SH M A E TH E
IS THIS T HE FIRST G R E AT ALBUM O F 2018?
GAME
KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW THE NEW ALBUM IN STORES 26 JANUARY FEATURING PLAY, HABITS & MAJOR SYSTEM ERROR AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW
LIMITED EDITION COLOURED VINYL, SIGNED PHOTOS AND MERCH BUNDLES AVAILABLE AT SHOP.ROADRUNNERRECORDS.CO.UK CATCH MARMOZETS ON TOUR 2018 02/02 Cardiff, The Tramshed 03/02 Southampton, Engine Rooms 04/02 Brighton, Concorde 2 06/02 Cambridge, Junction 07/02 London, ULU 08/02 Nottingham, Rescue Rooms 09/02 Newcastle, Riverside 11/02 Sheffield, Leadmill 12/02 Edinburgh, The Liquid Room 13/04 Belfast, Oh Yeah Music Centre
THIS MONTH... EDITOR’S LETTER HIYA! “IT SOUNDS LIKE WE’RE DRUNK...” P8 FIRST AID KIT
“KIDS INTO GUITAR MUSIC DESERVE SOMETHING GOOD” P4 SPECTOR
“DON’T START A GUITAR BAND IN 2018” P26 SHAME
“I’M ALREADY THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT RECORD” P32 HOOKWORMS
“IT’S NOT ALL HAPPY-CLAPPY MUSIC.” P16 RAE MORRIS
P34 DREAM WIFE
“THE HOLY GRAIL IS TO MAKE SOMETHING ORIGINAL”
P44 THE WOMBATS
P14 FRANZ FERDINAND
CONTENTS
“IT’S JUST THE WAY OUR BRAINS WORK” P38 DJANGO DJANGO
“I’M MORE CONFIDENT IN LIFE” P40 EZRA FURMAN
DORK
Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young Events Liam James Ward Additional Design: Martin Crandon
“THESE BAD BITCHES CAN TAKE YOU DOWN” “I WAS THINKING OF A WOMBATS TAKE ON ‘IN RAINBOWS’”
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ALL THAT... Well, 2018 is showing no signs of hanging about before it kicks the door in and demands our attention, so neither should we. Welcome to the first new issue of Dork to drop in a year fresh with exciting possibilities - none more immediate than our cover stars Shame. Arriving with one of the most exceptional, invigorating debut albums in recent memory, ‘Songs of Praise’ is the first great record of 2018. But they’re in good company. Following them through the breach come another of our faves, Dream Wife, with their own full-length that’s sure to demand attention. Elsewhere this month we’ve got all ‘the names’. Spector are back, dropping a brand new EP - the first in a series of three. Ezra Furman has his “fuckin’ angel shit” (his words..), and Hookworms have changed things up to dramatic effect. Rae Morris has one of the best domestic pop albums in ages, Franz Ferdinand, The Wombats and First Aid Kit are all showing they still have what it takes, and the big scary world of rock is well represented, with Fall Out Boy, Marmozets and The Xcerts all showing up. Best get going, eh? STEPHEN ACKROYD Editor / @stephenackroyd
P4 UPDATE P19 BANGERS P20 DORK LIVE! P22 HYPE P26 FEATURES P46 REVIEWS P50 ANY OTHER QUESTIONS
Contributors Alex Thorp, Brad Thorne, Chris Taylor, Ciarán Steward, Danny Randon, Dillon Eastoe, Eleanor Langford, Liam Konemann, Jessica Goodman, Jessie Atkinson, Josh Williams, Nariece Sanderson, Rob Mesure, Samantha Daly, Steven Loftin Photographers Brendan Walter, Phil Smithies, Sarah Louise Bennett Illustrators Russell Taysom P U B L I S H E D F RO M
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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. DOWN WITH BORING
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UPDATE IF IT’S NOT IN HERE, IT’S NOT HAPPENING. OR WE FORGOT ABOUT IT. ONE OR THE OTHER.
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S P ECTO R A RE BAC K !
SPECTO R
H AV E A N E W P R O J E C T I N T H E W O R K S . N O , I T ’ S N O T A N E W A L B U M 2 0 1 8 W I L L S E E T H E M T R Y T O S AV E G U I TA R M U S I C . WORDS: JAMIE MUIR.
