We're going back to where we began with Spring King and the new issue of Dork, out Friday

Remember the summer of 2016? Before the world fully imploded in a terrible avalanche of right-wing rhetoric and general bad stuff? There was a sparkly, brand new music magazine emerging blinking into the light. On its cover, a band on the verge of releasing a debut album packed full of bangers. At least in that idyllic corner, anything still seemed possible.

In case you can’t read between the lines, that magazine was Dork (Hi - Ed), and that band - Spring King, who we’re delighted to welcome back to the cover this month for our new issue, out this Friday, 17th August. Still just as bangerrific, they’re about to drop their second full-length, and it’s more fun than ever before.

Elsewhere this month we’ve got more bands than we can list. But we'll attempt it anyway.

Elsewhere we get musical with The Lemon Twigs, volunteer with Estrons and spend a day nobody will forget with Darwin Deez. Her's are so smooth we might just slide out of our chairs, while Bad Sounds get reported to for falsely trading under an unrepresentative name - their debut album is packed full of more-than-good sounds, h-actually.

There's everything that went down at the first edition of our recent new music festival Etc. - featuring Girli, Off Bloom, Catholic Action, Francobollo, Thyla and loads of other impossibly exciting new bands. And talking of fresh talent, Hype is rammed so full we've had to bus in extra pages. This month you can meet Boy Pablo, Far Caspian, Wallows, Dizzy, Pip Blom, Spinn and Palma-Violets-and-friends new group Gently Tender.

Add to that festival fun with the likes of Wolf Alice, Arctic Monkeys, Tame Impala, CHVRCHES and Alt-J at Latitude, Rock Werchter, TRNSMT, Citadel, Truck, Barn on the Farm and more, and we're probably about half way through telling you what you'll find in September's Dork.

You can order a copy of our new issue below, subscribe and get a year's worth of magazines sent direct to your door, or pick one up when they hit the streets this Friday, 17th August.