Author: wamdines

Summer’s here! Kind of! With daylight savings officially kicking in and the weather taking a decidedly sunnier bent (here in the UK at least… for now) festival season has never seemed closer.

And what better way to celebrate that fact than by championing some of the finest and most exciting new bands around? Much as we do every month, we’ve searched far and wide to find you some of the most exciting new bands around, offering up a diverse selection for your listening pleasure.

So crack open a cold beverage of your choice, stick on our massive new noise playlist and dive into some of the exciting new bands we’ve dug up this month. Got suggestions for bands you’d like to see covered in future? Stick ’em in the comments!

Melted Bodies

“I’m not writing elevator music!” Melted Bodies vocalist/ guitarist Andy Hamm howls with passion. “I want to connect with people in a very vehement, deep way… Someone told me they had a panic attack listening to the record. Though… I think that’s a good thing?”

The Los Angeles crew’s alt metal spew isn’t for the faint of heart. Feasting on a riffy buffet of grindcore, 80s new wave and tormented thrash, the band embody sonic whiplash. One second you’re indulging in sludgy police cannibalism fantasies like Eat Cops, the next you’re plunging into the frantic drum and bass breakdown of Liars.

Andy was previously a key member of indie unit Local Natives. The Molotov cocktail of insanity that is Melted Bodies is a far cry from his previous radio-friendly endeavours – and he suits the chaos perfectly, vocally teetering on the edge as he fluctuates between cartoonishly maniacal and downright hostile.

The band’s latest record, The Inevitable Fork, Vol. 3, induces a gnawing sense of anxiety, the menacing rumble of Bloodlines and sombre twang of Talk Some More About It scratching at a scab of agonising existentialism.

“A lot of us deal with anxiety and depression, especially when considering what we’re doing with our lives,” Andy reflects. “The record channels those mental struggles into a cathartic rave of noise.”

Word of warning though if you’re attending a Melted Bodies show, be sure to bring Andy along a toothy offering.

“I’ve been collecting old dentures for more than a year,” he admits with a laugh. “The Inevitable Fork cover features some of them… and the background is also my own hair, which I collected for a month.”

Okaaaay. Charming as he is, we fear he might have taken the whole ‘melted bodies’ thing too far. But he’s chuffed with his collection. He laughs: “Maybe we can be classed as denture-core?!” Emily Swingle

The Inevitable Fork is out now

Sounds Like: If the gunk in your plughole became sentient, grew limbs, then had an existential meltdown to the tune of industrial grindcore and eccentric avant-metal
For Fans of: System Of A Down, Dog Fashion Disco, Machine Girl
Listen To: Liars

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Dawn Of Ouroboros

One of the freshest-sounding bands in the underground, Dawn Of Ouroboros play progressive songs that snake between blackgaze atmospherics and crunching melodeath. Their genre-smashing ways are a direct response to their founders’ past work as hired guns for other artists.

“When I played in other people’s bands, it was like, ‘We’re doing this style’ or ‘We’re trying to sound like this’,” guitarist Tony Thomas explains. “I don’t want to say I had a harder time writing when I was told things like, ‘Oh, this has to be a death metal album’, but it’s just not the way I listen to music.”

He also explains that his day job as a molecular biologist informs his boundary-free songwriting. “Working as a researcher, I guess it’s more explorative. I’m going to sit down and I’m going to write a bunch of music until something stands out.”

Tony started Dawn Of Ouroboros with vocalist Chelsea Murphy in 2018. They’re longtime collaborators, but work in opposite ways. Their dichotomy is clear on Bioluminescence, their new album, where Chelsea lets emotion dictate the direction of her dramatic wails on top of Tony’s meticulously thought-out arrangements.

“There are times where I’ll come in after he’s structured something in a certain way and make suggestions and he might look at me with death eyes,” she admits with a laugh, “but I think we balance each other out quite well.”

Having teamed up with in-demand producer Lewis Johns (Employed To Serve, Conjurer) for Bioluminescence, the next item on the Californians’ bucket list is playing internationally.

“It’d be awesome to tour Japan with [blackgaze/screamo favourites] Asunojokei,” Chelsea says. “It’d also be great to tour Europe with other bands we could fit in with, such as Møl and Alcest. That’s a huge goal!” Matt Mills

Bioluminescence is out now via Prosthetic. Dawn Of Ouroboros tour the US with Baroness from May 7.

