Review: Baby Scream - Things You Can Say To A Stranger EP (2019)

Genre - Power pop / Rock

Label - Self Released.

Track listing:

01. Aching Life

02. Fake It 'Til You Make It

03. Roundabouts

04. Live While You Can

05. Somebody Kill Me Now

Ok, so I have to admit to feeling rather guilty about this one. Juan Pablo Mazzola sent me this EP late last year, as it was released and has therefore been available since the beginning of this year!. Ohh well better late than never I guess, but to Juan, I am so sorry that this has taken so long!

Now to the EP. Baby Scream return with their latest EP in the form of Things You Can Say To A Stranger, a great little five track slice of power pop heaven. To be fair Baby Scream seem to have become a one man band as of recent years with Juan Pablo Mazzola handling everything from the song writing, all instruments and production duties, as well as publicity and marketing, along with his various other projects, but the quality has always remained extremely high, as can be heard here.

The EP opens with Aching Life, a mellow, melancholic affair. A great vocal line and some really subtle keyboards / strings backing up  a great acoustic guitar and piano track. Great track. Up next we have Fake It Til  You Make It. this track has a slightly more stripped back feel to it, and a slightly more venomous vocal delivery. Another great song. Roundabouts follows, another great laidback mellow track. The energy and dare I say attitude picks up a little on Live While You Can, which for some reason reminds me of late 70's Alice Cooper in places, only with Baby Screams classic sound of power pop guitars. I really love this song. The EP closes with Somebody Kill Me Now, a sentiment I can totally relate to at the moment with all of this continuous Brexit drama going on here in the UK. The song itself is probably the most up-tempo track on the EP, a great song that blends some great Guitar leads with a great honest vocal some what similar to The Rembrandts.

Things You Can Say To A Stranger is a great addition to the Baby Scream catalogue, a band who are still grossly under-rated.

Buy It!!

Rating: 10/10

The Dowling Poole - Bright Spark (EP)

Genre - Pop / Psychedelic / Power-pop

Label - Self Released / 369 Music

Track listing:

01 - Bright Spark

02 - The Sun Is Mine (Acoustic Live In Manchester)

03 - Where The Memories Fester (Acoustic Live In Manchester)

Following hot on the heels of their Miles Checks Out Ep released earlier last month The Dowling Poole release the Bright Spark Ep, a new three track EP that pretty much closely follows the formula of its predecessor with one brand spanking new studio track accompanied by a further two live acoustic tracks recorded in Manchester.
First I'll briefly speak about the two live acoustic tracks. The sound quality is once again tremendous, and once again they capture the very essence and quirkiness of this outfit perfectly in their live environment, especially the little bit of banter at the beginning of Where The Memories Fester.
And as for the new studio track Bright Spark, well what can I say, maybe not as instant as Miles Checks Out or some of the groups other tracks, but an absolute stonker all the same. Musically Bright Spark has Willie Dowling written all over it, but both vocally and lyrically it feels very much like a Random Jon Poole track, especially with Random tacking the lead vocals throughout the verses.
Bright Spark, together with Miles Checks out does the tremendous job of leaving the listener longing for the group to get around to record their third studio album, please hurry, I'm loving the vibes on the new songs!

Rating: 10/10

Juan Pablo Mazzola - Dave (Charity Single) (2016)

Genre - Power Pop / Acoustic

Label - Self released

Track listing:

01 - Dave

Released to help raise money for the Marie Curie Charity via the Music4Charity website. The  Music4Charity  website, and the donations made from it,  are
In Memory Dave, in appreciation of the care he received from the Marie Curie nurses  (the Halifax night team were so lovely!) 

Now the song Dave is a beautiful and touching both in feel and sentiment, song, delivered with a sincere heartfelt passion by Juan Pablo Mazzola (Baby Scream)
A great cause to support and a great song too

Grab it here

Rating: 10/10

Magic Eight Ball - Richest Men In The Dolls House (Live) (2016)

Genre - Hard Rock / Power pop / modern Rock

Label - Magic Cat Records

Track listing:

01. Once Again

02. See You Next Tuesday

03. What Happened In '92

04. It's Not For Me To Say

05. Come Get Your Kicks

06. Red Hair Wrapped Around Her Neck

07. Perils Of Honesty (Acoustic)

08. Russian Ballet (Русский балет) (Acoustic)

09. Eyes Of A Fool (Acoustic)

Richest Men In The Dolls House was recorded live at The Dolls House, Abertillery, Wales on 18th/19th June 2016 (1-6) and 3rd July 2016 (7-9) Magic Eight Ball release a short live album (27 minutes long) that captures the bands raw energy and passion perfectly. There's no studio touch ups here, its truly wart's n all, capturing the band as they perform a live set and featuring three new tracks from their latest studio release, Richest Men In The Graveyard, along side a clutch of more established Magic Eight Ball classics. Now I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of live albums, usually the sound quality and or mix is terrible and you can barely recognise the band yet alone the songs they are playing, but this album is different. Its captures the essence of the songs perfectly, and comes across like a very good t.v. or radio broadcast, although the two live acoustic tracks do come across much, much better!
Well worth checking out!

Rating: 8/10

Baby Scream - Lifes A Trap EP (2016)

Genre - Power-pop

Label - Baby Scream Records

Track listing:

01 - Life's Better When U R High

02 - The Ballad of  Music Biz

03 - Climbing Down

04 - We Can't I Go Back To 17?

