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THIS MONTH DORK readdork.com
Editor: Stephen Ackroyd stephen@readdork.com Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden viki@readdork.com Associate Editor: Ali Shutler ali@readdork.com Contributing Editors: Jamie Muir jamie@readdork.com Martyn Young martyn@readdork.com Events: Liam James Ward liam@readdork.com
Contributors: Alex Thorp, Ben Jolley, Chris Taylor, Corrine Cumming, Danny Payne, Elliot Ryder, Jake Richardson, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jennessa Williams, Jessica Goodman, Jordan Foster, Josh Williams, Liam Konemann, Rob Mair, Rob Mesure, Rosie Ramsden, Ryan Johnston, Phil Smithies, Sam Taylor, Sarah Louise Bennett, Steven Loftin 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
C O N T E N TS U P DAT E
04 T H E G RE AT ESCA P E 11 T H E D RU M S 12 YA K 14 L A N Y 15 A DAY I N T H E L I F E O F… VA N T 16 C I T Y G U I D ES … C L E A N CUT KID 18 D O RK L I V E ! 19 BA N G E RS 20 CA L E N DA R 2 2 C O N N ECT I O N HYPE 24 G EOW U L F 25 FA Z E RDA Z E 25 H O N EY LU N G F E AT U RES 26 A LT-J 32 B L E AC H E RS 3 8 ROYA L B LO O D 42 O H WO N D E R REV I E WS 44 P H O E N I X 45 A L L W E A RE 46 LO N D O N G R A M M A R 47 N O G A E REZ 48 P U B L I C S E RV I C E B ROA D CAST I N G 49 PA R A M O RE 5 1 T H E C RI BS 52 T H E B I G M O O N 53 R AT BOY 5 4 L I V E AT L E E DS A N Y OT H E R Q U EST I O N S ? 5 8 B L A E N AVO N
E D I TO R’S N OT E THE LAST FEW WEEKS HAVE BEEN HARD. Following the horrible events in Manchester last month, it’s been near impossible to feel anything is really that important. Not when compared with the lives of young music fans, targeted in a place they should be safe. But then, thinking like that - while understandable - just can’t be how we do things. Music is about collaboration and excitement. About refusing to be put down and always getting back up. That’s why, as a community, we need to keep on keeping on. Though as individuals it may be difficult and if it is, that’s okay - together music should be our solace. And so, here’s our latest issue. Though it may not mention what’s happened directly, that spirit of defiance runs through it all the same. We’ll see you down the front. Stephen Ackroyd, Editor (@stephenackroyd)
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.
UPDATE IF IT’S NOT IN HERE, IT’S NOT HAPPENING. OR WE FORGOT ABOUT IT. ONE OR THE OTHER.
N O T H BRIG RO C K S
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TH RE ED E S CA AYS , T E N S P O W E ’L L E H A D M O R F V E N U E S , HU EB RU AC E D N T H R O U G U Z Z T H A N N D R E D S O F H O RK S B H OWC S O M E O F O E E M OV IE . BA N D S . T H IS Y E A OV E R AS E S U R FA T - F RO R ’S G VO U R R MAL IT E S T H E N E X T F WO R D O E W PA E AT UFF NG M S: ALI G ES AY W IN SHUT C L U D IN G EEKEN D IN B T P H OT L E R , JA M IE OS : S R IG H T WO M U IR , ARAH ON. S T E PHEN LO U IS A E BEN N E T T. C K ROY D.
SATURDAY 20TH MAY
THE MAGIC GANG DORK/ECHOCHAMP SHOWCASE
@ THE RICHMOND Rocking up to The Richmond, plugging in and kickstarting yet another mini revolution, The Magic Gang might as well just take over The Great Escape. Their immediate indie-hooks rise above any other throughout the weekend, meaning that no matter where they rock up the results are the same. Packed crowds screaming along to every sun-kissed note, pogoing bodies and an undeniable sense of pure joy, The Magic Gang’s portfolio of bangers is as breathtaking as they are essential - down to earth and in another world at the same time. Finishing up with the track that started it all (‘Alright’), The Magic Gang are capturing a moment in time before our very eyes.
HYPE ESSENTIAL NEW BANDS.
One of those songs was ‘Get You’, a tropically tinged beach pop track that will no doubt soundtrack BBQs and tinnies in the park all summer. “I think ‘Get You’ for me was the first thing that I heard out of all these different ideas that I was excited by and that made me think that I want to work at turning this into a full arrangement,” Toma continues. But even if it’s a track Star finds herself hyper critical of, being the first one they worked on properly together, it’s this track that got Toma more invested in the project beyond just having a bit of fun. Geowulf’s second single ‘Saltwater’, the first as a proper duo, then became the impetus for everything that came after. “Where ‘Get You’ didn’t really inform anything else,” he says, “‘Saltwater’ informed the following songs.”
