THIS MONTH, WE’VE B E E N M O S T LY L I STE N I N G TO...
Will Joseph Cook Sweet Dreamer Big Willy’s got style on his debut full-length.
Charly Bliss - Guppy We’ve been waiting for a while for this, Charly Bliss’ debut album. It’s not about former Leicester player Steve Guppy. We think. You never know.
THIS MONTH... U P D AT E 05 07 08 12 14 16 17
T H E M AG I C GA N G DORK LIVE! TEI SHI CITY GUIDES… PINS THE SHINS M A RI K A H AC K M A N BANG ERS
HYPE 18 19 20 21
P A L E W AV E S SIGRID B E L L E V U E D AY S KOYO
28 32 38 40
THE BIG MOON CREEPER DIET CIG C I R C A WAV E S
REVI E WS 42 43 44 45
THE BIG MOON R E A L E S TAT E JULIEN BAKER P U L L E D A PA R T BY HORSES 46 ESTRONS 48 TEGAN & SARA
F E AT U R E S
A N Y OTH E R QU ESTI O N S?
2 2 B L A E N AV O N
50. BA D SO U N DS
DORK readdork.com
Editor: Stephen Ackroyd stephen@readdork.com Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden viki@readdork.com Assistant Editor: Ali Shutler ali@readdork.com
Contributors: Alex Bradley, Ben Jolley, Chris Taylor, Corinne Cumming, Eala MacAlister, Jake Richardson, Jamie Muir, Jenessa Williams, Jessica Goodman, Martyn Young, Rob Mair, Rob Mesure, Rosie Ramsden, Phil Smithies, Sam Taylor, Sammy Maine, Sarah Louise Bennett, Steven Loftin All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally. P U B L I S H E D F RO M
THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
UPDATE IF IT’S NOT IN HERE, IT’S NOT HAPPENING. OR WE FORGOT ABOUT IT. ONE OR THE OTHER.
It’s a kind of
Magic THE MAGIC GANG HAVE A NEW EP AS THEY CONTINUE THEIR ASCENT. WORDS: JESSICA GOODMAN.
F
rom the moment The Magic Gang step on stage, the spell they cast on their audiences is nothing short of, well, magical. All out dance moves, friends on friends’ shoulders, crowd surfers sailing over heads, and through it all, a characteristic brand of sun-kissed indie pop that leaves you feeling as warm inside as a stock photo of a puppy with a butterfly on its nose. It’s an ardent enthusiasm the band inspire, one that’s seen them release two EPs, play at venues all across the UK, and start to venture abroad. Now, with a major record deal in the bag, a new EP about to see release, and a headline tour ahead of them, there’s never been a better time to fall for the Brighton four-piece. It’s no wonder that the excitement levels are soaring pretty high. “I think it’s going to be fraught with disaster,” Jack Kaye laughs, “but we’re excited about it none the less.” Readying to hit the road with their housemates in Abattoir Blues, the group are slightly wary of running the risk that they’ll all end up tearing each other’s hair out, but much like with their music, optimism and ardour weigh out the rest. “They’re a bit of a mad bunch as well,” Jack comments on their soon-to-be tour mates. “It should be really fun.”
With new material at the ready, these shows seem set to be some of the band’s most thrilling yet. “We try and write choruses we can imagine big groups of people singing together,” Jack describes of the rousing characteristic of their music. “We try and make the verses as groovy and as danceable as possible.” This chant-a-long, shakeyour-cares-away nature, instilled into everything The Magic Gang do, is exactly what makes their charm so hard to refute. “When we play live, that’s kind of all it is,” the frontman states. “It’s just trying to create an environment where people want to sing along and smile.” This is something that not only resonates on stage, but with every release the band have put out to date. Rooted in deep friendship and a shared creative passion, the enjoyment they offer stems from their own determination to enjoy themselves.
we’ve done well to not put too many songs on each release,” Jack grins. “It’s made it kind of an easy listen for people.” Consisting of four tracks written at “quite different times,” the EP is an embodiment of everything the group have come to be. “The single is basically a love song to Brighton,” Jack portrays. “One of them is a nice ballad Kris [Smith] wrote on his own.” Of course, even on their more melancholy numbers, the outfit never fail to inject their trademark sense of sunshine. “Despite what you’re writing lyrically, the mood of the song is normally determined by the whole band,” the frontman offers as explanation. “Sometimes the lyrics and the music don’t represent the same thing. I think that makes it quite interesting.”