05 - Wish You were Beer

06 - Jokes

07 - The Road Bends

08 - Midnight Snack

Juan Pablo Mazzola returns with his latest Baby Scream release, 'Life Is A Trap'. Now before we go any further lets get one thing clear, it's no secret that I am a huge Baby Scream fan and have been for years, and therefore look forward to hearing every new piece of material Juan releases, yet that does not cloud my judgement when considering the quality of a song etc. Luckily Juan rarely disappoints in this departments, now with that said lets take a look at this new Baby Scream release.  'Life’s A Trap' consists of 8 songs that Juan Pablo Mazzola recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina together with Nick Schinder (who once again, just like in 'Fan, Fan, Fan' worked as a producer and played some piano and contributed some backing vocals). Now if you are familiar with Baby Scream you will know the style of music on offer here, laid back and chilled yes, but with cutting lyrics and heart wrenching (at times) melodies. Kind of like a blend of John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Badfinger, Big Star, some Americana / 90’s flavour and a little T-Rex thrown in for good measure.
The Ep is to be  released by Juan Pablo Mazzola’s label “Baby Scream Records on CD, cassette (remember them?) and digital formats, which are available from the bands Bandcamp Page here.
The EP's lead single is the track, 'The Ballad Of Music Biz' for which a video has been shot that features  Juan contemplating the drama of the music business..
Now how do the songs sound?
The Ep opens up with 'Life's Better When U R High', which has a  typical acoustic driven intro that blooms into a  Baby Scream melodic rock track,  with some great honest reflective lyrics and some great guitar / piano trade offs. Next comes the Ep's lead single, 'The Ballad of Music Biz'. Here we see Juan contemplating the trials and tribulations that face budding musicians in the music world. Its a beautiful ballad with some great atmospheric string arrangements throughout. This is going to become one of my favourite Baby Scream songs!
'Climbing Down' follows, which sees Juan contemplating life with his new born child, again some lovely string and vocal harmony arrangements throughout the song, short sweet and beautiful.
'We Can't Go Back To 17' is up next and is a rather melancholic track that sees Juan reflecting upon the trials and tribulations of growing older. Again some great piano and string arrangements (yes I know they are synthesised but who cares, they work brilliantly. 'Wish You Were Beer' which is musically almost surreal, yet works brilliantly. Juan's cutting lyrical style and turn of phrase really shines through on this song. Again I believe this track is destined to become another of my Baby Scream favourites. 'Jokes' is a short and sweet melancholic track, that's leads into 'Road Bends' which sees Juan hitting full blown Americana mode! Great songs too! The EP closes out with 'Midnight Snack' a beautiful acoustic driven song that showcases both Juan's song writing and guitar playing, but also Nicks' piano work, delicate and emotional.

So there we have, yet another cracking release from Baby Scream!

Very Highly Recommended

Rating: 10/10

Role Models - The Go To Guy (2015)

Genre - Hard Rock / Punk / Powerpop

Label - Glunk records (UK)

Track listing:

01 - Lie For Today

02 - Saturday Night Sailor

03 - Show Me

04 - The Go To Guy

05 - Nowhere

06 - The Jerk

07 - Cherry Dear

08 - (Where They Half) Know My Name

09 - Reality Holiday

10 - Lets Get Started

11 - Leave Tonight

 

Role Models are a London based band led by the ever so talented Rich Rags (ex Loyalties) and featuring the talents of,  Nick Hughes (guitar, vocals, other stuff), Husayn, (bass) and Simon Maxwell (drums), and  The Go To Guy is their rather excellent debut album!

From the opening beats of Lie For Today through to the closing refrains of Leave Tonight the sheer quality of the songs on offer here never drops. The Go To Guy is quite simply power-pop perfection, with just the right measure of punk attitude and good old rock sleaze in the mix to make it one of the best albums of the year so far, and one of the best debut albums that I can remember!

The song writing is exquisite, the musicianship top notch throughout and Andy Brook together with bass player Husayn, has done an excellent job with the albums production.

You owe to yourselves to give this album a spin, you'll simply love it, I guarantee it!

 

Rating - 10/10

 

 

 

 

Baby Scream - Fan, Fan, Fan and The Worst Of... albums (2015)

Its been a little while since Baby Scream released an album of all new material, four years have passed since 2011's phenomenal Secret Place release, but they're back, well Juan Pablo Mazzola is anyway, kicking off 2015 in style by releasing not one, but two albums! I have to admit that I have had the privilege of hearing a few of these songs as they were being recorded and they sounded great, s its going to be interesting to hear the finished mixes at last. Firstly lets see what the press release has to say:

"After the release of “Greatest Failures” Baby Scream primary songwriter Juan Pablo Mazzola decided to record as many songs as he possibly could, so got together with his good friend Nick Schinder at his home studio.
With around 200 unrecorded songs Juan chose some of his favourites and set about a mammoth recording session.

After two years of recording and when tiredness set in, they decided that they had enough for not one, but two albums.

