Album Of The Week - The Lilacs - Keeping Up With The Joneses

Keeping Up With The Joneses is the debut album from Wigan indie-rock band The Lilacs, packed with infectious melodies, huge guitar hooks and energetic, anthemic choruses. Blending stories of young love, misspent youth and growing up in the North, it captures the band’s working-class roots while exploring a world obsessed with comparison. Featuring re-recordings of fan favourites Vicarage Road and Grace, alongside eight new tracks, it’s a confident, guitar-driven indie record built for singing along at the top of your voice. 

Yes this is a new post not an archive but we couldn’t not highlight this fantastic new release 

Check out this Wax and Bean exclusive with numbered signed Slice and belly band. https://tinyurl.com/yphydwfm

We will be talking a lot more about the lovely crew from Wax & Beans in future posts 

Check out The Lilacs Stripped back record store tour: https://upthelilacs.com/pages/live

The Past Was Yours…….

BANGING DRUMS: THE ARCHIVES (AND SOME NEW STUFF!)

Banging Drums has been around since 2012, albeit on a fairly rare basis for much of that time!

I originally started it when I was out of work, with the idea of creating a punk-style fanzine in blog form. Looking back, I’m not sure the idea translated quite as well as I’d hoped, but along the way I managed to collect a load of interviews with bands and some genuinely cool people.

Then I started working again, life took over, and the blog gradually took a back seat.

Around 2022, I had another go at getting things moving, but for one reason or another, it never really got off the ground.

Fast-forward to 2026, and here we go again!

As we head towards 2027, I’ll have spent somewhere in the region of 37 years collecting music, records and memorabilia. Alongside that, I’ve spent 14 years working in the events industry, which has given me plenty of experiences, encounters and stories of my own along the way.

So, welcome to the third incarnation of Banging Drums: THE ARCHIVES!

And yes, there’ll be some new stuff thrown into the mix, too.

Test the theory one more time

 Audioweb return to the live stage for the first time since January 2022. A end of year gig at Band On The Wall In Manchester, Wednesday 22nd December. Hope this is a sign of more new material for 2023. 

Audioweb's 2 albums were re released in 2021 on vinyl through Demon Records and are still available on the following link https://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/catalogue/releases/audioweb-180g-white-vinyl/

Audioweb information can be found on their Twitter feed: @_Audioweb

Tickets for their Manchester Show are available here  

Jackie Down The Line - Fontaines DC

Anthony H Wilson - 20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007

Radiohead - Manchester University - 25/05/94

Radiohead set list and showtimes. By 1994 I had met the band at a few gigs. Thom did his ankle in just over half way through the gig.
Phil kindly came out at the end and signed the set list.

The Adventure Babies - Bury Met 1992

I've been having a look over the Banging Drums archive and dug out a few bit and bobs. The first is this, a set list from Bury Met Cafe Bar. 

The  Adventure Babies were one of the last acts to Factory Records. 

More Info:

Factory Records

The Adventure Babies

England Is Mine

New Release: The Lake Poets - 'April'

 






The Lake Poets and Tiny Lights Recordings are delighted to announce the brand new Lake Poets single ‘April’, Out on April 29 ‘April’ is a beautifully dark and haunting song documenting the complex, painful and conflicting emotions that come with love, loss and betrayal. Listen here.
The track is The Lake Poets’ first release of 2013, following the success of debut single ‘City by the Sea’ and its follow up ‘Rain’. Recorded at Newcastle’s Blast Studios with Producers Mick Ross & James Mottershead the track is a soaring full band experience featuring a string section, The Futureheads’ Barry Hyde on Piano, as well Martin’s able band of musical friends and family.
Pre-Order the CD/7" courtesy of Tiny Lights here and receive B-Side 'With Me' for FREE.

New Release: British Sea Power 'Machineries Of Joy'

British Sea Power are set to release their new album ‘Machineries Of Joy’ on Rough Trade Records on Monday 1 April.

Pre Order here 

Discover BSP here

The Courteeners, Castlefield Manchester.

The Courteeners return home to play two huge summer shows in Manchester.

Tickets are on sale this morning from all usual outlets.

12 Albums For 2012

So here it is our top 12 albums of the year, in no particular order. No long justification for each album, the only way to judge music is to listen to it.....enjoy!

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, we will be back in 2013 (Maybe!)



 



Toy - Toy

We Are Augustines - Rise Ye Sunken Ships




 

 The XX - Coexist






First Aid Kit - Lions Roar





Goat - World Music

Django Django - Django Django

Jim Jones Revue - Savage Heart

The Ting Tings - Sounds From Nowheresville 

Tame Impala - Lonerism

Richard Hawley - Standing At The sky's Edge

 



 

Bat For Lashes - Haunted Man





 

Alt J - An Awesome Wave

NME Awards Tour 2013

NME have announced the line up for the 'Awards Tour 2013' Django Django will headline the tour with other acts including Miles Kane, Palma Violets and Peace on the bill. 

