Ones To Watch 2018

We’re approaching the beginning of a new year – the perfect time to celebrate new music. As we leave 2017 – and all it’s thrown at us – behind, we’re ready to venture into 2018 alongside some of the music we’re most excited about for the upcoming year.

Have a read, and keep your ears peeled for these incredible bands and artists over the coming months…

Having recently supported GIHE faves PINS on tour, and received much acclaim for their eponymous debut album from the likes of Mojo and Q Magazine, London collective Madonnatron would seem to have had a pretty successful 2017.

We’ve been in love with these four awesome women since their captivating cacophony left us completely spellbound at The Finsbury back in March. And now, with the seething vocals and haunting discordant hooks of tracks such as ‘Sangue Neuf’ and ‘Headless Children’ having provided an eerily majestic soundtrack to much of this year, we’re quite sure that the beguiling ‘Witch Prog’ of Madonnatron will be headed for big things in 2018. (Mari Lane)

We currently hold the record for “how many times you can feature Queen Zee on a roundups/playlist” article – and it’s one we’re proud to be upholding. The Liverpool-based band blew us away with their visceral, politically switched on sounds at The Garage in October, and we’ve been hooked on their punk-like anthems ever since.

Fronted by Queen Zee, the group use their platform to shout back against transphobia and homophobia, as well as supporting and celebrating equality. They’re set to record and hopefully release their debut album in 2018, as well as hitting the road again in support of The Marmozets. Make sure you put your ‘Idle Crown’ on, and get behind this incredible set of talented individuals in 2018. (Kate Crudgington)

Having blown us away with their completely captivating live performance at The Finsbury, Sink Ya Teeth are fast becoming one of our favourite bands. With the addictive, pulsating beats and ‘80s-inspired dance-pop hooks of singles ‘If You See Me’ and ‘Glass’, they’ve showcased their ability to create utterly infectious, uptempo offerings, and we cannot wait to hear more.

With praise from the likes of BBC 6 Music, and support slots with Chk Chk Chk already under their belt, this Norwich duo are sure to be continuing to seduce many an ear throughout 2018. (ML)

Although we’ve been aware of them for some time, Slowcoaches caught our full attention this year with the release of their brilliant track ‘Complex’ – a snarling comeback to the music industry’s misogynist bullshit.

Comprised of Heather (bass & vocals), Neil (drums), and Oliver (guitar), the band are a grunge-fuelled, alternative force to be reckoned with. With wicked tracks like ‘Living Out’ and ‘Complex’ behind them, we’re excited to see what 2018 holds for this talented trio. (KC)

With support from the likes of BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio, and an ever growing reputation for their vibrant live performances, London collective Kid Cupid have been alluring our ears with their blissful electro-pop for some time.

Now, with the recent release of latest single ‘Easy’, they’ve shown themselves to be true masters of their craft; creating utterly euphoric layers of sound alongside Laura Shaw’s rich, soulful vocals. With shades of the likes of Oh Wonder and Little Dragon, we cannot wait to hear more of Kid Cupid’s dreamy, sonic delights throughout 2018. (ML)

 

We’ve made no secret of our love for Essex songwriter Beckie Margaret, and we want everyone’s ears to be blessed with the sound of her impeccable voice.

Inspired by the likes of Lucy Rose, Jeff Buckley and Bon Iver, Beckie’s songs are tender, intuitive, and effortlessly delivered. She’s still at University in the final year of her song-writing degree, but there’s something about her music that can’t be learned from the pages of a textbook. Signed to Cool Thing Records, we’re confident the future for this talented vocalist, writer, and producer is blindingly bright. (KC)

Receiving support across the industry from the likes of Joe Talbot (IDLES) and BBC 6 Music’s Tom Ravenscroft and Steve Lamacq, Birmingham trio Table Scraps are certainly worth paying attention to.