Sounds Like: Blackgaze and melodic death metal converging inside a cosmic wormhole
For Fans Of: Deafheaven, Ne Obliviscaris, Svalbard Listen To: Bioluminescence

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Tayne

Their name might come from a cult Tim and Eric sketch wherein Paul Rudd meets his nude dancing miniature double, but Tayne are imbuing industrial rock with a sincere human struggle. Formed by frontman Matthew Sutton in Ireland but now based in London, the band’s debut album, LOVE, draws on a family history demonstrating the complicated nature of what Matthew calls “that impact word”.

“The album is more about conflict, but the idea of love for me was a big conflict in my life,” shares Matthew. “I ended up having this conversation with my dad who was in a heterosexual marriage with four kids and then ultimately realised he was a gay man. I realised that my whole existence comes from this conflict of love.”

On an industrial spectrum that ranges from accessible commerciality to clanging harshness, Tayne cut right to the sweet spot.

“The incubator of Tayne came from Lady Gaga’s Artpop,” says Matthew of his unlikely eureka moment. “If you took her off that record, it’s the most obnoxious thing you’ve ever heard. It’s her most critically unsuccessful album, but I thought, if Gaga can do that with pop music, then that opens the door for anyone to do anything.”

On thumping lead single Fear, this juxtaposition manifests in a guest slot from James Spence of UK post-hardcore luminaries Rolo Tomassi, injecting a violence into the uber-danceable like an attack dog let loose in a nightclub. Matthew sees these unexpected collaborations and crossovers as lifeblood for musical rejuvenation.

“It’s one of those pinch-yourself moments where I’ve only really known James the last 12 months, but I’ve been a fan for 18 years. An audience who aren’t tribal are probably going to be more open to a band like Tayne mashing up these sounds. I think that’s a good thing for the scene, because it opens the door to more fruitful horizons.” Perran Helyes

Love is out now via MNRK. Tayne play 2000 Trees and ArcTanGent festivals this summer.

Sounds Like: Sneaking listens of glitter pop at the back of the goth club
For Fans Of: Health, Nine Inch Nails, Crosses
Listen To: Fear

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Bloom

Like a quirky rom-com that suddenly veers into thriller territory with a surprise murderous streak, Sydney’s Bloom find great joy in disrupting convention, mixing pop-punk, melodic hardcore and metalcore into an emotional package.

“We don’t want to feel constrained by what we can and can’t explore,” says vocalist Jono Hawkey of their debut album, Maybe In Another Life.

Having started out “playing shitty Touché Amoré covers”, the band quickly outgrew their melodic hardcore roots. Counterbalancing every melodious hook on the record is a gut-wrenching breakdown or tech metal turn to subvert expectations.

The album follows 2020’s tooth-baring EP In Passing, which blended crushing, complex riffs with seismic, radio-friendly choruses as Jono grieved the death of his grandfather. This time, his evocative lyrics journey through a bittersweet break-up.

“Heaviness, to me, is intensity; it’s the emotional weight of a song,” says Jono. “A lot of what we write has an overwhelming feeling of sadness, but we realised we could be pissed off and angry too. Sonically, emotionally and lyrically, we wanted to write music that was relentless.”

Importantly, those emotions translate onto the stage. “We’re very no-bullshit,” he states. “The emotion we put into our instruments is everything. People really connect with that.”

Last year, they took producer Christopher Vernon on the road with them as they supported Polaris across their homeland. Writing and recording in real time resulted in the reputation-affirming single The Works Of You, a brutal, hardcore-laced take on pop-punk. Aussie metal is in rude health, and Bloom are another uncompromisingly authentic example of that. But don’t expect them to stand still.

“You don’t need to find your niche and exist exclusively within it,” Jono concludes. “We trust our gut to keep evolving.” Phil Weller

Bloom’s latest single, The Works Of You, is out now.

Sounds Like: A virulent gradient between soaring pop-punk hooks and blood-lusting tech metal, with melodic hardcore at the centre
For Fans Of: Touché Amoré, Casey, La Dispute
Listen To: Bound To Your Whispers

Simon McBride was always a fast learner. A musician since the age of 13 (except for “the odd part time job in a music shop”), at 16 he replaced Vivian Campbell in Belfast metallers Sweet Savage before releasing solo records, joining Whitesnake alumni in Snakecharmer, and becoming Deep Purple’s guitarist in 2022.

Now he’s released Recordings: 2020-2025, a blistering mix of blues-rock solo cuts and refreshingly non-obvious covers (Free, Duran Duran, The Cure, Bill Withers…).

