Mark Ingram Rolls Along

While the clamour of the Baltimore Raven’s 9-2 start to the 2019 season will be reflected upon the trajectory and warranted hype surrounding Lamar Jackson, there is another player in the Ravens offense who is having as good a season and far exceeding expectations in his first season with a new team.

Mark Ingram moved to Baltimore from the New Orleans Saints in part due to the elevation of another running back which meant Ingram was no longer the lead back in the Big Easy. The arrival of Alvin Kamara – his dynamism as a pass catcher out of the backfield as well as his twinkle toes meant Ingram needed a fresh start.

This led Ingram to become the bell cow in Baltimore, a traditional three down back where necessary and becoming an integral part of the Ravens’ offensive schemes. With a dynamic fast quarterback under centre, you may wonder what does Ingram a violent downhill runner offer a high powered offense.

The evidence can be seen in the numbers, as Ingram is enjoying his best season in two years when he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2017, that was a season when the Saints were beaten by the Minnesota Miracle and denied the league’s best offence a Super Bowl berth. Last year, the Saints were again high scoring but the infamous non-pass interference call at home to the Los Angeles Rams again denied the Saints a big game ticket. 

This season Ingram after 10 games before the demolition of the Rams away from home is averaging 13.6 attempts a game, 4.9 yards per attempt and 66.7 yards per game with 8 touchdowns on the ground.  Last year in 12 games played for New Orleans following a four-game suspension to start the season; he had 138 rushes all season, he has 136 so far; for 667 total rushing yards compared to 645 yards last season in 12 games.

Ingram is seemingly reborn as the lead back, the onus is on him to pick up big first down yardage – he has 36 carries to make first down thus far - to make the play calling for Ravens and Lamar easier with less yardage to cover; the option of having Lamar who is able to run himself makes it almost impossible to defend. Like the Chiefs and Mahomes last year they are scoring at will, none more so than the fourth touchdown of the half against the Rams which was in the last two minutes to take a 28-3 lead at half time. The Rams had no answer and no idea whether to defend the run or Lamar who had no incompletions in the first half.

Further, he is getting involved in the passing game, something he is not renowned for. Thus far he has had 19 pass targets for 162 yards – last year he had 170 total receiving yards all season – for 9.5 yards per catch.

Ingram’s importance was never more relevant than in the third quarter when on 1^st and 18 he ploughed through the Rams who despite attempting to box in he and Lamar he found plenty for the first down, leaving three would be tacklers on the turf when he posed for the first down. Albeit, the score was 35-6 at that point but it was emblematic of the Ravens’ dominant rushing display, 285 yards total rushing (off 48 attempts, 5.9 yards per carry) last night against a Rams defence that averaged close to 80 yards rushing all season. That defence was blown out the water and the tone setter was Ingram who had 15 carries for 111 yards and one touchdown, averaging 7.4 yds per carry. 

The point remains while Lamar is going to be the League MVP, it appears his main hype man and fellow Heisman Trophy recipient deserves as much acclaim for the importance of his role.

The Sprinters 'Struck Gold'

The new album Struck Gold is released by Meritorio Records on 15th November

The second album from the Mancunian four-piece is led by Neil Jarvis who initially conceived the band as a solo project; yet the injection of band mates culminated in the release of the self-titled album on the Icecapades label in 2017.

The follow up Struck Gold released on Meritorio depicts new territory for the band but nevertheless still incorporating Jarvis' love of surf and indie pop.

While the general feel of the album is one of rose-tinted summer feels, there is an underlying air of melancholy in the subject matter; none more so than on single '3's & 4's' a song about in Jarvis' words, 'about accepting an awful situation, though it catches you off guard becaue its pretty upbeat and poppy', this is encapsulated in the lyrics, 'It is what it is. There's no escaping'.




Throughout the album, there is a heart on your sleeve element to the construction of these sumptuous compositions, and Jarvis is not afraid to let the listener know of his influences; this listener was smiling at the borrowed riff of Cornershop's Brimful of Asha to open the album on the title track.

The other day this blog posted a review of the compilation by The Springfields, and that American group were heavily influenced by the Hollies and Byrds with the 60s feel of nostalgia resonating.

This exudes throughout again in this album with a combination of shoegazing internality with sunshine externality - none more so than the one-two punch of tracks 'The Light' and 'Ending' which appear halfway through the album. The richness of the tracks calling back to each other is a wonder and infuses the album with a real sense of belonging in the big time.

