardized-Digital-Cover-1-300x300.png 300w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-Stuffed-Foxes-Standardized-Digital-Cover-1-150x150.png 150w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-Stuffed-Foxes-Standardized-Digital-Cover-1-768x768.png 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-Stuffed-Foxes-Standardized-Digital-Cover-1.png 1103w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> Standardized Stolen Body Records December 6th 2024
Diminished Responsibility: My Life as a U.K Sub and other strange stories Volume III, by Alvin Gibbs
Chances are if you’ve read this far you’re already familiar with the legendary U.K. Subs and their place in punk rock history. Their debut album was the first punk record I ever bought (and probably only the third of any sort) so they’ve been part of my life for a very long time, and I …
Chances are if you’ve read this far you’re already familiar with the legendary U.K. Subs and their place in punk rock history. Their debut album was the first punk record I ever bought (and probably only the third of any sort) so they’ve been part of my life for a very long time, and I know they are held in high esteem by many in the punk scene and beyond. We’re familiar with their ‘on tour forever’ status, their A-Z of album releases over the years and of course the legend that is Charlie Harper (it may well be illegal to utter his name without the word ‘legend’ in the same sentence!) but what most of us won’t be aware of is the detailed background story of the band; multiple line-up changes, personnel rifts, money issues and just how totally chaotic things were at times! That’s where long standing Subs bassist Alvin Gibbs steps in…and he pulls no punches in telling us about both the highs and lows of being a touring and recording punk musician. Volume 1 of Alvin’s memoirs told us about his early years and his initial entry into the world of music including his first stint as a U.K. Sub starting in 1980 and his first appearance on album – with ‘Diminished Responsibility’. Volume 2 dealt with a period of time spent between LA, London and many other parts of the globe and included his time playing with Iggy Pop and Cheap & Nasty. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" data-id="16430" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Jez-Keefe-to-be-credited-1-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-16430" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Jez-Keefe-to-be-credited-1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Jez-Keefe-to-be-credited-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Jez-Keefe-to-be-credited-1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Jez-Keefe-to-be-credited-1-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Jez-Keefe-to-be-credited-1.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /> Photo: Jez Keefe I’d been looking forward to Volume 3 (as with the first volumes, published by Tome & Metre) for some time as it promised to bring Alvin’s story right up to date and I knew it was going to be talking about the period during which I’ve seen the U.K Subs quite a few times and in which they’ve released a recent run of albums that was as solid as anything they’ve done for some considerable time. He does this in fine style and really gets over the buzz of being up on stage each night dishing out rock ‘n’ roll to rabid audience of punks young and old, and all the excitement and temptations that go with the territory. While reinforcing what we all know and love about live music he also makes sure we get the not always so pleasant flip side to the glamour and thrills – thousands of miles on the road, tensions within and around the band, ever present worries about money and the generally odd and unreal dynamics of tour life. As with the previous two volumes of ‘Diminished Responsibility’ there are many very entertaining tales of rock ‘n’ roll excess told, and I suspect there are plenty more kept back for safekeeping! While making sure the reality of the situation is presented, he never tries to hide away from the fact that he is having an immense amount of fun, his passion for playing music and in particular his love of and loyalty to the U.K Subs. I’ve always adored the sound and tone of a bass guitar so a talented player like Alvin is always going to be in the big league for me but there are a couple of other things that can’t help but make me rate him even him even more highly….firstly, he is a long standing (and like the rest of us at this particular point in time, suffering) fan of Crystal Palace F.C., which clearly marks him out as a top bloke! Secondly, he has also studied extensively with the Open University which from my own experience takes a lot of drive and self-discipline to do well while juggling commitments elsewhere; I did it around work and family while Alvin achieved a full Degree whilst touring around the known universe with the U.K Subs! Hats off to the man! He has shown the same determination in doing this as he seemingly has in keeping the Subs on the straight and narrow for so long (as well as the low-end sound duties he has often taken the tour manager role). Alvin Gibbs doesn’t dumb anything down which is refreshing as that is not always the case with music books – don’t worry there’s plenty of tales of on the road debauchery and rock ‘n’ roll excess, but also his thoughts on Brexit, his passion for history, his love of France, dedication to the Labour party and his vigorous defence of the ethics and beliefs behind the U.K Subs when they were unfortunately dragged into a sorry accusation of racism by brainless keyboard warriors. There are plenty of insights into the U.K. Subs recording process especially on the most recent set of albums that brought their recording of original material to a close (or has it…?). <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="691" height="1024" src="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Alvin-Book-3-Front-cover-1-691x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-16432" srcset="https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Alvin-Book-3-Front-cover-1-691x1024.jpg 691w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Alvin-Book-3-Front-cover-1-202x300.jpg 202w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Alvin-Book-3-Front-cover-1-768x1138.jpg 768w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Alvin-Book-3-Front-cover-1-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Alvin-Book-3-Front-cover-1-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https://www.eyeplug.net/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Alvin-Book-3-Front-cover-1-scaled.jpg 1728w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 691px) 100vw, 691px" /> They may be slowing down (a bit!) but they’re going out on a high playing in packed venues each night to an audience who clearly love them. They’re well known for their longevity and relentless tour schedule, but it shouldn’t be overlooked that they are a fucking great rock ‘n’ roll band and this twilight of their career may just be them at their strongest. Once Alvin’s time as a U.K Sub is over he still has his own Disobedient Servants band that he fronts so you’ll still get the opportunity to see him prowling the stage, bass slung low, delivering the goods. So buckle up for some rip roaring tales of decades on the road and punk rock in action with the indomitable U.K Subs – a tour guide full of thrills ‘n’ spills, booze and glory and white hot rock ‘n’ roll! With Alvin as a guide you can experience the drama and energy of the punk rock lifestyle and get the low down on the recording of many crucial albums in the extensive U.K. Subs catalogue. Propelled by his ever present bass and imbued with his palpable lust for life Alvin Gibbs delivers the goods and dishes the dirt with equal measure; this is a great entertaining read that certainly gets the adrenalin flowing and has really whetted the appetite for the upcoming run of U.K Subs dates! On tour forever! All three volumes plus loads of other goodies available from Time & Matter Recordings For anything and everything U.K Subs related head to the Time & Matter website and archive here Gary Powell, November 2024