“About ten years ago I nearly quit,” he says, “because I was getting to that stage of ‘nothing is moving’, I was getting messed around, being promised things. But I kept pushing through, and after covid it was like [with Deep Purple]: ‘Is this really happening?!’”

The first music I remember hearing

It’s probably AC/DC. I’m sure I’d heard music before that, but it was the first thing that I locked on to. It’s three, four chords most of the time, and what they do with that is unbelievable. They make great songs. And it’s simple. That’s why AC/DC are so huge, because the normal person can latch on to it. Highway To Hell was one of my favourite albums of all time.

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The first song I performed live

Joe Satriani’s Always With Me, Always With You, at a school concert. I just picked it up very quickly. I think I was eleven or twelve. I was probably the only person in the whole school that was interested in music, but everybody was very nice to me and they [gave] applause and all that sort of stuff.

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The greatest album of all time

Toto by Toto, from 1978. And Talk by Yes. It was the last album they did with Trevor Rabin on guitar, and it never really did that much – it was after 90125 and stuff like that – but that album is a journey. I never get bored with it. And it’s the same with Toto. Everybody goes for Rosanna and Africa and all that, but I love the other stuff they did, especially on that album.

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The guitar hero

Steve Lukather and Gary Moore. I have lots of influences, but how I sound is because of them – and a bit of Joe Satriani too. The two Still Got The Blues records [SGTB and After Hours] Gary Moore did were incredible. What he did with blues music, he kind of turned it upside down. He had this aggression when he played, but it was so beautiful the way he did it.

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The singer

Paul Rodgers. The sound, the character of his voice, his melodies. People go: “Why don’t you say Ian Gillan?” And I go: “Well, he is another genius.” He can be very sweet, but very aggressive. He’s like the Gary Moore of vocalists. And in Paul Rodgers it’s the same sort of thing.

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The songwriter

Paul McCartney. Anything he does is just like “Wow!” It’s so simple but sounds complicated. I suppose you could say they’re [The Beatles] all geniuses. I don’t think they ever wrote a bad song.

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The best cover version

Jimi Hendrix’s All Along The Watchtower. Even Bob Dylan says: “It’s your song, mate, what you’ve done with it.” I’m not a huge fan of cover songs, because a lot of guys will just do direct copies. With All Along The Watchtower Jimi took a simple song and turned it into this huge event.

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The best record I’ve made

The Deep Purple record [2024’s =1]. It’s not every day you get to be a part of history. For me, doing that record was incredible, because at the minute with the guys in the band they’re just mates. But these guys are icons. I stand back in awe and go: “That’s me, that’s Ian Gillan, that’s Ian Paice… Jesus, why is my name in there?!”

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My guilty pleasure

Michael Jackson, Bad. I don’t care what people think. I remember that one coming out and I was like: “I love that album.” Still stick it on now and again.

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The most underrated band

Rival Sons. They are doing quite well, but they’re not at the level I think they should be. It’s that real old-school thing they have. They’re all shit-hot players, and Jay [Buchanan] is one of the greatest rock singers around at the minute. I like their last one, Darkfighter. Before, people were comparing them to Led Zeppelin a bit, but now they’ve found their feet and their sound.

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My Saturday night / party song

I have two young kids, I don’t go out any more! Let me see [thinks]… I gotta say Van Halen and Jump. Van Halen stuff always makes me feel upbeat, especially the stuff with David Lee Roth, because he had so much character and that came across in the music.

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The song that makes me cry

Jeff Beck’s Where Were You, on Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop – that’s one of the best instrumental albums ever. Every time I hear that it’s just like: “Jeez”. Just no words to describe that. It’s what he does with that song, the whammy bar, just him and keys. One of my favourite slow songs of all time.

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The song I’d want played at my funeral

Hot For Teacher, Van Halen. I’d play that as my song – put me in the ground. Or if I’m being cremated, Fire by Jimi Hendrix.

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Simon McBride’s Recordings: 2020-2025 is out now via earMUSIC.

Every time we write a story about Sleep Token, we get comments and messages saying the same thing: “This band aren’t metal.” And on the one hand… sure. This faceless Eyes Wide Shut sex cult have never once sought to be out-and-out extreme, having from day one mixed the genre’s bare-knuckle riffs with swooning pop sections and pensive post-rock.

But, our counter-argument has always been: have you heard some of this lot’s songs?! To diminish Sleep Token’s metal credentials because of frontman Vessel’s Bon Iver vocals or the odd sensual funk segue is to be wilfully ignorant. Their back-catalogue is stuffed with neck-crushing breakdowns, guitars as heavy as Meshuggah on Jupiter, and even the occasional, anguished growl.

