ScumFiles

Alien Chicks where set to play their first gig after their single release “cowboy”. The venue of choice for their endeavour was there Windmill Brixton, and what a place to do it! I haven’t ventured to the Windmill for a fair few months and to be honest with you, I didn’t realise how much I missed the place. As the anticipation built, we walked up Blenheim Gardens and the topic of conversation was full of bands I’ve seen here in their early days; Goat Girl, Lynks, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Squid and Deadletter just to name a few and how I had the same feeling walking up this street as I do now for Alien Chicks.  We bust through the door and where met by the smell of old dry vomit and the sound of thumping punky bass, and I knew I was home… I first met Alien Chicks a few months ago and was blown away with their performance. After interviewing them I was very exited to see where they would end up next, and here I am at their sold out, headline gig at the windmill awaiting the re

Mercury Prize shortlisted Porridge Radio packed-out Trinity Community Centre in Bristol I was walking to the venue when I dropped my camera in the street. It shattered into pieces, and I thought “ah fuck.” My mate told me I had better start praying quick, since we were headed to a church. Following a very busy year jet-setting around Europe and America – playing at Primavera, their first American tour, and embarking in a chart battle with Harry Styles – Porridge Radio are mid-way through their home-coming 2022 UK tour. Flanked by AlaksaAlaksa and Memory of Speke, the Brightonian band are going from strength to strength. Trinity Community Centre is a strange venue, in that it’s a church. The high-vaulted ceilings give space to breathe and radiate the raw sound around, from pillar to pillar. There’s space to stretch and to think. A tired crowd packed out the church. Although the crowd was receptive and positive, it was also clear that there was a sense of lethargy afflicting the throng.

Well, Jacob Slater never ceases to amaze. On the 7th of October we were graced with the first LP from Wunderhorse. “Cub” has been highly anticipated by myself and many followers of the London rock scene. Since its arrival on Friday I have been glutinously indulging in this gritty yet elegant record. The overall feel of the album slightly surprised me. With the most recent singles from Wunderhorse being “Leader of the Pack” and “Butterflies” I thought many of the tracks would have a more punchy punky vibe. The reality is that this is an album which spans the many sub-genre’s of rock and does it very well. “Poppy” is one for the physic-rock lovers with strong influences from the groovy breakdowns of bands like the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Where as “Butterflies” utilises some repeating reflective riffs and some heavy resonating bass giving it a Radiohead feel. “Purple” has more folk-like guitar riffs played with some mild distortion on the electric and although this track is laced w

  Off the back of their newest single Woodlouse, we caught up with Alien Chicks for a quick interview after their show at The George tavern in Whitechapel. But first a little bit about their support band… It was a nippy east London evening and as the the sound checks started there were murmurs of the headline act Pigeonhole cancelling last minute. So we were met by a band that stepped in I had not yet heard of, a side project of Alien chicks’ called Robert; they proceeded to carry out an energetic jam session. The electric energy was lead by the flank by their erratic Sax player Jasper, who seriously brought the vibe. As it was an unplanned jam session the frontman Max at one point confessed he’d run out of things to say so he pronounced to the crowd that he would read out the entirety of The Secretary of State scumbag, Jacob Rees Mogg’s Wiki page, and somehow he made it sound poetic. What a start to the evening, it was then we knew that we where in for a treat. Alien Chicks plugg

Goat Girl  As the anticipation builds for Goat Girl’s new album tour, the south London bred quartet play at All Points East, and what a place to get started! The new album “ On All Fours ”, produced by Dan Carey (Fontaines D.C. Squid, Black Midi) came out January of this year and they will be showcasing it on the North Arena at 4pm just after Working Mens Club.  Bombay Bicycle Club Bombay Bicycle Club is set to play All Points East on Monday at 7.25pm on the West Stage. Their most recent album “ Everything Else Has Gone Wrong ” peaked at no.4 in the uk charts in 2020 and boy are we excited to finally hear it live! We have not heard much in the way of new music from these guys other than their latest single release “ Terrapin Station (ft. Flyte) ” which was out May of this year. So we are hopefully anticipating some new tracks they’ve been rumoured to be working on. Only time will tell, we’ll have to see on Monday! Caribou The Canadian born electronic producer Dan Snaith, otherwise know

Well then, what a week that was. Many of you will have noticed that this page has been collecting some cobwebs for some time now. I have to apologise for that. Over the lockdown periods we lost something very dear to us all: live music. With this, my inspiration to write had significantly diminished - until this week. Monday night was filled with old friends and wholesome music, it was a well needed trip to the Windmill. This was followed on Saturday with a trip across the river to a park in Crystal Palace for a day of hard hitting tunes, riptide crowds and most of all dirty baselines.  That week reminded me why I wanted to write about music. The Windmill in Brixton is a personal favourite for us at ScumFiles and it was sorely missed.  On Monday I was treated to a night made up of three great acts: Zac Lawrence and The Hate, Sasha and the Shades, headlined by Ideal Husband. All of which contained one or more close friends. Many of you will know that it’s rather cosy venue and most nigh

In the age of Trump, Covid and Brexit it’s hard to escape the feeling that we’re inching ever closer to some sort of chaotic crescendo. It’s an exhausting time for a lot of people, and alt-punk trio Monakis are none too happy about this mess. Their new track ‘ Fake News ’ is the Brighton band’s second single. Monakis are not keen to shy away from their outrage as the track erupts instantly at breakneck speed. Most recent bands commonly see fights break out at the gigs, but Monakis sound like a gig broke out at a fight. “Respect yourself,” frontman James Porter repeats throughout the track. It’s an unhinged mantra, one delivered with a charismatic snarl.  The sound production on this track is something that I noted right away. It does everything that it needs to do. Modern punk wannabes have a tendency to apply a sort of glimmer and shine to their sound, something which more often than not works to round off the jagged edges that the band have spent so long sharpening. This is not the