“W
hen you’re kids, nothing seems odd about five guys spending an inordinate amount of time together doing not much at all. An hour or half an hour of music a day seems natural. As you get older, that sort of thing seems a bit…” Spector frontman Fred Macpherson stops, something catching his eye in the Haggerston cafe he finds himself in. “Oh no, is that a dead fish?” He leans in to gaze more at the fish-tank located in his line of sight. “That white one there on the side, think it’s dead.” “Oh no! It’s alive!” he exclaims. “There we go, that’s the metaphor for our career!” Spector have done much more than simply survive. Over the course of six years, two albums and a whole heap of euphoric live shows, they’ve become a beacon for a not-too-distant era with their blood flowing with the here and now. There’s a sense of excitement for the future - and an energy that comes with an ever-lightning bond between them. Fresh from a quiet year and a half, Spector have been naturally finding where they go next. “The last few years have been generally positive, though if you asked me that on a different day you’d probably get a different answer,” notes Fred, calm and measured about the next step in a band which has been led by his immediate presence across the globe. Always with their pulse on modern life, they’re back for something more. “It’s good to be doing music again; it kinda took us a while to get stuff back together. There was a point where it didn’t feel like anyone was in a rush to do anything, and then recently everything has pulled into place.” “I just felt like now we have these songs ready and people and fans are keen to hear them, well, all five of them,” he jokes, “it was time. We had a couple of songs, including ‘Untitled In D’ that just really feel like they would make more sense out than in.” Like a triumphant firework display, Spector’s return is led by a dazzling canon. ‘Untitled In D’, the first glimpse at chapter three, is rooted in the guitarladen punches of their debut album ‘Enjoy It While It Lasts’ yet is laced with that knowing nod of experience and progression. With more guitars over it than the whole of ‘Moth Boys’ before it, Fred talks about it as a conscious move after the last tour they did. “When we were doing live versions of
songs from the last album, they ended up being a lot heavier, and guitar/drums led,” recalls Fred, stirring his coffee around in front of him. “I think that made us want to write songs that would fit well into our set. That’s where our music feels the most alive. What we wanted to do with ‘Untitled In D’, and the songs coming, is get the sound of the band playing. Drums, vocals, bass, guitar - it sounds really obvious, but in the past, it’s sometimes not been how our recordings have turned out.” He takes a moment, pulling together his thoughts before continuing. “You know like when you buy an outfit, and then you never wear it out? You keep trying it on, and it’s just not quite right until it eventually doesn’t fit? This is the song that you ask if you can change into it in the shop. That’s why we’re putting it out first, it’s not the best new song we’ve got, but it’s the most irreverent and a good snapshot of us now.” The role ‘Moth Boys’ played in where Spector now find themselves can’t be diminished. A record that the band needed to make, they came out of the other side needing space to reconfigure their own minds and goals. “I think it was a case after spending almost three years working on our first album, then two years on the second and then touring that for a year - it felt like we had spent just too much time together. We all needed to take some time. “It’s weird. Whenever you finish an album, you think it’s the most important thing in the world. Now I look back on it and think, well, half of it is good, and half of it maybe isn’t, which is a good attitude to have, to never be emotionally attached and always strive for better. It definitely helped us get through a kinda sticking point in music, where it felt song-wise we had already done so much of what we had planned on doing - which wasn’t very much at all,” Fred cracks. “It felt like we needed tracks like ‘All The Sad Young Men’ to break through to the next stage.” Spector aren’t finished, and there’s a reason for that. They’ve symbolised an era in their own distinct way, becoming one of those bands simply beloved no matter what they might do. They stormed out with their influences of The Killers, Roxy Music and The Strokes emblazoned across their chests with a new romantic bow, and ever since they’ve continued to tease and please in equal measure - a band taking on the world. It feels raw and new, unabashed in their dreaming. “Even though it feels like so much is moving away from guitars, we wanted to go back and head against the grain. I do feel a bit of duty of care over guitar music,” states Fred, when chatting about
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ON THE UP
FRANZ FERDINAND
ARE A MAN DOWN, TWO NEW
M E M B E R S U P, A N D A B O U T T O E M B A R K O N T H E I R M O S T A M B I T I O U S , A N D P E R H A P S R I S K Y, A L B U M Y E T. WORDS: JOSH WILLIAMS
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ranz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos had fun with their new record, ‘Always Ascending’. “Making the album was really enjoyable, it was quite a thrill,” he says. It’s their first full-length in four years, and in that time guitarist, Nick McCarthy left the band - it could have been quite different. “When we finished our last record it was ten years of the band’s life there, and it felt with making this record it was the beginning of a new decade, and we had a choice. Did we either live in the decade we were in before, look back and say, ‘We’re gonna stay there forever’, or do you think we’re gonna move into the next decade? I guess that was our decision.” “For me, the holy grail as an artist is to be able to make something original, which we haven’t done before, which keeps our identity.” They’ve certainly done that. ‘Always Ascending’ takes them to places you wouldn’t expect from the same group who wrote ‘Take Me Out’, but it retains that familiarity of a band now 15 years strong. Along the way, they’ve picked up new members Dino Bardot and Julian Corrie. “When we asked Julian to join the band he didn’t play any of the old songs until we had a gig to play about six months later,” says Alex. Rather than dwelling on years gone by, “we worked out our direction was always looking forward. We weren’t looking to the past at all! We were
looking to make something new.” The album itself has a very distinct French vibe, and that’s in no small part thanks to producer Phillipe Zdar, Alex explains. “I loved working with Phillipe. We bonded very quickly and closely, and I think we shared some similar attitude to making music, this understanding that you make music to make people feel something. I know that seems like a very obvious thing to say, but it’s so often forgotten once you get caught up in technicalities and the cold process of actually making the thing. That’s why you make it in the first place; you’ve got something emotional you want to express. At every stage of making the record Phillipe was insistent we remember that, and that’s always been important to me as well. “It does have a very French flavour, and for us, it was important to look to Europe for inspiration. Right now I feel a greater bond with Europe than ever, and after making this record, I feel a deep bond with Paris too as it played a big part in making this album.” At the end of 2015, when the band started work on the album, Alex bought a piano. “I’ve never really had a nice piano before,” he muses, “and I am in love with this piano, totally in love with this piano. A lot of the songs were written on the piano; you write differently. If there was a guitar part, it
“ T H E H O LY G R A I L AS A N A RT I ST I S TO M A K E SO M ET H I N G O RI G I N A L ” was a guitar part added to a piano song for the most part, like in ‘Lazy Boy’ for example where the guitar’s quite dominant. The song was written on the piano, and then the guitar added.”
