Into Music: More New Albums July 2025
We enjoyed bringing you an update earlier this month on new albums, so much so we are doing it again with some more belters. So sit down, read on and get on to these cracking bands.
Artist: The Kobayashi Bookstore
Album: Average White Bread
Label: Everlasting Records
It’s not often the debut album of a new band is as assured as this belter from The Kobayashi Bookstore. In fact, they’re probably rarer than hen’s teeth so take note and dive in. From the moment opener Stevie Sheen drops with its insanely catchy rift, accompanied with a clap-a-long section and a catchy keyboard driven melody, you know this is strong stuff and the following nine songs simply cement those initial thoughts.
If the opener had hooks then World Gone Crazy slows it down a notch but increases the harmonies with a great “la la la” refrain. It is a love letter to Glasgow with lyrics asking folk to slow down and appreciate their surroundings. Amen to that.
The five-piece band consist of Tony and Ann-Marie Jenkins, Richard Longley, Christian Gustafsson and Dave Seabright and were formed following a meet up at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023. While it has taken a couple of years for the album to fully form, that time has been well spent as the songs have been honed and perfected. There is plenty of contrast here to keep the listener engaged, no more so than on the vaudeville-esque Chance Would Be A Fine Thing which is steeped in a 1920’s vibe and is a real brave move but one that works well.
Elsewhere, there are some real biting lyrics and social observations on the likes of Sandy and Tweeting From The Sad Fuck’s Cafe. Think of a choice individual who ain’t nice, a Reform voting, Daily Mail reading racist who is angry with everything and vents it all on social media. The latter is ridiculously catchy and belies the depth of the lyrics. The album closes with Bedsit Midnight Summer Song a truly wonderful track that is awash with the spirit of 1960’s beat groups, underpinned by another “la la la” groove and a mesmerising banjo riff.
To order Average White Bread by The Kobayashi Bookstore, head to their Bandcamp page here.
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Artist: bIG*fLAME
Album: Peel Sessions 84-86
Label: Precious Recordings of London
They may only have been active between 1983-1986 and pardon the pun, but bIG*fLAME did burn bright for a period and packed a lot in during that time. No more so than on four separate John Peel sessions which are collected and packaged here and perfectly capture the Manchester based three-piece in their glory, warts and all. Known for their incendiary live shows (Peel even described them as the best live band he’d seen), the tracks here are in your face, post-punk fare that reek of chaos, arrogance and cutting guitars akin to multiple chandeliers crashing, shards of glass bursting, an explosion of sound that simply demands your attention. Sargasso being a classic example of the band pulling together, the bass funked up, the guitar fucked up and the drums pummeling while Alan Brown’s vocal shines through in a maelstrom of blissed out sound.
Amazingly, only one of the sixteen songs here exceeds two and a half minutes, bIG*fLAME do not mess about and their influences are in there from Postcard to agit-pop, Gang of Four and A Certain Ratio. Their is an industrial, industrious feel here throughout that you can only imagine coming out of the Manchester area at a time of Thatcherism, cold war, the systematic breakdown of traditional industry and riots yet some other clever asides prevail too, All The Irish Must Go To Heaven flirts with rockabilly while Every Conversation has some off-kilter, wonky pop. That aforementioned “long” song is a hypnotic cover of the Lee Hazlewood written These Boots Are Made For Working with a clever twist on the title and lyrics.
Their legacy is strong, with the Manic Street Preachers citing them as a huge influence and it’s easy to see why. Situationist post-punk is their domain but bIG*fLAME did it first and did it really well. On the sleeve notes, guitarist Greg O’Keefe sums it up, “we made a difficult but beautiful mess……..it was an art project, it was an ideology rather than craft”. Absolutely spot on precis!
Peel Sessions by bIG*fLAME is out now on Precious Recordings of London. To order, head to the Bandcamp page here.
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Artist: Lord Rochester
Album: Mess Around!
