THIS MONTH'S CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE...

Robert Hilburn After three decades as pop

Point me at the sky

15 FLASHBACKS to THE GOLDEN AGE OF BRITISH PSYCH

ALL BACK TO MY PLACE

THE STARS REVEAL THE SONIC DELIGHTS GUARANTEED TO GET THEM GOING...

Theories, rants, etc.

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Cold comfort

The Chills’ Martin Phillipps, New Zealand indie-pop flagbearer, left us on July 28.

OCTOBER 1966 …The Spencer Davis Group demand – Gimme Some Lovin’

Lovin’ it up: The Spencer Davis Group (from

Beach Boys vibrate

Good times: The Beach Boys (from left) Bruce

PSYCH HITS THE US CHARTS

Question time: ? & The Mysterians shed 96

AD ARCHIVE 1966

Get with the In-Crowd with Sea & Ski’s

A case of musical mistaken identity?

Name-ch-ch-ch-chchanger: (top left) Davy Jones before becoming David

Yes We Cans

Win! Melomania P100 noise-cancelling headphones from Cambridge Audio.

Sid Griffin and The Long Ryders

It began with country rock synthesis in Hollywood. And ended when cruel fate piled on the blows.

Refuge Of The Roads

THE HOT NEWS AND BIZARRE STORIES FROM PLANET MOJO

THE POGUES TOAST 40 YEARS OF RED ROSES FOR ME – WITH HELP FROM FONTAINES D.C. AND MANY MORE!

Thorny issue: Pogues James Fearnley (left) and

OUT OF MEMPHIS, TAV FALCO’S PANTHER BURNS RISE AGAIN

“I am on familiar terms with the ghosts

Julian Casablancas

The Strokes/Voidz mainman talks entitlement, respect and Arctic Monkeys.

Youth

LAST NIGHT A RECORD CHANGED MY LIFE

THE SHOCKING RETURN OF… LONE JUSTICE!

SOME 38 YEARS after their split, cherished cow-punkers

SKA SURVIVOR RHODA DAKAR KEEPS ON JUMPING

WHEN RHODA Dakar was a teenage punk in

TEEN GUITAR PRODIGY MUIREANN BRADLEY SINGS THE ANCIENT LOCKDOWN BLUES

Moo better blues: Muireann Bradley, in a field

GET LIT W ITH INDIE-ROCK SQUARE PEGS ENGLISH TEACHER!

Class act: English Teacher (from left) Douglas Frost,

MOJO PLAYLIST

Get in! This month’s top motorik rock, trance and radical dance.

THE MOJO INTERVIEW

Negotiating fame, the f(olk)-word, then the “dark nightmare” of LA, emerging into motherhood and renewed self-possession, she’s the songwriting seeker plumbing the depths of the psyche, and refusing to curry favour. “I wouldn’t wish meeting me on anybody,” says Laura Marling.

A LIFE IN PICTURES

A Laura love: Marling down the years.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

Fifty years since their instigation, and 10 since the passing of their last original member, the RAMONES’ rock’n’roll revolution maintains a living legacy. But was there ever a more unlikely success story? KRIS NEEDS returns to the birth of the band, unravelling a tale of blood, toil, tears, sweat, more blood, heroin, OCD, dumb genius and perfect timing: “They ignited the powder keg that was waiting to be ignited.”

The UNQUIET AMERICAN

In 1974. RANDY NEWMAN-the agent provocateur of singer- songwriters-unleashed his greatest provocation: a barb that speared racist bigotry and liberal hypocrisy alike. In a chapter from his in-depth new Newman biography, Robert Hilburn unpacks the complex genesis of Good Old Boys and its speaking-the-unspeakable anthem, Rednecks: "He knew the song was going to upset people to put it mildly-but it's how he saw the world."

