WATCH: Sugarmen - 'Push Button Age'

If you're into the likes of The Magic Gang and Spring King you should love these chaps, Liverpool indie rockers Sugarmen who have recently released Push Button Age, a fast paced and punchy single, sure to get live audiences up and dancing. Following a successful few years taking their tunes to the likes of Seoul, SXSW, Reading & Leeds and further around the globe, they are set to release their debut album Local Freaks on 6th October. Following support slots with The Jesus and Mary Chain in Liverpool and Sheffield in September, the four-piece headline Sebright Arms in London for their album launch on 5th October - tickets here!

Follow Sugarmen online - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

WATCH: Low Island - 'Tomorrow' for Mahogany

Oxford's Low Island are by far one of my favourite new bands of the moment, with the incredible tracks That Kind Of Love and Holding It Down under their belts. In the run up to some live shows across the country they're releasing a new seven track EP, kicking it off with The Lines, a track as energetic and punchy as we've come to expect from the band - an instant dance floor filler. They've followed it up recently with the second tune from the EP, the comparatively gentle but equally (if not more so) beautiful Tomorrow. Carlos from the band has performed a live session of the track in a 1930s Art Deco music hall for the wonderful people of the Mahogany Sessions, and it's making me incredibly jealous of those who caught their stripped back set at Sofar Sounds Oxford for Amnesty International last week! Check out their upcoming tour dates here - including two nights at London's Corsica Studios in November.

Follow Low Island online - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

WATCH: MarthaGunn perform 'Honest' for The Crypt Sessions

I posted about them just a couple of weeks ago but couldn't resist sharing this beautiful session from MarthaGunn, one of my fave new bands of the moment. They've been busy in the studio over Summer and took a break from a recording session to perform their tune Honest for The Crypt Sessions, a lovely stripped back version where Abi's vocals take the forefront. In love with these guys and reckon you should be too - keep an eye on their Facebook for future show announcements and new tunes!

LISTEN: Carroll - 'Velvet'

I've been listening to Too Many Zooz a bit lately and reckon you honestly can't get much better than this performance on the subway in New York a couple of months ago - who doesn't want a loud awakening at 3am from those chaps?! Perhaps for this reason the email I received from US four-piece Carroll a while back stood out as they mentioned their track having some saxophone in it courtesy of Gabriel Garcia. Always a good thing! Describing Velvet as a bridge between the "cosmic psychedelia" of their 2016 record As Far As Gardens Go and a newer sound, it does exactly what it says on the tin, a pure piece of musical velvet. As the band write, "If As Far As Gardens Go found us hurtling through wormholes and electrical storms in space, then "Velvet" more likely has the four us playing in a smoky lounge with soft pink lighting, dark vines creeping in around us, and plush furniture of an otherworldly material." Take a listen below...

WATCH: Rae Morris - 'DO IT'

One of the best tunes I've heard in a while, taken from an upcoming album I'm pretty excited for, here's the video for DO IT from Rae Morris. About the video, Rae wrote on Facebook that she "had such an incredible time making this video with Noel Paul in NYC. coney island, baseball, helicopter rides & karaoke... genuine fun with amazing people." That's a pretty accurate summary - the only things to add are that if you like ice cream and dogs the video is probably for you!

DO IT is from Rae's upcoming second album (release date yet to be confirmed), the follow up to 2015's stunning release Unguarded. Rae tours this month to preview tunes from the album, heading to Norwich, Nottingham, Salisbury and Leeds before finishing up in London at Islington Assembly Hall on 28th. Grab the last few tickets for the shows here!

LISTEN: Smash Boom Pow release 'Way Too Much'

One of the best things about running this blog is the huge wave of emails I get daily, introducing me to new tunes from artists of all kinds of genres and from various places around the world. Today we head to Vancouver, Canada with brothers Ulysses and Zane Coppard, aka alt-pop duo Smash Boom Pow (who doesn't love a bit of onomatopoeia?!) Way Too Much is the first single from their upcoming EP, a track that vocalist Ulysses came up with to "clear some heavy vibes from his atmosphere", with the refrain "you're asking way too much of me" referring to "unfair emotional demands and the psychic damage they can inflict", particularly when it comes to a relationship.

Get listening below and follow Smash Boom Pow online - Twitter | Facebook | Instagram.

