The New Cue #388 June 14: Peter Bibby, Hard Life, Gretel, Hermanos Gutiérrez, OSees, Hayden Thorpe, Humanist, Nilüfer Yanya, Joan As Police Woman, Toro Y Moi

"We used to argue and we could clear a room"

Good morning,

Welcome to your weekly Recommender edition of The New Cue. What we usually do in this bit is tell you how Friday editions of The New Cue are for paying subscribers, who each fork out a mere £5 for the privilege of full access to each and every edition as well as the full archive of TNC gold that we have lovingly put together, and how that mere £5 helps us to keep putting mind-melting content on the table. As Janet Jackson and Luther Vandross sung on their 1992 hit, “The best things in life are free/Until Ted, Niall and Chris start TNC”. But we’re not going to do that this week, just seems a bit crass, constantly asking you to cough up in return for what is simply the finest music Substack publication in existence. We’re better than th---!

Oops, sorry, think the internet company cut the line off there, something about an unpaid bill. Oh well, onto today’s edition, which includes mind-blower picks from Peter Bibby and author Anna Doble plus a whole host of recommendations from your hosts. Argh repetition of host! Here’s a playlist:

And here it is on Apple Music.

Enjoy the edition, see you on Monday, last one to become a paying subscriber felt sorry for Rishi Sunak cos he didn’t have Sky

Ted, Niall and Chris

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An Album To Blow Your Mind #1

Aussie rascal Peter Bibby salutes recently-departed lo-fi don.

Australian singer-songwriter Peter Bibby recently released his latest round of charming, disorderly country-tinged garage-rock with fourth record Drama King. Here’s a nice little ditty from it called Bin Boy:

Here, Peter tells us about why Shellac’s third album blows his mind:

Shellac
1000 Hurts (2000)

“In honour of Steve Albini’s recent and untimely death I have chosen Shellac’s 1000 Hurts.

This is a brutal album, sonically and topically, and I love it to bits. I bought this record about 18 years ago and it is still one of my most spun vinyls.

It opens with Prayer To God, Albini’s desperate plea to our lord above to swoop down and take the lives of two people here on earth over some clear wrongdoing, likely infidelity, to our boy Steve. The whole thing plays out over some of the most severe drum, bass and guitar tones I’ve ever heard recorded and features lyrics such as “Him just fucking kill him, I don’t care if it hurts, yes I do, I want it to, fucking kill him but first make him cry like a woman, no particular woman”. This sets the tone for the rest of the album, the most tender moments still sinister and abrasive. 

The musicianship is incredible throughout. Todd Trainers drumming delivers hypnotic rhythms and beats that seriously punch you in the guts, beastly stuff. Bob Weston’s chunky and melodic bass lines twist and turn throughout, big Bob also has a bit of singing here and there providing a bit of a contrast to Steve Albini’s scrappy, aggressive vocals. The guitar work tops it all off, scratchy, glitchy, strange harmonic work, at times it doesn’t sound like a guitar it’s so fucked up. The arrangements seem simple at first but upon further listening you realise the complexity of it all. It is at times as beautiful as it is sickening. It’s a strange and heavy fever dream that may or may not leave you feeling good.

It’s not an album for the faint hearted, but will surely provoke a bit of stank face and will most definitely blow your mind.”

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Recommmender

Ted Kessler

Have you come here looking for albums? I’m sorry, you’ll have to speak to my one of my colleagues for that today. I only have ‘tracks’ to recommend this week (or ‘singles’ in old money). That’s because I’m just a guy who loves tracks. Please accept me for who I am.

Bearing my love of tracks in mind, I think that Tears is one of the best new songs of the week. It’s by Hard Life, who used to be Easy Life until – in a still unbelievable plot twist – they were sued by the owners of EasyJet, the Easygroup, because Easygroup wished to license out the ‘easy’ name for new forays into hotels, supermarkets and whatever else they felt like, forcing the band into changing their name last year. It still seems madly harsh. Would Easy Life – the band – really have impinged on Easygroup? Apparently so, even though both brands appear well established in their own right far away from one another. Easy Life had had two number two UK albums and a very dedicated fanbase.