the band members all playing in a room together.” Despite this, they were “embracing as much technology as we could when we were writing and trying to use technology to push us into ways of writing we hadn’t before.
Alex asserts, however, that “the goal was always to make a record by recording us playing live in the studio together, so when you listen to the record you hear that it’s
“For example, basslines were written, but they were written on the computer the way you’d write for a sequencer. Some of the
drum parts as well. A lot of the parts I was playing melody lines, but then triggering them from the sequencer or from the computer to learn them as a band and then play them in the studio, and play them live as if you were just the most basic raw rock and roll band. It’s taking what’s available to you and trying to subvert it and use it to perform in a way you don’t see people doing around you. I guess that’s always the goal, and that’s the way we went about it to a great extent when making this record.” Alex insists there’s not much of the personal confessional on this album, stating: “Something that we really pushed on this record was to write from the perspective of fictional characters and to approach writing lyrics the way you might approach writing a short story or a film script. When Bob and I were writing songs like ‘Lois Lane’ and ‘Slow Don’t Kill Me Slow’, we had this idea of creating characters to search for that emotional truth like you’d find in a song which is self-confessional and search for that truth in the characters we created. We were trying to make something as vivid and as moving as you would from a personal confessional song because I truly believe you
can reach the same emotional depth from a fictional character. “There’s this belief, this presumption that if you’re as a musician or a songwriter if you want to achieve emotional honesty it has to come from yourself, and I think that’s bollocks. If that were true, then it would apply to other mediums as well. Every time I see an actor on the stage performing an emotionally convincing role they aren’t necessarily drawing from personal experience; there’s a lot of fiction in there, and you can apply that to songwriting and also performance as a singer just as much.” The album ascends to a seedy disco crescendo with a double whammy of dancing with ‘Glimpse of Love’ and ‘Feel The Love Go’, Alex says. “They’re the apex of the energy of the album. The outro of ‘Feel The Love Go’ is the most hedonistic moment of abandon, and then we drop you right down at the end for ‘Slow Don’t Kill Me Slow’. It’s drama, that’s all it is. That’s what I love when I listen to somebody else’s album, so that’s what I wanna put in my own”. P Franz Ferdinand’s album ‘Always Ascending’ is out 9th February.
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HYPE ESSENTIAL NEW BANDS
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PHOBOPHOBES PHOBOPHOBES PHOBOPHOBES’
D E B U T A R R I V E S W I T H A B A N G ; I T ’ S A S TAT E M E N T O F I N T E N T
F R O M O N E O F S O U T H L O N D O N ’ S M O S T E X C I T I N G B A N D S . W O R D S : S A M A N T H A D A LY
H
aving been through much in a short amount of time, Phobophobes are just about all set for the release of their much-anticipated debut. ‘Miniature World’ is a record born from adversity; 2016 saw the untimely death of the group’s guitarist, George Russell. The band went on a temporary hiatus, resulting in bassist Elliot Nash finding it too difficult to return. Fast forward to today; they now have three new players, going from a five-piece to a six-piece, and are about to release an album that still very much reflects each of their former bandmates. Guitarist Jamie Taylor and keyboardist Chris OC both studied fine art at University. “We obviously know our music, but we’ve approached the album in a much more artistic way,” Jamie explains all the way from the South of France, where he’s helping his family set up an art gallery in a derelict building. “I think some parts come a bit unexpected, with certain progressions especially. Maybe when you’re classically trained you know where to go next, whereas we don’t, so we make it up and we chip away at it until it sounds alright. It’s not as immediate, and it’s a bit more difficult, but we get there in the end. “It’s kind of like we’re making up our own language,” he laughs. “There’s quite a strong narrative throughout that I really want people to discover through listening. We’ve put a lot of thought into it, especially with Side A and Side B.” With a fondness for listening to albums on
vinyl, Phobophobes were keen to create a nuanced record that wasn’t just frontto-back standalone bangers. “It’s very important for the album to flow as well as the song structure; that’s something that’s really lost nowadays when you go onto Spotify, and it’s all scrambled. It’s really irritating,” says Jamie. Several songs didn’t make the cut. “There was one that we were writing just before George died. He’d written this beautiful guitar line over the chord progression that I’d put together. I just had it on a phone recording and Margo [Broom], the producer we were working with at the time, played around with it so it was all in time and took away some of the unwanted frequencies and bum notes, so that we could have George’s guitar line.”
