MIMR

In the 1st feature of a brand new year on the blog, it’s time once again for our picks of bands worth checking out this year, lets hope we can see all these live at some point.

Here are MIMR Sounds of 2021 list:

Mr Matthew Fisher

The Galahads

Sinclair

Stepford Wives

Cold Water Swimmers

DEAFDEAFDEAF

The Hyena Kill

The Battery Farm

Giant Boys

Jessica Luise

So it’s MIMR final feature of 2020 and we all hope that 2021 will be a lot more back to normal for everyone in the music industry. As we look back on the year, despite the obvious changes that people have had to deal with, a lot of great records were produced.


Here are MIMR’s top 20 albums of the year.




20. Demons of Ruby Mae   ‘We Have All the Time in The World’





19. Orchards  ‘Lovecore’





18. Ghostlawns  ‘Motorik’





17. Kaleiders  ‘Melancholy Undertones’





16. The Lottery Winners ‘The Lottery Winners’





15. Alpha Male Tea Party ‘Infinite Stare’





14. Inego ‘Departures’




13. Wintergreen  ‘The Future Is a Way of Life’


12. SPQR  ‘Ribbons’




11. Peaks  ‘Season’




10. Heavy Salad  ‘Cult Casual’



9. Danny Gruff  ‘Author of My Own Misfortunes’



8. Bethlehem Casuals  ‘The Tragedy of Street Dog’



7. Ist Ist  ‘Architecture’
6. Teenanger  ‘Good Time’



5. Grasshopper  ‘Scuttle’




4. Seazoo  ‘Joy’



3. USA Nails  ‘Character Stop’



2. Grotbags  ‘Grotbags’



1. Kidsmoke  ‘A Vision in the Dark’

It’s safe to say that 2020 has been a year like no other in living memory for everyone and the sudden halt to normal life has hit every community and industry. Despite all of this, musicians have revelled in the challenge, bubbling over their creative juices in the absence of live music to make some cracking records.

Here are MIMR Top 40 EPs

40. Alien Feelings ‘Bondage and Lipstick’

39. Little Ways ‘The 4-3-2-1 EP’

38. Soccer 96 ‘Tactics EP’

37. Sheafs ‘Vox Pop’

36. Yard Arms ‘Sanctuary Lines’

35. Magic Spells ‘Bubbly’

34. The Lathums ‘Ghosts’

33. Origami Tsunami ‘Drift Into The Sun’

32. Joell Jordi ‘Joell Jordi’

31. Pizza Crunch ‘Off Their Heads’

30. Cobain Jones ‘Unplugged’

29. Document ‘A Camera Wanders All Night’

28. Wood Ewe ‘I Love You Too, Disembodied Voice’

27. Persian Rug Sale ‘Love Songs’

26. Seagoth ‘Internet Cafe’

25. SPQR ‘No Brain, No Pain’

24. Roxy Girls ‘A Wealth Of Information’

23. Chihuahua ‘Live At Boxyard’

22. Peaks ‘Saturday Soak EP’

21. Michael Webster ‘Live At Spirit Studios’

20. Cassette Apes ‘Don’t Bring a Drum Machine to a Dogfight’

19. Snooker Season ‘The American Office’

18. Van Houten ‘Home Alone’

17. The Lotts ‘We Are The Lotts’

16. Furrowed Brow ‘Dead Dead Dead Still Digging’

15. Those Fucking Snowflakes ‘Straight White Wealthy Male Suffrage’

14. Stepford Wives ‘Soul Waves’

13. Crapsons ‘Clotheslined By a Nun EP’

12. TV Face ‘Work, Work Have Fun EP’

11. Alex Rave and The Spectical ‘Profound Absurdities’

10. Eitha Da ‘Fizzy’

9. Diving Station ‘June Damp’

8. Threads ‘Teletext’

7. Giant Boys ‘Click & Collect’

6. TV Face ‘Like Dominoes EP’

5. Home Counties ‘Redevelopment EP’

4. Dense ‘Abjection’

3. Leisure Theory ‘Deliverance’

2. The Battery Farm ‘Ending Unstoppable Pain’

1. The Sewer Cats ‘Zelda’

A band that MIMR has followed very closely over the last few years and despite the obvious changes which have been forced on us all this year they have a released a record up there as one of the most thrilling listens that MIMR has had the pleasure to be engrossed in.

We spoke to Gareth from London punk act USA Nails about ‘Character Stop’, 2021 plans and missing greggs at service stations


MIMR: Hey there, fantastic to have you on the blog, amongst all the negative crap that’s happened this year, how has your year been and has it changed anything about being a band?

Gareth: We were lucky enough to have Character Stop recorded at the back end of last year (i.e. pre lockdowns) so we’ve been able to focus on sorting the release for that, all the admin and videos and artwork and logisitics and stuff, so we’ve had plenty to get on with. In some ways it’s been quite useful as we’ve had more time to sort all that bollocks instead of playing gigs and all that boring stuff (some sarcasm for you there you’re welcome).


MIMR: Here at MIMR we can’t stop listening to the new record, tell us all about it’s production and was the release in anyway affected by the pandemic?



Gareth: We we had to cancel a US tour in April, and all gigs in general, so haven’t been able to launch it in the way we would have normally, but the stuff behind the scenes has all worked ok. The labels and dsitributors and such have been getting on with it. There was a bit of a delay at the European pressing plant but it was only a couple of weeks late, so could have been a lot worse. All the recording/mixing/mastering was sorted pre-lockdown so we didn’t have to worry to much about it in that respect.