To prove our point (and to maybe, maybe get the detractors off our backs), we’ve compiled the essential playlist of Sleep Token’s most metal moments.

Thread The Needle (One, 2016)

The opening track of debut EP One was a powerful introduction to Sleep Token’s extremes. Sure, it may kick off with some vulnerable, high-pitch crooning from Vessel, but that sensitivity gets interrupted by blasts of ferocious metal not once, but twice. And those strikes hit harder each time.

Midway through, Thread… descends into the kind of dense noise usually reserved for Vildhjarta, the pummelling rhythm guitars made even uglier by a grinding, atonal lead line. Then it circles back to dish out a battering that’s harder and slower. From day one, Sleep Token clearly knew how to maximise metal’s impact.

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Jaws (2018)

This standalone single saw Sleep Token expand beyond their ‘guitar-pop-with-metal-breakdowns’ formula, which they mastered on 2017 EP Two, and deliver an all-bets-are-off odyssey. The first verse and chorus are pure, ambient beauty, but the following instrumental break introduces a dark synth melody and a scurrying drum pattern.

Then there’s a barrage of cathartic djent, underscored by the same synth line, and the process repeats again, although it crescendos with a new, equally-intense riff. By the time the frantic percussion returns during the outro, Sleep Token have built a twisted ride full of tension and release.

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The Offering (Sundowning, 2019)

Before 2019, Sleep Token had always treated riffs as something to build up to. So you can imagine acolytes’ shock when The Offering was released as Sundowning’s second single and, within 30 seconds, they were bombarded with rumbling rhythm guitars and hell-for-leather drum hits.

The heavy counterpoint to lush album opener The Night Does Not Belong To God, this track remains one of the band’s most full-blooded, all-caps METAL efforts. It has its moments of serenity, as does almost everything else they’ve done – however, the gaps between the intensity still haven’t ever been as small as they are here.

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Hypnosis (This Place Will Become Your Tomb, 2021)

If Sleep Token’s nameless drummer were to have a ‘magnum opus’, Hypnosis would most certainly be in contention. Without him, the second track on 2021’s This Place Will Become Your Tomb would be just another of the band’s songs, juddering between bold metal and more introverted interludes.

However, the man know only as ‘II’ smashes his kit hard throughout these five-and-a-half minutes, regardless of what Vessel and everyone else are doing. His constant drive gives energy to both the distorted freakouts and meandering passages, making it worthy of this list even before the deep-throated death growls kick in at the end.

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Vore (Take Me Back To Eden, 2023)

And so we end with the most defiant statement against the people that question Sleep Token’s metal-ness. Vore – despite all pre-established rules about this band’s eclecticism, structures and song lengths – is an immediate, violent metalcore rampage. A bouldering riff immediately lands, quickly followed by shrill screams from Vessel and a passage of crushing groove juxtaposed against melodic keyboards.

Admittedly, the second half of this Take Me Back To Eden standout isn’t as ferocious as its first, but the fact remains: this was an out-of-nowhere attack that bowled everyone over, amplifying Sleep Token’s aggression to hitherto unrivalled levels. Brilliantly horrible stuff.

Sleep Token are the cover stars on the new issue of Metal Hammer. Get a copy delivered to your doorstep and read all about the band’s momentous rise, as told by the people who were there.

In 2017, as he continued trying to distance himself from his Pink Floyd past, Roger Waters was focusing once again on the state of the world. He told Prog about exploring the matter on that year’s release Is This The Life We Really Want? – his first solo album proper in 25 years.

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It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since Roger Waters released his last solo album proper, 1992’s Amused To Death. In that time he’s become the top-grossing touring solo artist with his immense Wall spectacular, and even reunited with his old Pink Floyd buddies/sparring partners for 2005’s Live 8 concert in Hyde Park.

In 2010, when announcing his The Wall shows – which began in arenas and ended up in the world’s biggest stadia – he said: “I’m not as young as I used to be… But I still have a fire in my belly and I have something to say.” This is certainly true, seven years on, with Is This The Life We Really Want?, his fourth solo venture. As one might expect, he’s still an angry man, railing over some fine Nigel Godrich-produced music at the world around him.

He remains exasperated at the injustice he sees on every level of life; his themes, let’s face it, haven’t really changed that much since his Animals-led tirade at humanity back in 1977. And the current caustic state of the planet gives the 73-year old plenty to rage at.