“Talking to other bands it feels like our writing process is a lot different to what most other people do, or what most of our peers do anyway,” Jack mulls. “It really is such a shared process with us.” With every track born out of creative harmony – something that takes on a quite literal form in the shared harmonies that fill the choruses – The Magic Gang’s latest EP showcases them as bold and bright as ever.
Completed by two further tracks the band describe as “a little bit less autobiographical, a little bit more storytelling, and a little bit more fun,” the EP was barely even announced before the group confirmed they were beginning work on their long anticipated debut album. “We’ve been signed now, we can afford to make an album,” Jack laughs, “which is good.” Having spent three years honing their talents and growing tighter as a unit, the time has never felt more right.
With only a handful of tracks, the new EP is short but sweet, a format the outfit have continuously proved themselves to excel within. “I feel like
“It felt like there was so much talk,” Jack groans. “You have so many meetings, and there’s so much talk around getting signed. When it finally
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HYPE ESSENTIAL NEW BANDS
PALE WAVES
I
t’s a Friday morning, and Heather Baron-Grace is getting to grips with a brand new role. It’s been a matter of weeks since Pale Waves’ definitive opening statement to the world ‘There’s A Honey’ unveiled itself, and things haven’t been the same since. An immediate and indisputable heavyweight of a track, it not so much grabbed attention as it made everyone stop what they’re doing and dive in - and that sort of moment doesn’t happen often. Now, in North London, Heather finds herself coming to terms with it all - in the midst of staying in a one bedroom hotel room with the rest of the band, trying to get some sort of sleep with a noisy neighbour next door and recording sessions in full swing. It’s all happening would be the ideal way to phrase things - but that’s just what Pale Waves have been waiting for.
“I was just stunned,” explains Heather, looking back over a coffee in the chilled gardens of a local shop. “I wasn’t prepared for it and didn’t know how people were going to react. I was quite on edge, but at the same time, it was so good to be in that position because people had been waiting so long for it. I felt like, frustrated in this square box because nobody was hearing the new Pale Waves, well - the actual Pale Waves, so I was excited but nervous.” Bristling with infectious energy and dazzling in its wide-eyed ambition and dreaming, ‘There’s A Honey’ is a jolt from the blue that immediately has tongues wagging. Effortless in its charm, unquestionable in its urgency and stunning in its wide palette of colours and views - it’s the sort of track that bands would wait years
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to release, with most never getting close to touching it. For Pale Waves, it’s a bonafide sign that they’re about to become an extremely important band - and for Heather, it’s something that would have seemed a world away when she first picked up a guitar. “I started playing guitar when I was like ten years old because my Dad played and he was like, ‘Come on, play guitar with me,’” recollects Heather. “He didn’t have anyone else to play with because nobody else in our family is musical. It was just him and me, and thank God I did because I’m not good at anything else!”
What started as a family singalong developed into an all-encompassing passion, taking up any spare hour in the day with practising and writing songs. It allowed Heather to create and inhabit a world that had music at every turn, one lead by heroes such as The Cure - with Robert Smith’s presence and songwriting proving hugely influential when looking out from a childhood in Preston.
WITH A 1975-PRODUCE D CO NTE ND E R FO R BAN G E R OF TH E YE AR, PALE WAVES COU LD BE TH E MOST E XCITIN G ACT O F 2017. WORDS: JA M IE M U IR.
that Heather met Ciara Doran - in turn sparking off a friendship that finally brought together a passion she’d been looking for all this time. It’s at that moment that Pale Waves was born. Jumping between laptops and guitars in their rooms, taking snippets here and there and moulding them into storming pop anthems, Pale Waves aren’t so much a band as they are a force - a stream of sky-high moments that make them not just great, but vital. Sounding like a message from the future yet possessing everything that makes them instantly classic, it’s feeling that came to the fore when
“WE “WE WANT WANT A A NUMBER NUMBER ONE ONE ALBUM.” ALBUM.”
