Public Image Ltd, Father John Misty, Neko Case and Johnny Cash all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated July 2018 and out on May 17.

PiL are on the cover, and inside John Lydon, Jah Wobble and Keith Levene recall the last days of the Sex Pistols and explain how the pioneering, cantankerous Public Image were born. “We wanted it to be scratchy, irritating,” Lydon tells us. Plus, The Cure, The Fall, Joy Division and other graduates from The Class Of ’78 discuss repetition, groove and “weird, vivid juxtapositions”.

Father John Misty‘s God’s Favorite Customer is our album of the month, and Josh Tillman gives us an exclusive interview about the making of the record and the inspirations behind it: “Me referencing ‘The White Album’ in the studio has become a bit of a running joke,” he reveals.

Uncut meets Neko Case in Vermont as she prepares to release her new album, Hell-On – topics up for discussion include poultry, barn fires and folk tales. “Nobody deserves extinction more than human beings,” she says.

50 years ago, Johnny Cash entered Folsom prison to play two concerts for the inmates – he left a legend. We tell the story of how that gig paved the way for Cash’s rejuvenation and, 25 years later, his second career renaissance. “He was the rebel, the outsider, the philosopher, the believer, the badass,” says Rick Rubin.

We also find former Kink Ray Davies in reflective mood at his Konk Studios, as he talks UK politics, relations with his brother Dave, and the latest album in his Americana trilogy.

On the 50th anniversary of hippie musical Hair, we revisit the origins of the groundbreaking production, acid trips, nudity, backstage astrologers and more.

Ray LaMontagne takes us through his work to date in our Album By Album piece – “I wanted to be a timber framer – while Alice Cooper and his group recall the making of “(I’m) Eighteen” and Tanya Donelly takes us through her favourite records.

We review new albums by Father John Misty, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Johnny Marr, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Natalie Prass and Kamasi Washington, and archive releases from The Cure, Otis Redding, Bruce Springsteen and The 4th Movement. Films and DVDs covered include Studio 54, The Defiant Ones, My Friend Dahmer and more, while we catch Van Morrison & Joey DeFrancesco live.

Our free CD, Rise, features 15 tracks of the month’s best new music, including Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Father John Misty, Neko Case, Bombino, Jon Hassell and more.

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