Dork, November 2020

Down with boring

Issue 38 November 2019 readdork.com

Everything’s not lost.

Foals are out to save the planet.

THE DEBUT ALBUM

OUT NOW

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ON TOUR THROUGHOUT OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER - DATES AT KINGNUN.COM

2020

04

05

EUROPE 04

26 27 29 30 05 01 03

LONDON BIRMINGHAM LEEDS MANCHESTER GLASGOW DUBLIN

UK UK UK UK UK IRELAND

W

BIG

THE SSE ARENA SOLD OUT WEMBLEY ARENA BIRMINGHAM FIRST DIRECT ARENA MANCHESTER ARENA SSE HYDRO 3ARENA

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AARON DESSNER

’s

37d03d Machine

INDEX November 2019 | readdork.com | Down With Boring

FOALS

Nearly 15 years after forming, Foals are about to release their most outwardlooking record to date, heralding a new era of social accountability, visceral lyrics and a commitment to saving our dying planet. That’s if Yannis doesn’t do himself another mischief first… p.32

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Ø6

Ø6 Intro 28 Hype 1Ø

ED’S LETTER FEET

“Do you want to come and watch hip new hitmakers Feet get matching tattoos?” they asked. What do you think, Dear Reader?

4Ø

It’s been a long time coming, bit with their debut album ‘Mass’ finally here, it’s been the wait for King Nun’s big moment.

46

PUMAROSA

Following up a critically acclaimed debut with one even better? Pumarosa have it nailed.

There’s no denying it; these days, Foals are elder statesmen of indie. To those of us with a long enough memory, it might feel like only yesterday they were up-and-comers, dressed in their tennis whites and having a giggle, but over time they’ve become something far more robust and strident.

Whether you’re someone who preferred those earlier sparks, or their later, imperial phase, there’s no denying their 2019 has been impressive.

With their two-part ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ project about to receive its second instalment, they’re a band at the top of their games. We’re delighted to welcome to the cover for the first time - even if we’re slightly worried that the rest of the band have a plan of what to do if something happens to Yannis. Planning something, lads?

Elsewhere this month, some of our favourites are celebrating new albums - from awesome debuts from King Nun and Feet through to a Really Very Brilliant second effort from Pumarosa, there’s all sorts to get excited about. Enjoy!

S tephen

12

18

GIRL RAY

51

Band of Skulls

21

Battles

51

WATERPARKS

Beabadoobee

12

King Nun

40

La Roux

26

Lande Hekt

23

Llovers

52

Los Campesinos!

23

Matt 52 Maltese

24, 51

“Rap and pop albums, they’re rewarded for being creative. But if a rock band does it?

People just flip out.”

Big Thief

PIZZAGIRL

Bloxx

23 Pale Waves

Bodega

51 Pizzagirl

Chvrches

23 Poppy

Clairo

23 Pumarosa

46, 51

Creeper

25 Push Baby

30

PVRIS

52

MATT MALTESE

JOESEF

DUCKWRTH

Why WOULDN’T we interview rap sensation Duckwrth in the UK headquarters of Major League Baseball?

‘EDITOR’ @STEPHENACKROYD

Anna Meredith 50 Anna of the North

Soulful newcomer Joesef spins sad tunes that you can “shag or smoke a joint to”. Lovely.

44

Kim Petras 12

With their second album, Girl Ray are embracing pop in the name of loving your mates.

Hailed as the schmaltzcore king when his debut came out, Matt Maltese is back.

28

Amyl and the Sniffers

Angelica Garcia 30

If retro, fun-filled teenage-angst sounds like your kind of thing, look no further.

24

** BAND INDEX ** BAND INDEX **

Biig Piig

50 Michael 31 Kiwanuka

Billie Eilish

27 Mxmtoon

30

8 Nature TV

30

Black Peaks

Drug Store Romeos Duckwrth False Advertising

51

26 18, 51 25

30 Rex Orange 44 County

8, 52

Soccer Mommy 23 25 Taylor Swift

27

Feet

6 The 1975

Foals

32, 50 The Japanese 12 House

23

23 The Regrettes

23

54 The Wants

30

Gengahr Georgia Girl in Red Girl Ray

10, 51 Thyla

16

Halsey

26 TOY

Hana Vu

51 Tyler, The Creator

Husky Loops Joesef

27

8

20, 54 Waterparks

25 12, 52

28 Yak

12

ON THE DORK STEREO THIS MONTH...

CAROLINE POLACHECK

Talk Nice

Hit The Back

With her debut album under her own name due this month, Caroline Polacheck is no stranger to a good bop. This is right up there with her best as part of Chairlift, too.

The first taster of a new EP set to drop ‘soon’, we guess, Rome is back and proving just why he’s a bit of a pop powerhouse in waiting. With a vibe so breezy it’s positively refreshing, he’s still one to watch very closely indeed.

With her debut album ‘Cheap Queen’ very nearly here, there’s been no shortage of impressive moments from King Princess so far. From a slow start to an all out groove, it’s an exciting showing from an artist making waves.

So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings

NO ROME

KING PRINCESS

NEW MUSIC. NO ALGORITHMS.

DORK radio TUNE IN 24/7/365 readdork.com/radio

READDORK.COM

5

KING NUN

32 Features 5Ø Incoming

INTRO

6

IF IT’S NOT IN HERE, IT’S NOT HAPPENING. OR WE FORGOT. ONE OR THE OTHER.

NOVEMBER 2019

DORK

Watch out world; here comes Awsten. p12

PIZZAGIRL

THYLA

If retro, fun-filled teenage-angst sounds like your kind of thing, look no further. p18

They’re back, and they’re bringing bangers. p16

“Do you want to come and watch hip new hit-makers Feet get matching tattoos?” they asked. What do you think, Dear Reader?

Words: Jamie Muir.

Photos: Jamie MacMillan.

FEET ARE GATHERED AROUND A

table in a pub garden. It’s a comfortable home for the five-piece, who’ve come to embody that fresh injection of fun and mischief needed right now (don’t know if you’ve looked out the window lately, but the world ain’t doing too good). Instead of tearing the place up though and adding another boozer to their barred list (there are a few), today there’s a different atmosphere. “I’ve just realised,” chimes in guitarist Callum, “we need a picture of it, so the guy knows what to tattoo...”

You’ve heard of blood pacts, right? Well, Feet are primed and ready for one of an ink-based nature.

With a debut album together, it’s an appropriate time for a shared tat to truly bond things - the large logo for their own Clapped Records. “How big do we want it?” calls bassist Oli, briskly walking out of the pub as his turn beckons.

The band look around. “THIS?” comes the response from Harry, holding up a bottle of water and pointing to the bottom. It looks like that’s decided.

It’s rare when a band can come along and draw everyone into their bonkers world, but Feet are doing just that. A combination of feelgood twists, punchy raw energy and spinning laugh out loud brilliance has them apart from any new band doing it right now, firmly embracing the moment. “It feels like...” contemplates frontman George, “every time we get near to one of those milestone moments we’re like ‘FUCK FUCK’.

You’re thinking, have we done everything to be at this point? I mean, I think we’ve done everything for the album, but I’m not sure…

“We cause a lot of problems

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7

HAPPY , FEET?

CH-CH-CHECK OUT

WATERPARKS

INTRO

‘FYI’

8

Rex Orange County is going to play an everexpanding UK tour this winter. The run is in support of his new album ‘Pony’, out on 25th October, and it currently features multiple nights in Birmingham (12th, 13th November), Manchester (16th, 17th), Dublin (19th, 20th), Glasgow (22nd, 24th), and London (26th, 27th, 28th).

TOY are going to release a covers album, featuring new versions of tracks from The Stooges, Soft Cell, and more. ‘Songs of Consumption’ is due on 15th November via Tough Love Records.

Citing the inclusions as artists who’ve influenced them recently, the band explain: “It’s a homage to the spirit of these people, that helped us to untangle ourselves from our inherent complicated nature and create a new space where we can exist.”

Black Peaks have been forced to postpone their UK tour. The band were set to head out this October in support of their latest album ‘All That Divides’, but unfortunately frontman Will Gardner is unwell and has to undergo emergency surgery. Keep an eye out for new dates soon.

Slam Dunk has confirmed the first few acts for next year’s festival, held in Leeds on 23rd May, and Hatfield the following day. The bill will be topped by Don Broco, with State Champs, The Wonder Years, Knuckle Puck, Issues, Motion City Soundtrack, and more.

NOVEMBER 2019

DORK

for ourselves, but they kinda work themselves out!”

Happy accidents and jumping on every opportunity around them, it’s all led to ‘What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham’ - a fitting first statement of intent that’s packed with ridiculous moments. A jukebox of different styles and cracking jokes, unstoppable in its sheer infectious swagger, it’s like the ultimate box of Celebrations. “There’s no formula,” cracks Callum. “It would be impossible for us to do one genre only, because we don’t just listen to that. We try things out.”

“We wanted to set up the first album so that from this point on, we can do anything,” continues George.

The title itself has caught the eye of a few. Fan reactions at Truck Festival earlier this year included a couple of folk coming up to ask, ‘What’s it all about lads, fucking meat or something?’ (“Half right,” jokes Callum). From Coventry, farms and a holiday park in Portsmouth to being minutes away from the needle, Feet have more stories and laughs than many witness in their entire life. As another round rings frontman George makes a point: “I like to think we take making the record really seriously, but the music is not serious, if you know what I mean?”

THE STORY OF FEET ISN’T THAT

typical tale of growing up as childhood mates and knowing exactly what they wanted to do from the get-go. First meeting in Coventry when they all gathered for University, they quickly found each other. “Thing is in Coventry, being a musician is like ‘oh my god’,” details Callum. “If you like music and actually leave the house, people will know who you are. Every band and artist was aware of every other band or artist - there wasn’t many.”

“After three or four weeks of knowing each other, Oli and George stayed up at mine for about twelve hours putting away beer and recording our first track with a microphone in a shoe,” recalls Harry. “I have a picture somewhere of George in this little cubby under the stairs, which was about two feet tall, packed in with pillows and suitcases.”

Feet are the first to admit how far they’ve come in the years since. Touring with Declan McKenna, making their mark at festivals in kimonos, wigs, masks (the list goes on) - it’s been a honing process on how best to channel the carefree spirit they’ve fostered since the beginning. Enter: a farm near Little Staunton in Bedfordshire and the sort of wild summer that could only produce ‘What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham’. “Don’t ask the council about

us…” slips George. “Or their sign…”

Living in a caravan next to a grain store during one of the hottest summers in recent memory, things continued to escalate in the usual Feet manner.

One final party on the last night nearly put paid to any goodwill they’d built up in the months previous. “It was a fancy dress theme, and before everyone arrived the farmers knocked on the door of the barn,” remembers Callum. “Oli opened it dressed like Willy Wonka. They were like ‘oh, are you having some sort of party?’ and Oli was like ‘Naah’ - just dressed there as Willy Wonka.”

A night full of YouTube boxing matches, smashed bottles and Jaws, Jaws 2, Jaws 3 later - the morning after saw the band quickly tidying up and departing. “The next day I shit you not,” lays out Callum, “the farmers went around in a pickup truck and drove past us slowly - with a fucking rifle.”

Songs emerged from the sessions, but a second jaunt down to Portsmouth was where the ham met the plate. Solent Breezes Holiday Park to be precise (“It’s where oldies go to live out their day,” explains Callum). There for two months, and with new drummer Ben (previously of Dead Pretties), the impact was immediate. “That was a transitional moment,” notes Callum.

The results speak volumes. ‘What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham’ is filled with joyously fun and instinctive hooks.

A frenzy of hipshaking anthems, it’s impossible to take one listen and walk away - from the bubbling singalong swoons of ‘Ad Blue’ and tongue-in-cheek crack of ‘Dog Walking’ and ‘Axe Man’ to the epic jumps in ‘Good Richards Crash Landing’, the title-track itself (the inside look at a hot dog’s life we all needed) and the back-n-forth of ‘Chalet 47’ - there’s simply no stopping Feet.

“We don’t want to be one of those bands who do an album, waits a couple of years and then takes another three to release it,” lays out Callum. “We want to be spitting them out.”

Til then, attention turns to sorting

"WE WANT TO BE SPITTING OUT ALBUMS"

out what comes their way. In this instance, there’s that small matter of dashing off to the tattoo parlour, the cracked laughs continuing even in the face of it all. The burly owner standing guard with an equally burly dog, before wandering up to find Oli and Ben already tatted up. “Can I have a go on that?” George asks (for legal reasons we won’t say what happens next). Yet what rings through is that bond, of a band up for having the best of times with the sort of LP that drives them apart from the rest.

“I see different lanes,” notes George.

“There’s the recording aspect and making albums in one lane. The touring aspect is one lane, I mean it’s such a big thing for a band anyway - you can’t be a popular band if you’re not good live. But it all feeds back.”

He catches himself before letting out a smile. “I think… firming ourselves on the gravy train a little bit and then just ride that boy all the wayyy.”

Harry dives in - “we’ll give it some petrol money!”

Wherever Feet are going, count us in. Petrol money and all, there’s no predicting what on earth they’ll be up to next. P Feet’s debut album ‘What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham’ is out now.

3

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INTRO

It’s

a

Girl thing With their second album, Girl Ray are embracing pop in the name of loving your mates.

Words: Martyn Young.

GIRL RAY’S 2017 ALBUM ‘EARL GREY’ WAS A

debut that established the trio as supreme indiepop songwriters with a knack for a melody and just the right slice of strangeness. On second album ‘Girl’ they’ve thrown the indie-pop songbook out the window in favour of their biggest capital-P-Pop bangers that seems them following their purest instincts and throwing caution to the wind. We caught up with singer and guitarist Poppy Hankin to get the lowdown on Girl Ray’s pop awakening.

Hey Poppy, how would you characterise ‘Girl’?

It’s a little bit different than your debut, isn’t it?

Yeah, it’s a little bit more polished and more pop.

We’re more focused on pop. We’re very excited to put this out. With the first one it happened more organically, this time we put a lot of thought into it so hopefully, that should come across.

How would you describe your process making the album?

It was quite difficult to write this album because it was such a dramatic shift in genre and style. It was a case of re-learning how to write a little bit. With the first album, I was writing more on guitar and piano while here it was more a case of setting up a little mini-studio in my room and writing on Logic with synths and midi keyboards. It was hard not to over-think it when you’re trying to find a different style without making it sound forced.

The album has some of your biggest bangers but also some of your most tender moments. How

NOVEMBER 2019

DORK

did you strike a balance between the two on the record?

We had to get rid of a lot of songs because they weren’t quite sitting well together. There were a number of songs we had written in the first half of last year when we were still touring our first album and were still used to writing in that style. We considered putting them on this album but sitting next to these really poppy songs just didn’t make sense.

The ones that were more tender on the album were just too special to use to lose. We did the album all in two sessions with the same producer, so they all have the same sound.

Was there any trepidation in going all out on a new pop sound?

We’re such big fans of them. It opens a few more doors if your sound is going more mainstream and hopefully more people will enjoy it. It’s exciting to think that more people can enjoy it.

Are there any themes musically or lyrically on the album?

There are a few songs about friendship, not romantic love, but love with friends, because that’s important and needs to be spoken about.

When Ariana Grande put out ‘Thank You, Next’, we were like ok, right, we don’t need to write about this kind of love any more we can just write about hanging out with your friends and having a good time. ‘Friend Like That’ is a feel-good banger about hanging out with your mates that represents the album for me.

"LOVE WITH FRIENDS IS IMPORTANT, AND NEEDS TO BE SPOKEN ABOUT"

We hooked up with producer Ash Workman who’s got such a great pop background, so that was exciting. It was a scary moment though when we began to realise it was going to sound a lot different and we were changing everything. That’s what we wanted, but it was still a bit scary taking that plunge.

What’re your plans then, following the album release?

How has embracing pop influences opened up new creative possibilities for the band?