“I played music a lot on my own until I got in the band because the friendship group that I was in wasn’t very musical,” notes Heather. “When I went to college, whenever I would have some time I would just go down to the music basement and sit there on a piano. Thinking back I was such a loner, but that was what I enjoyed; I wanted to do my own thing.”
they stepped out as a band and onto the live stage. From small nights at The Castle, playing to five people and a half-empty room, to selling out The Deaf Institute - it’s an indicator as to how feverish things are about to become.
Going off and doing her own thing led squarely to the bright lights of Manchester, a city that’s renowned history reads like a manual of creatives all painting their own version of the city on its streets, in its bedrooms and in everything it touches. It’s while at University there
Everything they are and everything they represent soon picked up attention (without the need for a Pale Waves-styled attack on the front row), with acclaimed label Dirty Hit (y’know - the home of The 1975, Wolf Alice and The Japanese House among others) making their feelings well
and truly clear. The world needs to hear Pale Waves, and they need to hear them now. Sitting around tables and discussing their future seems a world away from those bedrooms where it all began for Heather and Ciara. “We keep talking about it actually,” notes Heather. “Like we’re having meetings now with eight adults sat around the table, and me and Ciara are there thinking, ‘God, this is all about us, and they’re taking us seriously.’ We’ve wanted people to take us seriously for so long, and people usually don’t do that, especially when they ask what you do, and you say you’re in a band! It’s pretty amazing; we have people really taking care of us and doing the things that we don’t have to do anymore.” That Dirty Hit world has led to a relationship that many can hear blossoming through their speakers when ‘There’s A Honey’ is in full swing. It’s one that finds touches of The 1975 sprinkled on the Pale Waves cake - adding another layer of sweetness to the mix that has us going back again and again for more. That dedication to creating something refreshing meant that when the opportunity came to work with Matty and George from the band - it was an open process that could have gone either way (if that was ever in doubt). “We recorded everything in a studio with an engineer, and they were played ‘There’s A Honey’ and some other tracks, and they were like, ‘This is really fucking great!’,” remembers Heather. “They asked if they could do something on it, and were very much like, if you hate it you hate it, if you love it you love it. They did that
KEEP YOUR EYES ON...
SPI N N
and some other tracks, and it was clear that it was really working, so we’re just going to carry it on! “They’re genuine and honest guys who just want to make amazing records, and they get our sound. Some producers want to change us and don’t listen to the band but with Matty and George they listen, they get it and are just chilled.” It’s a seal of approval that only sits as another tick to a checklist that Pale Waves have picked up and devoured in one go. Creating their own landscape of scorching hot pop weavers all with a seething undertone of making the darkest corridors fly like a dazzling cloud of daydreaming royalty - Pale Waves are sitting on the cusp of something special. For a band to be all of that, with just one track out, is a signpost for something we’ll be talking about for years to come. As Heather finishes up her coffee and prepares to head back to the studio, there’s a glint in her eye that already sees what Pale Waves could mean. “It’s really special, and I don’t know how to describe it really,” she confesses, looking at the journey that’s lead up to this point and where Pale Waves now stand. “It feels like there’s more pressure with it now, and you start to wonder whether people will like the new stuff - but if they like ‘There’s A Honey’ then they’ll like what’s coming. “We want a Number One album for sure and we want to be an amazing band, y’know? We want people to watch us and feel it and think, ‘These guys are really good’.” There’s going to be plenty of that going about, Pale Waves are about to cause a tidal storm - and we’re all invited along for the ride. P
Emerging with bleary eyes from a winter of hibernation, we’re all after something to lift our spirits. Something that’s going to make us soar. And, as if on cue, SPINN are answering our prayers. Visit readdork.com to hear latest single, ‘Home’. Infamous Leeds record label Dance To The Radio is about to drop a new
Hey Sigrid, how are you today and what are we interrupting? Hey! You’re not interrupting at all! I’m in NY promoting my debut single ‘Don’t Kill My Vibe’ at the moment. Exciting times. What first got you interested in being a musician? Did you have a musical upbringing? Well, I grew up surrounded by music. I remember a lot of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young on the speakers in our house. So I can thank my family for making me interested in music! How did you end up signing with Island Records? I started doing writing session the spring of 2016 in London after I signed with Made Management, and soon the labels showed interest. A couple of months later I signed with Island UK and soon after Island US! I could not have asked for a better team. They’re great. How do you go about writing a hit like your debut, ‘Don’t Kill My Vibe’? Is it an easy process for you? Hmmm, it depends. The ‘Don’t Kill My Vibe’ session was really fun! I wrote it with Martin Sjølie in Oslo, and it was just a really nice experience.