such a strong unit, and then we had these new members... Luckily, the people playing with us were really into it, they liked the band, and they weren’t just playing for the sake of it.” Looking beyond the album release, the new group plan to get their heads down to “become more of a writing band - we already had an album recorded when the new members joined. They need more; they need to feel like they’re part of something. When they hear us on the radio at the moment, sometimes it’s not even them playing, which is a bit weird.” Phobophobes have created something extraordinary with ‘Miniature World’; this band are heading somewhere very special indeed. P
It’s not on the album, but the track will Phobophobes’ debut album ‘Miniature surface eventually, Jamie says, perhaps as a World’ is out 26th January. single or a b-side. George is actually playing guitar on every track on the album. “It was important that he was playing. Some bits were just for demo purposes, so we had to spruce them up a bit, but some were done really well, and George put a lot of work into them.” Phobophobes’ former bandmate Elliot came up It’s been a whirlwind of with the idea of a time for Phobophobes, incorporating swabs but they’ve made it out into their artwork, the other side. “It was a reflecting the whole traumatic thing, losing a ‘Miniature World’ friend,” reflects Jamie. “It concept in quite a was quite difficult to come literal sense. “We back together. We were were initially just going to swab the band,” says Jamie, “but we decided to keep going. We’d take bacteria from instruments we were playing on the album… we swabbed Abbey Road. We’d swab walls of studios that don’t exist anymore, like Utopia Village. It’s gone now, but it had a great history.”
ART ATTAC K
“ IT WAS A T R AU M AT I C T H I N G , LO S I N G A F RI E N D”
EASY EASY LIFE LIFE Midlands five-piece Easy Life recently emerged with their “93 BPM head-nodder”, ‘Pockets’ - a rich hip-hop, funk and jazzinfused debut single full of irresistible hooks and the trials of youth. With a new EP also in the works, this is just the beginning. Hey Murray, tell us about your band. Myself (lead vocals, guitar etc.) and Sam (bass, sax, vocals) went to school together and have always found common ground in disgusting funk/soul/jazz. After realising this, we began to write music and somewhat inevitably meet Louis (local guitar icon and sex sensation). Cass (drums) was an obvious choice, with his passion for Afro Beat and all things groovy and Jordan (percussion/ synths/ vocals) is a local hero and by far the most famous member of the band for various reasons. How did you go about creating the EP? Creating our debut EP ‘Ringtones’ was the most fun I’ve had in ages. It was like an orgasm with a true love. In terms of how we went about producing it, I’m genuinely not entirely sure. It just came together really. It seems we were able to capture a realness both lyrically and instrumentally which I think came, essentially, from just being honest with ourselves in terms of what we wanted the music to sound like and what was going on the world around us. What do you do for fun? I’m super boring. Making music is the only way I can enjoy myself. I can barely raise a smile during sex because I feel like I should be playing piano. I guess, as a band, we find a certain release in Leicester City, reading, long walks on the Skegness beach, drinking, exploring, farming... P Easy Life’s debut EP is out ‘early 2018’.
RECOMMENDED NEW NAMES
THYLA
Move over South London, it’s hard to think of a buzzier place than Brighton right now - which is exactly where lovelies Thyla are based. The band are supporting Dork faves INHEAVEN on their Dork Live! tour in March, and we’re really looking forward to it. They’ve previously graced stages alongside everyone from Dream Wife and Matt Maltese to Yonaka and The Wytches.
SPORTS TEAM
About 18 months ago, Sports Team dropped us an email and asked us for a drink. And, erm, we didn’t reply. Sorry guys. We only found it the other day, honest. Still, we’re happy to make up for it now. With their debut track ‘Stanton’ they’ve arrived a fully-formed force - a well-brewed mix of cynicism and wondrous, banger-friendly consciousness.
