The Crystal Teardrop, The Jack Cades & The Embrooks at the Alice In Wonderland Psychedelic Summer Shindig, Water Rats London Aug 15th

Here's a selection of photos and videos from a great Alice In Wonderland Psychedelic Summer Shindig at The Water Rats in London's Kings Cross featuring three superb bands The Crystal Teardrop, The Jack Cades and The Embrooks that are right up Retro Man Blog's street. It seems that recently Christian, from the legendary 80's Psychedelic club has started putting on shows again, I remember it used to be held at Gossip's in Soho (the same club that also housed The Batcave) and Clive the singer from Dr. & The Medics was a regular DJ. We'll definitely be keeping an eye out for future gigs and events, especially if they can attract such a great line-up of bands, all three headliners in their own right. The Embrooks' Psych-pop classics are always a joy to hear, it was just a shame I couldn't take any videos of their set. This was my first time to see the current Jack Cades since the departure of Mole and Alex, and as much as I loved that line-up, the new look JC's were on fire. They treated us to some fantastic sounding new songs from their forthcoming album that channelled their appreciation of The  Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Velvet Underground into memorable riffs and driving rhythms. This was my first ever time to see The Crystal Teardrop and I could quickly see why there is such a buzz about the band at the moment. They look great on stage, a blur of energy and in Alexandra Rose they have a charismatic and engaging frontwoman. The songs were impressive, I particularly liked their use of the electric sitar and I picked up a copy of their new album "The Crystal Teardrop Is Forming" which is a great listen. You can see more videos from the show over at our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel.

The Crystal Teardrop

 

 

The Jack Cades

 

The Embrooks

All photos and videos copyright Retro Man Blog 2025

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 50 "Something New" - Best Wishes for Xmas & New Year!

Welcome to this milestone episode of Retrosonic Podcast - yes we've made it to 50 shows so thank you all for your support over the last ten years or so, it is very much appreciated. Of course thanks also to the great bands, artists and record labels who have been producing so such excellent new music that keeps us so busy! So, here's a little Xmas gift for you to celebrate 2022 with - 18 new releases which prove that despite all the hardships of the past year - nothing has stopped the creative force of these fantastic musicians. As always, if you like what you hear, please do check out the feature at Retro Man Blog .com for the full tracklisting and links to discover more about the featured bands - so check out their info, go and see them play live and most importantly - buy their merchandise and records.  Listen in here...

Retrosonic Podcast · Episode 50 "Something New"

1. Jim Jones All Stars feat. Nikki Hill "It's Your Voodoo Working"

2. The Schizophonics "Won Your Love"

3. Wyld Gooms "Doesn't Matter To Me"

4. The Playn Jayn "It's Not Me"

5. Graham Day "The Memphis Train" (Spinout Nuggets)

 6. Wipeout "Miss Understood" (Spinout Nuggets)

 7. The Beatpack "Greek Street 2AM" (Spinout Nuggets)

 8. Gina Birch "Wish I Was You"

9. Ruts DC "Faces In The Sky"

10. The Jackets "Pie In The Sky"

11. The Jack Cades "Something New"

12. The Embrooks "Black Hatted Lady"

13. The Courettes "Daydream" (Damaged Goods Records)

14. Mimi & The Miseries "Stop Following Me 'Round"

15. AlterModerns "Mask"

16. Nervous Twitch "The History of The Wild West" 

17. Hipbone Slim & The Kneejerks "Lou Anne"

18. The Highmarts "Sorry" from their "Dodgy Demo Tape"

Subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast for free at SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes and Apple Podcasts. Retrosonic theme tune by Adam Donovan, this episode's cover star Amy K-B. With thanks to Lee Grimshaw at Spinout Nuggets, this year's Retrosonic Podcast special guests Damian O'Neill, Suzi Moon, Pete & Michele at Eel Pie Island Museum, The Gruesomes and my occasional co-presenters Buddy Ascott & Paul Slattery.

