Jetplane Landing return with a genre-busting, funk-laden third album that will make a mockery of your expectations, blow your mind and shake your ass.

For years Clone Quartet have flown under the radar, biding their time. But Clone Quartet’s time is now. These sonic stealth fighters are about to make their perfectionist presence felt, unleashing madness, obsession and merry hell with debut album, ‘Well-Oiled Machine’.

One of the nearly insightful things to plop from Johnny Rotten’s mouth was the nugget ‘Anger is an energy’. Gallows have both, fuelling their indictments of a grim country: one of cynical Monkey Dust abandon, populated by politicians as grey as John Major’s ‘Spitting Image’ caricature, and lost sheep herded towards spiritual Armageddon by an overly materialist middle way.

“The UK never really has any sunshine and it never really has any harsh winter, it’s just very grey. It’s the grey country, and it’s hard for people.

“It’s comfortable to be born here, grow up here and live, work and die here,” says Carter, the self-determination in his voice drifting into mourning. “Whatever you’re given you accept and swallow - you don’t strive for anything else. I really think that’s the mainstream view. That’s how I think most mainstream people view England.”

Carter once lived in Slough, perfectly named for a place he considered to be one of the worst towns in Britain. What then, is England? “Gallows England - three words: it’s grey, it’s almost defeated - but it’s responsive. Nearly defeated but responsive; people are reacting to this injection and everyone’s excited about what’s going on. They need to grab what’s happening, enjoy it and accept it. And that should become the norm. I’m not talking revolution. It doesn’t need to be a great change, just a number of small ones, and that can be the future.”

The future for Gallows lies in the flammable atmosphere of their live shows. Nitrous bombs of frenzied energy and confrontation, the band lurch like lions in feeding heat, predatory, confronting audiences with a howling, lupine wake-up call.

Screaming lyrics like “We don’t fuck about/Say what we think”, “Mayday, Mayday/Man overboard again” and “Pour some petrol through your letterbox” help to demolish the boundaries between band and audience and allows Frank, one year older than guitar-playing brother and bandmate Steph, to live up to his name. The direct delivery is also something Carter believes helps his band connect with the spirit of a bygone age.

“Bring it all back, break it down to what it was many many years ago, right at the inception of it all, when it was just about the music,” he states, hoping to continue the live ethos and agenda of bands that truly mattered. “It was about sharing this love for your bad situation, making positivity out of the negativity around you, and having a shout about it - but being safe in it. I hope that’s what we’re doing, but time will tell.”

The shows are intense, full-proof evidence of a band not groping after the commercial success that will duly come their way, but doing it out of necessity. It’s obvious, though, from the liner notes of ‘Orchestra Of Wolves’ it hasn’t all been love and unity. Gallows have been burned. They know how vicious can people can be, and how the media can occasionally get it wrong.

“Right now it’s frustrating. The media is painting us as bruisers out for trouble and starting fights but that’s not the way it is. The only conflict we’ve ever had was where kids would come to our shows who didn’t belong at gigs, you know? They knew they didn’t belong, they like raving, getting pilled up, and binge drinking at the weekends. They’re in unfortunate jobs and they’re stuck there.”

“It’s not their fault, y’know? It really isn’t - they’ve got nothing better,” he says of the disenfranchised youth. “They see a bunch of kids with a scene that’s thriving, so they instantly say ‘we want what they’ve got, and if we can’t have it, we’ll take it away so that they feel like we do’. It’s not their fault.

“I’d hope that the press we’ve been given, might make people realise, ‘well, actually, all the music I’ve been fed is bullshit. It’s got no point, no sense of direction, no real bollocks, no backing, no lasting power, and there’s no fire there’. Not anger necessarily, but you need something. You need to light the fire around people’s feet and watch them move, quick.”

This Feature Originally Appeared In AU Issue 37

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Something is rotten in the state of England. Standards are falling, mediocrity rules and the middle of the road is the place to be. But bursting from the belly of the beast are Gallows - tightening the noose around the neck of modern music.

Think of the most intense combination of fear and adrenaline you can muster. Now listen to Gallows’ ‘Orchestra Of Wolves’ and prepare to have your ideas blown apart. Getting a major-label reissue later this month following the unprecedented success of its initial 2006 run on In At The Deep End, each track on the Watford five-piece’s debut explodes with feral force, and will make your eyes rattle like dice in a cup. According to 22-year-old vocalist Frank Carter, that’s always been the plan.

“We wanted to raise the bar across the board. Not just for hardcore, punk or rock ‘n’ roll. I want everyone say to themselves, ‘we need to work this shit out, it’s been going on for far too long. Let’s do something about it’.”

When the dust settles after first listens, you understand just how high Gallows are aiming. ‘Just Because You’re Sleeping Next to Me Doesn’t Mean You’re Safe’, ‘Last Fight For The Living Dead’ and ‘In The Belly Of A Shark’ are but three of 12 cuts forced on to the disc, full of bloodshot riffs and imagery of snakes, wild eyes, teeth, arson and disgusted expulsions against modern-day binge Britain. It is an album of passion and strife that rages against the chokehold of mainstream mediocrity on music, minds and emotion in the UK.