CARO
Leeds-based polymaths Caro make thoroughly infectious indie pop. While it’s not super representative of all their songs, if you squint a bit (yes, with your ears) ‘Eyes On The Ground’ is a tinsy bit St. Vincent in places, which is always a good thing. They’re doing some Dork Live! stuff soon, too: catch them at The Flapper in Birmingham on 3rd March.
MOANING
Stop Moaning, you lot. No don’t really, these guys have an album coming soon via Sub Pop, so it’d be awfully bad timing. Hailing from LA, the trio are an often chaotic mess in the best possible way: kind of slackery and sort of post-punk, they revel in fuzzy alt tunes. Probably don’t turn up on time for anything, mind. Watch out for their selftitled debut landing on 2nd March.
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Every new year starts with the promise of new things. Shame , exciting aren’t hanging about in bringi them, with quit ng us one of e probably the first great albu m of 2018. Words: Jamie Muir. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.
I
t’s a bitterly cold Tuesday morning in South London, and Shame are recovering from a packed 2017, and an even busier end to it, incorporating some of their biggest headline shows to date, a blistering run across the US and a pogoing schedule of European trips. As morning breaks, frontman Charlie Steen and guitarist Eddie Green tell tales of only just returning to the UK late the night before, yet bustle with the rest of the band on adventures and the maddening rush of it all. For a band who, just over a year ago, were taking on sweat-stained pub nights across the capital, it’s an evolution and coming together that means something more, a destined reckoning that could be felt every time they took the stage. Wherever that stage may be. “Remember that time we took the drum kit on a bus?” recalls guitarist Sean Coyle Smith, cueing raised smiles and laughter between themselves as they gather away from the cold in a local tiled cafe. “We got booked for this riverside festival in Richmond, and all we heard was the festival part of it. We turned up to children and old people in rows of white chairs, and I think we got paid with some cider and some Cumberland sausages.” “That was so bleak,” continues Eddie, stirring away at the hot drink in front of him with a shake of his head. “The funniest part of that was when a guy came up to us at the side of the stage and said, ‘Look, guys, I’m not going to tell you again. There are kids here - can you please watch your language. There’s storytelling going on in the tent over there’.” This was all while they were playing a song called ‘Gone Fisting’. “I think we were fined for being too loud as well,” notes frontman Steen. “It’s miraculous really. There were infinite points along the way where we should have stopped and said, ‘What are we doing?’ If we’d been any other age…”
There are many, many other examples that Shame can bring up for playing the weird and the wonderful (supporting folk duos at 7pm, bursting into Glastonbury and playing shows with no amps or working equipment) that has all led them to where they stand today. Thriving with chaos yet with a defining sound behind it all, they’ve taken the punches and never stopped - a burning ambition and a gang mentality that means they can take on anyone. Alongside bassist Josh Finerty and drummer Charlie Forbes, they’ve managed to capture something that many bands search for years to find. All natural, authentic and immediate, Shame’s world doesn’t need to be a beacon of the future, but rooted in the here and now learning how to deal with it and how we can all get better. Still finding out who they can be, the journey itself to that point is just as important. “I don’t think any of us set out for anything,” notes Sean. “It was just there as a pipe dream…” “It’s been a three-year existential crisis,” smiles Steen. “We never had some pivotal moment where we sat down and manufactured an image, or what we’d want to be perceived as or anything. It never happened. We’re sort of still clueless, still creating an idea of what we want to be. I don’t think we know what we want to be; we’re 20.”
M
eeting at school, Shame experienced more in their younger years than many. From the beginning it was clear they were onto something different than the rest of their classmates, discovering life’s teenage speed bumps together. Josh was hooked on music from the moment he was given a copy of Sum 41’s ‘All Killer, No Filler’ at the age of three, he and Eddie would chat and listen to Nirvana together, while Eddie and Steen
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Dream Wife aren’t your average band. Like a fire burning hotter than the proverbial thousand suns, they’re here to fuck you up. Words: Jessica Goodman. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.
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G N A
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R O T P E C R E I NT
xplore angel to e , it’s n a h it w road trip Buckle up goes on a angelic Exodus’. n a m r u Ezra F ‘Trans ongwriter h his new album, s r e g in s entity wit American mann ion and id g li e r iam Kone s e L : s d r them o f a ride. W one hell o
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O
nce upon a time the Wombats wore white jeans and fluoro plastic sunglasses, and taught us all to dance to Joy Division. You know what they say; the past is another country.