The Galileo 7 "There Is Only Now" - Ms Sheringham-Boom in praise of the band's latest LP

The Galileo 7 "There Is Only Now" - Cover by Darryl Hartley

Album number 6 indeed, and I’ll be honest, I have only recently been introduced to The Galileo 7. I’ve been a fan of Crockford and Lambert’s many other bands for a long time, but it was their live performances that really turned me on, so to speak. I was lucky to catch them twice last year; at full velocity at the Fratcave in Hastings, and then at The Lexington in December supporting their mates Graham Day & The Gaolers. They blew me away both times, and I’m happy to say that they are no longer a band on the periphery of my awareness or musical tastes. I was also pleased to hear keyboardist Viv Bonsels taking the lead vocals for their single "Too Late" released in April this year; which is also included on this LP. It’s great to hear Viv adding much more than melodic backing vocals and adept keyboard skills (I remember her singing a brilliant cover of Shocking Blue’s "Send Me A Postcard" in Hastings). In fact the whole band have a shot taking lead vocals over the course of the LP (and not one of them a dud!) the multi-tasking bunch that they are. What I really like about this album is that they produce unselfconscious and unashamedly uplifting ‘60s power pop psych. The songs are all well thought out and multi-layered. There are, upon first listen, overtones of XTC/The Dukes of Stratosphere, the whimsy of early Pink Floyd, The Beatles circa ‘66/’67, possibly lazy comparisons on my part. However they also have a solid underpinning of ‘60s rock driving them forward. Every track is like an injection of sunshine, followed swiftly by a punch. Knockout. 

- Ms Sheringham-Boom, June 2019

The Galileo 7 photographed at The Half Moon Putney by Paul Slattery

Ms Sheringham-Boom is the bassist in Edinburgh based Garage Rock band Thee Girl Fridays. "There Is Only Now" is out now on Damaged Goods Records. You can hear a track from the LP in the latest episode of Retrosonic Podcast which is available on iTunes or directly below.

The Embrooks "We Who Are" New LP & State Records Launch Party with Les Grys Grys and The Dirty Contacts at The Lexington January 5th

The Embrooks - "We Who Are" LP cover

The Embrooks celebrated the release of their brand new LP "We Who Are" with a cracking value for money State Records showcase and launch party at The Lexington featuring special guests Les Grys Grys and The Dirty Contacts. Of course Mole and Lois of The Embrooks are the brains behind the fabulous State Records who have recently completed work on their very own recording studio North Down Sound in the grounds of their HQ in Folkestone, which is certainly paying dividends.

The Dirty Contacts at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog

The Dirty Contacts at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog

Opening the show after an excellent selection of songs from DJ Suzy ScreamCheese, the Hastings based Dirty Contacts were also celebrating a new release. Their debut single "The World's End" was recorded at North Down Sound and is out now as a heavyweight gatefold sleeved 7" vinyl single. They played a great set of scuzzy Garage Punk with some promising original songs rubbing shoulders with some familiar cover versions such as Wimple Winch’s "Save My Soul" and a superb take on The Wailers "Out of Our Tree". I recognised the Fratcave and Beatwave weekender organisers Ian Greensmith from The Dentists on drums and Justin from The Sine Waves on keyboards. In fact, Justin's futuristic keyboards add another dimension to their sound and give The Dirty Contacts a welcome and original angle that sets them apart from many of their contemporaries.

Les Grys Grys at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog

Les Grys Grys at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog

The fantastic Les Grys Grys have been over from Montpellier to visit North Down Sound to continue work on their forthcoming album. They took time out between recording sessions to headline a riotous New Year show at Weirdsville which featured crowd-surfing, PA climbing, Go-Go dancing full-on mayhem. Tonight they put in a rather more sedate performance that is as tight and rocking as the Weirdsville show was chaotic. They really are one of the best live acts on the circuit and tonight’s set promises that the new LP will be a sure-fire classic, can't wait to hear it.

