Dork, March 2020 by Dork

This ship is unsinkable.

Issue 41 March 2020 readdork.com

All round to...

Sports

Team

‘s

20’s most chaotic Moving in with 20

new band.

RAE JEPSE N! MORE! GANG! THE ORIELL ES! CAVET OWN! CARLY CIRCA WAVES ! CONAN GRAY! THE MAGIC

CAGE THE ELEPHANT FEBRUARY UK TOUR SAINT PHNX FEBRUARY UK TOUR MARCH TORS 13 SCALA, LONDON MARCH GRACE CARTER UK TOUR MARCH PALACE UK TOUR SCARYPOOLPARTY MARCH UK TOUR / APRIL DERMOT KENNEDY MARCH UK TOUR JOESEF APRIL/MAY UK TOUR MAY JC STEWART 20 SCALA, LONDON MAY HOCKEY DAD UK TOUR MAY KAWALA UK TOUR L DEVINE MAY UK TOUR

INDEX

** BAND INDEX ** BAND INDEX **

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March 2020 | readdork.com | Down With Boring

Ø4 Intro 22 Hype 28 Features

1Ø

ED’S LETTER

SPORTS TEAM

Take cover, Dear Reader! Sports Team have a debut album to deliver, and they’re not doing it quietly.

Having broken the Gen-Z Internet, it’s time for Conan Gray to go IRL famous. Let us tell you a story…

4Ø

CIRCA WAVES

One album, two emotionfuelled parts, a plan to do big things. Circa Waves are back with a full-length with a difference.

How do you deal with a band like Sports Team? No, seriously - how? Regular readers of this parish will be all too familiar with our favourite bunch of indie troublemakers, but it was enough to have Team Dork choking on our postXmas brussels sprouts when we found ourselves caught in frontman Alex Rice’s crossfire in a Guardian interview (Alex, if we wanted ‘social shares’, we wouldn’t pick Shame to hype - just a tip, lad). Like, seriously, we thought we were mates? Still. We don’t hold grudges. We’ve still let them have the cover of this very issue, as they reveal their debut album is incoming imminently. You can’t clip a band’s wings and expect them to fly high. As we pop round their new gaff the day after they’ve got the keys, expect fireworks. Elsewhere this month, we’re getting sad happy with Circa Waves, discoing down with The Orielles, introducing the quite delightful Cavetown, and living in the fast (bowling) lane with LIFE. Enjoy!

S tephen

FICKLE FRIENDS

A band member down and a new album ‘on the way’, Natti gives us the rundown on what’s to come.

THE MAGIC GANG

Back in action with a swing-o-riffic new banger, obviously The Magic Gang are talking... flags?

DAY6

Doing things their own way, DAY6 prove that there's more than one way to cut the K-pop cake.

CAVETOWN

Robin Skinner is a big deal, but you might only about to find out.

THE ORIELLES The Orielles have never been a band to play by the rules, so obviously they’re up for touring in outer space. Why wouldn’t they?

6Ø

‘EDITOR’ @STEPHENACKROYD

LIFE

Taking a band bowling, at a Butlin’s? Yeah. That sounds like a Dork feature, doesn’t it?

P.S. please like and RT our tweets. #socialshares.

Liam Gallagher

Alfie Templeman

LIFE

Alice Glass

Lily Moore

Allie X

Little Dragon

Anna Calvi

Living Things

Another Sky

17 59, 60

Loose Fit

21 21

Au/Ra

Love Fame Tragedy

Bad Sounds

Low Hummer

Be Your Own Pet

Marika Hackman

Beach Bunny

Marina

Marsicans

20 27

Best Ex

Blossoms

21, 54

Matilda Mann

Bloxx

21, 61

Milk Teeth

Bombay Bicycle Club

21, 54

Mitski

Bon Iver

Muna

Boniface

21, 25, 48

Bright Eyes Bring Me The Horizon Brooke Bentham

My Chemical Romance

Carly Rae Jepsen

11 22

Celeste

Cherry Glazerr

Christine and the Queens

21 40

Circa Waves

Conan Gray

Courtney Love

Creeper

21, 54

DAY6

Declan McKenna

Diet Cig

Ditz

DMA's

Dream Wife

Drug Store Romeos

Dry Cleaning

Dua Lipa

Empress Of

Enter Shikari

3, 13

Eve Owen

Ezra Furman

Feet

Fickle Friends

FKA Twigs

Foals

Fontaines D.C.