For a lot of us, bands can seem to exist out of time. Like Kate Hudson’s character says in Almost Famous, you can go down to the record store and visit them anytime. Just as they were ten years ago. It turns out that sometimes the band themselves feel the same way. For a while, at least. Back in November on the way to shoot the video for ‘Lemon to a Knife Fight’, the lead single off new album ‘Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life’, The Wombats’ frontman Murph likened being in a band to being caught in a phase of arrested development. You’re suspended in time until one day you turn around and the world has shifted on its axis, and you wonder where you’ve been for ten years. Reminded of this now across a transatlantic phone line, he laughs. For a while there, the Wombats were all consuming. It paid off, but so has this new phase - the one that almost approximates something like conventional adulthood. Sometime between writing ‘Glitterbug’ and ‘Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life’ the veil lifted. Murph, having relocated to the US, now finds himself living in Los Angeles with a wife and a dog. The full package. That’s put things on a more even keel. “I think I kind of approach music and songs and the band - everything - with a healthier outlook,” he says. “You know, I feel like I have a family in LA now, a dog to look after, and a wife, and it’s given me a better perspective on life. Rather than me just squealing away in a dark room with a guitar and a piano, writing songs and thinking that that’s literally my entire life. I guess now I know my life has many facets of which the Wombats is a large but nevertheless single part.”
L UTS The Wombats are shunning their glitzy pop of old for a more guitary, organic affair. “I was thinking of a Wombats take on ‘In Rainbows’, says Murph. Words: Liam Konemann
That newly gained equilibrium has all come out in the wash. Where ‘Glitterbug’ was sparkling and hyperactive, on ‘Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life’ the Wombats purposefully went for something a little more laid back. While it still features the odd synthesizer and is practically brimming with sleek guitar riffs, there’s a musical tenderness to the album that its predecessor didn’t have. Tracks like ‘Ice Cream’ and the Strokes-tinged ‘I Only Wear Black’ are lush and dreamlike, while album closer ‘I Don’t Know Why I Like You But I Do’ is a sweeping, melodic exposition of romantic fixation.The album’s second single, ‘Turn’, is the only outlier, Murph explains. “A song like ‘Turn’ which does have quite a synth-y bass to it, seems to be the cousin to ‘Glitterbug’,” he says. He maintains that it’s the exception that proves the rule, though. “I didn’t want to do another synth-y album; I wanted to focus more on great songs and kind of make it a bit more guitar-y.” There were very conscious decisions to be made when it came to the direction of album number four, it seems. “For me, it was just about trying to do something more organic, rather than dialling everything up to eleven. I was certainly more thinking of a Wombats take on [Radiohead’s] ‘In Rainbows’ or something, rather than trying to just have a big massivesounding major-label album for radio. It was kind of important to me that we didn’t go down that route this time,” Murph says. He hasn’t come over all po-faced, though. For all the short shrift the word sometimes provokes, The Wombats still happily consider themselves a pop band. “I don’t mean that
we wanted to do a more indie or left-leaning album, we just wanted to do something that didn’t rely so much on modern production trickery and things like that,” he clarifies. With the record so freshly minted, the band haven’t had a lot of time to appreciate it for what it is yet. “I haven’t really spent that much time with it, listening to it and working out what kind of album it is for me,” Murph says, “but it definitely resonates more with me than the last album.” For all his newfound balance, some things just won’t shift. A decade on from their debut, and that familiar sense of being out of your depth still makes its way into The Wombats’ lyrics. “Yeah,” Murph laughs. “I think that’s just me, really.” Then, he reconsiders. “Or maybe that’s just one of the main themes that resonates with me as a songwriter, I guess.” That ‘main theme’ has produced some of the Wombats’ most affecting work to date. Arguably, the centrepiece that those songs feed into and bloom out of is ‘Anti-D’, from 2011’s ‘This Modern Glitch’. The song features the lines “I’ve thrown away my Citalopram, although I felt as grim as the reaper man”, giving a stark and brutally honest glimpse into depression, medication, and coping methods. Even now it remains an emotional king hit, with its soaring strings and vocal harmonies. “That was my swan song, I guess,” Murph says. The swan-song’s heart bled into tracks like ‘Headspace’ on ‘Glitterbug’, and now seeps through on ‘Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life’. ‘Lethal Combination’ describes a co-dependent relationship “too lost for therapy” while ‘Out Of My Head’ is a study in alienation and intoxication, woozy and darkly introspective. On the latter, a deep bass groove provides a counterweight to Murph’s vocal, as he sings about losing his mind - or wanting to, perhaps. He’s trying to keep a grip on something solid, but it’s slipping out of reach. Sometimes you just need a little break from yourself. Many of the Wombats fans can appreciate that, it seems. In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein reports, with shockwaves rippling through the creative industries and fan communities as more and more allegations surfaced about artists, one Twitter user developed an antidote. “If anyone has any nice allegations against a celebrity that would be great too,” someone with the handle @BAKKOOONN tweeted. One by one amusing, heartwarming stories trickled through. The Wombats’ fans, never ones to rest on their laurels, joined the conversation. They posted tweets about the kindness of the band, their personability. Several of them mentioned Murph’s readiness to talk about mental illness, and to listen to them talk back. “On Facebook and Instagram and things like that we get a lot of nice messages. We try and make an effort to talk to our fans after every show - unless it’s been a fucking shit, awful show and I just want to curl up into my little coffin-slash-bunk on the bus and go to sleep - and I’m always more than happy to talk about it,” he says. “Depression and anxiety have affected me in fairly profound ways, and eighty percent of the population suffer from it at some point in their lives. I don’t understand why there’s such a stigma to it, and why we all just can’t talk about it if literally eight out of ten of us are gonna suffer from it in our lives.” He lets this thought hang in the air for a moment. Then, he says decisively; “We should at least feel eighty percent more confident to talk about it, anyway.” Until we’ve reached that point, at least there’s someone to sing the swan songs for us. P The Wombats’ album ‘Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life’ is out 9th February.