We’ll be touring quite a bit, we have the support tour with Metronomy. We’ll be going into the new decade in style with a headline tour in February.

We’ve got some exciting stuff lining up, hopefully going back to America and Europe. P

It’s opened up things because we can tour with bands we’re excited to tour with like Metronomy.

Girl Ray’s album ‘Girl’ is out 8th November.

THURSDAY 12 MARCH

LONDON

O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE

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SATURDAY 14 MARCH

BRIGHTON

CONCORDE2

SUNDAY 15 MARCH

CAMBRIDGE

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MANCHESTER O2 RITZ

UK 2020

11

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INTRO

‘FYI’ Gengahr have announced their next album. Previewed by lead single ‘Everything & More’ (check it out on readdork.com now), third full-length ‘Sanctuary’ was produced by Jack Steadman from Bombay Bicyle Club, and will arrive on 31st January 2020.

They’re teaming up with their Bombay Bicycle Club pal once again this November, joining them on their UK headline tour.

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS NEXT...

Amyl and the Sniffers are touring the UK this winter.

The band - who released their self-titled debut record in May - will perform shows at Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach (30th November), Manchester Gorilla (1st December), Glasgow G2 (2nd), Birmingham Hare And Hounds (3rd), London Underworld (5th), and London Studio 9294 (7th).

Yak are going to release a new EP later this year. ‘Atlas Complex’ will arrive on 1st November to coincide with their upcoming UK tour, which kicks off a few days later. Frontman Oli Burslem explains: “The “atlas complex” is centred around an idea of losing all sense of everything. It’s a state of mind in which a person believes that the world is on their shoulders.”

Kim Petras has dropped a new 17-track Halloweenthemed project. ‘Turn Off The Light’ - the follow-up to ‘Clarity’ - features nine new songs, including highlight ‘There Will be Blood’, as well as ‘Wrong Turn’, ‘Massacre’, ‘Death By Sex’, and ‘Everybody Dies’.

With a brand new album and plenty to say, Waterparks are back.

Watch out world, here’s Awsten...

Words: Jamie MacMillan.

INTRO WHEN IT COMES TO FINDING POP

showed Geoff and Otto the songs, they were like ‘oh, cool’ [Awsten mimics a totally flat and unimpressed voice]. And I was like, fuck! That’s the response?? It didn’t feel good. For them to not have any kind of response whatsoever? That’s not cool.”

So, with the big red DELETE button pressed, attention turned swiftly instead to ‘FANDOM’. A brutally honest record, it pinballs in mood just like the mind of someone with a broken heart. Romantic, angry, poignant, bitter, it dips and peaks in a manner that is genuinely surprising on first listen. Always shifting in tone and texture as it refuses to sit still, it is the perfect pop record for 2019 in many ways.

From the savage ‘I’d unfuck you if I could’ message of the aptlynamed ‘Turbulent’, to the shiny, polished ‘Dream Boy’, it is a playful and wide-reaching collection of tracks that fully leans into the pop mentality that the band have always toyed with. Using the emotionally raw ‘TANTRUM’ from last year’s ‘Entertainment’ as a jumping-off point, it sees Awsten fully drop any use of metaphor and deals only in painful truth.

“That song [‘TANTRUM’] made me feel jittery. Like, okay, this is good, this is what I need to do now. I just have to say this shit, less hiding behind pretty metaphors.”

That carries through into our chat, his lack of any ‘filter’ making for a funny and endearingly honest conversation that is far from the norm with a lot of pop stars. Totally self-aware and quick to laugh at himself, it still brings its own risks however and Awsten knows he is potentially diving into tricky waters.

“With this album, I’m talking about everything that I’ve been experiencing for the last year and a half or whatever,” he explains. “It’s like being suffocated or clouded, surrounded by the ‘fandom’.” Aware of the risks of alienating his fanbase, he is careful with his choice of words.

“I don’t just mean our fans, but also just people on the internet generally.

It’s like a heavy feeling around everything for me. And when I pinpoint it, it’s coming from… them.”

For the only time in our chat, the laughter stops as the pain and frustration in his voice shines clear as he continues, at points his voice trailing away into silence. “I had my worst break-up ever, and it’s like…

The fans made it so much worse, like way worse. So if I’m trying to be creative, or if I’m having a bad day, there were people just coming at me

online. It’s like living while you feel that you’re being watched by a ton of people waiting for you to slip up. It’s insane, and it’s overwhelming.”

A prolific tweeter, it’s clear that Awsten is struggling to balance being as open as he would like with the anxiety that follows. “I get like a million thoughts a day or whatever, and they get to read maybe three of them? Like I’ll say a joke or whatever, and then people who are mad at me are like ‘oh, he’s such a fucking asshole’. And even people who like me are calling me stupid or a crackhead or whatever, and I’m just like, ‘dude, I don’t like to be any of those!’”

Those sentiments of claustrophobia and battling fan entitlement slot in with the remnants of ‘Friendly Reminder’, making a strong thread of emotional turmoil that runs through all of ‘FANDOM’.

Aware of how an album of self-misery would come across, Awsten made sure that a balance of light remained.

“I feel like a lot of the bands that I grew up listening to, they approached break-up songs with this sort of selfpitying ‘woe is me’. In high school, I would be the saddest ever. I’d be listening to Taking Back Sunday and be like, god this all fucking sucks so bad. I wanted to make something that’s more selfempowering than self-pity, because if I had music like that when I was young, I probably wouldn’t have been a whiny little emo bitch.”

Laughing as he recalls this, he continues. “Obviously I’m not this ANGRY BROODING DUDE who’s like ‘man, my shit sucks’, so there’s gonna be nicer moments in there too.

I wanted there to be the option.”

Those options are like a pinball machine rolling through every genre and mood that pop, punk and rock can create. “I am sooo grateful for The 1975,” he says at one point in open admiration for another band who don’t feel restrained by genre.

“Because I feel like what puts a bad taste in peoples’ mouths is when they feel like a band is trying to go pop because they think it’ll make them bigger. And The 1975 do it so well.”

Warming to his theme after rumblings and murmurs online about Waterparks’ shift towards pop, his speech quickens even more. “I’m like, dude, just because you go pop doesn’t mean you’re gonna get big, you still have to have the right song. I feel like a lot of times, bands still aren’t making interesting or creative songs, they’re just trying to balance being more commercial because they think it’ll make them more successful! It’s like, even if a producer makes it sound

"JUST BECAUSE YOU GO POP DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE GONNA GET BIG"

good, that’s just icing on the cake.

But, but… but the cake can’t fucking suck! Yeah. Someone can only polish it up so much.”

While the SERIOUS ROCK WORLD has grumbled away about which pigeon-hole they want Waterparks to stay in for some time, it’s obviously something that bores Awsten these days.

“There’s a pressure to keep doing the same things because it’s safe. ‘Oh, they already heard you do this, and they liked it’. So you can keep doing it, and they’ll probably keep liking it.

But that won’t work forever because people grow out of shit. And like, if I made a thing that was pandering to whatever that I didn’t love, just because people are expecting it, what if they fucking hated that? Then all of us hate it, and that’s trash.”

In single ‘Watch What Happens Next’, he speaks of hip-hop’s ability to shift and become something different, referencing, in particular, Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’.

“People think I’m shading that, and I’m like no bitch, I’m shading you! I’m shading people that restrict dance and rock culture, that basically scare them into doing the exact same boring fucking thing over and over again. That, in turn, holds down the entire genre and holds everyone back creatively. Like these very artistic rap and pop albums, they’re very much rewarded for being creative. But if a rock band does it? People just flip out.

I mean, it’s CRAZY!” Calming down slightly, he finishes his point simply. “I think there’s a way, and a space, for a band like us to be able to do everything, and it’s a very exciting feeling, you know what I mean? I wanted to make a record that was just very unique, a very unexpected thing where all the songs feel totally different from each other.

I wanted it to feel like it’s some weird kind of fucked-up sugar rush.”

Talk turns to the future, with a UK and Europe tour on the horizon in 2020 leaving plenty for Awsten, Geoff and Otto to still achieve this time round - along with a strange ambition. “I was hoping that we’d get bottled at Reading last year,” he laughs. “Everyone that’s cool has been bottled. My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte, uh… even Panic! At The Disco got bottled. They didn’t do it to us, which means we still SUCK!” Dissolving into laughter, it is only when our time comes to an end that he finally stumbles on the perfect description of ‘FANDOM’. “It’s like me talking to myself basically. I’m losing my shit, but I’m reaping all the benefits.” That, and giving us all the perfect sugar rush from a cake that doesn’t suck. Rock star, pop star, superstar, it doesn’t matter what you want to call him. Awsten Knight is all of them. P Waterparks’ album

‘FANDOM’ is out now.

READDORK.COM

13

stars, we at Dork reckon that we can spot one a mile off. The style, personality, having something IMPORTANT to say, but most of all the wide selection of bangers, are all vital elements to being a bona fide star in this, the year of Our Lord Matty of Healy. So it should come as no surprise to know that our Spideysenses have been a-tingling about one Awsten Knight for some time now, the Waterparks frontman slowly but surely becoming a true Dork hero in the making.

Now, the Texan band’s third album ‘FANDOM’ is about to propel them even further into the spotlight. A depiction of a breakdown as much as a break-up, it is a peek inside the tangled mind of someone dealing with the end of a relationship, as well as negotiating a toxic social media landscape. Most importantly, though, it is unrelentingly packed with poppunk gold from beginning to end.

Cruising and drinking fresh coffee in the bright sunshine of his Burbank, California home, Awsten is in a good mood as our chat begins.

Dork meanwhile is parked up in torrential rain in a Premier Inn carpark clutching a lukewarm sausage roll and some tepid tea. Oh to be a pop star, or so you’d think.

‘FANDOM’ is a record born out of pain and angst, but the reality is that it could have been feeling even sorrier for itself. With a title and merchandising leaked online, Waterparks’ third album (set to be called ‘Friendly Reminder’) promised to deal purely with the aftermath of a painful break-up. But suddenly, all bets were off as he revealed on Twitter that he had deleted the entire record, original files and all.

With a bit more distance today, Awsten brings us up to speed in his trademark rapid machine-gun delivery that, just like his online presence, is QUITE OFTEN SPOKEN AS IF IN CAPITAL LETTERS and with an unmistakable hint of a sideeye, as if he wants you to know that nothing can be taken TOO seriously.

Equally, though, he still has a lot of important subjects that he wants to get off his chest as he begins.

“It was fully ready to go, but it just felt like a very one-dimensional record. And I had way more shit to say than just ‘yeah, I dealt with a really bad break-up in 2017’. Like, that’s so boring… Blah, blah, blah.”

Admitting that the feeling of deleting ‘Friendly Reminder’ was “freeing”, Awsten continues. “It wasn’t mastered, but it was all there.

It felt good to delete it. You’re not supposed to do that, you know? But also, there was this pressure of, ‘well, I better not fuck this up then’.”

Able to giggle about it now, he admits that the warning signs had been there from the start. “When I

READER’S POLL 2019

It’s that time again. The end of year is approaching, and we want to know what you’ve enjoyed from the past twelve months. Just work out who gets your vote and then head to readdork.com/readerspoll2019 to submit your choices! We’ll reveal all next issue.

The album of the year is...

The best solo ‘artist’ is...

The banger of the year is...

The best live band is...

The breakthrough band of 2019 is...

The best ‘comeback’ of 2019 was...

The best festival was...

The best new band for 2020 is...

The band who should come back is...

The band of the decade is...

The album of the decade is...

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The best band on the planet is...

The banger of the decade is...

NOVEMBER 2019

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Submit your votes at readdork.com/readerspoll2019

INTRO

16

“THE M

NOVEMBER 2019

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INTRO

MESSAGE IS CLEAR” Thyla are back with a brand new banger, a new EP, and an album on the way.

Hey Millie, how’s it going?

What’s new?

Hey Dork readers, we’re extremely excited to be back with new music out in the world!

It’s been hectic but hugely fulfilling and as a result, has inspired a lot of new music.

Tell us about your upcoming EP, what’s it about? What inspired it?

The shared experience of the past year has brought us all really close together. We wanted our second EP to embody what Thyla is and what it has become.

There’s so much emotion in the songs, we go from being fierce to being angry; euphoric; helpless; and ecstatic, but what has most excited us is that there is a definite “sound”, we can’t put what it is that defines it into words, but it’s there.

When did you first start working on this one, and how What have you guys been up to did you approach curating the this year? It feels like it’s been tracklisting? ages since There is a mix we’ve heard of old and from you, Two Sense brand new has a lot We can fit most huge new on the EP. I been going tracks into one of a few simple remember on ‘behind boxes, Dearest Reader. the four of us the scenes’?

There’s the big comeback,

Thyla

discussing After SXSW the major league banger or which songs the massive step up. In the and some case of Thyla, they’re scoring to choose; festivals all three. we picked earlier on in ‘Two Sense’ isn’t just a the ones that the season climactic return, it’s a genuine we thought, we decided measure of intent from a together, as a band long of intense, burning we needed to promise. With a growl of body of work, make some aggression and the soaring would best big decisions spark of ambition, Millie convey what with regards Duthie’s vocal cuts through Thyla is. to how we like a beam of righteous light from the heavens. Something were going special is definitely brewing Were any of to progress here; a real triple threat. the songs the band particularly forward, challenging? we weren’t There’s a track called ‘December’ happy jumping through the on the EP; it breaks away hoops set out for us and so from our usual songwriting decided to take back the reigns.

formula. It’s delicate and really bare in parts, the lyrics mean everything to me personally and they are really exposed. It was challenging in the sense that we had to arrange it with a different mindset to usual, and we used lots of new recording techniques in the studio. We are a guitar band through and through, but we spent a lot of time trying to make our guitars sound nothing like themselves on the record.

Why did you pick ‘Two Sense’ to drop first?

It’s been a while since we’ve released anything and we wanted to make an impact upon return. ‘Two Sense’ is our best shot at that. We’re really proud of the direction we have taken both in terms of the writing and production, it feels like our boldest cut yet, the vocals are purposefully front and centre, and the message is clear.

Do you feel as though this EP is going to be a step up from your first?

Categorically yes! This year has given us self belief and confidence in our own vision. We have found working with Josh [Hoagie] Harrison in the studio hugely inspiring, and he has really helped the production side of things come to fruition. Our songwriting feels more focused and meaningful to us, and we are proud of what we have created.

What else are you guys working on at the mo?

We are ready and looking to record our debut album… P Thyla’s new EP is due early-2020.

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We love a new band, Dear Reader. If you’ve been paying attention to our hallowed pages over recent times, you’ll know we’ve long had a rather healthy crush on Thyla. After a short spell ‘away’, they’re back with new material. Kicking off with certified mega-banger ‘Two Sense’, it’s a massive jump up the table for a band already looking like they had titlewinning potential. We grabbed hold of vocalist Millie Duthie to find out more.

INTRO

D’YOU REME THE FIRST TIME?

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FRESH OUT OF HIS BEATZERIA,

scouse crooner Pizzagirl is about to serve up his debut album ‘First Timer’ to a very hungry audience.

Baking away in his bedroom turned studio for the last few years, Pizzagirl, or Liam Brown to his mother, has gone back to the 80s, 90s and early days of the internet for inspiration for his pop-heavy musical recipe.

Having been working his way around the Liverpool music scene for the past few years, a name change and a couple of EPs have made Pizzagirl one of the most exciting new artists to come from the Mersey shores.

“I think it’s easy for people outside of Liverpool to compare you to Liverpool bands,” he says. “I’m obviously really into The Beatles, you come out of the womb here with a Sgt Pepper top on, but there are lots of classic bands from Liverpool that have made a name for themselves.”

After releasing EPs, ‘An Extended Play’ and ‘Season 2’ in 2018, Pizzagirl has concocted a unique sound unlike that of the legends that have gone before him. Blending his obsession with decades of pop culture, internet memes and his trusty Casio synth has resulted in this much anticipated ‘First Timer’ record and an upbeat, funky sound.