“I really hope that people realise you can play any kind of music with passion,” says Carter, self-imposed pressure weighing heavy on his shoulders. “I want to see people playing indie with passion, dance groups getting more active, and people playing like their heart and soul depends on it. If that doesn’t happen, we’ve failed.

That vicious little animal on the east coast of Ireland met its demise at the end of a tent hammer, but I never found out what became of the body, nor did I ask. The panic of the event had scared me, and I waited at a waterside restaurant while the damp heap of matted fur, flesh and ember was disposed of.

When we speak, Frank Carter has a cold. “We got back from Europe a week and a half ago. You get back it’s grey and it’s pissing it down. My body’s saying ‘this is fucking rubbish’.”

The English half-weather casts an ominous shadow over the national psyche. It’s a view you won’t hear on the tourist board adverts. Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’, a timely exposure of a less merry old kingdom, overlaps with ‘Orchestra Of Wolves’ exposure of subcultural encounters and corruption. Meadow’s grimy urban milieu, like Welsh’s Edinburgh or Joyce’s Dublin, gives the lie to ideas of any refined embourgeoisement that would seek to conceal ugly truths under the chintz of the cultural carpet.

“It’s quite a sinister film,” says Carter. “With the racism creeping in, it’s a bit scary. Certain characters realised what was happening and some didn’t. It’s clever but really sad to know that that’s how it happened.”

Punk music has always been associated with awful things. In 1977 it was upheaval, anarchy and destruction, in 2007 it’s Blink 182.

“Punk is no longer ‘punk’, but I still see so many people from the original movement doing great, creative things,” says Carter. We had a photo shoot with Gavin Watson. I mean, he released the original ‘Skins’ book. Gallows don’t necessarily belong in that scene as none of us are skinheads but I’d like to think that in some respects we’re the voice of a generation. We’re not really part of any group, regardless of how people want to label our music.”

Carter’s expectedly nebulous conclusion is that ‘punk’ will always be a miscreant.

“Punk’s always gonna be a misfit because it’s made up of outcasts and it’s never gonna stand a fair trial,” he says in its defence. “That’s what I love about it. Once you break under and see beyond the aggressive image, you see a bunch of kids with a shared love for the same thing.”

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It would be disingenuous to merely define Manu Chao as being a purveyor of ‘world music’ - the Spanish-born, French-residing songwriter has much more to offer than can be summed up in such vague terms, and has much in common with Super Furry Animals with his multi-lingual approach, socialist politics and stylistic flexibility. As adept with swtiching genre as he is with other languages (he’s fluent in several, most making an appearance here), he throws salsa, rockabilly, reggae and punk into the mix - often in the same song. Whilst largely pulling it off without overwhelming the listener, there are points where the album is almost too hectic: not a recommended album for those nursing hangovers, but definitely for those lamenting the end of an all-too-short summer.

Words_Dean Driscoll

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Tristeza Maleza’, ‘A Cosa’
FOR FANS OF: Super Furry Animals, Gogol Bordello

It would be disingenuous to merely define Manu Chao as being a purveyor of ‘world music’ - the Spanish-born, French-residing songwriter has much more to offer than can be summed up in such vague terms, and has much in common with Super Furry Animals with his multi-lingual approach, socialist politics and stylistic flexibility. As adept with swtiching genre as he is with other languages (he’s fluent in several, most making an appearance here), he throws salsa, rockabilly, reggae and punk into the mix - often in the same song. Whilst largely pulling it off without overwhelming the listener, there are points where the album is almost too hectic: not a recommended album for those nursing hangovers, but definitely for those lamenting the end of an all-too-short summer.

Words_Dean Driscoll

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Tristeza Maleza’, ‘A Cosa’
FOR FANS OF: Super Furry Animals, Gogol Bordello

David Holmes’ ‘Free Association’ consort Stephen Hilton connects with Poland’s Pati Yang, concocting a salacious brew of high-end and cinematic darkside kicks with ‘Flykkllr’. Sleazy, stylised and sure to soundtrack more than a few European cocktail parties. Pilfering bass from Dead Prez, Black Sabbath and Massive Attack do the duo no harm, their reproduction classy and inventive enough to sustain interest. ‘Shine Out’ is a gloriously randy romp, ‘FEAR’ a track that could stand alone as edit music for a film.Yang’s vocals are a kitten’s purr that deserve attention, a pleasure to listen to even on the uninspired moments. Some cut-up moments throw traces of glitch into the mix, artful and appreciated when ’standard coquette’ mode becomes the norm. These guys know about big audiences, and ‘Flykkllr’ is a fashionista’s dream - a stylish Hollywood romp with enough grit to keep it interesting. Can’t wait to see the videos.

