I just stole a full copy of Gallows’ new album ‘Grey Britain’ (which can also be streamed from their Myspace) off the MSN Music editor’s desk and have spun it in its entirety once. Listening with one headphone in one ear and through my dodgy laptop which randomly decides to mess with levels and give everything a really weird tinny sound. Great.

Regardless of this, it’s sounding good. I particularly enjoyed the fact they saved the massive beatdowns of' ‘Misery’ to the penultimate song, and surprisingly didn’t hate that dude from Biffy Clyro’s vocals. All in all, I will make a much more informed verdict once I’ve listened to it on a proper stereo, and then spun the new Ghost Of A Thousand a few more times.

More to the point, why hasn’t he got the new Sonic Youth album?!

Playlist: Gallows

As reported in the news in the past few weeks, what with the Pirate Bay verdict and Record Store Day trying to pump some life into the half-dead corpse that is the record-buying public, the music industry is in crisis because people aren’t buying music.

I like traditional methods of music buying as much as the next person, my CD and vinyl collection is much more interesting to look at than Spotify and your 20,000 MP3s. HOWEVER, those avenues kinda have a time and a place and offer some kind of service which can’t be outright vetoed like Pete Waterman would like to think they can and should.

Other than pointing out that Pete Waterman has more than a somewhat and dated view of an industry he’s a supposed ~expert in~, I would actually just like to take this moment to big-up my own efforts via Holy Roar in making something new and interesting to buy which includes MUSIC in there somewhere. So we make packaging interesting and innovative as with the Youves CD, which is mean to be a PHYSICAL OBJECT you actually want to possess. Plus having what is in essence an annual subscription to a band is something which others have toyed with and we’re having a shot at. Welcome, the Throats Of Gold Club. One up-front fee and you get all their releases, merch, entry to gigs and other exclusive tracks/freebies for a year. Will people pay £50 for that? I will report back and let you know.

My point is, in a roundabout way, after all the hoo-ha created by the Pirate Bay verdict especially, maybe sometimes people should be reminded that the physical objects that come with a music-related purchase don’t have to be a boring plastic jewel-case and the music doesn’t have to be a 40 minute, 12 track album. And, you know, having a really impressive record collection/Coalesce mug is proper cool.

Playlist: Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

The regret I have from missing the No Age/Mika Miko tour from last year or whenever it was is probably one of those things I'm just going to have to find a way to cope with. Now I keep listening new album 'We Be Xuxa' and backtracking. You live, you learn.

However luckily for me Mika Miko are a touring BEAST and will be playing The Great Escape and with Times New Viking next month. I sent over some questions just before SXSW to see how they cope with allowing some testosterone into the fold and why old school punk sounds have never sounded fresher.

1) As a band which was, until recently, an all-girl band, it would've been easy for people/the press to play on the fact you're girls in a punk band, but I think you're one of the few bands where it really doesn't seem to be major issue. Would you agree?

Jennifer:
Yeah I totally agree it wasn't a major issue that we were all girls in a band together. But the press definitely played that up. Every interview was "how is it being all girls in a band?"  But it's funny because now people ask Seth, our new drummer, how is it being in a band with all girls?

2) You'll probably be replying to these questions after SXSW. How was the festival for you? How did your gigs go? What was the best gig you saw there?

Jennifer:
It was fun but also super exhausting. We played ten shows in three days. And because of that we didn't get to check out many bands. The time we had off we would go to our friends Mansion and sit in her jacuzzi and drink fancy drinks. I did get to see one new band called The Splinters from Berkeley and they were so good.

3) As someone who's never been to sxsw and isn't making any plans to go- do you think I'm really missing out?

Jennifer:
Yeahhhhh. I feel like it's something people should experience just once in their life. Even if you go insane from drinking all day and not sleeping, it's still worth it because your like wow that's something I will never do again.

4) Your live shows have become an almost defining aspect of the band, was that intentional? Is the Mika Miko experience primarily a live one?

Jennifer:
No not intentional, we all have a lot of fun playing so people get super excited about that and want to have fun with us. But I hope people enjoy our new record just as much as our live shows. Or I hope our record gets people excited for our live shows. That's cool too.

5) Your new album is your 2nd full length although you've done a lot of other self-released 7"s etc as well. Do you prefer working on tapes/eps/7"s rather than a full length? Do you think it fits your sound better?

Michelle:
Personally, I like 7" and EP's and tapes because I have a short
attention span. However after working very hard on this full length, I think that our new record properly reflects our growth as a band. Our 666EP is a good transition from CYSLABF to our new record WE BE XUXA.

6) When you're not playing in Mika Miko what do you all spend your time doing?

Jennifer: Hang out with our pets and boyfriends of course. And I am also trying to make perfume.
Michelle: Definitely! I also spend a lot of time drinking iced coffee with soy milk, organizing my records, and trying to get over to my parent's house in the valley as much as possible.

7) A lot of people are talking about a resurgence in old school punk sounds with these new bands now moving into the mainstream. Do you agree with this? Do you feel part of a scene which is largely influenced by bands  20/30 years ago?