“It’s appropriately named,” he explains. “The first EP was called ‘Extended Play’, and that’s a bit on the nose. I think ‘First Timer’ follows that theme. It’s a bit sexy as well, first time like it’s your first time you know, popping the album cherry so to speak.

“I thought it would be a nice name to look back on like, ‘you know what, that was my first time, and I’m proud of this album’, but I’ll probably look back on it and go ‘that was a very

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naive move i made there’.”

When asked to pick three words to give a hint as to what fans could expect from the ten-track album, he pauses to think and replies, laughing, with, “rough, romantic and catfish.

I feel like a lot of the songs are very misleading. There are a lot of songs on the album that might sound like love songs, but they aren’t really.

“It’s like a weird Frankenstein mash-up album. I think a lot of the people who like 80s music might like something. Kelly Clarkson is a huge influence on one of the songs, a bit of pop-punk, some Blade Runner, 70s ballads; I want to tick off the boxes of pop through time in this album and pay my respects in my most primitive way.”

Citing Ariel Pink, Yacht, Talking Heads and pop icons like Janet Jackson as his musical influences, you can see when he says it’s a bit of a mash-up album, he probably means it. “I love David Byrne’s witty lyrics, I want to try and rob that a bit. Stuff like that really interests me, like The Smiths, or the Foster The People song, ‘Pumped Up Kicks’. That’s like my twilight zone twist on these songs.”

It’s not only musical pop icons Pizzagirl takes inspiration from.

Movies, particularly those from the 80s, and internet memes, play a huge part in his creative process. “Films that I like are usually accompanied by a great soundtrack. It’s probably my subconscious, but John Hughes’ films of the 80s always have good soundtracks.” The Breakfast

Club and Pretty in Pink immediately spring to mind. “I’d love to write a soundtrack one day, not even singing just the music.”

“You look back at the 80s and 90s, and it was really fun and vibrant. I’m trying to bring that back into today’s consciousness. I think people taking themselves too seriously is unattractive so I want to try and be as candid with everyone as possible and the 80s and 90s mean that to me.”

Being born in 1998 might make his love for decades gone by seem quite odd but being brought up in the millennial internet generation makes everything from these eras so accessible. “The Internet is a big part of Pizzagirl it’s like another member of the band.”

“Meme culture and Instagram is the place I spend most of my time.

I’ve got that screen time on my phone, and it says I use Instagram like 50 hours a week, I’m on it all the time.

“I love old internet memes. I once DM’d Tay Zonday, he was a really early meme and sang a song called ‘Chocolate Rain’ in his room; I messaged him on Twitter, and he actually replied! I love all these pastiche memes and really cheesy stuff.”

Starting his career off going by the name Lumen, his new moniker definitely reflects his love for the cheesy things in life and his playful

"IT’S LIKE A WEIRD FRANKENSTEIN MASH-UP ALBUM"

nature.

“People ask me all the time, ‘why are you called that?’ and it’s such a bland story. I didn’t wake up from a dream, like Paul McCartney, I was just bored, thought of a name and stuck with it.

“I didn’t want it to be Pizzaboy, I thought that would be too on the nose. I think Pizzagirl is more open to interpretation.”

Claiming to not even being a massive fan of pizza, he notes that he does have a penchant for the controversial pineapple topping though and if Pizzagirl was a pizza, he would be pepperoni. “It’s just a classic, a bit juicy, can get greasy under the right conditions, I feel like that’s me because Pizzagirl is so silly”.

He talks about Pizzagirl as if it’s his alter ego, a character that only exists in his music studio bedroom dubbed the Beatzeria. “I think it [Pizzagirl] is the person I’d like to be every day. I’m, I wouldn’t say introverted, but I’m quite to myself day to day, but Pizzagirl is a fun,

INTRO

EMBER If retro, fun-filled teenage-angst sounds like your kind of thing, look no further than Pizzagirl.

Words: Sophie Shields.

19 READDORK.COM

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INTRO

exaggerated version of me. It’s fun onstage massaging that person out.”

On stage is where Pizzagirl comes to life. Known to stand up there alone with his guitar - who he has named Denise - and his MacBook, he has the room eating out the palm of his hand with his zany synthpop tracks. He muses how going from the comfort of his intimate bedroom set up to touring the UK and Europe has been a big step up for him.

“When I was starting off, I went to a couple of studios, and I just didn’t enjoy it, and I was adamant from then I would always write for myself in my bedroom. It’s just me usually in my underwear, pressing buttons, it’s definitely an intimate thing.

“All these songs are on a computer in my room, and now it’s at a point where people want to come and see me perform them, that will never not be weird.

A new album also comes with a new stage set. “I’m working on a band at the minute.

I’m getting a drummer and bassist so the Mac won’t have to do much.

“I hope that people like the transition, I feel like people have liked me by myself but these guys are cool too. I’m still going to be me, I’ll probably be more me because I’ll get to worry about less stuff. It’s perfect timing with the album coming out too, I feel like it’s a fresh start.”

So what’s on the horizon for the Pizzagirl adventure? “Hopefully a lot of shows,” he muses. “Europe is a market I want to crack.

America next year would be fun too. When I check my Spotify, it’s mainly people in America who are listening to my music.

“I just want to gig a lot more, I’m in my room a lot, and I’m rocking a bit, my mind just cracks at home, twiddling my thumbs. A support tour would be good too. Just making sure I’m engaging with fans, I want to get to know them.”

If all else fails, he’s also come up with a backup plan to help with the self-promotion.

“To sell out doesn’t mean anything to me, I’m not ashamed to work with brands, obviously not to the point it will damage my reputation though. Domino’s would be a good one, just me being a pizza delivery boy for the day or something. I’m just waiting for the call. I’ve got a specific phone in my house waiting for them to call me, but it hasn’t rung yet.”

He probably won’t have the time to sit and wait by the phone with ‘First Timer’ making its way out into the world; everyone wants a slice of Pizzagirl. P Pizzagirl’s debut

album ‘first timer’ is out now.

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GOOD AS GOLD Danio from Husky Loops

ruminates on life, love, and creating a debut album.

Words: Sam Taylor.

INTRO After a smattering of well-received tracks and EPs, UK-by-way-of-Italy trio Husky Loops have just released a debut album full of musings on life and relationships. “Love, incomprehension, arguments… every single song comes from an experience I had or something I felt,” says frontman Danio.

How are you guys feeling after the release of ‘I Can’t Even Speak English’, pleased to have it out?

We’re so happy that it’s out finally because as artists it feels terrible to keep art in. Releasing your work is the only way to find out who you truly are. And we can’t wait to play it live.

What’s the biggest compliment you’ve received about the album so far?

That it sounds absolutely like nothing else, a lot of people said that. It’s a compliment not because we’re trying to be original and “cool”, but because we want to be ourselves, you know what I mean?

I think every artist wants to be unique. So it’s flattering to hear all these people saying we sound like ourselves.

It’s a huge deal to have a debut album out there, how did you find the process of putting it together? Was there anything you found particularly challenging?

How analytical are you when it comes to music, did you do much research into what makes a good album, or did you just follow your instincts?

I am super analytical, but also I work following my gut feeling 99% of the time. I think that unbalance actually helps me producing better music because I always find myself in difficult situations, and when you get lost, that’s when you create your best material.

When I am in the studio to me, it feels like a church, a place where I can find myself. Every moment is sacred. You need to be open, you need to feel the space, and I put all of myself in it. All of my heart is in everything I do, genuinely.

There’s also always a vision behind what I create, which is the most analytical side of my personality, but you battle that constantly with your inner child going, “Go left! Go right!” and that is what makes a great recording session, in my opinion.

Specifically talking about this album... no, we didn’t have any reference.

The goal was really being ourselves. I had references for mixes; I wanted the album to sound mega, mega, mega PHATTT. D’Angelo’s Voodoo is always my number one reference for sound.

"WE DIDN’T THINK AN ALBUM COULD MEAN ANYTHING TO ANYONE IN 2019, AND WE DIDN’T GET THE POINT OF IT"

What were your main inspirations regarding lyrical themes, did you have any topics you were keen to include?

It’s an album about relationships. It’s the running theme. Love, incomprehension, arguments… every single song comes from an experience I had or something I felt.

Everyone thinks the title is ironic ‘cause we are not from the UK, but actually the idea came from me thinking, “wow all of these songs, are about communication…” and ‘I Can’t Even Speak English’ seemed a good title to sum all of it.

We speak the same language, but we still don’t get each other. We live in a dangerous era of miscommunication and fear. I want people to feel ok with themselves. I want people to feel creative.

Also, I want my songs to be extremely relatable; I want people to really listen to this and feel whatever they want to feel. That’s why I don’t use references much in my songs; I never write names in my lyrics… I want my lyrics to be open letters to everyone.

“It’s sharing the music that really drives us”

It’s a big year for Band of Skulls: not only did new album ‘Love Is All You Love’ arrive earlier this spring, but it’s the tenth anniversary of their breakthrough record, ‘Baby Darling Doll Face Honey’ - and they’re going to mark the occasion with a special tour, and a new book. Guitarist Russell tells us more from the tour bus.

Hey Russell, have you had the anniversary on your minds for a while?

10 years! We wouldn’t have believed you if you said we’d be here celebrating a decade of that music and of the band. We are very proud of the album and of the way it means so much to people.

What sparked the reissue/book idea?

We keep everything, and we haven’t really shared much of it. It felt right to share unreleased music along with lots of photos that I took at the time.

And of course all of Emma’s paintings.

Tell us about the previously unreleased music you’re including, are any of the songs particularly meaningful for you?

It’s hard to choose what to include in a release such as this. We were really happy to include ‘Hollywood Bowl’ and ‘Friends’ on the re-release.

‘Hollywood Bowl’ is a song from our younger days as ‘Fleeing New York’, so that’s funny to us.

‘Friends’ is a song from the album sessions that would have ended up on our second album, but it was included on the soundtrack to New Moon from the Twilight series. There’s also a Patsy Cline song ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’ that we recorded at the village in Los Angeles.

How has revisiting your debut affected your attitude towards creating new music, if at all?

It’s a trip, that’s for sure. Like any music you listen to, it can have the power to instantly put you back in a place and time. It’s double that when you made the record. I think it reminds us not to over complicate the creative process, and to trust our gut feeling when writing and recording.

What’s next for you guys? There’s a tour coming up, right?

YES, WE ARE TOURING IN OCTOBER. P

What’s next for you guys?

On tour now in the states and back home to tour until the end of the year. We are already feeling that nagging of new music, so it won’t be a surprise to be in the studio sometime in 2020.

Where? Anyone’s guess. P

Husky Loops tour the UK from 9th-23rd October.

Band of Skulls tour the UK from 29th October 6th December.

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I’m not gonna lie; we didn’t want to work on an album initially. We didn’t really think an album could mean anything to anyone in 2019, and we didn’t get the point of it.

But then all our fans really wanted us to work on one, and it seemed that in our bubble people could listen to an album in the way we would like people to listen to it.

The real challenge was understanding what a full length meant for us.

Especially in 2019. It was a great journey! We released many EPs and a mixtape before, and we can now distinguish really clearly each one and the process behind each one.

A Husky Loops album is really about songs, but not just a collection of random tunes, something that you wrote all in the same period of time so it can really become a record of what you were about at the time.

It’s more about the songwriting, the story, the feeling of each song. I wrote 21 songs last July, and then we went to record it all at East Cote studios in London in November 2018.

And it just seemed right that way, the album should be a solid 30 minutes of us telling you something through songwriting, which is a strong element in our band. I just think people and fans were more used to us experimenting with sounds and weird arrangements before, do you know what I mean?

This said though; every song still has fucking sick, crazy elements going on, it’s still us… ahah. People find this latest work “poppier”, but I actually think it’s fucking NUTS, it’s 100% Husky Loops, it’s recorded live… every song has all the elements of what you expect to hear in a classic Husky Loops tune. That’s why it feels like our debut album; it’s a collection of

everything we’ve done so far even tho it’s ten unreleased songs.

We’re happy we’re still the kind of project that wants to experiment with all formats, EPs are still a form we love, we’re going to release more mixtapes thought the year and next year too.

There wasn’t too much pressure recording this; we had fun, we did what we wanted.

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NORWAY CALLING...

We head to Vill Vill Vest 2019: three days of pop and exploration in Norway.

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Words: Liam Konemann.

DOES EVERYONE JUST… KNOW ABOUT NORWAY?

Clean, stunning scenery, lovely people, banging music scene. Has Norway been here the whole time? Here in Bergen at Vill Vill Vest 2019, we have traversed fjords and caught up and coming popsters, and we have put the ‘fun’ in ‘funicular’. (See, Bergen has a funicular that goes up the side of a mountain over the city and… you know what, just forget it.)

For a city where it rains approximately 270 days out of every 365, the first day of Vill Vill Vest is shockingly bright and clear. We choose to take it as a good omen for the evening and are proven right over at the Ole Bull Scene, where R’n’B/pop hybrid Miriam walks out to a sparsely populated room - and sees the place fill up with fans faster than you can say ‘Taylor Swift’. Soon, her ‘1989’-style tunes have enticed a crowd and filled out the floor. Later, Emma Jensen’s frothy pink pop and neon-lighted staging reveal a sophisticated star in the making. Singles ‘Better’ and the multi-million streamed ‘Closer’ are juggernauts, but Emma also knows the power of intimacy - part way through the set, she sits on the front of the stage to sing something softer, right into the faces of the front row. Clearly, Emma Jensen has studied hard at the school of pop.

On day two, naturally, it rains.

But fear not - our spirits will not be dampened. Still, twenty minutes after Alva Ravn’s supposed start time the venue doors are yet to open. Thankfully we’re eventually rescued, and after a crystalline opener Alva explains the delay which, even though we at Dork do not speak Norwegian, we can pretty confidently assume is down to something along the lines of “technical difficulties”. For this incredibly minor early hurdle (thank you, we are the real heroes of indie) we’re rewarded with ‘Precious Prey’. Now, the set has been good so far but this is where Alva Ravn truly comes into her own. Cinematic, and soaring, ‘Precious Prey’ shows the full range of Alva Ravn’s capabilities. The bar is set high for the evening. Then, SKAAR clears it with room to spare. SKAAR was one of the most hyped acts for Vill Vill Vest 2019, and she more than follows through with a set of crowd-pleasing bangers like ‘Higher Ground’ and ‘Wicked Rhythm’.

After three days of pop and exploration, leaving Bergen and heading back to reality is a wrench. At least, after the wonders of Vill Vill Vest 2019, we can rest safely in the knowledge that we have an excuse to come back this time next year. P

THE NEXTBIG-THINGS OF NORWAY GATHER FOR A WEEKEND OF FUN.

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BANGERS THE BEST NEW TRACKS

INTRO

‘FYI’ The Regrettes have unveiled a new headline tour for spring. The band will be coming over in support of their recent album ‘How Do You Love?’, kicking off on 12th March in Dublin, before visiting Nottingham (13th), Glasgow (16th), Manchester (17th), Birmingham (18th) and London’s Electric Ballroom (19th). The shows follow on from their previously announced November run.

The Japanese House Something Has To Change

Back with the first taster of a brand new EP of the same name, Amber Bain is in the midst of somewhat of a quiet revolution. On the surface, ‘Something Has To Change’ has so many links back to her debut album ‘Good At Falling’ - but on others it’s a huge progression too. More outward and assertive, there’s a new dynamic at play; one that could well catapult her into a whole new stratosphere. That, and her dog Calvin is in the vid.

What’s not to love?

fuller formed, ‘lucy’ marks the beginning of a whole new era for Sophie Allison - one that could take her just about anywhere.