Creating dark and gritty garage-punk, with tracks such as ‘My Obsession’ and latest single ‘Sick Of Me’, the band deliver thrashing riffs and stomping beats, fuelled by a ferocious force. A perfect example of raw, raging DIY music at its best.

Now, with their debut full-length album Autonomy set for release in February, the enraged, empowering energy of Table Scraps looks set to take the world by storm in 2018. (ML)

If you’re a fan of ambient electronic music with a melancholy edge, Temples Of Youth are a band you need to invest in. The Winchester duo sent divine shivers down our spines when they headlined our December show at The Finsbury, and we’ve been spinning their recent self-titled EP in an attempt to stay hypnotised by their magnetic sounds.

We’re confident that tracks like ‘Amber’ and the beautifully articulate ‘Churches’ will propel the pair further in to the spotlight in 2018. We also recommend you check out their superb cover of Nirvana’s ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ – it’s urgent and unforgettable. (KC)

With 2017’s highlights including supporting Desperate Journalist and Nelson Can on various tour dates, Manchester trio LIINES have fast been gaining attention from the likes of John Kennedy, The Quietus and BBC Introducing throughout the year, and we’re loving their gritty, post-punk sounds.

As the pummelling beats and raw vocals of tracks ‘Disappear’ and ‘Blackout’ blast into the ears with all the brooding, impassioned energy you could ever desire, we’re desperate to hear more from LIINES and wait with excitement for what they have in store for us in 2018.

We’re also extremely excited to announce that LIINES will be headlining for us at The Finsbury on 9th February with Bugeye, Suggested Friends and Duck. See you there! (ML)

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Introducing Interview: Moviestar

Ready to put the feeling of danger back into rock ’n’ roll, ‘intergalactic architects’ Moviestar are more than just a band. With their live shows encompassing performance, art, storytelling, fashion and music in a whole new transcending form, they are now set to release their debut, sci-fi infused, album early next year.

We caught up with them to find out more…

Hi Moviestar, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about the band?
Thank you! We are glad to meet Get In Her Ears to let her know that we come from the distant future to prevent the Metal Wars from happening and save the human race from extinction.

How did you initially all get together and start creating music?
We were given this holy task by The Future High Commander of the universe, President Supremius XIII. He sent us back in time to retrieve “The Stone” and spread the word of love through the cunning use of Rock N Roll. Our next single ‘Chosen Ones’ is all about this and in the music video you can see real footage from this holy ceremony.

Your new album Stupid People / Happy Days is out this February – can you tell us what it’s all about? Are there any themes running throughout the album?
It’s an anthem. It’s also a metamorphosis kind of record, where you will be transposed into a better human after listening to it. It’s about us, our mission, our arrival on Earth, and the goals for the human race.

You’ve been compared to the likes of LCD Soundsystem and The Cramps, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
In the future we are lucky to have some remains of the holy documents which derive from this time in age. Your so called vinyl albums are kept in our The Great Gallery of Records where Supremius resides on his throne, watching over the remains of our future planet Fenris. In The Great Gallery of Records we have copies of many Gods of music like LCD soundsystem, Van der Graaf Generator, Elvis, Robert Wyatt, The Kinks and The Cure. They are all our heroes from an early age. We are taught the Holy Documents in school and each record is as important as the rest. And we know a lot. Since we can do telepathy and emotional transfer through our hearts.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
We just got here. We landed our spaceship in Norway in 2016. That was a dreadful year, and Norway was the safest place to land. Plus we are huge fans of Thor Heyerdahl, The Great Explorer. We owe our language to him. He taught us that curiosity and exploration is the key to communication. He has a statue in the Halls of Wisdom on Fenris. A Great man. Nevertheless; yes. We do get to see Holy Ceremonies of other artists. Here in Norway where we live there is lots of good traditional music that dates back many hundreds of year – very good stuff. Plus there is this band called Virus, who are extremely good. But that is very dark and hard music. Not for fragile persons.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
Expect to be emotionally teleported into the future where we will cuddle with your souls for decades before sending you back to “reality”. Snap! What was that?! It’s all good and safe, but we seek to put some danger back into rock n roll.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
Square Bomb, Oscar Vilcrow, Dan Reeder, Maesa, Fable, Rosa V Pullman, Noemie, Porridge Radio, Seldom Wright and The Blue Rays, grasshopper.

