:: Axis Of – Beach Light (single, No Dancing)
IT'S been a good long while since we've heard anything from north coast alternative anthem-mongers Axis Of, so it was a pleasant surprise when Jimmy No Dancing got in touch to inform me that the trio are about to return with a brand new album.
The band – Niall Lawlor (guitar/vocals), Ewen Friers (bass/vocals) and Ethan Harman (drums) – will be unleashing their third long-player, Bella Pacifica, in April. However, the first single Beach Light is out right now.
It's a straight-in-no-messing slab of thumping drums, crashing power chords, mesmeric siren-esque licks and cathartic sing-along vocals: in other words, it's exactly what fans of Axis Of have been left hungry for during their extended absence. Gorge on it now via linktr.ee/axisof.
As a bonus, Niall and film-maker Tristan Crowe have come up with an evocative video which will appeal to dog lovers and those who appreciate both quality outdoor wear and the healing powers of nature. Watch it here Tinyurl.com/BeachLight when it premieres on Monday February 14 and stay tuned to Noise Annoys for news of live shows.
:: Wynona Bleach – Moonsoake (album, Fierce Panda)
WHEN Wynona Bleach got in touch to ask if it would be OK to send me a vinyl copy of their debut LP Moonsoake – due for release on February 18 – I was delighted.
The Fierce Panda-signed Belfast alternative popsters very kindly gave me a super-limited crowd-funded coloured vinyl first pressing on their own Madame Mazu label, which has been a fixture on the Noise Annoys Towers turntable ever since.
Having first grabbed our attention as R51 almost a decade ago, this talented quintet announced their re-format as Wynonan Bleach in 2018 with their killer debut EP, Sugar. Since then, they have steadily honed their appealingly fuzzy/scuzzy/'gazey pop sound – drawing on everything from 90s alt-rock heroes like Smashing Pumpkins, Breeders and Throwing Muses to 21st century fare such as Big Deal, Wolf Alice, The Joy Formidable and even Paramore – as the years, gigs/tours/festival shows and self-released tunes have come and gone.
This meant that Wynona Bleach were very much a fully formed prospect by the time the recording of Moonsoake commenced in an improvised Portuguese studio back in the pre-pandemic times of 2019, with fellow 1990s indie rock aficionado and ex-The Coral legend Bill Ryder-Jones tweaking the knobs.
While Covid has delayed the album's release, fans have already enjoyed a tantalising quartet of advance singles: the album-opening Drag delivers breathy heavy-shoegaze pop with a pleasing mosh pit-friendly kick, Glimmer's joyous, crunchy bubblegrunger comes with a side of tasty post-rock noodling and Aubergines offers playful, lovestruck and radio friendly alt-pop.
Their current release is the LP's groovy title tune and centrepiece, another of their most unabashedly 'pop' moments with singer Melyssa crooning that insistent "Baby, you're high" chorus refrain over and over again in her effortlessly easy-on-the-ear manner.
However, that's literally not even half the story of the full record. Lights and Blue Jean find the band getting slow, hazy and romantic without losing their pop edge, while the thunderous Hollow, churning Graffiti and sprawling For Real prove Wynona Bleach never lose sight of those all-important hooks even while cranking up the aggro and/or their FX-pedals – love the acoustic/demo fade-out on the latter tune.
The acoustic guitars get another run-out on woozy ballad Flesh, which starts off all coy before gradually building towards a noisy climax, while the summery sounding Drippy finds Melyssa and guitarist/singer Jonny Woods harmonising to fine effect on one of their record's most effortlessly cool tunes – a future single for sure.
Moonsoake is an auspicious debut for Wynona Bleach. The fact that a band from Belfast are making music like this in 2022 definitely gives my inner 90s indie kid the warm and fuzzies, so here's hoping that Fierce Panda give them the big push they so richly deserve.
WB will be launching Moonsoake with a hometown show at Ulster Sports Club on March 24 with support tbc – be sure to learn the songs by heart in advance by pre-ordering your very own limited edition coloured vinyl copy now via wynonableach.com.
:: Rory Nellis – Written & Underlined (album, self-released)
LAST but definitely not least for this week, we have words on the wonderful new album by Belfast singer/songwriter Rory Nellis.
Written & Underlined is the former Seven Summits man's third solo effort and it might well be his best yet: the sublime title track is also the album opener, warmly welcoming listeners back to his melodic, easy listened to idiom with an uplifting country rock-tinged anthem – "some cross between Wilco, Tom Petty and the 70s," as Rory describes it in his lyrics, which wryly lay out the trials and tribulations of the independent artist.
"I want to make loads of money / to justify all this time / I spend just singing and playing and looking for meaning, I want to be remembered in time," he croons, before the self-doubt creeps in with the line "why can't I just get a job?".
Thankfully, over the rest of the album, Rory offers ample evidence why his 'going straight' would be a huge loss to music.
Picture Postcard Sublime lives up to its name with an easy rolling gait and even a little successful soulful experimentation in the vocal department, which this most gifted of singers pulls off with aplomb.
The superb single Strange Behaviour pulls things back around to the kind of synth-powered indie rock/pop chug 'n' soar Rory cut his teeth on as a young gun, a playful earworm with another huge chorus and a quality guitar solo to boot.
Video Shop hasn't been a single (yet) but this beautifully nostalgic lockdown-penned ballad about not taking things/people for granted is so heavy on 'the feels', as the kids would say, that it surely demands a stand-alone release.
The soothing musical pep talk The Fear is truly a song for the ages with its reassuring refrain of "everything is gonna be alright", as is the equally calming love song Sailboat – basically a big hug in musical form with Rory advising us "this is your captain speaking, there's no need to be afraid".
Opening with the classic line "Have you ever lost the run of yourself?" (now immortalised on a T-shirt currently available from the virtual merch table at rorynellis.com), previous single Old Town Revelry appears here in a slightly extended form which proves you cannot have too much of this particular nostalgic/anthemic country rock strummer.
The vibe becomes a tad more unsettled/unsettling as the album hits its home straight, the queasy synths and clanging guitars on Political Animal chiming gloomily with the jaded worldview of its current affairs inspired lyrics, the quietly dissonant Bumper Sticker also hinting at a self-preserving retreat from macro to micro that's very 'pandemic times'.
However, Written & Underlined ends on an epic high with one of its stand-out tracks: world-weary and worldy wise, the slow-building and hugely atmospheric Be The Sea is the album's piece de resistance.
"Be the lantern, light up the doldrums," Rory advises – and on this superb record he is absolutely practising what he preaches. It's a bit of a masterpiece, really, a tune-packed tonic for our troubled times.
Be sure to buy and enjoy Written & Underlined at your earliest convenience, preferably via rorynellis.com, not least so that you can sing along with Rory doing his solo acoustic thing at Kiwi's in Portrush tomorrow night at 9pm. Provided that doesn't earn you a restraining order, you can also catch him on February 26 at the Imperial Bar in Bangor.