Georgia

Never Let Me Go Fresh off (rightfully) winning the coveted Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize for previous banger ‘About Work The Dancefloor’, Georgia is back with another taster of her forthcoming album ‘Seeking Thrills’ - set to arrive early next year. A direct, driving pop WMD, ‘Never Let Me Go’ is another howling siren from an artist at the top of her game.

Soccer Mommy

Chvrches

With last year’s debut album ‘Clean’, Soccer Mommy made quite the splash. Now, she’s back with a brand new label and the first taster of a follow up. More fleshed out and

Brand new music from CHVRCHES is always a banner moment. Latest track ‘Death Stranding’ is taken from the soundtrack of the upcoming PS4 game, and

lucy

Death Stranding

S

Get the latest bangers at readdork.com or follow our Brand New Bangers playlist on Spotify.

Check out all these tracks and more on Dork Radio now at readdork.com/ radio

is five and a bit minutes of textbook brilliance from the trio. “We were really excited about the opportunity to work with Kojima because we have been fans of his work for a long time,” they explain.

“He has always been such a visionary in the gaming world and we were honoured to be involved in the project.”

Bloxx

Los Campesinos! have confirmed plans to reissue their 2010 album, ‘Romance Is Boring’. Set to be released on Valentine’s Day - 14th February 2020 - it’ll celebrate 10 years of the record, and be marked with two shows at London’s Islington Assembly Hall (14th, 15th February). The reissue pre-order includes a number of goodies, such as a Valentine’s Card signed by the band, and a ‘zine.

Go Out With You There’s a lot to be said for a good old fashioned stomper and Bloxx certainly know how to deliver those. ‘Go Out With You’ has nothing vintage or dusty about it though - a direct shot of intent, it’s run through with the best of both worlds; driving bass and sparkling synth abounds.

Described by Fee Booth as “the fun ‘indie’ party vibe we’ve been waiting to release for a long time,” it certainly fits the remit. Someone get in the tinnies, yeah?

Clairo has added a second London show to her upcoming UK live jaunt.

Touring her debut album ‘Immunity’, she’s coming over for dates in Bristol (1st December), London - at both Shepherd’s Bush Empire (2nd) and the Electric Ballroom (3rd) - Birmingham (4th), Manchester (7th), Glasgow (8th), and Dublin (10th).

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Muncie Girls’ Lande Hekt is going to release a new solo EP. ‘Gigantic Disappointment’ - which saw Lande recording in Australia - is due on 15th November, and you can check out ‘Carpet’ and ‘The Future’ on readdork.com.

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TOP TEN

"It was a mix of not giving a fuck, but also really giving a fuck" Matt Maltese HAILED AS THE

schmaltzcore king we all deserved when his debut came out, Matt Maltese is back with album number two. Moving from a studio to his bedroom and focussing more on his love for ballads, Things are a little bit more intimate this time around.

We lit a few candles, cooked a romantic meal, and asked: why are so many South London shops named Krystal?

Hi Matt, first things first: How’s this album been different to your debut?

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The main thing is probably the number of people involved in the making of it. It was more insular this time around, fewer people to bounce ideas off of. I guess it was a more lonely experience, but in a good way. The more it went along, the more I realised it needed to be like this and I wanted to go as far with it as I could.

And was it your first time producing as well as playing?

“EMBRACE THE BALLAD” ANY MONTH FEATURING NEW MATERIAL FROM SOUTH LONDON CROONER MATT MALTESE, IS A VERY GOOD MONTH INDEED.

WORDS: JAKE HAWKES

NOVEMBER 2019

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I’ve been doing home demos for quite a while, but never really trying to get them to a place where it could be considered a finished song. This was the first time where I can actually say it’s a song that I’ve produced, rather than just a demo which I finished with someone later.

Were there any themes you wanted to touch on that you didn’t with the first album?

There was a lot I wanted to do differently. I wanted to embrace the ballad a lot more, I really love writing love songs that maybe two or three years ago I would’ve thought were too cute. I wanted it to embody the fact that I feel a bit more comfortable writing those kinds of songs. It was a mix of not giving a fuck but also really giving a fuck, in that I had a lot to prove to myself, but also I was just in my room doing what I feel good doing.

There’s more intimacy there, and it just felt like less of an event, so there was less pressure, and I think - I hope - that benefited it.

INTRO Would it be fair to call this a break-up record?

I think there is a theme of heartbreak, but it’s very broad. It is break-up in the sense that it’s about losing someone, but it’s also about all the other parts of love, too.

There’s a lot of falling in love with people there and falling in love with love. I don’t really wanna announce it as a break-up album, because I know I will have many more breakup albums, so I think it’s half-true this time round.

Poppy’s got a brand new album coming

Are you worried you’ll run out of real experiences to write songs about?

Definitely, I worry about it every day. This idea that I might’ve just written the last song that I’ll ever write is scary, but I feel like worrying about it isn’t good. I think it’s important not to base your life around wanting it to be a song. As long as I don’t fall into that horrible pattern of seeing your own life as a movie, it should be ok.

Why is the title-track called ‘Krystal’ with a K?

Why did you pick it as the title track?

I felt like it was a bit different from the rest of the record in that it doesn’t have humour, it’s just a very honest song in its soppiness, and I liked that. I didn’t want the name of the album to be a pun, as much as I like puns, I just wanted it to be a title with no curtains.

What would be the most flattering comparison someone could make to the album?

There are lots of answers, I just hope they would say something good.

I’m worried that I’ll answer and it’ll bite me in the arse! I guess any good album with heartbreaks, although there are a bunch of those... I’m not going to be able to answer this one, because I’ll regret any answer, definitely. P Matt Maltese’s album ‘Krystal’ is out 8th November.

SEEING A SHOE WITH TYLER, THE CREATOR...

Hello, Dear Reader. If you can cast your mind back a few months, you may remember the time we stood in a tightly packed crowd of people for 2 or 3 hours waiting for a Tyler, The Creator show that never happened. Well this time we waited in an orderly queue for 10 minutes, and the show actually did happen, which is a definite step in the right direction as far as both comfort and payoff are concerned.

Since his Theresa May-mandated ban from the UK expired, Tyler has been playing around with the freedom to visit London again – first with the previously mentioned failed Peckham show, then with a merch giveaway in Shoreditch – but September’s three sold out dates at Brixton were the real announcement of his triumphant return.

Down the road, recently returned culture bible The Face are holding a pop-up shop where he’s invited fans to ‘grab a magazine / see a shoe’. Inside, there are mags for sale, and a single pair of shoes to see, so we guess it’s an accurate description (with double the advertised amount of shoes).

There’s also talks on filmmaking, music writing and a radio workshop, but as the show looms ever closer the room empties out and the few remaining people are left with a pineapple soda each and some time alone with the plasticencased shoes.

Inside the venue, things are a bit busier – the merch table is swamped with people. Mosh pits are already forming to former Odd Future DJ Taco, over an hour before Tyler’s due on stage. When he does appear, dressed in a blonde wig and yellow suit, the response is ridiculous. You’d think he’d been gone for 40 years, not four. New album material and old classics are rattled through, with the crowd singing along to every word and Tyler doing some very questionable dance moves, more ragdoll than human.

Throughout the show he tells his fans he loves them, calls them ‘pieces of shit’, makes jokes at Theresa May’s expense and just generally has fun with it all. Pyrotechnics, psychedelic visuals and a hydraulic platform keep energy levels high, but even if it had just been Tyler without any theatrics, you get the feeling the reception would have been the same. As he ends the show dripping in sweat and still somehow wearing his wig, it seems laughable that this man was ever labelled a risk to national security. P

Referencing her ‘Concrete’ single and the album’s sound, she told our mates at Upset: “We just wanted to see if we could one-up ‘X’. And I feel like we did.

It’s a taste of what is to come on the new album, but we’re leaning harder into the heavier direction on the rest of the record, which is exciting. I feel like I’ve got to awaken this dormant creature inside of me.”

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It looks like Creeper are back!

Yep - Creeper are at it again. The sneaky bunch kind of, sort of split up on stage at KOKO the end of last year, having released their debut album ‘Eternity, in Your Arms’ in March 2017.

Now they’re back however, with their typical mysterious social posts (check out their Instas from a few weeks back), and news of a new London show: they’ll perform under the name Fugitives of Heaven at Club 229 on 1st November.

It’s sold out already tho, sorry.

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Well, it’s not the name of an actual person, but in London, whenever I take the bus, I feel like I see places with Krystal in the name. I live just off the Old Kent Road in South London, and I’m faced with these shops all the time *laughs*.

The feeling and emotion in the song is real, but I didn’t want to name the person and that word, whether I liked it or not, just kept popping up in my face, so that’s kind of how that happened.

Poppy has shared a few details of her next album, ‘I Disagree’. The follow-up to last year’s ‘Am I a Girl?’ full-length, and this year’s ‘Choke’ EP, it’ll be released on 10th January .

INTRO

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Halsey and Pale Waves are off on tour!

They’ll perform in Glasgow, London for a whopper at The O2 - Dublin, and Manchester next March, in support of Halsey’s upcoming third album ‘Manic’, due 17th January via Capitol Records/ Virgin. Get the full details on readdork.com now.

False Advertising have a case of the ‘Brainfreeze’ NEWLY SIGNED TO INDIE STAPLES Alcopop! Records, Manchester trio False Advertising are back with their new album, ‘Brainfreeze’. Bedded in a place of catharsis, it’s a record that sees the trio air their everyday frustrations.

Vocalist Jen tells us more.

Hello, Jen! How’s life in Manchester at the moment?

Manchester is beginning to feel a bit autumnal at the moment, but the weather is still being alright. I’m looking forward to escaping for a bit soon, actually!

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Tell us about your new album - when did you start work on it, and what was your starting point?

Every time we finish with a release, we always seem to want to begin the next thing quite quickly. It feels like ages ago now, but we pulled this album together from various demos we had floating around at the tail end of 2017. We were hungry to evolve and do more. As luck would have it, while we were planning we were invited by our friend Luke to record the album with him at The Church Studios in London. We recorded all the tracks live at the very beginning of 2018 (which coincided with me leaving my job partially because I couldn’t get the time off) and then chipped away at the rest over the months that followed, any chance we got.

What frame of mind were you guys in while writing this one?

I think we were a bit on edge about various

La Roux is on the way back?!

La Roux looks to be teasing a big comeback.

The singer tweeted a picture of herself ‘in the studio’ last month, hinting that she was back working on new music.

‘Back at it...’ the caption to the photo reads.

With a self-titled debut album in 2009, and follow up ‘Trouble In Paradise’ released in 2014, five years feels around the right length of gap for a new record to arrive. Keep your eyes open for more.

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"We were hungry to evolve and do more" Jen Hingley

personal situations and frustrations in the wider world. Although we wrote it so long ago, I think the world is still the same frustrating place. Hopefully, it’ll still resonate!

In what ways is this record a step up for False Advertising?

The obvious answer to this question is that sonically it’s a big step up. This is the first proper release we’ve recorded in a real studio - and a fantastic studio at that.

Having previously mostly self-recorded and produced things DIY, working with Luke at The Church was a big deal for us, and a new sort of dynamic for us to get used to where we are collaborating with a future and have so many more options in terms of how things can sound.

We also recorded a lot of it live, which we’ve never really been able to do before, and really pushed ourselves to perform as well as we could. P

INTRO

Taylor Swift is ‘doing’ the festivals!

Following the release of her seventh album ‘Lover’, she’ll be hitting the road and taking in a number of European festivals, including Werchter Boutique in Belgium, THE WALDBÜHNE in Berlin, Oslo Somertid in Norway, Roskilde Festival, France’s Festival De Nimes, and Nos Alive in Portugal.

As well as that, she’ll be bringing her own Lover Fest to Los Angeles and Foxborough stateside.

“The ‘Lover album’ is open fields, sunsets, + SUMMER,” Taylor explained on Twitter. “I want to perform it in a way that feels authentic. I want to go to some places I haven’t been and play festivals. Where we didn’t have festivals, we made some. Introducing, Lover Fest East + West!”

Billie Eilish has announced a MASSIVE worldwide arena tour, include nights in Manchester, Birmingham and London.

Performing in support of her debut album ‘When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?’, she’ll hit the road next year, arriving in the UK on 21st July - including four nights at the capital’s huge O2 Arena.

You can find all the dates and details you need on readdork.com now.

The 1975 on tour The 1975 have announced their 2020 UK tour deets The band will kick off the run on Saturday 15th February in Nottingham, before going on to play shows in Newcastle, Leeds, Bournemouth, London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Dublin.

The first of the two London shows takes place on Friday, 21st February - that’s the same day new album ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ is set to arrive.

Expect fireworks. Find the full details on readdork.com and, if you really want to keep up with the latest The 1975 ‘stuff’, follow the awesome @The1975_Tour on Twitter. Officially Dork recommended.

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Billie Eilish has announced a great big arena tour!

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HYPE

FIND MORE FRESH SOUNDS ONLINE NOW AT READDORK.COM/HYPE

Joesef

SOULFUL NEWCOMER JOESEF SPINS SAD TUNES THAT YOU CAN “SHAG OR SMOKE A JOINT TO”. LOVELY.

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WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG.

a loaf of bread anymore.”

ONLY THREE SINGLES Joesef is a modern in, rising pop star Joesef pop artist doing things has quickly established outside the parameters that he’s someone going of traditional music places fast. As we speak industry boundaries. to him from his flat in The three tracks he has Glasgow though the only released so far, ‘Limbo’ place he’s going is to the ‘Loverboy’ and ‘Don’t gym to recover from a Give In’ highlight a weekend playing his first dynamic performer who hometown headlining is making universal pop to shows. “I’m still trying to connect on an emotional get the hangover off from and physical level. the weekend there,” he Entirely self-produced laughs in his distinctive and made in his bedroom Glaswegian brogue. “I’m it’s the work of someone getting my shit together unafraid to follow their and going to get back own convictions and be to the gym today. Get successful on their own back on the straight and terms. narrow. I had a house There are no artistic party after the King Tut’s pretensions to Joesef. No gig on Sunday, and my high minded perception house looks like it’s been of himself as an ‘artist’. destroyed.”

Indeed, the fact he is even It’s been a swift rise making music now wasn’t for the singer who only a some industry concocted couple of years ago was master plan but the kicking around Glasgow product of a typical night with his pals with no out. “I’ve always sung in intention of making any the house, but I had never music. Now, he’s a star really taken it seriously,” in his hometown. “At my he explains mum’s bit of his where I THE FACTS musical grew up, + From background.

I went to Glasgow, UK “I never get a loaf of + For fans of really bread for King Krule thought I my mum, + Check out would be and the guy ‘Limbo’ a singer in the shop + Social and never asked for a @joesefjoesef thought it picture,” he + See them live: was a viable exclaims.

Catch Joesef in career “That was Manchester (19th so weird path. I was Nov), Brighton that I can’t at an open (20th), and even go for mic night Glasgow (23rd Dec)

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with my pal, who is now my manager, and I got completely shit faced so I went up and sang a song and he was like, “Oh fuck, you can actually sing!” He just said if you want you can be a singer.

He came back to me and said he wanted to start a management company and wanted to be my manager. I was like, ‘Aye, if you want’. He said I should write a couple of songs, so I did, and that ended up with ‘Limbo’. It was all pretty recent. It wasn’t a lifelong thing; it was a pretty recent turnabout.”

The casual ease with which Joesef tells the story of his musical beginnings is in keeping with his supremely engaging and frequently hilarious character. He’s not afraid to speak his mind something that he puts down to his Glasgow upbringing. “Glasgow is very colourful and vibrant,” he says proudly of his home city. “I’ll always be in love with Glasgow. I was born in Glasgow, and I’ll die in Glasgow. Musically it makes me more honest because I feel like people in Glasgow are very honest. There’s no beating around the bush. If you’re a prick, you’re a prick, and they’ll tell you that.

They’re so passionate as well. That comes out in my music it’s do or die, all or nothing.”

