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The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing announce UK Tour!
“…thrashingly loud and coruscatingly funny.”
- The Guardian
“Leading lights of the steampunk scene…” - NME
The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing have announced their first full UK Tour to celebrate their forthcoming album, Not Your Typical Victorians.
To get a taste of what you can expect from one of their live shows you can listen to album title track 'Not Your Typical Victorian' on the band's SoundCloud page. Pre-order the album on BandCamp to download the track for free.
Following the album's sold out launch show at Camden's Barfly on 9th September, the four piece will be heading to the Isle Of Wight to rile up the crowd at Bestival before going into full tour mode in November.
Tickets are available via the band's official website and you can check out the full list of dates below:
Album Launch (SOLD OUT)
11th Sept - Bestival - Isle Of Wight
17th Nov - The Musician - Leicester
18th Nov - Talking Heads - Southampton
19th Nov - The Fulford Arms - York
20th Nov - Think Tank - Newcastle
22nd Nov - Sticky Mike's Frog Bar - Brighton
24th Nov - Ruby Lounge - Manchester
25th Nov - Stereo - Glasgow
26th Nov - The Oobleck - Birmingham
27th Nov - Bullingdon - Oxford
28th Nov - Louisiana - Bristol
13th Dec - Steampunk Yule Ball, The Phoenix, Exeter
Imagine, if you will, a socially conscious punk band channelling the sound of a robot Sid Vicious, hopped up on Crass, covering Slayer in an 1877 East End Music Hall: a murky mix of Doctor Who, Doctor Watson and doctored history. TMTWNBBFN spout socially conscious lyrics focussed on the nineteenth century that remain remarkably applicable today, with previous double a-side single The Gin Song / Third Class Coffin along with album tracks ‘A Clean Sweep’ and ‘Miner’ strangely poignant in this new age of austerity.
Formed of Andy Heintz (vocals and musical saw), comedian Andrew O’Neill (guitar and vocals), comedian and writer Marc Burrows (bass and vocals), and Jez Miller (drums and vocals), the London four piece’s obsession with murky Victoriana and a flair for writing satirical songs that lose none of their punk edge has seen them grace the stages of Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party, Bestival, Green Man, Latitude and the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as sold out shows at London’s Borderline and The Garage.
The band count Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Robert Rankin and Phil Jupitus as fans and their 2012 release The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing Cannot Be Killed By Conventional Weapons had The Independent On Sunday’s Simon Price giving it a well deserved 4 star review noting it was “packed with droll Victoriana - 1877-meets-1977 fun”.
Not Your Typical Victorians is released via Leather Apron on 16th October 2015. You can pre-order the album on BandCamp.
Watch Sofia B’s video for ‘Soldiers’!
“…truly inspired.”- God Is In The TV Zine
Sofia B's talent lies in taking on weighty subjects, and transforming them into accessible, heartwarming music. She wrote her forthcoming single Soldiers during an escape to New Orleans with her best friend, Avery Nejam. Both diagnosed with Crohn’s disease while together at university, they decided to share the burden and pretend, for a short while at least, that everything was fine.
The gorgeous video for the single premiered on Curve Magazine's website. You can watch it now via Sofia's YouTube channel.
You can also stream Soldiers on Sofia's SoundCloud page.
The atmosphere in The Big Easy had an inspiring effect on Sofia, surrounded by its creole delicacies, timeless music and amazing community spirit. She realised that, in spite of her personal problems, everyone faces their own internal battles making everybody soldiers against the challenges life presents. She found comfort in the realisation that no one has to face the fight alone, and decided to spread the message through her latest single.
Sofia sees herself first and foremost as a storyteller, using life as her inspiration and a flair for narrative that’s seen her compared to the likes of Kathleen Adams and Tegan & Sara. Soldiers is the second single from her EP In The City, which presents four illuminating slices of of Sofia’s life with stripped back pop arrangements built on folk foundations.
Sofia is also giving away free track, 'King', a Years & Years cover produced by Kandylion. A departure from her usual mellow acoustic sound, the chilled out dance track premiered on Clash Magazine's website, and you can download it for free via Sofia's SoundCloud page.
The video for her previous single, Ice Cold Love, premiered on Gigslutz who described it as "a charming, catchy offering that will lodge itself in your ears for days after listening." Watch the video now on Sofia's YouTube channel and stream the single via the ABoF SoundCloud page.
Soldiers is released via Montiel Records on 18th September 2015.
Introducing… Andrew Wasylyk!
Andrew Wasylyk is the alias of Scottish writer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Andrew Mitchell. Cinematic nostalgia, elements of Baroque pop and the influence of classic 1970s songwriters come together in a diverse collection of ten songs which comprise debut album, Soroky.
You can stream album track 'Last Of The Loved' via Andrew's SoundCloud page to hear his soulful and distinctive voice.
The record is the ninth to date on which Mitchell has featured; he joined alternative rock band Idlewild in 2014, and has released six albums with ongoing indie pop group The Hazey Janes along with the acclaimed debut of psych duo Art of the Memory Palace. Previous tours supporting Wilco, and as a session player with Electric Soft Parade and School of Language further add to the rich mix of influences which shape his first proper solo work.
Soroky, the name of the village his grandfather Iwan Wasylyk hailed from in Western Ukraine, explores a range of themes – from the disillusion and anxiety of “Last Of The Loved” to the playful riposte “Mr White, It's No Trouble At All”. The songs convey warmth, but at the same time a spaciousness that makes them seem at home in the still of night: a feeling particularly apparent in "The More I Believe, The Less I Really Know”.
Recorded on the Isle of Mull in just five days, orchestral layers weave in and out of traditional guitar, piano and drum arrangements, creating a sense of haunting unease which is punctuated by Mitchell's powerful yet fragile vocals: reminiscent at times of early Scott Walker, Randy Newman or the late Billy Mackenzie.
Released November 6th 2015 through Empty Words, Soroky will be available on limited edition vinyl and digital formats. The first live dates will be ten intimate solo performances at theatres across the UK, supporting Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue. Further shows with a full band are planned for early 2016.
9th Nov - Lemon Tree - Aberdeen
11th Nov - Gardyne Theatre - Dundee
12th Nov - Cottier Theatre - Glasgow
15th Nov - Floral Pavilion - New Brighton
16th Nov - RNCM - Manchester
17th Nov - St. George’s - Bristol
18th Nov - King’s Place - London
22nd Nov - Town Hall - Birmingham
23rd Nov - The Sage - Newcastle
Soroky is released via Empty Words on 6th November 2015.
Damien McFly’s debut album ‘Parallel Mirrors’ out now!
Damien McFly has released his debut album Parallel Mirrors. It's available to buy digitally on iTunes.
To give you a taste of Damien's effortless blend of acoustic folk and rock, he's giving away free album track 'Losing Myself'. You can stream and download it via the ABoF SoundCloud page.
The video for single and album track I Can't Reply premiered on GigSlutz, and you can watch it now via Damien's YouTube channel and stream it
via the ABoF SoundCloud page.
A powerful collection of heartfelt songs, Damien’s debut channels the best of Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers sound, both bands having been a huge influence on him as he developed as a songwriter. Each instrument on the release has been recorded unplugged, utilising the natural ambience and reverb of specific recording locations to pick up the warmth of live performance on microphone, elevating songs such as ‘Losing Myself’, ‘Reflection’ and the aforementioned single I Can’t Reply to dizzying heights as the fullness of Damien’s guitar envelops his smooth vocal delivery. ‘Don’t Steal My Wish’ is an intricate festival of beats and accordion, creating a traveller-folk atmosphere that will have listeners up on their feet, trying to catch the beat.
Damien McFly is the stage name for Damiano Ferrari, a driven, passionate and charismatic singer from Padova, Italy. Dedicated to live performance, he has played over 200 gigs throughout Europe in less than two years and in the summer of 2014 he crossed the Atlantic to play gigs in Chicago, Indianapolis and Nashville. He recently toured France, Belgium, Holland and Germany as well as gracing the Hard Rock Rocks Acoustic Stage in Edinburgh.
With a series of cover albums under his belt, Parallel Mirrors marks Damien’s first opportunity to present listeners with a collection of songs and a sound that he can truly call his own.
Parallel Mirrors is out now via Ferrari Records and available to buy digitally on iTunes. Single I Can’t Reply is also available on iTunes.
A Badge of Friendship celebrate 20 FUBAR Radio shows!
Since April, we here at A Badge of Friendship have been crazying up the airwaves with our weekly new music show on FUBAR Radio. Although we’re a music PR company, our FUBAR show has been a great way for us to showcase the brilliant new bands we’re digging on a weekly basis that aren’t on our roster. The show goes out live tonight (August 24th) from 7-9pm (changing to 6-8pm from September 7th) online via FUBAR’s website, but listeners can also check out the show via the Fubar Radio app via iTunes.
This week we celebrate our 20th episode on FUBAR with a 'How To - Music Industry' special featuring rock Photographer Scarlet Page, Gigwise Editor Andrew Trendell and Olive Grove Records founder Lloyd Meredith. The show goes out live tonight (August 24th) from 7-9pm, but if you miss it you can listen back via the app, SoundCloud or our website.
So far, we’ve had some brilliant guests on the show including Jay Baruchel (How To Train Your Dragon), The Twilight Sad, Mike Vennart, Funeral For A Friend, Torche and Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro) who called in recently to surprise Paul on his birthday.
From September 7th, the time of the show will be changing to 6-8pm, right after comedian James Acaster and we’re mixing up the old format with new weekly features.
Our Session of the Month feature will be hosted by Sofar Sounds, who’ll be joining us once a month in the studio. Watch out for that!
We’ll also be doing country / city specials. In episode 10 we focussed on Canada and episode 19 was a Scottish special featuring guests James from The Twilight Sad and Halina, founder of Scottish based website Podcart.
The usual features will return, albeit monthly – World of Weird, Label Love and Pass The Cheese. Plus we have some brilliant guests planned for the months ahead as well as the usual surreal chat and nonsense.
If you’re a band or a label and would like your track to be considered for the show, please email info@abadgeoffriendship.com.