** PLUS **
PALE WAVES
DOWN WITH BORING
R E M I W O L F W A L L O W S
WALT DISCO
BEEN STELLAR
AURORA
BECKY HILL
RACHEL CHINOURIRI
SEA GIRLS
+ LOADS MORE
ISSUE 89 · JULY 2024 · READDORK.COM
INDEX
BACK ISSUES! WANT TO COMPLETE YOUR COLLECTION AND GRAB DORK COVERS WITH ALL YOUR FAVES? GET ‘ONLINE’ AND HEAD TO SHOP.READDORK.COM AND FIND OUR COMPLETE BACK CATALOGUE, AVAILABLE WHILE THEY LAST.
ISSUE 89 | JULY 2024 | READDORK.COM | DOWN WITH BORING
Hiya, Dear Reader.
Pinch yourselves, because the scorching July edition of Dork is so jam-packed with musical brilliance, you might just think you’ve come down with a serious case of sunstroke. But fear not, it’s all deliciously real - and we’re inviting you to dive right in and join the fun. Leading the charge is the technicolor dreamweaver herself, Remi Wolf, whose new album ‘Big Ideas’ sees her levelling up as pop’s boldest visionary. Remi’s straight-up erasing boundaries with an album that’s brighter - and hotter - than the sun. Next up, Wallows certainly aren’t suffering from a case of the Difficult Third Album with their new record ‘Model’. Grabbing the listener with a potent cocktail of 2000s indie references and piston-powered choruses, Wallows are every inch a modern guitar band. Rounding out our cover stars are Wunderhorse, the alt-rock troubadours whose second album ‘Midas’ turns pain into pure gold. Recorded at Nirvana’s hallowed ‘In Utero’ studio, it’s a raw, unflinching portrait of a band coming into their own. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve also got the poetic catharsis of Rachel Chinouriri, the indie anthems of Sea Girls, the skyscraping dance-pop of Becky Hill, the gritty city soundscapes of Been Stellar, the otherworldly musings of Aurora, and the glam-pop audacity of Walt Disco. And there’s more! We’re diving deep into the soul-baring confessionals of Victoria Canal, the feral energy of scene shakers Divorce, the unapologetic bimbocore of Scene Queen, the absurdist electro-slash-hip-hop-slash-whatever of Sad Night Dynamite, the heart-on-sleeve storytelling of Nell Mescal, the uncompromising hardcore of Knocked Loose, the genre-blurring introspection of Nilüfer Yanya, and the cinematic rock of rising stars Picture Parlour. Plus - PLUS - Pale Waves are back! Back!! Back!!! We caught up with them as they played a not-so-secret gig under an assumed name at the most exciting Dork’s Night Out so far. We work out everything we know about Lorde’s L4, round out some tasty facts about former Dork cover star Sabrina Carpenter, rank our Garys in celebration of Blossoms’ new album, plus do some maths to work out if we could throw a pop star over a pub. Yes, we’re being serious. In our Hype section, we’re spotlighting the next generation of game-changers. From the brilliance of our latest Most Exciting New Band, Soft Launch to the lush harmonies of Tiny Habits, the viral pop provocations of Chinchilla, the boundary-pushing altpop of King Isis, the Celtic-indie fusion of Brógeal, the youthful indie rock of Cardinals, the retro-tinged Swedish charm of Girl Scout, and the post-punk energy of Radio Free Alice - we’re rammed with acts setting the agenda for what’s to come. And of course, we couldn’t forget to sink our teeth into the biggest records of the month, with verdicts on new releases from Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, and more. So crank up the volume, slap on the SPF, and let’s make this a summer to remember. Festival season? We don’t know her*. The only party we need is right here, within these sweat-drenched pages. It’s going to be a scorcher!
STEPHEN ACKROYD ‘EDITOR’ @STEPHENACKROYD
* We do in fact know festival season. There’s loads of festivals too. You’re welcome.
4. DORK
readdork.com EDITOR STEPHEN ACKROYD DEPUTY EDITOR VICTORIA SINDEN ASSOCIATE EDITOR ALI SHUTLER CONTRIBUTING EDITORS JAKE HAWKES, JAMIE MUIR, MARTYN YOUNG SCRIBBLERS ABIGAIL FIRTH, CIARAN PICKER, DAN HARRISON, FINLAY HOLDEN, KELSEY MCCLURE, NEIVE MCCARTHY, REBECCA KESTEVEN, SAM TAYLOR, STEVEN LOFTIN SNAPPERS BLACKSOCKS, BROCK FETCH, DEREK BREMNER, FRANCES BEACH, GEORGINA HURDSFIELD, IZZY LEACH, JACOB FLANNERY, JAKE HASELDINE, JENNIFER MCCORD, KELSI LUCK, LAUREN HARRIS, MOLLY DANIEL, OLLIE RIDDOCH, PATRICK GUNNING, SAM COR, SARAH LOUISE BENNETT, WANDA MARTIN
PUBLISHED FROM WELCOMETOTHEBUNKER.COM
TOP TEN. 6. 8. 9.
DIVORCE TOMMY LEFROY LØLØ
JUICE. 10. 12. 12. 14. 16. 16. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 24. 25. 25. 26. 28.
PALE WAVES SAD NIGHT DYNAMITE HONEY REVENGE NELL MESCAL KNOCKED LOOSE SOUND OFF NILÜFER YANYA LORDE BLOSSOMS PICTURE PARLOUR VICTORIA CANAL SABRINA CARPENTER LIP FILLER SCENE QUEEN TEENAGE KICKS: SPRINTS A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... ELLIE BLEACH
28.
