MAY
I'm going to start with new releases as there are two new albums as well as one single that I've been loving.
First up is 'End of Suffering' the great new album from Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes released on May 3rd. This took a pretty different turn in terms of sound compared to previous 'Rattlesnakes albums, with a softer tone and the rawest lyrics I've heard in a while. While some tracks, 'Crowbar' especially, embody the rage and anger heard previously by Frank in earlier albums and his work in Gallows, I think the softer tone really works for the band and is a direction I really hope they will continue in, as (probably an unpopular opinion) I much prefer it to the 'Blossom' sound. My top picks from the album are 'Crowbar', 'Love Games', and 'Anxiety' but I really do recommend listening to the album as a whole as every track is pretty great. I'd also urge people to follow Frank on Instagram, not only because he is an incredible front-man and posts clips from shows on his stories, but also for his honest captions which don't ever try to dress up how he's feeling, they just say it how it is.
The second new album I loved this month actually came out today (31st May) and is 'Don't Wait 'Til Tomorrow' by Yonaka (stylised as 'YONAKA'). Although I really like this album, my favourite tracks from it were actually all released as singles (except 'Punch Bag'), but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's an incredibly strong debut from a band who are clearly on the cusp of huge success. Front-woman Theresa Jarvis is so cool and confident, especially on stage, and to me she is quite empowering. I already thought YONAKA were a force to be reckoned with in the world of female-fronted rock, and of course rock itself, and this album does nothing but enforce that. the must-listen tracks for me have to be 'Bad Company', 'Creature', 'Punch Bag' and 'Fired Up'. I was actually really excited to see them today at All Points East but sold my ticket last minute, although I'll definitely catch them at Truck festival next month.
The final new release I'm going to mention in this post is the new single 'Turbulent' by Waterparks. I know that it's sometimes a bit 'cringe' to like this band but I do actually love them and can't wait for them to come back to the UK properly so I can catch them on tour (even if I am the oldest in the crowd). This single marks the start of a new era for Waterparks and I know that many people, including myself have been not-so patiently waiting for the release of this song ever since front-man Awsten Knight teased it in an Instagram live in April. They really did come back with a bang in this one, with the slightly petty 'call out' nature of the lyrics that their fans seem to love, and it being pretty clear who this song is directed to if you are a Waterparks fan. This angrier sound from the band, also heard in last year's 'TANTRUM' is probably my favourite so I really hope they pursue that more in their next album and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the 'green' era so this will probably not be the last time I mention this band.
Moving onto more general stuff I've been listening to, I've got quite a bit of Nothing But Thieves in the playlist as I was going to see them at All Points East but am also seeing them at Truck. For some reason I have never properly listened to them before, although I was familiar with 'Amsterdam' as it used to get played quite a bit on Radio 1 presumably when it was first released. I think the vocalist, Conor Mason has a really smooth voice and I find a lot of their music quite relaxing for this reason, although a lot of their songs are quite high-energy. 'Honey Whiskey' is actually a new favourite song of mine and I love everything about it. Along with that one though, 'Particles', 'I Was Just A Kid', and 'Forever & Ever More' are also pretty great.
I also listened to Bring Me The Horizon pretty heavily this month for the same reason as Nothing But Thieves and I do think they have established themselves as one of my favourite bands right now (if you haven't read my post all about 'amo' you can read that here). In this month's playlist I don't have anything from 'amo' but I do have 'Blasphemy', 'The House of Wolves', and 'The Sadness Will Never End' which are all from different albums. Sam Carter, vocalist of Architects joined Bring Me The Horizon on stage to sing 'The Sadness Will Never End' for the first time in years at All Points East yesterday and it's safe to say that I am insanely jealous that I wasn't there (although I have already added the videos of it to my favourites playlist on YouTube). I'm hoping to see a full version of their set from yesterday at some point as the setlist was stellar and the best they've done in a while.
Not a great picture I know but that's as it is actually just a screenshot from the only video I got all night when seeing Trophy Eyes at Borderline in London last Monday, 29th May. Probably the sweatiest gig I've ever been to and also the rowdiest, mostly to do with the size of the venue, and despite technical issues (think the support band Pagan broke an aux during their set which delayed everything a bit), it was still a great show. Although Pagan were not really my thing, if anyone is looking for a female-fronted metal band then they could be for you. I do wish I'd managed to get a few more pictures/videos, however I probably would've lost my phone if I got it out too much. This picture was taken during 'Miming In The Choir' which was one of the softer moments of the set, where it was a great moment hearing the crowd chant the backing vocals. If anyone wanted to see my vlog from the day you can check it out here.
Thank you for reading this post and as always if you have any feedback or music recommendations for me please leave it in the comments below and I'd love to reply. My playlist this month had 46 songs in it and obviously I didn't mention the majority of them in this post, so if you liked the things I discussed or just wanted to hear more you can listen to the whole playlist here.
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