Band

Dogs! Teeth! Release A Family Fantasy

10th May 2023 — 1 Comment

Ever imagined you were adopted?

Childhood. Scraped knees and melted ice cream. Sunshine on schooldays and wet weekends, a life full of play pretend. Quick kissed plasters and playgrounds full of laughter, true faith in that happiness ever after. Looking back, was it all that or was it black? A hole in your memory that only floods occasionally, on the commute to work, a smashed dinner plate, a loud voice in your head, sent outside in the rain again.A few too many drinks into Friday night your mind shows you what it was really like, a head haunted by the ghosts of who you could have been if you had just had the parents your friends had.

A Family Fantasy official music video

A family fantasy is a tongue and cheek track discussing how experiences in childhood hinder our growth as adults. Unfazed and unbothered, sipping tea through harsh realties, turning away from adversity, you can not feel comforted by a cold hand. Who we were brought up to be prevents us from becoming who we are meant to be. Stiff upper lips mirror a face full of tears, suck it up and stand straight, stoic. Polluting their child’s air with poison from their own tongue, aren’t we supposed to protect our young?

The track itself embraces resentment and anger at what could have been in a humorous fast paced way to create an irreverent beat full of energy and anguish, staying true to the bands philosophy of discussing serious topics in a not so serious way. Elements of Queens of The Stone Age, The smashing Pumpkins and The Pixies are definitely imbued in this sound but it is ultimately the eccentric soul of Dogs! Teeth! that give this song its bite.

Set to release on this Friday, 12th of May, there will be a launch party gig on the same day, at Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge in Stamford, with Das Kapitans, The Dodo Appreciation Society and Muzzle, courtesy of Socks on Records.

The three piece came together through their love of 90’s alternative guitar sounds in Peterborough, 2022 , despite being brand new Dogs! Teeth! have already received airtime from the likes of WolfmanRadio, Peterborough City Radio and BBC introducing, it’s no surprise that they’ve joined Socks on Records, local DIY Indie band camp label.

Manchester band cruush release debut EP Wishful Thinker

24th Apr 2023 — 1 Comment

Fall in love with this latest release.

cruush captured by Aneela Siddiqui

The quickest way to regain your youth is to have a crush on someone. The rush of blood to your cheeks you catch a glimpse of your cute co-worker’s eye as they peer through the glass of that Monday morning meeting room, lose the ability to structure the sentence to your usual coffee order as your favourite barista. The thrill of the chase, the hope of planting a smile on their face, having a crush is like sitting in a large walled flower garden that’s slowly beginning to burn, it is enjoying the scenery with the threat of impending doom, or growth and fruition, a crush is there perseverance of possibility.

Wishful Thinker

True to their name, cruush’s debut EP Wishful Thinker explores the themes of having a crush from the thrill, the jealousy, the desperation, and heartbreak. Vocalist and front person Amber Warren explains our music has the sweet elements of having a crush on someone but the screeching of an industrial car crusher”.

Formed from the feral depths of freshers week when Warren met, current guitarist, Arthur Boyd met at some ‘shitty event’ and formed a connection. Fully fleshed out when they were joined by drummer Fotis Kalantizis and bassist Ru Cowl, cruush was set on reimagining the shoe gaze genre for the modern age, by introducing a blend of verbs in crisis to reflect current day sensibilities, resulting in shoegaze by digital natives, a generation whom pluralism is commonplace, defining themselves as half memory and have anticipation. If you are a fan of My Bloody Valentine, Wolf Alice and The Cranberries you will call ‘Wishful Thinker’ your home.

The same titled lead track Wishful Thinker has a whimsical charm, that evokes ethereal, the magical moments you share with your crush as you hope you’re becoming closer, you feel like you’ve mastered a skill with no effort. In reality you’re crawling through sand, burns on your body believing your crawling closer to a cascading waterfall, when really, you’re plummeting to your downfall. The stemming watercolour flow state of guitar is met by mournful utterances on toxicity, physiological decline, Narcissistic behaviours, and pessimistic tendencies. The truth is having a crush is soul crushing, you sip your mind with what ifs, you waste time triple checking your teeth in the mirror and analysing their snap score to see if they’re ignoring you. Logical and intellect are the victim of this haze, this little crush is no longer a phase. Warren’s melodic splendour is antidote-like, a siren stealing attention from the tidal waves of noise with queasy timbres of disillusion, doubt, and confusion.  Wishful thinker is no doubt an appropriate figurehead of this musical ship, preparing you for both smooth sailing and Tsunamis, on the ocean of love.

Meeting each other in Manchester and sharing our time here has shaped our sound more than anything else” explains Boyd.So, no matter if cruush lean into 80s indie, alternative 90s or the Seattle sound, they’re able to plug their rock into the aquatic textures of the city in which they reside.  