"I went to get a loaf of bread, and the guy in the shop asked for a picture" The music that he has made so far is rich in emotion and is the product of a melting pot of different styles and genres. Jazzy, soulful and with a nod to the past and an eye for the future it suggests a lot of directions for the young singer to go in. In typically blunt style Joesef describes his music in simple terms: “It’s sad music, but you can still smoke a joint to it. You can shag or smoke a joint to my tunes, but they’re quite sad.”

The sadness is born of recent experiences and the break-up of a long term relationship.

His forthcoming EP, due later this year, details the whirlwind of emotions he experienced during that time. “It’s a body of work where all the tunes are connected,” he explains.

“It’s the story of my first love and my first breakup and everything in between.”

Heartbreak is a central theme of Joesef’s music, but it’s couched in a spirit

of defiance rather than weary despondency.

“Everyone has had their heartbroken,” he says.

“It’s one of the most universal feelings and a unifying experience. My experience is expressed through music. I find it quite hard to articulate my feelings so I can only really do that through tunes.”

Joesef’s musical ethos is centred on selfsufficiency, and an insular way of working that emphasises his singular approach. “I’ve always been a DIY or die person. I don’t like people touching my shit,” he laughs. “I’d rather just do it all myself.

I’m a bit of a control freak that way. When I was making the songs, they turned out to be quite personal, so I feel like if I had people helping me out, it would feel quite weird.

Because I was so limited with my resources just working in my bedroom, it forces you to be more creative. At first, that was a hindrance, but it’s worked out in my favour because my music doesn’t really sound like anybody else.”

“It’s a good time to be young and making music and to be whoever you want to be,” says Joesef as he prepares to make the next big leap in his musical journey. Full of confidence and belief he’s ready for the next level. P

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First on CHECK OUT THESE NEW ACTS IMMEDIATELY

ANGELICA GARCIA With a debut album due next year, Angelica Garcia is definitely ‘one’ to ‘watch’ over the coming months. Half Mexican, half Salvadoran-American, her LA upbringing at a magnet school bringing together different sectors from around the country means she’s an artist with a diverse range of influences to draw from. Recent single ‘Jicama’ focused on the American identity and exposing the racism and xenophobia of the political approach of “preserving history”. It’s also an absolute bop.

THE WANTS

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DRUG STORE ROMEOS Freshly signed to Fiction, Drug Store Romeos herald from the bright lights of Fleet and have just dropped a debut single via the label, ‘Now You’re Moving’. It follows on from what the press materials refer to as “a nine month retreat from playing live”, meaning they’re a band refreshed and ready to go. Hampshire never sounded so damn good.

ANGELICA GARCIA

into everyday teen sadness, such as seasonal depression and prom anxiety, and turning it into joyful, hands-in-the-air, take-on-theworld anthems. Don’t waste your time feeling grey; her debut album, ‘the masquerade’, is out now.

MXMTOON

PUSH BABY

Racking up YouTube views like no one’s business, Oakland-based 19-year-old singer/songwriter mxmtoon is an expert in tapping

There’s a good chance you won’t remember this, but back in 2012, Jake Roche - the son of Shane Richie (!) and Coleen Nolan (!!) -

MXMTOON

launched a band called Relics, and signed with Scooter Braun of pissing-off-Taylor Swift fame (!!!).

Well, they changed their name to Rixton for a bit, before going on a four-year hiatus, and returned earlier this year as push baby.

Got all that? Phew. The boys have just birthed their ambitious debut EP ‘woah’, and it’s well worth bunging on.

before Bodega’s ridiculously talented line-up, itself formed out of several New York projects, began splintering off into exciting new directions. With a stunning new EP in the bag with their ‘main’ band, how Madison and Heather have found the time to spark life into another cult-act-inthe-making on the side, god only knows. But with drummer Jason Gates, they are giving Bodega a run for their money for Brooklyn’s most wanted. Recent single ‘Fear My Society’ is much more overtly post-punk than you might expect, slinking in on a serious groove with shadows of early-80s new wave rumbling throughout. Their recent whistle-stop of the U.K. showed that there is a ton more where that came from, and with a promised return in early 2020 it’s likely that this trio is going to blow up big very soon.

NATURE TV Signed to our pals Heist or Hit, Brighton indie-poppers Nature TV don’t seem to have the best of luck in relationships; they’ve a lot of tunes rooted in being sad about a girl. Their new one? Well, it’s called ‘She Wants To See You Cry’, so presumably their love lives aren’t on the up-and-up just yet. It’s markedly sunnier than before, though, and arrives alongside the promise of a new EP out later this autumn.

DRUG STORE ROMEOS

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THE WANTS It was only a question of time

NATURE TV

WHAT DOES HOME MEAN TO YOU?

Biig Piig BIIG PIG INFUSES HER INTIMATE NEO-SOUL VIGNETTES WITH INFLUENCES FROM HER TIME GROWING UP IN SPAIN. WORDS: LAURA FREYALDENHOVEN.

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To Jess Smyth - or how you will get to know her, neo-soul artist Biig Piig it’s become equivalent with music.

Starting out young, Jess originally made music not for others but solely for herself. “When I was about 14, I came over to London, and I didn’t have a school, so I was stuck in my room for a long time.

I didn’t know anyone to hang out with, so I picked up a guitar and started making tunes to keep myself company.”

But it didn’t take long for her to go out and share her talent with the world. “I remember going to my first open mic and doing my tunes; I made a bunch of friends. I started songwriting and found this community of people.”

Born in Cork, Ireland, Jess spent most of her childhood and early teens in Spain. In fact, despite speaking English at home, Spanish was the first language she learned to read and write. But it wasn’t meant to last; after eight years in the sun, her family decided to move back to Ireland, and at the age of 14, Jess had to pack up again, this time moving to London. A lot of settling in and having to say goodbye again, certainly enough for a lifetime. But it didn’t make her bitter. “After a while, you get used to being the person no one knows.”

Jess learned to be independent, a skill that many people struggle with; but as with everything, there are two sides to this coin. “In a way, it was one of the best things because I can go off and do whatever I like. I’m not scared about meeting new people. I love meeting new groups and getting to know their stories. The only downside to it is I do find that whenever things get too close or too intense, I get very emotionally attached and then can massively influence Jess’s music very easily detach for some reason.” and songwriting. “Spanish for An issue that can make it hard me is a nice tool; when there’s to form deep and meaningful something I want to say, but I don’t friendships. But, luckily, as Jess want that person to know, I just puts it: “It doesn’t matter where you say it in Spanish. I are, you’ll always find feel like the stuff your people. They’ll I say in Spanish is find you.” For Biig Piig, THE FACTS more vulnerable those people were + From compared to always connected to London, UK English. It’s kind of music. Specifically, + For fans of like a weird code, I Lava La Rue and the Nao, IAMDDB guess.” other members of + Check out Right now, Jess her collective NiNE8 ‘Roses and Gold’ is gearing up for the - a bunch of creative + Social release of her third minds who create @BiigPiigMusic EP ‘No Place For everything from + See them live: Patience’, and it’s music to cover art and Catch her at an important one fashion.

London’s EartH for her personally Having grown on 24th October as part of a wider because it reflects up in Spain, the European tour all the lessons she culture and language

has learned in the last few years, often the hard way. “The last two EPs were very much about relationships with other people, and I feel like at the age of 20/21 I’ve realised if you don’t like a situation, as hard as it might be, you have to change it, and that comes with how you see yourself.”

If it’s anything like her previous two EPs, there’s no question number three will be welcomed with open arms. But Jess doesn’t want to jinx it.

“We’ll say a little prayer,” she jokes, but really, there are no

prayers needed. With her free-flowing outlook on life and unique take on music, it doesn’t take a psychic to know that we will hear much more of her bilingual raps in the future.

And she’s, quite literally, here to stay: “When I go back [to Spain] I get a sense of feeling at home, for sure, but almost like a sadness because I feel like I wouldn’t fit anymore even though it was a huge part of my life. I’m half from there, half from Ireland.

Nothing feels like home, in a good way, though. You become your own home.” P

"It doesn’t matter where you are, you’ll always find your people"

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Nearly 15 years after forming, Foals are about to release their most outward-looking record to date, heralding a new era of social accountability, visceral lyrics and a commitment to saving our dying planet. That’s if Yannis doesn’t do himself another mischief first...

Words: Jenessa Williams.

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“With Love and Humility… we’re the best band in the world.” Not a tweet signed off by a Gallagher brother, or an overzealous PR wielding a new act, but rather one such Yannis Philippakis; son of a Greek architect, fan of a jazzy shirt and the frontman of Foals. We could say this July’s social media outburst is out of the ordinary, but confidence is something he’s never been short on.

Now, that tweet suddenly seems a whole lot less bold. Enduring musical fads and industry trends, Foals have made their decade-long play for the top in slow, organic fashion, headlining festivals and gaining a reputation as one of Britain’s most vital live acts. With

every record, they’ve nurtured their talent for precise melodies through various, gently-shifting iterations – the itchy math-rock of ‘Antidotes’ giving way to ‘Total Life Forever’’s atmospherics, dipping a toe into stadium rock on ‘Holy Fire’ and ‘What Went Down’. Now, they complete Part Two of ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ in spectacular fashion, dive-bombing their way through dead-stare singles and 10-minute epics alike.

Put simply, it bangs pretty damn hard.

“I think it’s definitely more of a rock record. The guitars are much more emphasised, and it captures much more of the live energy of our shows,” Yannis explains. “Part One ended in quite a defeated, broken down place in terms of the imagery and the energy of the last song, so we wanted this album to contrast that and have a sense of perseverance after it. There’s a kind of journey through it; when you get to the second side a lot of the imagery is more abstract - Part One is very much gathered in the current times in London and in our contemporary situation, but the end of Part Two is more abstract and is about departing. I wanted it to have that arc to it.”

Having set out initially to make a single album (as one does), the decision to go double was born out of the fruits of a free-form studio experience, with little regard for budgets or calendars. “Our initial desire was just to be open, not have any brief or parameter so we could work as broadly as possible,” says Yannis. “There was a period where we realised we were working on a lot of very diverse songs and I remember definitely being concerned about how it would form a coherent record. As we got

"I HAD SOME CONCERNS THAT WE COULD GO INTO SOME MAD WORMHOLE" NOVEMBER 2019

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to the final stages, it was clear that there were two bodies of work, two symmetrical sides of what we were doing. It took some juggling around, but the material split relatively easily. Lyrically, I felt like when we were sequencing the material across the two records, this half very much felt like a natural continuation.”

The narrative shift between records is not to be underestimated.

Where Part One is helpless and regretful as it watches the world burn, Part Two picks itself up, dusts off its hands and gets back to work. The contrast is reflected in the album covers, which Yannis describes as something akin to synaesthesia; the red foliage of Part One representing the warping of nature, while Part Two’s renewed flora winds around the spectre of death, a graveyard of departed souls. Picking up where songs like ‘Exits’ and ‘Sunday’ left off (“Our fathers run and leave all the damage they’ve done behind / Left us with the blind leading the blind”), Part Two tackles the very real threats of climate change and decaying landscapes, searching for the last safe space on earth.

“It’s definitely got that defiant imagery,” he says. “It’s more personal really, dealing with my feelings of not being able to take personal refuge in the places where I’ve grown up. Over the past year or so I’ve found myself selfishly thinking that if things come to ruin in the UK, I’ve got this kind of childlike mentality of ‘oh it’s okay, I can run away and hide on some Greek island’. Whenever I’ve had problems, I’ve always felt like Greece could be this future sanctuary.

“But none of us have that option to think of anywhere as a romantic escape anymore – everywhere is bound by the same fate. The whole second half is kind of about tapping into that. ‘Neptune’ is about leaving Britain for Greece and having to deal with the place of my mind not really being there anymore, trying to tackle the feeling that we have of not being able to find somewhere that is untouched by political turmoil or environmental threat.”

A desire to play their part in ecological reform is at the heart of Foals new era. Keen supporters of Extinction Rebellion and Music Declares (an initiative that calls on bands to use their platforms to act as role models for positive change), they are making moves to offset their carbon footprint as a touring band, and remove all plastic from

their riders and merchandise.

“It costs money to do that, and it’s the reason why so many bands don’t want to do it,” explains Jimmy Smith, guitarist and the band’s resident straight-talker.

“Obviously, playing live is where people make their bread these days, and people are unwilling to invest a few thousand pounds in offsetting carbon, but that’s what’s going to have to happen.

“Going plastic-free as a band is really difficult – some places like

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America it’s totally fine, they’ll give you glass bottles in the dressing room, but then you’ll go to a festival in Poland or Germany, and it’s tons and tons of plastic, some places are really behind on it.

“Our production manager was saying that we’re just going to have to get more militant about it, start saying that we’re not going to play if you’re going to give us 500 plastic water bottles. Just be a pain in the arse and make those who are lazy and can’t be bothered actually do

it - they can’t plead ignorance if it’s on a rider in capital letters.

“I think it’s great what a band like The 1975 are doing - they’re literally everywhere setting the example, and the fact that they’re so much younger than us as a band but taking the lead on this sort of thing, it’s slightly embarrassing that none of our peers or slightly older bands have tried to do it yet.

“I know Radiohead tried some stuff a few years ago, but it should really become some

kind of mandatory law where record labels and management companies contribute some money to offsetting carbon and make it as easy as possible. It should become the norm.”

Accepting that you need to make changes as a band isn’t always easy, especially in an industry where acts are often encouraged to avoid controversy or bold statements.

Five records deep, Foals are aware that they are in a position to stand defiant on the issues that matter.

“You’re pressured to not say anything; the record label doesn’t want you to become controversial because it’s risky, and nobody likes risk,” Jimmy admits. “The fact that without planning it, we’ve made two records that start to address these issues is great – I’m proud of Yannis for doing that to be honest, because he’s painfully aware of how much you can get torn apart, especially by the press, for speaking out of line or saying anything vaguely controversial or interesting. You

"WE WERE FORCED OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE" departure is definitely that we were forced out of our comfort zone,” he says. “We were forced out of the way we enjoyed working, which was definitely a positive. Edwin [Congreave, keyboards] and I had to play bass as well, and there became more of a fluidity towards the roles in the band.”

Jimmy, ever the pragmatic, drywitted counterbalance, sees things in much more cut-and-dry terms.

“I mean, he didn’t give us much choice! We were a bit like ‘okay then, bye!’,” he laughs. “Normally you come up with a bassline and then hang everything else off it, so luckily Edwin stepped up and played some bass, which was an eyebrowraiser, but a good one. That meant that there wasn’t a ginormous hole sonically, but it definitely has changed the songs, because Walter played in quite a specific way. I guess it does give it a different feel musically, but the main thing is that we missed his personality really.”

When we talk, Jimmy is heavily jet-lagged, in the car on the way to rehearsals for the Mercury Prize, where the first half of this record is up for the 25k reward.

His expectations of winning are exceedingly low (“I think Dave’s going to get it. He beat us to Number One as well, so I’m feeling bitter”), but he’s looking forward to a solid night of fancy foods and catching up with friends.

Yannis, having shredded his hand open during a freak family’ blood brothers’ incident in Greece,

won’t be able to play his guitar for their performance - instead, they’ll be joined by Felix White from The Maccabees, a somewhat cyclical homage to their early art-rock beginnings over ten years ago, when neon was king, Skins was on TV and Underage Festival was the cultural event of every teenager’s summer.

“I do miss it. I find myself overromanticising those times, so I think if we’d carried on doing those shows, we’d have gotten sick of it,” says Jimmy. “It just seemed like a really exciting time, there was a real scene. Even the whole Nu Rave thing - it’s easy to look back on it now and think how silly it was, but there were genuinely exciting things going on, nights being arranged, raves, house parties, all sorts of things. It was great to be a part of that and then survive it.

There was a lot of energy, especially in East London, and I don’t know if that happens anymore, or maybe I’m just woefully out of touch. I remember our ethos was just to take no prisoners and try and blow every band out of the water.”