A lot of these songs were written whilst Juan was living in Germany, many of them pre date his life in Europe but still felt relevant and worth pulling out for the world to hear.
After the epic recording sessions, Juan didn't really know what to do, the idea of releasing a double album didn’t make a lot sense, especially in 2014 when everybody was basically releasing singles or eps.
After a while the idea of releasing 2 separate albums seemed to be the way to move things forward for Baby Scream.
Fan, Fan, Fan consists of 12 new originals, you will notice that the sounds here vary from each other (from Power Pop to Classic Rock and Roll to some kind of 2000’s ballads.)
The Worst Of….consists of 22 new originals + 5 covers (including all the songs the band had recorded for Time Lord Records, a label from Argentina that released a series of compilations based on TV shows, cartoons and movies)
This is the first collection of new songs since 2011’s “Secret Place” also, these are the first albums the band have released with no labels involved. - Wayne Lundqvist Ford (Ice Cream Man, Power Pop And More - Sweden)"

So after a four year wait we get two brand spanking new albums, over 103 minutes of power pop perfection in the for of 39 new tracks!
So here we go, first up we have Fan, Fan, Fan

Genre - Power-pop

Label - Self Released

Track listing:

 

01 - Everybody Sucks

02 - Back To Douche

03 - Loner

04 - Cheap Perfume

05 - A Human Being On Mars

06 - Captain Hook

07 - Haters Will Hate

08 - Just For A While

09 - The Girl Next Door

10 - The Kitty Song

11 - I Don't Wanna Wake Up From This Dream

12 - Blue In Berlin

The album opens with a short but sweet track in the form of Everybody Sucks, an up-tempo pure power-pop classic with a punk feel to it, great start!
Next up we have Back To Douche, here the tempo slows down considerably, with a slow Americana feel. This song is brilliant, kin of crawling along, but fed to the brim with emotion. The lyrics seem to be a little autobiographical but not in a negative sense.
Loner follows, picking up the tempo again. This tracks seems lie a really fun track, and I imagine that it will be a blast in a live environment. Cheap Perfume quickly follows, maintaining the tempo and energy of its predecessor, with a change in arrangements and instrumentation, here the piano driving the song along. Another great song!
A Human Being On Mars is up next, again mainly acoustic guitar and piano led. Another great song the slows the feel and tempo a little, this track is one of my favourites on the album!
Captain Hook is a fun song that once again picks up the tempo, whilst Haters Will Hate once again slows things down a little, with a dark and moody feel. A truly great song!
Just For A While is another mid-temp song that just seems to hit all the right spots if you know what I mean, another personal favourite for me. The Girl Next Door follows, which is a rather nice tune. The Kitty Song is one of this albums penultimate tracks,  with a really jazzy feel that proves to be a really fun song that truly captures that certain arrogance of out feline companions.
 Next up is I Don't Wanna Wake Up From This Dream, a real gem of the song that really showcases Juan's song writing perfectly
Fan, Fan, Fan closes out with Blue In Berlin, another short and sweet song that reflects up on Juan's time spent living in Germany.
Fan, Fan, Fan is a great album and a welcome addition to the Baby Scream catalogue!

Highly recommended!

Rating - 10/10

Genre - Power-pop

Label - Self Released

Track listing:

 

01 - Mistake

02 - Pieces Of Me

03 - Unicorns

04 - As Long As It Hurts (I'm Fine)

05 - Shooting Stars

06 - My Very Last Mistake 

07 - This Fucked Up World

08 - Overdosed

09 - Car (Upon The Stars)

10 - Politicians R Bullies

11 - In A Picture

12 - Wake Up Call

13 - The Sound Of Clacks

14 - Tear After Tear

15 - Words Like Knives

16 - Sparks

17 - Sparks (Acoustic)

18 - My New Dope

19 - Beers And Public Buildings

20 - Xmas Tree (All The Pain Is Left Behind)

21 - Ice Cream Man Theme Song

22 - Flirting With Disaster / Beatles Medley

23 - 20th Century Boy (T-Rex Cover)

24 - The Concept (Teenage Fanclub Cover)

25 - I'll Be There For You (The Rembrandts Cover and Theme To Friends)

26 - Cruella de Vil (From the motion picture "101 Dalmatians")

27 - Scooby Doo Theme Song (From Tv Series Scooby Doo Where Are You?)

Now this album really is an eclectic mix of songs. It has everything from the extremely short (Opener Mistake is just a single word song with Juan singing the word mistake), to the punkish Overdosed, to the chilled out sublime Car (upon the stars), to the beautiful In A Picture, it really does have everything. Yet don't make the mistake of thinking that this album is just filled with the left over substandard tracks that didn't make Fan, Fan, Fan. To be honest many of the tracks here are quite brilliant, Sparks, In A Picture, Pieces Of Me, My Very Last Mistake, Beers And Public Buildings, Flirting With Disaster, Words Like Knives, and Wake Up Call are amongst the best songs every Juan has ever written!
The five covers featured on this release are all excellent, from faithful renditions of 20the Century Boy, The Concept and the awesome I'll Be There For You, to the fun and quirky covers of Scooby Doo and Cruella de Vil.
this is a great album even if it is rather eclectic, but well worth investing both your time and money in!