Friedberg

Georgia

Ghostpoet

Girl In Red Green Day

14 16, 50

Grimes

Guest Singer

Haim

HANYA Hayley Williams Hazel English Hinds Inhaler Jack Garratt

Mush

BTS

Circa Waves

Mura Masa

24, 51

Cavetown

25 4, 51 27 6 19, 20, 53 9

50 8, 62

Mystery Jets

17, 57

NAAZ

Noisy

Nova Twins

50, 59

Orchards

Oscar Lang

Our Girl

Pale Waves

Peggy Sue

Penelope Isles

Phoebe Green

Pongo

Poppy

Porches

Pottery

PVA

Rina Sawayama

20, 51

Royal Blood

Sea Girls

21, 49

Self Esteem

Sfven

Sheafs

Sinead O'Brien

SKYND

SOAK

Soccer Mommy Sorry

14, 21, 49 20, 53, 54

Sports Team

3, 20, 28, 51

Stormzy

Summer Camp

Sunflower Bean

Supergrass

Surfbort

Tame Impala The 1975

21, 48 6, 51, 58

The Aubreys The Big Moon The Jesus & Mary Chain

14 9, 21 59

The Kills

The Kooks

The Long Blondes

The Magic Gang

The Mysterines

ON THE DORK STEREO THIS MONTH...

Jehnny Beth

The Naked and Famous

Jimothy Lacoste

The Orielles

Jockstrap

The Snuts

SPORTS TEAM

MILK TEETH

Joesef

The Streets

Jonathan Wilson

The Strokes

Ever since we took them to Brighton pier and made them break teeth on sticks of rock, we've had a soft spot for Milk Teeth. Frequent line-up changes and label shifts later, they're finally returning with their second album. It's really, really good.

Just Mustard

Thyla

Kaiser Chiefs

Tove Lo

Kali Uchis

Two Tribes

Kawala

Tyler The Creator

Kendrick Lamar

Vagabon

Kim Gordon

Vistas

L Devine

Warpaint

Waxahatchee

Wide Awake

Deep Down Happy Everything you ever thought you knew, Dear Reader, is... well... actually pretty damn accurate. The most concentrated, 100% proof version of 'Le Team Sportif' is incoming. Nothing will ever be the same again.

ENTER SHIKARI

Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible Well, well, well. Enter Shikari aren't mucking about with their new album, are they? Weird, sort of wonderful and definitely packed with stuff to say, it's certainly fascinating.

Milk Teeth

Lapsley Lauv

21, 51

Lawrence Rothman

Yakima

Lewis Capaldi

Your Smith

READDORK.COM

CONAN GRAY

48 Incoming 52 Festivals

1990s

INTRO

KEVIN!

THE BEATING HEART OF POP

The big one

You may have noticed, Dear Reader, that at various points during ‘Simmer’, our Hayley yelps (yes, yelps!) the name ‘Kevin!’. She claims it’s actually ‘give in’. But it isn’t. It’s Kevin. From Home Alone.

SIMMER DOWN Hayley Williams is going it solo, and she’s brought the bops with her. Photo: Lindsey Byrnes