The Embrooks at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog

The Embrooks take the stage and tonight, with his striped trousers and tasselled hat, frontman Mole reminds me of the Psychedelic shopkeeper in the Mr Ben cartoon, promising us a fantastical adventure ahead. Indeed, there is an element of the unknown to come as Mole announces that they will only be playing songs from their brand new release “We Who Are". I thought it was a brave move by the band to play the album in sequence from side one, track one, however, it all worked out perfectly in the end. This was mainly down to the fact that “We Who Are” is expertly sequenced with each song capable of being released as a stand-alone single in its own right. In fact, I found myself singing along to numbers as though I'd listened to them for years rather than just a couple of weeks. I noticed there were a fair number of people around me doing likewise. You see, “We Who Are” is one of those rare albums where everything just clicks. From the beautifully packaged limited edition 180-gram vinyl LP with its lavish gatefold sleeve and accompanying CD, right through to the production and the sheer quality of the song writing, it’s all here.

The Embrooks at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog

Only one song breaks the three and a half minute barrier but they still manage to cram in loads of intriguing twists and turns into each number, which gives the album a thoroughly satisfying depth. Drummer Lois kicks things off with the snake hipped groove of “Going But Not Gone” and Mole's elastic bass riff is bubbling away nicely underneath. The previously released State Records single "Nightmare" was the only familiar song in the main set and it has a great stinging guitar riff intro from Alex. "Don't Look At Me" is one of my highlights on the album, it starts off as a Garage Punk stomper before shooting off at an unexpectedly pastoral tangent with some wicked flute played brilliantly on the album and at the gig by Tom Hodges. Suddenly a mighty bass riff slaps us back on track and then it all goes off with a crunching guitar riff and the flute going haywire.

The Embrooks at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog

For me the album's centrepiece is the magnificent "Human Living Vampire" and on this track in particular, you really get the feeling that the band are definitely utilising their own studio to its full potential as the multi-layered guitar work from Alex blew my mind. It starts with a beautifully intricate twelve-string motif and then in comes some furiously strummed, almost flamenco styled acoustic. There is so much going on that your ears won't know which way to turn. “We Who Are” certainly distils all of The Embrooks many and varied influences perfectly. From the quintessentially British 60’s Freakbeat era of bands such as The Sorrows and The Attack, they cross the Atlantic to embark on a mammoth Psychedelic road-trip. The journey takes in the dirty waters of the East Coast Garage Punk scene to the Texan Psych of the 13th Floor Elevators and then onto California and the sun-kissed harmonies of The Byrds and "Mr Soul" period Buffalo Springfield.

The Embrooks at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog

There’s some superb Fuzz guitar on "I'm Coming Home" with a melody reminiscent of The Brian Jonestown Massacre's classic "Not If You Were The Last Dandy..." Next up it's "Baby From The South" which has a nice upbeat rhythm and a touch of The Equals Rock'n'Soul about it. A cover of The Lost Souls "Peace of Mind" based on a hypnotic slightly sinister riff, fits in seamlessly among the original material. The excellent "Hang Up" features some classic stabbing organ chords and a great guitar break. "You Can If You Want" closes the album and the main set with Kevin CK Smith joining the band to play some astounding harmonica. I remember seeing Kevin's very first appearance in London when he guested with The Dustaphonics to play harmonica and he blew everyone away. Since then he has gone from strength to strength, joining The Baron Four and The Voo-Dooms as well as DJ’ing.

The Embrooks with CK Smith at The Lexington - Photo Retro Man Blog

The Embrooks encore with a couple of oldies including a vicious version of “Jack” which goes down a storm and then it's over way too soon. The only downside of the Lexington show is that for some reason they omit their superb cover of The Hollies "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" which was a shame as they managed to transform it into the embodiment of a perfect Embrooks song on the album. To be honest, I don’t think they did themselves any favours by officially releasing the album just before Xmas as it was too late in the year to feature in many of the “Best of 2018” lists. Anyway, I'm going to cheat and consider the LP was released on the day of the Lexington launch party as that was the first time I nabbed my very own copy and in that case, this is already a nailed-on “Best LP of 2019”. Now, I know it’s only January but I really can't imagine a better album will be released this year. If it is, I am very much looking forward to hearing it as it's going to have to be something pretty damn special to beat “We Who Are”!