release as part of their recently returned 4x12” vinyl compilation series - featuring noisy local gem, Dead Naked Hippies. You can also catch the band playing Live At Leeds. Taking us far away from the blustery chills and damp pavements, Off Bloom are bringing a new level of flair with the video for latest scorcher ‘Falcon Eye’ - check it out on readdork.com. They support Dua Lipa at two shows this April, and also play Live At Leeds and The Great Escape.
What are your favourite places to draw inspiration from? If my head is a place, I’ll say that. Everything I write (except one song per today) is personal. I just find it easier to write it, if I have felt it myself. What do you do for fun? Google “cats” plus “meme”. What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done, and would you do it again? I wish I had a crazy answer for this one. This is so embarrassing; I can’t come up with a single crazy thing I’ve done. Well, a crazy thing I wanna tell you, haha.
ON ON THE THE GRAPEVINE GRAPEVINE
CLEAN CUT KID’S DEBUT A L BU M I S C O M I N G
Finally we’re getting a long overdue debut album from Liverpudlians Clean Cut Kid. ‘Felt’ is due out on 28th April, and the band are heading out on the road in support of ‘Felt’. Touring throughout April and May, G I RL I I S N OT T H AT G I RL
When GIRLI announced a duo of headline shows earlier in the year, she mentioned some “new choons” – and now she’s delivered with new number ‘Not That Girl’, streaming online now.
What’s on your bucket list this year? Do you have big plans? To stay best friends with my band after touring! They’re the best, and I miss them all the time. Anything else we should know? Wool socks. Life hack. Treat yoself. So comfy. P
Are you creative in other ways aside from music, too? Haha! I’m terrible at drawing. I danced for ten years-ish (ballet, modern, jazz and hip-hop), and theatre for five years. I miss it! Maybe this is a sign.
SIGRID
WITH HER 10/10 BANGER OF A DEBUT SINGLE, SIGRID IS THE LATEST UP-AND-COMING POP STAR TO COME OUT OF NORWAY.
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THAT’S YOUR LOT
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YOU COULDN’T ACCUSE BLAENAVON OF RUSHING THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, BUT GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT. WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
bit like the mining town from which they took their name, Hampshire trio Blaenavon (that’s singer and guitarist Ben Gregory, bassist Frank Wright and drummer Harris McMillan) have an unassuming reputation. Beneath their carefree exterior, though, lies a story of evocative beauty just like the wonders of South Wales’ industrial heartland. Just without the dragons. Blaenavon’s tale is one that goes back to school classrooms, cafeterias and the family living room which still plays a central role in the band’s songwriting. “I’ve got a spot in my home, on my little red sofa with a nylon string guitar. That’s where I write tunes,” says Ben. Family ties are held dear. A recent show in Cologne was attended by a whole bunch of relatives, including Ben’s 80-year-old great grandmother. Despite their skyrocketing success, Blaenavon are in no danger of losing touch with their roots. Perhaps those close bonds were forged by the band’s beginnings. Formed in 2012, their early days were shaped by the attitude that fires all teenage bands: living for the moment and making music purely for the sheer joy of it. As they approach the release of their long-awaited debut album, ‘That’s Your Lot’, Blaenavon have cast aside the worries of tired industry politics and embraced the youthful idealism of their teenage years, delivering a super smart, effortlessly classy and deeply ambitious debut. “It’s gone full circle,” explains Ben. “When you first start making music at 15, you’re not worried if anybody’s going to hear it or what they’re going to say. When you start to get to a position of minimum power you’re like, ‘Crap, what’s everyone going to think about this?’ You realise after a while that all you can do is make the sort of music you want to make, and people will say about it what they want to say - and that’s fine as long as the music you make is fucking sick and important to you. I feel like we’re back to that stage now and our album reflects that; it’s very honest and sincere, and we’re all so happy with it.” Blaenavon’s coming of age is the product of years of well-received singles, false starts, creative breakthroughs and gradually finding their feet. Back at school, the band was an outlet for the flowing creative ideas of three