EJOICE, DEAREST READER. those out on readdork.com now. Hayley ‘from Paramore’ Williams Speaking to BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, Hayley is ‘dropping’ explained the album title is “part of a debut solo a lyric in ‘Simmer’. INCOMING! album this “A while ago, I went to this spring, and it’s cranial-sacral masseuse. Maybe a very, very, very exciting. lot of people might consider that a Arriving under the title ‘Petals kind of woo woo witch doctor but For Armor’, it’s out on 8th May. I’ll take any help I can get. I was “Some of my proudest moments laying on her table and I started as a lyricist happened while having these weirdly creepy visions HAYLEY writing ‘Petals For Armor’,” our of flowers growing out of me – and WILLIAMS Hazza explains. “I was able not in a beautiful way, it was very Petals For Armor I to get my hands a little dirtier painful and very grotesque but I than usual when it came to eeeee kind of realised in that moment instrumentation. I’m in a band There's nothing more there was a lot that was trying so with my favourite musicians so I exciting than not knowing hard to grow out of me and it was never really feel the need to step quite what to expect. When going to hurt to do it. the same-old-same-old into a role as a player when it “I think, for me, it’s somewhat is thrown from the table, comes to Paramore records. This of a mantra to try and stay soft in anything is possible. While project, however, benefited from a really, really hard world and feel Paramore ripped up and a little bit of musical naïveté and pain and let all of it come to you rewrote their rulebook on rawness and so I experimented and try and put out something that 2017's 'After Laughter', quite a bit more. I made this can redeem it all, even if it’s ugly at Hayley Williams' first steps with some of the closest people into the limelight on her first. The lyric is “wrap yourself in to me. Their respective talents own are something else petals for armor” cos I kept feeling entirely. really shine bright throughout like the way for me to protect The first five tracks from the record.” myself best is to be vulnerable and her 'Petals For Armor' The first tasters of the album be OK with having a lot of pain at album, compiled into an are already out, in the form of the certain times and also feeling a lot early-drop EP, set the stall 5-track ‘Petals For Armor I’ EP. of joy at certain times. for an artist who sits in It’s led by first single ‘Simmer’, “As long as I’m staying soft to a whole different sonic which is Really Very Good those things and I’m open to letting universe to the one from Indeed. Written alongside her those things in and out of me then I which she originated. Paramore bandmates Taylor York Lead single 'Simmer' is a actually can survive the world a lot textured, beating heart and touring bass-player Joey easier than if I stay hard and with of rage delivered through Howard, the former also took on my fists up all the time.” gritted teeth - controlled production duties. Truly a family Don’t worry though - this doesn’t but straining at the leash. affair. sound like the end for the day job. 'Leave It Alone' could be Elsewhere, there’s the “I do believe when it’s time for us an 'In Rainbows' Radiohead Portis-slash-Radiohead-y to make the next Paramore record cut, while 'Cinnamon' is ‘Leave It Alone’, stone cold bop there will be just as transparent both delightfully weird ‘Cinnamon’ and the really quite lyrics and hopefully really visceral and a stone cold bop. Of steamy ‘Sudden Desire’. You can course, Hayley isn't entirely feelings that come across,” Hayley on her own - the family of read our thoughts on it all in that muses. “I wouldn’t have had access collaborators she's built little box to the right. Spoiler; it’s to this stuff if we didn’t just pause around her hold her up impressive stuff. and get quiet for a minute.” P high - but the star power Hayley Williams’ new EP ‘Petals As well as the EP, there’s also is undeniable. As for the For Armor I’ is streaming now. a succession of swanky videos, rest of 'Petals For Armor'? Debut solo album ‘Petals For telling a weird, twisting, high Expect the unexpected. Armor’ is out on 8th May. concept story. You can check Stephen Ackroyd

MARCH 2020

DORK

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INTRO

TO THE MANOR BORN

Q+A

REBUILDING THE NAKED AND FAMOUS

'Rockers' Boston Manor have a brand new album coming out, 'FYI'. It's called 'Glue', and will be with us on 1st May. Before that, you can check out the first single 'Everything Is Ordinary' on readdork.com now.

T PEACHY KEEN

Sorry, Ditz have released a new single on what now?

THE 1975 HAVE ANNOUNCED A SUPER GREEN, SUPER HUGE LONDON SHOW

HE 1975 HAVE ANNOUNCED A huge outdoor London show for later this year. The band will put on their own one day event in Finsbury Park on 11th July, with a massive supporting cast including Charli XCX, Clairo, Pale Waves, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Cavetown and Deb Never. As well as a packed line-up, the show is set to be “the greenest Finsbury Park has ever seen”, according to a press release. A number of measures are being put in place to make it more environmentally sustainable, including: + For the first time ever in the UK, planned, traceable sustainably sourced HVO fuel from Europe will be used to power an entire event – bringing down the carbon footprint by 90% + It’ll be the first paperless show in Finsbury Park – all tickets will be digital + The 1975 sustainable merch range available at show – fans are encouraged to bring old The 1975 t shirts (or those of any other band) to be reprinted with new designs + Festival Republic will plant 1,975 trees throughout the surrounding boroughs of Haringey, Hackney and Islington in partnership with Trees for Cities + The 1975 have pledged to plant trees across the globe for every ticket sold through One Tree Planted initiative + Hybrid powered generators with solar arrays will be deployed, along with reducing generator sizes from extensive monitoring carried out in 2019 + Food vendors will operate a traffic light system highlighting the carbon footprint of each meal sold That's all nice, isn't it? Tickets are on sale 'now'. The 1975's new album 'Notes On A Conditional Form' is set for release on 24th April. P

MARCH 2020

DORK

BANGER!

They're not just announcing shows. The 1975 are also dropping new music too, including another cut from 'Notes On A Conditional Form'... THE 1975 Me & You Together Song

You wouldn’t blame The 1975 if they collapsed under the weight of their own hype. And yet the latest taster couldn’t be further from it. ‘Me & You Together Song’ is lovely. While ‘People’ was a wrecking ball, and ‘Fail State of Mind’ basked in the glow of street lights, here the focus is far more personal. “I’ve been in love with her for ages,” Matty Healy laments, winding a tale of not-quite-hidden feelings and an inability to get the words out. Less a song about true love, it’s more besotted with the idea - intense passions or mistyeyed memories of the one that got away. Domestic dreams and the everyday are romanticised into hazy future nostalgia, always just slightly out of reality’s grasp. Jangling guitars and 90s aesthetics reign supreme; the opening track on a thousand soppy teenage mixtapes yet to be made. When the temptation would be to go big, The 1975 have turned inwards. ‘Me & You Together Song’ aches with yearning, but never feels defeated Sometimes the most stressful situations bring out the best in all of us. Stephen Ackroyd