For more photos of the night please check out the album in the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here and you'll find videos of all three bands at our YouTube channel here. Please click on the highlighted links above to access more info on the bands. Finally, "We Who Are" and The Dirty Contacts new single can be ordered from State Records here along with many more of their releases.

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 28: "The Easiest Person To Fool Is Yourself" Out Now!

Podcover - Hipsville Go-Go Girls Photographed by Zig Criscuolo

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 28 "The Easiest Person To Fool Is Yourself" is out now on Soundcloud & iTunes. In a decidedly non-retro Retrosonic episode we take a look at some of the new music that's found it's way to the Retro Man Blog over the past few months. We've got a great Hammond organ instrumental intro from French trio Gerry Bright & The Stokers, a song from Joss Cope's debut solo album and the opening track from The Galileo 7's forthcoming album "Tear Your Minds Wide Open". King Salami & The Cumberland 3 give us the great "Pineapple Mama" and we pick a song from Oh! Gunquit's excellent "Lightning Likes Me" LP. The Jack Cades are a kind of Garage Rock 'supergroup' featuring members of The Baron Four, Missing Souls, The Masonics and The Embrooks and there's a song from their "Music For Children" album. Talking of The Embrooks, they were on the bill at our recent sold-out reunion shows for The SolarFlares and there's one of the highlights of their set, the current single "Nightmare". Also on the bill were King Mojo who went down a storm and there's a song from their debut album too. Parsley from The SolarFlares also plays Hammond in The Mynd Set who have a new E.P. out now and we choose one side of a superb new 7" single from Jetstream Pony. Glenn Prangnell's Groovy Uncle have just released arguably their best album so far and we state the case with a great song featuring Suzi Chunk on vocals. We play the new split single in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust featuring cover versions of two Jam classics given a French twist by Popincourt & French Boutik and there's a track from The Kite Collectors new album "Shockerwick 135". Another superb night at Weirdsville introduced us to The No-Things from Edinburgh and the Spanish band Las Aspiradoras and to finish off there's the brand new single from Ebbot Lundberg & The Indigo Children. I hope you enjoy the great music in this episode, if you do please check out the highlighted links above for more info on the bands! Retrosonic Podcast has a valid PRS certificate. Podcover photo of the Hipsville Go-Go Girls courtesy of Zig Criscuolo at ZigPix.

Listen in/download at our Soundcloud page here:

The SolarFlares 13th and 14th October at The Water Rats with Special Guests The Fallen Leaves, King Mojo, The Embrooks and DJ Lee Grimshaw

The SolarFlares photographed by Paul Slattery

I'd like to thank everyone that came along to our Retro Man Blog presents The SolarFlares reunion shows at The Water Rats, I really appreciate all the fantastic feedback and comments which goes to show you all seemed to enjoy it as much as we did! Amy Kilroy-Buck kindly contributed her thoughts on the weekend. "When the tickets have sold out before the poster is even printed, you know it's going to be a bit of a special gig. Originally a one off to coincide with the vinyl reissue of three albums on Damaged Goods, the gig quickly became a two off in order to meet the apparently insatiable demand of fans and tickets flew out at a pace that makes this Retro Man Blog's fastest selling event so far. I went to both nights (as one does) and it really was pretty spectacular. Friday night began with an excellent set from DJ Lee Grimshaw before The Fallen Leaves took to the stage. The Fallen Leaves ('no jeans, no t-shirts, no cover versions') are always a joy to watch, with their punchy, catchy songs and unashamedly theatrical delivery. You'll find no wasted notes or excessive noodling here, just good, old fashioned, tweed clad garage punk.

