Lead singers of Larry and his Flask, Ian Cook and Andrew Carew, continue the fun and songwriting alliance together in their new project Beyond The Lamplight. A new iteration of the time-tested sound that fans have grown to love. Soaring harmonies meld with deft lyricism and lightning-fast banjo-picking all against a double-time backbeat to form a quintessential electric barn burner.
‘Shelter’ is a song about loving another who has created a guarded existence from the outside world. A story about coaxing someone out of their shell that they hide inside of. Sharing your own strength with that person in hopes to bring them out of their shelter; their shield against the anxieties and stresses of life. Trying to show them the beauty of not only the world but also the beauty in themselves. British punk singer/songwriter Frank Turner was happy to sing guests parts in both the hook and the bridge of the first single of the new album:
‘Frank’s a longtime friend. We got really close with him and the Sleeping Souls over the course of several tours throughout the years with Larry and his Flask. When I sat down and wrote Shelter it just kind of all came flowing out in one big stream. When I finished and listened back to it, I could just hear him singing it so clearly in my head. The melody just lent itself to his voice and style. So I got a hold of him and asked if he’d be into being a part of it and he was super stoked to lend his voice to the song. He banged it out in a day or so at his studio and that’s what’s on the record. It really elevated the song from a listener perspective. Having the back and forth from me to him. Playing off of each other. Total magic.”‘- Ian Cook, Lead Singer of Beyond the Lamplight
Well, growing up as hardcore kid in the nineties I can totally relate to this book. This is a really big book which tells about David´s adventures as a guitarist for touring bands. What I always loved reading in fanzines is tour diaries and this book reminds me of just that. Touring. All the troubles, all the joy, all the problems with promoters, sound, van breaking down or having a puncture, job worries. David is best known as guitarist for UK melodic punk band Couch Potatoes but also being a part of the UK hardcore punk scene for more than three decades now. This book is in fact a document of this life and work, but also a tour de force document about history of UK DIY hardcore punk scene in the nineties and all the bands, I must admit that I found couple of that I never heard before and will definitely investigate and have a listen. This book is just hardcore from the heart, written by hardcore kid for hardcore kids. More than 600 pages topped with superb photographs and also flyers and gig posters. A document about time which may have passed but remains in heart, also a coming of age story.
Long time no crust hardcore punk on the pages of this zine. So, it is time for me to correct that mistake and I can safely say that Malatesta are best band for that. These guys are hailing from Munich, Germany. This brand new opus contains eight songs. Lyrics are in German language and deal with inner struggle and battling inner demons, machoism, sexism but from personal side of things. So, that means lyrics are not your usual d-beat crust punk about war, nuclear terror, post apocalypse and similar merry themes, though there is nothing wrong with that. Malatesta play d-beat hardcore crust punk but guitars create lots of melody that sounds so great, haunting and melancholic, so I can say there are also, or at least I hear it, some black metal influences in guitar work, I can hear some Darkthrone in their crusty albums in some guitars but I can tell you, this album contains great songwriting and does not get boring, that means not every song is similar, like it is often case with bands that play this kind of music. This is energy, melody, melancholy and darkness in eight opuses. I would so like to see this band play live, I am sure their show is energy pure. Go check this one out. You will not regret it.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 