The Toads' debut album revealed!

Toads have no teeth so have to swallow their prey alive and in one gulp, they can’t hop or ribbit like frogs and they have been known to fall from the sky like rain when “weather gets weird!”

The Toads however are an extra-ace band from Melbourne who Upset The Rhythm are working with on their debut album ‘In The Wilderness’. Navigating the dross of modern life, whilst keeping one foot in a dream is the key to their nervy post-punk scuffle. Featuring members of The Shifters, The Living Eyes and Parsnip you’d be forgiven for guessing what The Toads sound like, but their mordant step and minor-key enchantment makes for an intriguing parry.

Today we’re releasing the group’s rapid first single ‘Nationalsville’, a rollicking toe-tapper of jaunty riffage, sprightly bass bounce and drums that get the blood pumping. Singer Miles' relentless observations spool through the song stitching together a glammy rush of monotony.

‘In the Wilderness’ will be released on June 9th through Upset The Rhythm, in partnership with our friends at Anti Fade Records. A limited edition sky-blue LP is available pre-order with glee here now!

Shannon And The Clams - London this Summer!

Upset The Rhythm presents…

SHANNON AND THE CLAMS
Friday 23 June
Studio 9294, 92 Wallis Rd, London, E9 5LN
7.30pm | £16 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/hf06661a86a9 * Tickets on sale this Thursday at 1pm!

SHANNON AND THE CLAMS are from Oakland, California and comprise of Shannon Shaw (vocals, bass), Cody Blanchard (vocals, guitar), and Ian Amberson (drums, vocals). Sounding like a prom band from 1964 getting dosed with acid and having the sweetest lovelorn freak out, Shannon And The Clams defy expectations. Imagine a brawling Etta James, backed up by the 13th Floor Elevators singing Shangri La's tunes. Shannon has a voice that can go from a sweet girl group croon to a bluesy ballsy growl before you realize you're headed for the (dance) floor. It's total punk rock bop, brimming with doo-wop glory delivered to your door by the Homecoming Queen and Kings of weirdo rock 'n' roll.

Year Of The Spider, the band’s sixth studio album, rages against death and disease with the power of a thousand angry Ronettes. Songs like “All Of My Cryin',” “Mary, Don’t Go,” and “Year Of The Spider,” pulse with girl-group elegance and punk ferocity. On a Clams record, you always get both. As a songwriter, Cody Blanchard said he can get neurotic, so he tried Dolly Parton’s trick: writing songs from another person’s point of view. It worked, yielding some of Spider’s darkest songs: the howling “Crawl,” which has a roiling hard-rock guitar (“that was really fun — just a classic, rippin’ ‘70s guitar solo”) and the album's first single, “Midnight Wine," a thundering baroque-pop number that was inspired by friends and people in the Oakland arts community.
http://shannonandtheclams.com/

New show - Protomartyr in London this October!

 

Only one thing going on with October 26th... PROTOMARTYR or bust!

New London show announced at Electric Ballroom, tickets on sale 10am this Friday here: https://link.dice.fm/hca4d1d3c365

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UTR x ILM - Manchester!

 

Hyped that Upset The Rhythm will be popping up the Independent Label Market in Manchester later this month! Will be >F>U>N>!

Editrix & Wendy Eisenberg in London this June!

Bristling with excitement for this pair of wiry / avant / noise shows in London with Wendy Eisenberg! Firstly on June 4th with bop-heavy metal trio Editrix at The Lexington, then teaming up with Cafe OTO on June 5th for Wendy in solo warped-improv mode. Counting the days, only with an intriguing time signature!


Upset The Rhythm presents…

EDITRIX
Sunday 4 June
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, London, N1 9JB
7.30pm | £9 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/de59bbb09db5

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Upset The Rhythm & Cafe OTO presents…

WENDY EISENBERG
Monday 5 June
Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL
8pm | £12 | Tickets: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/oto-and-upset-the-rhythm-present-wendy-eisenberg

 

 

Me Lost Me - 'RPG' album announced!

Over the 🌙 to tell you that Upset The Rhythm is teaming up with Me Lost Me for their exquisite new album 'RPG' (out July 7th). Sharing eerie first single 'Eye Witness' today. This is one of my favourite releases I've ever worked on, it is stunning, so beyond excited to share it with you. 'RPG' is available to pre-order now in all the usual places, including: https://upsettherhythm.bigcartel.com/

 

 

 

 

 

LLOYD / BEAN show announced for May 2nd!

 This will be a extremely special ONE & ONLY evening spent in the fine company of LLOYD / BEAN! Tickets now on sale!

Upset The Rhythm presents….

