Tag Archives: Savage Pencil

Pestrepeller’s Isle of Dark Magick

Posted on by
Reply

Free improvised noise from the deep UK Underground, enriched with dark pagan folky vibe and horror/supernatural elements. Dedicated to HP Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Austin Osman Spare.

For this 2001 recording, the core Pesterepeller trio of Savage Pencil, Ed Pinsent and Harley R were joined by vocal artiste Rob Brown and Peter Hope-Evans of Medicine Head.

“…an oppressively dark slab of freestyle Improv recorded in a single session… the epic sprawl and sustained impact of the music retain an undiluted potency.”
– Tom Ridge, The Wire

About Pestrepeller

Pestrepeller (or Attack Wave Pestepeller, to give them their full moniker) specialise in a unique brand of detailed and noisy improvised music inspired by the occult.

The core of the band is a trio of Ed Pinsent – cartoonist (Illegal Batman, Windy Wilberforce, Drake Ullingsworth), Sound Projector radio show and magazine – Harley R – publisher and editor of Ugly Mug comic – and Savage Pencil – punk cartoonist (Sounds, NME, The Wire) and designer of album covers and t-shirts for bands such as Sonic Youth, The Fall, Sunn O))) and Rocket from the Crypt. The core trio are sometimes joined by honorary pests such as Sharon Gal, Peter Hope Evans, Rob Brown and Gary Ramon.

Pestrepeller have performed at the ICA and the Equinox ‘Festival of Scientific Illumination’. Recordings include Insect and Rodent Eliminator (Sympathy for the Devil records), Nug Yar (Prescription), The Cruel Sea (a collaboration with the Chelsea Magrigal Group), Isle of Dark Magic (Important Records), As Wolf (a split release picture disc with My Cat Is An Alien), Noises for the Leg, Alphabet of Daggers and Rough on Rats.

About this release

Track listing
1. Mold With a Mind (15:13)
2. No Screeches and Snakes And Deep Dark Menaces (07:15)
3. My Gun Scatters, My Gun Kills (20:18)
4. Dismembered Dead Things (14:54)
5. The Smell of Wet Fur in the Rain (06:05)
6. Teaching the Clouds to be Inverted Flames (12:35)

Recorded at LMC Sound. Released in 2005 on Important Records.

Engineered by Xentos and Lepke B, former members of cult bands The Homosexuals and Milk from Cheltenham. Cover image was supplied by Martin Stone, guitarist with Mighty Baby and Chili Willi and the Red Hot Peppers.

Listen to this excerpt…

Celophrane-wrapped jewel case CD. Long out of print, but the House of Harley has a very small number of copies on sale for £15+ p&p each from our Etsy shop. While stocks last!

Ugly Mug 7

Posted on by
5

The HOUSE OF HARLEY presents 120 pages of IN YOUR FACE comics to AMUSE and CONFUSE.

ADULTS ONLY. Order your copy now from Lulu (cheaper for international readers) or our Etsy shop.

IN THIS ISSUE: heavenly objects – dusty shelves – voting kids – actors high on amphetamines – burning rivers – blood pressure pills – ragtime jazz – horses of the future – amorphous empires – police stations on fire – stopped clocks – green herrings – art misattributed to Banksy – sticky floors – Philly steaks – pensioners on trampolines – a dominion of shades in waiting silence

Ugly Mug, the House of Harley’s annual anthology of primo grade underground art-comix, is BACK to put 2023 in its place. The finest pens of the British small press join forces with a gaggle of international guests for an exhilarating exploration of karma and chaos…

  • Otherweirdly – epic notions of another world by Denny Derbyshire
  • How a Comic is Made – John Bagnall goes inside the factory
  • The Imbalance of Nature – weird and wonderful extremes of life documented by Ed Pinsent
  • I Fucking Hate Steroids – iestyn demonstrates the drawbacks of prescription medication
  • Duk U Sucka – Tom Baxter Tiffin‘s tale of Ned Kelly lost in The Dreamtime
  • Respecto! – how do you get it, asks Hal Weaver
  • RSD Lang – Ed Pinsent‘s record detective regrets discovering Noise Music
  • King Kong Memories – Jason Atomic shaves the beast
  • Cafe society scenes – captured by our on-the-spot reporter Patricia Gaignat
  • Advisory Bureau – John Bagnall explains how to deal with modern living
  • Batlight – Chris Reynolds takes a ride in an elevator
  • Windy Wilberforce – Harry Excess tangles with Dr Fengele in chapter 7 of Ed Pinsent‘s The Saga of the Scroll
  • Dogbreath – Savage Pencil‘s misanthropic mutt dreams of world destruction
  • Plus bonus slices of British life served up by John Bagnall
  • And eye popping graphix by Alberto Monteiro, Masaman, Jim Barker and Oxideguy

All the above contained within iestyn‘s bewildering wraparound cover.

“If you think comics should be fun as well as deeply serious, and want to ingest a brew of art laced with heavy doses of insanity, wonder, and escapades inside the Dream-House, then this totally unique underground publication is your beer.” 
Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector

As if that’s not enough to unsettle your equilibrium, there’s all this and more from the artists of the House of Harley studio…

  • Start Your Day the Ugly Mug Way – 100% sound lifestyle advice from our resident expert
  • Take the Children Out of Town – a crisis of adulthood played out in Seussian rhyme
  • Seb, Surrounded – our hardy heroine battles an enemy she cannot see
  • Mark E Smith Music Teacher – The Fall singer’s secret side hustle
  • PCSO Dan – cannabis farm and fur baby bulletins from your local community copper
  • There, there – when life gets on top of us, we all need some home comfort
  • Seminal Surprises – you’ll be amazed by what can be produced
  • Try Harder – Mister Tut Tut sets the world to rights
  • Voodoo Master Selfies – Instagram highlights
  • No Kisses Before Christmas – be patient, Busy Lizzie has a lot on her plate
  • Mr Jimmy Joist Biology Teacher – retrieves young Raymond’s lost homework
  • Corporate Responsibility – why everyone should apply to work at the House of Harley

Published Sept 2023. A4 paperback., 120 pages.

