YOUNG LIAR are a five-piece instrumental rock band based in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Since forming in mid-2010 for what was originally planned as a one-off gig they have performed across the UK and supported the likes of Three Trapped Tigers, I Like Trains, Errors, Male Bonding, The Twilight Sad and Ice Age. As well as playing at Sunderland's Split Festival, Live At Leeds 2011 and Brainwash Festival VI.

YOUNG LIAR followed up the success of their debut 2011 release with their second EP which picked up support from Radio 1's Jen Long & BBC 6 Music's Gideon Coe. While EP1 had all the trademarks of traditional guitar based post-rock, their current sound, and that of EP2, also incorporates elements of electronica, noise-rock, krautrock and post-punk. Recent press has drawn comparisons to everyone from Neu!, My Bloody Valentine and Explosions In The Sky, to Spacemen 3, Errors and Nine Inch Nails.

EP3 "Why Does Everyone Hate My Boyfriend?" is available October 14 on 12" and download http://young-liar.bandcamp.com/

 '...this is four tracks of short, smart, snappy instrumental rock that does away with the excessively epic durations that have begun to caricature the post-rock 'genre'. Both opener ‘Stay Hungry, Stay Crazy’ and ‘Sponsored Silence’ set the tone with throbbing bass grooves and a devastating sense of urgency, initially making Young Liar a viable prospect among countless other instrumental acts.' Drowned in Sound

'Young Liar give us an EP of instrumental music that realises the importance of immediacy over length, and it might even get you dancing to a bit of post-rock.' The Line Of Best Fit

'Post-rock can be disgusting, overblown and pompous. but sometimes - sometimes - it can be enthralling, as Young liar show here.' LostLostLost

Management bob@generator.org.uk

Bookings joel-thomson@live.com

Honour Before Glory is the new solo project from whiskas (¡Forward, Russia! / Dance To The Radio), which while relatively little material has so far emmerged, what has, has already been picked up by the likes of Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens, and warranted comparisons as varied as M83, Wolf Parade and My Bloody Valentine by a host of blog admirers

The album. this is broken lines, is the result of 4 years of playing, messing around, learning and coming to terms with being in a band with no one else to fall back on - the freedom and the constraints of having no one to answer to. 

Featuring additional help from friends from bands such as I Like Trains, Duels, Shut Your Eyes & You'll Burst Into Flames - as well as being mastered by Tom from Forward Russia - the album was entirely produced by whiskas in Leeds, largely last Summer, with the finishing sprinkles of gloss being added in the first half of this year. This extended period of finalisation has led to the impetus to release it almost immediately upon completion

"genre-defying bravery" - The Independent

"HBG make moody, intense landscapes of sound, with melody etched into the infernal granite from whence they’re carved" - Steve Lamacq

"...that’s some rather lovely music to just sit back and drift away to…. Maison is like a big synthy hug whereas Breaker is a track that never fails to floor me every time it comes on my iPod it just sounds soooo huge and as though I’ve always heard it in my head forever. That’s definitely a very good thing." - My Band's Better Than Your Band


alt-J are Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton and Thom Green. They returned in 2022 with their latest album, The Dream.  

alt-J are one of the most successful British bands of the millennium. Their 2012 Mercury Prize and Ivor Novello Award-winning debut An Awesome Wave, was followed two years later by their number one, GRAMMY and BRIT Award-nominated album This Is All Yours. Released in 2017, RELAXER flew straight into the top 10 of the UK album chart ahead of a summer of major international shows - including a headline show at London’s O2 Arena and headline performances at numerous festivals - and became their second album to be nominated for the Mercury Prize.

London based singer-songwriter, Ned Roberts, has four studio records to his name, which have all featured frequently on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland, and have been championed by the likes of Lauren Laverne, Jo Whiley, Gideon Coe, and Roddy Hart. His bittersweet songs sit comfortably among the classics of the Laurel Canyon era, with a timeless quality and a poetic turn of phrase. With shows across Europe and America, live highlights include a tour with celebrated songwriter Anais Mitchell, plus support slots for Joe Pug, Micah P. Hinson, Those Pretty Wrongs, and Sarabeth Tucek amongst others. He has released two critically acclaimed albums for the Aveline label (home to Ani Di Franco), and has a decade long creative partnership with renowned US producer and songwriter Luther Russell (Sarabeth Tucek, Fabiano do Nascimento). He’s received significant national press, notably from the Guardian and Uncut magazine, and has recorded live sessions for BBC Radio London and Bob Harris’ Radio 2 show.

In 2024, Ned released his fourth studio album, Heavy Summer, which was supported on Cerys Matthews 6music show, and across BBC radio. Teaming up again with producer Luther Russell, and sound engineer Jason Hiller, the record was cut and mixed in 6 days in the late LA summer heat. Recorded mostly live to a vintage 8-track tape machine, Luther (keys, mellotron, guitars, drums) and Jason (bass) doubled as an expert band. Heavy Summer showcases both sides of Ned’s creative output, with gorgeously constructed band takes, recorded during the heat of the day, and intimate acoustic numbers, recorded just as night drew in. The sparse fingerpicked opener, ‘Play My Cards’ – cut last and written during the sessions – recalls Ned’s debut single ‘Red Sun’, some 10 years ago. The more expansive sounds of Heavy Summer then emerge; ‘Down to the Edge’ develops into a wide, open soundscape, and ‘Days Into Days’ drives the momentum and energy onwards. Lyrically, on first listen, these tunes echo the romantic melancholy of his previous records. Yet the record contains more existential themes too – of aging, regret and loss; of childhood; of escape and creative expression – on ‘Another Record Round’, ‘Tomorrow in Time’, and ‘Losing Sight’. Throughout, there is a sense of searching, of something just beyond reach. ‘Days into days / a uniform parade / Run ‘cross the fields / is salvation on the way? / To ease the sense of time / Go steady on the wine / I’m young and I’m old / I’m living and I’m dying.’ Solo acoustic closer, ‘The Breakers’, with Sarabeth Tucek on backing vocals, brings the record to a meditative end.

Reykjavík-based writer, artist, DJ and other things. Former Brainlove Records label boss. Exploding comet full of seeds.

rt_design85 is following