Holy Popes rail against police corruption on new Single, ‘Apples’

Bristol-based post-garage/punk trio HOLY POPES are pleased to return with their new single ‘Apples’ which is set for release on 8th February 2024.

The single is the first new material from the band since the release of their debut self-titled album HOLY POPES in 2023, via Hull-based independent label Man Demolish Records (NEWMEDS).

Alongside the new single, the band are pleased to reveal a run of Spring/Summer 2024 UK and France headline tour dates, with tickets on sale now (see below for full listings).

One of those serendipitous songs that just came naturally to guitarist Poppi (ex-The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster), ‘Apples’ was finished in a few hours with the lyrics coming together all in one go, spewing forth with an anger that can be felt in both the delivery of the song, and the caustic, lurching barrage of storm-tossed riffs that swell and crash throughout the tense new offering.

Commenting on the track, which addresses systemic corruption within the police force, Poppi says: “The arrest, and later conviction, of a serving police officer within the MET for two decades of horrific crimes against women summarised a rage that had been building for years. Combined with the murder of Sarah Everard—again, by a serving police officer—as well as the Casey review documenting institutional racism and misogyny within the MET police, there was no way this song could not spill out of us.”

“Be it the travellers at the Battle of the Beanfield, the pickets of the miners’ strikes, or the horrific brutality at the Kill the Bill protests in Bristol and around the country—not to mention the continued use of stop and search practices in poor communities, mostly affecting young black men—there’s a history in the United Kingdom of police violence against those of a less privileged class that has gone on for too long. These aggressive practices, and specific officers, who are guilty of the murders of Blair Peach, Ian Tomlinson, Chris Kaba, and Sarah Everard to name just a few, are not found solely on the violent streets of America, but here in the UK.”

“Too often we refer to these incidents as ‘rotten apples’…but with the evidence of corruption, silencing and solidarity within the ranks of the police, it’s not one rotten apple; the whole barrel is rotten. We do not consent to violence, racism or misogyny. If this is policing by consent, what is the option other than to oppose it?”

HOLY POPES’ self-titled debut album was released in January 2023, preceded by visceral singles ‘DBT, ‘Pencils’ and ‘Jerry’ which showcased the band’s twitching, erratic take on post-garage punk for the first time, and picked up a swathe of support from underground alternative tastemakers at Distorted Sound, Noizze, God Is In The TV Zine, The Soundboard, The Punk Site, Punktuation Mag, At The Barrier, Joyzine and more.

Outside of his duties with the band, Poppi also works with men to provide a space to discuss their place within a patriarchal system that inhibits their own emotional growth, whilst contributing to the mass violence we see against women on an hourly basis. As such, thematically, HOLY POPES’ music serves as a reflection of where we are in the world, both emotionally and systemically.

“Music is a tool to express much more than a series of sounds and rhythms,” says Poppi of the band’s ongoing commitment to political activism through music. “It’s there to capture a moment in people’s lives, to shine a light on the horrors and realities of the world, and expose counter culture ideas to the people around us. Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Crosby Stills and Nash, Crass, Ian Dury, Rage Against the Machine and many, many more…politics and music is not solely for one genre or one era, it is one of the crucial essences of music itself.”

‘Apples’ is out now via Man Demolish Records

Live Dates:

24th Feb – Bradford upon Avon – The Three Horseshoes (UK)
9th March – London – The Book and Record Bar (UK)
11th March – Rennes – Melody Maker (FR)
13th March – Saint Brieuc – Le Cessonnais (FR)
14th March – Le Mans –  venue TBC (FR)
15th March – Rouen – Le 3 Pieces (FR)
16th March – Brighton – Alphabet (UK)
31st March – Hull – The New Adelphi (UK)
11th April – Bristol – The Thunderbolt (UK)
26th April –  London – The Night Owl, Finsbury Park (UK)
7th June – Todmorden – The Golden Lion (UK)
13th June – Bristol – The Golden Lion (UK)
29th June – Bristol – The Crofters Rights (UK)
13th July – Brighton, Hope and Ruin (UK)

Jack and Lucia from Twisted Nipple Events share why they love Hull so much

Two of Hull’s most interesting promoters sat down with Dom Smith to chat about their goals, some of their favourite bands and more!

Listen:

https://audiomack.com/the-hull-yes-podcast/song/episode-14-jack-and-lucia-from-twisted-nipple-events-share-what-they-love

Watch:

Music website Soundsphere launches new Wrestlesphere for wrestling news and interviews

Dom and Sam Smith from Soundsphere launch new website for IMPACT, WWE and more content

Soundsphere has been a force in the UK rock music scene for nearly 14 years, interviewing the likes of The 1975, Busted, Judas Priest, Placebo, Rammstein, Billy Corgan and so many more.

Now, inspired by their early work in wrestling media (from as early as 2012) speaking with legends including Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, Dom Smith and Sam Smith who create content for Soundsphere, and have recently worked with All Elite Wrestling on music-focused interviews with the likes of Malakai Black and Max Caster have launched Wrestlesphere. On the launch, Dom says: “We have always been a music website, but there was always a great link between music and wrestling and we absolutely made the most of that whenever we could, even in our earliest work, but it became clear as wrestling became more of a focus, that not every wrestler could reflect on their music taste or would want to talk about music, so we decided to build something that focused on a wrestler’s mental health, or their fitness routine, or their legacy – where they could reflect on a deeper level, and that was how Wrestlesphere was born.”

Wrestlesphere has already covered WWE events Money In The Bank and Clash at the Castle here in the UK, completing interviews with the likes of LA Knight and Santos Escobar. Most recently, the platform reviewed AEW’s All In at Wembley Stadium.

For more visit: https://wrestlesphere.com/

Hull alt-rockers DEADSET release ‘The Art of Pointscoring’

DEADSET have released their highly charged, emotive debut single THE ART OF POINT SCORING via Mandemolish Records, based in their hometown of Hull. It’s a track where the soaring guitar, a truly hypnotic bass line and a languid vocal shroud a deeply anguished lyric riddled with a resignation and despair. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cmJFq2lZdU

The band were formed just last year, originally a product of guitarist James Massey and vocalist Sam Mellors, who discovered a genuine bond over writing together after their previous project Girl Afraid ended abruptly. Their sound was moulded into a more claustrophobic, gritty and tense direction when bassist Adam Arnold and drummer Rio Campbell joined, taking the classic indie sensibilities of the two original members into harsher new territories. DEADSET truly came to life when the band wrote as a group and embraced each other’s musical preferences, their influences now relying to an extent on alternative 80s and 90s bands. You may hear a little Deftones here, a little Joy Division there.

The song is an earnest outlook on the toxic environment that can be birthed when you’re struggling to coordinate mental health issues,” says Sam Mellors from the band. “That apathy you experience in which you feel empathy but struggle to act upon it. It’s an ugly subject but writing about it in a vulnerable and genuine way helps to process and accept your own falsities and mistakes; and the accepting of a situation you can’t change when someone else is feeling the same, accepting both parties can make mistakes. It helps me learn vulnerability and forgive others whilst also learning how to change bad behaviour patterns myself.”

Striving to be ever more progressive and unique, the band’s live sound is renowned for fluctuating between genres. Chorus laden and loaded with fuzz and grit, DEADSET are a band trying and aspiring to escape the monotony of life in Hull.

Witness DEADSET live later in the year:

OCTOBER

Fri 13 YORK Fulford Arms

Sat 14 HULL Dive