Highly Recommended

Rating 10/10

Baby Scream - Fan, Fan, Fan available here

Baby Scream - The Worst Of... available here

 

 

 

 

Baby Scream - Haters Will Hate / I Don't Wanna Wake Up From This Dream Digital Single (2014)

Genre - Melodic Rock / Powerpop

Label - 

Track Listing:

01 - Haters Will Hate

02 - I Don't Wanna Wake Up From This Dream

Juan Pablo Mazzola's Baby Scream make their long awaited and welcome return later this year with the double A-sided digital single, Hater's Will Hate / I Don't Wanna Wake Up from This Dream, both tracks are set to feature on the bands new album tentatively scheduled for release January 2015.

Hater's Will Hate is a rather laid back track with quite a dark feel to it both musically and lyrically. Juans' lead vocal really suites the feel of the song, The song has a real beauty to it, its so gentle and laid back, with some heartfelt and rather cutting lyrics.

I Don't Wanna Wake Up From This Dream is a reworking of an older song, the demo of which appeared on Lost Balloons, the last full length Baby Scream release.Again its rather a laid back acoustic driven affair, just right for those chilled out moments that we all cherish. 

If these two tracks, along with the others that have been posted up on the bands You Tube channel are anything to go by then the new album is set to be some thing rather special!

Rating 10/10

The Dowling Poole - Bleak Strategies 2014

Genre - Psychedelic Pop / Psychedelic Rock / Power Pop

Label - Pledgemusic

Track listing:

01 - The Sun Is Mine

02 - A Kiss On The Ocean

03 - Hey Stranger

04 - Saving It All For A Saturday

05 - Paper, Scissors, Stone

06 - Empires, Buildings and Acquisitions

07 - Where The Memories Fester

08 - Twilight Subplot

09 - Getting A Licence

10 - Clean

11 - The Straw Man (track exclusive to pledge music pledgers)

"The Dowling Poole is a new band formed by singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Willie Dowling (ex Honeycrack/Jackdaw4) and Jon Poole (ex Cardiacs/The Goddamn Whores/The Wildhearts/Ginger Wildheart Band).
Dowling and Poole first met in 2011 when recording and producing Ginger Wildheart’s award winning, top-ten "555%" album, and it was mutual admiration at first sight.
"I was immediately taken by Jon's remarkable and diverse musical talent", says Dowling, "but it took me an age to pluck up the courage to phone him and ask whether he'd like to do something together."
Fortunately, Poole had been thinking along the same lines and was equally thrilled at the prospect of working with Dowling. They started writing songs and locked themselves away in Dowling's recording studio in France for a few months, writing and recording an album they have titled "Bleak Strategies".
Influenced by pop masters such as XTC, Blur, 10CC, The Kinks, The Beatles and more, The Dowling Poole debut album "Bleak Strategies" is an eclectic and contemporary sounding mix of semi-psychedelic pop, somehow quintessentially British-sounding, laced with harmonies and a multitude of influences from the best of 50 years of rock and popular music.
"It was a very collaborative process", says Poole, "We both brought songs to the table and we performed, sang and produced them together. You'd be hard pressed to guess who wrote what since we both were adding ideas left right and centre to each others work".
"Bleak Strategies" will be out in the summer along with the single "The Sun Is Mine", (the perfect radio song for summer), but it's available to pre-order now from PledgeMusic. You can see videos on the origins of the band, and download a free track - "The Straw Man" - and there are other tracks to listen to in a 'try before you buy' fashion, as well as regular video updates from the PledgeMusic website: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/thedowlingpoole"

Okay so that's the background sorted, now what about the album? Well to be honest its exactly what I think that you would expect from a collaboration between two of the wackiest songwriters in music today!
Imagine Jackdaw4's quirkier tracks such as Jesus Wants My Soul Back, and the poppier Goddamn Whores tracks crossed with a healthy dose of the Beatles at their most eccentric and I would say that you are pretty damn close.
From The mellow laid back opener The Sun Is Mine, to the catchy Hey Stranger, the eighties influenced A Kiss On The Ocean, the bouncy pop of Saving It All For A Saturday, the stomping Getting A Licence,to the laid back Paper Scissors Stone, to the ambient Twilight Subplot and clean,this album really does have it all.
Empires, Buildings and Acquisitions is just as quirky as it gets, pure brilliance. There simply is not a bad track on this album, although for many it is surely going to be an acquired taste!

One song that really does deserve a little more explanation here is The Straw Man, with its controversial subject matter, that being about the entire Jimmy Saville saga. A great song that has been issues as Pledge exclusive, (not on the album) as they believed it didn't fit, its the rockiest of all the songs on offer with probably the fastest tempo too. A great song and worth pledging for alone!

This album is just fantastic, much in the same way as A Night At The Opera and Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club are. Genius really does border on madness!

Rating - 10/10

Baby Scream - Greatest Failures (2013)

Genre - Hard Rock / Powerpop
Label -

Track listing:

01 - Slut
02 - Mars
03 - Away
04 - Every Day (I Die A Little Bit)
05 - Ups And Downs
06 - The Riots
07 - Morning Light
08 - Nicole
09 - Ojos Orientales
10 - Exile
11 - Jekyll & Hyde
12 - The Ghosts Of Valerie (feat. Eric Dover)
13 - Hit & Run
14 - Secret Place
15 - Aching Eye's

Baby Scream, (well Juan Pablo Mazzola anyway) return with Greatest Failures, a best of collection that spans Baby Screams entire recorded out put with the added bonus of including a brand new track too in the form of album closer, Aching Eye's.