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young, talented musicians. It never quite felt like they were a ‘proper’ band. Not yet, anyway - not until they made their defining statement. “We were all pretty busy,” says Ben. “We had a lot going on at school and college. Music was like the sweet relief when we had time off after school, where we could forget about all the bullshit that is growing up in a shit little town. We were trying to be creative with our friends and get something artistic done.” In truth, there could have been a Blaenavon album of sorts at any point in the last five years. It’s not like the songs weren’t there. A casual listen to the bright exuberance of first single ‘Denim Patches’ still excites, but they wanted more than just putting out a record because that’s what bands do. It had to feel real. “We’re proud of the releases we’ve had over the years, and we could have put a record out two or three years ago and capitalised on a little bit of buzz, but it would’ve been substandard. We wanted to take a long time over it and hopefully make something that will last in people’s memories. We want people to listen to it in years to come and think it still feels fresh.” Those long years honing their craft have proved crucial in forging the close relationship between the band members and inspiring their vaulting ambition. “We’ve gradually learned to accept everybody’s insecurities and appreciate everyone’s different skills so that we can get the most out of all three of us,” explains Ben. “When you’ve only got three people live or in the studio, you need to get the most out of everybody, or you’ll feel empty.” The last couple of years have seen a drastic acceleration in Blaenavon’s development. Signing with Transgressive Records and hooking up with celebrated producer Jim Abbiss - a man who knows a thing or two about producing outstanding British debut albums after helming Arctic Monkeys’ breakthrough - has been the catalyst to finally feeling like the band they want to be. “We recorded music in the Easter holidays and played the occasional London show, so it never felt like a career. It was just a strange, different world that we’d enter accidentally when we weren’t studying,” says Ben. “It was only since we started recording with Jim and being on tour so much that it’s felt like a real job and something we want to keep on doing in the future. The last year has been massively significant for us, and that’s when it’s felt proper I think.” The realisation that they’re
in this for the long haul helped to spark new belief in the band: they know they’re onto something special. “We know exactly what we’re doing, and we’re quite well versed in this whole band business these days.” Years of playing the long game despite being perennially tipped in those January tips lists gave Blaenavon a good perspective on the dangers of doing too much too soon. “It’s strange seeing some bands before we’ve even started, get big and fail already. It’s fucking scary. That’s why we didn’t want to rush into the buzz. We wanted to take our time and not be a flashin-the-pan. The bands who have got something decent to say have survived and are doing well; I think we’ve got more to say, so I don’t worry about it. We’ll stick around for a while.” laenavon are a band fond of a curveball. ‘That’s Your Lot’ is an album that reels you in and lulls you into a false sense of security. Side 1 is packed full of bangers and the sort of literate, smart indie pop that makes them a cut above their peers. Singles - like the positively buoyant in-the-face-of-despair ‘Let’s Pray’ and the doleful, sensual groove of ‘Orthodox Man’ - provide the sweet bait before the second half veers off into all sorts of compelling tangents. It takes a whole lot of ambition to put three six-minuteplus songs on your debut record, but ambition is something Blaenavon have pouring out of every orifice. “People are a afraid of the consequences of doing that. They just want to play it safe and do the catchier songs for the radio,” begins Ben. “That’s important, but if there’s nothing more to your band, then it’s not worth doing. We’ve got some amazing musicians in our band, and we needed to show off what we could do as a three-piece.” It’s a theme that Ben and the band regularly come back to; the desire to prove themselves and reach their fullest potential. “It’s difficult in times when people can’t pay attention to something for more than 20 seconds unless it’s bright and colourful and in your face,” he ponders. “We’ve got all the sides to it, though. We’ve got the stuff that will hopefully get people excited about the band, like the singles, and once they’re excited hopefully, they’ll be willing to be attentive and give the tracks that require attention a lot of time. If you listen to ‘Ode To Joe’ and ‘Swans’ you get much more of an immersive experience than just with the catchier tracks.”
“W E
KNOW
EXACTLY WHAT
WE’RE
DOING.”
