London trip-tonic three-piece, Desert Ships sound is heavily cinematic. Haunting guitar loops and hypnotic grooves allow the dream-like melodies to weave in and amongst each other, while the three-part vocal harmonies bring a spacey, ambient tint to the eclectic mix.

Comparisons have been drawn with the likes of Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala and at times, even the rousing film scores of John Barry. Their psychedelic sounds have garnered a passionate following, having toured extensively across the UK and Europe.

In 2012 they released their debut album ‘Doll Skin Flag’ (on iTunes and Spotify) which they recorded with acclaimed producer Mark Gardener (lead singer of seminal 90's band Ride). Mark described his time working with the band as “a total pleasure, a total trip.”

Sad news from the stars as according to many sources like The Independent, Christopher Lee has died at the age of 93. He passed away in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, on Sunday after being treated for respiratory problems.Apart from his immense filmography he will always be immortal as Dracula.

‘Glam Is Gone’ is the vinyl debut of the French multi-instrumentalist Camille Marine Bourgeois. She wrote all songs, lyrics and played all instruments by herself. Apparantly for a good reason she recorded the album at 'Death To Majorsstudio’, for this lady is averse to conventions. Venin Carmin has clear references in the New Wave and Post-punk of the eighties but manages to transfer this just as well with a modern twist. That makes "Glam Is Gone" into a contemporary record. The lyrics, written from a female perspective, are about relationships, boredom, sex and violence. Sung in a naive kind of way they are occasionally caustic in its observations. Venin Carmin comes with an album full of goodies that changes flavor before you have in mind. It easily can put you on the wrong track. This moreish!
 

In 2015 Seja kicks off with not exactly the least of the music scene. ImiAFan did a lot of releases at different labels before and worked with greats like Adrian Smith (ClickClick), Makina Girgir, Charles Kent and others. This year, the Czech already released a 12" record on his own label 4MG Records.

The collaboration with Dario Seraval originated from his deep admiration for BORGHESIA, the band in which Dario Seraval takes the lead vocals on his behalf. A few years ago Dario contributed to ImiAFan’s Neurozone album. It is this cooperation that developed and resulted in this mini album. 'Against The Walls' is a melancholic record built around texts from former Eastern European punk bands GRC and Berlinski Zid together with a contribution of the Slovenian poet Tomaž Šalamun. The combination with the synths, bleeps and beeps from ImiaFan makes this album as wonderful as danceable. Moreover, the great sound quality of this record makes listening to it an almost Kraftwerk-like music experience.
 

Pega Monstro is Júlia Reis (drums) and Maria Reis (guitar, keyboard). The duo’s name translates as ‘catch the monster’, perfectly countering the band’s striving dream-punk sound. Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, Maria and Júlia have been playing music together since they were 15 and 17 respectively, in other groups first before resolving on becoming a duo. Back in 2010, both sisters started a record label, along with some of their musician friends, called Cafetra Records to document Portugal’s garage punk scene. Cafetra represents a community of like-minded musicians who all help each other, making music that they’d want to hear, powered by enthusiasm.

Pega Monstro were among the first bands on the label, releasing their ‘O Juno-60 Nunca Teve Fita’ EP the same year to a burgeoning audience of devotees, who’d turn up in growing numbers to each show and sing back the lyrics. Maria puts the band’s instant attention down to being different, “we were girls, we were young and we could rock, people weren’t used to that at all”. 2012 saw Pega Monstro release their self-titled debut album, which was produced by B Fachada, an extremely well known Portuguese singer songwriter. The band and producer hit it off like wildfire and recorded an impressive, raucous debut record that met with critical national acclaim.
 
Now Pega Monstro have a new album ready for Upset The Rhythm, whom they hope will bring their music to audiences outside of their homeland too. ‘Alfarroba’ is the name of this second album, it’s title meaning ‘carob’, after the sweet tasting bean that grows in the wild trees that spontaneously spring up along the Mediterranean coast.

Maria explains further, “In Portugal there are a lot of carob trees in the Algarve and our mother's side of the family is from there, we spent every summer there as children. The scent is unlike any other. So apart from the phonetic appeal of the word, ‘Alfarroba’ is also a homage to that heritage”. The songs on ‘Alfarroba’ deal with many themes, some universal topics like love and growing up, others focusing on the nature of writing songs themselves, whilst some try to make sense of the world from a female perspective.

Pega Monstro make rapturous music, it’s brisk, it’s contagious, it laughs at the language barrier and just keeps running headlong into more and more new ideas. ‘Alfarroba’ is not an exhaustive listen given that though, it’s more like an antidote than an endless anecdote, as restless, impulsive and smart as the band that made it. ‘Alfarroba’ by Pega Monstro will be released on July 6th through Upset The Rhythm worldwide, whilst the band themselves have European tour plans throughout the summer.
 
 
Tracklisting:
01. Braço de Ferro
02. Branca
03. Não Consegues
04. És Tudo O Que Eu Queria
05. Fiz Esta Canção
06. Estrada
07. És Tu, Já Sei
08. Amêndoa Amarga
09. Fado D'Água Fria
10. Voltas Para Trás