Yet there’s a sensitivity on the album that previously hadn’t surfaced in his output; and journalists of late have remarked on what a different man he seems to be from the one who’d tried to sue his old bandmates, incredulous they’d even consider carrying on without him. Of course, if you scratch that particular wound he’ll still bite – but as we saw at the launch of Pink Floyd’s Their Mortal Remains exhibition, it’s now handled with a slightly exasperated sense of humour.

So has rock’s greatest curmudgeon softened in his old age? Well, if you listen to the plaintive Wait For Her you might think so; it’s a love song sat amongst his tirade against the world we’ve created for ourselves. Waters is a man who hardly needs poking with a stick to vent his spleen, and the current state of the world gives him more than enough ammunition. And as we saw the night before we sat down with him, he’s in startlingly good form for what Prog’s reviewer pretty accurately calls an “irascible genius.”

“I think it’s the question of giving myself my due,” he muses. “You know that guy who asked me that question about having a judge on the shoulder? And I gave him a perfectly reasonable and fairly eloquent answer, because I know exactly the feeling that we all carry this judge around and it’s going: ‘Nee, nee, nee, nee.’

“Particularly, though, in the aftermath of that Pink Floyd thing, which was hugely important. I was in that band for 20 years or whatever it was; but there was a lot of baggage. It was a bit like driving away from a dodgy wedding with cans dragging behind the car rattling all the time.”

All that crap about, “He wouldn’t let us write.” Nobody can stop you writing!

Did you feel you were made responsible for the break-up of Pink Floyd?

There was a huge amount of enmity, you know? And I will probably never be forgiven for all the work that I did, particularly by the other guys who were in the band. But we’re all dying, so who gives a fuck, really? It’s whatever.

It took me a while to get over that and stop worrying about trying to figure out what people had problems about stuff. All that crap about, “He wouldn’t let us write.” Fuck you! Nobody can stop you writing, dopey – or whoever you are. It’s ridiculous. I don’t want to get into it, because you can hear I feel quite jolly about it, but I’m just sick of it. I’ve left it behind me. I don’t usually talk about it because… And I won’t talk about it any more now. I’m done.

So you’re in a different state of mind these days?

Well, I had no idea that I was going to be able to succeed. Because I had had the whole Pink Floyd audience turn their back on me in 1987 when they started to tour again. I was playing to tiny audiences and there was a lot of, you know… bleurgh.

People certainly seem to have changed their minds about you. They’re certainly aware of who you are and what you do these days.

Yeah, they seem to have figured some of it out. And this record, I think, is helping them to figure it out; people who have heard the record, the whole thing, are going “Wow!”

You certainly make things clear on Is This The Life We Really Want?

Yeah.

When World War II was over, we could have been free – but we chose to adhere to abundance

But you’re also looking to the future, which is important.

It is, yes.

How many other musicians that are in their 70s are still making albums that make such salient and prudent points? You’re not just doing an album of old blues covers.

I’m not. Or Sinatra covers, like Bob Dylan! Bless him.

So why has it taken you almost 25 years to actually write and record a new studio album?

I don’t know. Like I said last night, writing the song Déjà Vu was a catalyst, a starting point for some of that. And also, as I say, I derived encouragement from the work of certain documentary filmmakers. I mentioned Jeremy Scahill and his movie Dirty Wars. And also the extraordinary fortitude and courage of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden and Ray McGovern and Daniel Ellsberg and all the other whistleblowers that have emerged from the ashes of the Vietnam War.

“I know that was a long time ago, but one takes courage from all of that. You see people behaving properly and you think: “Wow, I’d like to be part of the blowing of the whistle,” even if it’s only be writing a poem or writing a song or making a record or whatever it might be.

Originally there’d been talk about the song Heartland being released in 2008. So you were already thinking about an album then?

Yep.

And some of these new songs date back to the 2008-2010 period?

Yes, they do. You know, there’s still lines in a song that I wrote back then, which I’ve still never recorded. There’s a line in it that sounds pretty cynical, but I kind of like it: ‘And the man who sold his kids for meat to a broker in Bangkok and got a colour TV, and the keys to the executive washroom and a space in the company parking lot.’

If you have to sell your kids for meat to a broker in Bangkok, Trump would approve of that. Or somebody else’s kids

That’s some nice writing, because it says a lot about commerce and how we become slaves to commerce, particularly in the US. But this, the idea of commerce being as important as it has become and spreading all over… the model, the American model. When World War II was over, we could have picked over them broken bones, we could have been free – but we chose to adhere to abundance. We chose the American dream, and that is the American dream.

