Playlist: Narc.Fest

NARC is one of the region's best cultural guides and its annual festival in th Ouseburn puts its money where its mouth is to bring the cream of northeast bands to six indie venues in Newcastle's creative hub. This year's edition is on July 13, and here's a taste of some of the sets we're looking forward to hearing.

Irked – Backstreets

‘Radge’ is a great bit of northeast dialect. You could translate it as ‘angry’, but you’d end up ripping out all of the ‘tear-it-up-and-start-again’ energy of the original and be left with the sense of minor irritation we’ve all felt when someone pouches the last biscuit.

Which is where Irked come in. Clue’s in the name, really. Probably not first date music. Expect million mile-an-hour guitar throb, sledgehammer vocals and a fervent, fizzing ball of energy rolling off the stage and into your face. The radge made flesh.

So far, so typical. Forty years after punk sneered onto the stage, our cities are still well populated with the marginalized and disenfranchised who choose to wield music as their weapon of choice. But Irked have a bit more than that in their locker. They might not relish the description, but this is something of a local punk supergroup. Reflecting on line-up that has nine bands on its collective CV, vocalist Helen Walkinshaw described the quintet as “a bit of a Frankenstein’s Monster”. And, amid the frenzy, they’re not afraid to put their message across, as evidenced by the spoken word passages in debut single Backstreets.

Irked plays at the Cumberland Arms during Narc.Fest on Sat. July 13.

Cortney Dixon - Bang, Bang, Honey, Honey

Cortney headlined our playlist for Stockton Calling earlier in the year and it’s great to have her back in action at Narc.fest. First time round, we got all excited about guitar-driven indie pop with a summery vibe that the Beach Boys might have enjoyed. And there’s plenty more where that came from. “Bang Bang, Honey Honey” has been on the set list for a couple of years now. There’s a bit of a Fatal Attraction feel to the lyrics, but there’s also an effortless, infectious melody that sets you dancing away towards a crunchier, rockier finish.

Cortney’s sound isn’t exactly typical for the northeast scene. There’s a perky poppiness about it that, for some, makes it easy to dismiss. After all, we’re supposed to be a blokey, hard-edged kind of region with little time for love songs that trace their lineage back to the golden age of 60s pop. But that contrast is precisely what makes her so much fun to listen to, and such a refreshing counterpoint to many of her peers.

Cortney Dixon plays The Tyne Bar at Narc.Fest on Sat. July 13

Warm Digits – Growth of Raindrops

Forever under the radar, Warm Digits tend to pop up when you least expect. Admittedly quiet in recent years since the release of 2020s “Flight of Ideas” album, Steve Jefferis and Andrew Hodson are reunited at the Cluny’s second stage as part of Narc.fest. Drummer Hodson has been busy with his solo project Distant Listening in recent months, picking up plaudits while touring the north.

For this playlist cut we’re going back a couple of years before Flight of Ideas for a collaboration with Sarah Cracknell. Warm Digits supported St. Etienne on a UK tour in 2015/16 (full disclosure – the first time I saw them was at the Sage in Gateshead in that very support slot) and "Growth of Raindrops" was a very welcome spin-off from that. Taking Cracknell’s distinctively breathy vocals, cutting them free of the cinematic art-pop environs of Tiger Bay and recasting them against some harder-edged EDM proves a big hit.

Not that this should be taken as any indicator of what to expect when the band gets on stage in Newcastle. Warm Digits’ sound has been in constant flux from day one, a kaleidoscope of kraut-inflected psychedelia with an increasingly danceable bang. Whatever incarnation we see in 2024, it’s sure to be fascinating.

Warm Digits play The Cluny 2 at Narc.Fest on Sat. July 13.

Thanks for reading another playlist. If you liked it, give a like and subscribe. If you really liked it, consider buying me a coffee. But, most of all, please consider supporting the artists by buying their music or attending their gigs.

Previous playlists: Folksy flavours / Politics / Stockton Calling / Russia / Aelius / #6 / Border Crossings / #8 / Safe hands throwing stones / More Than a Stone’s Throw / Fusion / Pigs, parties and Portuguese / From Bronte to Black Metal / Punk Princesses / Mackem magic and a mystical remix