LLOYD / BEAN
Tuesday 2 May
Bush Hall, 310 Uxbridge Rd, Shepherds Bush, London W12 7LJ
7.30pm | £25 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/d6cf179a3c50

LLOYD / BEAN is a new project from Robert Lloyd (of The Nightingales) and Janet Beveridge-Bean from alt-country duo Freakwater. Robert dared to approach Janet with the idea of recording together. Over the course of the long pandemic, songs were bandied about for months, and when recording was finally practical, a band was assembled with dates set up for a recording session in Valencia, Spain. Robert and Janet were joined by Robert's long-time ally, Pete Byrchmore, the musical foil for Robert's solo album on Virgin and a former Nightingale, Mark Bedford, the bassist for Madness and Terry Edwards' Near Jazz Experience, and Pablo Roda, Spanish mystery drummer, couldn't have worked out more perfectly.

Tracks were selected without regard for collective presentation, just the goal of walking out of the studio with an album of perfect gems. Forget Lee & Nancy or George & Tammy, Rob and Janet have an immediate chemistry that only sounds long-lived - and too uniquely them to merit any comparison. The title track, Black Cat, Dark Horse is the sole Lloyd / Bean / Byrchmore composition and one of the record's highlights. Jim Elkington, collaborator with Jeff Tweedy and Richard Thompson, contributes Heavy Reckonings and a song written with Janet, The True Lovers' Knot And The Lie, while Robert adds reworkings from past releases - Sweet Georgia Black and Black Country (with Pete) - not to mention the unreleased Eggs And Bacon. Janet brought One Shot and the unheard Freakwater song Arc Of A Smile. 

We daresay the album is among the finest you'll hear in 2023. The Michael Cumming / Stewart Lee film King Rocker made a case for Robert Lloyd-as-lost- hero; this album furthers that idea and shows a compelling side of Janet's talent and abilities which will be a surprise to her fans and serve as an entry point to exploring her many other compelling projects. For this one and only performance of the forthcoming ‘Black Cat, Dark Horse’ album Lloyd / Bean will be joined by Mark Bedford, Peter Byrchmore and drummer extraordinaire Lindy Morrison of The Go-Betweens.
https://lloydbean.bandcamp.com/album/black-cat-dark-horse

The return of... Es!

Watch out! Prepare to be swallowed whole! Frosty London synth punks Es return today with their staggering lead single taken from their forthcoming new 7” EP titled ‘Fantasy’!

‘Fantasy’ will be released digitally and as a neon-blue 7” record on April 7th, both are available to pre-order now.

What time is it?
“It’s time to let go!”
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'Gronks' by Terry!

Terry forgot to forget to remember! Terry’s new single ‘Gronks’ is about opportune wealth grabs, neo-imperialism and entrenched colonialism. Twiggy Forrest, Gina Rinehart, the ghosts of Macquarie, Flinders and Cook all sailing up the Parramatta River!  “Greet me from the banks you gronks”!

‘Gronks’ is taken from Terry’s forthcoming album ‘Call Me Terry’, out on April 14th through Upset The Rhythm.

Donna Candy in London on Saturday, No Age and Me Lost Me concerts soon!

 

Hello everyone!   Saturday night is fast approaching and Upset The Rhythm finds itself teaming up with friends bison Records for an evening embracing the unhinged, wild and altogether wiggy at New River Studios.   We have Marseille sludge outfit Donna Candy making their London debut with their heavy chaos and penchant for the nostalgia of Nu metal. Historically F*cked hot off the back on their new album on UTR and primed to melt minds. And opening the show the free-flowing talents of Finlay Clark from Still House Plants! Prepare to get re-arranged, blasted and hyped all at the same time. Doors at 8pm, tickets £8 in advance, see you there!

We're also delighted to have two more shows on the horizon for you. Our oldest friends in sound No Age return to London to play at The 100 Club with Shake Chain on Saturday 4 March. This one is bound to go off!   Then the very next day, Upset The Rhythm will pitch up at Cafe OTO for a beatific evening of gleaming, drifting future music in the company of Me Lost Me, Bulbils (Sally Pilkington & Richard Dawson) and Luki too. Cannot wait.   Lots more reading up on all three of those belters can be found below. We also just announced a concert for Xiu Xiu on June 7th at EartH Theatre too, so look out in our upcoming programme for more details.

