BOPS AND FLOPS OF THE WEEK 13/09/2026: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Miley Cyrus, PRESIDENT and more…

Artists featured this week include Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Corto.alto, Ezekel & Celine Dessberg, a-tota-so / atotaso, Miley Cyrus and PRESIDENT.

THE BOPS:

‘Juice A Jumbo Jet’ – Psychedelic Porn Crumpets

Time for my first taste of Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. I'm familiar with the name (you don't forget a band name like that!) but I've never taken the time to check out their music. 'Juice A Jumbo Jet' opens with some pretty chords and then dives into a riff that sounds almost a bit like The Strokes if they used more reverb. The vocals meanwhile sound like The Beatles in their psychedelic phase complete with cryptic lyrics. It's an interesting sound! And I'm getting the impression from fan reactions that it's one of their less experimental tracks, which makes me eager to hear their other stuff. 

‘Noblehill’ – Corto.alto ft. Jacob Alon

Glasgow jazz-pop artist Liam Shortall (AKA Corto.alto) combines beautiful guitar arpeggios, shuffling drums and swooping strings. Guest singer Jacob Alon provides some soaring vocals over the top. It comes off Corto-alto's new album Some Small Fortune.

‘Moon and I’ – Azekel & Celine Dessberg

Here's another gorgeous track with a jazzy vibe. It's a collaboration between Nigerian-born London-based singer-songwriter-producer Azekel and Paris-based multi-instrumentalist and singer Celine Dessberg. The French lyrics and fluttering harp give it a dreamy romantic feel. Wait, is that a harp? I've checked the press notes and it turns out it's actually a Mongolian instrument called a yatga. I think that's the first time I've had yatgas on this blog. 

‘Death Rattle’ – A-tota-so

'Death Rattle' opens with screeching fret noises that sound a bit like a guitar having a death rattle. We then get a series of satisfying mathy riffs. Does anyone else get Tool vibes? But with a rougher noise rock edge? I'm digging it. The track comes off their new album I Told You So.

THE FLOPS:

‘Bass Persuades’ - Miley Cyrus

Miley's gone in a dance-pop direction and unfortunately she sounds like a budget Lady Gaga. 

‘Sleepwalker’ - PRESIDENT

 

Metalcore band PRESIDENT have tried to keep their members' identities anonymous but everyone seems to be certain that the singer is Charlie Simpson from Busted. Their new track 'Sleepwalker' does nothing for me - it's riff-less whiny Breaking Benjamin style drivel.