New Indie Music Discovery: “Fastracks” 27

Indie/Bedroom Pop songwriter based out of Italy for lovers of: decadent lo-fi altPop.

Former singer & guitarrist of experimental psychedelic band 1997EV gone solo.

This is his second single.

On the track, vocalist Ralph Torrefranca explains, ““Terminal” is the most personal song I’ve ever written. I suffer from serious health OCD that is borderline crippling at times. I wanted to write a song that projects the anxiety & irrational thoughts that my body & mind go through during my worst “episodes”.”

On the video, he adds: “”Brian had such a great vibe to be around! He turned our long shooting day into a really fun hang and played the doctor perfectly. Between his cameo and Ben Mehlman’s unique direction for the video, we’re proud of how it turned out!”

Formed in 2019, LA-based Cuffed Up were born out of a search for “self acceptance and self-realization”. Amidst a shared affinity for the ever-expanding global post-punk scene, vocalist and guitarist duo Ralph Torrefranca and Sapphire Jewell, bassist Vic Ordonez and drummer Joe Liptock breathe fresh life into the resurgent genre.

Pairing up with producer Brad Wood (Touché Amoré, Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair) and spending a week honing the songs through experimentation with sounds and ideas, the LA-based quartet have created an assured and confident slice of post-punk-leaning indie rock, chock full of big guitars, rolling bass and thunderous drums. Cohesive yet expansive, soaring yet direct, Asymmetry draws lines across the globe to the burgeoning post-punk scene in the UK, while also leaning into ‘90s indie rock and grunge, a loud and rhythmic rainbow of post-punk that is fluid and versatile.

Whether it’s the driving and propulsive anti-love anthem “Bonnie”, Torrefranca’s brutal reckoning with his own health struggles on “Terminal”, the inventive freeform of Jewell’s guitars in “Canaries” or Ordonez and Liptock’s fidgeting and dexterous rhythms in “One By One”, Asymmetry is a line in the sand for Cuffed Up, a declaration of intent from the young band who are poised to breakout from their West Coast home.

Post-punk swamp-goth rockers Inca Babies are back with a new collection of tunes, drawn from their irresistibly favourite areas of sonic imagination. In November, the Manchester trio will release their eighth studio album ‘Swamp Street Soul’. Ahead of this, they present lead track ‘Walk In The Park’. With a walking blues beat and infectious guitar lick, this feels like a reminiscing stroll through bluesy post-punk musings – as easy as a walk in the park.

Having gone through various incarnations, today Inca Babies is a trio made up of Harry Stafford (guitar, keys, vocals), bassist Vince Hunt (A Witness, Blue Orchids) and Rob Haynes (The Membranes, Goldblade) on drums and percussion. It’s been seven years since they completed the release cycle for their Death Blues Trilogy, which included the albums ‘Death Message Blues’ (2010), ‘Deep Dark Blue’ (2012) and ‘The Stereo Plan’ (2014).

‘Swamp Street Soul’ takes us across a tightly euphoric path of differing moods and new arenas of guitar songwriting. This long-player continues the band’s explosive exploration of goth-punk and death-rock and trash blues with epic cautionary ballads. Frontman Harry Stafford has written a fulsome collection of tall tales of madness, fearfully larger-than-life characters and extravagant yarns, backed by a no-nonsense rhythm section locked into a pounding backbeat.

Produced by Simon ‘Ding’ Archer (The Fall, PJ Harvey) at 6Db Studios, the clarity and fullness of sound on this new album surpasses that of any previous Inca release. This 11-track offering includes a re-visitation of ‘Crawling Garage Gasoline’, originally released on the ‘Surfin’ in Locustland’ EP back in 1985 and also recorded for the Incas’ third John Peel session in June that year.

“Having had some time away from the Inca Babies (I have released three solo albums, all piano and jazz blues based), it was important that I got back to the rudiments of my original inspiration of Post-punk Guitar Rock. On this album ‘Swamp Street Soul’, I think I have had an invaluable opportunity to achieve this by using all the inspiration I’ve picked up from my solo journey,” says Harry Stafford.

“Despite not being able to practice and work with the band, we have made the absolute best time we could in the last two years, snatching rehearsals and recording time. But ultimately the band clicked, and we were able to put together an album that is both a progression and a statement of perpetual quality and undying cool.“

Originally comprised of Harry Stafford (guitar), Bill Marten ( bass), Mike Keeble (vocals) and Pete Bogg (drums), Inca Babies’ story began in 1983 in the now-legendary deck-access flats of Hulme in Manchester, which were intended as ‘cities in the sky’ for young executives but quickly became cockroach-infested slums mostly inhabited by students, artists, and drug addicts. True to DIY ethos, from here, they released their 1984 debut single ‘Interior’ on their own Black Lagoon label.

A vibrant part of Britain’s early postpunk / goth /death rock scene, they amassed a steady following through touring and by releasing a further six singles and four albums over the next five years, all of which entered the UK Indie Charts. They also recorded four sessions for BBC’s legendary John Peel show between 1984 and 1988 before calling it quits that year.

Since reforming in 2007, they have released three albums while touring extensively around Europe, into Russia and as far away as North America and India. Renewed interest in the Incas was propelled by Cherry Red Records ‘Best of’ compilation release ‘Inca Babies 1983-87: Plutonium’. Sadly, in 2008, Bill Marten died and, despite the enormous loss, they decided to continue with Vince Hunt on bass.

‘Walk In The Park’ will be available digitally everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The ‘Swamp Street Soul’ album will be released on CD and digitally on November 23. It can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp and also the Louder Than War shop.

Martin Callingham is a writer and musician from Bristol, UK. He has been melting audiences into a puddle with his intimate delivery and beautifully crafted songs since 2016’s ‘Tonight We All Swim Free’. The album found admirers around the world and gained acclaim from major press and radio like BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, Clash Magazine, Louder Than War & Folk Radio and now Callingham is back with a gorgeous sophomore album ‘Patterns’ due for release this December.

‘Bedding In’ is the second single release from the new album, recorded by Jim Barr (Portishead, Get the Blessing) at J&J Studios, Bristol. ‘Bedding In’ is an intriguing melancholic single with haunting harmonies and solemn organs weaving around Callingham’s distinctive hushed vocal sound. Recalling Iron And Wine or perhaps William Fitzsimmons, ‘Bedding In’ is folk music that goes deeply into occult indie and psychedelic territories, its icy darkness perfect for settling down for a reflective winter.

The Neverlutionaries’ self-titled LP and moves through trippy, heavy and textural sound with thought invoking lyrical delivery that nods to rock and soul. Being a huge lover of the shoegaze genre for years, the distinctive alternative musical style eventually and inevitably crept into Wells’ sound.

Pulling together a veritable who’s who in session musicians, Wells coordinated efforts with friends and collaborators including legendary guitarist Kenny Olson (Bootsy Collins, Sheryl Crow), session/studio drummer Nick Baglio (Gucci Mane, Nile Rodgers and The Foreign Exchange) and guitarist Jonnie Axtell (Psychefunkapus).

Christopher Harold Wells was born in Philadelphia but later lived in North Carolina, Wells now splits his time between Nashville and San Francisco. While still a teenager, Wells formed industrial rock band Peasants of the Apocalypse, who went on to open for Metallica, Everclear and Def Leppard during their seven-year history. Wells then created The Neverlutionaries with the intention of making multi-faceted rock: melding his rock and roll roots with his love of jazz, alternative and shoegaze.