Upset the Rhythm & bison present... DONNA CANDY HISTORICALLY F*CKED FINLAY CANDY Saturday 18 February New River Studios, 199 Eade Rd, Harringay, London, N4 1DN 8pm | £8.00 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/J4a67ad961b5 DONNA CANDY are a band from Marseille who have no trouble in laying out a heavy sound, trawled from the bizarre and sonic sub-genres of experimental rock. Nu metal bass riffs, switch-pitched fuzz vocals and big drums layer up with unsettling narratives and extreme loops to bring a bit of the pit to the dancefloor. Donna Candy’s first album ‘Blooming’ will be released this spring on bison. This tour will be the first time Donna Candy play in the UK. https://donnacandy.bandcamp.com/album/donna-candy HISTORICALLY F*CKED are fresh from the release of their new LP ‘The Mule Peasants’ Revolt of 12,067’ on Upset The Rhythm. This four way fandango are back with a new musical game of “badger in the bag”, building songs as quick as they can and them chewing them up again just as quickly. Historically F*cked contains four people, who each share the same duties, and whose names in sequence are Otto Willberg, David Birchall, Greta Buitkuté and Alecs Pierce. Guitar, bass, drums and voices keenly jostle amid the group’s frenzy of spontaneous rock throttles. https://upsettherhythm.co.uk/historicallyfucked.shtml FINLAY CLARK is an artist living in London. Current projects include Still House Plants and writing for Phaedra Ensemble, having previously collaborated with Vera Karlsson, Ailie Ormston, Ligeti Quartet and Dorit Chrysler. http://fclark.info/

Upset The Rhythm presents… NO AGE SHAKE CHAIN Saturday 4 March 100 Club, 100 Oxford St, Oxford Street, W1D 1LL 7.30pm | £14 |  Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Zf02f4acddc4 NO AGE have a guiding principle: first thought, best thought. Constantly responding to their own streams of consciousness with reductive flexibility, they’ve taken the basic duo of guitar and drums with vocals WAY farther than anyone listening in halcyon Weirdo Rippers days could have guessed. Expounding on those larval possibilities, they’ve zig-zagged in serpentine precision, in and out of the teeth of the wringer - ranging outside and back in again, as befits the present thought. And now, 16 years deep and six albums into it, these motives have led them to make People Helping People (Drag City). ‘People Helping People’ sees No Age deep in the lab, scraping available nuclii together to see what new compound they find next. Erasing the starting points, reordering the pieces and beginning anew. Side one ricochets expertly back and forth between magisterial instrumentals and sing-song forms cut up on the mixing desk, as with the undeniable hitness of “Plastic (You Want It)”, winningly rewired to MIDI-mangled beat squelches. Straight up punk-style riffs get busy on side B, their aesthetic choices continuously reframe the norms, enhancing their inherent power. ‘People Helping People’ finds their disparate desires operating in perfect sync; prolegomenic weirdness fused immaculately to classic rock propulsion, transforming the energy pouring out from their hands and feet with electronics.  This is ‘People Helping People’: unpretentious, suspicious, inviting, and left-field. The most accurate display of the No Age ethos put to record. Yet! https://noage.bandcamp.com/ SHAKE CHAIN have been busy demolishing audiences and expectations for the best part of the last three years. Vocalist Kate Mahony sets that standard by anything from crawling through the audience’s legs in a bright yellow raincoat to crying and washing her hands in a nearby toilet, as the rest of the band start the set. A feeling of anxiety and unease conjures relevant questioning, ‘what an earth is going on?’, ‘am I hallucinating?’ and ‘is this part of the show?’, all hallmarks of Shake Chain’s unruly and lyric-bespattered rock show. The four-piece from London are completed by Robert Eyres (Synth/Guitar), Chris Hopkins (Bass/Synth/Samples) and Joe Fergey (Drums). Born from the ashes of their former bands, the group met with a desire to create something that would feel new for each of them and audibly take its own course. The result is a nervous propulsion of bass lines, twitchy guitars that jolt and jerk and tack sharp drums, overridden by screeching vocal slurs and sampled television. Kate’s singing is a unique embrace of flights of atonal fancy, head-first repetition and ecstatic frenzy. Opinion-dividing arguably, but singular in making Shake Chain dauntingly brilliant. The band’s debut album ’Snake Chain’ is out now on Upset The Rhythm. https://upsettherhythm.bandcamp.com/album/snake-chain

