AS MENTIONED a few weeks ago, the mighty Malojian have their latest album recorded, mixed and waiting in the wings for release.
Happily, the Steve Albini engineered LP now has a title – This Is Nowhere (surely a knowing nod to Neil Young and their mid-Ulster stomping ground) – and a release date of October 3.
While the cold dark days and nights of October might seem like an awfully long way off as we sweat through the late July heat, winter could kick in as early as late August if our schizophrenic weather stays off its meds – so having some new Malojian to look forward to could be just what the doctor ordered in terms of keeping your pecker up.
On the subject of orders, the band have announced an awesome pre-order opportunity for the numbered limited-edition gatefold sleeved red vinyl and deluxe CD versions of This Is Nowhere, which are being released by the Kilkenny-based Rollercoaster Records.
"The folks at Rollercoaster are some of the most passionate, hardworking and genuine music lovers we've had the pleasure to meet, so we're hugely excited about working with them on this record," say the band.
"Hopefully, we can keep building something style together."
If you like the sound of that, get involved by pointing your computer at Malojian.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-nowhere where you'll find a plethora of pre-ordering options ranging from the all-singing all-dancing vinyl edition at an entirely reasonable £16.99 (plus £3.49 postage) to a poverty-spec digital download at £7.
Those who fancy a little human interaction can also buy directly from Rollercoaster via good old fashioned mail-order – this should be your preferred option if you're living 'down south' as it'll save on postage and maximise the impact of your Brexit-boosted Eurobucks.
Give Willie and co a bell on 05 6776 3669 and they'll sort you right out.
To tide you over until the new record arrives in your sweaty palms, Malojian mainman Stevie Scullion has laid down a nice cover of the Sufjan Stevens favourite To Be Alone With You.
Check it out now at Soundcloud.com/malojian/to-be-alone-with-you-sufjan-stevens-cover, and remember – you're never alone with Malojian on your headphones.
To be honest, the same is true of those other long-time Noise Annoys favourites Jeff The Brotherhood, the finest hippy punk duo in all of Nashville and possibly the entire planet.
Brothers in rock Jake and Jamin Orrall have their brand new album Zone prepped for launch in early August and have just shared a song from it by way of an appetiser.
Their last record, Global Chakra Rhythms found the band revelling in expansive experimental jammage. On the evidence of the new tune, Punishment – a catchy, crunchy fuzzer guaranteed to melt into your ears and brain like an LSD-laced elixir of primitive Wah-squelched riffs and sweet power pop melody – Zone could well find them bringing some of that psychedelic freakpower to bear on the garage rocking simplicity they've become masters of over the past decade and a half.
Take a hit at http://bit.ly/JTBpunishment and keep your third eye trained on Facebook.com/dinealonerecords for details of how to pre-order Zone (plus access to an excellent free download label sampler) so that you might have it injected directly into your letterbox via the postal system when it officially drops on August 12.
Finally for this week, it's time to bid a fond farewell to local noisemakers Pigs As People, the heavy punkrocking Belfast combo who have recently decided to call it a day due to impending geographical inconvenience.
Remind yourself of how good they were at Pigsaspeople.bandcamp.com and then thrust your head into their trough one last time on August 4 as the trio go out with a bang atop a Limelight 2-based live bill also featuring 7.5 Tonnes of Beard, Bosco Ramos and No Great Loss.
Admission is £5 if you get there before 9.30pm, so best neck that carry-out with a quickness.