D RE A M P OP DUO G EOWULF ARE BUZ Z I NG TH E I R WAY OVE R FROM D OWN UND ER. WO RDS: C HRI S TAY LOR.
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eowulf are big travellers. Originally from Noosa in Queensland, Australia, the pair have moved around as band between Berlin, Gothenburg and London, with plenty of other countries ticked off on their maps too. But it’s most recently that they found themselves in Cornwall of all places. “I didn’t have a Cornish pasty, but Star did,” begins Toma Banjanin, the duo’s guitarist and producer. “She was disappointed; she took a risk, and it wasn’t good.” “I had a vegan one,” vocalist Star Kendrick explains. “I mean it wasn’t bad, but my sister got this epic cheese one, and I was like ‘Dammit!’” Of course, they weren’t just down there for the pasties, though that’s as good a reason as any to visit
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Cornwall. The duo are currently in the process of recording their debut album, due out towards the end of 2017. “We were down in this old chapel, and it was just so inspiring,” he remembers. “We spent a whole afternoon writing. For two weeks beforehand I hadn’t been able to feel inspired to write lyrics and then in one afternoon, being in different surroundings, all this stuff came out that I was really proud of.” With close to eight tracks almost ready to go, and a few more planned out, their debut album has been in the pipeline for a while. In fact, the sketches began when Geowulf was just Star. The two met thanks to Toma’s girlfriend, who happens to be Star’s sister. “When Star and I first started working together, basically she’d just recorded a whole bunch of songs, or even just choruses and bits and pieces on her phone, and kind of bombarded me like, ‘Listen to this, listen to this. Have you listened to it yet?’” Toma explains of the duo’s origins.
Despite being keen travellers, the duo are now based in London, having signed to 37 Adventures, home to the likes of JONES and Krrum, after an A&R caught their first ever show. “I think Australia can be a little bit insular in some ways,” says Star, “so I think when we moved over here it was like okay, it’s a bit of a shit fight, but if you can do something here, you have a bit more access to Europe.”
ON ON THE THE GRAPEVINE GRAPEVINE N E W B E L L EV U E DAYS
Remember the EP Bellevue Days were teasing in the April issue of Dork? Well, it’s finally here! The follow-up to 2016’s ‘Sad Boy’, ‘Rosehill’ was recorded at Stakeout Studios, mixed and mastered by producer Jason Wilson (You Me At Six, As It Is, Don Broco), and is due for release on 4th July. Someone prep the fireworks.
WA H EY, L A H EY !
Alex Lahey is heading for the UK this November. Following up on supporting Tegan & Sara on their UK run earlier this year, our Alex will kick off her next stint over here at London’s Boston Music Room on 8th November. She’ll then take in dates in Bristol, Leeds and Manchester before finishing up at Glasgow’s King Tut’s.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a lot of love for Australia still. “Australia is isolated, but creatively I’m so always so surprised, I suppose even proud,” commends Toma. “So much good stuff is coming out of Australia at the moment, so part of the benefit of the isolation is that people are creating more.” So with an album on the way, albeit one without songs about Cornish pasties on it, have they got a name yet? “I had a few drinks the other night, and I was on the bus and was like, ‘Actually I’ll write down some names, just on my phone in my Notes. I’ll try and think of some stuff’,” laughs Star. “I wrote a whole load of shit, and then I went for a coffee with a friend, and she was like, ‘Have you thought about where you’re going to call the album?’ So I pulled out my phone, and we were looking and laughing like, ‘Oh my god these are so lame!”” No name yet then but, with a whole stack of great tunes already, whatever they’re going to call this new album, it’ll be one worth keeping an ear out for. P
F I C K L E F RI E N DS A RE O F F O N TO U R
Fickle Friends have announced their biggest tour to date, which they’ll head out on this autumn. The band – who’ve not long dropped new single ‘Hello Hello’ – will head out on 6th October in Plymouth, for a run that culminates at London’s Kentish Town Forum. Fickle Friends also play loads of festivals over the summer, including Community, TRNSMT, Secret Garden Party, Kendal Calling, Standon Calling, Leefest and Reading & Leeds. Phew.
FAZERDAZE
“I
W ITH HE R DE BUT ALBUM J UST RE L E ASE D, A M E LI A MURRAY I S BREAKI NG
OUT OF HE R B E DROOM. WORDS: C HRI S TAY LOR.
t excites me, not knowing what I’m doing,” confesses Amelia Murray, the name behind Fazerdaze.
communicate my ideas; it’s a lot easier for me just to go and do it. It was nice to work at home with my one microphone, my one guitar, my MIDI keyboard and my laptop.”