An American indie rock supergroup that’s into “failure”, “risks” and “things sounding fucked-up”? Featuring members of Pavement, Dirty Three and, er, Zwan? That’ll be THE HARD QUARTET, masters of creativity on the fly and makers of the ‘Old Man Record Of 2024’. “We’re pushing all our chips in!” they tell ANDREW PERRY.

IT WAS THE KIND OF RECORDING SESSION STEPHEN

Flip Your wig!

SPACESHIPS! CRUSTACEA! BEEHIVES! New wave culture vultures The B-52's spun it all into floor-shaking hits, then survived tragedy to become even bigger. As singer KATE PIERSON releases a new solo album, she tells BILL DeMAIN of the band’s fierce commitment: “Even when we were singing about lobsters and volcanos, we sang like our lives depended on it!”

Tucker: The Man & His Dream

Revered by Bowie, wooed by Crosby and Stills, hosted by President Mobutu, TUCKER ZIMMERMAN is the classical dropout who became one of the Great Lost Singer-Songwriters. Except now he’s been found, by folk-rockers du jour Big Thief. Exposing his genius may even be the best thing they’ve done. “When we’re together it’s like fireflies exploding,” he tells WILL HODGKINSON.

SADE’S DIAMOND LIFE BEGINS

SADE ADU was a stylist when she met London Latin ensemble Pride. Soon after, she was fronting a new, streamlined group playing soul, jazz and sophisticated pop. After Sade’s classic Diamond Life hit in the second half of ’84, West End clubland and squats with frozen pipes made way for international success. Forty years on from their moment-defining debut’s release, players and friends recall the moment of fusion. “It was all positivity and action stations,” they say. “Sade took the full brunt of the fame.”

HAPPY GILMOUR

With a new album embracing “complete anarchic madness”, his first tour in eight years and (we kid you not) a single with Ice-T, Pink Floyd’s imposing guitarist returns with a mission: to shake up his music, shrug off the fug of nostalgia, disperse the pall of Covid. And there may, DAVID GILMOUR hints, soon be more to come. “I’ve got a trove of stuff already,” he assures MARK BLAKE.

THE SILVER SOUND

David Gilmour’s greatest bits, in Pink Floyd and beyond, selected by TOM DOYLE.

“IT WAS EMOTIONAL TO HEAR RICK’S PLAYING”

GUY PRATT on David Gilmour, Rick Wright and his “filthy” bass sounds on Luck And Strange.

“I FEEL A RESPONSIBILITY”

SYD BARRETT and DAVID GILMOUR: two very different men bonded by art, friendship and history.

Five alive!

A spirited valedictory offering from the late Wayne Kramer. Just don’t expect the jams to be kicked out like it’s 1969, warns Andrew Perry

Hello birds, hello trees

Acclaimed folk duo finally follow 2020 covers album with her first new songs since 2011. By Sylvie Simmons.

Future days

Seven songs and, suddenly, a potentially riveting way forward for the celebrated guitarist.

The proclaimer

Hull’s head honcho offers another spin in the caravan of love.

Incredible journey

London tenor saxophonist embraces orchestration on widescreen second LP inspired by life’s “twists and turns”.

Cue Anon!

Solo album number six – his best yet?

Factory records

The first official telling of Lou Reed’s origin story as a paycheque composer: 25 tracks of faux-Brill Building candy, corn and echo-laden chaos that led to the debut Velvet Underground album.

High water mark

This mountain of music is so mighty it reorients a Dylan era.

Timeless flight

Jeff Beck and friends (but no Eric) captured at the Beeb in encyclopaedic four-disc collection.

Iron curtain up!

Presenting highlights from a quarter century of Ukraine’s mostly obscured musical output.

Sol Power

From the cut-out abyss: gospel-powered baroque pop for the counterculture, with Jimmy Webb.

Tindersticks

Nottingham outliers soundtracking the human condition.

Here we go again?

ABBA interviewer seeks another side of Swedish superstars.

Streets of fire

New York City’s boho enclave has a musical legacy too big for this book, says Grayson Haver Currin.