News

“Horn-fuelled filth-funk, where punk & jazz combine in grimy circumstances” NME

“A land where growled-jazz meets the blues in a showdown to end all perceptions of genre…Opus Kink have succeeded in turning listeners on their head” So Young

“A frenetic groove-filled glimpse of what’s to come” DIY

“Intense blast of guitar pop” Clash

 “There is a sense that they are still only just beginning to hit their stride” M Magazine

Brighton sextet Opus Kink share debut EP ‘‘Til The Stream Runs Dry’, set for release June 17th via Nice Swan Records (Sports Team, Pip Blom, FUR, English Teacher).

 Partnering up with the cult indie label for their first extended release, the enigmatic collective – comprised of Angus Rogers, Sam Abbo, Fin Abbo, Jed Morgans, Jazz Pope & Jack Banjo Courtney – lend a blend a dizzying array of influences in their ever-evolving enigmatic style, producing an experimental patchwork of explosive material that’s consistently earned widespread plaudits since bursting onto the scene.

With EP lead singles ‘I Love You, Baby’, ‘The Unrepentant Soldier’ and ‘Dog Stay Down’ attracting praise from all corners of the press landscape (NME, DIY, So Young, Dork, Clash, Gigwise), not to mention countless BBC 6 Music (Steve Lamacq, Lauran Laverne) spins, the six-piece are clearly primed for a busy summer. Having already ticked off live dates alongside label-mates Malady and Mandrake Handshake, in addition to a sold-out headliner at London’s legendary 100 Club last month, the band have a slew of festival appearances lined up in the months to come, as well as shows with FEET and Bull.

Detailing their EP, Opus Kink stated: “You may begin by dipping one stained and rancid toe, but you know that once those waters have been tasted there’s only one way to go – into the stream, away down the valley like flotsam and windfall. Here lie six songs of bad love, ill winds, possession, stagnation and earthly delights”.

Opus Kink’s ‘‘Til The Stream Runs Dry’ (EP) is out June 17th via Nice Swan Records and will be available on all digital platforms.

Opus Kink Online

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Opus Kink is Angus Rogers (lead vocals, guitars), Sam Abbo (bass, backing vocals), Fin Abbo (drums, percussion), Jazz Pope (keys, synth, backing vocals), Jack Banjo Courtney (trumpet), Jed Morgans (saxophone)

Live Dates

16/07 – Into The Wild Festival

22/07 – Latitude Festival

23/07 – Leopallooza Festival

30/07 – Farm Fest

31/07 – Kendal Calling

04/08 – Wilderness

20/08 – Beautiful Days

11/09 – Misty Fields, Netherlands

28/09 – Oslo, London

29/09 – Record Junkee, Sheffield

30/09 – YES (pink room), Manchester

Last year, Nice Swan Records started the monthly ‘Nice Swan Introduces…’ series, shining a light on the most exciting emerging talent. Following releases with the likes of Sports Team, Pip Blom, FEET & FUR, the Series introduced a whole wave of new and exciting talent including Courting, Sprints, Malady, English Teacher & Opus Kink, which cemented the label as one of the country’s most exciting independent record labels for

discovering the hottest new talent. Volume two of the series ha already unearthed Prima Queen, Deadletter and Saloon Dion and next up are Brighton’s Shady Baby.

It is with impeccable timing that the week after Brighton’s Great Escape Festival, the UK’s most famous multi venue event showcasing the best new music – Nice Swan Records, today, have announced their latest signing, Shady Baby – one of Brighton’s own!

Shady Baby is the musical project of Brighton based Sam Leaver. Inspired by the sounds of Madchester & Britpop, and with a love for John Cooper Clarke, Leaver began making his own brand of angst ridden pop during the height of lockdown where songs were formed out of frustration whilst locked in his bedroom.

Having approached Brighton based producer Theo Verney (English Teacher, FEET, FUR, Egyptian Blue, TRAAMS etc) with his early demos, the two instantly formed a musical bond that has seen them work closely together in the studio ever since and Verney has helped hone the exciting sound of the debut tracks of Shady Baby.

Speaking on the track, Leaver said:

“‘Come To Life’ is an angry response to feeling like people treated you like shit but you let them get away with it. Feeling both angry at them but also at yourself for letting it happen.”