LIVE: Banfi at The Lexington (12/9/17)

I've been a little bit in love with Banfi since catching them live for the first time back in November at their residency of free gigs at Old Blue Last and upon meeting the guys for the first time supporting Bear's Den in Oxford back in March. In the relatively short amount of time that has passed since those shows, things have been going incredibly well for the band - as well as touring the UK and Europe with Bear's Den and no doubt gaining countless fans in the process, they've been busy recording, releasing some cracking new music and playing many brilliant festivals. One of the first of those was Communion's Bushstock at the start of Summer, the last time I caught them live before this week, when I caught the London date of their first headline tour.

Banfi at The Lexington

Opening up the night was Bryde, with Joe explaining that the band had seen her performing at a festival this Summer and asked her along to support on the tour, and she said yes! With a drummer and bassist in tow she delivered an impressive set, commandeering the crowd into near silence from the first notes! Spiralling between loud, punchy tracks and slower, sadder numbers, the set flowed by quickly - a sign of a brilliant support act (with the other end of the spectrum being never-ending tracks when you're waiting for the headliner!) Check out a live video of the tune Less below, which I've added to the CMAT playlist this week - check that out on Spotify here!

Once Bryde finished up it wasn't long before Banfi took to the stage, by which point the room was totally packed out. Selling out a show is always a huge achievement and never to be snuffed at, and on stage it was clear how surprised the band were that so many had decided to spend their evening listening to their beautiful tunes! With the crowd singing back the refrains of Happy When You Go and Rosedale House you could feel the happiness radiating from the guys, writing of the show after that it was "absolutely MENTAL ... If you saw us at any point after you probably noticed us beaming from ear to ear. Big up yourselves for making that our greatest show to date!" A highlight for all has to be their latest single June, for which they shared the music video on Friday, once again directed by the über talented Jake Dypka, and which is a totally beautiful piece - get watching below!

If you're in Birmingham, Nottingham or Leeds you're in luck as the Banfi tour is still to take in your lovely cities - last few tickets for the shows here. I for one hugely recommend getting along to see them perform if you get the chance... not only do they give a fantastic live performance of their wonderful tunes, but they're lovely chaps too who will always be down for a chat at the merch stand! Now to carry on waiting for a full record of Banfi tunes... 

LISTEN: David Ramirez - 'Stone Age'

Taken from We're Not Going Anywhere, which was released on Friday, here is David Ramirez's tune Stone Age. To record the album, Ramirez, who has always co-produced or self-produced his records, hired Sam Kassirer to produce and help evolve the recording process, decamping his band to the Greath North Sound Society, an eighteenth-century farmhouse in rural Maine that serves as Kassirer's studio. As an American of Mexican descent, Ramirez wrote the album as a response to the current American political landscape. About the track, he writes that "I was visiting my girlfriend in London during July 4th week last year, and waking up every morning there was a lot of stuff going on here in the States. I was reading the news as far as police vs. Black Lives, violence and things like that, marches and rallies and the gay club in Orlando getting shot up. It was just strange. I found myself in a state of mourning for the country, so I started writing that song over there, thinking, 'Maybe I should stay here.’”

Check out the record We're Not Going Anywhere on Spotify now!

WATCH: Public Service Broadcasting - 'Turn No More'

The wonderful chaps of Public Service Broadcasting have shared a video for the tune Turn No More, taken from recent (and brilliant) record Every Valley. A slight departure from their previous records, it's the first to feature guest vocalists and this track features Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield, who stars in the video too. Charting at an impressive number four in the album charts back in July, this is the fourth track to be taken from the record, a concept album surrounding the theme of mining in the Welsh Valleys. Talking about the track, PSB's J. Willgoose Esq. says that "I wanted the track to have a restrained, plaintive, defiant but still angry feel, and working with James’ voice and the source material was a big part of that, especially layering the voices towards the end. At its heart it’s a song about the people living with the aftermath – both environmental and personal – of the desolation caused both by the practices of an industry and its subsequent collapse.”

With a North American tour this month, PSB head back to play UK tour in October, with shows in Cardiff, Norwich, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Leeds, Coventry, Nottingham, Bristol, Portsmouth, Bexhill and London's Hammersmith Apollo - full dates including a 20-date European tour in November on the band's site here.

WATCH: Geowulf - 'Drink Too Much'

Australian duo Geowulf first came onto my radar last Summer, playing at a show for Doctors Without Borders alongside King Charles, Tom Figgins and Tempesst - a cracking line-up! Following the absolute stunner Saltwater and a couple more singles over the year, the duo, made up of Star Kendrick and Toma Banjanin, recently released new tune Drink Too Much. In the track's video premiere on Wonderland Magazine Star talks about the track being inspired by "The worst night of my life. A big big break up created from one awful night on the booze", before going on to talk about an album release - exciting! Check out the video below...