The 2026 reissue of the seminal 'Live' album by Face To Face, recorded 6th of September 1997 in LA.

TRACK LISTING

1. Walk the Walk
2. I Want
3. Blind
4. I'm Not Afraid
5. It's Not Over
6. I Won't Lie Down
7. You Lied
8. Ordinary
9. I'm Trying
10. Telling Them
11. Don't Turn Away
12. A-OK
13. Complicated
14. Not For Free
15. Pastel
16. Do You Care
17. Dissension
18. You've Done Nothing

Prolapse formed in Leicester in the early 90s and are now spread across the UK and Scandinavia. Still pursuing their own path of repetition and twisted melodies, they merge influences from post punk to krautrock and even folk. Their previous releases have included numerous singles and four albums on various labels, including Cherry Red and Radar. They feature vocalists Mick Derrick and Linda Steelyard, whose intense duelling vocals combine with ferocious triple guitar assault and pummelling rhythms.

The fifth Prolapse album “I Wonder When They’re Going to Destroy Your Face?” will be released on Tapete Records and marks the band’s first new recordings since their last album, “Ghosts of Dead Aeroplanes”, released 26 years ago, but in some ways it feels like there hasn’t a break at all. From the opening incessant riff of ”The Fall of Cashline”, Prolapse set their stall out, hammering the message that they’re back, over and over (and over and over) again.

The album cover is a photo of a broken mirror the band discovered in a skip in South London whilst on tour. If you look closely, you can make out blurred images of the vocalists staring into it.

The first new sound to be heard from Prolapse this millennium, the opening beer can of ”On The Quarter Days“, the return single, perhaps gives an insight into the short, sharp, creative sessions that produced this album. Despite the elapsed 10 years of reformation Prolapse, now actually longer than they existed in the 90s, the time together has been all too brief, gigs every couple of years, writing sessions even rarer.

The album was mainly written in Leicester and recorded at Foel Studio in Wales. Some songs had been evolving for a few years whilst others (three on the album) were improvised and recorded on the spot, just like they’ve always done. Get ready, turn the microphones on, press record…. and something just happens. Perhaps channeling some of the ghosts that have previously recorded at Foel: Amon Düül II, the Groundhogs, Young Marble Giants, My Bloody Valentine and inevitably The Fall. “Err on the Side of Dead” is one of these songs; it grinds and gnaws away, gradually changing until Linda eventually yells “I hate, I hate, I hate”.

The supernatural appears again, with “Ghost in the Chair”, perhaps the album’s stand out track, not exactly like the Prolapse you know, but very much the Prolapse you want to come back to now. It starts off sleepy and eerie, as a kind of displaced therapy session between Mick and Linda, before developing into a wash of noise near the end.

The second single ”Cha Cha Cha 2000”, brings Prolapse into a more dare we say ‘jaunty’ sphere, with Mick recounting a dreamlike escapade with Canned Heat, Donovan and Cat Stevens, not regular touchstones in the 90s, but time brings a new perspectives.

“Ectoplasm United” is a messy but melodic maelstrom, which has also recently had a Faust remix (this will be available on a separate 7 inch single with the vinyl release of the album on Tapete Records).

The last words of the album are said by Linda Steelyard, recounting a tale of arriving at Leicester Forest East Services, and deciding to stay….forever.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Who doesn't love a brand new Prolapse? Their first album for over quarter of a century sees the band perfectly mixing raucous scathing punk and cosmic industrial groove with Derrick's snarling voice and the cooling balm of Linda Steelyard.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
The Fall Of Cashline
Cha Cha Cha 2000
Err On The Side Of Dead
Ghost In The Chair

Side B
On The Quarter Days
Cacophany No. C
Jackdaw
Ectoplasm United
A Forever

Side C
Swearing For Decoration

Side D
Ectoplasm Untied (A Faust Remix)

Strut revives a lost recording from the archives in January with a 2002 collaboration between acclaimed South African folk singer Vusi Mahlasela, singer songwriter Norman Zulu and Swedish jazz / soul collective Jive Connection.

The links between South Africa and Sweden have long been strong with Sweden one of the most supportive European nations in the struggle against apartheid; the government helped to fund the ANC for decades and Mandela visited the country on one of his first European stops following his release from prison in 1990.

Sotho folk singer Vusi Mahlasela, dubbed “The Voice” Of South Africa, performed at Mandela’s inauguration in 1994 and has enjoyed his own long relationship with Sweden, regularly embarking on cultural exchanges and forging a strong bond with the Jive Connection band, featuring guitarist / bassist Stefan Bergman and Little Dragon drummer Erik Bodin within its line-up.

Although touring regularly, the collaboration has rarely been documented beyond a lone studio album in 1994. This “lost” recording, discovered in the archives of producer Torsten Larsson, also features songwriter / vocalist Norman Zulu and showcases their natural musical chemistry together. Vusi’s songs have traditionally addressed the struggle for freedom and the need for reconciliation and, here, his lyrics are as powerful as ever, ranging from parables (‘Prodigal Son’) to an unflinching lament on child abuse (‘Faceless People’). Jive Connection vary the soundtrack, bringing in hints of reggae, jazz and post-punk alongside traditional township arrangements.