 Leaver then enlisted the support of old childhood friend Laurie Debnam, on guitar after bumping into him at a house party in Brighton having not seen each other in a decade. Nick Varnava (Bass) and Tom Jackson (Drums) complete the line up, having joined from other bands on the scene in the legendary musical city.

Despite having not released any music yet, the band sold out their first headline show in the city and will perform their first out of town show next month at the iconic 100 Club as part of the Nice Swan Records showcase event alongside new label buddies The Rills, Malady, Anorak Patch and Saloon Dion. Mark this space, Shady Baby have arrived and a raft of exciting new music awaits.

Portsmouth post-punks Hallan reveal pulsating new single ‘Sich Übergeben’ – out June 14th via Nice Swan Records (English Teacher, Sports Team, Courting).

The track is a study in perpetual motion – caught between an exhilarating swagger and a drunken lurch. Built around a spiralling, infectious synth lead-line, rolling bass and drums, and skittish guitars, this all provides the backbone for Conor Celements’ visceral vocal spitting.

It tells a tawdry tale, examining the propensity for unhinged views born of banal insularity. As the band explain:

“A father hiding behind a screen, a family watching the Queen’s jubilee and a wife leaving her unloving husband for a new life in Spain. We’ve seen all of these people and we know them too.

Sich Übergeben (translating to “to vomit”) deals with our British tendencies to spew forth from our gullets, unloading our ill-informed and rather unwanted opinions onto others, the interwebs and beyond. From our living room thrones we strategize and glamourise, acting upon misinformation through hypocritical means. It’s not too long before spewing becomes physical, and suddenly a father figure spews from his plane upon the foreign sunnyland soil, covering the precious ground in British vomit, clutching a pint in one hand and his health-card in the other.  His alien son looks on. ‘Who is this man and who is my father?’”

Joining forces with cult indie label Nice Swan in late 2020 for their ‘Nice Swan Introduces…’ series (in partnership with RIP Records), the quartet have since found label-mates in the likes of Courting, SPRINTS, English Teacher and Mandrake Handshake, whilst firmly establishing themselves as a thrilling new fixture within the punk landscape.

The group’s frenetic musings on the mundanity of everyday life has attracted plenty of interest, with key tastemaker backing from the likes of Dork, Loud & Quiet, The Forty-Five and Rough Trade, as well as BBC 6 Music playlist exposure following integral support from Steve Lamacq.

Having already notched up several impressive support slots with acts including Sports Team, Porridge Radio, Pom Poko, and Tom Robinson at personal request, as well as a full UK headline run in autumn 2021 – Hallan continue bringing their thrilling live show to the stage through the summer across the UK and Europe.

Hallan’s ‘Sich Übergeben’ is out June 14th via Nice Swan Records. It was produced by Andy Savours – acclaimed for his work with Arctic Monkeys, PJ Harvey, My Bloody Valentine, Black Country, New Road and Sorry.

Hallan are: Conor Clements (vocals), Joshua Tweedale (bass), Joshua Ransley (guitar), Adam Mills (drum)

Hallan Online
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Live Dates
6th July – Signature Brew, London
9th July – Right To Roam Festival, Bolton
9th July – Icebreaker Festival, Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
6th August – Bingley Festival, Bingley
12th August – YUCK Magazine All-Dayer, Night & Day Cafe, Manchester
13th August – Quarry, Liverpool
24th August – Supersonic, Paris
25th September – Post Punk Festival, Porto
21/22nd October – Left of The Dial, Rotterdam

“Horn-fuelled filth-funk, where punk & jazz combine in grimy circumstances” NME

 A land where growled-jazz meets the blues in a showdown to end all perceptions of genre…Opus Kink have succeeded in turning listeners on their head” So Young

 “A frenetic groove-filled glimpse of what’s to come” DIY

 “Intense blast of guitar pop” Clash 

“There is a sense that they are still only just beginning to hit their stride” M Magazine

Brighton sextet Opus Kink announce the arrival of debut EP ‘‘Til The Stream Runs Dry’, set for release June 17th via Nice Swan Records (Sports Team, Pip Blom, FUR, English Teacher), and share raucous third cut ‘Dog Stay Down’. 