It is a shame that this album has been released in November and not the end of March when a summer release would have been better suited to the general feel of sunshine throughout the release, calling back to indie pop stalwarts The Coral and Guillemots; bands who were buoyant yet not afraid to call out their swinging sixties influences.

The ambition is seen most in 'Undone' and the desire to go bolder is heard on 'Scream 2' a song of real bite which is in contrast to the softness of the majority of the album, yet this juxtaposition of tones is not a criticism but more a greater anticipation of what this band will have in store in the future, and this is a band you cannot wait to see live when they do go on tour in the not too distant

However, this is an album of real confidence and tightness, a band in not afraid to show fragility for the cause of melody touched by sunshine and displaying a heartfelt intimacy throughout.

Struck Gold is released by Meritorio Records on 15th November

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

The Springfields 'Singles 1986-1991'

A Greatest Hits compilation of famous Boston band The Springfields 

out on 15th November from Slumberland Records

There are few more renowned names in indie-pop history as Ric Menck and Paul Chastain, who together helped path a road for pop music to take a guitar route which started around the corner from Fenway Park.


This would be a band who most likely have been under the radar for many, yet for lovers of stellar songwriting such as The Byrds and The Hollies, this is an album for those in love with songs.  From the gorgeousness of 'Sunflowers' to the appropriately enough wonder of 'Wonder', this is a band whose legacy carries on from such bands as Major Murphy and Lawn.

On the album are perfect little nuggets of pop and rock mixed together; so do not be put off by the November release date and bring some sunshine into your life.

A must for fans of Graham Nash and Matthew Sweet, The Springfield are a band who are ripe for a rebirth and perhaps this collection of singles will help reward new listeners and bring a smile to old fans.

Singles 1986-1991 is out from Slumberland Records on 15th November.
Slumberland Records are a Californian based indie label who released the album Used To Yesterday by Smokescreens - an under the radar classic

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

Private Life by Tempers

New York based duo, Tempers, have released their new album Private Life on Dais Records.

The duo comprise of Jasmine Golestaneh and Eddie Cooper, and the band are nowned for incorporating dark indie, electronica and synthesizers into their three albums to date.

Private Life though is something far different than their previous work; they have honed their minimalist craft to create this unique document of living in this melancholic world at the moment.

From the opening track 'Capital Gains' there is a sense of opening up from an internal world of liking other people's interests and focus on your own.

The song titles back this up an introspective notion from 'Peace of Mind' to 'Push/Pull', these are songs about loneliness and melancholy whilst living in the big city.

While some songs can be described as electronic dirge, this is integral to creating the soundscape necessary to an album; which breathes when you listen to it in one sitting. It may be sombre but there is a sense of uplifting by the time of track 8, 'More Than You Realized'.

All in all, electronica is a difficult genre to nail as it can become out and out dull, yet Tempers have created a unique atmosphere that personally would be great to hear on an album and one that is befitting the current mood of alienation travailing across the many spheres.

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

Things Can Only Get Better - David M. Barnett

Following on from his best seller CALLING MAJOR TOM, David M. Barnett is back with a new novel set in the mid 1990s.

Our lead protagonist is Arthur Calderbank, an elderly widow who is not living in a chapel that overlooks the cemetery where his deceased wife, Mollie lays now.

Arthur is the custodian of the cemetery, keeping gravestones clean and making sure the proper respect is paid by those who visit and those merely passing through. In his elderly years, life has one more surprise for Arthur. It is Christmas time and his wife's birthday is December 23rd, every night of her birthday an unknown person leaves moonflowers on her gravestone.  Arthur is perplexed as he has no idea who it could be as they had no children and no living family members.

Meanwhile, Arthur encounters four teenagers - Kelly, Gemma, Nicola and Timmy - who through will and determination believe they can be a rock and roll band reminiscent of Oasis and other Britpop bands of that esteemed era of popular music.

Tension ensues as the days wind down to the night flower mystery, the children have their own bad luck to contend with as bullies from all sides make themselves known.  All the children have dreams but living in a former mining town, their parents are out of work and looking to blame someone for it; they feel they have to dream to be able to leave the town, Kelly visits along with her mother to her factory job and has this vision of being the unlikely sprocket, the cog that is not wanted but can still get out of the system.

Barnett writes wittingly and lovingly, he is assured in writing genuine dialogue for both teenagers and the elderly getting the write back and forth between all generations spot on, which is difficult in these times nevermind trying to time capsule how people actually did speak, one teenage girl constantly says, 'He is well fit' which memory serves as a correct term of endearment over twenty years ago.

