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Divine Schism are bringing European Sun to Oxford as they celebrate their new album! Steve Miles releases his second album as European Sun, accompanied by Ian Button (drums), Rob Pursey (bass) and Elin Miles (additional vocals).If one LP could act as a refutation of the toxic culture of ‘masculine energy’ and the tech bro-sponsored whipping up of hatred that blights our lives - this is it.
It is true of the lyrics. Nostalgia for an imagined past where men were men, and racism was de rigeur is eviscerated in title track When Britain Was Great. Fetishisation of a World War by patriots who are too pumped up to realise the war was a fight against Nazism is picked apart in Angels In The Clouds. And the clumsy, half-arsed struggle to seek something better, to try to escape the trap of cynical acceptance of it all, is sardonically observed in the comically accident-prone Falling Down The Stairs With Arthur Seaton. All this is interspersed with deeply personal tracks like The Space She Left, unflinchingly exposing emotional vulnerability and anxiety, and with carefree pop songs, still able to access the wide-eyed wisdom of childhood: The Sea Is A Pirate’s Best Friend expresses a kind of joy that we all had once, but have lost contact with.
The music is a refutation of ‘masculine energy’ too: it is utterly devoid of that grim modern male quality ‘swagger’. Sometimes echoing the casual, intimate, fragile tones of the TV Personalities, the songs are bluntly emotional but shamelessly catchy. On other occasions - louder occasions - the echo of an angry Wreckless Eric riff can be heard. The warmth and gentleness of the vocal might remind you of Jonathan Richman. The experimentation - the brass section, the feedback, the occasional reggae rhythm – is reminiscent of the earliest, fearless phase of punk adventurism – The Slits, The Mekons, The Desperate Bicycles even. Punk before it regressed to Rock. This hand-made music is the opposite of AI-generated crud. Every bit of it, even the chaotic bits – especially the chaotic bits - are deliberate and meticulously thought through.
Along with the vinyl LP, Skep Wax will also release a special CD featuring just one track: School Report, a 17-minute pop song in which a diary of an anxiety-ridden day is punctuated with readings from the singer’s school report: the acid, dismissive remarks made by uncaring teachers years ago echoing cruelly down the years.
‘When Britain Was Great’ is a punk record. It is also an angry, gentle, heartfelt plea for humanity.
Release date 23rd January 2026. ‘School Report’ CD single only available from Skep Wax only.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Library, 184 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1UE, United Kingdom
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