Well what can I say? Greatest Failures is a briliant place to start for those who have never heard the band before, as it truly does include some of the bands finest songs such as, Mars, Ghosts Of Valerie, Morning Light, Hit & Run and the brilliant heart felt Aching Eye's. Existing fans will appreciate having this the fine collection of songs all together on one disc too. Baby Scream offer up a certain haunting melodic charm, so laid back and relaxed, yet tight and passionate at the same time, an unbelievable acheivement in my humble opinion. As with all best of collections, personal choice would have seen one or two additional tracks, but I honestly can not say which tracks I would have replaced as all 15 are fine selections! That is also another fine point to point out, Greatest Failures offers up no less than 15 gems of songs and all in delivered through your speakers to your appreciative ears in less than 44 minutes.

As I said earlier, if you have never heard Baby Scream before then Greatest Failures is a wonderful place to start, and if you already own a couple of their discs, well grab this one too for the great track listing and brand new song, Aching Eye's, which is surely destined to be added to the ever growing arsenal of Baby Scream classics.

Very Highly Reconmended

Rating - 10/10

JD & The FDC's - Recognise (2012)

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop / Punk / Powerpop
Label - Delerict Records


Track listing -

01. Recognise 
02. Ujpest Dozsa
03. Mirrors & Wires
04. Burn This City Down 
05. From the Shadows 
06. The Secret
07. No Way Out
08. This Town of Infamy 
09. Never Gonna Stop 
10. Anti-Destination League

Based in the East Midlands in the UK, JD & the FDCs are a rock ‘n' roll band. And then some.… Comprising Panic, Teenage Casket Company, The Dangerfields, Patchwork Grace and DIP alumni, the quartet released their award-winning debut “The FDCCDEP" in August 2010, with Recognise being their debut full length album, and its a stonker!
 Ten yes I said ten great songs, performed by a band that really know what they are doing. Its fun to spot the influences throughout this album, aside from the obvious comparisons to the band members "other" bands, there are also moments reminisent of The Wildhearts, Beastie Boys, Michael Monroe, Green Day, Offspring, Kitty Hudson, well the list goes on.
Any song on this cd could hold its own against any of the major mainstream acts out there today, with the band having an knack for finding a catchy melody, whilst injecting the songs full of life and energy.
This album is full of potential radio friendly hits such as Mirrors & Wires, Recognise, Burn This City Down, The Secret, yet all the while the songs maintain their independant integrity.
A great debut album, showcasing the fact that these guys really could conquer the world!


Check this one out!

Rating 10/10

Website - http://jdandthefdcs.com/

Baby Scream - Secret Place

Genre - Rock / Pop / Powerpop
Label - Eternal Sunday

Tracklisting -

01 The Last Call
02 Hit And Run
03 Secret Place
04 Going North
05 Cold Weather Reggae
06 Bad Seed
07 Patiently
08 London Sun
09 The Atmosphere
10 Eating My Face

Baby Scream return with their Eighth studio release, hot on the tail of last year’s self titled album, with Secret Place.
"The story behind Secret Place, Baby Scream's eighth album and the first to be released by Eternal Sunday, begins when the government office Opción Música, that belongs to the City Government of Buenos Aires, announced that local indie labels could present proposals for recording an album at Estudio Urbano, a cultural centre dedicated to rock music and youth culture. The winners could use 80 hours of recording. Eternal Sunday proposed recording a new Baby Scream album (the band was releasing its homonymous album by OK! Records in the UK) and the project was accepted, so the band has to enter the studio to make a new album in two weeks."

The result is a refreshing laid back and honest album upon which composer Juan Pablo Mazzola takes us on a journey through a myriad of music styles and influences from the relaxed rocker, opening track The Last Call, through the Lennonesque Hit and Run (which is set to be released as the lead single from this album!) on through the darker themed songs like Going North. Cold Weather Reggae throws us a bit of a curve ball, but once again shows that Juan can turn his hand to writing almost any musical style that he chooses. The rest of the album continues in the same vein, relaxed laid back songs covering almost every emotion, even Eating My Face, which covers a dream where composer Juan was served his own head to eat in a restaurant!

The standard of the song writing and the musicianship on display here is as always top notch. THERE REALLY ISNT A BAD SONG ON THIS CD!
Secret Place maybe a little more laid back than some of Baby Screams previous release’s, but its still a truly stunning album, if you are a fan of Baby Screams previous releases then you will love this album, if you’ve not heard Baby Scream before, then why not? Check them out, they’re a great band producing great music!
The albums out August 15th, do yourself a favour and grab a copy!

Website – Baby Scream

Rating – 10/10

Hit And Run (single)
Faithful to the classic rock tradition followed by Baby Scream, Eternal Sunday announces the release of the single "Hit And Run" backed with "20th Century Baby". "20th Century Baby" is a song written by the legendary Marc Bolan (the leader of T-Rex) that was only released as a demo after the composer's death. Baby Scream recorded its version during the Secret Place recording sessions.

The single will be available at every major digital store (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, Spotify, etc.) on July 15th, 2011. (OUT NOW!)

