WE KICK in the door of this week's Noise Annoys in style with long overdue words on the latest release from fast risin' Derry punk rock trio Touts.
The pleasingly titled Analysis Paralysis EP is being touted (hur-hur) as possibly the band's last shortform release before they knuckle down to deliver their already highly anticipated debut album, hopefully due out next year.
Touts have built a solid reputation for delivering melodic yet gritty pop punk infused with gonzoid maximum r'n'b/ garage rock energy, which these latest four tracks further solidify.
Their raucous surf-rocky groover Can't Blame Me is notable for bassman Luke taking lead vocals for the first time, his croonsome hollering contrasting nicely with the more familiar unhinged vocal spasms of singer/guitarist bandmate Matty.
The latter is in fine spittle-flecked form on the energised pummel of EP opener Asleep, which finds Touts very much wide-eyed and awake as they crank out a heads-down three chord blaster that will be aural rocket fuel for the pogo set.
Uber catchy number Rip It Off Me might be the song which finally justifies those inevitable Undertones comparisons, while the speedy, sweary, fast-strummin' rumble of parting shot Go F*** Yourself is surely a shoe-in for alternative Christmas number one this year – the campaign starts (and probably ends) here.
Why not ask Santa for Analysis Paralysis on 12-inch vinyl? It can be ordered in time for Christmas via Touts.tmstor.es or picked up at your friendly local independent music retailer – you can also find it in digital streaming/download form on Spotify, iTunes and the like.
Onwards to another of the north's finest musical groups, Lurgan/Banbridge-spawned garage punk blues duo The Bonnevilles. As mentioned a few columns ago, Chris and Andy have a special Belfast show lined up tonight at The Palm House on Bankmore Square to round off what's been hectic and fruitful 2018 for their band.
Those who make the effort to get on down early doors will be suitably rewarded by opening turns from musical guests Mosmo Strange and stand-up comedy types Conor Keys and Ruairi Woods – not to mention the fact that you'll also have first dibs on the remaining copies of the new and ultra-limited 'raspberry milkshake' coloured vinyl edition of The Bonnevilles' CD-only debut release Good Suits And Fightin' Boots.
If you want to get hold of the latter – not to mention their excellent current LP, Dirty Photographs – but don't fancy lugging it about all night then head over to Thebonnevilles.co.uk right now and lay down £20 plus p&p.
You'll also find a link in the 'gigs' section to get your advance tickets for this evening's shin dig for £11.
Next year is already filling up with live work for The Bonnevilles across Europe and it seems singer/guitarist Andy has a more acoustically inclined solo album in the pipeline as well – more on that as and when I have it.
Now, do you remember alternative Belfast nightlife in the early 00s? You don't? Well, chances are that's partly because you were busy busting your brain cells at the likes of the old Crescent Arts Centre's weekly late night bring-your-own events.
The good news is that these are returning to the new and much improved Upper Crescent venue in the form of the new Crescent Moon Club, the first instalment of which is being staged tomorrow night with a rare live outing for The Tragedy of Doctor Hannigan, AKA VerseChorusVerse man Tony Wright and Dean Stevens.
Below them on an eclectic bill will be singer-songwriter Amy Montgomery performing in trio format and a local hip-hop team-up Waking Android, AKA dsgrace and Kronus, while Dimebag DJs will take care of the post-live music tunes until 2am.
Tickets can be pre booked at £15 via Crescentarts.org or you can pay on the door for £18.
In other local music news, the artists formerly known as Making Monsters are back with a rejigged line-up and brand new moniker, Sugarwolf.
The Derry-based Emma Gallagher-fronted alternative metallers will be making their live debut in Belfast later this month at The Speakeasy on Wednesday December 19 with Zool Hive and Don Maple, followed quickly by a hometown bow at Bennigans on December 21, with support from Ferals and Nolan and his high, wasted boys.
They've no new tunes out as yet – stay tuned to @wearesugarwolf on social media for first word on that – but you can refresh your memory of their heavylicious Making Monsters incarnation at Makingmonsters.bandcamp.com.
Finally for this week, annual one-day Belfast music conference and showcase event Output will return in 2019 on Thursday February 21. Next year's event will feature the following potentially useful talks and panels:
:: What do live agents actually want when signing new bands?, featuring (Music Glue) Matthew Bartlett (Midnight Mango Agency) Steve Farris (13 Artists) and Stephen Curran (MCD).
:: Making compelling music podcasts, featuring Dave Hanratty (No Encore), Brian Coney (The Thin Air), Stephen Hill (Riot Act Podcast) and Mick McCullagh (Son of The Hound / Mad Notions).
:: CMU presents Get Paid As Well As Played (aka Top Five Reasons You Don’t Get Paid) featuring Chris Cooke (Complete Music Update).
:: Unpacking how to make Facebook advertising pay you more, featuring Rob Nancollas (Motive Unknown).
:: Music supervision in Irish comedy: Derry Girls and Young Offenders, featuring Pete Saville and Zoë Bryant (Derry Girls music supervisors) and Dina Coughlan (Young Offenders music supervisor).
:: CMU present Music Industry Speed Briefing Sessions
:: How to conquer the world of Spotify Playlisting with Mike Murphy (Ditto Music) and Joe Mason (Ditto Music).
:: Where is folk and trad heading in 2019?, with Jarlath Henderson (musician) Tim Chipping (River Lea Records/FRoots Magazine) and others.
:: How to crack Scotland, with Vic Galloway (BBC Scotland new music champion) Caroline Campbell (Belladrum Festival/Ironworks Venue) Joe McAlinden (ex-Superstar) and Alex Smith (Xpo North Conference).
:: How to crack Wales with Andy Jones (Focus Wales), Jo Southerd (BBC Radio Wales), Gruff Owen (Libertino Records) and Liz Hunt (Wales Goes Pop and The Moon Venue, Cardiff).
:: IMRO present 'how to write a radio hit'.
:: The self-releasing music toolkit with Nathan 'Barley' Phillips (Tunecore).
:: Building your perfect team in rock and metal with Simon Glacken (PR Anathema/Paradise Lost), Megan Burns (Tone MGMT), Tony Boden (agent for CKY/Rolo Tomassi) Serena Cherry (Svalbard)
:: Media composers vs Music Supervisors – there can be only one!, featuring Joe Spicer (Channel 4) Oisin Lunny (composer), Simon Pursehouse (Sentric) and others.
:: Pay for indie PR or do it yourself? Navigating early press opportunities, with John (Jawdropper PR) Shauna Tohill (Rews) Lyndon Stephens (Quiet Arch) and others.
Details of further conference events and of 2019's live music showcases will appear at Outputbelfast.com.
STOP PRESS: This just in, the upcoming Skibunny Christmas Carol party at The Menagerie in Belfast on Thursday December 20 is set to feature live music from the Skibunny House Band & Friends, which will find Skibunny hosts Mark Gordon and Tanya Mellotte being joined by special musical guests including Joe and Roisin from Documenta, Robyn G Shiels, Larks, Tom McShane, Rocky O’Reilly, Bro Dougan, Girls Rock School NI, Richard Hill and others.
Tickets cost £10 in advance via Wegottickets.com/skibunnymusic.