A native of New Zealand, she released her self-titled EP in 2014, but it’s only with the release of ‘Lucky Girl’ earlier this year that Fazerdaze started to make to make a splash over here. It’s a captivating mix of happy and sad. The repetition of “I know I’m a lucky girl” throughout the chorus leaves room for ambiguity; it’s not quite clear if she’s celebrating the fact, or if she’s trying to reassure herself in a moment of crisis.
Fazerdaze has been lumped with the tag “bedroom pop”, much like Frankie Cosmos and Foxes in Fiction, but it’s a term she finds constricting. While an apt label in a literal sense, it’s a term that has become synonymous with a dreamy, lo-fi, carefree sound. “I don’t want to pigeonhole myself, and I hope ‘Morningside’ shows that there are a few more angles to what I’m doing than just effortless dream pop,” explains Amelia. “I wanna show there’s more to me than that.
Like many of her songs, it’s charmingly rough around the edges. It’s not polished, it’s not perfect, but then she never wanted it to be that way. “Fazerdaze is all about working it out as I go,” she explains. “It’s not a fully-formed, perfect product. It’s more about learning and inviting people to come and watch me grow and figure it out.”
“It’s great that I’ve managed to start something there, but I do want it to get bigger than my bedroom and experiment further. I don’t necessarily want to make just one style forever; like it’d be cool to do an instrumental album in the future.”
It’s why, for her debut album ‘Morningside’, she chose to keep everything quite close to home rather than head into a studio, something she felt she didn’t yet have the confidence to do. “My bedroom has been a safe space for me to figure it out. It just really worked for me and my personality. I find it hard to be assertive and
Ultimately, Fazerdaze is a chance for her to step outside of herself. “Amelia Murray is so boring! I’ve got student loans, and I’ve got bills to pay. But then when I make music for Fazerdaze it’s like I’m rid of all that. It makes me feel like I’m not just a loner in my bedroom, but maybe something bigger than that.” P Fazerdaze’s debut album ‘Morningside’ is out now.
HONEY LUNG
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ondon trio Honey Lung are grabbing attention with their dreamy, reverb-soaked shoegaze. “I grew up in Harrow,” starts guitarist and vocalist Jamie Batten. “I met a lot of musicians up Hertfordshire way, and I was in a couple of bands. There wasn’t much of a scene; it was pretty much dead. I [did get] involved a lot in the Kent scene, I’d go down and see hardcore emo bands.” With Honey Lung, Jamie knew he’d hit on something worth sticking with. “All the bands previous, I had always been the co-songwriter,” he explains. “I was still honing my songwriting. With Honey Lung, I was starting to write music I enjoyed myself, that I felt was mature enough for me to like.” It wasn’t long before they caught the eye of their current record label. “They picked us up after our third gig; it
was really weird.”
Honey Lung may only be in their early 20s, but their music encompasses all the golden nostalgia of the years when they’d have only been babies. “Most of the music I write is nostalgic to me,” Jamie laughs. “I’ve been into 90s music since I was like 15, so some of my favourite bands are Smashing Pumpkins, Pavement, Built to Spill, just really interesting guitar music.” “We’re moving away from that with our next single, and future recordings,” he adds. “We’re doing some pretty weird stuff. There’s a flute on the next track, and we’re thinking of getting a synth player. It’ll still be guitary, riffy and groovy, just with some different sounds. We’re not getting bored, but there are limitations to just having two guitars. It’s going to get pretty interesting.” P Honey Lung play a Dork show at Bedford Esquires on 28th July.
WITH A SOU N D ROOTE D IN TH E VE RY BEST OF 90S G RU N G E, H ON EY LU N G ARE PUTTIN G TH E IR OWN SPIN ON A WE LL-LOVE D G E N RE. WORDS: JASLE E N DH IN DSA.
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T H RE E A L BU M S I N , A N D T H E RE ’S ST I L L N O OT H E R BA N D Q U I T E L I K E A LT-J.
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us Unger-Hamilton is having his hair cut in a private members’ club off Soho Square, waiting for the rest of Alt-J to arrive. Later, the band will meet with a host of journalists who are flying in from the continent specifically to interview them. Most will fly back out of London tonight, having got their scoop on new album ‘Relaxer’. The band themselves have just got in from Paris sometime in the last twenty-four hours. Before that, it was a week or so in Australia, and before that, they spent about a fortnight in the States. Such is the life of a band whose debut went Platinum and netted them both the Mercury Prize and an Ivor Novello award. Then, of course, there was the ‘difficult second album’ phase - which for Alt-J included a certified Gold record and a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden. Their success and the schedule that goes with it is the reason that Gus is having his hair done now, first thing in the morning in a photographic studio before a full day of press.