Label: FOLC Records
Lord Rochester are known as Scotland’s top Rock ‘n’ Roll combo and it’s a well deserved title on this form. New album Mess Around! has everything you could possibly want from rockabilly, a dollop of doo-wop, scuzzy rock, a little bit of roll and plenty more besides.
Opener Mess Around hits you square between the eyes a track that frequents fun and frolics rattles along like a runaway train. Michael Goodwin’s jungle drums on Don’t Drink The Vinegar are like a contagious fever, running through your veins and leaving you in a zombie like state, simply nodding along to the infectious beat, wonderful. Next up is the sleazy, scuzzy instrumental Give Me A Break which showcases the band’s musical chops, diverting into an Egyptian reggae beat, driven by dexterous drum rolls and guitar licks.
Side two kicks off with Way-0, Saskia Hollings bass reverberating and denser than a dentist’s drill while Russ Wilkins leads a call and return vocal that I can imagine will go down a storm live. Incidentally, Lord Rochester play a free gig at The Fuzz Factory, Glasgow on Saturday September 6th (their website says Friday 6th but it is definitely the Saturday) and it’s a free gig so get yourself along.
Album highlights also include the sweetness of Maraschino Cherry Pie and Take Me To My Leader which has 60s mod undertones before cranking into a hard blues vibe, so much going on and Wilkins best vocal without a doubt. Transcontinental summons Bo Diddley and Duane Eddy from the grave, a sound steeped in attitude that could easily be Lux, Ivy, Nick and Bryan at the helm. If you know, you know……….
An utterly fantastic album. Lord Rochester aren’t afraid to hide their influences yet they firmly put their own stamp on these twelve songs that make up Mess Around! For more on the band and to order the album, head to their website here.
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Artist: Blueboy
Album: Live at The Water Rats
Label: Precious Recordings of London
Releasing a live album can be a bit of a risk in so much as where is the appeal? Will it be for die hard fans only or will it have sufficient depth to attract new admirers? Fortunately, if this is a gamble, Blueboy have pulled it off with Live at The Water Rats. A clear consideration is the venue, is it well known, does it have provenance? Well, The Water Rats certainly does. Formerly known as The Pindar of Wakefield it was the site of Bob Dylan’s first U.K. show and similarly for the nascent Pogue Mahone (The Pogues) who were pelted with chips by British squaddies who didn’t take too well to their raucous republican rebel songs. Aside from music, Marx and Engels were known to frequent the place so it definitely has a history.
Opener Chelsea Guitar is another bold move. Normally, a band will kick into a lively track but we have a quiet vocal from Gemma Malley accompanied only by the guitar strumming Paul Stewart. Delicate, intricate and moving. The Joy of Living reveals an aching, longing vocal from Malley and the introduction of violin courtesy of Freddy Wickham helps elevate the track, a winsome, dreamy escape with a beautiful ” do do do” interlude.
The “kick in” comes via Popkiss with an extremely catchy and dizzying guitar, a high reaching vocal, all joined up by the solid rhythm section. As they say in the trade, this is a “banger”.
There are many other factors to a live album. The song choice, the production, the sound quality and even aspects such as the record sleeve including the linear notes. Every single tick has been made on that checklist but the most important thing is the ability to transport the listener back in time, into that room and to imagine being at the gig, picturing the band playing their instruments, singing along, standing with like minded fans all there to interpret the tunes, the experience, the gig. It’s a rare thing but close my eyes and I am in The Water Rats on May 18th 2024 watching Blueboy play live for one of the first times in almost twenty-five years, their sound shimmering around me, fragile, vital, important and evocative in equal measure.
Other highlights include the bass-led Meet Johnny Rave which is an instant earworm and the recent singles One and Deux which exude a kind of French chic and are easily up there with the best of Blueboy.
To order Live at The Water Rats by Blueboy, head to their Bandcamp page here.
John Welsh
@welshjb