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REVIEWS THE OFFICIAL VERDICT ON BASICALLY EVERYTHING.
SHAME
SONGS OF PRAISE eeeee
WE DON’T PUT JUST ANY OLD BAND ON
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T H E C OV E R , YO U K N O W.
eople who judge books by the cover are a bunch of right ol’ fools, aren’t they?! If you’d heard about Shame through the core facts, here’s what you would have probably read: visceral punk, in your face live shows, comparisons with the Fat White Family and based in South London.
Shame are much more than that, and ‘Songs Of Praise’ is too – a staggering opus that finds them fully realised and confident in their skin, ready to tear down anything in their path with a record of undeniable importance. ‘Songs Of Praise’ is consistently on its toes, rolling with every punch. Opener ‘Dust On Trial’ lays the path with a ferocious intensity, seething with a riotous flair that could quite literally shake anyone onto their feet. It’s a sense of individuality and originality that makes it hit from the first
bell. ‘The Lick’, ‘Gold Hole’ and ‘Friction’ dare the listener to come forward, ripping apart conventions, touching upon society, love, fear and growing-up in a world bleaker than ever. It’s all delivered with a wink, sounding like Nick Cave setting-up shop in South London and peering out of the window. The menacing call of ‘Concrete’, the chewed-up hooks of ‘One Rizla’ and the back and forth chimes of ‘Tasteless’ that pile towards euphoria – Shame perfectly manage to sprinkle a flavour of every previous generation, but serve it up as their
own unabashed manifesto. Holding a mirror up to the world they’ve found themselves in, it’s a band discovering more at every moment – and that’s why it’s so exciting. It’s an album to click play on again and again, every time struck by its sheer strength. ’Songs Of Praise’ shouldn’t just be an essential listen for 2018, but one that’ll be looked back on as a moment where things changed. Gripping, rich and ready to drag you from your seat, people are going to know about Shame, and know exactly what they’re destined to become. Jamie Muir
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BRIAN FALLON
throwing back to a world that’s too often overlooked. Steven Loftin
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THE SPOOK SCHOOL
SLEEPWALKERS The underlying rawness from Brian Fallon’s prior incarnations is perfectly served by this new exploration into more swinging territory. His second solo outing, ‘Sleepwalkers’ is simply infectious. ‘If Your Prayers Don’t Get To Heaven’ cuts straight the chase, delivering a flawlessly soulful number - finger snaps included. From here on in it’s a non-stop dancing and swaying journey that will peck at every feeling you have. Brian is a master at finding melodies that dig deep into your heart. There are still moments of familiarity, but the real joy here lies in the ones that feel out of place. Soul and meaning are what Brian thrives on, and in ‘Sleepwalkers’ he’s found a step forward while
COULD IT BE DIFFERENT
eeee “Fuck you, I’m still alive,” sing The Spook School on the appropriately titled ‘Still Alive’, and for all the placard-waving platitudes, it gets to the nub of what makes the Scots quartet so bloody great. Hearton-sleeve and earnest, there’s an unwavering force to the message that underpins every track on ‘Could It Be Different?’ Whether it’s riffing off The Smiths or discussing topics of abusive relationships, masculinity and identity, ‘Could It Be Different?’ is witty and eloquent, filled with hooks and a matter-offact lyricism that softens the heavy themes. Rob Mair
THE GO! TEAM
SEMICIRCLE
eeeee The Go! Team burst into our lives as a Day-Glo riot of fun, a staple of the festival circuit and a guaranteed good-time band, perfect for shaking a leg like the world ain’t watching. Press play on ‘Semicircle’, and it’s clear the party is still going even after 14 years. ‘All The Way Live’ is all tooting horns, sassy vocals and downright glee, perfectly fitting into the ‘school marching band gone rogue’ aesthetic that the band hinted at in the early days of recording. The subtler moments such as ‘Chain Link Fence’ and ‘If There’s One Thing You Should Know’ are equally rewarding. Time to party like it’s 2004? Jenessa Williams
DREAM WIFE DREAM WIFE