DOWN
WITH
BORING THAT
SOUN D - TH E ONE YOUR THAT ENTIR SOUN E WOR DS LIK LD DO E A TH WN W OUSA ITH TH ND SIR E M . TH ENS T AT’S T HUND HE BIG ERING THEIR MOON OVER GA N G . THEIR TH E H IS COO ORIZO DEBUT L E R TH N , TH R A L BUM ‘L EATEN AN YO OVE IN ING TO URS. D THE 4T EAL W WORD BRING H DIM ITH IT. S: A L I ENSIO S H UT L N’ IS H E R . PH ERE,. OTOS: CHAR LOTTE PATMO RE.
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T
“L I F E I SERIO
S
US,
BUT M U DOESN HAVE
SI C
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he Big Mo anti-bo on are ring. Th ey say “excitin g” surprisin a lot. It’s not g more th then that an simp le fun, the b album ‘L and’s debut o 4th Dim ve In The ension’, th e e xpected resists surroun at de it refus d by Hawaiian every turn. Re es co shirts a nd infla rded someth to take itself too in ta interes g boring when seriously. “W bles, ting, we hy do you can ir d or sil “Weird ly,” reas do something is on definite good,” agrees Jules Ja s Celia Archer. ly wante cks d it to s ound w on. “We eird.” When th e all prett band first rec o y rd adding new to each o ed ‘Sucker’, th ey th so the spo me backgroun er. When it ca were me to ta d can cha nd unsure, sh yells, Soph, pu outed “I t on nge in a ’m openin g track few years thou too shy.” A lot to g h. Now, shy any their de on m b ease an ore.” None of th ut, she yells, “I the ’m not d a free e b a nd are. dom to felt in e There the ve definite ry nook of ‘4th ir gang that c ’s an an ly D heard u stuff on there imension’. “Th be ere’s s do be that pe fo ople wo Jules. T re, whic n’t he h a big b y spent twenty is exciting,” pro have ox for ‘B m mises in utes jum onfire’. T tapping ping on he thighs, wolf ho re are tummy with a wls, a tr pil slaps, ian someon low, megapho nes and gle played e shouts at can find “give it to me!” one point th “S a blown at,” they grin. ‘Bonfire ee if you raspberr ’ als suppos y/vocal ed warm u o features p that w singing to be a drum roll, bu along. “T t Jules ju as she offe here’s a st start rs. “I sin lot of s ed inging g to mo well, if alo st yo “But it’s u listen carefu of the guitar s ng,” olos as lly a you carr good thing w .” he y good so on singing the n the lyrics sto ng!” ad ds Celia guitar line. Th p but from ‘S at’s , be eve apart,” c n Nation Arm fore singing th a y’ ontinue at bit s Jules. . “There’s lots up in o to p “Yo ne get into go and enjoy u can just eat ick it it th little th e headphone but if you wan all ings yo t to z o n e , th uc e The rec ord cap an find and g re are lots of et tu interes ting, we res The Big M excited by.” oon pe ird and rfectly: silly. “You kn ow whe re Celia. “D that lin o e is tho of ten s we need five wolf ho ugh,” ventures econds ? Mayb wls in th ourselv e no es es about th too seriously, t. We don’t tak pace but we e ings th are seri at are im some th ous ings th portant. at be trea ted like are really seri Sometimes ous nee they’re Someti silly or d to mes yo w u have things to laug eird, y’know? that or h in the hard or Life’s to face of hav o know w short, but that e fun despite the hat’s go doesn’t ing on mean w m. serious or w ly. e Trump’s We went to th e don’t take s don’t ep tuff M and yell uslim Ban, we rotests after [Do ed w the cab , and then the ent to Downin nald] aret nig g next da h y I wen Street Woteve t at the t to r. T Va night, a his bar, full of uxhall Tavern re ,B p incredib paying money eople on a Tue ar sday le peop to watc le just b h all th making ese ew th amazin emselves vuln eird, out the re and g skills erable . That m o okay ab ade me r showing the ou ir fee alright, t everything. I felt lik l way more you kno e th w okay no w, beca ? Everything is e world’s use all going to these th thes in b with all gs and still w e people care e an about th still wa e shit that’s g t to enjoy the m. Even nt to co o me tog ing on, these “Life is ethe peo ve be,” add ry serious, but r. It’s great. I lo ple s Jules, music d ve that. with So ph offe oesn’t have to ” ring: “It’ s a brea k 29
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G N I P E E CR UP! WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.