And how do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
The music industry is just like any other industry; companies seek to make a profit, on the art of musicians. Say what you will, but the music industry is just a business, and business is what business is and always will be; bound to fail and collapse. But art never will. Art will go on. Greed fails. Hope and love wins. That is the divine plan.

Finally, what does 2018 have in store for Moviestar?
We have made a broadcast which will air very soon. It will feature real news, and not that fake stuff going around the airwaves at the moment. So it will be a breath of fresh air in these colluded and misleading days.

Huge thanks to Moviestar for answering our questions! 

Stupid People / Happy Days, the upcoming album from Moviestar, is out on 9th February 2018 via Oh Yeah!

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Introducing Interview: Table Scraps

Table Scraps produce black-hearted garage punk which fully embraces the good, the bad and the ugly of rock ‘n’ roll’s twisted lineage and various mutations. Receiving support across the industry from the likes of Joe Talbot (IDLES) and BBC 6 Music’s Tom Ravenscroft, this trio are worth paying attention to.

With the recent announcement of their new album Automony‘s release date, we caught up with Table Scraps to talk about their beginnings, being DIY and their new single ‘Sick Of Me Now’.

Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about Table Scraps and how it all started?
As a teenager I was in a pop band who were “tipped for stardom” in the days when a label could afford to put up four teenage girls in London for two weeks while recording an album. When the industry collapsed, my new next-door neighbour back home in Birmingham – Scott – had a similar story of being promised the world before everyone realised they didn’t have any money anymore. Our houses were also, weirdly, mirror images of each other in that they are both absolutely stuffed with priceless rock’n’roll memorabilia and vintage tat. Clearly it was meant to be.

We understand and totally respect that you produce all the music yourself, have you always and will you always want to do this?
Scott and I (and later Tim!) wanted a setup where we could record and release as quickly as we could write – and we didn’t want to lose any of the anger or energy of our live show in a sterile studio environment. Saying that, if the right person were to come along who was on the same wavelength as us and had a cool studio… Never say never. Plus, it would save us a lot of hassle pressing record before running over to our instruments.

You’ve gained some notable fans from the likes of Joe Talbot (frontman of IDLES) and Tom Ravenscroft – it must be great to receive this sort of support from the music community?
Joe is a legend and I’m absolutely made up for what an amazing year IDLES have had. It’s obviously a huge source of pride that a band we really look up to appreciate what we’re doing. When Joe played us on 6 Music in August it kinda legitimised a lot of what we were doing overnight. Huw Stephens and Lauren Laverne were very kind about us and Tom Ravenscroft really came out for ‘Sick of Me’. We definitely owe Joe a couple of drinks.

We’re loving the new single ‘Sick Of Me’ at Get In Her Ears HQ, can you tell us a bit about the song and what inspired it?
Thank you! ‘Sick of Me’ is about the frustration of people – friends even – who become a drain on you and you end up tolerating them for some reason. It was one of the first tracks we approached as a trio and, with the additional space of having our bassist Tim on board, we were really interested in seeing how much we could strip a song back and focus on its key ingredients. All three of us love the simplicity and immediacy of the songs that you might hear from girl groups and garage bands of the sixties.

So you’re playing a series of tour dates all over the UK, ending in your album launch at The Shacklewell Arms on February 28th, what can people expect from your live shows?
Table Scraps shows are short, sharp and straight to the point. I think we probably say about six words between the three of us in between songs. No theatrics and absolutely no cock-rock! Drinks do still get spilt and people go a bit primal, which I love. We favour promoters who strive for (at least close to) gender-equal bills, so it was a no-brainer for us to go straight to Kelly at We Can Do It Promotions to put on the album launch at The Shacklewell Arms, alongside the amazing Josh from Roadkill Records. One of our favourite shows this year was with Polly and Ollie from BITCH CRAFT, so we also had to go with them for our Brighton show!

And what can we look forward to on the record Autonomy?
All killer, no filler. We poured all our heart (and bile) into it and held nothing back.

Finally as we’re a new music focused site, are there any other new/upcoming bands or artists you’d suggest we check out?
We love Slowcoaches and Death Valley Girls.

Huge thanks to Table Scraps for answering our questions!

Table Scraps’ new album Autonomy is out 23rd February 2018 via Zen Ten Records. The album launch is at The Shacklewell Arms on 28th February via We Can Do It Promotions.

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Introducing Interview: East Of My Youth

Creating captivating twinkling electronica, Icelandic duo East Of My Youth formed back in 2015, and since then have received praise from the likes of i-D and The Line Of Best Fit, and have charmed crowds at SXSW Festival.

Now, returning to grace our ears with majestic new single ‘Go Home’, we caught up with East Of My Youth to find out more.

Hi East of My Youth, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about the band?
EOMY is Herdis and Thelma. Herdis works as a freelance composer and producer in Berlin and Thelma is a visual artist and actress living in L.A. So, currently the band is having a long distance relationship!

How did you initially get together and start creating music?
We started playing the piano and singing together then it developed into an electronic project. I (Herdis) was taking my first steps in production and EOMY’s ‘Lemonstars’ was the first song I produced. The idea of the band originally came in a bar in Berlin where we were both living at the time.

Your new single ‘Go Home’ is out now – can you tell us what it’s all about?
We rented a studio in Berlin for two months in 2016 and sat at two desks trying to be creative. We can say that most of that time was really difficult and unproductive, but then one day Herdís called me over and had this melody basically ready made and then we added the lyrics with the help of an existing poem and really got into the depths of the song’s psyche. It’s not really about a particular happening, but rather a pool of emotions being narrated into a fairytale-like story.

You’ve been compared to the likes of Vallis Alps and Anna of the North, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
This question is always a bit tricky. We’re of course happy when people find resemblance with talented musicians/bands and that our production value shines through, but we’ve never really consciously taken inspiration from anyone. Although if you’d listen to the music that we were listening to at the time of composing certain songs you might find resemblance to some elements. Artists that come to mind that might have influenced individual songs are Lorde, Grimes, FKA Twigs, London Grammar and more.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
Herdis: I’m trying to do more of that, hehe.
Thelma: Likewise! Since I moved to LA in September, I’ve only been to two concerts but I have a huge line up in the new year that I’m wanting to see.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
Our live shows have been pretty intimate but playful, and that is definitely something we’ve tried to hold onto in every live show.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
It’s really funny that lately I’ve actually been listening to David Lynch. Who knew he was also making music? There is one song in particular that I’ve been overplaying recently and it’s the best work mode song ever called ‘Good Day Today’. But regarding some up and coming acts I’d recommend Ayia, IDK IDA, Mr. Silla and Vök for example. They’re all Icelandic or based in Iceland.

And how do you feel the music industry is for new artists at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
Yes and no. I think if you really put all your effort into both making quality music and putting it out by all means possible I think there is a chance. You just have to believe in yourself and do it!

Finally, what does 2018 have in store for East of My Youth?
We’ll be going through what has been done this year and tie ends to what needs to be left in order to move forward. So I guess there is an all in all cleanse going on that is creating new grounds to grow in. I think 2018 is going to be amazing. Of course it’s gonna bite you from time to time, like life always does, but I have an overall feeling of something good and great being born.

Huge thanks to East Of My Youth for answering our questions! 

‘Go Home’ is out now via West Of My Future Ltd.

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