The music publicist was given up for adoption and always had a sense of not belonging but, in his job, he found his kindred spirits

I always knew I was adopted. I had a sister, Mary, and a brother, Tony, and we all looked quite different, so I suppose our adoptive parents, Harrington and Elizabeth had to tell us the truth. They took us all in as babies – each one a year apart – I’m the eldest. We were all told from the beginning and it was a warm, loving family – it was only me that was the tearaway.

We were happy growing up in Worthing, Sussex, and our parents provided a loving family home, so I didn’t think about being adopted much during my early childhood. But as I moved into my teenage years and beyond, my parents struggled to contain me – as Bob Dylan sang, “Your sons and daughters are beyond your command,” and so it was with me.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Dan Burn-Forti/The Observer

💾

© Photograph: Dan Burn-Forti/The Observer

Acts including Speed, Scowl and Ithaca voice opposition to Barclaycard sponsorship over financial services provided to defence companies

Multiple bands have pulled out of Download festival over Barclaycard being used as its official payment partner, in protest against Barclays providing financial services to defence companies supplying Israel.

Download, the UK’s biggest rock, metal and punk festival which takes place from 14 to 16 June, lists Barclaycard as one of its official sponsors alongside Liquid Death, Red Bull and others.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: David Dillon

💾

© Photograph: David Dillon

Billie Eilish’s third is a triumph, Shabaka goes woodwind and Yunchan Lim makes the most thrilling piano debut of the decade … here are our music team’s picks of the best LPs from the first half of the year

Being called “overproduced” is generally a criticism but BMTH make it a virtue on this ridiculously high-intensity album. The glitched-up production reflects a fiendishly intricate digital world, while frontman Oli Sykes’ emotions are more histrionic – and affecting – than ever. At a time when so many bands are content with tinkering at the edges of what’s been done before, it’s bracing to hear BMTH be so relentlessly ambitious and fused to the present moment. Read the full review. Ben Beaumont-Thomas

Continue reading...

💾

© Composite: Guardian Design/Atiba Jefferson/Petros Studios

💾

© Composite: Guardian Design/Atiba Jefferson/Petros Studios

In 1980 what appeared to be a formulaic, phoning-it-in album of contemporary radio punk and new wave music done in the style of Alvin in the Chipmunks was released, named Chipmunk Punk. The album garnered no particular critical or commercial success, and was quickly forgotten as merely one in a long line of kitchy, vaguely topical music under the Alvin and the Chipmunks brand. It turns out that it was instead a hidden monument of sludge rock.

This is a song from the second series of We Are Lady Parts. I like it a lot. Here's some context in a scene from the show (including a cameo which may surprise you) and some Previously.

Otoboke Beaver: A quartet from Kyoto with an unusually complex and original stye of punk rock, played with great precision, energy, and attitude. Their songs tend to stop, start, and change tempo unpredictably, but they make it look deceptively easy and natural.

The name is taken from a cheap love hotel in Osaka. "Otoboke" describes one clowning around in a buffoonish manner. Which they often do, but sometimes it makes you wonder if the buffoon they're mocking is you. Their lyrics are peppered with Kansai-ben (lingo and wordplay unique to the regional dialect of Kansai), often with crude sexual references that are hilarious if you're in on the joke. And the bits of English they put in their lyrics remain unabashedly Japanese. "I was irritated by the comment, 'If you can't pronounce it properly, don't use English,' in response to my katakana English in 'Don't Light My Fire,'" a song from the group's 2019 debut album, explains Accorinrin. "So I deliberately use English a lot." Lead singer Accorinrin is pissed off and in-your-face. The lyrics seem to demand that you answer their questions and fuck off at the same time. Guitarist Yoyoyoshie cheerfully bangs out barre chords interspersed with all kinds of chaotic fretwork, while having the time of her life on every song. Bassist Hiro casually lays down ridiculously complicated bass lines and chord progressions so effortlessly that it's hard to comprehend how she's doing it while looking so relaxed. And drummer Kahokiss generates super-tight, crazy-fast, machine-gun style beats what would make an ordinary drummer's arms fall off. They're seemingly full of contradictions. The music is both inaccessible and catchy. Both kowai (scary) and kawaii (cute) -- albeit in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, although not necessarily (one is never sure). It somehow seems appropriate that this radical, cutting edge band hails from Kyoto, which is known for its traditional character, and seen by tourists as the land of geiko and maiko. Whatever they are, their live shows are powerful, explosive performances. Dave Grohl summed it all up as follows: "It'll blow your mind, dude. It's the most fucking intense shit you've ever seen."