Jennifer:
Totally. Punk has always been our favorite. We all grew up listening to bands like X- Ray Spex, Kleenex, Johnny Thunders, Wipers, Black Flag and a million others. Jim who runs the smell and Dean from No Age are also super into all those old punk bands.

8) What's been your favourite album of 2009 so far?

Michelle:
Gun Outfit, Dim Light.  Music is really good right now! A lot of
awesome bands are coming up right now and I haven't even gotten the chance to by their 7"s. I am looking forward to ordering all of Nice Face's 7"s. There are so many others...

Jennifer:
I like the Wavves 7inch that Dean put out on PPM.

9) You have a lot of gigs and festivals coming up in the UK this year, and you've played here quite a lot now. How do you like touring in the UK? do you think there's any major different to playing in the us, or anywhere else for that matter.

Michelle:
I absolutely LOVE going to the UK. It's expensive and all of that, but we have so much fun playing amazing shows and meeting new, exciting people. Honestly, every part of playing in the UK is different than the US.

Playlist: Holy State

This year alone we can manage twice.

First, at Primavera next month, and following yesterday's announcement now we also have.....

ATP curated by My Bloody Valentine in December. And look who's playing...

Sonic Youth

De La Soul

EPMD

Sun Ra Arkestra

The Horrors

Slightly predictable maybe, but still. Not bad.

Playlist: Joan of Arc

...naturally I love anything where the 2 combine. Most notably this happens with my efforts with Punk Rock Book Club although we haven't always established some firm rules on what makes a book 'punk rock', other than if I think it's cool.

On the same kind of line, I naturally dig these re-workings of classic LP sleeves as Pelican book covers from Little Pixel.

However, I did think this one was a bit of an anomaly and not quite sure it's up there with the rest of the classics:

Playlist: Not Sleeper

I seriously don't know how this started or whether I was like this last year, but I've become OBSESSED with tracking/keeping a note of the best albums I've heard this year.

WHY? I'm getting really pedantic with it. Anyhow, here's an update on new releases which I seriously dig:

Mika Miko - 'We Be Xuxa'

Seriously, They may have a boy drummer now but they still tear it up. OUT NEXT MONTH.

Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen

Every time I actually put this on I surprise myself at how much I like it.

Mi Ami - Watersports

Do I really need to mention them again? Seeing them Friday!

Kylesa - Static Tensions

Woah have this band matured. The 2 drummers thing is really paying off.

Mastodon - Crack The Skye

I keep saying this, but really, it's 99% because I fancy Troy Sanders.

Grammatics - s/t

There are still tiny things they do which make me cringe, and it's a shame it wasn't just an album of new songs, but I'm glad it's finally here.

Danananananaykroyd - Hey Everyone!

Well, is it as good as Sissy Hits? Probably. Shame about the label.

From Monument to Masses - On Little Known Frequencies

Post-rock isn't a term I like to use much these days but these guys definitely rock-it.

Playlist: Pele

There's something about not being in a band which means I'll never have that ~bond~ with other bands where we can crack jokes about the funtimes we had on tour, that time we all got so drunk we couldn't play and the night we partied so hard we threw up.

Regardless of this, reading the Awesome Pals blog does fill my heart with a vague, warm glow which I assume is something to do with the gushing cuteness which permeates it. It's a multi-band collaboration, with the likes of Los Campesinos!, Rolo Tomassi, Copy Haho, Dananananaykroyd and about any other half-decent UK band around right now contributing to it. Favourite posts so far include this gif and Ellen from Los Camps! rattling on about willies on buildings. V serious business.

However, regardless of this twee inter-band lovin', now is a good time to be in the UK, with release from Sky Larkin, Grammatics and Copy Haho all rating quite highly on my 'hot sh*t from 2009'-o-meter. However probs my most anticipated release from the awesomez palz gang is the Rolo Tomassi 7" club series which consists of four 7" records released through the duration of this year. I still need to subscribe but I'm a bit skint. Only £15 'n all.

Playlist: Mastodon, Mika Miko

HOLD UP. I do actually have some news to report. You can stream the new Big Business album 'Mind The Drift' over at www.mindthedrift.com and if that's not worth shouting about I don't know what is.

Slightly annoyingly, over the top of the tracks there's chit-chat, I guess to make the songs impossible to rip, involving the band and some weird voices seemingly chatting about the tracks. I tried not to listen too closely as I just wanted to hear the riffffffffffz.

The album will be out on Hydra Head on 14th April.

Playlist: MIND THE GODDAMN DRIFT

While I'm drowning under work, Holy Roar and generally trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, I just thought I'd check in and let you know that Girl Aloud isn't dying a slow and painful death, just yet. Blogging is like going to the gym. Once you're in the habit of doing it, it becomes effortless, but once you're out of the routine trying to get back on it is SO RUDDY IMPOSSIBLE.

However, in slightly better news, 2009's selection of new albums is shaping up to be a corker. I've updated my 2009 Spotify playlist which now includes Mastodon 'Crack the Skye', ....Trail of Dead 'Century of Self', From Monument To Masses 'On Little Known Frequencies' and Grammatics s/t debut. And an EP from Pele which Spotify says was released this year but it could be wrong? Gotta get Roberta on the phone.

Playlist: New 2009 albums