Words: Liam Konemann. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.
Singer Joe Newman arrives neatly turned out in a shiny black jacket as the final adjustments are made to Gus’ new ‘do, and Alt-J settle down on a brown leather couch tucked into one side of the long room. Joe nestles into the corner of the sofa; legs curled up. Keyboardist and backing vocalist Gus, rather more straight-backed, sits next to him. He perches a cup of tea somewhat precariously on the couch’s arm. You’ve heard this before, but Alt-J don’t seem like pop megastars. It gets said a lot because it’s true. Gus and Joe are calculated, but not calculating - albums and interviews are laid out with a rough mental blueprint, with elements added or subtracted based on the result. Alt-J’s work and image are carefully considered, but in a way that is precise rather than manipulative. They aren’t trying to be mysterious or edgy, just accurate. It’s getting easier as they get further along the path. “We’re better equipped now than when we started,” says Joe. “There’s more of a flow.” That said, this third album has been something of a slow burn. Recent single ‘In Cold Blood’ was originally dreamt up when the band lived in Leeds, back before even their debut album ‘An Awesome Wave’ had been released. The rest of ‘Relaxer’ has come in dribs and drabs, floating in the ether
through previous tours and album campaigns. “‘In Cold Blood’ is probably unique on the album in terms of how long it took us to get around to finishing it,” Gus considers. “Most of our songs are ideas that have been brewing for quite a long time. ‘Adeline’ was something that we were playing in soundchecks on the last album tour.” Joe agrees: “Another example is ‘Deadcrush’, that was a jam recorded in 2014. It’s nine minutes long, and I forgot about it for a couple of months because we got caught up in recording the second album. Then I started listening to it on tour, and I sent it to the guys. It was just drums, nonsense lyrics with a melody, keyboards and guitar. It sounded really, really cool.” He gets lost for a second and looks to Gus to pick up the thread. They’ve worked together long enough by now that it’s clear Gus will be right there in harmony, whether it’s musically or in the three-dimensional real world. He catches the end of the sentence, carries on with Joe’s thought process. “By that point we had the second album wrapped up – or we had enough material that was in a better stage of completion. But there was a certain kind of excitement in being able to say ‘That’s probably going to be a stand out track on the third
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POP IS NOT A DIRTY WORD
JAC K A N TO N O F F M AST E RS EV E RY T H I N G H E T U RN S H I S H A N D TO. F RO M H I S OW N G E N REJ U M P I N G FO R AYS , TO H E L P I N G H I S A L L- STA R BU DS SO U N D T H E I R T I P P I T Y-TO P B EST, H E ’S O N E O F T H E M OST I N T E REST I N G C H A PS I N P O P. Words: Jamie Muir. Photos: Corinne Cumming.
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never wanted to be anyone specifically, I always wanted...” Jack Antonoff pauses, halfway through eating a breakfast of mango slices and pastries, and thinks. After adjusting his cap and gazing around the room, looking to pull together the words racing around his head, another direction pops into frame. “I think about this a lot, it’s not really an answer to your question, but it just reminded me of something... “I feel like there are two different ways to be an artist and create, as in there are artists that make you want to be them and then there are artists that make you want to know them. For me, I never really loved
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anyone who was especially beautiful or slick and I just never wanted to be them. But when I grew up listening to Springsteen, I wanted to know him. He’s saying things that I feel and have felt my entire life but have never been able to put into words that I could understand. Or take The Beatles and the first time I heard ‘For No One’, which I think was the first time that I was heartbroken. I listened to it and thought, ‘Oh my God, everything I’ve been feeling for months about this relationship screeching to a halt - they just said it in three words’. I tried to sum it up in ten thousand words, and they did it in three. “REM, and the first time I heard ‘At My Most Beautiful’, was when I was in love with someone, and Michael
Stipe is singing about counting eyelashes. Like, If I said to you, I have this song that goes ‘I found a way to make you smile’, you’ll be like, who gives a shit? But the way he says it, and the music, and the fact that his voice is sort of dry and sounds like he’s just speaking to you. Those words you’ve heard someone say a million times - but in that one moment he manages to encapsulate every poem or sonnet or essay ever written about love in some of the simplest words ever written. “That’s the magic. That’s pop music at its absolute best. I could go on for days about songs, writers, artists, painters, movies - like in The Royal Tenenbaums where Margot Tenenbaum gets off the bus and ‘These Days’ starts playing with
everything else drowned out and in slow motion. Right there, the feeling of loving someone is perfectly captured. Or in The Godfather at the wedding where the old Italian guy is singing, and pure joy is captured. That’s the whole point, to capture these moments.” Like flicking through the emotional scrapbook we all subconsciously tie ourselves too, Jack Antonoff lives for those moments. Hearing that sound, that hook and that lyric at the right moment can change lives, and it’s an experience Jack has had time and time again. If ever there was a mission statement that could be etched underneath everything Bleachers is, then that’s it - an outpouring of the heartbreak, loss, dreaming and love we all long
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D
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TH E D ‘H AL P IS O B RE C W U S E XU S D M N S U PE SE ID U RE RI S B WE MB IS M R G ER O EN IG E N TA H T T T W F O T I O S O O. R O N, D O R N B A N O T O L A R K T YA H TH CK ?’, E L B E H ST EV LO Wo BA O N I C E O rd s: Jak N EY KS OF D T D’ eR S A NM A T H O D ich SI D N E R E ar ds G B B E LI on N R EN L V . AT I N E E U G T H AS R W RE IN A E I T S OG A C HO F T H E U B R N IT D… O F
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ES
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“THIS ALBUM D E F I N I T E LY G O E S DA RK E R .”
