View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NOAH ADAMS (@noahfinnce)

In his post, he reminisces on his early music days of posting ukulele and guitar covers of emo bands on Instagram and YouTube between 2015 and 2021 when he released his debut EP ‘My Brain After Therapy’. 

The pop-punk artist made his way to fame on social media, posting his life on Instagram as he documented moments going to school, playing music with friends and attending numerous concerts. His relationship with Twenty One Pilots has been long running throughout his music career with one of his most viewed videos on YouTube being a cover of ‘Truce’ from the band’s 2013 album ‘Vessel’, which he posted in 2019. 

With the artist’s close relationship with Twenty One Pilots’ music, many fans theorized that he would feature on the tribute album before the announcement. NoahFinnce posted his amusement at the amount of guesses on his Instagram story.

He continues his YouTube career alongside music, posting videos concerning trans experience and issues. NoahFinnce released his latest album ‘Growing Up On The Internet’ in 2024, a pop-punk collection of songs expressing the trials and tribulations of being so immersed in online culture at a young age, considering the artist began posting on Instagram at age 13. The album has all the heartbreak and British snark of the artist’s musical personality.

‘Growing Up On The Internet’ peaked at No. 93 in the UK Official Albums Chart, featuring an eclectic range of songs from the heartbreaking acoustic/electric rock blend in ‘SUBTITLES’ to the spiky alt-rock track ‘I Know Better’, a fan favourite which stands out in the album with over 3m listens on Spotify. The singer shared the change in sonic direction with the track, sharing with Rock Sound “The song has the same angst and sarcasm as my old stuff but with a darker sound.”

‘Blurryface Reborn’  is set to feature an exciting lineup of artist’s including Noahfinnce’s fellow  YouTube-born musician James Marriott. Here’s the full tracklist: 

Twenty One Pilots – ‘Blurryface Reborn’

1. Bambie Thug – Heavydirtysoul

2. Awolnation – Stressed Out

3. Arrows In Action – Ride

4. James Marriott– Fairly Local

5. AViVA – Tear In My Heart

6. YONAKA– Lane Girl

7. NOAHFINNCE – The Judge

8. Royal & The Serpent – Doubt

9. Dead Pony – Polarize

10. Bears In Trees – We Don’t Believe What’s On TV

11. As December Falls – Message Man

12. Artio – Hometown

13. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – Not Today

14. As It Is – Goner

You can also catch NoahFinnce at his UK headline tour this November. Tickets for his tours are available on his website. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BIG SPECIAL (@bigspecial_)

The tour will hit some impressive venues with their biggest ever show at London Roundhouse. Along with them will be standout openers Liz Lawrence, Good Health Good Wealth and GANS. Good Health Good Wealth posted their excitement to join Big Special having supported them a week prior to the announcement.    

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Good Health Good Wealth (@goodhealth.goodwealth)

The headline spot has come from a surge in popularity and growth for the band since their debut album ‘POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES’ in 2024. In an interview with Dork Magazine after its release, they found themselves struck by their newfound fame, stating: “We never thought we’d get out of the Birmingham scene, to be honest […] people in the South understanding what we’re on about just never occurred to me.”

The band’s roots have been important to the culmination of their sound and discography. Hicklin explains this with his lyrical inspiration from the poet Liz Berry. Hicklin says: “She’s a poet from the Black Country who writes in our dialect, and it made me think about using that a bit more.”

‘POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES’ is a soulful punk declaration from working class born voices featuring 15 raucous and vulnerable tracks.

Big Special are making their mark in the media with political rawness. Their song ‘Shithouse’ has recently featured in the latest season of hit speculative-fiction Netflix series Black Mirror. Known for its showcase of the underbelly of society, the show was a fitting place to home their stark, hard-hitting single. 

In an interview with Buzzmag, the band shared their thoughts on being labelled as a working class band and the trend of claiming these identities in the music industry. They share their experience, explaining “you’d have the awkward ‘Yeah I’m from Birmingham’ thing. Now, the funny flip is that when we meet other bands, they’re really embarrassed to tell us they’re from Surrey…”. Moloney goes on to say: “We never set out to be a working-class band. We’re just a band that’s giving an honest reflection of our lives.”

