It’s hard to argue against “Rio” - three absolute bangers for singles and absolutely no fillers - imho “The Chauffeur” is the best thing they’ve done. That being said, as SWMBO would agree, the filler-free “All You Need Is Now” runs it pretty close…

Arguably before their time, I will willingly go to my grave proclaiming Dolly Mixture as one of the most influential bands of the post-punk era.

Although I see you weren’t sufficiently concerned to actually black out your front page and join with news organisations around the world to highlight the unlawful killing (and targeting) of journalists…

Paywall?

The 80s of my yoof was littered with loads of great female (or female-fronted) bands: Dolly Mixture, Girls at Our Best, Marine Girls, Everything But The Girl, Strawberry Switchblade, The Chefs, Grab Grab The Haddock, Mari Wilson with The Imaginations, Trixie’s Big Red Motorbike, Talulah Gosh...

Tbf this has been on the cards since the start of the season. In over 50 years of supporting the Mighty Us this has to be the worst squad I’ve had to endure and so I fully expect we’ll do a Newcastle on Birmingham next week!

seriously looking forward to this based on their @bandcamp.com releases… and while I usually take “for fans of” or “sounds like” recommendations with a pinch of salt, this is right on the money - especially with the fuzzed-up jangle guitars and slightly off-kilter vocals.

Also two games with a lot of similarities. Both have a natural ebb and flow, and at their heart it’s about the duel between the player with the ball versus the player with the bat.

Ample room for both in my book…

An excuse to give the album a metaphorical spin… Gotta agree with the “songs about falling apart and coming together, but not necessarily in that order”; A perfect mix of bittersweet, world-weary resignation and brutally honest matter-of-factness, played out against a cinemagraphic soundtrack...

The Great Escape 3. Is it on?

Except Zelenskyy didn’t have a meltdown. It was Trump who had a full-blown temper-tantrum, while patsy-boy Vance demonstrated that his grasp of world affairs was at best on-par with that of an amoeba with special needs...

Thought provoking thread and I have to agree in so much that the decisions I was confident to make in the early 80s, I’d have never have made if presented with the same options in today.

Tbf I still have a presence over there, but it really is a toxic cesspit. If more artists, labels and my bloody football team(!!!) moved over here I’d delete my account in a heart-beat (reserving the right to have a burner account to take pot shots at the Ketamine Space Kadet…)

Apart from burning through venture capital, “buying” a viable newspaper and then shit-canning their staff, remind me of your business model again…

I may have mentioned this before, but I’ve been having my ears seriously pummelled for the best part of 50 years and without a doubt @otobokebeaver.bsky.social are in my top 10 of live acts.

I know which side of the Fence I’m on. You? Didn’t you just shaft a load of journalists at The Observer?

They finished second…

As I said, following the Dems playbook will be a recipe for disaster for the left / centre-left. My fear is that the red tory is going to make Labour an irrelevance, especially given the UK’s not fit for purpose FOTP electoral system.

Labour have adopted the Dems playbook, are alienating their base and are sleep walking to an electoral defeat.