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oyal Blood drummer Ben Thatcher is attempting to explain exactly why he and vocalist/bassist Mike Kerr’s debut album was such a huge success, but he’s struggling to come up with a definitive answer. “It’s a bit of a mystery to us! Trying to calculate it in my head, it could’ve been anything. Maybe we came out at a time when there was a lack of rock music going on, or a lack of rock music that people wanted to hear – but I’m not actually too sure!” Rock hasn’t been a major feature of mainstream music in recent years – not that it hasn’t been there, of course, it’s just not been on the radio much – but Royal Blood’s rapid rise to prominence since forming in 2013 is proof that people will still show up for big riffs. And boy are fans showing up in their droves for Mike and Ben at the moment. Speaking not long after his band’s triumphant hometown show return at the Brighton Concorde 2, Ben is revelling in the love that remains for
Royal Blood, and it’s clear from the reception to the band’s live return that this is band are more than a flash in the pan. Royal Blood mean something to an awful lot of people. “The gig was amazing!” enthuses Ben. “It was great to be back in Brighton where we first started playing, and at a small venue like Concorde. The buzz for tickets and the people queueing outside since the night before they went on sale to get them was amazing to see, and we sold the tickets through local record shop [Resident] which was really great. It’s a great store where we’d go to buy records, and we thought it’d be cool to sell the tickets through them. There was a great buzz around the whole thing, and it felt so good to walk out onto a stage again. We needed to start playing shows; we hadn’t played in a year-and-a-half, so we wanted to have our first show back in our hometown where it all started, and it was really nice to be able to play in front our family and friends, before we go out into the world and share our new music with everyone else!” Brighton has always been a creative hub of the UK, and Royal Blood aren’t the only shining lights of
the seaside resort’s music scene: Dork favourites and certified banger merchants Black Honey also hail from the town, and Ben couldn’t have been happier at the fact that they joined Royal Blood for their intimate run of pre-album release shows in May. “They’re a fantastic band, and they’ve been going for a while under different names and line-ups,” Ben says of the indie-popsters. “They’re friends of ours from Brighton, and Izzy [Baxter, vocals/guitar] is a fantastic performer – she’s just really, really cool, and they have some really great songs which match us perfectly. With music in general, we feel that if you have too much of the same thing, that’s not good; if we had straight-up rock bands playing with us all the time it wouldn’t be very exciting. It’s nice to have a bit of variation in style, and it’s really great that we’ve been able to take them out.” But despite how bloody brilliant Black Honey are, the main attraction of these gigs – and the shows Royal Blood will play across festivals this summer and UK arenas in the autumn – is that the world finally gets to hear the songs from new album, ‘How Did We Get So Dark?’, in all their unhinged, uninhibited and unshackled live glory. And like
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REVIEWS
A WHOLESOME PACKAGE OF MESMERISING INDIETRONICA
Phoenix
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Ti Amo
eeee e f there was a survey asked about what people would want from a Phoenix album, then we’re pretty sure the same responses would come back. Sweet electro-pop hooks? Shimmering Parisian synths? That feeling of being transported to a European nightspot where euphoria is
the cocktail of choice? In all those manners ‘Ti Amo’ delivers and it delivers big. Building an even greater wall of surging pop sounds into a beefier collection of tracks, it takes predecessor ‘Bankrupt’s more delectable moments and turns it into a follow-up that intoxicates from start to finish, confirming why Phoenix sit in a class of their own. That knack for a synth-pop nugget is
the core of everything Phoenix stand for, and in ‘Ti Amo’, it’s dialled up to a level that simply drowns out any other notion in your head. Like a trip through a scorching summer day on the European coast (which ties nicely to the whole ‘Italian Disco’ theme), it’s as devouring as a fresh ice cream. ‘Tuttifrutti’ is the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ for a fresh new generation, ‘J-Boy’ swaggers with a charm of bright lights and brighter sunsets whilst the title track itself brings high-octane energy into an outfit of distinct suaveness that’s destined to light up packed venues around the globe. Vibrant at every turn, it’s a record completely sure of itself and the road it’s setting down, pulling in the more slow-burning electronica of ‘Via Veneto’ in emphatic ease - similar in