PHOEBE GREEN
FESTIVALS. 30. 30.
TRUCK FESTIVAL ELECTRIC CASTLE
HYPE. 32. 33. 34. 34. 35. 36. 36. 37.
SOFT LAUNCH TINY HABITS KING ISIS GIRL SCOUT CARDINALS CHINCHILLA RADIO FREE ALICE BRÓGEAL
FEATURES. 38. 44. 46. 48. 54. 56. 58.
WUNDERHORSE RACHEL CHINOURIRI WALT DISCO REMI WOLF BEEN STELLAR BECKY HILL WALLOWS
64. 66.
AURORA SEA GIRLS
INCOMING. 68. 69. 69. 70. 70. 71.
CHARLI XCX BRING ME THE HORIZON OSCAR APOLLO TWENTY ONE PILOTS NORMANI BILLIE EILISH
GET OUT. 72. 73. 74. 75. 75. 76. 76. 77.
NELL MESCAL LIVE AT LEEDS OLIVIA RODRIGO ENGLISH TEACHER STONE’S THROW THE GREAT ESCAPE SWIM DEEP DOT TO DOT
BACKPAGE. 78.
MASTER PEACE
UNIT 10, 23 GRANGE ROAD, HASTINGS, TN34 2RL 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.
SOMEDAY, NOW UK TOUR CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF GIVE UP & TRANSATLANTICISM
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
TEENAGE FANCLUB SATURDAY 24 AUGUST
UTILITA ARENA CARDIFF BY ARRANGEMENT WITH CAA
ART BRUT 29.10.24 LONDON 25.11.24 BRISTOL
OMEARA STRANGE BREW
SOLD OUT SOLD OUT
25.11.24 Margate Lido 26.11.24 Brighton Concorde 2 28.11.24 Southampton 1865 ADDED DUE TO DEMAND 29.11.24 Bristol SWX 30.11.24 Sheffield Foundry 02.12.24 Manchester New Century Hall 03.12.24 Glasgow St Luke’s 04.12.24 Leeds Irish Centre 05.12.24 Birmingham Castle & Falcon ADDED DUE TO DEMAND 05.02.25 LONDON KOKO the New Album - Someday, Now - Coming Soon
Saturday 26 October
Electric Brixton London by arrangement with Earth
katyjpearsonmusic.com a crosstown concerts & friends presentation by arrangement with ATC Live
T I C K E T S
plus very special guests
A V A I L A B L E
F R O M
CROSSTOWNCONCERTS.SEETICKETS.COM �CROSSTOWN_LIVE
�CROSSTOWNCONCERTS
�CROSSTOWNCONCERTS
COVER STORY
38. DORK
WUNDERHORSE
SHEDDING SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS, WUNDERHORSE CHANNEL
FRUSTRATIONS
INTO
BULLISH
DEFIANCE
WITH
THEIR
BLISTERING SECOND ALBUM ‘MIDAS’.
by FINLAY HOLDEN. photography by DEREK BREMNER.
READDORK.COM 39.
COVER STORY
by MARTYN YOUNG. photography by DEREK BREMNER.
ON HER SECOND ALBUM ‘BIG IDEAS’, REMI WOLF DIVES HEAD-FIRST INTO A WHIRLWIND OF EMOTIONS AND EXPERIENCES, CRAFTING A GENRE-BENDING MASTERPIECE THAT SHOWCASES JUST WHY SHE’S ONE OF THE VERY BEST POP STARS ‘AROUND’.
48. DORK
REMI WOLF
“I
t’s been an absolutely wild ride.” Remi Wolf has been busy, very busy, putting in the pop star hours as she notches up show after show and highlight after highlight, all the while continuing to establish herself as one of the most brilliantly colourful and creative minds in pop. “I’ve been doing this now for five years, which is crazy; that’s a significant portion of my life by this point,” she says almost breathlessly from a lovely leafy park in early summer Berlin, where she’s on tour supporting Olivia Rodrigo and sprinkling the seeds of her really very excellent second album ‘Big Ideas’. Remi has crammed an awful lot into those five years, first emerging with her own brand of lo-fi idiosyncratic alt-pop jams in 2019 and her
first EP, ‘You’re A Dog!’. What was immediately clear was that Remi was a gloriously exuberant and vibrant character. However, some of that playfulness masked all the hard work and sacrifice behind the quirkiness as Remi sought to navigate through the crowded and demanding pop space of the 2020s. “I feel like even after five years I’m still learning what I like, what I don’t like. I’m still learning how I operate best in every capacity when it comes to making music, touring, communicating with my team, having a social life and taking care of myself,” she reflects. Taking care of herself is a major thing for Remi, especially considering some of her past issues with alcohol and pushing herself physically in her past life as an actual Olympic athlete, skiing at the Youth Olympic Games.
READDORK.COM 49.
COVER STORY
ANYT 58. DORK
WALLOWS
TIME, WALLOWS ARE RIDING HIGH ON CONFIDENCE AND CREATIVITY WITH THEIR THIRD ALBUM ‘MODEL’, A LEAN, MEAN INDIE-POP MACHINE THAT SHOWCASES THEIR GROWTH AS A BAND.
by ABIGAIL FIRTH.
photography by DEREK BREMNER.
READDORK.COM 59.
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