The author is a self-confessed cinema geek and his filmic references are great to spot throughout the novel from the little nod to a pharmacist recalling Its A Wonderful Life to the British cinema mining town Brassed Off to the youngsters wanting to make something of themselves a la Sing Street.

He also does a clever trick of talking about today by looking into recent history - the ground swell of opinion on immigration, entitlement of youth - and the past being lost to newer generations. Barnett makes a comment that we should all remain strong as a community of support and respect.

Barnett writes so well that this reader devoured the book in merely a couple of days, his recall and use of historical events help set in stone an entertaining piece of work that will be enjoyed with relish by many a new reader.

Things Can Only Get Better is published by Orion Books on November 14th.

My thanks to them for the review opportunity

Pendant 'Through A Coil'

Debut album out on 8th November from Tiny Engines

Pendant is the solo project of Oakland based musician, Christopher Adams, a collaborator of many strings most recently with Never Young.

Following the dissolution of that band in early 2018, Adams started writing material and it soon become clear it was a venture that he had to share as a solo passion.

“In the past, my default strategy was to love something and then share it with others,” said Adams. “I needed another level of fulfillment. And that was to follow the notion of taking all my favorite ideas and dedicating them to my own music.”

Adams started writing material for his one man band in 2016 and released a four track EP, then it grew from 2018 onwards as he wanted to play every instrument and write every word of the album moving forward.

The album Through A Coil is a work of ambition primarily but one that befits the DIY nature of its genesis, moments of introspection collide with rollicking rock ear-catchiness from the title track to lead single 'Rubber Band' fittingly a song about finding your identity in one's self.  The album is full of this candid openness as Adams' explores his psyche in going it alone on this album. 


This pursuit for identity is key to the album and is a discovery for those who will come across it, again it marks another great addition to the Tiny Engines label.

Tender and personal, Pendant has made an album that can stand along other recent lo-fi works by Rayland Baxter, another who went solo on a project to make their best work to date.

Through A Coil is released by Tiny Engines on 8th November.
My thanks to them for the review opportunity.

Ghoster by Jason Arnopp

The second novel by Jason Arnopp is out now on all formats

This novel is a sophomore effort following the 2016 release, The Last Days of Jack Sparks.

This story is about Kate Collins, a paramedic from Leeds, who believes she has found true love with Scott Palmer from Brighton, when they meet on a digital detox weekend in Wales.  Following a period of courting, the couple decide that Kate should move in with Scott in his swanky flat apartment near the city centre on the South Coast.

Kate has moved jobs, and moves all her stuff in a van. She arrives at the flat and finds it is completely empty, there are no furnishings and no sign of Scott.

Scott though has left his phone, and with that Kate decides to find out what is exactly going on, and with that the novel dives into a tale of addiction and social media.

Kate is a young, independent woman; one who is knowledgeable and steadfast, good at her job and yet one who does not refuse to put her phone down. The heartbreak of a relationship break-up leads her to stalk the ex online and this puts her colleague at work in jeopardy; Izzy her best friend suffered an injury at work while Kate was on her phone.

Throughout, we are made to witness these sorts of interactions by characters, those who are stubborn in living vicariously through online personas while the world flies by around them. We see them all the time in our own personal lives, those whose heads are down in the screen oblivious and ignorant to others. Those who cannot say thank you to someone serving you coffee and the reluctance to make eye contact.

In this 21st century, people are wary to make real connections with people without being honest and real. This is clearly on Arnopp's mind in the character of Scott, a young individual lacking in self-esteem and with an addiction of his own that finds him lacking in striking up meaningful relationships with women.

As Kate delves deeper and deeper into Scott's web of lies that brought her all the way to his doorstep in Brighton, we are sucked also into her world - the flipping back and forth of narratives, as we have the running parallels of her going from day to day with the realisation that all is not what it seems with their courtship. The twist then comes when we are made aware of Scott's addiction and we start reading his TrooSelf diary entries; these open up again all their encounters in hindsight from a different angle.

Reading like the long treatment of a nightmare episode of Black Mirror, the horror of the situation and the grip that it holds upon you is like a tightening of the chest or neck, as the circle of truth draws in upon Kate

Part urban horror, part ghost story, part social commentary and part critique on the pressure(s) facing the millennial generation, Ghoster is a unique reading experience and one that will stay with you long after you switch off the bedside lamp.

Ghoster is out now from Orbit Books.
My thanks to Compulsive Readers for the review opportunity.