"They can even kill," shrieks the tagline for a new public information poster warning against the dangers of legal highs. You might have seen it at a bus stop or in a train station – it’s the one with a picture of a basin daubed with thick red blood and a photograph of a bag of mephedrone with its now-infamous disclaimer printed on the label: ‘Not For Human Consumption’. It’s intended to scare you. But should we be frightened?

Although the number of people using mephedrone has sky-rocketed over the past year, this is the first time there’s been an official campaign to discourage its use. According to the West Yorkshire police, the poster’s creators, the campaign will “dissuade young people from taking substances which, though legal, can cause damage to their mental and physical health, and even death”.

These are bold claims to make about a drug government scientists are yet to test. Despite the Daily Mail linking the tragic death of 14-year-old Gabrielle Price to mephedrone, a police report later identified the cause of death as bronchial pneumonia. There have been no other British deaths associated with mephedrone use. 

Read more...

1. Hot Club De Paris – ‘Fuck You, The Truth!’
A while since we’ve heard from the spry and wiry Liverpool trio, whose splicing of antsy post-hardcore and oddball Fall/XTC-ish indie energy is as refreshing as a splash of cold water to the face. Also available in limited 10-inch vinyl, this standout track from new EP ‘With Days Like This As Cheap As Chewing Gum, Why Would Anyone Want To Work?’ starts off with the kind of glockenspiel twinkles and rumbling cymbals you’d expect from a Björk track. But then – oh yes – riffs.
[Listen]

2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs– ‘Skeletons (acoustic)’
We didn’t think this most heart-in-mouth moment from ‘It’s Blitz!’ could get any more heartbreaking, but we were wrong – this shivering, fragile take is near-emotional overload. Check out the brilliant gothic video for the main single as well, set in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in LA – it’s playing on NME TV now.

Read more...

Liam Gallagher's new band - essentially Oasis without Noel - will not be called Oasis.

"That was a shit name anyway," said the singer. "I'm glad to see the back of it."

Read more...

On Monday, January 11 at 9pm, Glee made its UK debut on E4; by the time of the chart rundown at the end of the week, there were no less than five of the cast recordings in the Top 75. The highest of these - their version of Journey's ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ – is currently sitting at Number Two.

In America, where the show debuted in May last year, the Glee Cast at one point had a total of 25 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 – the most by a single act since The Beatles had 31 different songs in the chart in 1964. As the show’s popularity escalates on both sides of the Atlantic, it seems Glee will be dominating the charts for a very long time.

Should we be worried? Here, two NME writers debate the show and its likely impact.

Read more...

This week’s NME celebrates The Specials, a fiercely political band who, in their brief recording career, penned songs about onrushing nuclear doom (‘Man At C&A’), street crime (‘Concrete Jungle’), apartheid (‘Nelson Mandela’) and the grinding horror of mass unemployment (‘Ghost Town’).

In the issue, singer Terry Hall wonders aloud what happened to that white-hot early ‘80s confluence of music and counter-cultural rage. “There’s no rebellion,” he says. “I see bands today and I think, ‘What do you have to say? Why are you bothering?'"

Which seems a bit harsh. I mean, has he not heard Jedward’s Vanilla Ice cover? That’s gritty social commentary right there.

Read more...

Who is still buying 'Killing In The Name'?? While we were excited about the battle for Number One back in December, mid-Feb does seem to be a little late to be getting in to Rage Against The Machine. Either way, they're holding on at 13. Meanwhile it's a good week for Hot Chip, who just jumped from 15 to 4 with 'One Life Stand', while there's new entries from Mumford & Sons, Groove Armada, Phoenix, Band Of Skulls, Hockey, Hot Chip, The Soft Pack and Marina And The Diamonds. Scroll down to see who's Number One.

Read more...