During the making of the September 2017 edition of Loud And Quiet (in stores from August 19th), our office in east London was burgled. I wasn’t going to mention it again because it’s so boring and done, but a lot of friends and readers got in touch around that time to offer us desk space, use of their computers, condolences and support, and we were unable to reply to all the messages. We really did appreciate them, so thank you for making a shit time less shitty than it could have been.

A shout out, then, to the Loud And Quiet team that put this issue together on time as planned. The summer can be slow and enough of an obstacle in and of itself in this game, and I think we’ve come up with a good one, featuring former RATKING rapper Wiki on the cover, whose debut solo album (out next Friday on XL) should deservedly blow up beyond the New York alt. hip-hop scene that it’s so clearly come from.

Our even newer artists this month are DIY riffing band Lower Slaughter, ex-poker dealer and minimal rapper and singer Biig Piig and North London group Sorry, who are as into hip-hop mixtapes as they are ’90s grunge.

At Primavera earlier this year Sam Walton sat down with Viv Albertine to discuss where are today’s rebels, if anywhere, and Dominic Haley spent most of July piecing together an oral history of the ambient, genre-defining indie label Erased Tapes. I had the much easier task of hanging around Baxter Dury‘s flat to hear stories of Paul McCartney making his dad cups of tea, and see some of his original Peter Blake pieces of art.

J Mascis recalls being 16 and discovering straight edge on the Boston hardcore scene, and Angus Andrew – the sole surviving member of Liars – takes our Getting To Know You questionnaire.

All across 52 lovingly considered pages of crisp newsprint, which you can pre-order here, for delivery from August 19th.

Or subscribe for the year and improve your chances of a happier afterlife.