And if you have to sell your kids for meat to a broker in Bangkok, Trump would approve of that. It’s business. Or somebody else’s kids. I mean, he might not sell his own kids, though you sense that they’re like lumps of meat when you see them parading around. They’re like prize cattle. They’ve sort of been plumped up. Those Trump boys, they look as if they’ve been injected with hormones every morning before breakfast to get them that pumped up and kind of dopey.

We don’t know that they haven’t been!

We don’t know, no. We don’t know.

You live in New York. What keeps you here in the Trump era with things so seemingly bad? Do you feel like the voice of opposition? Leading the resistance?

There’s a lot of people resisting this bullshit, luckily. It’s also convenience. I moved here because my youngest kid was here. And then I sort of stayed and I went through another marriage and stuff. And you gather the detritus of life around you and it’s easy to get stuck.

But I’m not unhappy here. And you can walk a lot of places in New York. I’ve recently taken to using the subway a lot, because it’s much faster than going anywhere in a car or a taxi. Actually, I like it on the subway. I like being kind of crushed – or not crushed. I often travel in the middle of the day, and it’s nice when there’s not many people there. But it’s nice to sit there and look at the other people. You see who lives in this city and how diverse it is; how cosmopolitan it is.

The poem is actually specifically about waiting for a woman to orgasm. I had no idea when I first heard it

The new album is also about love, isn’t it?

Yes.

Wait For Her reads like a manual for a better relationship. Like, “This is what I’ve got to do, and you’d better not mess up.”

Actually it’s very specific. It’s based on a translation of a poem by Mahmoud Darwish, the famous Palestinian poet. And the poem, in its title, has the words ‘Kama Sutra.’ It’s actually specifically about waiting for a woman to orgasm. I had no idea when I first heard it and when I started writing this song. And it’s beautiful. He is great… I knew nothing about him, and then I discovered him, and his poetry is extraordinary.

Then there’s a song called Broken Bones where you’re clearing your throat in the beginning.

I did clear my throat before singing one day, and Nigel just left it in. One does clear one’s throat from time to time when one’s singing!

Godrich is an interesting choice for a producer. You had a production hand in your three previous solo albums. What made you pass this time round?

I might have been tempted. I don’t really remember, but it feels good. I think he’s done a great job, so I couldn’t have made this album on my own. Well, I could have done, but it would’ve been completely different. So I’m really glad that I did relinquish control. I’ve never done it before. I may never do it again. But I’m glad I did it this once at least.

Last night you hinted that you’re already thinking about your next album. Is that because you’ve written so many songs over the years?

I’ve got tons and tons of material, yeah. And when I next make a record, I don’t know. I have to, at some point, release a recording of the other half of Déjà Vu which I recited a verse of last night: ‘If I had been God, I would not have chosen anyone. I would’ve laid an even hand on all my children. Everyone would have been content to forgo Ramadan and time better spent in the company of friends, breaking bread and mending nets.’

A former member of the bands Ipso Facto and Purson, Southend-born singer, multi-instrumentalist and writer Rosalie Cunningham has been a solo artist since 2007. Voted Female Vocalist Of 2023 by the readers of Prog magazine, she is currently touring album number three, To Shoot Another Day, with indoor shows and summer festival appearances lined up.

You’ve just completed your latest leg of touring, which was a success, with four sell-out shows. You must feel like progress is being made.

Yeah. At our current level, we’re doing fantastically well. Getting to that next level requires quite a jump, and to be completely honest, without selling out, I don’t really know how we could do that.

Unlike many British artists, you’ve ventured overseas, while people have commented how difficult that can be post-Brexit, and have dates planned in France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

We’ve found it easier than playing in the UK at the moment. People talk about how difficult it is with carnets [official documents listing equipment etc], but those rules have largely been eradicated for bands of our level. The horror stories you hear are for much bigger tours. We couldn’t play as many shows at home as we do overseas.

If the next step up doesn’t come, are you content for things to continue as they are?

I think so. The word is spreading. It’s a slow build, but it’s an organic one and control is within our hands.

When asked the question: “What sort of music do you play?” how do you respond?

[Grimaces] For complete newcomers, ‘psychedelic rock’ covers a large area. ‘Progressive rock’ might give the wrong impression, though I know I am progressive rock. We are technical and theatrical and we take in a whole bunch of genres. It’s such a hard question to answer.

A description of you in Classic Rock as the hypothetical offspring of The Beatles and Kate Bush must be very flattering?

