:: Touts – Can't Take it Anymore (single, Big Man Records)
DERRY trio Touts released a cracking new single this week called Can't Take It Anymore. It's a powerfully melodic sub-three minute blast of zingy, angsty punk rock which sounds not unlike lifelong Noise Annoys faves the Descendents with a Derry accent – that's high praise indeed around these parts, as well you know.
"Got nothing to do and it feels like it's only you / you're tired of being the same but you're not too arsed to change – can't take it anymore, you're tired of being bored" sings Matt, thus earning emphatic fist pumps from a legion of disaffected teens and mid-life crisis merchants alike.
CTIA is actually Touts' second new tune of the year: previous single Shane MacGowan's New Teeth slipped out in February – it had little to do with dentistry but was a fine auld racket all the same. Apparently it's also the title track of their forthcoming EP, which is due out in May and also features their latest single plus at least two more tracks to come – these are all songs which were going to be on the debut Touts LP, before they had a rethink and wrote a whole new record instead.
Still, waste not want not: and if the high quality of these 'scrapped' songs is anything to go by, then the album proper ought to be a killer.
Enjoy their newie now via at touts.lnk.to/CantTakeItAnymore, and check out the rather good video on YouTube if you get the chance.
:: Mob Wife – Cutting Teeth on Suburban Curbs (single, self-released)
BELFAST'S Mob Wife are currently readying their debut album Eat With Your Ears for release at the end of the month and also have a new single out right now in an effort to pique your interest.
Cutting Teeth on Suburban Curbs follows in the choppy, debris-strewn wake of the reliably noisy trio's previous singles Petri Dish and Brand New House, also culled from the album which is due out on April 29 and will be officially launched with a show at the Ulster Sports Club on May 12.
In fact, CToSC is the opening gambit from said long-player, Chris, Carl and Wilson setting out their eclectic, atmospheric post-hardcore informed stall in style with a shapeshifting tune which veers between resigned indie guitar swing, thumping angst-riddled punk rock crunch and artfully deployed skronk in a highly entertaining manner.
That kind of thing is rates highly here at Noise Annoys Towers, and I can confirm that the rest of the album lives up to the promise of the aforementioned singles – full review to follow closer to launch.
In the meantime (now there's a tune), grab a listen to Cutting Teeth on Suburban Curbs at mobwife.bandcamp.com.
:: Anthony Toner – Emperor (album, self-released)
BELFAST troubadour Anthony Toner's new record Emperor makes for a fine introduction to this prolific singer/songwriter's arresting, easy-on-the-ear idiom: it finds Toner running through some of his best work in a 'solo acoustic' style, including fan favourites like Sailortown and Cousins at Funerals.
If you enjoyed the intimate stripped-down sound of An Alphabet, a heartfelt tribute to his father's battle with Alzheimer's that was a highlight of his 2017 album Ink and is deservedly re-visited on Emperor for good measure, you'll know what to expect – as will those who have seen Anthony playing his solo shows.
Emperor was recorded at Anthony's home and at Clive Culbertson's studio in Coleraine, where it was also mixed and mastered. They've done a fine job on gathering together material from across his back catalogue and making it all sound 'of a piece' – the result is effectively an unplugged 'best of', which flows front to back like an album proper.
Other highlights among these 12 tracks include Exit Wounds, a highly effective foray into 'spoken singing' based around an unsettling yet darkly amusing childhood memory of a father's handgun found in a bedroom drawer "between his underpants and socks", Conversations With A Hurricane's gentle, effortlessly catchy foot-tapping ode to best laid plans, the atmospheric country-noir storytelling of The Road To Fivemiletown (hard to resist for any man with Co Fermanagh roots, despite its decidedly bittersweet lyrical content), the fragile, heartbroken break-up number Cathy and its deceptively breezy bedfellow The Way Love Goes.
If ever you're feeling frazzled or frayed round the edges – which is likely to be most days in these most uncertain of times – Emperor offers 42 minutes of soothing, tuneful respite which strips some Anthony Toner's best songs naked (hence the album title – geddit?) to fine effect. Who needs a band anyway, eh?
Stream and download to your heart's content on all the usual digital platforms. Anthony has some shows coming up later in the year, not to mention a brand new album – keep tabs on all that at anthonytoner.net, where you can also grab Emperor on CD.
:: Problem Patterns cover Sleater-Kinney, plot world domination
A COUPLE of weeks ago you read about Problem Patterns' superb new single YAW and now you can enjoy yet another new tune from them, this time a cover of Sleater-Kinney's One More Hour.
Their groovier, less highly-strung take on the infamous opening tune from Dig Me Out appears on the new charity compilation Cover Makes Me a Modern Girl from Heavenly Creature Records in Scotland.
This offers a whole rake of SK covers in aid of Girls Rock School Edinburgh, including a xylophone-tastic team-up between our own Sister Ghost and Atlanta's Mom Friend on herky-jerky Dig Me Out highlight Heart Factory, a pleasingly lo-fi raid on Ironclad off All Hands on The Bad One by Belfast's Alumna and a spooky indiepop take on The Hot Rock's A Quarter To Three by Cookstown/Berlin upstart Party Fears.
Listen and own today on a 'name your price' basis at heavenlycreaturerecords.bandcamp.com – pay anything less than a tenner and you may have trouble sleeping.
Problem Patterns will soon be supporting their heroes Bikini Kill in Glasgow, but before that you can see them opening for brilliant punk rapsters Bob Vylan (go to bobvylan.bandcamp.com and crank up GDP immediately) as the latter's More Irish More Blacks More Dogs tour arrives at the Deer's Head in Belfast this very night – doors 7pm, tickets £15, file under 'miss on pain of death'.
They'll also be opening for Liverpool alt-rockers Crawlers at their all-ages show at Oh Yeah on April 15 (doors 6.30pm, tickets £13.50) and playing on a multi-band bill as part of Output Belfast – read on for more details on that.
:: Output Belfast showcases announced
THE Output festival have just announced their programme of free live shows for the evening of April 21. Bands playing across the various venues include the aforementioned Problem Patterns plus Junk Drawer, Buí, Reevah, Ciaran Lavery, Myles McCormack, Robocobra Quartet, Dark Tropics, Amy Montgomery and many more besides
Full line-up and venue details can be found at twitter.com/OutputBelfast.
:: Ards Guitar Festival returns
FINALLY for this week, don't forget that the Ards Guitar Festival is back again this weekend following a two year pandemic-enforced hiatus.
Highlights of this year's live music programme include instrumental virtuoso Jon Gomm and Carlow-born Shane Hennessy at Queen's Hall (April 09), Sam Davidson's Taste at The Ivy (April 9) and Flamenco guitar master Paddy Anderson at Ards Arts Centre (April 10).
Young shredders will enjoy Kyle Riley's No Height Restriction Tour at Ards Arts Centre (April 9), while Thin Lizzy fans should check out Ralph McLean's special event at Ards Art Centre (April 10), Classic Band Brunch: Wild Eyed Boys – The Thin Lizzy Story, in which he will lay out a potted history of Philo and co with the aid of featuring seldom-seen clips and rarities.
The annual Weekend Winddown with Cormac Neeson and his Unholy Gospel Band will round the Festival off at The Ivy Bar on Sunday.
Tickets and full programme info at ardsguitarfestival.co.uk