Big Special’s live performances are standout punk experiences that embrace authenticity with the band performing vulnerable tracks without glamour or gimmicks. The band have posted videos from their live gigs on YouTube.

Big special has an incredible set of tours and performances ahead with tickets available here.

In the post announcing the departure of the two musicians, Beetham and Macdonald hint at their own solo projects, revealing their desire to “give your all to something new”. Here, Kid Kapichi assured fans that “This is not the end for Kid Kapichi” and revealed their final performance announcement to come. The KID KAPICHI AND FRIENDS final show is set to take place at De La Warr Pavillion in Bexhill-on-sea near the band’s hometown in Hastings, paying tribute to their formation in 2013.

Initially, the band was formed of Beetham and Jack Wilson and they later recruited Macdonald and Eddie Lewis who had been childhood friends. They released their debut song ‘Ice Cream’ in 2016, a playful power punk track.

Their debut album ‘This Time Next Year’ was released several years later in 2021 during the COVID lockdown. The album is a gritty and raw release surrounding their frustration and anger at the world from their experience growing up poor. The album reached the UK Top 40 on the Official Albums Chart. In an interview with Tinnitist, the band explained the title of the album, sharing “Everyone’s lives are on pause. We’re all waiting and hoping for this time next year.”.

In an interview with Rock Sound, the band explained their debut album in comparison with their 2022 album ‘Here’s What You Could Have Won’, stating “‘This Time Next Year’ felt like a hopeful outlook on a bleak situation. ‘Here’s What You Could Have Won’  felt like an opportunity missed, and a chance to do better after we screwed up.”

‘Here’s What You Could Have Won’  was released before ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’ in 2024, their last album released before the departure of Beetham and Macdonald.

The two former members have been working on projects alongside the band for years, with Beetham producing for fellow Hastings-born rock band Hot Wax on their EP ‘Invite me Kindly’.

He has also announced his involvement in engineering Olivia Lunny’s ‘As It Was’ as well as producing for We Are Monakis on their song ‘Say What You Want’. Macdonald has been less public with his solo creative endeavours, though he has shared tracks he has worked on outside of the band.

The band’s final show with the original members will surely make for a great send off to Macdonald and Beetham. Tickets are available here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Skunk Anansie (@officialskunkanansie)

The band encouraged fans to guess what song from their live performances was going to be their next single, which many have suspected as ‘Animal’. Fans are obsessed with the new track already, posting clips of its live debut ahead of the release.

Skunk Anansie are known for their lively, thrashing performances, which fans have thrown themselves into at every live opportunity. Their rock theatrics have known no bounds for upcoming and past tracks including their 2022 single ‘Piggy’, which Skin performed while riding a huge fake pig through the audience.  

@no_fixed_abode @Skunk Anansie rocking Camden on a crowd surfing pig. #skunkanansie #rockmusic #piggy ♬ original sound – No Fixed Abode of London

Skunk Anansie formed in 1994 with a shocking rock/punk sound that stood out in the scene immediately. The band consists of vocalist Skin, Cass Lewis on bass guitar, guitarist Ace and Mark Richardson on drums. They have spoken about their experience in the rock scene in the 90s, revealing that whilst London was diverse, the bands were not. They share their history on their website, discussing bands at the time as “always four blokes with identical haircuts. We were a band of people who were real. That’s why we were radical.”.

The band disbanded in 2001 and reunited in 2009, though ‘The Painful Truth’ is their first album release in nine years since their 2016 album ‘Anarchytecture’, which was in the Top 100 UK Albums upon its release. They are most well known for other heart breaking singles such as ‘Weak’ from their debut album ‘Paranoid & Sunburnt’. 

Skunk Anansie released their latest single ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ this January, a zesty punk anthem which introduces their new sound since their last releases ‘Piggy’ and ‘Can’t Take You Anywhere’ in 2022.

