our feature for today’s Just The Crust is the brand new single “Bound In Chains” from the Birmingham-based songwriter Aurora Rays
right from the get-go, the track invites you in with a calm and steady piano melody, creating a sense of ease for Aurora’s vocal to sit perfectly above. her vocal capabilities are on full show here, sounding incredible – and as the track opens up into the chorus, the drums give it a real feel of urgency, complimenting the lyrical content here super well. in the latter part of the track, there’s a real gorgeous show of all the instrumentation working in tandem with one another to reflect the ferocity of the song, with a huge final chorus and a beautiful conclusion at the end.
we’ve just put out the second wave, don’t miss out on what’s gonna be an amazing gig with King Liar and Plaster on support! get them over at https://fatso.ma/XJsl
we’re proper stoked to be able to announce this one!! on the Saturday 17th June we’ll be down at Aatma with a co-headline from The Distance and Gallaher’s Green!
they’ve both just put out incredible new music and are really establishing themselves as ones to watch on the indie rock scene, making waves over the past year or so – we’ve had them both perform for us in the past and they were sensational. plus, with support from King Liar and Plaster, we’ve got some of Manchester’s finest up-and-coming talent on the cards!
you can get first wave advance tickets now over at https://fatso.ma/XJsl – only £4 +bf, limited amount available! get on it rapid
it’s the TWO YEAR anniversary of our first single that we released with Olivia Browse “Red Stripe“!
we were absolutely stoked to put this one out, it’s done so well and become a proper meme for us with the iconic “I’m busy” plus it’s at over 11k streams and we’ve had a wonderful journey with so much more music since then.
here’s to the future, we love Olivia and can’t wait to show you all that we have planned. you can find all of her music on all streaming platforms and on Bandcamp at https://oliviabrowse.bandcamp.com/
we had a real mega one last Saturday down at the Grafton Arms for our headline with The Harlots!
incredible set from these guys, a fantastic energy to their music and Foreign Bodies Manchester + Alan Roper Junior were top supports, class tunes. big love to everyone who came down for it, another lovely gig under the belt
one of our favourite bands out there, Preston-based indie rockers The Empire Police have returned with their brand new single “Northern Bones“! we’ve caught these guys live a bunch of times and they never fail to astound us with their massive tunes, incredible stage presence and energy – we loved their last few releases, some proper bangers under their belt already.
opening up in the strongest way, with ferocity all across the board; a massive guitar riff, huge drums and a driving bassline all behind Jordao’s commanding vocal – right from the get-go it’s got that infectious energy that we’ve come to expect from The Empire Police’s music. the pre-chorus takes things to a calmer point momentarily, with production perfectly poised for the track, and as it builds to the chorus it goes between so many grooves and creates such a sense of balance between the tension and the explosivity of the tune.
the chorus is a huge singalong, with a hook of “my Northern Bones can’t cope” it’s sure to be belted right back at them at gigs and the chaos that is behind it gives it such a sense of aggression and rage that were present in their previous release, “Tell England We Don’t Know“. the lyricism is spot on too, with a severe political edge and a real reflection of their views on society, with the repetitive “We beg, we lie, we steal, we cheat; Regret, repent, reprieve; Repeat, we grieve, we bleed that bittersweet” really showing off the state of life in the present. A real indication of their songwriting ability here, it’s a sombre yet realistic outlook of self-reflection and need to change, put across so eloquently. there’s so much emotion put across this entire song, through the lyricism, and the ferocity of the instrumentation, all gelling together with the production work to really create a socio-political anthem of a generation.
we’re 100% confident that The Empire Police are destined for great things, and this here is living proof of that – another incredible tune under their belt. make sure that you catch them live when they’re playing; you can also stream their music on Spotify and other streaming sites, or check out the full music video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/jUaw9DqartI.