Today North Carolina producer Hanz shares the second track from his forthcoming EP, Plasty I, which is set for release on January 19 via Tri Angle Records. The off-kilter industrial bombast of ‘King Speed’ offers a second glimpse at the surrealist cinematics of Plasty I – an EP of foreboding and disorientating headiness, underpinned by a razor-sharp clarity of vision and precision. ‘King Speed’ follows the track ‘Page’, shared last month. Plasty I is the first of two EP releases, which will see an album’s worth of material released over two 12”s. The second part will follow in Spring 2018 - details to be announced.

Hanz, otherwise known as North Carolina based producer Brandon Juhans, originally wanted to be an illustrator but fell upon music. Curious about how albums he liked were made, he found himself researching a multitude of wide-ranging genres and techniques. He wanted to make things that he would want to hear himself and was eventually able to make music that matched his illustration style, setting up entire scenes with sound. Taking on an unusually divergent range of musical influences, he brings together hip-hop, punk and experimental music with his own thread – a unique sound that is never just one thing.

The key influences for Hanz’s forthcoming long-overdue EP lie outside music – it is heavily influenced by film. Things like pacing, tension, comic relief and climactic moments are palpable throughout the EP, and through its follow-up, which is due to land later in 2018. Plasty I is the first of two recordings that form a kind of mirror shot of each other.

Both EPs developed in sessions that started right before the re-issue of Hanz’s LP Reducer on Tri Angle in 2015. Over a year or so of working, he decided to trim compositions down and get to the point in less than twenty minutes per EP. He named this work "Plasty" due to its constant structural changes, it’s as if the sound is being operated on surgically.

Hanz's music contains tension and action. He edits his music like a movie, placing pieces of a song inside other songs: certain parts and melodies from part one reappear in part two and vice versa. That’s his way of making these EPs compliment each other, by making them function like puzzles where cinematic influences are joined by inspirations from the Surrealists and the cut-up techniques of William Burroughs & Brion Gysin. ‘Plasty’ is the sound of an artist in flux, evolving and emerging through exploration.

‘Plasty I’ tracklist:

1. Advice Ad

2. Plasty

3. King Speed

4. Root Words

5. Your Local Shapeshifter

6. A Breathing House

7. Page

Over forty years since their initial explosion across the fledgling London punk scene, and some ten years since the release of their last studio recordings, British punk legends The Damned are set to return in 2018 with both new material and an extensive UK tour. Kick-starting 2018 on January 26 with the previously announced ‘Evil Spirits’ tour, due to popular demand the band have announced an extra date in addition to their headline performance at The Forum on February 17 and will now also play Koko on the 16th, taking over North London for a very special weekend of prime-Damned entertainment.  Main support on the tour comes from fabled Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom, whilst at Koko American ‘operatic-punk’ performer Kristeen Young will open the show.

Also joining the tour, following the departure of bassist Stu West, is former bass player Paul Gray. Paul was part of the band for two incredible albums during the eighties (The Black Album, Strawberries) and has also played with undisputed legends such as Eddie And The Hot Rods, Johnny Thunders, UFO and Rob Tyner from the MC5 throughout his career. News of his reunion with the band was greeted with much excitement from The Damned’s dedicated fan base.

 “I wasn’t the best bassist in the band... by a long way,” says Captain Sensible. “That was Paul, The Damned, Eddie & The Hot Rods, UFO; listen to that playing, the bloke is a master of his instrument and it’s great to have him back for the tour.”

Having last released new material in 2008 with their So, Who’s Paranoid? album, 2018 will see the unveiling of a hugely-anticipated new album. Recorded in New York by famed producer Tony Visconti, whose list of past working-relationships reads like a who’s who of popular music (David Bowie, T Rex, Morrissey, U2, The Stranglers, Iggy Pop and Thin Lizzy to name but a few), the band have signed a new deal with Search & Destroy/Spinefarm Records and are set to stun the music world once again with their dizzying blend of high-energy punk rock, creative psychedelic pop and classic song-writing. “Our new Tony Visconti produced album, as with all previous Damned records, very much has its own sound,” continues Captain. “We’re looking forward to having an element of that mixed in with the old faves.”

The Damned ‘Evil Spirits’ 2018 UK Tour Dates:

26 January Newcastle O2 Academy

27 January Dundee Caird Hall

28 January Glasgow O2 Academy

30 January Leeds O2 Academy Leeds

31 January Manchester Academy 1

1 February Birmingham O2 Academy

3 February Leicester O2 Academy

4 February Nottingham Rock City

6 February Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall

7 February Southend Cliffs Pavilion

9 February Cardiff Great Hall

10 February Bristol O2 Academy Bristol

11 February Bournemouth O2 Academy

13 February Southampton O2 Guildhall

14 February Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion

16 February Koko *Extra date just added

17 February London O2 Forum