ODERN MUSIC requires bands to do some pretty out there things in order to cut through the noise, Like, you know, release cover versions of songs via mouldy old fruit. As "a shrewd nod to the transient nature of all things", new buzzsters Ditz' cover of Peaches 'Fuck The Pain Away' is only available via a time-sensitive download code printed on a decomposing peach, which is currently being livestreamed online from Alcopop! HQ, presumably because the Royal Mail don't deliver that sort of thing. “It’s such a classic," the band say. "Loud, proud, obnoxious and just plain funny. With 'Fuck The Pain Away', Peaches gave the masses some of punk’s sex positivity. You can’t tell me that pop music today would be the same without Peaches, even though it doesn’t have half of her wit. Basically we just did this cover so that Peaches would adult-adopt us."

GOOD TIME Hinds are back with a brand new album. Woo-andindeed-hoo!

INDS' NEW ALBUM 'THE Prettiest Curse' is coming this Spring. Due for release on 3rd April via Lucky Number, it'll be the group's third full-length following 2016 debut 'Leave Me Alone' and 2018's 'I Don't Run'. The news arrives alongside a video for 'Good Bad Times', of which Carlotta Cosials explains: "You know that part in the movies when two people on a relationship are living complete opposite realities? When one thinks everything is great and the other one is about to drown? 'Good Bad Times' is the struggle of communication, time difference, distance. Like the two sides of a coin. Two sides close together that can’t be separated, even though they seem to be completely different."

HE NAKED AND FAMOUS OF 2020 are rediscovering themselves. After a tumultuous period of personal ups and downs, line-up changes and fatigue, founding members A lisa Xayalith a nd T hom Powers have been intent on working through some of the baggage that comes from the ever-challenging trials of life, and ten-plus years in a band. ‘Recover’ - their new album, due this May - is a laser-pointed statement of intent. Largely autobiographical, it sees the pair embrace healing head-on, while taking their take in indie-pop to fresh new places. Hey guys, how are you? Alisa: So far, 2020 has felt exciting. We’ve both been working on music for The Naked and Famous for the past two years in tandem with various other projects; it’s exciting to see some of this work finally make its way out of the studio and into the world. How have you been since ‘Simple Forms’? Thom: Up and down - lots of soul searching. We needed to rebuild ourselves after that album. While we’ve been quiet publicly, we’ve been through a lot personally. As ‘Passive Me, Aggressive You’ turns 10, TNAF feels both like a new beginning, and a return to form. The world has almost certainly sped up, and we’re no longer young and naive, but grateful to still be here. What was your headspace like going into ‘Recover’? Thom: At first, we were at odds - on completely different pages. We finally hit our stride in the summer of 2018, when most of the new music and sonic-direction was established. The first song from this eureka-period was 'Recover'. It was an energising sonic palette and a mission statement for what this album was going to be about. How would you describe the record’s vibe? Alisa: [There's] a lot of optimism sewn throughout the songwriting, and it’s probably the most uplifting work we’ve done to date. I love how colourful these songs feel. P

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28 Rice to see you! To see you, Rice! (Ask your parents - Ed) MARCH 2020

DORK

ALL ROUND TO

Frantic live shows, provocative interviews (ahem - Ed), and an ability to wind up all the right people; there's no band quite like Sports Team. With debut album 'Deep Down Happy' just announced, and an invite to pop round their new house on the day they move in, Dork heads South to check in with indie's newest noisy neighbours. Words: Jake Hawkes. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

READDORK.COM

SPO RTS TEA M'S

36 MARCH 2020

DORK

Fade To Gray Having broken the Gen-Z Internet, it’s time for Conan Gray to go IRL famous. Let us tell you a story… Words: Jenessa Williams; Photos: Dillon Matthew

READDORK.COM

EMOTION

MBITION. It's been a word synonymous with Circa Waves. In every interview they've done with this here magazine, it's been a defining point that they're keen to underline. The continuous touring, writing and recording is all powered by that desire to reach bigger and bigger heights. Most importantly, they've not been

MARCH 2020

DORK

afraid to admit it. As Kieran Shudall takes in an afternoon in Brussels amid yet another European tour, it's something he recognises. "I think we're more ambitious than ever," he mulls. "We're playing bigger and bigger venues in Europe and America, we're doing all these things. We still want to play higher up on festivals, want to headline festivals one day too, and I thinkâ€Ś" He pauses. "I think my ambition is probably more secure in what

we're doing now. We have the potential to do the things we really want to do, and I'm quietly confident in how much we're building and building." It's easy to see why. After emerging as a pillar of the indie world over the past decade and a go-to number if you want memories captured for summer freedom, the past 12 months have seen quite a bit going on. The release of 'What's It Like Over There?' signalled a bold new step for the band, welcoming

Many bands would put their feet up having scored yet another Top 10 album, but not Circa Waves. Back with a new album less than 12 months after their last, frontman Kieran Shudall and Co. are in the form of their lives. Words: Jamie Muir.