result to the hands in the air sheen of ‘Fior De Latte’ and the exotic licks of ‘Fleur De Lys’ that’ll have you shaking in rhythm and throwing shapes in a matter of seconds. More than anything ‘Ti Amo’ is a wholesome package of mesmerising indietronica that only Phoenix could have pulled of. It manages to feel of another world, yet an echo of infectious energy that you find in the gut of your stomach all at the same time. Yet another masterful stroke in the career of a band that seem to only get better, it’s the record that cements Phoenix as one of the most reliable bands of the 21st century, one that will continue to experiment and expand for years to come. Pass us the Cornetto, we’re heading out into the sunshine. Jamie Muir
All We Are Sunny Hills Domino
e e ee With their second album, All We Are are determined to be themselves. A multinational coalition (Norwegian, Brazilian and Irish, in case you were wondering) founded in a Liverpudlian melting pot, there’s a radical steel running up the backbone of ‘Sunny Hills’. It’s not one that sees the three-piece pushing musical boundaries; instead it’s an unrelenting refusal to cow to expectation. Produced by Kwes (Solange, Kano, Loyle Carner), they’ve taken the indie rock, post punk template and toughened it up, ready to roll with the punches. ‘Human’, for example, is part Joy Division, part Savages. A biting but soaring statement, it’s both immediate and deep in the same breath. “I don’t even know what’s fake anymore,” Guro Gikling exasperates, hitting marks both current and timeless. The product of its surroundings, it’s a powerful statement. Switched on, charged up, if this really is All We Are, it’s more than enough. Stephen Ackroyd
Hiya,
All We Are DRUMMER AND VOCALIST RICH TELLS HOW WITH THEIR NEW ALBUM, ALL WE ARE WANT LISTENERS TO KNOW THEY’RE NOT ALONE. How has 2017 been treating you so far? Are you guys having a good year? Yeah, it’s been all go really. We mastered the record in January, so we’ve just been doing the usual frantic organisational stuff around it to get it ready for the release. Apart from that and a few gigs we’ve not been up to much.
What are you most proud of with ‘Sunny Hills’? We love the record and feel that musically and lyrically we couldn’t have been more honest. However, I think one of the most important things we did was the way in which we pursued that honesty in the mix and the master. We went back and forth for ages and tried to make sure it was coming across in the final stages of making the record. It took a while, but we got there. That’s something that makes us proud. How would you like the record to make listeners feel? We hope that the listener gets the same feeling of catharsis and release that we did when making the record and playing it live. It’s a dark record, but it’s really about hope. You’re not alone in whatever situation or anxiety you suffer from. We’re all human beings. P
Ride
Virgin EMI
Wichita Recordings
Fake Sugar
e e ee e You wouldn’t need to be some kind of fortune teller to predict what to expect from Beth Ditto’s debut solo album. One of the defining voices of her generation, that’s no criticism either. When going at full, glorious pelt she remains unmatched - as close to a force of soulful nature as you’re likely to find. So, while ‘Fake Sugar’ doesn’t find another anthem close to the level of ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’, you’d not expect it to either. What it does pack is a solid, sometimes spectacular (see the multilingual ‘Oo La La’) showcase for a voice we still need. Stephen Ackroyd
Tell us about your new album, ‘Sunny Hills’ what’s it about? The record for us it’s a way of getting the darkness and anxiety out in the catharsis that we felt when we first started writing and playing these songs. The world is a pretty dark place right now, and we want to tell people that you’re not alone in it, so although dark, the record is really about hope. The road the warehouse was on was called ‘Sunny Hills’. What was it like working with Kwes? Kwes is our A&R at Domino, so he’s been heavily involved from the start. We jumped at the chance to work with him. He’s a lovely, sensitive presence in the studio and was careful to honour the mistakes and wobbles that make this record, we think, so honest. His experience of working in hip hop and with loads of diverse artists brought something special to the production. He’s a great guy.
