Suffering Jukebox

This morning's episode features an interview with Dave Collins from Mid Youth Crisis. Reforming for one last time for a small run of shows, Mid Youth Crisis play The Brightside this Friday 13th February, alongside Histamine, Sick People and Raw Impact. Find out more about Mid Youth Crisis (and purchase their music) here; https://midnightfuneral.bandcamp.com/album/happiness-authority

Nick's Pick of the Week is Mandy, Indiana's Urgh, which was released on Friday February 6th. You can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here; https://mandyindiana.bandcamp.com/album/urgh and my review can be read below.

Mandy, Indiana: Urgh (Sacred Bones)

Released 6th February 2026

The confusingly named Mandy, Indiana —their members are split between Manchester and Berlin, nowhere near the USA— unleash Urgh, their unsettlingly hyperactive second album, through cult US label Sacred Bones. Far more frenetic and expansive than their 2023 debut, I’ve Seen A Way, Urgh is a giant leap forward for the group and a testament to the unpredictable nature of their music.

Mandy, Indiana formed in 2018, releasing a handful of singles and an EP before dropping I’ve Seen A Way, their debut album, back in 2023. Since then, both singer Valentine Caulfield and drummer Alex Macdougall have battled illness and endured multiple surgeries. Neither has indicated whether these events had a direct influence on Urgh’s songs, however, it is difficult to ignore the urgency embedded within its tracks and wonder if this period of medical instability had an impact on the tone of the record. 

Opening with Sevastopol, a two minute dirge of intense rhythms, distorted synths and Caulfield’s trademark French vocals. Sevastopol burns fast and bright, with a white hot fury that establishes Caulfield as one of the most unique and intense vocalists in modern music. Magazine, the album’s first single, is Caulfield’s response to being sexually assaulted. In it she directly addresses her perpetrator with the lines, “Yes, you got me / Last time / But tonight / I’m coming for you.” The song’s confronting subject matter is uneasily masked by the fact that it is —without a doubt— Urgh’s most “commercial” sounding song.

A Brighter Tomorrow appears to offer the listener anything but. Drenched in distortion it reeks of industrial melancholy and ends in a flurry of metallic rhythms. Life Hex grinds and stutters between whispers of gurgled, gargled noise and epic electronic pulses, whilst Sicko!, with it’s gabba beats and frantic pace, features a maelstrom of expressionist raps from guest vocalist Billy Woods. These three tracks, each a clear highlight, serve to showcase the complex and multi-faceted nature of not only Urgh as an album, but of Mandy, Indiana as a band.

Saving its most ferocious moment for last, Urgh ends with I’ll Ask Her, a track notable for being the only one sung completely in English. This choice seems less stylistic than pragmatic and a deliberate decision on Caulfield’s part to ensure that —this time at least— she is not misunderstood. I’ll Ask Her takes aim at those who act as apologists for individuals accused of sexual violence, “And anyway, you stand by your boys 'cause they're your boys / And that's just how it is.” A rapprochement of many people’s ability to look the other way —especially when friends are involved— and a stark reminder of the struggles accusers face every time they try to make themselves heard.

Far from an easy listen, Urgh is an often violent and frequently unpredictable ride across difficult terrain —both musically and lyrically. This is not an album of quiet reflection, but the equivalent of an aural purge or a sonic exorcism. Urgh is confronting, it is powerful and it is painful. Approach with caution, but do not turn away or turn off. Instead, heed its cautionary tales and challenge yourself to do better.

Nick Stephan