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Features Music

14 bands to hear in 2013

List choices from Zac, Joe Parry, Jennu Chu, James Sherry and Sean Hendrie.

2013 will be awash with all sorts of musical projects new and old. Knowing there are so many to choose from out there, we decided to throw together a selection of what we are listening to in here right now with an eye on what all of these bands have in the can for this year. Genre-wise, these are across the board so click play and find something you like.

Yep, there’s 14. No top 10 or top 20 bollocks. Dive in.

PISSED JEANS

Not a new band by any means but Pissed Jeans are a riot that need your attention! New album ‘Honeys’ is coming this month on Sub Pop and we can confirm that it is the heaviest record on no legs and about to completely wreck your ears. Kind of like Black Flag in a fight with Unsane on meths. Expect more carnage, more noise and more chaos from this lot this year. Superbness incoming.

WILDMEN

Roman garage-punk has never sounded better if you are tuned into the psych sounds of upcoming duo Wildmen. If you are digging the sounds of Fidlar and Black Lips then this moustache’d two-piece may well be right up your strasse. Listen to this single and if you want more head here.

JADED EYES

Jaded Eyes hail from Leeds and feature members of UK hardcore veterans Voorhees and The Horror. Taking their musical cues from legendary melodic DC punk rock outfits like Dag Nasty and Government Issue, Jaded Eyes are both gritty and melodic, staying true to the roots of emotive punk rock whilst at the same time they manage to sound contemporary and relevant. They have an album due on Boss Tuneage Records later this year.

SINGLE MOTHERS

As dangerous as they are impassioned, Single Mothers have been tearing up US stages with the likes of Quicksand, Touche Amore and Pianos Become The Teeth. Expect blood, sweat and a debut album in 2013.

YOUNG AVIATORS

This Scottish trio will be flying the flag for catchy indie-pop throughout 2013. Young Aviators are currently putting down the finishing touches to their debut album with producer Jamie Savage and have a free download up for grabs from here.

COLD CROWS DEAD

This ‘supergroup’ will be making their mark in 2013 with a project that should also grace stages this summer at festivals. Welcome to the wonderful world of Cold Crows Dead. their first offering ‘Ghost That Burned Your House Down’ is dark, deep and deadly addictive. If you are fan of Eels and Sparklehorse then you will be clicking this faster than others. Genius stuff.

WOODLANDS

As chillers go, Woodlands could be a great choice for stoners in 2013. The Swedish trio have an album of laid back but rocking treats that would sit well alongside records from Budgie, Yoko Ono, T-Rex, Grateful Dead and Neil Young.

DIAMOND RUGS

Talking of Black Lips, Ian Saint Pé from the band and his merry men who make up super-group Diamond Rugs should be releasing their debut sometime in the first quarter and hopefully with a tour to boot. Their album is sleaze-laden, stuffed full of pole-dancing, garage steez and all recorded down in Nashville. Don’t miss it.

GOAT

Afro-Beat collective GOAT mesmerized the Crossfire office with their stunning album “World Music” in late 2012. This crew come from Korpolombolo in deepest, darkest Sweden and have an incredible array of sounds that range from African to classic 70’s funk and will inject colour into your life on first listen.

THE CHILD OF LOV

More great, laid back tunes with 70’s inspiration comes from The Child of Lov. Double Six will be releasing more goodness from this solo artist this year, look out for him.

THE WYTCHES

Brighton’s hottest new filthy garage-grungers The Wytches should be on your radar right now. This new video for ‘Digsaw’ says it all, go grab a free download of it from here and wait for news of their debut release soon.

BABY GODZILLA

This year’s hottest metal band will be Baby Godzilla. Why? Because they have the lot in terms of banging riffs and fantastic harmonies and they also have something different to offer than the standard metalcore that hung about doing the same old melodic choruses and throat engaged verse malarkey in 2012. Get stuck into this track Powerboat Disaster as a first dip into what this Leeds 4-piece are about to unleash this year. Ph: Julie Kane

THE FINAL CRISIS

thefinalcrisis

Unsigned five-piece from Leeds formed in 2009 have two solid EP’s, 2010’s ‘Counterparts’ and 2012’s ‘Seasons’ under their belt. With an impressive following from sharing the stage with the likes of For The Fallen Dreams and Protest The Hero, The Final Crisis have the potential to be dark horses come this year. For fans of: Parkway Drive, For The Fallen Dreams and The Acacia Strain.

MY EXTRAORDINARY

Alternative rock five piece My Extraordinary are set to make a name for themselves in the near future. The Newcastle upon Tyne band are set to tour with Yashin this year. Prepare for them to unleash their awesome riffs on you. For fans of: Deaf Havana, Mallory Knox and Don Broco.

