Tag Archives: Mark Vernon

LEATHER PARTY: Tired Ize (EP)

Posted on by

a1936587566_10

I am proud to finally call Manchester home (I’ve been here a month already, I know) and one thing in particular that I adore about this beautiful city is the music scene. There are so many bands to discover, venue floors to stick to and record shops to blow your wages in. There’s a new-ish band in town that I have to write about. If you’ve heard of Brown Brogues then you’ll probably be aware of the genius that is Mark Vernon. He’s had other projects such as Machiine, Peace And Love Barbershop Muhammad Ali, has toured with The Underground Youth and is now giving us the effortlessly sleazy and cool; Leather Party.

The full EP was launched into the world via bandcamp a few days ago but if you follow the band page on Facebook, you’ll have seen that Mark has accompanied the songs with a short story. I’ve read the stories and now I’m taking the stories away from the music to write about it. I’ll put a link at the end, as the best way to listen to this record is to read the stories with the music playing. Then listen to the record in full with no distractions.

Mean Like A Snake (which was a PALBMA song) has been re-worked sort of. It gives a different meaning to the song, and it really makes it sound quite sinister. The brilliant thing about Mark is that his vocals more often than not sound really smutty and decadent. I described Brown Brogues as that a few years ago, and I just love the way in which Mark does it. He’s massively underrated as a musician and as a song-writer. I just think the amount of work he puts into his music is admirable, and makes him definitely stand out.

Something I really love about this record is that it has the uneasiness of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music. The songs will make you feel a little uncomfortable and on edge, especially on No Smoke Bout Fyr which at the moment is my favourite but as we know, I’ll change my mind after several more listens. I’m doing a radio show in June and I’m tempted to just play this record on a loop for 2 hours. There is so much to love about this record and there is so much to admire about it. It’s wonderfully noisy and just an excellent body of work.

It has that industrial sound found in the likes of Suicide mixed with something I can’t quite get my head around, and I think that is part of the appeal. Because it sounds like something you really haven’t heard before but as someone who loves all of Mark’s musical projects to date, there is something a little familiar in his sound. But like I mentioned, there is something that definitely keeps you on edge. It’s part excitement, part nervousness.

This record is so easy to love and is an absolute joy to listen to, and the record closer Thick 2 is the kind of song you’d want to hear on the radio (especially if you’re tired of the mundane.) I love how this record sounds like someone who is really pushing themselves to create something that towers over what they have previously done. I love the passion and dedication in this record. I cannot compare this to anything Mark has done previously, everything he has ever done always sounds different and although there may be familiar sounds at times, he really does make music that stretches beyond labels and what is expected. I have no idea what Mark set out to achieve with Leather Party, but I can safely say that, as a fan it is nothing short of perfect. Sure I’d love more songs but what Mark has created here is something to treasure, play loud and snarl at your neighbours to.

You can buy/stream the release here: https://leatherparty.bandcamp.com/releases

Check out Mark’s stories for the music here also: https://www.wearerawmeat.com/posts/leather-party-tired-ize Start with part 1, and allow yourself to be captivated by Mark’s words and music.

BROWN BROGUES- Zoloto.

Posted on by

Zoloto-front

Last week I wrote about a fine duo called Brown Brogues. I sent them what I had written, and now I get to write about their new EP because they are gentlemen. I’m unsure if I can write anything to truly do this EP justice, but I’m taking a break from what I should be doing (job hunting) and giving it a damn good go.

Zoloto is the name of the EP and it is out on 19th April. Yes that it on Record Store Day; the greatest day of the year for sure. The first 100 copies of Zoloto will come with a 7″ reissue of their first EP, Nobody Dies In Paris. It is honestly worth waking up incredibly early to queue up for it. You’ll have nothing else to do anyway. Most important day of the year, remember that. The word “Zoloto” means “gold” in Russian. It is also an acronym for “Remember, one day people will leave you alone” in prison tattoos.

Getting Caned In The Face With An Ashtray is my favourite track off the EP. If you listen to it carefully, it should remind you slightly of that other duo I adore- The Kills. Some parts of it just remind me of some songs off their last record, Blood Pressures. I guess I’m just in awe of duos and how much delightful noise they can make. You know I said that Brown Brogues were decadently brilliant? Well, Zoloto truly shows that decadent sound as brutal and as brave as ever. If you listen to this EP and you aren’t wanting to break stuff and tear down the walls, then you’ve probably got shit stuck in your ears.

The EP is only 15 minutes long, but you’ve got punchy tracks like Shit In Your Eye and My Birthday which are underground anthems in the making. These songs are going to make fans go nuts when they hear them live. My Birthday is a ferocious gem that I really cannot get enough of. Pretty sure if Joey Ramone was alive he’d be salivating over this track and wishing he wrote it. The EP is made up of 4 songs that have been created to melt your face, shatter your eardrums and to make your body move in an obscure fashion. If this EP is going to be the first thing many hear by Brown Brogues, then they will more than likely be losing their mind over it. I don’t understand how you couldn’t. How can 4 songs sound this GOOD? Never doubt Brown Brogues, ever. They are a band that are evidently going to be around for a long time making this kind of pleasant noise their own way.

Zoloto is pretty much one of the best things to have happened to music this year. To deny the talent that Ben and Mark have would be extremely foolish of you, so on Record Store Day- head down to your local record store and buy this EP. Go home and play it as loud as you like.

