“‘Eight Fourteen Monday’ pulls ‘80s alt-rock into a grim tram ride—Crowley’s voice owns it.”
“Eight Fourteen Monday” hits like a cold, wet Manchester tram ride—Ann-Marie Crowley’s voice drifts through the gray, soft but sharp. This track grabs that ‘80s alt-rock feel and drags it into a commute that weighs a ton. No show-off tricks—just the real stuff we at Music Authentic live for. Crowley lays down the grind—packed trams, lame “we’d like to apologise” lines—while guitars float sharp and light, riding Kevin Roache’s bass and John Broadhurst’s drums that thump like a train stuck in mud. Henry Armstrong’s keys sneak in a quiet jab at Hiroshima’s 8:14 bomb drop, eighty years gone, and it lands heavy without trying.
“Sad, real, and sharp—The Speed of Sound turns delays into something heavy.”
This ain’t a dressed-up throwback—it’s the ‘80s vibe you’d hear on a busted tape deck, crashing into a Monday that won’t quit. Melancholy’s baked in, sure, with a dreary trip and history’s sting, and those verses—“Just another Monday at eight fourteen / Reluctantly getting into the machine”—stick as earworms, the kind that loop in your brain all day. No forced shine, just the truth fans have hung onto for decades, beautiful underground music hitting the mainstream. John Armstrong’s gang keeps it pure—light riffs against dark words, a sound you feel in your gut.
We’ve been all over these Manchester vets since West Wind hit us hard—pushed it onto radio shows and meant it. They’ve been at this since ’89, 35 years now, and this trilogy’s their latest swing—punk, psych, whatever they feel like throwing. “Eight Fourteen Monday” takes a boring ride and makes it hurt—fake smiles against real pain—and that’s why Music Authentic’s hooked. Alt-rock that grabs you, no apologies, straight up. Out via Big Stir Records since February 27, 2025, it’s a piece of their A Cornucopia: Minerva, Victory, Bounty trilogy—35 years in and still kicking.
“No posing—just a track that’d fit a film’s quiet ache.”