Eureka Machines - Champion The Underdog

Genre - Rock / Pop / Punk / Powerpop
Label - Wraith Records

Track listing -

01 - Champion The Underdog
02 - These Are The People Who Live In My House
03 - (I'm) Wasting My Time (Yet Again)
04 - Magnets
05 - Godot's Arrived
06 - Professional Crastinator
07 - Everything's Fine
08 - The Best Night Of My Life
09 -Beginning Of The End Of The World
10 - Zero Hero
11 - A Ballad To Finish

Chris Catalyst and the Guys of Eureka Machines Return with the follow up to 2008’s amazing debut, Do Or Die, with Champion The Under Dog.
Once again the lads have managed to attain power pop perfection, there just simply isn’t a bad track anywhere in sight on this cd.
Produced by Chris and Jase Edwards (Wolfsbane), and filled to the brim with eleven littler gems and sure to be future rock classics.
This album has it all, from the pure pop of These Are The People Who Live In My House, to the heart tugging ballad, A Ballad To Finish. Throw in there some nice pop / punk / rockers like Magnets and Professional Crastinator and you have a fantastic album,
You really can hear the bands influences here too, especially the Ginger / Wildhearts / Honeycrack / Willie Dowling / Queen (especially in the vocal harmonies), and this makes the songs seem even stronger.
If there is any justice in the world then this band would be huge, and here’s to hoping for that to happen!

Very highly recommended,check it out when its released on May 2nd!!

Catch the guys live on tour at one of the following dates –

Champion The Underdog tour:

Thursday 5 May 2011 - The Bittersuite, Preston
Friday 6 May 2011 - Retro Bar, Manchester
Saturday 7 May 2011 - The Belle Vue, Blackpool
Sunday 8 May 2011 - The Leopard, Doncaster
Wednesday 11 May 2011 - The Thunderbolt, Bristol (TBC)
Thursday 12 May 2011 - The Borderline, London (with The Dead Identities and Tecnoctitlan)
Friday 13 May 2011 - Wight Rock Bar, Isle of Wight
Saturday 14 May 2011 - The Mill Inn, Deal, Dover
Wednesday 18 May 2011 - Academy 2, Sheffield
Thursday 19 May 2011 - Stereo, York
Friday 20 May 2011 - The Lamp, Hull
Saturday 21 May 2011 - The Marrs Bar, Worcester
Sunday 22 May 2011 - The Asylum, Birmingham
Thursday 26 May 2011 - Black Flag, Wakefield (with UK Subs)
Friday 27 May 2011 - The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds (with The Scaramanga Six, Black Moth and Circles)
Saturday 28 May 2011 - The Parish, Huddersfield (with The Scaramanga Six)
Sunday 29 May 2011 - The Maze, Nottingham
Thursday 2 June 2011 - The Hyem, Newcastle (with Supercharger
Friday 3 June 2011 - The Railway, Bolton
Saturday 4 June 2011 - Puzzle Hall, Sowerby Bridge
Sunday 5 June 2011 - BBC Introducing Raw Talent radio session
Saturday 2 July 2011 - Bladefest, Fleckney (with Goldblade)


website - Eureka Machines
Rating - 10/10

Lester And The Landslide Ladies - Estranged In Ladyland

Genre - Pop / Punk / Rock
Label - Tornado Ride Records

Track Listing -

01. Eat It Up
02. A Drug I Can’ t Deny
03. From The Start
04. Margarida
05. Nothing Left To Borrow
06. Answering Machine
07. Estranged In Ladyland
08. Who Do You Think You Are
09. Dead And Gone
10. Me, Myself And I
11. 1 2 3 Arriba
12. Fraulinen Broderline
13. Bleeding In Style
14. For The Ramones

Described as being lost somewhere between Kiss and The Ramones, Lester And The Landslide Ladies deliver a high quality pop / punk rock that warms the soul.
These degenerates offer up a great dose of love, hate, pain, blood, power! For fans of The Ramones, D.A.D., Kiss, AC/DC, Hanoi Rocks, Bowie, Cult, N.Y. Dolls.
A great little album, thoroughly enjoyable!

website - Lester And The Landslide LadiesRating - 8/10

Baby Scream - Baby Scream

Track listing -

01 Powerpop Crush
02 Exile
03 Jekyll & Hyde
04 Mental Case
05 The Ghost of Valerie (Feat. Eric Dover)
06 Watching the End of the World (On TV)
07 Nipone
08 Lazy
09 What About You ?
10 Twenty Seven


Argentinean singer/songwriter and Baby Scream leader Juan Pablo Mazzola has returned with his latest offering, 'Baby Scream', a brilliant combination of classic rock licks and power pop sensibilities that sits comfortably somewhere between both John and Jullian Lennon and T-Rex.
Readers of Glitzine will be no stranger to Baby Scream, as I have reviewed their previous two eps before, but this time things are slightly different.
Yes Baby Scream still deliver that laid back chilled out kind of music that they have always done, but somehow on this album things feel a little different, the guitars seem to have more bite, the vocals have just a little more urgency about them and to be honest the effect is wondrous.
All ten songs on offer here are brilliant, but a couple really do stand out as something special, The Ghost Of Valerie (feat. Eric Dover of Jellyfish,Slash’sSnakepittt, Alice Cooper), What About You, Watching The End Of The World (On TV), Mental Case and Powerpop Crush, have a certain something about them that could make them powerpop classics!
Fans of Jackdaw4, John Lennon, 90's Britpop will love this album!