SICKNESS READDORK.COM

can't

to MARCH 2020

DORK

dance 45

disco

Another night, another town. With their second album, The Orielles are set to burn this psychedelic disco down. Words: Jasleen Dhindsa.

READDORK.COM

INCOMING THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE LATEST NEW RELEASES

TAME IMPALA The Slow Rush

eeeee

EVIN PARKER finds himself in fresh waters, both in terms of spirit and standing. With the indisputable greatness of ‘Currents’, he not only created Tame Impala’s greatest album but also a record that stands head and shoulders above the rest as arguably one of the defining records of the past decade. It’s taken Tame Impala across the globe as a powerhouse festival headliner, and arena-filling titan, all with an emphatic sound that has reconnected new generations with psychedelica in a way most didn’t think was even possible. So the question now goes “how do you follow that?”. It’s something ‘The Slow Rush’ wears in expectation but quickly dispenses of. As a next move on the Tame Impala chessboard, Kevin Parker has pulled out a bold one. Whereas ‘Currents’ was packed with synth-pop gems that unravelled in countless directions, ‘The Slow Rush’ feels like Kevin Parker bringing that magic down to earth with an assured and

confident record full of contrasting sounds and styles. The beauty is that they fit so effortlessly into each and every groove. ‘Is It True’ bounces pure disco-funk against the R&B builds and space-house heights of ‘Breathe Deeper’. The hands-in-the-air synth drive of ‘Instant Destiny’ catches the eye of the striding ‘Lost In Yesterday’ - the latter finding Kevin Parker embraced in the time of his life. Fully immersed in itself, its emotional core reverberates larger - a journey through time both in nostalgic smiles and jealous hope in its joys and despairs. Screaming at the world (‘It Might Be Time’), gazing into the future (‘One More Year’) and struggling with loss (‘Posthumous Forgiveness’) all play their undeniable part in an album that in Tame Impala’s greatest moment of success, stops for a second and looks within Kevin Parker. He finds himself in fresh new waters, but with ‘The Slow Rush’ Tame Impala are walking on the surface with an untouchable confidence. Jamie Muir

AN ASSURED AND CONFIDENT RECORD FULL OF CONTRASTING SOUNDS AND STYLES RECOMMENDED MURA MASA R.Y.C.

Fusing together an almost endless array of influences and genres, 'R.Y.C.' is the sound of an artist evolving from the beats and sounds of the past. Mura Masa has set the bar for the decade ahead. MARCH 2020

DORK

THE BEST ALBUMS YOU NEED TO CATCH UP WITH NOW

THE BIG MOON Walking Like We Do

'Walking Like We Do' - the long-awaited second album from those loveable scamps The Big Moon, is really proper great. Already one of the albums of the year, and we're only just getting started.

GENGHAR Sanctuary

'Sanctuary' sees Gengahr explore further afield from their usual mild-yet-sweet dream pop. It's a monumental shift in the right direction - a record that's boldly more expansive and electrifyingly curious.

FRANCES QUINLAN Likewise

After seven years in underground indie rock darlings Hop Along, Frances Quinlan's debut solo album combines the best of human emotion. Like a knife, she cuts straight to the bone. A striking, impeccable voice.

BONIFACE Boniface

eeeee Life is an expansive network of moments that crib together. Boniface has crafted a debut album that brings them all vividly to life through the help of soaring bops and delicate jams, entrusting the emotional dissonance to the reaction the music demands. Something magical happens when these vignettes play out; the realism cuts through, no matter how stark or poignant, all backed by glowing electro-indie that hits somewhere nicely between the 80s euphoria of M83 and the intricate delicacy of Blaenavon. Given some of these tracks have been kicking about for a few years now, the additional members to the club have created a debut that’s more than befitting of a world more open and honest, and a killer soundtrack to boot. Steven Loftin