It’s been a long time since glo-stick bracelets and checked Topshop hoodies were acceptable fashion choices – does that ‘take no prisoners’ ethos still remain?

“I think yeah, it’s just embedded in who we are as a band. I mean, I don’t really care about that stuff anymore, I don’t need to keep telling myself that we’re good because I know we are. I definitely get a bit embarrassed when bands

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can’t do right for doing wrong, so you just have to say sod the lot and do what you want.”

Yannis certainly is a frontman who’s found himself explaining his way out of an awkward situation more than once over the years.

His matter-of-fact confidence has the potential to be read for arrogance, a lumbermill worth of chips perched on his shoulder.

He is regularly portrayed in the press as the overbearing oligarch, directing his bandmates to deliver his meticulous vision. For anyone who has witnessed a live Foals performance, his intense, stage-stalking presence doesn’t necessarily paint him as somebody who might be fun down the pub.

However, when you engage with Yannis directly on the matter of music, any aloofness is quickly replaced with an infectious energy and commitment to presenting the absolute best version of Foals to the world, fully aware of his own workaholic tendencies.

“I throw myself quite obsessively into the recording process and have a tendency to want to control stuff,” he admits. “I’m cautious of that within myself because if I’m allowed to do that, I might end up suffocating everyone.

“This time around, Jack [Bevan, Foals’ drummer] was definitely keen for us to work without a producer.

We’ve worked with some amazing producers over the years, but any time you work with someone in such a controlled fashion, that external presence in the creative process changes things, and we wanted to have a more concentrated expression of where we were at.

“I was teaching myself to use Logic in the early stages, and lots of the tracks as you hear them now are essentially those original recordings with only slight developments. I had some concerns that we could go into some mad wormhole where the characters within the band were clashing with all our ideas, or that without a mediator we would just get into these stalemates or arguments that weren’t for the benefit of the creative process. But once we got into it, producing it myself just felt right.”

The amicable departure of original bassist Walter Gervers also added to Yannis’s new-found producer-performer workload.

Having decided not to refill his shoes, the newly-four-piece group had to set about reconfiguring their roles. “One side effect of Walter’s

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say they’re amazing, so when Yannis says it I’m a bit like ‘Oh God’. But I do totally agree with him, I think we deserve it, and we should be very proud of how far we’ve got.”

“I obviously mean it humorously, but I don’t think it always comes across that way,” reasons Yannis.

“There is this strain on guitar music and in society, in general, to be self-effacing. That’s great, but sometimes it just gets a little bit boring, and it’s nice to be a little bit provocative.

“I definitely feel like sometimes, if we don’t actually make a noise about what we’re doing particularly because we’ve been around a while - it’s very easy to become part of the furniture and for people to just be used to you.

Occasionally, it’s good to have a little outburst.”

Said outbursts certainly don’t seem to have done Foals any longlasting harm. Recent years have seen them step up to co-headline Reading & Leeds, tour the world in increasingly widening circles and jump off of more balconies and stages than Travis Scott at a trampoline convention. It’s not difficult to imagine that the next ten years might contain Glastonbury headline slots and stadiums. Somewhat suprising for a band who put so much effort into the live shows, their idea of future success is much more rooted within

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"I’D REALLY LIKE TO WRITE SOME POETRY OR PUT OUT A BOOK OF WORDS" the studio than in any festival fields.

“We definitely feel like there’s a better record in us,” confesses Yannis. “The only problem with that is – and I’m sure every band that lasts for 25 years feels the same – the results are so often a law of diminishing returns. I’m having to get used to the fact that we’ve actually been around for a while.

In our minds, we’re still new and chippy and feel like the underdogs, but the reality of that is a bit different.

“I want to find a way to still be creative and try to make something great, without descending into becoming an ‘old’ band. I think also a lot of things I want to accomplish are outside of the band, or maybe in conjunction with, but not just about following the traditional

tour and album cycle. Just about becoming more creatively diverse generally.

“I did some writing with Tony Allen - the afrobeat drummer who’s worked with Fela Kuti - and I’d really like to get those songs finished. And I’d really like to write some poetry or put out a book of words that’s separated from the music, just concentrating on writing for a bit.

“I’d obviously like to make more music as Foals, but maybe we’ll change the way of doing it a bit. It’d be nice to be more nimble, put out more songs as and when and have a quicker bounce between touring and releasing, rather than these huge laborious cycles. Hopefully, that’ll all happen, if this hand ever gets better.”

Jimmy has also been nursing

an impulse to share some solo material with the world.

“I have been for the last ten years,” he laughs. “It’s taking a while, I am going to try and push myself soon and actually do something, but it’s terrifying to step out of the mothership, to be honest.

It’s nice and safe in here, and I can put the blame on other members of the band to pull their socks up, but if I’m doing it on my own then it’s all my fault.

“That’s on the bucket list for me definitely, I think I’d like to do it and not tell anybody it’s me. It’s more trying to get rid of stuff, because it’s way more exciting writing new music than trying to get rid of old music. And then with the band; it’d definitely be naïve to say we weren’t trying to make the best record of all time. I don’t think we’ve done that yet, even though the new records are good. The defining record of our career, I think we’ve still got it in us.”

A two-part album is already a massive undertaking – is it possible that they might never be completely satisfied?

“I think we can be, as long as other factors don’t get in the way,” says Jimmy, playfulness audible in his voice. “If people get bored of it, or if someone dies – I mean, if Yannis gets hit by a bus, it’s game over isn’t it really? We’ve discussed this, me and Jack – we’re just going to put a Z instead of the S cos we’re not allowed to trade under the name Foals if Yannis isn’t there, so we’ll be Foalz and get in some other ex-indie star to sing. We’ll get one of the Klaxons – all of the Klaxons. I think it would shift… some tickets, location dependent. Maybe that could be another side project – we don’t have to wait for his untimely demise, we’ll just crack on.”

He laughs at somewhat disturbing length down the phone, but somehow, we don’t think Yannis will mind – he’s probably far too busy thanking his lucky stars that his hand is still attached.

Or maybe, like so many of us, the fear of the earth’s untimely death temporarily outweighs the concern of his own... P Foals’ album ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2’ is out 18th October.

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It’s here! King Nun have finally dropped their debut album.

With ‘Mass’, they’ve made it worth the wait.

Words: Alex Cabré. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

NOVEMBER 2019

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ON A RAINY AUTUMN

afternoon, King Nun leader Theo Polyzoides is sat outside the quartet’s London HQ, just days ahead of the release of their debut album ‘Mass’. It’s been a long time coming. Fans of Dirty Hit – that is, the boys’ record label that also hosts The 1975 and Pale Waves among plenty others – will by now be well-acquainted with the scrappy young foursome whose early singles thrashed like feral animals.

“I think they’re frozen points in time which are beautiful things,” Theo muses, casting his mind back to 2016 and tracks like ‘Tulip’ and

‘Speakerface’. Three years and an at times unnerving amount of radio silence later, ‘Mass’ finds the band stepping forward from just being cool by association: this is their moment in the limelight.

“We were pretty content to just see where our own creativity took us, and then the question came up, ‘do you want to make an album?’” explains Theo, of the record’s conception. “We were like, yeah. Seems like a laugh! Our back catalogue of songs is just absolutely huge, and so little of it has been released. It’s ‘cuz we write like absolute maniacs, but we destroy

quicker than we create. So we had a lot [of material] to choose from.”

The finished product is an ambitious, eclectic assembly of songs which is difficult to describe in a word. Sure, it’s rock music, but across its eleven tracks’ Mass’ fluctuates from radio-friendly indie-pop to gloomy gothic realms, roping in punk and Britpop elements here and there and even hints of blues and beat poetry. To Theo, that sonic diversity is integral to what ‘Mass’ means.

“I think ‘Mass’ describes what music is. It’s a gathering of people to come together and worship this READDORK.COM

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"I’M WAY MORE INTERESTED IN ESCAPISM THAN I AM IN REALITY"

thing that they all feel. I think music is ceremony and I think music is weight without fall. It’s just emotion in the air, isn’t it?

Anything that has no definitive shape can be described as mass.”

Once the title was chosen, more meaning began to evolve.

“Because of that name we framed the whole album conceptually like a sermon. So all of our shows are beginning to turn that way. In the religious sense, mass has more sacrificial undertones. Maybe that applies because singing about personal things is like an exorcism.”

That’s something that sets the album apart from everything King Nun have done so far. It’s astonishingly personal and sees Theo baring his soul for all to see.

His enigmatic lyrics are layered heavily with metaphor but the key themes shine through: faith and religion, mental health, relationships; the general trappings of teenagers entering their early 20s broken down and reassembled with a blistering symphony of drums and guitar filling the cracks.

Released back in summer, ‘Black Tree’ was the first single to drop.

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On it, the band channel serious goth-rock vibes with a sound akin to Nick Cave reworked by My Chemical Romance. Or, as Theo puts it with a laugh, “get ready to get fucking depressed!” Next came ‘Low Flying Dandelion’, the most lyrically dense song the band have ever made, with a meaty riff as its driving force, courtesy of bassist Nathan Gane.

“He smashed it out the park with that. It blew our minds,” says Theo. Lyrics came later. “He wrote it [as a] kind of dance track, and when it turned into a rock song, I was left with all this space to work on. I had a poem called ‘Low Reaching Dandelion’ or something which I’d written after waking up on a park bench years ago.”

He realised, “if you say this poem quite fast, it almost turns into a rap. It was very in-the-moment, and I think that’s what gives it its weird energy.” One line stands out above the rest: “I like playing with words, I like how you can twist and mangle expressions. ‘Texas Chainsaw Mascara’. What does that mean? I don’t know!”

Before an album was even being discussed, King Nun were making a name for themselves

as a formidable new live act, tearing up small, sweaty rooms across the country on early tours with the likes of Inheaven and Superfood. Spurred by rip-roaring performances their name spread like wildfire and soon bigger opportunities arose; this year has seen them share stages with Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes in Europe, Foo Fighters in Northern Ireland and heritage punk-rock icons Black Flag in the States.

“Early on, I loved touring with pop bands, and I kind of wanted to always do that just because of the dynamic of the show. Especially with Pale Waves, we’d kind of take

it on ourselves to freak people the fuck out! That was really fun.

We had to play within our genre at a point, so it’s actually been an honour playing rockier shows.

At one point I had to say to the audience, ‘Are you ready for Black Flag?’ and there was this moment in my head where I was like ‘Fuck!

What did I just say?!’ I’m glad to be accepted there, and on pop lineups as well. It’s been a good thing.”

To date, the band have only done one headline tour of their own, off the back of last year’s ‘I Have Love’ EP, but there are plans in the works for the forthcoming album gigs. “With the idea of

‘Mass’, our stage show is gonna look very interesting. We’re thinking of putting on this show in a warehouse that’s controlled by us that’s gonna be very visually-minded. I’m excited to see people’s faces,” Theo says, audibly enthusiastic. By his own admission, though, there are nerves too. Taking the leap from support to headline act brings new levels of pressure, and he knows it.

“Ever since you start music, [headlining] is what you want to do. But at the same time, I’ve found that opening is very freeing because you can just be this absolute maniac for half an hour and the crowd, for the most part, haven’t come to see you. I’m quite trained in hyping up an audience now but when you headline you need to go and be like ‘this is the show’. You guys have warmed up hopefully, now this is all on us. I’m very excited to have that pressure, but at the same time, I suppose at least until the end of the year, I’m having a lot of fun with being very capable as an opening act.”

Visual art is a big passion of Theo’s. A quick glance at his Instagram profile reveals lo-fi photocopy scans of his own blurred hands, surrealist collages and

ghoulish illustrations. Some are band-related, most aren’t.

It’s a pastime that both coexists alongside and informs his methods of making music.

He recalls a childhood game played with his dad, who works as a cameraman. “The game would be, he would say a scenario and then say ‘describe this in as much detail as possible’, and either me or my sister would win. We got very good at intricately explaining these scenarios and building these stories. She’s heavily into journalism, and she has a very poetic way of writing. I bring it to the music.”

Curiously, photography doesn’t pique his interest. “I love painting and creating ridiculous scenes that I could never find on a camera. I’m way more interested in escapism than I am in reality. I was an escapism junkie as a kid, I just lived in an insane imaginary world for years and years. Reality just sort of falls off my shoulders.

“I feel like I can be ten times more revealing and visceral when all this stuff that’s happening in a song is taking place in a fictional landscape like a hotel or a Chinese medicine place than if I’m just

43

saying it how it is. You can summon a lot of really fierce metaphors that touch on something kind of scary. It dramatises emotion. I could be like ‘I broke up with this girl’… ‘I fucking fell off a fucking dimension!’ is more cutting.”

A recurring motif in the ‘Mass’ campaign is a drawing of Theo’s.

Look closely, and it can be spotted flashing up in music videos, in posts on social media and even on the album cover itself. The eerielooking stick figure resembles an arrow pointing up towards a circle.

Its name is Nico.

“As we were making the album, I was constantly drawing in my journal, and I kept drawing this arrow to the sun. I was quite obsessed with it for some reason.

After a while, the arrow got closer and closer, and it started looking like this cultish, Blair Witch stick figure. It ended up meaning a lot to me about music in the same way as ‘Mass’ does. It started looking like a tear from an eye. It started meaning hope for me like it was working like a priest. I showed it to the guys, and I was like ‘let’s spam this on everything all the time!’ It means a lot to me.”

Guitarist James Upton came up

with the name. “It’s an anagram of the word ‘icon’. We thought we ought to give it a name, so we weren’t always calling it ‘stick’. I think that’s brilliant.”

“I’d be a liar if I said t-shirts didn’t come to mind!” Theo laughs.

“But it would be nice to have an insignia that represented us, and I think merchandising is a part of that. It would be lovely to see the people that support us sporting this thing that represents us so well.”

In taking their time and honing their craft, King Nun have produced a stunning collection of songs that live up to every promise they made since bursting out of the ether back in 2016. After all, you only ever get one debut album.

And while Theo heads inside to get out of the rain, James, Nathan and drummer Caius are already busy working on something new. “It might be a rather direct followup, actually. I like concepts and that, it might reference the album quite considerably, but we’ll see how it turns out,” Theo alludes, purposefully vague. Fingers crossed for sooner rather than later, but then again, ‘Mass’ was worth waiting for. P King Nun’s debut album ‘Mass’ is out now.

READDORK.COM

Why WOULDN’T we interview headquarters of Major League Baseball? That’s the question.

Words: Jake Hawkes.

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DUCK

rap sensation Duckwrth in the UK

+ COVER

NOVEMBER 2019

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“I NEVER REALLY FUCKED WITH BASEBALL, TO

be honest with you.” We’re with Californian rapper Duckwrth at the UK headquarters of Major League Baseball, and he’s as confused as we are by the surroundings. “You just gotta roll with it, I guess,” he concludes, leaning back on an MLBbranded chair and looking around at the array of baseball bats mounted on the wall. Luckily for everyone involved, there doesn’t seem to be any employees around, so no impromptu quizzes on favourite teams take place.

The surreal setting is only enhanced by Duckwrth and his friends, who are all dressed in a mish-mash of punk-inspired clothes and streetwear, topped off with coloured hair and jewellery. Duckwrth himself is wearing a greenish poncho and at least two rings on each finger, which he taps on the table periodically. Probably not the usual dress code for the MLB boardroom.

The reason he’s over in the UK (aside from brushing up on his baseball knowledge) is to record some of his new album and play some sold-out shows to some screaming fans. “I’ve been over here for a few days, up in this little village called... Fingest? I think,” he explains. “I was recording with this producer named Fraser T. Smith up there, his studio is pretty lit, and the village is pretty cool too. I’m working on a new

walking past like it’s nothing? You got the punk scene here too, I like that. There aren’t too many remnants of it, just a load of designer boutiques, but shit, just even knowing that it happened here is too cool.”