PHOTOS: PHIL SMITHIES.
BRITISH ROCK’S GREATEST HOPE, CREEPER AREN’T JUST ANOTHER BAND...
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REVIEWS “I reckon there’s another star up here! 6 out of 5 ahoy!”
The Big Moon Love In The 4th Dimension
eeeee
W
hen an album comes along and hits you right between the eyes, from that point on the world isn’t going to sound or look the same. The run-up to this knockout has been one we’ve seen for a while now, The Big Moon aren’t just any ordinary band and have been effortlessly seizing our hearts with each and every banger from day one. With ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’, they have the blueprint and guidebook to their wonderful world - accessible, uplifting, rich and rewarding on each and every listen. The Big Moon have delivered big, and across 11 tracks they prove that vibrant and carefree indie-pop is more powerful than anything that can be chucked in front of it.
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Designed to be bellowed back at them ten-fold, The Big Moon’s deal of bangers and bangers only fizzles and sparks throughout, with ‘Cupid’, ‘Sucker’ and ‘Silent Movie Susie’ getting larger and larger on each and every listen, an unabashed charm that’ll trigger swoons from the first hook. It takes the fun and winks of Britpop and ratchets them up to 11, with Knebworth-sized detours through ‘Formidable’ and ‘The End’ sounding second-nature to a band who mark themselves out as original on every turn. Distinctly of the here and now but already sounding classic, ‘The Road’ feels like a comforting old friend, the harmonies of ‘Happy New Year’ trigger early Libertines chills while the choppy calls of ‘Bonfire’ are the sort to elicit hysteria at the touch of a note. What they achieve
is what the entire album captures, a smile in the face of everything and glistening hands-in-the-air moments that’ll soundtrack not just 2017 but years to come. ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’ sounds like four mates in a room staring straight at the biggest stages and dipping their paintbrushes, ready to paint their names in bold letters all over them. And that’s what makes The Big Moon so important. They’re not a cliche; they’re not a buzzed line or a catchy sound-bite that’ll last for a few months and fill a few column inches. They’re a band set for something far bigger than that, and with ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’ they have the uppercut to send everyone else spinning. Jamie Muir
THE BIG MOON ARE SO IMPORTANT
Real Estate In Mind Domino
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Hi there,
Real Estate
FRONTMAN MARTIN COURTNEY TALKS, ERM, REAL ESTATE.
Hey Martin, what’s up? I just moved into a new 110-year-old house this weekend, so I’m in the middle of a long process of painting rooms, unpacking boxes, arranging furniture, etc. Exciting for me, but most likely boring for you. How are you guys at the moment? Is life treating you well? I’m good, exhausted from the move, a bit overwhelmed, soaking up the last few weeks of pure family time before we start touring. I’m super excited the new album is coming out so soon. I’ve been listening to it a bit recently and I’m really happy with it. Feeling confident and optimistic. You’ve had another line up change since 2014’s ‘Atlas’ - is everything settled again after that initial upheaval? Was it a shock when Matt left? Things in the band are feeling very settled and super tight. The remaining four of us found working together without Matt to be different, but very productive. We were lucky to have an old friend who happens to be extremely talented fill the void. Your new album ‘In Mind’ is about to drop - how would you describe its vibe? That’s something that is very hard to put into words. This album feels loose to me. We really threw a lot of ideas in there. A little less concerned with song structure, more so with melody and texture. What would you most like listeners to ‘get’ or understand about ‘In Mind’? I just hope people live with it and give it time to open up. Listen to it multiple times in multiple settings. I think hopefully there’s a lot to immediately enjoy about the music, but we put a lot of thought and energy into little details on these songs. Album aside, do you have a busy year ahead of you? How’s summer looking? Our tour schedule is shaping up to be pretty rigorous, so I’m really just hoping to have as much time with my family as I can. Between touring, there’s a never ending checklist of things to take care of with the new house. That’s enough for the next few years. P
STICK WITH THIS BAND. THEY ARE MUCH WISER THAN YOU KNOW.