MIMR: Now the omission of live music has been the obvious big change to everyday life for everyone in the music industry and the fans too. What’s the one thing you miss about playing live?



Gareth: We’ve chatted extensively as a band about this, the answer is – everything. The socialising, the travelling, the greggs at service stations, even sleeping on shit floors. Gigs are the essence of band life, they are a big positive that balance out all the hard work in between. Without them there’s a lot less to look forward to, and a lot less to enjoy about being in a band. Not to mention the fact that it reduces our income.



MIMR: With a vaccine on the horizon, fingers crossed 2021 will return to some sort of normality, do you guys have an idea of what the band will be up to next year?


Gareth: We have some shows tentatively booked for Spring next year, I’m guessing they’ll be allowed to go ahead but with limited attendance. I think I read something about indoor venues operating at 50% capacity? Most of the gigs we play are only half full anyway HAR HAR.



MIMR: During the lockdown period how have you passed the time away from any music business?



Gareth: I’ve been trying to teach myself a bit more about guitars, so I built a couple, and that’ll be useful for doing my own maintenance on the road in future. Steven and his wife had their first kid last Autumn so he’s been enjoying getting to spend more time being a dad, Tom got furloughed and is currently focussing on helping a local take away business in Haggerston stay afloat (The Duke Of Wellington), Dan worked in events so has been hit hard, but thankfully has found other bits of work along the way.




MIMR: What’s the one thing you wish for this xmas and do you have any new year resolutions?



Gareth: I wish for everyone to be healthy and happy this Christmas. My new year resolution is to stop saying “yes” to everything because I always have more on my to do list than I can cope with.



MIMR: Thanks for chatting to us at MIMR, loving the new record and all the best in 2021. 



Gareth: Thanks for having us/me and for the kind words. 




Check out recent single ‘I Don’t Own Anything’ taken from ‘Character Stop’ record here. Also follow link to their bandcamp too to purchase it, it’s one of the top records of 2020


https://youtu.be/qT1hMybsopw

https://usanails.bandcamp.com/album/character-stop

Shouting from the rooftops and making themselves heard amongst the chaos of the world currently, Manchester viseral punk quartet The Battery Farm unveil their latest devasting and destructive track ‘Maggot Line’ today (Oct 23rd) and it’s a wild whirlwind, spiralling through your body.

Taken from their upcoming debut EP ‘ENDLESSLY UNSTOPPABLE PAIN’ out Nov 27th which we are very excited about on the blog, the track is another bruising and punishing example of their rip-rawing and heartfelt execution through gripping vocals, some explosive, frenetic riffs and a truly hard-hitting furious insight into their visions of the world, which has recently been turned upside down.

Photos credit: Trust a Fox

The Battery Farm were touted by many to have a big year and despite being halted by the virus, the 4 piece can still command to be up there at the top table of the Manchester scene, let’s hope their explosive live shows can return next year, MIMR will be in the pit down the front!

Check out the track here:

MIMR welcomes back to the blog slacker-pop 5 piece Van Houten with their latest single ‘You and Me’ an intriging insight into their fruitful development of their already enriched sound which drew MIMR in last year.

The follow up to the their self titled record from 2019 is a breath of fresh air with their mature sound now reaching new and exciting heights. The track is taken from their upcoming EP ‘Home Alone’ (out Nov 13th) released via Clue Records and it reflects on the darker side of love and relationships, when they break down and your efforts to deal with the situation often making things worse.

The track glistens and shines throughout, piercing hooks, delicious shoegazing melodies and silky vocals that capture the rich soundscapes they achieve effortlessly.

Having already gained significant press attention the 5 piece from Leeds look set for even more deserved praise, this EP is going to be a bit special!

Here’s the track:

2020, for all of it’s hardships and sacrifice, has still had a plethora of new music spilling out as many bands are having to adapt to a world where live performance has been deemed archaic for now. New bands are still emerging from the shadows though and one of these that MIMR has discovered are gritty, post-punk trio People Soup with their debut single ‘Rosemary’ (Sept 26th) flickering our interest instantly.

One of the many bands from Leeds to feature on the blog this year, the trio formed just shy of the pandemic arriving, finally stamping their arrival with this raw and raucous track, with haunting basslines, boisterous vocals and some vociferous beats that builds to a crusendo of noise which is delivered in a mesemerisingly, passionate way.

With the lockdown helping the band focus on getting a wealth of material on their backs and just itching to get that out to the masses, People Soup now can carry that determination in their future releases, of which MIMR is chomping at the bit to listen to.

Listen to the track here:

https://peoplesoup.bandcamp.com/releases

Drained, exhausted and fed up of all this covid nonsense? Yeah me too but with music being one of the few delights in our lives that still exist, they’re are plenty of new music out there to excite. Prime example of this fact is the pounding new single by cheshire 4 piece and friends of the blog Salt The Snail.

‘Maaate’ has crunching riffs, pulverizing beats and a sizeable degree of menacing power enough to leave your head spinning vigourously.

The heavy punk-rock quartet illustrate their weird and wonderful life they live in with the entertaining video to the track which highlights the obsession with mobile phones that consumes the majority of people, them people that are constantly on them during gigs in particular can get in the bin!

Anyway Salt The Snail are magnetically on our radar and they should be on yours, alright Maaate!

Here’s the track: