LTW newsletter 113

Warriors!

‘When the sun goes down and the moon comes up I turn into a teenage goo goo muck…’well not so much teenage these days…maybe a middle aged goo goo muck not that would make such interesting song subject matter but you get the drift!

I’m in full recovery mode after a very hectic weekend of the Louder Than Words festival in Manchester. Our event. is an offshoot of Louder Than War, was sold out this year at the Innside hotel in Manchester city centre. We had back to back great guests including Budgie, Billy Bragg, Matt Johnson, Claire Grogan, Jon King (Gang Of Four), Dave Rowntree, Richard Jobson and many many others…it was great to spend the weekend in a packed hotel full of fellow music heads and fanatics and the culture and fun flowed…we are already planning next year so stay tuned for the early bird tickets.

Meanwhile back on the mothership of the site we have had a busy week.

The Lovely Eggs - that defiantly DIY duo from Lancaster are celebrating their 20th year of existence. This seems weird as they somehow still feel like a new band. Maybe its the freshness of their approach that does this but as they slip into vintage band status they still sound fresh and exciting and we come to celebrate their two decades of transcendental noisy rush. 

Long term LTW faves - the Australian psych jamming band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have become rather massive with their restless creative muse. The band which seem to put a new album out every six months never seem to run out of ideas and inspiration and their tripped grooves are mesmerising like at their recent show with a full orchestra at the Albert Hall. 

The on/off Libertines side project that very much has a life of its own, Babyshambles, have returned to the frey with a great new single and a song of redemption from a dark place that is dripping in that skanking edge of prime time Specials. 

In May 2026 I will be releasing my memoirs, ‘Punk Rock Ruined My Life by John Robb’ and to accompany this will be a spoken word tour. More dates will be added. Each event will be a one hour talk from me then after a break  there will be a different special guest every night in conversation with me to be announced soon. 

In the fractured new landscape of music what was was once impossible is now expected. Twenty years ago a sentence like ‘Danish rock giants Volbeat delight legions of fans at Manchester’s AO Arena with a career spanning set of their unique brand of rockabilly, rock and metal’ would have read like pure sci fi - geographically and sonically that would just not happened back in the linear music scene of the times but in the post internet age all the most unlikely combinations of music hit the mainstream as this great show underlined. Special guests Bush and Mancunians Witch Fever also provided excellent support.

The Chameleons have been out on tour with their new album - their first for decades - and the shows, as ever, have been intense to an almost spiritual level. Despite their fractured career the band have somehow found an unlikely late stage even keel and have never sounded better as our reviewers reports back from Southampton. 

Crass were a band/collective totally unlike anything else and thei sound and fury was one thing but also their ideas and energy which many are still unpacking to this day. One of the bands singer was Eve Libertine who still pops up with an invigorating creativity. Caliban Sounds through One Little Independent release a recording of Crass singer Eve Libertine and Chilean guitarist Eve Leblanc during a Crass installation. 

Cracked Ankles records based in Preston are arguably the best indie label in the country at the moment with everything they sign being an object of fascination. JOHN x 2 are the latest quickly blast of action and we strongly advise ou to get your ears around this mighty bastard! dull, the power duo from Lancaster are galloping out of the stables of Cracked Ankles Records who can’t do anything wrong at the moment when spotting loud as fuck talent. Pile driving riffs and sonic noise backed with a powerful drum / vocal onslaught. What’s not to like? Read on…

We have been enthralled by the scuzz electronic of Manchester/Berlin based outfit Mandy Indiana for some time now. They sound like the cultural edge of both cities and their stark pulsating electronic soundscapes are all flickering light and dark and somehow twist the form into new spaces.