Words_ Kiran Acharya

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Shine Out’, ‘Music For 12 Sounds’
FOR FANS OF: Chicks On Speed, Green Velvet

David Holmes’ ‘Free Association’ consort Stephen Hilton connects with Poland’s Pati Yang, concocting a salacious brew of high-end and cinematic darkside kicks with ‘Flykkllr’. Sleazy, stylised and sure to soundtrack more than a few European cocktail parties. Pilfering bass from Dead Prez, Black Sabbath and Massive Attack do the duo no harm, their reproduction classy and inventive enough to sustain interest. ‘Shine Out’ is a gloriously randy romp, ‘FEAR’ a track that could stand alone as edit music for a film.Yang’s vocals are a kitten’s purr that deserve attention, a pleasure to listen to even on the uninspired moments. Some cut-up moments throw traces of glitch into the mix, artful and appreciated when ’standard coquette’ mode becomes the norm. These guys know about big audiences, and ‘Flykkllr’ is a fashionista’s dream - a stylish Hollywood romp with enough grit to keep it interesting. Can’t wait to see the videos.

Words_ Kiran Acharya

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Shine Out’, ‘Music For 12 Sounds’
FOR FANS OF: Chicks On Speed, Green Velvet

This is the best Ryan Adams & The Cardinals album yet. Clocking in around 40 minutes, it’s also the shortest and the most consistent. Some of the songs have been around for years. ‘Off Broadway’ first appeared on the unreleased ‘Suicide Handbook’ in 2001 and ‘These Girls’ used to be called ‘Hey There Mrs. Lovely’ and is even older. The point is that while Adams has been a little short on quality control lately, with Easy Tiger it’s as if he wants to show us that he can choose the right songs to create an album with a definite feel. The feel is of a comfortable, well-oiled band. ‘Goodnight Rose’ and ‘Halloween Head’ showcase the garage rock side of The Cardinals similar to ‘Sweet Illusions’ and it’s a shame that side doesn’t appear more. The rest of the album is all acoustic guitar and Adams reclaiming his crown as the ‘Bummer King’. ‘Two’ is a beautiful lament with Sheryl Crow, ‘Everybody Knows’ has a great chorus about unrequited love and ‘The Sun Also Sets’ is a classic. While it’s short on instantly gratifying hits, the songs reward repeated listens until you realise that this is his best album since ‘Gold’.

Words_Andrew Williamson

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Two’, ‘Halloween Head’, ‘Oh My God Whatever etc’
FOR FANS OF: Whiskeytown, Wilco, The Jayhawks

This is the best Ryan Adams & The Cardinals album yet. Clocking in around 40 minutes, it’s also the shortest and the most consistent. Some of the songs have been around for years. ‘Off Broadway’ first appeared on the unreleased ‘Suicide Handbook’ in 2001 and ‘These Girls’ used to be called ‘Hey There Mrs. Lovely’ and is even older. The point is that while Adams has been a little short on quality control lately, with Easy Tiger it’s as if he wants to show us that he can choose the right songs to create an album with a definite feel. The feel is of a comfortable, well-oiled band. ‘Goodnight Rose’ and ‘Halloween Head’ showcase the garage rock side of The Cardinals similar to ‘Sweet Illusions’ and it’s a shame that side doesn’t appear more. The rest of the album is all acoustic guitar and Adams reclaiming his crown as the ‘Bummer King’. ‘Two’ is a beautiful lament with Sheryl Crow, ‘Everybody Knows’ has a great chorus about unrequited love and ‘The Sun Also Sets’ is a classic. While it’s short on instantly gratifying hits, the songs reward repeated listens until you realise that this is his best album since ‘Gold’.

Words_Andrew Williamson

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Two’, ‘Halloween Head’, ‘Oh My God Whatever etc’
FOR FANS OF: Whiskeytown, Wilco, The Jayhawks

Coming across like the X-Men of the indie rock world, Canadian supergroup New Pornographers count among their numbers Destroyer’s Dan Behar and chanteuse Neko Case. But do not fret, for there is no Audioslave ego-tripping on show here. In fact, vocal duties are evenly split between the main contributors, the downside being that the New Pornographers are often a ship without an anchor. ‘Challengers’ feels less like a cohesive album, and more like a collection of songs. But that is not to say that they are not great songs. ‘My Rights Versus Yours’ is a spry pop ditty, while the half-sung, half-spoken ‘Myriad Harbour’ evokes the sloppy rhythms of ‘Walk On The Wild Side’. Sadly, ‘All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth’ is freakishly similar to the one song that Kaiser Chiefs’ keep on churning out, but then you can’t have everything. Thankfully, there is plenty to savour elsewhere: along with the velvet folds of Case’s voice, there is a smorgasbord of styles on offer, as everything from pop to folk to prog rock is thrown at the wall. Not all of it sticks, but the lovely but spooky ‘Adventures In Solitude’ sure does – like a poison dart.

Words_Ross Thompson

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DOWNLOAD: ‘My Rights Versus Yours’, ‘Myriad Harbour’
FOR FANS OF: Belle And Sebastian, The Decemberists, The Reindeer Section