Partnering up with the cult indie label for their first extended release, the enigmatic collective – comprised of Angus Rogers, Sam Abbo, Fin Abbo, Jed Morgans, Jazz Pope & Jack Banjo Courtney – lend a blend a dizzying array of influences in their ever-evolving enigmatic style, producing an experimental patchwork of explosive material that’s consistently earned widespread plaudits since bursting onto the scene.

With EP lead singles ‘I Love You, Baby’ and ‘The Unrepentant Soldier’ attracting praise from all corners of the press landscape (NME, DIY, So Young, Dork, Clash, Gigwise), not to mention countless BBC 6 Music (Steve Lamacq, Lauran Laverne) spins, the six-piece are clearly primed for a busy summer. Having already ticked off live dates alongside label-mates Malady and Mandrake Handshake, in addition to a sold-out headliner at London’s legendary 100 Club last month, the band have a slew of festival appearances lined up at the likes of Latitude and The Great Escape in the months to come, as well as shows with FEET and Bull.

Speaking ahead of their third EP reveal, Opus Kink stated: “‘Dog Stay Down’ is a song about bad love, love for anything doomed and unhealthy, situation, substance or personage, and is dedicated to those who always return to the scene of the crime”.

Opus Kink’s ‘Dog Stay Down’ is out May 10th via Nice Swan Records and will be available on all digital platforms.

Opus Kink Online

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Opus Kink is Angus Rogers (lead vocals, guitars), Sam Abbo (bass, backing vocals), Fin Abbo (drums, percussion), Jazz Pope (keys, synth, backing vocals), Jack Banjo Courtney (trumpet), Jed Morgans (saxophone)

Live Dates

13/05 – The Great Escape, Brighton

25/05 – The Forum, Tunbridge Wells with FEET & Bull

26/05 – Esquires Bedford – with FEET & Bull

27/05 – Elsewhere, Margate – with FEET & Bull

03/06 – Future Yard, Birkenhead

04/06 – Sonic Waves Festival, Birmingham

05/06 – Clwb ifor bach, Cardiff – with FEET & Bull

08/06 – Scala, London – with FEET & Bull

09/06 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds – with FEET & Bull

10/06 – Bootleg Social, Blackpool – with FEET & Bull

16/07 – Into The Wild Festival

22/07 – Latitude Festival

23/07 – Leopallooza Festival

30/07 – Farm Fest

31/07 – Kendal Calling

04/08 – Wilderness

20/08 – Beautiful Days

11/09 – Misty Fields, Netherlands

Lincoln’s rising indie-rock band The Rills are releasing their new EP ‘Do It Differently’ via Nice Swan Records on May 6 2022.

With taught, propulsive rhythms and witty, acerbic vocals – the omnipresent backbone of small-town living lies front and centre in everything that The Rills create, coupled with the driving ambition to make something bigger of themselves that chime through in every cutthroat riff.

It has been a bumper 12 months for the young trio who continue to build a fervent following, both online and at their raucous live shows. Last Autumn saw the band sign to Nice Swan Records and release whip-smart number ‘Skint Eastwood’, gaining top support from the likes of NME, Dork, The Line of Best Fit, 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq and Radio 1’s Jack Saunders. Their joke-filled TikTok continues to snowball too, currently standing at a not-too-shabby 4 million likes and counting, with EP title track ‘Do It Differently’ gathering more pace on the platform.

Most recent single; World Leader, “ is an ironic bashing of modern politics” explains Spencer. “It’s a stab at our modern political figures, the way we digest media and the way voters express their views online”. The video sees the trio galivanting around the capital, pointing their fingers in an ironic fashion towards the stuffy, political gatekeepers of the world. Watch the video here.

In support of their incoming EP, the band will take to the road for a slew of tour dates and festivals this summer, including this year’s Great Escape Festival.
European dates for this Autumn have also been announced too.
See below for all upcoming shows.

THE RILLS TOUR DATES
May 06 The Road to TGE, Glasgow May 13 The Great Escape, Brighton (Sentric Stage – Queen’s Hotel – 3:30pm)
May 29 Neighbourhood Weekender, Warrington
June 04 Sonic Wave, Birmingham
June 11 Golden Touch Festival Portsmouth
June 19 100 Club
July 09 Right to Roam Bolton
August 14 Boardmasters Festival Cornwall
August 24 Paris Nice Swan Showcase

ABOUT THE RILLS

The first seeds of The Rills began more than a decade ago in a nondescript East Midlands skatepark where Mitch and Callum first became tentative friends. It would take another few years until they’d broach the subject of starting a band, and a move first to Sheffield and then to the big smoke until they’d finally meet Mason and hone themselves into the trio they are today. But, bonded by a clutch of mutual early musical loves – Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines chief among them – the pair’s ambition was strong from the off.