Categories
Buzz Chart Reviews Single Reviews

Diamond Rugs

Blue Mountains
Partisan Records

diamondrugsbluemountainAs ‘super groups’ go, Diamond Rugs lead the way if your ears are made happy by filthy, laid-back rock n’ roll as a rule. This brand new video for ‘Blue Mountains‘ is fronted by none other than Black Lips’ member Ian Saint Pé who delivers a sleaze-laden, pole-dancing, handful of catchy garage steez recorded down in Nashville.

Diamond Rugs’ debut self-titled album was released by Partisan in the US back in April and will be on our list as one of the Top 10 of the year. There’s talk of a UK release and tour so if we get wind of it, we will share the news. If this new single floats your boat then grab a free mp3 of Gimme A Beer from here. It’s personally my number one song of 2012.

Diamond Rugs is John McCauley (Deer Tick), Robbie Crowell (Deer Tick), Ian Saint Pé (The Black Lips), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Hardy Morris (Dead Confederate) and Bryan Dufresne (Six Finger Satellite).

Categories
Music News

Diamond Rugs Gimme A Beer Live in Atlanta

diamond-rugsAtlanta Supergroup Diamond Rugs have released video footage of their epic track “Gimme A Beer” this week. For those of you stoked on this musical project that sees various members of Black Lips, Dead Confederate, Deer Tick, Six Finger Satellite and Los Lobos get together for a country/garage party, check out this footage of their debut show and hope they are making plans to visit the UK.

A full album has been recorded, so look out for release dates soon but for now, pop over to our free download feature to pick up this tune for nish.

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Features Music

Top 5 MP3 Downloads

Photo by Jimmy Fontaine

This year has offered us some amazing tunes so far, so we thought we would stack up a bunch of freebies for you to get a taste of what’s out there at the moment with bands playing on the Crossfire Sound System. Just follow the red links to where the tracks are hosted and download them.

1. BLACK MOUNTAIN

Stoner rock Crossfire favourites Black Mountain are giving away a free track over at Stereogum this month. This epic track ‘Mary Lou’ is an 8 minute psychedelic jam that is part of the apocalyptic surfing movie Year Zero that is out in April. Grab it now.

2. DIAMOND RUGS

Diamond Rugs are a new indie supergroup with members of Dead Confederate, Black Lips, Deer Tick and others. This tune ‘Gimme A Beer’ is probably the best tune we have heard so far this year, in fact, nothing else comes close. If you like your rock and roll with a filthy country and garage edge then grab this now, it’s here for you to take away this month for free.

3. CEREMONY

Back with a new album out on Matador Records on March 5th titled ‘Zoo’, these US punks have changed their sound slightly and become more 80’s punk than the hardcore they were stomping about town on their last full length. Regardless, Zoo still has its moments and is worthy of a listen. Ceremony are giving away a track called ‘Adult’ this month, so get a taste of what’s coming from here and download it.

4. ALL THE SAINTS

Remember their epic debut album ‘Fire On Corridor X’? If not, then you are about to discover an essential album if you are into stoner/indie rock. Atlanta three piece All The Saints have a new album out this year called ‘Intro To Fractions’ that is mellower than their first offering but still one of this year’s finest. They are giving away a free download of ‘Half Way Red’, click here for the goods.

5. CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN
Fat riffs and tonnes of psychedelic rock is usually associated with Belgium’s Creature With The Atom Brain. They have a new album out in April called ‘The Birds Fly Low’ and this offering that you can take away for nothing is a good introduction to how they jam out those 70’s solo’s. Look out for them supporting Mark Lanegan on tour in the UK from March 4th.

Categories
Buzz Chart Music Single Reviews

Diamond Rugs

Gimme A Beer
www.partisanrecords.com

diamond-rugs2012 is shaping up to be a pretty vintage year for decent albums so let us introduce you to yet another contender that should stoke you out if you like your garage rock and country.

Firstly, it’s best to mention that Diamond Rugs is a project that was conceived back in August last year. John McCauly and Robbie Crowell from Deer Tick, Ian St Pe from Black Lips, Bryan Dufresne of Six Finger Satellite, Steve Berlin from Los Lobos and Hardy Morris from Dead Confederate went down to Nashville, Tennessee together to lay down some tracks and miracles happened. Speaking to Morris back then, he mentioned to us on a telegram that: “We were planning on recording 5 songs, and we did 14, so I guess you could say we had fun! It’s got a couple of Ian’s songs, 4 of mine, and the rest are John’s and other folks. Should come out early next year, I’ll keep you in the loop.

Fast forward to January 18th and Diamond Rugs has surfaced online with a taster of what’s to come in a tune called ‘Gimme a Beer‘. The result, a mighty fine slab of catchy, slide guitar and horn assisted, country-rock’n’roll with a dirty Southern edge that makes you want to shake your shit over and over. I quote the words, “Damn it feels good to be a gangster!”

Check it out for yourself, download this tune for free and look out for an album announcement for the UK pretty soon.