Beth Ditto
The Drums Abysmal Thoughts ANTI-
eeee Recording his chirpy whistling on ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ must feel like a lifetime ago for Jonathan Pierce eight tumultuous years later and he’s the last member of The Drums. Given he wrote ‘Abysmal Thoughts’ alone while dealing with the split from his husband and the departure of his band co-founder, Jacob Graham, it’s little wonder it’s a bit morose. Thankfully, The Drums’ charm has always rested in their ability to marry cataclysmic lyrics with bright, infectious pop melodies, and it’s no different on their fourth record. Introspective opener, ‘The
Weather Diaries
eeee The prospect of new material from another big shoegaze reunion was an enticing one - but which Ride would we get? Would this blank out the memory of their classic-rock apery and the Beady Eye years? First single ‘Charm Assault’ was a big ’yes’, all punchy wah-wah and moody jangle; then ‘Home is a Feeling’ followed, a blissed-out swirl. And ‘Weather Diaries’ continues to shuffle the elements, but there are twists - layers of synths and sampled noise. Whether it’s the beginning of a new phase, or the final word we all deserved, ‘Weather Diaries’ is one to keep. Rob Mesure
Mirror’, finds Pierce questioning his identity while staring at his reflection. Scampering percussion and The Drums’ familiar reverb-laden guitar lines build to a brilliant, yet heartbreaking climax. It’s one of the record’s highlights. And it’s a similar formula employed on the likes of ‘Blood Under My Belt’ and ‘Heart Basel’, as Pierce laments over broken relationships to bittersweet pop melodies. The formula works so well that Pierce seems reluctant to deviate from it, perhaps because it affords him the comfort with which to explore such deeply personal subjects. ‘Abysmal Thoughts’ is quite clearly an album Pierce needed to make for himself and, while it’s unlikely to win over hordes of new fans, it certainly proves he’s capable of delivering on his own terms. Alex Thorp 45
REVIEWS
The Big Moon invite everyone at Village Underground to join their gang The Big Moon‘s debut album ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’ is a glimpse into their tightly knit world of one another, laced with the sort of confidence that comes from complete ease in your surroundings and the belief that only best friends inspire. In front of a very sold out Village Underground, Jules, Celia, Fern and Soph make everyone part of it. There’s a gravity to their performance (and the space references stop here). Despite the record being out for a brief moment, every track is taken to the edge of its tether and the crowd follows. From the all-out-celebration of ‘Silent Movie Susie’ through the shimmering bite of ‘Pull The Other One’ and out to the marching declaration of ‘Sucker’, The Big Moon take the recorded energy and run with it. It’s hyperactive, knee-jerk and every movement chases their unquenchable desire for a good time. “We’ve got so much energy, we’ve been fizzing all day,” explains Cee. “It feels like everyone’s birthday.” The Big Moon are brilliant when they’re moving at a hundred miles an hour, but they’re also superb when they pause, teetering on the edge and toying with tension. ‘Zeds’ sways with a daydream escape, while ‘The End’ is calm, collected but grinning before exploding in a whirling mess of deliberately jagged noise. It’s ‘Bonfire’ that really showcases just how far The Big Moon can push it live though. Bonkers and unhinged, the band still find a beauty in the chaos and despite the evershifting shapes they pull. But the most impressive part of The Big Moon is how inviting it all is. At no point is tonight a spectator sport. It would easy for the band to turn inwards, towards the safety of one another, as they play their Biggest Ever Headline Show but the more faces before them, the more friends they want to make. P
WORDS: ALI SHUTLER PHOTO: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
On the road
Get your diary out - you won’t want to miss these bands on tour.
MØ
PVRIS
Dua Lipa
Superfood
MØ has announced her biggest UK and Ireland tour to date, including a show at the 5,000 capacity O2 Academy Brixton in London. Support on all dates comes from her Chess Club Records label mate, Skott. Belfast (20th October), Dublin (21st), Bristol (23rd), Glasgow (24th), Manchester (25th), London (27th), Norwich (28th), Birmingham (29th)
Did you catch PVRIS when they played a handful of small UK shows the other month? No, you missed it? Well that’s okay - look who’s back in November, following the release of their new album. Bristol (22nd November), Birmingham (23rd), Dublin (24), Belfast (25th), Glasgow (27th), Manchester (28th), London (30th)
Dua Lipa’s debut album was super delayed, and as such this ‘self-titled’ headline tour has been a very long time coming. Miss it and who knows when you’ll get another chance to see her. Brighton (5th October), Bournemouth (6th), Leeds (8th), Manchester (10th), Glasgow (11th), Newcastle (13th), Birmingham (14th), London (6th November)
Superfood’s debut was one of the most fun albums of 2014. The jury’s out on whether the follow-up will reach the same heights, but it’s got Matty Healy’s nod of approval, so here’s hoping. Bristol (4th October), Southampton (5th), London (6th), Manchester (7th), Newcastle (9th), Glasgow (10th), Birmingham (11th), Nottingham (12th), Leicester (13th)
20th - 29th October
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22nd - 30th November
5th October - 6th November
4th - 13th October
WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG. PHOTO: RYAN JOHNSTON.