Very Highly recommended

rating - 10/10

website - http://www.babyscream.com/

Eagle Scout - New Hands

Hailing from the Rockwell-Esq Greenville, IL, Missouri bordering Midwesterners Eagle Scout do nothing less than shake up their sleepy small town with their big sounds. New Hands is the second full album from Eagle Scout and continues to see them blend elements of post-punk, indie and pop,


The five piece deliver high energy well crafted poppy punk tunes with well though out lyrics.

Well worth checking out!

website - http://www.myspace.com/eaglescoutmusic

rating 8/10

Baby Scream - Ups and Downs

This CD was originally released in the U.S. by Recorded Recordings Records in December, 2008, being recorded between Argentina, Germany and the U.S.

Originally it was supposed to be a 7 track ep but it ended up being an L.P.
Every song on here is well written, short and sweet, gentle little classics in the making. This album is a powerpop / Americana / Britpop classic in the making in my opinion, and is great music to chill out to!
Like this years Identity Theft, this album ain't going to do it for you if your looking for loud, high energy songs, but if you want to listen to some good, well written classy music whilst relaxing then this album is for you!
very enjoyable!

website - http://www.myspace.com/babyscream

Rating 8/10

Baby Scream - Identity Theft

Baby Scream are a Powerpop / Classic Rock / Americana mainly based around

Juan Mazzola and were originally formed in Argentina back in 2001 but are now mainly based in London.
Mazzola seems to have a little bit of an obsession with John Lennon, Teenage Fanclub, Radiohead, and Britpop, in general, but that's all good as the music he produces, whilst heavily influenced by the aforementioned artists never resorts to ripping them off or trying to clone them.
Identity Theft is a nice little seven track Ep / mini album, they are great tracks to sit back and relax too, if that's what your looking for, unfortunately if not you may want to steer clear, as Baby Scream are just not rabble rousing riot makers!

All the songs are nice, short and sweet nice soft pop with subtle melodies and gentle grooves.

Recommended if you like the likes of Julian Lennon, Michael Penn, or the acoustic side of Teenage Fanclub.

website - http://www.myspace.com/babyscream



Rating 7/10

A Word In The Ear Of Chris Catalyst (Eureka Machines)

I recently had the opportunity to have Chris Catalyst of Eureka Machines answer a few short questions. Now the Eureka Machines are a Leeds-based rock/punk/pop band, who have played all over the UK with bands like The Wildhearts, Forward Russia and The Rascals. They have opened the BBC Introducing Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals 2008, released their debut album Do Or Die (Wrath Records, WRATHCD48) on September 1st 2008 to rave reviews, had the song The Story Of My Life featured on the Classic Rock cover CD in November 2009, completed various national tours including one with Electric Six, (at their request) in 2009, they've released a couple of singles and received radio airplay on BBC Radio 1, 6Music, XFM, Channel Five, MTV2, Scuzz and various local stations.

so now to the interview :


First of all let me say thank you for agreeing to this brief interview.


Glitzine - 2009 was a very busy year for both you and the Eureka Machines, with various tours with both Eureka Machines and the Sisters Of Mercy, what would you say was your personal highlight of 2009?

Chris Catalyst - My personal highlight of 2009 was taking my niece and nephew to the cinema and going to Pizza Hut. My musical highlight was probably the Electric Six/Eureka Machines tour where we had hundreds of people singing along to a song that they'd never heard before, every night. My Sisters highlight was a holiday in South America going to Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

Glitzine - The bands line up has changed since the recording of the last album, how are things working out now?

Chris Catalyst - Great. We're more of a 'band' now. I'd written pretty much all of the songs before we recorded the first album, and I played bass and most of the guitars on it, as well as most of the singing. We've got a proper line-up now and it's going to be more of a proper 'band' album. Four heads are better than one, and although everyone contributed to Do Or Die, the new album has been a lot more organic. Oh and no disrespect to Steve Morricone, our former bass player, but we always knew he wouldn't be around forever - he helped us out for a year or so and we are still top pals.

Gliztine - Eureka Machines debut album 'Do Or Die' was one of the best debuts that I've heard in years, and one of the best albums of 2008 so how is the new material shaping up in comparison?

Chris Catalyst - Thanks. We like it too. The new stuff is good, but we would say that. It's very poppy, but some of it is a bit rockier, and some is a bit weirder. It's kind of like the first album, only more so.

Glitzine - The songs on 'Do Or Die' were mainly very positive songs, was there a conscious reason behind this and are the new songs going to have similar messages?

Chris Catalyst - The words are generally supposed to be positive, with a message that you should get off your arse and just do something. Most of it was written addressed to myself, as I'd been sitting on my arse for far too long. The new album is similar, with some of the same lyrical themes, and a few songs about sitting on your arse again. Mostly they're just funny.

Glitzine - I believe that you have recently entered the studio to start working on the second album, can you give us any info like song titles / possible album name at this stage?

Chris Catalyst - Some of the songs are ones we've been playing for a while, Champion The Underdog, Zero Hero and (I'm) Wasting My Time (Yet Again), and some are tracks we've not sussed out how to play live yet. The album will probably be called Champion The Underdog.