The song earned them criticisms from fans and press surrounding their sonic change and playful lyricism which they dismissed, claiming their artistic freedom to create and change as they wished. They stated in response “we are the creators […] and sometimes you guys need to shut the f*ck up and enjoy or not enjoy it”.

Skunk Anansie will be performing a massive series of tours during and after the release of ‘The Painful Truth’ including their involvement at STHLM Fields on 25 June performing with Rival Sons, Thundermother and Jayler. They will also be joining classic rock band Smashing Pumpkins for their ‘The Aghori Tour’ in August and embarking on their own EU tour in June/July this year. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SOFT PLAY (@softplayplaysoft)

  The band, formed in 2012 by Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent in Tunbridge Wells, Kent have produced two EPs and three studio albums with their 2015 ‘Are you satisfied’ reaching number 8 in the UK Albums Chart. After their chart success and strong presence in the British punk scene, the band released their 2024 album ‘Heavy Jelly’ which they toured that year, featuring the song ‘John Wick’ inspired by the 2014 action thriller film series starring Keanu Reeves. The song is said to be written from the perspective of Reeves’ character, with references to the film in lyrics ‘you killed my fucking dog’ and the playful punk hook ‘I’m John Wick bitch’.  The plucky rock duo took to Instagram to request Reeves to feature on the track playing bass for their performance this year at Coachella. This daring performance is unsurprising of the band with how they have redefined live performance, making fun, bold experiences for fans. In their latest performance in Utah, the band proved their down to earth nature with crowd participation which they posted onto Instagram.  

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by SOFT PLAY (@softplayplaysoft)

This nature has strong importance to the band as shown by the political content in their discography with songs like ‘Punk’s dead’ and ‘Act violently’ sharing their anger and frustrations at the world. They discussed in an interview with Louder their thoughts on releasing such songs, stating “We’re not gonna be the band that leads your protest march. What we can do is sing about relatable things.”.

Soft Play have released their new album ‘Heavier Jelly’ today on 18 April– an extended project of the previous album ‘Heavy Jelly’. The album has created a lot of buzz with fans, especially with their song ‘Slushy- feat. Kate Nash’ which had been released previously to full album release. 

The band have shown their process of creating the album with snippets on Instagram, discussing how the song ‘Slushy’ came to be and the involvement of pop icon Kate Nash– singer of the chart topping track ‘Foundations’. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SOFT PLAY (@softplayplaysoft)

The punk duo’s involvement in Coachella will surely be showstopping and fans await eagerly to see the response of Keanu Reeves. To their dismay, the band have not yet heard a response from the actor, but posted a temporary post asking playfully for anyone with a similar appearance to come to the performance instead.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rock n Roll Public Library (@rocknrollpl)

 The ‘library’ is made up of tens of thousands of items from Jones’ personal collection, gathered over his lifetime. This includes stage-worn clothing, original posters for his shows, and musical equipment from his time in The Clash, as well as a variety of physical media which audiences are encouraged to engage with.   

Alongside the new exhibition, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Public Library are launching a magazine to act as a portable version or the archive. Their first issue is DIY-themed, paying homage to the self-sufficient spirit of the early punk movement, and acts as a parallel to the zine, which were written, designed, and printed by fans.

Comment byu/janalisin from discussion inpunk

 DIY culture was a central pillar of punk, with bands releasing their own music through independent labels, and choosing to make their own unique clothing, all in an effort to be self-sufficient, and not rely on the music industry. The Clash emerged from this world, but quickly signed to CBS records for £100,000, prompting accusations of selling out. Mark Perry, founder of influential punk zine Sniffin’ Glue, declared, “Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS.”  

Kirk Lane, one part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Public Library Team, describes the collection as charting the journey of an imaginary figure as they meander through childhood into art and music. “This [current] exhibition expands on and complements the first issue of the magazine which is a general overview of the archive,” said Lake.  