It doesn’t get much better than that. I’m still rinsing that tag-line.

Your social media pages have teased something called project ‘Rabbit Foot’.

Until now Rabbit Foot has been pushed to the background because I’ve got so much going on. It’s a band fronted by Rosco [Wilson, guitarist and Rosalie’s partner] with me as bass player and co-writer. It’s a slightly different direction, more rock’n’roll, but I think our fans will enjoy it. For me it’s a lot less pressure, obviously.

Rosco’s name usually isn’t on the ‘marquee’, so to speak, but this is his time to shine.

Rosco is involved in every element of what I do, but that’s it exactly. Nobody has got to see him as a frontman, and they’re in for a treat. We’ve got enough songs for two albums, and until now we’ve struggled to find the time, but you can quote me as saying we will definitely be doing an album in the summer.

What’s the time frame for a fourth studio album of your own?

I’ve got a handful of songs and a title, even an idea for the cover, but at the moment I’m far away from thinking about recording it. As a band we very much embrace the concept of the album, it’s very important to us.

On the last leg of your current tour the special guest was Kavus Torabi from Gong and The Utopia Strong. What are your thoughts on the ‘next generation’ of artists attempting to break through?

There are plenty of exciting things happening, and the scene is there, but it’s becoming increasingly hard to get noticed. Everything is so shallow because it’s no longer about how talented you might be, but how good at social media you are.

Rosalie Cunningham has tour dates lined up throughout the year – check her website for dates and tickets.

Mike Peters, singer and co-founder of the Welsh rock band the Alarm, has died following a 30-year battle with blood cancer.

Peters was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1995, which was followed by a diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 2005. He lived in remission for a decade until the CLL returned in 2015. This led to a more serious diagnosis of Richter’s Syndrome, a stronger form of lymphoma.

Peters passed away on April 29 at the age of 66. A tribute video was posted to the Alarm’s social media with the message “totally free.”

A Brief History of the Alarm

Peters, who began playing in bands as a teenager, helped found the Alarm in 1981. They moved to London to perform the local circuit of venues and released five albums together. Though the Alarm disbanded in 1991, Peters went on to enjoy a career as a solo act, releasing multiple albums and performing live.

Peters did, ultimately, revive the Alarm name under the new moniker the Alarm MM++ and continue writing and recording music for them. Their most recent album, Forwards, came out in 2023, which Peters said he started writing while receiving hospital treatments.

“I didn’t take the guitar in to be creative. I just thought a bit of quiet strumming would be calming after the procedure – all these big needles coming at you,” he told Classic Rock in 2023. “Then after a while a bit of a melody would just arrive. All artists know that when you’re down or brokenhearted, that’s often when you write your best songs. When you’re being challenged, that’s when the muse strikes hardest. And mine was working overtime.”

In addition to his work as a musician, Peters co-founded the Love Hope Strength Foundation, a charity that raises funds and awareness for cancer research.

In Memoriam: 2025 Deaths

A look at those we’ve lost.

Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

While Robert Palmer had enjoyed his share of success, things really exploded when he released 1985’s Riptide. Driven by the explosion of its second single, “Addicted to Love,” which gave the artist his first No. 1, the record launched an unforgettable era for the English vocalist.

Though the groove and allure of “Addicted to Love” was infectious and impossible to ignore as it blew up on the radio and MTV in early 1986, it represented just one layer of Palmer’s varied interests as a music fan. “He had such eclectic tastes,” guitarist Eddie Martinez shares with UCR, as he reflects back on his initial experience working with the soulful singer on Riptide. “He’d listen to Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and then have Sepultura and Husker Du on the same cassette. It was great music, irrespective of the genre.”

“He cut the tracks live at Compass Point. I remember hearing ‘Addicted to Love’ for the first time. He told me he dreamt the song and then wrote the lyrics,” he continues. “We recorded the tracks with Bernard Edwards producing, Jason Corsaro (Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, Ozzy Osbourne) engineering and printing all of the stuff. He brought down a Sony 24 track digital machine to the sessions, which as you know, this is pretty early on. People were still hanging with analog, but Jason was such a brilliant engineer.”