Zoloto will be released via Stolen Body Records.

Also, Brown Brogues will be supporting The Young Knives this month on tour. Brown Brogues will also being doing an EXTREMELY special show at the Soup Kitchen in Manchester on 3rd May with Murkage. Both bands will play their set followed by a set together. Tickets are £5 and you can buy them here: http://nowwave.skiddletickets.com/event.php?id=12126298

BROWN BROGUES.

Posted on by

 

 

After spending the day convinced I was going to puke again, I think it is safe to say I’m alright now. Until next time, obviously. I’ve spent the day either sat listening to the radio or sleeping. How long is a nap meant to be because I took one for 3 hours, and I’m pretty sure that’s a good nap. Everyone has their own take on what is a nap and what isn’t. Don’t let anyone dictate to you how much sleep you should/shouldn’t have.

Brown Brogues are a band I mentioned briefly here last year. I know that I should have mentioned more because quite frankly, they make the music I wish I could make. I’m pretty sure if I played them loudly yesterday my migraine would have shifted. Music is a cure. Paracetamol is a mere placebo. Brown Brogues are a fine Mancunian band that sound like they have escaped from California and encountered trouble on the way. They are loud and their songs are pieces of wonder that make you flail your body around in a furiously passionate manner.

My uncle and I frequently exchange texts about bands to listen to. As soon as I’ve typed this up, I’ll be telling him about this bloody brilliant duo. He’s the only person I know that has heard of Pop. 1280- this is a huge thing for me because they are just a fine band with deviant sounds. But this is about a fine band from Manchester who deserve every ounce of success possible to come their way.

What I love and adore about Brown Brogues sound is exactly what caused me to fall in love with The Kills many many years ago. It is the passion in the sound. The sheer determination and fury that just ripples right through every single song just makes your body jolt to the beat. It’s something that I look for in music; I want it to move me the way the Ramones woke up the dead back in the 70s. Brown Brogues would have been the perfect band to melt the faces of crowds at CBGBs. Sure it is 2014, but this back sound like something from the 60s/70s with their Garage Rock flare and Psychedelic vibes.

Beef Teef ruins the brain. It really really does mess with your mind. If you’ve never heard of Brown Brogues before, start with this from their second record. Throw yourself in the deep end and embrace the chaos head on. I’m a calm person but I love the music I listen to to be quite loud and chaotic. Brown Brogues justify fully why I love music as much as I do and also why duos are pretty much the best.

It is easy to fall into a habit when listening to music, but I always want something to move me in a way that leaves me with the inability to put it into words. Beautiful things in life leave us speechless; you treasure them more because you spend the rest of your days searching for words. This is what music does to me. Sure I can sometimes find the words, other times I’m just jotting down bollocks in the hopes I make some sense to someone out there who reads this. I hope someone reads this and Brown Brogues become a band that they listen to religiously, obsessively because they want that feeling of elation that comes when you listen to something new for the first time.

Music should be exciting. Music should do things to you that a person can’t. You cannot be held by a record physically but emotionally and that’s what makes it so so powerful.

Shake It is such a brilliant songs by Mark and Ben. The harmonies with the low droning (I mean this in a positive way, I just can’t describe sounds perfectly) of the guitar is brilliant. You can sense the longing in their voices, and in the drums and guitar. You pick up so many details in their music; the things you may miss when you listen to someone else. There’s honestly something so special about the music that Ben and Mark make, if anything they make you want to grab your best friend and make some noise.

Their song titles are something else, I Drove For Miles Just To Hear About The  Book That You’re Reading (which is one of my favourite songs by them.) There is wit in their lyrics, there are romantic tones, there is everything you could possibly want from a band in their music.

Brown Brogues released their debut record last year. Born To Lose came out on Ultra Cool records and was recorded in 2 days in Graceland about two years ago now. In 2 days they made this massively underrated beast of a record. Sometimes you find with bands, when they finally do a full length record it sounds too polished or it leaves behind that raw sound they once had. Brown Brogues stick two fingers up to this theory. Born To Lose is a fine debut, and to be honest it sounds like a band who have been putting out records for the past 10 years. They remind me of The Gruesomes mixed with Wavves. They’ve got polite aggression in their sound. That’ll be the Mancunian charm. The record is just over half an hour-long, but that’s why we have the repeat button. Just keep on hitting it.

Their second record, Triflin’ is equally bold and pretty much reinforces my love for them. So if I’m right- does this mean they have released two records in one year?! They are beyond hard-working. Triflin’ is a beautiful and punchy record that smacks you passionately in the face. Decadently brilliant. Effortlessly wonderful.

I don’t know what Ben and Mark have planned for this year, but I’m pretty sure they will be melting the faces off the crowds they play to, collecting new fans along the way. If one band can add some bite to modern music, it is definitely Brown Brogues. I’d put money on that, but I’ve got about £100 in my account, and I need that.

With my neighbour playing his awful dance music awfully loud, I think I have found the band to cause his flat to shake should I feel the need to be as much of an arse as him. But until then, I’ll have Brown Brogues playing loudly in my ear.

Please please go listen to their sounds here: https://soundcloud.com/brownbrogues

And buy their worldly possessions from here (or just their music for now): http://brownbrogues.bigcartel.com/

Manchester, be proud of them. The world, you better be bloody listening.

GO SEE THEM SUPPORT THE YOUNG KNIVES THIS MONTH.