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Farsight Gallery (@farsightgallery)

The exhibition’s immersive style, ranging from rooms resembling a mid-century living room to books of handwritten notes that guests are free to browse, will feel familiar to visitors of Davd Bowie Is and The Beatles Story. This project is more hands-on, however, actively encouraging visitors to handle many of the items, and read the hundreds of books that make up the archive. 

Jones has expressed a desire to find a permanent home for the ever-changing exhibition, saying at one of the very first exhibitions in 2009, “I’d like to have a permanent place to exhibit the whole collection… like a library where you can come and see the stuff and maybe get a copy or sit there and read it.”

Though many fans of Jones and The Clash will want to visit the exhibition, the limited duration and location will leave many relying on the magazine to get their fill. Described as a “ragged map to aid further exploration and inspire creation,” it will initially be sold exclusively at the exhibition before becoming available online and in selected shops. 

 With each issue exploring a new theme, the project invites readers into Jones’ obsession with pop culture, a physical link between today and a world that has almost entirely disappeared. The exhibition is open until 16 March and is free to all visitors.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nordoff and Robbins (@nordoffrobbins)

Sponsored by the music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins, the Northern Music Awards celebrate artists and music whose work has been shaped by the North of England, and this year will be the second ceremony since the awards inception in 2024. The Northern Music Award, of which Cooper Clarke will be this year’s recipient, honours household names with long and highly-respected careers who are still active in music. Last year’s winner was another Salfordian, Tim Burgess, who has followed up his success with the Charlatans with the innovative ‘Tim’s Listening Party’. 

Earning him the unofficial title, ‘The Bard of Salford’, Cooper Clarke was a pivotal figure in the punk scene of the late 70s, opening up for the acts such as the Sex Pistols, Joy Division and New Order, and Elvis Costello with his act that fell somewhere between performance poetry and rapid-fire a capella numbers.

After signing with Epic Records in 1978, he released a trio of classic albums crammed with observational humour and sharp wit. The triad of albums was made up of ‘Disguise in Love’ (1978), ‘Snap, Crackle & Bop’ (1980), and ‘Zip Style Method’ (1982). Backing him on the records were The Invisible Girls, a band made up of Manchester musicians such as Martin Hannett, who was also the producer behind many of Factory Records’ biggest albums, and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks. The latter two albums also made it into the UK Charts, placing at 26 and 97, respectively.

In a 2023 interview with The Guardian, Cooper Clarke revealed his initial misgivings about putting his words to music. “That wasn’t my idea, I gotta be honest, but I couldn’t think of an argument against it. ‘Who plays spoken word records more than once?’ And I kind of believed that at the time.” He worked with musician Plan B on the 2013 record, ‘Ill Manors’, and has a track named after him on the debut album of Todmorden-based group, Working Men’s Club.

One of his most enduring legacies is ‘I Wanna Be Yours’, a poem from his 1982 collection, ‘Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt’, also recorded as part of ‘Zip Style Method’ from the same year. After being included on the GCSE English syllabus, the poem inspired, and would be covered by the Arctic Monkeys. Included on their 2013 album ‘AM’, the track has become the bands most streamed song, amassing almost 3 billion streams on Spotify. The sleeper hit has also become a popular wedding song, with Cooper Clarke saying “it is to weddings what ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ is to humanist funerals.”

Cooper Clarke has remained a regular fixture on the UK live circuit, as well as multiple appearances around the world. His unique blend of poetry and comedy has made him a familiar face on British panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Would I Lie To You?. In 2023, he was made a freeman of the City of Salford, with the recognition coming a decade after his honorary doctorate from the University of Salford.

2025’s Northern Music Award will recognise a figure who has slowly established himself as a national treasure. Cooper Clarke’s ability to acutely analyse any subject and remove any of the elitism associated with poetry and the spoken word made it accessible to anybody, and through various contemporary artists, is still influencing the music world today. Tickets for the Northern Music Awards are on sale on Ticketmaster, listed for between £40 and £60. Along with Cooper Clarke, The Zutons, Lightning Seeds and Chiedu Oraka will all be performing.