HEY DAVID BREWIS FROM FIELD MUSIC, RECOMMEND US SOME STUFF Last good record you heard: I’ve been listening to the new, as-yet-unreleased, Slug album quite a lot because I’ve been helping to mix it. It’s bonkers. Favourite ever book: It’s been a long time since I reread it, but Island by Aldous Huxley is the book which had the biggest individual impact on me. It’s beautifully written, but it’s also bulging with philosophy and science. TV show you couldn’t live without: I have two small kids, so the best TV shows for me are the ones that keep them entertained and don’t make me want to pull my own fingernails out. My marginal favourite, just ahead of Sarah and Duck, is Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom. Best recent purchase: Ful medames with flatbread from Arabesque, an Egyptian restaurant in Sunderland. Totally delicious. Anything else you’d recommend? Room On The Broom may well be the greatest, most elegant book for young children ever written. P
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FIELD MUSIC OPEN HERE eeee
I
t’s been 13 years since Field Music’s debut appeared: a neat, geometric set marrying precision-tooled harmonies and sparse post-punk, expertly assembled for the most part by two brothers, Peter and David Brewis. Four albums have followed since, among solo digressions, soundtracks and collaborations, each seeming to bring players into the fold. ‘Open Here’ is a smaller, shorter album than the grand, Princeapproved ‘Commontime’, in much the same way as ‘Plumb’ followed the sprawling ‘(Measure)’ in double-concentrated form. But it’s a wide open one, with the ambition and scope to tackle themes large and small. The gleeful funk of ‘No King No Princess’ assures David’s son and daughter that they can “play with what you want and ... dress up how you want”, while ‘Daylight Saving’ is a wistful wish to reclaim as a couple the hours spent as parents. And it’s musically open too, with a supporting cast taking in strings, piccolo, flugelhorn and flute, and, particularly, the harmonies of the
lenty of bands set out to start a ruckus. Armed with a six string and a desire to make a bit of a din, they’re generally doomed to being ‘much better live’, occasionally reaching legendary status in their own minds if they’re able to stand still long enough to muster a cohesive thought. That’s not Dream Wife, though. Dream Wife are different. From their first brilliantly discordant steps, they’ve always felt that cut above. Not once has their passion felt forced or showy. From day one, they’ve been an assured, deliberate assault - every move calculated in the moment, matching pinpoint accuracy with the sparks of immediacy. Their debut album isn’t a roll of the
FALL OUT BOY
MA N I Cornshed Sisters and Pete Fraser’s saxes - the grinding baritone driving the elastic ‘Share A Pillow’ or ‘Daylight Saving’’s reflective, sympathetic solo. It all culminates in the glorious finale, ‘Find A Way To Keep Me’, awash with cascading strings, flutes and trumpets. But it’s not all quite so busy. Single ‘Count It Up’ is one of the sparsest, and best, things here, beginning with a skeletal frame of synths and drums and nailing on a plea to add up all the things we should be grateful for: holidays, work, drinkable water… 13 years on, it’s as clear as ever that Field Music should be somewhere near the top of that list. Rob Mesure
A
dice, but instead, a laser-guided WMD. ‘Let’s Make Out’ throws down a challenge, impossibly cool but never aloof. ‘Hey Heartbreaker’ - already a banger of legendary proportions - is shined up to hit new levels. Dream Wife aren’t just starting the party. They’re closing it down too. Stephen Ackroyd
RAE MORRIS
SOMEONE OUT THERE
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If there’s one thing that Fall Out Boy can’t be accused of, it’s standing still. Since reanimating themselves from beyond their ‘hiatus’ grave, they’ve returned a different band. Increasingly playing in more chart-friendly, mainstream waters, Pete Wentz and Co. have admittedly never been a cult affair. Still, ‘M A N I A’ pushes those tendencies further than ever before, from the oh-so-now Latin shuffle of ‘Hold Me Tight (Or Don’t)’ to the fist-pumping triumphalism of ‘Last Of The Real Ones’. The real trick is that Fall Out Boy haven’t moved, so much as their peers remain tied to a sound that never evolved. Rock’s future looks increasingly purple. Dan Harrison
Rae Morris’ debut album was a solid affair. Even that might undersell it somewhat, in all honesty. What it wasn’t - even by the biggest stretch of the imagination - was a marker for an artist about to deliver one of the most exciting, essential pop records of 2018. And yet here we are, kicking off a new year with an album both inventive and fresh, but familiar and assured too. From the spring breeze of ‘Atletico (The Only One)’ to the twinkle-toed, heavyweight punching bop of ‘Do It’, it’s an evolution that skips several steps. Rae Morris belongs in the big leagues now. Underestimate her at your peril. Dan Harrison DOWN WITH BORING
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