JONATHAN WILSON Dixie Blur

eeeee Strap on your cowboy hat, Dear Reader, because its time to head on down that Old Town Road. Taking his cues from elegant beast Father John Misty (no surprises here, given Jonathan has helped produce all of Misty’s albums), Jonathan Wilson croons of love and laments through his acoustic guitar, with a bit of intense, feels-likehe’s-staring-into-youreyes balladeer-ing. If country music isn’t your bag, then you won’t find much here other than a sad man and a guitar. However, if you’re into the storytelling, rootin’ and tootin’ sounds of pedal steels, and the metaphorical crackle of a campfire, then you’re in for a treat. There are

SOCCER MOMMY Color Theory few tracks that pick up the pace, ready for a hoe down (‘In Heaven Making Love’, ‘El Camino Real’), and you’ve got some that go all-in on the cacophony of a stadium ballad (‘Enemies’), but mostly, they’ve all got heart, which makes for a sincere, if long, listen. Steven Loftin

SUMMER CAMP Romantic Comedy

eeeee

SEA GIRLS

Under Exit Lights EP

eeeee

"It's so hard to find a song to put on when they're all about either falling in or falling out, and I just want to stay here in the middle dancing around in the shadows," declare Peggy

Sue in the mantra-like 'In The Shallows'. What the follow up to 2014's triumphant 'Choir of Echoes' does is capture the very essence of those aforementioned shadows, and make them look almost inviting. On 'Vices' Peggy Sue are taking your everyday clichés of love and heartbreak, and embracing them with open arms. Ruminations over why things ended ('In Dreams') are offset by distracting thoughts ('Remainder Blues') and make for a sense of reverie throughout ethereal fleeting between the sanguine and the sombre. The London-based duo may have taken a four-year hiatus from writing together to focus on, and find inspiration from, their other musical projects but you would never have guessed by the ease in which the songs flow. Whether conforming to the conventions of garage rock; slipping into the haziness of shoegaze; or tapping into the jazzier side of their wealthy back catalogue, Peggy Sue have a knack for making a variety of music which allows you to purge all kinds of emotions. Tyler Damara Kelly

Indie is an underrated beast. Sure, it can pack venues and send excited young kids scrambling for the merch table, but guitar bands don't necessarily get that same crack of the whip when it comes to becoming critical darlings. That's not something that should concern Sea Girls though. While

other new bands may be weirder or pushing more boundaries, they know how to push the buttons that - when push comes to shove - really matters. 'Ready For More' already sounds like a huge festival anthem. By the time 2020 closes up shop, expect them to be massive. Stephen Ackroyd

PEGGY SUE Vices

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eeeee When a band gets it right on their first album, it can set aside two different paths. There’s the path where the pressure gets too much and their attempts to “evolve” end up down the toilet. Then there’s the path where the flashes that shone on their first record are just an indicator for something even more dazzling. For The Orielles, that’s the one they’ve guided their motor down. More fluid and expressive, ‘Disco Volador’ dares to go where debut ‘Silver Dollar Moment’ wouldn’t. All jangling guitars, wistful skies shine bright throughout from a band continually adding depth of sound that makes you want to crack out the summer trunks and dive right on in. ‘Rapid i’ and its Ibiza piano lines swell into a shimmering diamond, while saxophones and riding waves collide into a mesmeric gift on ‘Memoirs Of Miso’. With a knack for heavenly harmonies throughout, the worlds of experimental and immediate combine. ‘Come Down On Jupiter’ and ‘Bobbi’s Second World’ (the latter already a famed live staple for the band) could be just as comfortable on the indie club dancefloor as it is plugged into bedroom sound systems. That sense of playful fun on ‘7th Dynamic Goo’ and ‘Space Samba (Disco Volador Theme)’ practically bursts into sunshine - a sense of innocence, hope and pure satisfaction that perfectly capture what The Orielles are doing differently. A bountiful next step for a band with a distinct voice, ‘Disco Volador’ is a record that shows the heart and soul of dancing into the sunrise. Jamie Muir

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OCCER Mommy may sound like the name of a super ironic snark rock band, but Sophie Allison’s music is anything but. Sincere, timely and unadorned, Allison crafts the sort of moody bedroom pop destined to soundtrack countless mornings spent staring through rainy window panes. Thanks to her dry humour, she comfortably has her cake and eats it. Thanks to her dry humour, she comfortably has her cake and eats it. If her 2018 breakthrough, ‘Clean’, showed a clear knack for catchy melodies and tautly-strung emotional autopsies, ‘Color Theory’ exhibits a developing degree of songwriting maturity. Sure, she may winkingly refer to herself as “The princess of screwing up” on ‘royal screw up’, but that’s just one of many apt metaphors for the self-doubt incurred by a toxic relationship. Even if the record is a slow burner at points, Allison consistently burns with an intensity. Regardless of her propensity for smouldering, ‘Bloodstream’ kicks the album off with a bang. Its raucous-yet-laid-back ‘90s slacker rock tone sends a clear message; everything is a little different, but the same. Certainly, there was nothing like the 7-minute

