Landline Records presents: Cult Figures + Micko & The Mellotronics + Helen McCookerybook

Originally birthed in the Midlands but now London based post-punks Cult Figures are returning with their third album Between Us And Heaven, comprising twelve tracks that illustrate the seismic changes both within the band and the world at large since 2021’s critically acclaimed Deritend.

The album sees original guitarist Jon Hodgson, bassist Lee McFadden and drummer Stuart Hilton joined by new members Fraser Gillespie (lead vocals) and Steve May (guitar), as well as contributions from co-founding singer Gary Jones, who tragically lost his life in 2022, and to whose memory the album is dedicated.

Cult Figures’ third album displays the band’s acknowledged roots in intelligent punk-pop, combined with an unwavering desire to experiment both musically and lyrically. Possibly the only album released this year to feature a track about the King’s coronation…
King George VI in 1937 that is…..

“…..a slick sixties-suffused punk pop set of Keith Moon tubthumping and Carnaby Street crooning.” – The Idler (Stewart Lee)
“… ..their ability to pen an infectious tune, one full of groove, swagger and killer riffs has only increased. And then some…” – Dancing About Architecture)

The Mellotronics formed in 2017 with the intention of turning Micko Westmoreland’s songwriting skills into a dynamic live prospect, and released their debut album 1/2 Dove 1/2 Pigeon in 2020. The new incarnation of The Mellotronics sees Micko’s rabble-rousing vocals and spiky, agitational guitar work augmented perfectly by the crack squad of drummer JD Kickdrum and Budge Magraw providing the attitude driven solid bassline.

Since then they’ve been busy cutting their teeth with a series of shows around the capital and beyond, making return visits to the 100 Club in Oxford Street and earning multiple requests for support slots from acts as established as Evan Dando (Lemonheads), David Devant & His Spirit Wife, Blue Orchids, Sheep on Drugs, The Television Personalities and The Monochrome Set. Bringing a new dimension of sharp and economic post-punk/new wave attitude to the diverse Westmoreland songbook, they’ve been already been favourably compared to The Jam, Pil, Wire, XTC and Pulp as well as the mean, lean but undeniably powerful sound of Idles or Shame.

Helen McCookerybook’s songs cover everything from the social impact of new technology to wry observations about relationships. Now a solo guitarist/vocalist influenced by Linda Lewis, Nick Drake and Jake Thackray, her musical journey started as a bass player in a Brighton punk band in the late 1970s. Her previous bands The Chefs and Helen and the Horns were regulars on BBC Radio 1’s John Peel show; nowadays Radio London’s Gary Crowley and BBC6’s Gideon Coe play her new music. Her latest CD is Drawing on my Dreams Drawing on my Dreams, by Helen McCookerybook