Upset The Rhythm presents…   ME LOST ME BULBILS LUKI Sunday 5 March Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL 7.30pm | £8 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/jfe003fa3a38 ME LOST ME delights in experimenting with songwriting and storytelling, creating a beguiling mix of soaring vocals and atmospheric electronics that playfully push the boundaries of genre. Led by Newcastle-based artist Jayne Dent who takes influence from folk, art pop, noise, ambient and improvised music, the project has transformed since 2017 from a solo endeavor to an expanded group; regularly collaborating with acclaimed North-East jazz musicians Faye MacCalman and John Pope. Me Lost Me’s music has been described in The Guardian as "stripping folk back to its bones while letting its future echoes bleed out", and by BBC Radio 6's Tom Robinson as a "brilliant peculiar noise". A prolific writer, Me Lost Me has released two crowdfunded albums: ‘Arcana’ (2018) and ‘The Good Noise’ (2020), which was included in Electronic Sound Magazine's Album of the Year list. These in addition to her latest EP 'The Circle Dance' (2021), which was described as "her most textural and sonically adventurous music to date" by NARC Magazine, and an extensive touring schedule around the UK DIY scene, has won her unique sound much support across the musical spectrum. Dent has notably performed live for BBC Radio 3’s After Dark Festival and as part of the 2022 BBC Proms alongside Spell Songs, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the Voices of the Rivers Edge Choir. She recently received the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers and was 2020-2021 Artist in Residence at Sage Gateshead. https://www.melostme.com/   BULBILS is Sally Pilkington and Richard Dawson, a duo from the Tyne valley channeling the infinite with their burgeoning, beguiling homespun music. Their vast catalogue stands at 71 titles (at time of writing) and runs the full gamut with mesmeric, drifting, inventive freedom occupying the heart of the group. Resolutely lo-fi, spontaneous and often unruly, Bulbils started out as a lockdown coping strategy based around the idea of providing comfort and employing synths, bass, drum machines, vocoder etc. but has sparkily propagated into something truly expansive, unhurried and horizon-chasing. You can check out all the duo’s recordings on their bandcamp page linked below. Pilkington and Dawson also perform together in another of our favourite bands, Hen Ogledd. https://bulbils.bandcamp.com/ LUKI is the music project of singer and pianist Lucy Duncan and producer Misha Rivers. Using voice, piano, synths and electronics, they create atmospheric pop that blends the everyday and the imaginary with theatrical and emotive force. Indebted to folk, post-punk, art pop and the odd edges of musical theatre, their music is immersive, narrative driven and direct. Following the release of ‘Wisps’ on Glasgow’s label GLARC in 2018, LUKI released a single ‘The Parts’ on lathe-cut label Sonido Polifonico. Their debut EP ‘Half True’ was self released recently too. https://glarc.bandcamp.com/album/wisps

Alright, thanks for your time (always valued), see you on Saturday! Upset The Rhythm

UPSET THE RHYTHM UPCOMING SHOWS

DONNA CANDY HISTORICALLY F*CKED FINLAY CANDY Saturday 18 February New River Studios, 199 Eade Rd, Harringay, London, N4 1DN 8pm | £8 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/J4a67ad961b5   NO AGE SHAKE CHAIN Saturday 4 March 100 Club, 100 Oxford St, Oxford Street, W1D 1LL 7.30pm | £14 |  Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Zf02f4acddc4   ME LOST ME BULBILS LUKI Sunday 5 March Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL 7.30pm | £8 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/jfe003fa3a38   FUZZ HOOVERIII Friday 17 March 2023 Electric Ballroom, 184 Camden High St, Camden Town, London, NW1 8QP 7pm-11pm | £17 | SOLD OUT   CLAIRE ROUSAY LAILA SAKINI Tuesday 11 April Grand Junction, Rowington Cl, London W2 5TF 7.30pm | £16 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/g3773706d1eb   MARY LATTIMORE FLORA YIN-WONG (April 20) LEAFCUTTER JOHN (April 21) Thursday 20 April - SOLD OUT Friday 21 April - NOW ON SALE! St John on Bethnal Green, 200 Cambridge Heath Rd, London, E2 9PA 7.30pm | £13 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/K76f761d465c   CINDY Wednesday 26 April The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, London, N1 9JB 7.30pm | £8.50 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/z790b084119e   LANKUM Thursday 4 May Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, London, EC2Y 8DS (Produced by UTR and the Barbican) 7.30pm | £20-25 | SOLD OUT RICHARD DAWSON Friday 5 May  Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS (Produced by UTR and the Barbican) 7.30pm | £20-30 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/I498e6661a5b   HOUSE OF ALL Thursday 18 May The Garage, 20-22 Highbury Corner, London, N5 1RD 7.30pm | £17 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/lc724814be5a   XIU XIU Wednesday 7 June EartH Theatre, 11-17 Stoke Newington Rd, London, N16 8BH 6.30pm | £16 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/U47253457cae SCREAMING FEMALES Wednesday 14 June OSLO, 1a Amhurst Road, Hackney Central, London, E8 1LL 7.30pm | £15 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/ld532d69ac2a   LANKUM Wednesday 13 December Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8EH (Produced by UTR and Parallel Lines) 7.30pm | £22.50-25 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/ff42bd8be939