The punk connection isn’t one that many hip-hop artists would leap to, but Duckwrth likes to take inspiration from anything he can. “I like everything,” he says when asked what he listens to. “I mean it, ev-ery-thing. Nothing has a cap bro, I listen to this app called Radiooooo, which lets you pick a continent or a country or whatever and it plays you a radio station based on the music from there. I just stay on that, always searching.

Favourite continent has to be India, always find some good percussion in there, but Ethiopian jazz is lit too.

“I feel like I’m not the only eclectic artist out there, no way.” He continues. “but even within that sphere, I still feel distant. I do relate to certain people and sync with them really well like Olu from Earthgang, he’s tight. But I feel like overall I don’t fit with the music industry, especially when egos get involved. I’m not into ego, I’m just here to create amazing shit, and I don’t give a fuck about anything else.” He laughs again, but it’s clear he’s only half-joking. “To each his own, I guess. Maybe that ego finds its way into

no, what’s it called?” He repeats himself a few more times before trying again.

“Southernplayalisticcadillacfunkymusic!” He slaps the table with both hands when he gets it right. “That one, it’s a classic, before they went on that conscious effort, that’s got some real player’s shit on it. It still sounds fresh now, but I guess maybe that’s because we’re all hipsters, we just take everything from the 90s.”

This broad taste makes its way into his music, too. “This next project I’m planning to cross over from straight rap, for sure,” he explains. “It’s gonna sound good and feel good – I’m calling it ‘Supergood’. Then after that, I’m thinking of getting into maybe psych music, just getting way more psychedelic in general. I’m always moving around.” This rapid movement is one of the reasons that ‘The Falling Man’, released earlier this year, is so short.

“I’m still working on a main project, but I wanted to be able to give something to my fans while I continue trying to make it to the next level musically. It was just where I was at at that moment in my life, and I wanted to get it out there.

I like my projects to be as immediate as they possibly can be, no waiting around.

“I say that, but I do like spending the time to make sure everything’s right before I release. I

project which is gonna be coming out next year.

Only thing I didn’t like is not being able to go to the grocery store to get food, that shit closes at like 7pm, and it’s far as fuck, you gotta take a trip just to get out there!

“I feel like I have a very good way of adjusting though, it’s all Earth at the end of the day, in different forms, so even though I travel a lot and change environments a shit ton, I don’t get too much of a culture shock.” He pauses. “Oh, and I went out to Barcelona to do Mercer festival too, performing for like 4,000 people – that was pretty trippy. And now I’m back here, except this time it’s more of a city vibe, the shops are actually open, for one thing.”

He laughs. “Nah for real, I love it here, the people are all pretty chill, I can go to the park with my homegirl and walk around, and nobody cares. In America, you see a black dude with a white girl there’s always this weird feeling, but I’m walking around here, and there’s nothing but multicultural couples, like a big cupcake. It’s tight as fuck.

“I love how old the city is, too.” He turns and points out the window at a building opposite.

“That building’s probably older than America, that’s crazy. It’s awesome, all the stories that come with the architecture, and you guys are just

people’s music, and they flex a bit, and the fans wanna hear about it. It’s all love, it’s just not my particular mindset.”

“I fuck with Tyler [The Creator] too, I don’t get to see him much, like I don’t have his number or anything like that, but we bump into each other every once in a while, and it’s all love. We’ve just got a mutual respect, we share a lot of the same energy – his is sharper and a bit more radical than mine, though. Saying that, he’s calmed down a lot and got recognition for that, which he deserves.

He on a level that he created for himself, he’s exceptional.”

Despite his broad music taste, his upbringing was more restrictive. Raised in a strictly Christian household, he wasn’t allowed to listen to hip-hop as a child, not that the rules stopped him from listening anyway. “If you tell me what I can’t do...” He spreads his arms wide and shrugs as he speaks. “Well, now I wanna go do that. I wanna know why whatever you’re shunning is being shunned, why it’s being held from me. I understand it, I do, but I’m naturally a rebellious individual, so I’m gonna find out.

“I remember that with hip-hop, listening to – and falling in love with – Outkast. First Stankonia, then going backwards from there all the way to their first one: ‘supercadillac...

had a bunch of different songs that didn’t make it onto ‘The Falling Man’, but when you feel the strength of a song, that’s when you know it needs to be on there. Then you add a feature or some strings and just get it to where it needs to be.

“I do produce, but not in the sense that I’m there touching keys. I let people who are for more talented than me handle all that! I’m more part of the orchestration, the arrangement, suggesting different chords and just the building and the structuring of the song itself. It just goes hand in hand, the producer creates this nice little basket for my vocals, which is great.”

As he talks production, Duckwrth again shows that he’s not taking things one day at a time, no matter what he says. He’s clearly a guy with a vision of what he wants to do and when he wants to do it. When asked what he wants to do with his new project, the answer is already on the tip of his tongue: “I want it to feel like I’m taking the torch passed from Outkast, NERD, Gnarls Barkley, even Stevie Wonder. I’m still gonna have that punk influence, that energy, but I’m swerving into funk and just trying to reach that next level – as well as rapping really good. I want the album to convey movement, it’s all about getting your ass up and moving, doing something. Stagnancy is not allowed.” P READDORK.COM

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"I’M NOT INTO EGO, I’M JUST HERE TO CREATE AMAZING SHIT"

FALL A

Their debut album ‘The Witch’ was a critical darling, but with its arrival came news that changed everything for Pumarosa.

Now back with a second album which rips up expectation and dives head-first into an exciting new future, they’re a band reborn.

Words: Jamie MacMillan.

NOVEMBER 2019

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A PA R T It was during the release week of ‘The Witch’ that Isabel MuñozNewsome received the news that she had cervical cancer. Though the surgery was quick and effective, the removal of her entire cervix understandably, and inevitably, changed everything. This sense of change runs through all of ‘Devastation’, the album title aptly reflecting the new landscapes that surrounded Isabel in the aftermath - for aside from her own situation, the band was also undergoing a transformation too with the departure of bassist Henry Brown. And yet, somehow, the results are stunning. In many ways guided by the events that preceded it, ‘Devastation’ is a record from a band that have shed their old skin and evolved once more into something altogether new.

Catching up over the phone, Isabel brings Dork quickly up to speed.

“It is a new direction, yeah. And I suppose, that’s part of what the feeling of this album is [about],” she explains. “It was in this sonic world, and the lyrics are about that sort of necessary transformation

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SEDUCING THE WORLD WITH THEIR 2017 DEBUT ‘THE WITCH’, IT’S SAFE TO SAY THAT PUMAROSA HAVE ALWAYS HAD DORK UNDER THEIR SPELL. WE DON’T JUST CHUCK FIVESTAR REVIEWS AROUND FOR THE HELL OF IT, Y’ KNOW? SO, LIKE MOST OF THE REST OF THE MUSIC WORLD, WE HELD OUR BREATH AS WE WATCHED FROM AFAR THE SEISMIC EVENTS THAT THREATENED FAR MORE THAN ONLY THEIR MUSICAL EXISTENCE. BUT NOW, HAPPILY, THEY HAVE RETURNED WITH A RECORD EVEN RICHER, EVEN MORE SENSUAL, EVEN MORE AMBITIOUS AND (WHISPER IT) MAYBE EVEN BETTER…

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where stuff happens, and you have to transform. You have to change, or you’ll DIE!” Quick to laugh, Isabel is on fine form today as she explains the background to ‘Devastation’ in that blunt matter-of-fact manner that is often common with people who have been through the very worst of times. “I was ill in 2017 and was in recovery by the end of the summer after the operation was successful.

They took out all the cancer, and then we played Glastonbury like, three weeks afterwards?”

Able to laugh now with distance, she continues. “That was kind of a stupid decision, I was not okay.

But I just REALLY wanted to play Glastonbury. Really, really dumb and I had to lay down for three days afterwards.”

By the time winter arrived, Isabel’s recovery was positive enough for writing on a follow-up to ‘The Witch’ to begin. Pretty soon, however, strong after-effects to both her illness and the operation started to seep through into her writing - not that she knew it at first.

“Something like this, it really does change your relationship to your body when you have something from your anatomy taken out,” she explains haltingly.

“You know, you’re like in some weird way… something’s missing, you’re incomplete, and your brain knows that and freaks out about it. So it puts you in a very strange headspace, but one that’s also kind of interesting.”

Slowly, Isabel began to feel the effects. “It makes you go a bit mad, so you find yourself doing all kinds of wonderful things. But then you’re also doing quite destructive things that you wouldn’t normally have done when you are your usual self. It’s like your body and mind have to re-arrange its nerve endings because something’s been cut off, and it has to then re-contextualise who you are. And that gives you a LOT of songwriting material!” she dissolves into laughter at this truth.

This transformation is what gives ‘Devastation’ both its power and magic - the album title not just designed to carry a purely negative meaning. “It’s not meant as in an ‘ending’, it’s kind of a devastation as in everything’s been laid to waste, and it forces an adaption.”

Speaking clearly about potentially painful topics, she continues. “I hadn’t really consciously thought that hard about what had happened to me, I was just getting on with being ‘well’.

But it’s all in there, especially since I look at the songs subsequently.

It’s quite scary and weird! I was subconsciously singing about all of these things that then came to pass.

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I think you know, and your body knows sometimes, and then it takes your mind a little while to catch up.”

Exact details about what did come to pass are not forthcoming, and Dork isn’t the type to pry.

What is obvious though is that seismic changes to Isabel’s private life occured. The poignantly honest ‘Lose Control’, one of many emotional strands to ‘Devastation’, embraces the turmoil.

“It’s about being in that very difficult and painful state where you really want and love somebody, but you’ve come apart and have to follow that course. You have to let go and have to let things kind of destroy themselves and each other.

Because you can’t pull those reins back, it won’t stop. You have to just ride it out and see where the pieces fall.”

Admitting that the song is about being a mess emotionally, Isabel also confides that “some part of you is also enjoying that sense of being out of control.” Threads of embracing that loss of control constantly run through the record, influencing and touching upon every aspect of her life.

“I definitely think that the operation threw me into this state of not really knowing what or who I was for a while, so maybe being in that fluid state did allow me to do some quite destructive things with my relationship.”

She pauses and considers before continuing, “I definitely regret that, I wasn’t behaving in a very sensitive way. But yeah, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now if it hadn’t happened. Because if life doesn’t get shaken up, then you just continue [in the same way]. Which isn’t a bad thing, of course. But when a crisis happens, your needs emerge. You can’t just keep going then, because now something has changed.”

As conversation turns to what the body needs, one aspect, in particular, is inescapable on tracks like ‘Adam’s Song’ and ‘Lost In Her’.

Seriously sexy and sensual, these visceral moments explore another side to Isabel. “Hahaha, yeah I guess ‘Adam’s Song’ is definitely a very sexy one,” she laughs. “It’s based on a friend of mine called Adam Christiansen, he is a performance artist and singer and performs in drag. He has this incredibly sizzling presence, like quite frightening and incredibly alluring and sooo sexual.

“I saw him perform one evening, I’ve seen him many times, but that night I was in this kind of postcoital state. Feeling like that, when all your boundaries have blurred, and then you see someone doing the same thing… I wrote it the next morning.”

With ‘Lost In Her’ meanwhile, it

"WHEN A CRISIS HAPPENS, YOUR NEEDS EMERGE. YOU CAN’T JUST KEEP GOING" for an exciting and exhilarating period. As with their first record, improvisation was key once more.

Encouraging each other to come up with ever more intricate rhythms and movements, the band revelled in the different aesthetic and change of space.

It is that intricacy that allows ‘Devastation’ to be both immediate and yet still carry hidden depths that only reveal themselves over time. With Tomoya, Nick and Jamie also at the top of their respective games, new dimensions and possibilities appeared on the horizon. The opening ‘Fall Apart’ sets the tone, a drum and bass infused track that feels nervous and skittering. Elsewhere, dark hints of trip-hop and surging house trickle through while the ampedup highlight ‘Into The Woods’ is all muscle and intensity. Taking their inspiration largely from 90s electronica, it is a relentlessly ambitious and breathtaking collection of songs that feels exactly like the new chapter that the band aspired to create.

While admitting that she still felt blown away on listening to the record again recently, Isabel promises enticingly that some tracks are already evolving when performed live. Talk turns to the next steps. “I feel much more stable now, and yeah, really proud of us and really proud with what we managed to do here, despite everything that was happening within the band.”

With that same subtle yet undeniable strength that has personified the entire interview, she continues, still able to laugh in the face of everything that has transpired. “It’s amazing that we were able to make an album with all that shit going on, but I’m glad in a way that we bottled that time.

We’ve got a record of it. Literally, haha!”

As the dust settles on the scenes of devastation and the metaphorical rebuilding is well underway, what comes next is anybody’s guess. We cannot wait to find out. P Pumarosa’s album ‘Devastation’ is out 8th November.

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49

was even more explicit. “With that, I was trying to put the sensations of really good sex into words. Which is obviously quite hard because sex is like this non-verbal activity and that’s partly why it’s so deep…”

Open about her bisexuality, she explains her views simply. “Sex with women is not like with a man, it’s a different sensual experience.

But then yeah, trying to write a song about it is a nice exercise, even though you’re ultimately probably gonna fail.”

With her unerring honesty looking inwards, there is also a new confidence about Isabel as she holds her gaze on another important aspect of modern life.

On the scathing and unblinking ‘I See You’, the gloves come off on the #metoo generation, though she still finds it tough to talk about it today.

“It’s weird because I feel like the lyrics are so clear, but then I find talking about it quite hard. It’s hard to be assertive, and it’s hard to be confident.”

Inspired by her experiences in a patriarchal society, as well as what she describes as “more acute” situations that she and her friends have gone through, it’s clear that time is very much up for some.

“It’s about saying to the guy that’s talking you down, or the person that’s taking up the space, that you’re not gonna make yourself small any more. That you can see what they’re doing and that you’re not gonna look away. Because there are so many day-to-day occurrences when you find that you’re making yourself small just to make it easy for the other person.

And I don’t want to do that any more.”

Bringing that mixture of emotions and situations to life during a tumultuous period for the band could have been a challenge too far. But Pumarosa rose to the challenge, moving to Los Angeles to work with Grammy-winning producer John Congleton. Drafting in Tool bassist Justin Chancellor to replace the now-departed Brown during the recording process (“I offered him a crumpet, and that was it,” she giggles), it made

INCOMING

50

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE LATEST NEW RELEASES

Foals

NOVEMBER 2019

DORK

a band who already know they have it all in the bag. Part one of their ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ duology, delivered back in March, was an album from the top of its class - all grooves and smart swagger.

Part two already locked in place, they could move with confidence, already knowing what came next.

Of course, matching the high standards of the first instalment was never going to be a simple task, but Foals are nothing if not consistent.

From the raw drive of ‘The Runner’ through the exhilarating ride of ‘Wash Off’, Yannis and co. know exactly what buttons to press. ‘Black Bull’ is a veritable tank, driven right through the gates and onto the front lawn of less robust peers, while ‘Like

eeee

Anna Meredith’s second studio record thumps.

That’s not to say ‘FIBS’ lacks nuance, but that Meredith rarely falters in her pursuit of creating giddy, operatic, and uncomfortable electronic music.

The opening double-barrelled shotgun of ‘Sawbones’ and ‘Inhale Exhale’ best exemplifies the duality of Meredith’s hyperactive production style.

The former is gaudy and full of dread, a constantly accelerating ghost train ride, while the latter careens into the same bubblegum pop landscape occupied by Kero Kero Bonito and the PC Music brigade. It’s part of Meredith’s charm that her melodies are always a little unstable and a little uncanny.

What a surprise it is then when the album’s best moment is its most measured and quiet. The delicate ‘moonsmoons’ opens itself up slowly, blossoming gradually into an evocative spiral of strings and celestial synths, before tumbling back in on itself. Meredith’s vision of space as melancholy, majestic, and ultimately bloody terrifying, in turn, serves as an apt descriptor of her own work.