mini-epic ‘yellow is the color of my eyes’ on ‘Clean’, even if the tools she’s using are largely unchanged. What stands out is still Allison’s knack for crafting simple, wrenching compositions. As a lyricist, Allison is all limits and knots, each pithy observation pushing her one step closer to catharsis. Though there are some lovely poetic turns of phrase threaded through ‘Color Theory’, she lands her greatest shots when she’s incontestably blunt. The simple impact of the hook on ‘crawling in my skin’ which is (you guessed it) “Crawling in my skin” comes from the weight Allison’s strained vocal imbues it with. Thanks to her forthright honesty, it never feels forced. At ten tracks this is an explicitly restrained follow-up — the sign of an artist taking the difficult second album in their stride. The back half feels a little weaker than the first, but there’s a remarkable consistency that ensures all the component pieces are singing from the same hymn sheet. Though the emotions expressed might be broad, Allison’s unvarnished writing allows for moments of penetrating nuance. Her ability to laugh and cry at these reflections is what makes her such a charming talent. Blaise Radley

READDORK.COM

As inevitable as a second act break-up in the movies before a kiss in the final scene, this feels like it was always going to happen. Summer Camp have permanently sounded like they were made for a classic 80s teen movie, ever since their debut ‘Welcome To Condale’ first ushered in their string of lush indie pop moments. As the married couple began to explore different paths professionally, (Elizabeth Sankey moving into film-making, Jeremy Warmsley exploring film soundtracks), it seems only natural that the band have

returned to the studio for this, a companion piece to Sankey’s 2019 documentary of the same name. True to its title, the record affectionately explores every classic romcom staple before gently massaging them into the real world. ‘The Ugly Truth’ has no time for fireworks or love at first sight but keeps the romance all the same, while ‘When Danny Met John’ explores the kind of love and infatuation that lingers for decades. With a keen eye for the little moments that become the bedrock of a relationship, tracks like ‘You Complete Me’ are bound for couples’ playlists the world over. It is definitely going to hit Cupid’s target. Jamie MacMillan

THE ORIELLES Disco Volador

FESTIVALS

Live Report Eurosonic is important. It doesn't

matter if it doesn't usually show up on your calendar, Dear Reader. When it comes to how the European festival 'scene' works, it's a vital cog in a big old machine. At the start of every year, the 'industry' decamps to Groningen for what could only be described as an intercontinental version of The Great Escape. With the buzziest bands from around Europe jetting in to dodge the hundreds of bicycles that dominate the streets, we donned our best clogs and hit the streets to find what is taking flight in 2020. Words: Ali Shutler; Photos: Bart Heemskerk, Jorn Baars, Tom van Huisstede

Just Mustard MARCH 2020

DORK

FESTIVALS

Alfie Templeman

READDORK.COM

AKING OVER THE DUTCH CITY OF Groningen, Eurosonic is a music festival in the same vein as The Great Escape. Attracting bookers from 390 festivals, the showcase is a chance for bands to fill in their summer schedules as they take over 39 venues in the city centre and you know us, we love a big ol’ sip of new music. We start our Wednesday in a church, with the buoyant summer vibes of Alfie Templeman. Chilled out but never boring, it shimmers with a feel-good smirk and promises to let the good times roll. By the end of the night, we’re in the basement of Huize Maas, having our minds blown by SKYND. Like Nine Inch Nails on ecstasy, their industrial rave tells stories of true crime as masked members stalk the stage and crowd. There’s one song where SKYND just pretends to be a machine gun and annoyingly, it’s catchier than it has any right to be. We should probably leave but we can’t pull ourselves away. Anyway long story short, Eurosonic is absolute chaos. Inhaler better get used to a certain sort of carnage. The room is absolutely heaving and they’re not on for another 45 minutes. By the time they take to the stage, there’s barely room to reach Inhaler into your pocket and take out your phone, so all eyes are on the Dublin rockers as they tear into a sharp, succinct set of their greatest so far. ‘Ice Cream Sundae’ swaggers with confidence, ‘My Honest Face’ is playful and charming while new ‘un ‘We Have To Move On’ roars with ambition, as hype turns to promise. The crowd for Sinead O’ Brien is just as packed and while her intense poetic wanderings aren’t as pints-in-air as Inhaler, she demands just as much attention with her powerful musings and cinematic escapes. It’s enchanting stuff. Dry Cleaning’s wonky indie is a mesmerising affair. Scrappy and gnarled, there’s a grit to their everyday tales but there’s also a smirking gleam in its polished delivery. Sorry lean into the fuzzy rage of their swirling storytelling. Pristine one moment, gargantuan and messy the next, it’s an ever-shifting set that refuses to settle down while Just Mustard’s haunted play is a masterclass in control. Always pushing forward, the slow-builds and strobe-lit attacks flirt with bedlam but never get lost within it. Elsewhere, The Snuts’ hypercharged indie-rock kicks down doors at The Barn and throws open the dancefloor while Friedberg’s scrappy sunshine feels like the start of something brilliant. Fresh from picking up her Music Moves Europe Talent Award, NAAZ delivers a giddy set of pop bangers. Full of heartbreak and joy, her set is an all-too-brief introduction to a superstar before the emo pop of Au/Ra plays with the light. Saving the best for last though, Pongo’s closing set at the Grand Theatre is an absolute riot. Taking Kuduro music into the present day in the same way that Rosalia reworked flamenco, Pongo’s music is a carnival celebration of belonging. Because it’s a festival that champions new music, a lot of the acts at Eurosonic are still finding themselves onstage but Pongo knows exactly who she is. Fearless and out for fun, it’s the sort of show that everyone should experience. Once it’s over, we come back to reality with a bump that isn’t helped by the guy playing Oasis covers at the pub around the corner. It doesn’t matter where you go, turns out there’s always one. P