READ MORE: How Robert Palmer Dreamed Up ‘Addicted to Love’

The ‘Freedom’ of the ‘Riptide’ Album Sessions

Bernard Edwards, legendary for his own work with Chic, was an important driver for the recording of Riptide. “There was an overall freedom to everyone and what they were thinking about and what we were able to contribute,” Martinez says now. “Bernard was really at the helm. He knew when there was enough, and he would know when to put the brakes on. ‘I think we have enough to make this track be really what it’s intended to be.’ Recording ‘Addicted to Love,’ Jason had created a scenario where [former Chic drummer] Tony Thompson’s drum set was facing out of the room. The doorway to the studio was kept open, and he set up Tony’s drum set right at the opening of that door. Then outside that door there was a long hallway, I’d say, easily, 30 feet, if not longer. He set up microphones, respectively, at different distances and and through his madness, came up with [that sound]. I mean, the drum sounds on that album, and ‘Addicted’ in particular, I just listened to an isolated track of Tony playing on that and was just blown away.”

Watch Robert Palmer’s ‘Addicted to Love’ Video

Martinez toured with Palmer for Riptide and also, 1988’s Heavy Nova. The experience was thankfully commemorated with a live album recorded during the tour for the latter effort. Live at the Apollo documented the final night of the run. Recently released along with two of his subsequent albums on digital streaming services and vinyl, the Apollo gig proves that Palmer and the group were rolling at high octane — and with good reason. “The tour had started in Canada, and the first leg of the tour was 56 shows in 56 days, 56 in 56 days,” he repeats, letting that statistic sink in. “It was incredible. You know, when you’re young and you hit the show every night, you don’t even know what city you’re in. We did [that first leg] and then took a week or 10 days off. Then, we went to Europe and did 14 shows in 17 days. We came back to the States, took maybe a week off and did 57 shows in 59 days and that tour ended at the Apollo. It was a really emotional moment for me, that last show, because it was a culmination of so much work.”

The ’80s were a dizzying time for Martinez, who also played on Mick Jagger’s She’s the Boss album, David Lee Roth’s Crazy From the Heat, Steve Winwood’s Back in the High Life and numerous other records. But he says Riptide was special. “It enabled me to go into everything that I know, or everything I knew at that time as a guitarist, relative to harmony and things like that, in terms of chord voicings,” he explains. “When I think back to those days, what I was able to give and offer had a good, comprehensive sound, relative to what was really needed in pop music and in rock music. As easy as it was for me to get a crunchy sound for ‘Addicted to Love,’ I’d be able to get a really uptight funk kind of thing going on for other types of music. I think that was really important for that record to be able to have that kind of background and apply it to the music. [Riptide] was like a canvas, a blank canvas and whatever you heard, you were allowed to explore? To me, that is, that’s heaven for a guitarist working on a record.”

Listen to Robert Palmer’s ‘I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On’ at the Apollo

Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke says the band is undecided about performing at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The group’s classic lineup – made up of Kirke, singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs and bassist Boz Burrell – will be enshrined as part of the 2025 class. Burrell died in 2006 and Ralphs remains debilitated due to a stroke suffered in 2016. Rodgers, meanwhile, suffered multiple strokes of his own in recent years, though he’s still given occasional performances.

In a recent conversation with UCR, Kirke suggested that a final decision regarding Bad Company’s Hall of Fame performance hadn’t been made yet.

READ MORE: Top 10 Bad Company Songs

“[The Hall has] asked us if we’d like to play. That’s yet to be decided,” Kirke reported. “So we’ll just have to wait. I would think if we do decide to play, we will need to let them know probably a couple of weeks in advance, because the band – you know, they have a house band, will need to learn what we’re going to play.”

Kirke went on to joke that Bad Company’s songs require “only three chords, maybe four.” We were never very complicated as a band, but I hope we get to play. I really do.”

As for his acceptance speech, Kirke admitted the magnitude of the event may get the best of him, especially when talking about his bandmates.

READ MORE: Rock Hall Class of 2025 Roundtable: Snubs, Surprises and More

“I hope I don’t get too emotional when I mention Mick Ralphs, because we’re going to give him the big shout,” the drummer noted. “I just spoke with him briefly because he can’t talk very well because he had a stroke. I just hope I can hold it together without sort of breaking down.”

Bad Company Tribute Album Will Feature Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott

As they celebrate their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame selection, Bad Company will also be celebrated with a new tribute album – the first in the band’s impressive history.

Can’t Get Enough: A Tribute to Bad Company arrives this fall, featuring an assortment of artists reimagining the group’s classic material. While full details of the album have not yet been revealed, Rodgers and Kirke are both confirmed to appear on the LP, and the drummer revealed another notable collaborator.

“Joe Elliot from Def Leppard wants to do ‘Seagull,’” Kirke revealed. “‘Seagull’ will feature Paul playing bass and me playing drums and Joe Elliott singing.”