Rat Boy brings new tricks to expected chaos Jordan Cardy and his gang of Rat Boy pals are on prime rabble-rousing form as they take to the stage for the first leg of their UK tour at Glasgow’s ABC. There’s a certain degree of anticipation before any Rat Boy gig. You don’t know quite what you’re going to get but you do know it’s going to be thrilling whatever happens. This time around excitement is at fever pitch as Rat Boy arrive in town with a bunch of new songs to preview from that forthcoming long-awaited debut album. Not that the expectation bothers Jordan and co as they attack the songs and bounce around the stage with typical reckless abandon. ‘Turn Round M8’ instantly sets the crowd off like a firecracker has been lit and they respond in kind to Jordan’s incitement to jump around and sing at the top of their voices. There’s something truly intoxicating when Rat Boy’s high energy Beastie Boys infected indie fusion is in full flow. Previous singles like last summers ‘Get Over It’ are delivered in supercharged versions that are thrillingly ragged and threaten to fall apart at any minute. Rat Boy are now pros at this game though and they always maintain the show and just about keep themselves in one piece.
There is evidence of a growing assurance to Rat Boy. The bunch of new songs played are distinctive and highlight there’s more to Rat Boy than snotty punk. There’s even a genuine arms in the air singalong anthem that would grace any classic Britpop compilation and Jordan feigns surprise that the crowd would dance to a ‘love song’ like one of the new acoustic tinged tracks. Latest single ‘Revolution’ gets a huge reaction befitting of Rat Boy’s biggest banger yet. It’s at moments like this that you can imagine Jordan and his crew playing any stage in the country. Of course, as the show careers towards its climax things begin to break down as they deliver ramshackle versions of old favourites ‘Move’ and ‘Fake ID’. Everyone laps it up though, this is the Rat Boy that they came to see. Tonight is a step up for Rat Boy. The stage is decorated and filled with props – road traffic signs, nothing too fancy, and it’s obvious that a lot of thought has gone into putting on a performance, see for example the GTA style radio DJ that punctuates the gap between songs. However, as Jordan leaves the stage doing a celebratory lap on his trusty bicycle it’s clear this is the same old Rat Boy we fell for. P
WORDS: JAMIE MUIR. PHOTO: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
Will Joseph Cook’s portfolio of bangers shines in London
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ook around us; this is fucking mental.” They’re the words that fly out of the mouth of Will Joseph Cook as he steps to the stage for a headline night at London’s Heaven and there is an unmistakable sense of occasion. Whether it’s the bustling gathering of teenage fans flocking to the venue right from the moment the doors open, or the conversations that fly with Get Inuit’s Jamie Glass sitting behind the merch desk, there’s an overriding sense that this is a moment we should all note down. A pop purveyor laying everything on the line and living in a moment that many would have put in their diaries or
circled on their calendars – this is the moment that Will Joseph Cook has been building up to. Sizzling throughout, there are bodies on the shoulders when belting out to the instantly classic refrains of ‘Biggest Fan’ or ‘Take Me Dancing’ – the latter greeted with a sing-along refrain that almost drowns out Will as he croons in style through his mic. Swaggering with an effortless charm, his dips across debut album ‘Sweet Dreamer’ are glorious, whether it’s the opening line in the sand of the title track itself or delves into early EPs and album cuts, this is Will Joseph Cook living the life he’s been singing about for years now. Sweet, heavy-
hitting yet indisputably necessary for here and now – it’s the moment a modern pop price solidifies his standing with aplomb. Screams ring out, bodies fly in unrivalled joy, and one message becomes clear. Will Joseph Cook’s combination of pop’s varied sides and shades is purely unavoidable, and we should all get to grips that our soundtrack is primed in place. Effortless and surging with the sense that this is only the beginning, Will Joseph Cook’s turn in Heaven is a tantalising appetiser to the globe he’s about to conquer. Pop with personality has another crowning nod, and its next step is an utterly unmissable one. P
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