Glitzine - Chris, over the years you have worked with many great musicians from The Sisters Of Mercy, Ginger (Wildhearts), Willie Dowling (Jackdaw4, Honeycrack, The Grip) to name but a few. Has working with any of these amazing talents influenced your song writing?

Chris Catalyst - After a long attempt at trying to get somewhere with our old band Catalyst, I spent a few years soaking up talent from people like Andrew Eldritch, Ginger, Willie and various others like Alex Kane, The Dead Pets lads and so on, learning my trade. I feel like I learned a lot in the time I was whoring myself out, and that it was time to do something for myself for a change. It's a bit like going out with girls - when you split up with someone, the last thing you want to do is fall into another relationship. You want to do a bit of shagging around and see where you get, then settle down later.
Plus songwriting is only one part of being in a band... I've learned a lot about generally being in a band over the past few years, and what to do (carry spares, practise a lot) and what not to do (get pissed all the time, take the piss out of your fans or band).

Glitzine - I managed to catch you guys live at Jbs (Dudley) late last year with El Diablo and was amazed at your energy levels, how do you manage to perform so well at such a high energy level?

Chris Catalyst - Oh man, we were knackered that night, we'd had very little sleep the night before. We practise a lot and we work hard. Plus we're generally quite energetic people. And we like our songs, they're fun to play.

Glitzine - Eureka Machines have a track featured on the new charity album put together by Round Records to help aid the victims of the recent disaster 'The Haiti Project', could you tell us how you guys became involved?

Chris Catalyst - Our friend Gav put it together, he asked us to be on it. It's a worthy cause and I wish there was more we could do for it, along with a lot of charities.

Glitzine - Last year was quite a busy year tour wise, do you have tour plans set for 2010 yet, any festivals perhaps?

Chris Catalyst - We're finishing the new album, but there's no rush to put it out. We're doing some gigs in May, and hopefully some festivals will come up too.

Glitzine - One of your previous bands, Catalyst recorded a brilliant song, 'Today' a few years ago, is there any chance of eureka machines incorporating this song into there live set, or even re recording the song, or is the song now just consingned to the past?

Chris Catalyst - No chance whatsoever I am afraid as I hate the lyrics. Plus I (unwittingly) ripped off the melody for our song Red Wine Smile.
Glitzine - You've put out two great music video's for two of your singles so far (Everybody loves You and Being Good Is Okay...) do you have any concepts in mind for future video's?
Chris Catalyst - Oh yes, I have loads of ideas for videos, including one shot in my house for the song These Are The People Who Live In My House, and a hip-hop themed one, and one on a train like a film noir thing, and... I love pop videos.

Glitzine - Briefly tell us what you hope the future holds for Eureka Machines?

Chris Catalyst - I've given up thinking about the future and started trying my best to live in the now. We will keep on going despite whatever life throws at us, anyway. We have too much in common to throw the towel in just yet.



Once again I'd like to thank Chris for consenting to this interview, after having met him at JB's last year I can honestly say that he is one of the nicest guys in Rock N Roll!

Check out the bands official website at - http://www.eurekamachines.com/ and you can purchase your copy of the Haiti Project Charity album from this location - https://fan.musicglue.com/sale/promoproducts.aspx?productid=d424fa03-a7aa-4e34-9ffc-9c852495283f

Eureka Machines - Live @ JB's (Dudley) 15/11/09

Chris and they guys were in fine form tonight bringing their razor-sharp power pop Dudley. Playing the back room of Jbs on a cold Sunday night along with The Ex-Presidents, The Whiskey Syndicate and Elle Diablo.


Tonight there was a half decent crowd to hear The mighty Eureka Machines belt through classics such as Being Good Is Okay, This Is My Life, Everybody Loves You, Do Or Die, and Scream Eureka along with one or two new tunes which are sounding very much like future classics. The bands energy was amazing especially when you consider that tonight was their forth gig in four consecutive nights!
Front man Chris was in fine form, with his between song banter, even blazing one heckler into a sulk at one point, bloody great.



If you've never seen the Eureka Machines live then you really are missing out, as their impressive collection of songs sound even better live than they do on cd!

rating 11/10


catch Eureka machines on the road at one of the following dates:

Friday 27 November 2009 - Crabtree's, Harrogate | info


Electric Six tour, December 2009
Friday 4 December 2009 - ABC, Glasgow | venue | tickets


Saturday 5 December 2009 - Academy, Dublin | venue | tickets


Monday 7 December 2009 - Academy, Liverpool | venue | tickets


Tuesday 8 December 2009 - Academy, Sheffield | venue | tickets


Wednesday 9 December 2009 - Duchess, York | venue | tickets


Thursday 10 December 2009 - Academy, Manchester | venue | tickets


Friday 11 December 2009 - Academy, Newcastle | venue | tickets


Saturday 12 December 2009 - Academy, Birmingham | venue | tickets


Sunday 13 December 2009 - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff | venue | tickets


Monday 14 December 2009 - Crypt, Hastings | venue | tickets


Tuesday 15 December 2009 - Concorde 2, Brighton | venue | tickets


Wednesday 16 December 2009 - Academy, Bristol | venue | tickets


Thursday 17 December 2009 - Academy, Islington | venue | tickets


Friday 18 December 2009 - Wight Rock Bar, Ryde, Isle of Wight (us only) | venue


Saturday 19 December 2009 - Academy, Oxford | venue | tickets