A new collection from the musical cauldron which is ‘rock city’ Bury St Edmunds, also known as the ‘sugar town’ of East Anglia.

1. Sun Scream – She Strong opener, a powerful riff, some nice ooh-oohs with the vocals and an instrumental spectacular to finish.

2. Cathedrals And Cars – The Concierge This is one of those songs that you think you have heard before (perhaps I have?), always a good sign. With busy guitar lines and a rallying call type chorus, it is raucous and uplifting.

3. Janet Street Slaughter – The Sensitive Side Of Bill Sykes Crazy band name and song title, this is a pounding rocker, the vocalist starts off like Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs then loses it in spectacular style at the end.

4. The Wilsons – If It Wasn’t So Soon A fine burst of country-rock, a lyric of desperation leading to the hook line each time. Good ‘as-live’ sound on this one conjuring up the wide-open spaces of the journey narrative.

5. The Cuts – Hometown Punk rock never died; here is the proof. Profane and sort of profound.

6. Gaffa Tape Sandy – L’Appel Du Vide Fresh from an appearance at Glastonbury, this power-pop trio play a noisy and very catchy song named after the syndrome that makes you want to jump off buildings if you look down…

7. Bracken – Slaves Pt II Six and a half minutes of engrossing doom laden rock, with a vocal that is not for the faint-hearted. Whatever happened to Pt 1?

8. Horse Party – Looking For Life I love and miss Horse Party who are sadly no more; they were a superb explosive band live and recorded. This song showcases their mellow and mysterious side.

9. Suburban Minds – Sun Break A pulsing drum-driven power waltz at times dense then sparse with emotive vocal.

10. The Virtues – Moon Man A bit of psychedelic-edged rock with a winning chorus and energetic instrumental break. Great bass sound!

11. Jack Rundell – Wicked Words ’21st Century singing cowboy’ and obsessive Hank Williams fan (read the tribute on his website) lightens up the album with this warm and cleverly crafted lo-fi track.

12. SIAH – Susie Smokes A swaggering belter of a song from the this four-piece fuzzy guitar combo but I still can’t work out the band name?

13. Tundra – Vacation(Cheer Up Chuck) With a raw recorded sound and a simple chord structure this garage band track pulls you in. A gratifyingly loud guitar crashes into the mix near the end.

Many of these fine performers can be seen at the Hunter Club alternative music nights run by local promoters ‘Washing Machine’, see you there!

https://repeatfanzine.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-the-sound-of-sugar-town-volume-2
http://www.washingmachinebse.co.uk/
http://www.hunterclub.org.uk/