“As jammed-packed with beguiling thrilling stuff as any British X-mas Annual of yore, these curated creations brim with surreal narrative force and come overloaded with wry and witty visual oomph…” – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

“Adults only… they weren’t kidding.” – Talking Small Press Comics

“…an experimental mix of comics and art, often both at the same time… a valuable resource with some great underground creators” – The Awesome Comics Podcast

“If you’re familiar with any of the previous UGLY MUGS you’ll have some idea of what to expect, but if not this mind-roasting compilation will make for an excellent introduction.” – The Bedlam Files

“…from darkly satirical tales to absurdist comedies, all drawn with a raw, expressive style… guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on readers… this is an anthology that’ll make you laugh, admire artistic flair, and maybe even question your sanity.” – Comic Book News UK

“…the tagline ‘comics to amuse and confuse’ perfectly encapsulates the breadth of material between its covers… its contents range from everything from parodic Viz-like humour through to oblique and sometimes even impenetrable experimental comics.” – Broken Frontier 

£19.99 + postage. ADULTS ONLY.
Order now direct from Lulu (cheaper for international readers) or our Etsy shop.

Or pick up a copy from these online and real world retailers:
– Domino Books, US – SOLD OUT
– Gosh Comics, London, UK (in store only)
– Pushkin House Bookshop, London, UK

Also available…

Ugly Mug 5

Posted on by
12

The House of Harley’s comics anthology Ugly Mug is back after a 30 year break.
Order your copy now from Lulu (cheaper for international buyers) or our Etsy shop.

The forces of optimism and pessimism battle it out over 72 pages in this horror-themed mag, which features new strips and drawings by the creme of the British small press cartooning scene:

  • Organic Matter – an auxillary brain is assembled, in a twisted tale by Ed Pinsent
  • Peasholm Island – prologue to the forthcoming graphic novel The Rightful King of the North Riding by Marc Baines
  • Father Gilderoy Investigates – meet John Bagnall‘s dynamic sleuth
  • Somberline: Dreams of Power – ominous politics in this Chris Reynolds one-pager
  • Snak – an art-punk drawing from Savage Pencil‘s Animals Eating Other Animals series
  • Beserker – Tom Baxter Tiffin‘s spider fellow is too mangled for the Multiverse
  • Postcards From A Nother Place – images from the interstellar travels of Denny Derbyshire
  • Put Your Best Foot Fwd – a radical self-help philosophy, modelled by Canadian contortionist and performance artist Ess Hödlmoser aka Strange and Wonderful Creature
  • Ugly Mugshots snapped by Niall Richardson
  • The Saga of the Scroll – Harry Excess encounters a giant octopus and other evil omens, in chapter 5 of Ed Pinsent‘s Windy Wilberforce epic

And from the House of Harley studio…

  • Enigmatic cover star Voodoo Master undergoes a mid-life crisis
  • Harvey’s S-S-S-Secret – Hollywood actor Harvey Keitel faces his biggest fear
  • Count Dracula’s Great Secret is revealed, in a tribute to Paul Naschy, 1970s ice lolly ads and picnic vodka
  • Seb, stranded in fog – where is everyone?
  • The Kommuter Kronicle exposes the psycho-political horror of public transport policy
  • Discourage the Use of Cash – the House of Harley’s Behavioural Research Unit strikes
  • Negative Lad asks what good are superpowers in this misbegotten world?
  • Trick or Street – never drive at night!
  • Harmless Delusions about Rice Krispies and Padron Peppers
  • How to make your own Golden Flavoured Syrup
  • Dora the Art Restorer reveals a trade secret
  • Dunstan Hunna puts the washing out
  • Reflexology – a rude pictorial poem
  • A glimpse behind the scenes at the House of Harley studio

Published Nov 2021. 72 pages, A4 paperback.
Not suitable for children.

“…an irresistible compendium of non-mainstream comic strip goodness. The contents run the gamut from rational to surreal, silly to sophisticated, amusing to offensive; UGLY MUG 5 is, in short, eminently representative of the state of the art in modern-day underground comix.”

The Bedlam Files

“…a delightfully unpredictable read…”
– Broken Frontier

Reviewed in Poopsheet! 8

“…the motherlode… wildly creative and inspiring…” – Ugly Mug 5 reviewed by Steve Keeter and Larned Justin on the Talking Small Press Comics podcast…

£9.95 + postage. Order now from Lulu (cheaper for international buyers) or our Etsy shop.
Or pick up a copy from these online and real world retailers:
– Atomic Books, US
– Zine Freak, Lancaster, UK
– Pushkin House Bookstore, London, UK

A handful of Ugly Mug back issues are available from the Shop.

You can own the cover of Ugly Mug 5 on a t-shirt, sticker, pillow, tote bag and even a mug.

“There is no resolution in Ugly Mug.”
– James Heartfield, author, The ‘Death of the subject’ explained

Also available…

Ugly Mug: The Return

Posted on by
Reply

Coming very soon… the first issue of the House of Harley’s comics anthology, Ugly Mug, in 30 years… featuring guest cartoonists Ed Pinsent, Marc Baines, John Bagnall, Savage Pencil, Denny Derbyshire, Chris Reynolds, Tom Tiffin, Niall Richardson and a brace of comics and drawings by the House of Harley studio stevedores.

Get in touch if you would like to be notified when it’s published.