It seems odd that a band as undeniably ‘pleasant’ as Real Estate might polarise opinion. Four albums in, they remain something of a cult outfit here in the UK, garnering a modest following of shoegaze revivalists and ‘background noise’ consumers. Don’t let their laidback attitude fool you - like easing yourself into a too-warm bath, ‘In Mind’ is a record that feels cloying at first, but only gets better with proper immersion. And under all those hazy suburban chords lies a lyrical narrative none of us can outrun – the weight of burgeoning adulthood. In the three years since their last record was released, Real Estate have seen members become fathers, moved out of New Jersey and in the case of founding guitarist Matt Mondanile, quit the band entirely. Such upheaval would cause lesser bands to lose their footing, but instead, ‘In Mind’ sees a band so indebted to nostalgia take a brave step into the future, boldly facing their struggles head on. Jenessa Williams
Future Islands
Karen Elson
Spoon
4AD
1965 Records
Matador
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Future Islands’ last album, 2014’s ‘Singles’, propelled them into pop’s big leagues. Aided by that now iconic Letterman performance, it allowed the band’s personality, primarily that of ultra-magnetic singer Samuel T Herring, to come to the fore. So, how do you follow that? Well, Future Islands have attached a super-charged rocket and blasted themselves further into the stratosphere on ‘The Far Field’. The formula remains broadly the same, but coupled with esteemed producer John Congleton’s pristine production, the sound is sublime. Martyn Young
It’s been seven years since Karen Elson’s Jack Whiteproduced debut, ‘The Ghost Who Walks’. The break is understandable though as, well, she has a lot on. Constantly in demand as one of the world’s most recognisable models, releasing music has taken a back seat. The record that has finally emerged though, ‘Double Roses’, is a sublime and beautifully considered work that represents how deeply and tenderly Elson thinks about music. It took a long time to get into the right emotional frame of mind to write these songs and find the right collaborators, but the result is well worth the wait. Martyn Young
For the past two decades, Spoon have been slowly tinkering away. The Austin rock stalwarts hit on a formula that worked pretty early on; combining earworm-worthy hooks with frontman Britt Daniel’s wry yet oddly seductive snarl. But they never settled, constantly evolving and adapting. Their ninth album, ‘Hot Thoughts’, sees them expand on the polished pop sheen of 2014’s ‘They Want My Soul’ and aim for the dance floor: the line between Spoon as a pop or rock band more blurred than ever before. Instantly recognisable yet enticingly new, they’re a band still full of ideas. Chris Taylor
Bleached
Craig Finn
Sheer Mag
Partisan
Static Shock Records
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In classic Craig Finn fashion, ‘We All Want The Same Things’ propels us through worlds of stories and lives that could very well be our own. Building upon his last solo album, ‘Faith In The Future’, The Hold Steady frontman uncovers depth in the inane and finds its soundtrack to be perfectly composed rock music. The underlying theme throughout is that while our stories may differ and our sounds may vary, really we all just want the same things. It’s a perfect example of Finn’s songwriting abilities, with a more than pleasing soundtrack. Steven Loftin
Think rock’n’roll and what do you imagine? Attitude in abundance? Blazing riffs by the boatload? Sweaty shows with an empowering sense of euphoria? If your answers to those were in the affirmative, then you’re in the right place. Over the course of three EPs Sheer Mag have proven that they’ve got it all. Compiling these EPs together for a remastered LP imaginatively titled ‘Compilation’, the band are barrelling full storm ahead into the future. What Sheer Mag are going to prove themselves capable of as they really take off is downright unmissable. Jess Goodman
The Far Field
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Can You Deal? Dead Oceans
eeeee “Yeah, I’m a girl, and I play in a band, can you deal?” Jennifer Clavin taunts on the EP title-track, honey-sweet vocal croons falling by the wayside as a storm of distorted refrains take the helm, mocking and menacing in equal measure. ‘Turn To Rage’ is a continuation of that anger, while ‘Dear Trouble’ kicks out at the world with a savage ferocity. ‘Flipside’ is an EP standout, seeing stadium-sized refrains meet rose-tinted nostalgia; as blissful as it is bold. With ‘Can You Deal?’ Bleached forge a resounding strength that echoes through the eras. Jessica Goodman
Double Roses
We All Want The Same Things
Hot Thoughts
Compilation LP
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