Tickets for the following dates go on presale at nme.com/tickets tomorrow 28/11/12 and general sale on Friday 30/11/12.
  
Newcastle O2 Academy (February 7)
Manchester Academy 1 (8)
Leeds O2 Academy (9)
Glasgow O2 Academy (11)
Nottingham Rock City (12)
Liverpool O2 Academy (13)
Norwich UEA (15)
Birmingham O2 Academy (16)
Cardiff Uni Great Hall (17)
Bristol O2 Academy (19)
Bournemouth O2 Academy (20)
Brighton Dome (21)
London O2 Brixton Academy (23)

Django Django





Miles Kane


Palma Violets




Peace

James - On Tour - 2013

James announced via Larry's Twitter feed and then a couple of days later on the official website a UK tour for 2013. Special guest for all dates will be Echo and the Bunnymen. The tour advert also confirms the long awaited 'The Gathering Sound' box set will finally be released on 10/12/12. Tickets go on sale this Friday 22/12/12. Check out the live video of 'Born Of frustration' below.

I Am Kloot 'Let It All In'

I Am Kloot are due to release their 6th Studio album titled, 'Let It All In' on the 21st January 2013. The album is produced by Guy and Craig from Elbow. The first single to be lifted from the album is 'Hold Back the Night' which was release on the 5th November.

The album is now availble to pre order Here



I Am Kloot also tour the UK in 2013:

Glasgow Oran Mor, 12th Feb
Leeds Irish Centre, 13th Feb
Manchester HMV Ritz, 14th Feb
Nottingham Albert Hall, 18th Feb
London Barbican Centre, 19th Feb
Brighton St Bartholomew’s Church, 21st Feb
Cambridge Junction, 22nd Feb
Bristol Trinity, 23rd Feb
Coventry Warwick Arts Centre, 24th Feb

Busker One!

In 2011 Busker One set themselves the incredible task of recording an acoustic version of every UK No 1 for an entire year......no matter what the song was. The band consist of Catherine and Tom. As well as recording covers the band also recorded a a excellent Demo EP of their own material that is still available as a free download.


Who are Busker One and where you from? 
Busker One is a folk/pop acoustic duo from Manchester.

Can you give us a brief history of the band? 

Myself and Tom have been working together in bands since College so over 6 or 7 years now, we decided when we got back from Uni to form a duo and start writing our favourite kind of Music!

Do you write your own stuff as well as covers? 

Yes we do and this can be heard at bandcamp we are always writing new stuff!

Anywhere else we can find your music? 

As above and at www YouTube.com/BuskerOneUK

What's the biggest gig your played so far? And what's the best? 

Manchester City Stadium to 46,000 people! That was immense! We took part in a competition called City sound and that has to be the best experience ever!

What's your favourite song to cover? 

Our favourite song to cover might have to be Oasis - don't look back in anger as we do it in a jazzy style quite different from the original and it gets people up every time! 

Are there any songs you would like to cover but haven't? 

Yes loads! We restricted ourselves at first to just doing the No1's so sometimes there were awesome covers in the Top 10 we had to leave! We would have loved to have covered 'Love On Top' by Beyonce!

When can we see Busker One live? 

This Saturday at The Robin Hood

Where can we find Busker One's music?  

You Tube & buskerone bandcamp.com

What's next for busker one? 

We are currently writing new stuff and hope to have an album out next spring, we want to do a mini tour of this as well! 

Every Number 1 from 2011.....

 

Esper Scout

Leeds based 'Esper Scout' first caught our attention when they played the 'Glaston-Bury Festival' in Bury over the summer. The all girl 4 piece have a couple of releases under their belt already and in December will release their latest single and video 'Gaps in the Border Fence'  

Esper Scout's Sarah Statham tells us more about the band and the forthcoming release.

 

Hey, how are you?

Good thanks! Busy sorting various things for the Gaps in the Border Fence / In Foreign release later in the year, we finished filming the video yesterday which is a big weight off! An ambitious project and one which took longer than expected but we’re really happy with how it all went. Everyone received stings and bites from the forest as marks of achievement!

Where are the band from?

We’re based in Leeds but Kirsty, Rebecca and I were born, raised and met in Manchester. Lou is a Leeds gal.

How long have Esper Scout been together?

The three of us moved up between 2007 and 2008 and met Lou quite soon after so just over four years in some guise or another. We’ve been Esper Scout for what must be coming up to three years.


Wallet of Brass Coins by Esper Scout

Where does the name come from?

‘Esper’ is a word first used in a science fiction short story called ‘Oddy & Id’ by Alfred Bester and it’s derived from the idea of ‘extra sensory perception’. I can’t remember how but ‘Scout’ emerged when Kirsty and Lou were watching a documentary about bears. Me and Reb were out watching the ATP film at TJ Woodhouse in Leeds and we got a number of texts with bear related suggestions. Unfortunately I’m not able to recall any of them but I’m sure they were crackers!

