Playlist: punk nostalgia, twisted psychedelia

Rubber Oh – The Well

Rubber Oh, which has a new album out on Friday, is a side project from Pigsx7 guitarist and producer Sam Grant. But while the ‘day job’ involves some hard-hitting shredding, this is a different beast. The scope is cinematic at times; bits of The Well could soundtrack a twisted take on some kind of medieval epic, while another preview track, Bloodlust, uses strings and chorus to set up a post-psychedelic sound world that takes the Summer of Love and gives it a kick up the backside.

The upcoming album, Soil, also has some intriguing collaborations. The prospect of a track with the ever exciting Me Lost Me is mouthwatering: Rubber Oh’s combination of quirky electronica and siren-song vocals should be a perfect fit for Jayne Dent’s personal genius. There are also contributions from Ceitidh Mac, Voka Gentle and Rozi Plain to listen out for.

But the stand-out track so far is surely The Well. With its immediate, pounding bass, it could be a prototype for a club banger. But above that sinister foundation, a floating chant unfolds, punctuated by synth blasts that might recall The Faint. It’s an intoxicating brew, and a masterpiece of production to keep the sprawl of sonic ingredients in tight order.

The new album, which will be available in full on Bandcamp from Friday, Sep. 20, gets an airing in concert at the excellent Star & Shadow in Newcastle that same night. The live show promises a different take, with Grant as a solo performer juggling samples, loops and FX to dive deep into his complex and subtle sounds. Ceitidh Mac is on the bill as a guest artist and fellow Pigsx7 alum Ewan McKenzie is also on the bill with his ambient project Dextro. Definitely a show to check out, tickets available here.

Red London – Bootboy Overture

Another album release, this time from Sunderland punks Red London. Stalwarts of the local scene, they’re still blazing a raucous trail of punchy three-minute masterpieces that could have been written yesterday or 40 years ago. Truly, punk’s not dead!

That said, punk’s not in the first flush of youth either. Back on the Streets invites listeners to take stock over a lifetime devoted to the music. Name-checking old haunts like the Roker Hotel and the Blue Bell, bars where the football terraces spilled into the music scene under the watchful eye of the local skins, there’s plenty of nostalgia to enjoy here. It’s a world of teenage kicks,

But we’re not quite in the business of topping up the pension fund, Oasis style. The whole album (recorded in seminal Sunderland studio The Bunker and due out on Sep. 28 via German label Mad Butcher Records) rocks like a good ‘un, spitting out the riffs with verve and venom. The stand-out track, for me, is the ska-inflected Bootboy Overture, a hymn to the first wave of Sunderland skins hanging out in the Blue Bell, barely a misplaced goal kick from the Fulwell End at Roker Park football ground.

Elaine Palmer - Let me fall

This isn’t your typical story. Elaine Palmer comes from a village in the wilds of North Yorkshire but spent her childhood shuttling between the Moors and the American south. Family ties introduced her to the Americana sound and her work straddles both sides of the Atlantic with some style.

At times, as on her latest album, Half Moon Rising, it’s pure country. Tracks like Let Me Fall could happily find a home in the repertoire of most of the smarter alt. folk U.S. singer-songwriters. The current tour, which comes to Sunderland’s Ship Isis on Thursday and the Waiting Room in Eaglescliffe on Oct. 6, promises to be heavy on Half Moon Rising, playing the new release in full and adding in some old favourites.

Those might include choice cuts from 2021’s well-received The Land in Between, a collection with less of a Southern twang and more of a Yorkshire accent. It explores the contrasts and contradictions of a life on both sides of the pond, and does so in some style. For a hint of Elaine’s versatility – and some spectacular coastline footage – don’t miss Go from that disc.

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Previous playlists: Folksy flavours / Politics / Stockton Calling / Russia / Aelius / #6 / Border Crossings / #8 / Safe hands throwing stones / More Than a Stone’s Throw / Fusion / Pigs, parties and Portuguese / From Bronte to Black Metal / Punk Princesses / Mackem magic and a mystical remix / Narc.Fest / Fringe Benefits / Peterlee Psalms / Winds of Change