The EP was released with the help of fellow Mancunians and tastemaker label, Heist or Hit – responsible for launching the careers of Her’s, pizzagirl, Eades and more – offers cruush the chance to spread this message far and wide. And how widely it already has been received, with standing ovations and radio play in tow crush have received accolades from the likes of  Jack Saunders (BBC Radio 1), Steve Lamacq, Tom Robinson & Chris Hawkins (BBC Radio 6), John Kennedy (Radio X), Simone Butler (Soho Radio), Consequence of Sound, Bandcamp Daily, NME, CLASH, So Young and GIGWISE.On the live side, cruush have bagged supports with BDRMM, NewDad, The Lounge Society, Far Caspian, Pale Blue Eyes, Priest gate and Ian Sweet, while selling out hometown headline dates at Gullivers & YES.  

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Head to their website for more information surrounding their next live event on the 2nd September at Manchester Psych Fest. 

OK by Black Honey

8th Mar 2023 — 1 Comment

Sometimes being OK doesn’t mean being happy and that is actually OK

Black Honey by Harriet Brown

Are you happy? A question you may have been asked by a concerned friend or parent or by that odd drunken character who’s seen you down 10 tequila shots in a sitting. They want you to be happy, you want to be happy but sometimes to stretch yourself into a smile seems too much.

OK by Black Honey

Ok by Black Honey is a musical remedy to this pressure. Wanting someone to be happy of course, for the most part, comes from a place of genuine love and concern or a person’s well-being but when it is not wrapped in the context of the person’s situation it becomes dismissive. A depressive episode can fluctuate, happening for years or just days at a time, it is a reoccurring spiral that often has no trigger or tunnel light. Of course, happiness is the optimal feeling, even when it is fleeting, but when it feels like a mountain climb then smoky being okay is enough.

Black Honey Captured by Eva Pentel

The devotion to friendship comes through with a battle cry as the thudding drums drive the distorted guitar riffs. This raw, empowered intro is met with Phillip/s cascading vocals that pour over the pulsating bass before booming in the chorus. OK is a shield against the happiness myth, the belief that if you are not happy you are not normal, reminding us that sometimes when life gets too much or the rain is just too heavy that to be unsettled, to b dissatisfied is okay.

Released as part of their upcoming album A Fistful Of Peaches, set to come out on the 17th of March, it is clear that this new honey era will expose a more personal side. A kaleidoscope of emotional corridors, ranging from the monstrous to the manic, the hopeful to the panic, the love and the loss, a trip round the colourful house of life. This new album promises to continue the roadmap that has seen them find homes from Brighton to national stages. There is an obvious introspective take in this new sound with limited external influence this is a journey into the psyche, the unseen bits.

“You think that you’ve got this, don’t ya?
I sound like a hypocrite right now
Maybe you don’t need a hero
Maybe this was all just one big mistake” Black Honey OK lyrics

Ok is self-reflective, lead singer Izzy Baxter Phillips critiquing herself for “trying to be a Romeo-style hero when I’m so utterly ill-equipped to help anyone. “Whilst moth of us don’t have a degree in phycology or a qualification for therapy, having basic empathy is a human trait, wanting another to be okay and trying to get them there is heroic in its own way. Of course, most ailments cannot simply be solved with a cup of tea, a conversation and possibly a hug it is a starting point. Remember not to project or over-protect, listen to them.

If a friend is in therapy, buttress their progress, be patient with them you wouldn’t ask someone with a broken leg to go on a run so follow a similar principle when it comes to mental health. On describing the story behind the song Phillips explained “it’s a love story I wrote for my friend who was getting high all the time to dull anxiety. I didn’t want them to be struggling anymore and this song is like ‘I will stand by you and if you need a weird 10 mins where you smoke weed after drinking 8 pints till you whitey. If that’s what you need to do then it’s okay’.

The music video for OK is also out. Directed by the incredible James Noise this video exudes art-deco and looks like a dream. The transiting neon and pastel blend represent the focus on chaos when we should be enjoying the colour.

Happiness is a heavy weight that sometimes we must rest upon, this song is not only a love story to friendship it is an ode to forgiveness. Forgive yourself, fight for yourself and most importantly love all versions of yourself. Love you when you can’t get out of bed, the version who was recognised by your boss at work, the version that singly loudly and badly in the shower and the one who cry on their weekend away. You have an unknown number of days with yourself in that time allow yourself to fall, to burn bread and then bake more, when you are being kind you are doing enough.

If you or a friend has been affected by mental health below are some useful resources.

https://www.manhealth.org.uk

https://www.samaritans.org

https://www.talktofrank.com/