“Trying to do music or anything out of the ordinary is extremely difficult in a place like Lincoln because there’s no infrastructure or industry there,” Mitch explains. “There were never any gigs, and the ones that were there were massive, so you go from pub gigs with cover bands to seeing the Kaiser Chiefs. There were no young bands, so we knew if we were gonna build anything, we had to leave.”

A couple of early singles – 2017’s ‘Pyro’ and the following year’s ‘Us & Them’ – stand as testament to those first days of the band (then operating with an additional second guitarist), but it was when they streamlined down to a trio at the start of 2020 that The Rills really began to click into gear. Acting as a total sonic reset, they describe the differenace as “suddenly going from this blasting wall of sound to there being three instruments, with clear dynamics, where it felt concise”. “The whole ethos of the band had changed,” Mitch explains. “The mission statement was ’less is more’, in absolutely every aspect.”

Influenced by the broad-ranging but energy-packed punk and alternative bands of the South London scene they’d been submerging themselves in, The Rills 2.0 set to rid their music of any excess fat, channeling the visceral quiet-loud dynamics of long term loves Pixies, and incorporating muscular drums and pointed rhythms into a palette that leaves nowhere to hide. Lyrically, meanwhile, Mitch’s knack for narrating the rogue chancers that populated his youth would come even further to the fore, with last year’s ‘Stardog’ and ‘The Angler’ portraying their titular characters with a razor sharp pen.

Photo credit: Seren Carys

“Danceable, post-punk influenced indie rock” Brooklyn Vegan

“Raw slice of guitar pop” Clash

“Sporadic guitars and scrappy vocals” So Young

“New Bangers” NME

Bristol newcomers Saloon Dion share explosive latest effort ‘Pressure’, set for release May 5th via cult indie label Nice Swan Records (Sports Team, Pip Blom, FUR, English Teacher).

Born after successful stints in some of the city’s most beloved post punk and surf rock outfits (including Football FC, Kimbo Nice, Ratbags), the raucous quintet have firmly established themselves as a thrilling new fixture within the punk landscape, bagging slots alongside the likes of Anorak Patch, KEG and Sprints in recent times.

Sparking early press plaudits from key indie champions (Brooklyn Vegan, Clash, Dork, So Young) and radio tastemakers alike (BBC 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne), the frenetic outfit are certainly making all the right noises in their infancy, with further new music and frenetic live shows lined up in the months to come.

“‘Pressure’ is a direct response to Britain’s current economic climate”, the Bristol natives explained. “Lyrics which were at first deeply personal began to take on a wider meaning as the British public became subject to numerous political scandals, and an ever-worsening financial crisis. The idea of being forced to leave somewhere you love and depend on the help of others in the face of immeasurable odds also developed its own terrible resonance at the time of recording”.

Saloon Dion’s ‘Pressure’ is out May 5th via Nice Swan Records and will be available on all digital platforms.

Saloon Dion Online

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Saloon Dion are Dave Sturgess (vocals/synth), Tom Simpkins (guitar/vocals), Taryn McDonnell (guitar/vocals), Luke Mullins (bass) and Ben Molyneux (drums)

 Live Dates

6th May – The Exchange, Bristol
18th May – The Shacklewell Arms, London (w/ Grandma’s House)
28th May – Dot 2 Dot Festival, Bristol
24th Sept – Float Along Festival, Sheffield

“The Colchester quartet’s first offering for tastemaker label Nice Swan stands up as a vital, visceral cut from a band of any demographic.” – DIY

“Anorak Patch are unquestionably an alternative godsend” – So Young

“[‘Delilah] one of the best singles of the year: its combination of urgency, dissonance, vocal phrasing, lyrical empathy and a formidable rhythm section add up to something that’s incredibly powerful and instantly addictive.” – The Sunday Times (Breaking Act)

“Anorak Patch and fellow female-fronted acts such as Wet Leg are here to shake up the male-dominated post-punk scene” – The Independent