Face To Face is mastered by The Carvery. Artwork features unseen photos from the album sessions along with full lyrics. Produced in association with Torsten Larsson. 

TRACK LISTING

1. PRODIGAL SON
2. UMZALA
3. FACELESS PEOPLE
4. INKOMO
5. FACE TO FACE
6. THEMBA LAMI
7. INTOMBI YE MBALI
8. PUSH
9. ABANTU ABANGANA BUSO
10. ANASTACIA
11. B4 THULULALELE
12. ROOTS
13. STILL
14. SON OF PRODIGAL SON

“Walk the dog. Exercise. Make art.’The mind is happy when the body is.’ Things I can potentially fill my days with if I am stuck at home for months on end…Then, one day, I hear a frenetic, free drummer playing in his garage a few blocks from me. And I think ‘interesting’. I stand outside his garage staring at the wall, like a fool, for a minute, then decide to leave a note on the car parked there. This is how I ended up meeting and working with Ted Byrnes. He wasn’t creeped out, and he ended up sending me a pile of truly spontaneous drums recordings from the carport to work with. I decided to have every musician come in one at at time and just take a wild pass at their track over the drums. None of these people had ever met or played together. I was the connecting thread. I scratched the surface initially with electric bass, saxophone, guitars, cuica, synthesizers, flute and effects, but soon realized I would need heavy hitters to make this place habitable. “Greg Coates, upright bass expressionist extraordinaire, hacked through the dense weeds, vines and frayed cabling. He lays the map out and makes breathing room. Space to swing a cat. Tom Dolas (keys), my often foil, came in and began tip-toeing through the rubble and refuse. Dotting the layout with flecks of light, flights of fancy and potential tangential trajectories. Then the finisher, Brad Caulkins on horns. As always, Brad came in like grace itself, scanned the floor for food, and huffed and puffed and blew the house down. He takes a bruiser situation and lends it some warmth and hospitality, old school. “After I spent a bit of time mixing and editing this down to a palatable offering I couldn’t help but think about human consumption. ...Endless Garbage seemed a fitting title. A cacophonous and glorious sketch of ourselves. For fans of Albert Ayler, ECM records, Gong, improvisation, sustainability and consumption” - John Dwyer.

TRACK LISTING

1. Vertical Infinity
2. No Flutter
3. Goose
4. Four
5. Lucky You
6. Pro-Death
7. A Grotesque Display
8. No Goodbyes

Revitalising the Ska and 2Tone classics of The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, The Beat and Bad Manners plus many others from the late 70s and early 80s, Blackpool 10-piece band Ska Face sparked a 2Tone revival across the north of England. Not content with just playing the songs of their contemporaries, the boys have been writing songs of their own as well as adapting a select number of recordings for the purists.

Fronted by the enigmatic Tony Montana and featuring a phenomenal four-piece brass section, Ska Face pack a punch from the first note. With a rhythm section as tight as Alberto’s wallet and lead licks that compliment the music perfectly.

Four-track EP 'Instant Karma' features 3 tracks penned by the band as well as featuring a re-work of a Desmond Dekker classic 'This Woman'.

Castle Face announces a loogie-shined re-release of Coachwhips’ Get Yer Body Next Ta Mine on CD and vinyl!

Following last year’s reissue of Hands on the Controls, the label continues dusting off the vaults, unearthing another screeching, swaggering beast. The tracks have been re-tweaked to taste (a pinch of capsicum) and what a picture emerges—the scuzz and squall cracking ever so slightly and revealing a coffee-can full of earworms underneath. The zombie-shuffle come-on of the title track is worth the price of admission alone, but there’s adrenalized bludgeoners here as well: “1000 Years,” “UFO, Please Take Her Home” and “Yes, I’m Down” all capture the band at their sweat-soaked best.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Put It In, Way Down South
2. 1000 Years
3. Like Food, It Feeds
4. Tonight's The Night
5. Just One Time
6. Manner In Which The Girl Was Treated
7. UFO, Please Take Her Home
8. Hey Stiffie
9. Couldn't Find Love
10. Nife Fight
11. My Baby, I Killed Her
12. Yes, I'm Down
13. Other Man
14. Get Yer Body Next Ta Mine

Minneapolis riff-scientists The Blind Shake have been troweling out detuned psych-noise for a poor man’s decade. Known for murderous live sets and polite post-show interactions, the trio has gained the respect of dive bar owners, bookies, clergy, and no-name snitches nationwide. They've collaborated with psychedelic legend Michael Yonkers as well as downstroke warrior John Reis. They are a force to be reckoned with as many shall see on their upcoming tour with Thee Oh Sees, and they have a brandy new full-length coming for Castle Face, Key To A False Door!

"How To Ruin Everything" sees Face To Face reaffirm their status as one of the 1990s new-punk trailblazers who have often been cited by bands like Blink 182 and the Alkaline Trio as major influences. Trever Keith, Scott Shiflett and Pete Parada formed as a trio in 1991 with a passion for old skool punk rock and this direct, no nonsense approach is there to be heard on this 2002 punk epistle.