Have any of you been in other bands before Esper Scout?

Actually mine and Kirsty’s first band is how we met Reb. It was a tongue-in-cheek, youthful punk thing. We broke the ice with Incubus’ Alive at Red Rocks DVD and had a song called Pork Sword. We’ve matured slightly since then, creatively at least. This excludes doodles and puns of course.

You've had a couple of singles release, how well have they been received?

The reviews we had were positive but we’re definitely honest about them as teething experiences mainly. We’re stronger players now and Kids & Pets was my first experience singing on a recording and I learnt plenty, especially with regards to how much pressure I seemed to be putting on myself. Thankfully we were recording with a friend so the process was more relaxed than if it had have been someone else. In Foreign, the second track on our next release, was born out of how I was feeling that winter. I think we’re all agreed that we’re only just starting to find ourselves musically but the first two e.ps have led us to some really good gigs, radio play and other exposure so they’ve served us well. We love the remixes that have emerged from a couple of their songs too and we’ve just recorded a revised version of Shed Some Light which will be out next year. We’re sort of in-between drummers at the moment so I recorded drums on that. I hadn’t recorded drums - or played very much at all - for several years so it was good exercise to be back in the saddle. Excuse the metaphor.




If someone has not heard the band how would you describe your sound?

Loud/quiet/rock is a response which we’ve used before but I’m aware that’s perhaps frustratingly vague and not too helpful. To add to that then, we like to combine melody, harmony, guitar and bass textures and pedal effects with strong, dynamic drums and rhythms.

Who would you say are the main influences on the band?

There aren’t many artists who we can agree on but Melissa Auf der Maur is one of the few. We’ve been told that the songs have QOTSA, Oceansize and Jack Off Jill tendencies. I don’t think we deserve such comparisons just yet but it’s very complimentary - and they weren’t all drunk. It was both confusing and worrying when a guy likened us to U2 and Metallica one time though, at two in the afternoon.

Do you have any live dates planned?

We’re playing a MS fundraiser in Empire in Leeds on the 17^th November and supporting our friends Chemistry Lane at Telfords in Chester on the 22^nd of November. We’re busy booking some more for the end of the year and hopefully a release gig for Gaps in the Border Fence / In Foreign.

Where can people find your people find your music?

It’s all exclusively on Bandcamp at the moment, including a two track remix e.p at www.esperscout.bandcamp.com.

What's next for Esper Scout?

We’ve been pretty wrapped up in Gaps and In Foreign to think too far ahead. After we release that it’ll be the re-recorded Shed Some Light single which is on the cards for early 2013.


You can find Esper Scout online: Bandcamp Facebook Twitter

The band launch their new single on 12.12.12

   

Lucy Rhiannon

Singer/Songwriter Lucy Rhiannon has only played a small number of gigs but is already making a name for herself in Manchester. Having caught the attention of BBC Intorducing, Lucy has recorded a session and played at the monthly introducting night. You can check out some of Lucy's music on Sound Cloud. Keep an eye on Lucy's as 2013 is sure to be a big year for her.


Hey Lucy, how are you?

I'm really good thank you!

How long have you been singing and when did you play your first gig? 

I've been performing for just under a year and only recently started gigging with my own material. My first gig was at Night n Day a couple of months ago in the Northern Quarter which was great!

How did you get into singing? 

I got in to singing at a really young age actually at Primary school. I remember being chosen to sing solo in the Christmas play in front of around 200 people at the age of around 9! I was so quiet and shy when I was younger but when I sang it just felt so natural and in my comfort zone. I was always in the choir or any event that involved music and singing. From then on it was always a hobby and I knew I'd want to make it a career someday.

Which bands/artists have influenced you? 

I love deep strong gravelly voices. Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Elbow, Johnny Cash are massive influences.

You've had support from BBC Manchester/Introducing, how much has that helped you?

BBC introducing have been amazing for helping me gain recognition in Manchester. Michelle Hussey (radio dj) first heard my songs and was really interested. Since then i've done live sessions and interviews, etc. I recently performed at the Ruby Lounge for the BBC introducing night which was incredible!

Is It difficult to get exposure outside of Manchester?

Being really new to the music scene I haven't yet had the opportunity to gig outside of Manchester. Over the next few months I'll definitely be in London so keep a look out for new dates! 

What music have you been listening to recently?

My favourite artist at the moment is Lianne La Havas. Her album is incredible. Also listening to Ben Howard, Bon Iver, Ren Harvieu, Lucy Rose, ALT J ..Some great new artists around at the moment and I love going to see them at really intimate venues.

Where can we find your music?

You can find a couple of my tunes on www.soundcloud.com/lucy-rhiannon. I'm currently recording new material so keep a look out over the next couple of months!

Whats does the future hold for Lucy Rhiannon? 

At the moment i'm gaining as much experience as possible and in just a few months it's been amazing and everyone has been so supportive along the way. Watch this space!

 You can find out more about Lucy on facebook