30 JUL - 2 AUG 2020

LOWTHER DEER PARK

THE BEAUTIFUL LAKE DISTRICT

FRIDAY 31 JUL

SUPERGRASS • CRAIG DAVID

PRESENTS

DMA'S • JUNGLE [DJ SET] • SHAGGY • THE MAGIC GANG

TS5

DUB PHIZIX & STRATEGY • REEF • THE MURDER CAPITAL • JAGUAR SKILLS • THE REYTONS HONEYBLOOD • PULLED APART BY HORSES • HEATHER SMALL • PHEOBE GREEN • JAMES HOLT DIRTY LACES • SLAMBOREE • MASSIVE WAGONS • NOVA TWINS • BLACK FUTURES • FREEAR DJ SET MR WILSON’S SECOND LINERS • THE SHE STREET BAND • DELAGRAVE • SPRINGFIELD & MANY MORE

SATURDAY 01 AUG

STEREOPHONICS • BLOSSOMS

JOHNNY MARR • ANDY C • PALE WAVES • THE ZUTONS

EASY LIFE • SISTER SLEDGE • ELVANA • NORTH BASE • FLAVA D • LEVELZ • THE ACADEMIC THE K'S • DUB PISTOLS • PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS • THE LATHUMS • EMILY BURNS MR MOTIVATOR • TOM MCGUIRE & THE BRASSHOLES • ELLYSSE MASON • THE ILLICITS • TONN PIPER CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL • WARGASM • HANDS OFF GRETEL • FLYNT • PAINT & MANY MORE

SUNDAY 02 AUG

FOALS • THE KOOKS

YOU ME AT SIX • HANNAH WANTS • 808 STATE • BILL BAILEY

SCOUTING FOR GIRLS • JADE BIRD • DJ YODA: HISTORY OF GAMING • LAURAN HIBBERD • THE HARA JAGUAR • EMERALD • MARIKA HACKMAN • THE LANCASHIRE HOTPOTS • AARON SMITH • LIINES HACKTIVIST • EVIL SCARECROW • NOSEBLEED • RETRO VIDEO CLUB • BANDAOKE • BARRIOKE SKINNY LISTER • SONIC BOOM SIX • BRAND NEW FRIEND • PROWLES • NOVABLOOD & MANY MORE

THURSDAY 30 JUL - ADDITIONAL TICKET REQUIRED

PRIMAL SCREAM • DIZZEE RASCAL SUNDARA KARMA • CRAIG CHARLES

THE LOTTERY WINNERS • HOWLING RHYTHM & MORE

MULTI AWARD WINNING FESTIVAL - 4 DAYS - 15 STAGES DRIVE-IN CINEMA . VICTORIAN FUNFAIR . COMEDY . AWARD-WINNING REAL ALE FESTIVAL FEASTING HALL . XTRA MILE TAKEOVER co-CURATED BY FRANK TURNER AND THE RETURN OF LOST EDEN KENDAL CALLING GOES TO THE ARCADE: RETRO GAMES ARENA . HUMAN TABLE FOOTBALL & MUCH MORE EARLYBIRD TICKETS

SOLD OUT

SECOND RELEASE

SOLD OUT *

THURSDAY TICKET REQUIRED

THIRD RELEASE

ON SALE NOW!