The Fallen Leaves photographed by Paul Slattery

Rob Symmons of The Fallen Leaves photographed by Paul Slattery

I've never seen The Solarflares live before (I was 18 when they split up and only just starting to develop any kind of taste in music), but I've been a regular at Forefathers gigs for quite some time now and, like many of the audience, I was interested to see just how different an all SF's set would be, and if the addition of the Hammond really made much difference overall. Right from the first song it became apparent that it really, really does. The squirly, wailing chords add another layer of sound to an already powerful mix, and it also meant we got treated to the instrumentals Lunar Girl, Moonshine of Your Love, Angel Interceptor, and my absolute favourite, Girl in a Briefcase. With an extensive back catalogue to choose from, the choice of songs on Friday night veered from the poignant (Mary) to the witty (Feet the Wrong Way Round) through to the downright groovy instrumentals via the occasional audience singalong (Miles Away).

Allan Crockford of The SolarFlares photographed by Paul Slattery

Graham Day & Wolf Howard of The SolarFlares photographed by Paul Slattery

The Solarflares really do have something for everyone, and the multiple encores on Friday night definitely gave the impression that the band were enjoying themselves too. One gig down, one to go, or, as Allan joked, 'thank you for coming to our rehearsal for tomorrow'. I've never been to see the same band in the same venue on two consecutive nights before, but on Saturday we shook off our hangovers and piled back into the Water Rats, ready for some more. Saturday's line up gave us two support bands, the first of whom, King Mojo, had made the 500 mile round trip from the frozen north beyond the wall (all right, Middlesbrough) to kick things off for a second night of music. I've seen King Mojo before on their home turf, and as a live band they really are dynamite, combining sharp, spiky song writing with class musicianship. Their EP Ironstoned is on my 'to be reviewed' stack, so more on them soon. Definitely ones to watch, and a great start to the night.

King Mojo - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

The Embrooks - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

My nearest and dearest will be well acquainted with my tendency to keep banging on about how much I love The Embrooks, but I can honestly say that this band alone would be worth the trip down to London, and if you haven't seen them yet, I urge you to do so. Their stage performances have a manic energy that make them captivating to watch, and their songs will rattle around in your head long after the gig is over. Saturday was already off to a great start, and it was time for more Solarflares. With one or two small changes to the set the band seemed a little more relaxed than the previous night, and soon got into their stride. The Water Rats is a fairly cosy venue, but I decided to fight my way down to the front, and it was well worth the effort.

Wolf Howard of The SolarFlares photographed by Paul Slattery

As on the previous night the sound was full and vibrant, but there was an extra veneer of confidence there and definitely no clues that this was a band that hadn't played together for a long time. The long established team of Graham Day, Allan Crockford and Wolf Howard seem to have a collective sixth sense that we're used to seeing with The Forefathers, but the addition of Parsley on Hammond organ really did elevate this band to something pretty extraordinary. His playing is subtle and empathetic, and supports the guitar rather than fighting it. He's a snappy dresser too, and I hope we see him on stage again at another Retroman night in the future.

Parsley of The SolarFlares photographed by Paul Slattery

The Solarflares always talk about their band with great fondness, and Saturday's gig really did have the feel of a group of friends who were having a great time. The songs still sound new and fresh, and there's obviously some real affection from the audience. As the band came to the end of their final song, Graham leant his Gretsch Black Panther against his Vox and left the stage to a fanfare of self induced feedback. Allan dutifully switched off the amp as the band exited stage right to riotous cheers. The final encore of Father's Name Is Dad marked the end of a triumphant reformation for The Solarflares, and whether they do it again, or it remains a two off, it was a spectacular couple of nights for a few hundred people in Kings Cross." - AKB October 2017

Graham Day of The SolarFlares photographed by Paul Slattery

With thanks to Amy for the great review and to Paul Slattery for his superb photos as always. You can see more photos of all the bands over the two nights at the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here and some videos over at our YouTube channel here. There's also a great review of the Friday night show over on the always excellent Monkey Picks Blog which can be found here.