So what is Meredith aiming for on ‘FIBS’? It’s undoubtedly a disparate record, pulling together staccato brass arpeggios and off-key vocals; indie guitar hooks and bizarre electronic ramblings. It’s also a resolutely complex record, adopting an extra-dimensional “...and the kitchen sink” attitude.

More than anything else though, ‘FIBS’ sees Meredith burrowing into her niche. It’s a hell of a lot of fun coming along for the ride.

Blaise Radley

Two Hands

eeee TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN

FIBS

Big Thief

Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 2

one. That’s how the saying goes. If the same applies to albums is still somewhat open to debate. The last eighteen months has seen more than one act try to grapple with the changing demands of streaming culture by playing with their release plans - from short, constant single drops to the more ambitious quickfire double drops of full-length records, a new way of doing things is still to form. While The 1975’s promise of back-to-back offerings has been delivered on the fly, the second part conceptualised and recorded in amongst a run of international tour dates and festival headline slots, Foals remain indie rock’s most dependable daddys, ruling with the authority of

Anna Meredith

Lightning’ stomps like a blues rock giant.

It’s not all about the size of the punch, though. ‘Into The Surf’ is a smouldering ember, while ‘Dreaming Of’ sticks close to Foals’ math rock roots. While they’re a band with a familiar vibe, it’s one with more than a single face.

As the ten-minute closer ‘Neptune’ runs out, there’s no denying that Foals are a band unafraid of their own indulgence. Firmly established as elder statesmen of their scene, they’re able to carry it off. More muscular, even their more pretentious moments feel deliberate and decisive. Whatever the new model becomes, Foals are a band who thrive in the seas of change.

Reliably brilliant. Stephen Ackroyd

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There’s something truly special about Adrianna Lenker. With a vocal that’s fast becoming a calling card, her stylings are the headline act of ‘Two Hands’, Big Thief’s second full-length of 2019.

Floating in and out of focus with a genuine warmth and texture, its the thread that pulls together a record of genuine quality. Consisting of ten songs which link together to form a greater whole, there’s individual tracks but a consistent, enveloping vine which embraces throughout. Tactile to the extreme, it’s almost impossible not to fall in love.

An album which is raw, uncoated and unapologetically them, Big Thief are fast becoming one of music’s most glittering gems. Something to believe in.

Stephen Ackroyd

INCOMING Anna of the North Dream Girl

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Pumarosa Devastation

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Battles Juice B Crypts

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Battles are back (yes, again) with another, even more streamlined line-up. On ‘Juice B Crypts’, their fourth studio album after roughly as many internal reconfigurations, thankfully the remaining two core members haven’t lost their oddball instincts. So, what are we left with? Well, there’s Ian Williams, who handles the keys, guitar and looselydefined “electronics”, and John Stanier, who’s still smashing drum skins. There’s also a renewed sense of propulsion, made evident immediately by the segue from playful synth chords to rip-roaring bassline on the appropriately titled album opener ‘Ambulance’.

Both members seem eager to emphasise; this is not a drill. Ending on the revery of the multipart ‘Last Supper on Shasta’ (featuring Tune-Yards no less) proves one thing at least.

The duo might be out playing with pals, but they can still tie a manic project into a neat bow.

Blaise Radley

Michael Kiwanuka KIWANUKA

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It’s amazing what one record can do for an artist. Heading into Michael Kiwanuka’s second LP ‘Love & Hate’, it’s fair to say that there were few expecting a stunning cinematic-soul display. Reborn from the early buzz of his debut roots, ‘KIWANUKA’ feels like the vital next step.

Drenched in the sort of vintage aura that would soundtrack classic Hollywood films, it’s a rich and warm continuation of a career in its prime.

Whilst ‘Love & Hate’ was allencompassing, ‘KIWANUKA’ is a record looking up at the world around it. From the choppy opening swing of ‘You Ain’t The Problem’, through to the joyously smooth ‘Living In Denial’ and hypnotic calm of ‘Piano Joint (This Kind Of Love)’ - Michael has never sounded so at ease. Packed with vibrating soul and lush textures, it’s a recipe everyone will be looking to copy but noone will be able to master like the man himself. Jamie Muir

Hana Vu

Nicole Kidman / Anne Hathaway EP

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Hana Vu may be fresh out of high school, but on her ‘Nicole Kidman / Anne Hathaway’ EP she has more insight and perspective than most in their mid50s. Vu casts herself in an ethereal light, with world-weary lyrics about personal identity and strength combined with upbeat tones and moody guitars. The album opens with the almost-poppy ‘After the Party’, and doesn’t lack in bangers to bop in your bedroom to, but it is the introspective moments that set it apart. On the final song of the EP ‘Worm’, Vu laments “I don’t fly away, but I wanted to.”

Growing up in Los Angeles, she quickly learned the pitfalls of fame and how everything is never as it seems. Yet she is still hopeful. She keeps working, she keeps hustling. She certainly won’t stop being herself or making music. You can tell she’s growing up and growing tremendously as a songwriter and musician and she can only get even better from here. Kelly Twardziak

Girl Ray

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Shiny New Model EP It feels like it was only last week when Bodega first drove into view with a whip and a crack. Yet it makes sense that standing still and regrouping isn’t really their forte, so here comes ‘Shiny New Model’ - a mini-album of tracks that act as a tantalising sample menu for where they go next.

A sample menu really is the best way to approach it. There’s undeniable signs of growth at every turn, a band sounding tighter than ever and exploring new melodic grounds in the process. The title track itself shines brightest, a meatier proposition than anything they’ve done before but still packed with that undeniable charm and wit that captures every tint they possess. With the short fire bursts of ‘Realism’ and ‘Domesticated Animal’ leading the way for long-jam versions of previous album track ‘Truth Is Not Punishment’ - ‘Shiny New Model’ is an impressive display of how far Bodega have come.

As tasters go, it’s a delicious one - and leaves you wanting the next course right away.

Jamie Muir

Matt Maltese Krystal

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Somebody give Matt Maltese a hug, quick. The savvy balladeer’s second album finds him once again entrenched in heartbreak, reflecting on love and loss in his early 20s.

It’s a common trope that male songwriters playing the ‘woe is me’ card on break-up records are often, well, a bit douchey.

But Maltese’s brand of selfdeprecation is seldom less than genuinely charming. The whole affair is innately British: sad but funny, playful melodically but dismal in subject matter. It’s no wonder Matt has deemed his own style as ‘Brexit Pop’.

‘Krystal’ is a textbook example of quality over quantity, clocking in at only half an hour but boasting an impressive cinematic soundscape to get lost in. There are hints of surf rock on the sepia-tinted ‘Tokyo’ and ‘Intolewd’ lounges up a bluesy riff while Matt concedes that “what will be will be”. His increasingly versatile vocal is the icing on the cake; check out ‘Jupiter’ for harmonies that flow like hot caramel. Leaving behind the buzz cut that helped introduce him as an oddball troubadour with a heart (and a voice) of gold, Matt comes out of his shell on ‘Krystal’, baring his true self magnificently as one of today’s most talented young songwriters. Alex Cabre

Girl

As soon as the first taste of synthesisers shimmer into the foreground on sun-kissed opener ‘Girl’, it is clear that Girl Ray were born to make pop music. Swapping jangly guitars for computer beats, the North London trio have created a second album that signals a new sound for the band, all the while retaining the catchy melodies and heart-onsleeve lyrics that made their debut so endearing. Hiring producer Ash Workman to carry out their Ariana Grande vision also seems to be a match made in heaven, his work with the likes of Metronomy and Christine and the Queens clearly rubbing off on the trio, heightening and refining their already in-built groove. The best example of this can be seen on lead single ‘Show Me More’, an infectious, modern-day anthem that even the dads at the back will struggle not to dance to. It could never quite be as simple as ‘Girl Ray do pop!’ - the bands continued desire to experiment in both genre and instrumentation ensures this is a record that is captivating from start to finish. A joyous, expertly crafted reflection of love and friendship.

Dominic Allum

51

For some bands, ambition and reinvention is simply second nature to every step they make.

Pumarosa’s debut album breathed with the sort of unstoppable identity that meant on each listen, more would emerge and embrace you in - welcoming a band with a distinct vision of who they wanted to be and the ability to back that all up.

The swirling world and hypnotic ease of it all laid the groundwork for Pumarosa to pursue whatever move they wanted next, and it’s in that vein that ‘Devastation’ hits - as a record of uplifting darkness that cements Pumarosa in a league of their own.

Drenched in bubbling electronica, ‘Devastation’ feels like the rise from underneath drowning uncertainty. Sounds crash into each and ring like alarms, perfectly demonstrated by opener ‘Fall Apart’ and the building ‘Heaven’ serving up a continuous wrap from start to finish. Unafraid to push boundaries and fully submerge themselves, the results are stunning. Isabel Munez-Newsome leads it all, a voice cutting through dizzying electronica on ‘I See You’ and the swooping ‘Factory’ as confidence reigns. Whereas ‘The Witch’ felt rooted in something more physical, ‘Devastation’ reaches for the stars, the sound of a cinematic late-night club moving to its own beat while the spirits flow - even as ‘Into The Woods’,’I Am Lost’ expands into an overflowing cauldron of sound and the closing title track whacks an exclamation mark on the end.

What ‘Devastation’ does so well, is let Pumarosa be themselves right here and now. A record that takes the depths of the past few years and serves them into a statement of life and defiance, by the closing moments you feel like you’ve stared directly into the band’s soul. It’s only right that the last line you hear sung from Munez-Newsome is “just do what you want to” - because Pumarosa doing just that brings the best of results. Jamie Muir

Something’s changed with Anna of the North. “I kinda like the girl that I become,” she offers up on title track ‘Dream Girl’, the opener for her second album. It’s a good marker of exactly where her head is at. More confident and assured, but with a breezy ease in her own skin, it’s a development which shifts her sound accordingly. What it doesn’t do, however, is let up on quality.

From previous single ‘Leaning On Myself’ to the smooth as velvet bop of ‘Lonely Life’ onwards, its a lesson in self-care and self-worth that’s more than worth paying attention to.

Stephen Ackroyd

Bodega

Pizzagirl

First Timer

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Pizzagirl, boy what a name.

Quirky, original, fun; just like the debut album that he has quite fittingly decided to name ‘First Timer’.

Every track slips on a new costume, a new character, a new perspective. À la Marina and The Diamonds, this album takes you through the paces, experiments with different toppings, tells stories through personas that are both relatable and fantastical.

Falling in love at the library? Has that ever worked for anyone?

Pizzagirl gives you eclectic, exciting sounds; sometimes reminiscent of 80s pop, sometimes Twenty One Pilotsesque with warped synths and vocals, but always of the moment capturing the current Gen-Z zeitgeist’.Standouts include ‘Dennis’, a track made to be played at full volume with a chorus so simple and fun you just have to join in and ‘Yesterday’, an uplifting ballad, basically hope in a bottle, for when you need reminding that there’s a light at the end of each tunnel.

One can only speculate what weird and wonderful sounds Pizzagirl is going to bless us with in the future. For now, he’s serving a selection of songs equally as delicious as your favourite pizza. Laura Freyaldenhoven

READDORK.COM

INCOMING

PVRIS

Hallucinations EP

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Two albums in, and PVRIS are ready to change things up a little. With a new label comes a twist on their already well established outlook.

Never exactly shy of the brighter lights of planet pop, the pre-third album shot of their ‘Hallucinations’ EP grasps the immediate with both hands and gives it a jolly good shake. From the pulsing neon haze of its opening title track, this is Lynn and co. in full strut. As the genre badges fall away it becomes increasingly obvious that PVRIS have never been an act to be tied down to one identity. Though they rose through the ranks of rock, there’s always been something more ambitious to them than dark basements and blacker more black outfits. ‘Nightmare’ thumps and thrashes around with a knowing shake, while ‘Things Are Better’ turns down the pace but dials up the emotion. With greater range comes greater impact. The possibilities are endless.

Whatever follows in 2020, one thing’s for sure - PVRIS have expanded their horizons dramatically. Ready to emerge from the shadows, a new era approaches Stephen Ackroyd

Beabadoobee Space Cadet EP

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52

THE LAST FEW MONTHS OF ANY CALENDAR

year are vital for a new act. Movers and shakers are plotting their year ahead early, positioning themselves to get those all important new band list rankings and critics’ poll votes. EPs arrive, singles drop, showcase live shows go off with a bang.

It’s a magical time. And yet sometimes, even the mechanics of the music industry can’t take away from something properly magical. For a while now, its been obvious that Beabadoobee is somewhat of ‘a talent’ - early online noise and ridiculous streaming numbers before even signing a deal showed an underlying sense of something special going on - but with her ‘Space Cadet’ EP, Dirty Hit’s latest prodigy is showing she’s far more than mere potential. From the word go, this is a fuller, more focused take on the template - scuzzy guitars and slacker pop perfection.

Lead single ‘She Plays Bass’ in particular feels like a real step up - half dreamy haze, half 90s indie masterclass. If the rise continues, expect Bea to smash through the stratosphere. Stephen Ackroyd

Waterparks FANDOM

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Llovers

Things That I Don’t Understand

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After two years of single releases, North East indie-pop outfit Llovers share their debut EP ‘Things I Don’t Understand’ – a

collection of five songs that span the whole spectrum from fizzy indie-pop to more reflective tones.

With fresh synths, crisp guitars and heavy beats, they manage to sound futuristic and evoke an air of nostalgia at the same time.

Opener ‘Honestly’ takes a vintage approach to festival anthems while final track ‘Change’ – their most beautiful piece of songwriting to

date – opens the window to their more vulnerable side. But everything in between, though still solid, doesn’t quite turn the same heads.

Nonetheless, it’s a worthy debut for the five-piece from Teeside. With a little more time and fine-tuning, they could well be one of the big players.

Laura Freyaldenhoven

Rex Orange County Pony

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With his third album, Rex Orange County is, in terms of standing alone, in good place. Two previous critically lauded full-lengths have marked him out as the real deal - able to play big shows even if your mum still doesn’t know exactly who he is. With ‘Pony’, that could well be about to change. A record capable of shoving him into even brighter lights, it’s subject matter is more bittersweet.

Concerned with emotional struggles but not ever feeling to entirely lose hope, ‘Pony’ is nothing less than human. Open, honest and raw, but engaging and enthralling at the same time - with ‘10/10’ it might even be getting close to writing its own reviews. You can’t ask for more than that. Dan Harrison

NOVEMBER 2019

DORK

When Awsten Knight revealed on Twitter in spring that he had deleted all of the files for Waterparks’ new record earlier this year, you could have been forgiven for worrying about difficult third albums and what would happen next. Wasting no time in turning around another breakneck recording session, rarely has the push of a big red button been so well rewarded, as the resulting ‘FANDOM’ marks the Texans’ best work yet.

Skipping through genre and mood from track to track, it is as turbulent and confused as you would expect from a record that is largely built around a relationship break-up. But breakdowns loom large too, with ‘FANDOM’ equally taking place in the middle of toxic fan culture - no more so than on early single ‘Watch What Happens Next’, Awsten railing at a scene that loves to see things stay just how they’ve always been.

For Waterparks though, genre is just a vehicle rather than a cage. ‘Dream Boy’ is shiny and almost giddy with excitement, while ‘Easy To Hate’ shows a band that have mastered the pop trick of smuggling in sadness and darkness inside the catchiest of melodies. Edgy, exciting, another nail in the coffin of boring genre restraints, this is one album that won’t be getting deleted any time soon. Jamie MacMillan

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ASKING THE USUAL STUFF IS SO BORING

was gonna find it, one day I went out and dug a hole in the ground and buried the cigarettes.

Do you believe in aliens?

I definitely think there’s more life in space.

What is your earliest memory?

That my mom is playing with me, but I’m not sure if it’s real anymore. I think my mind is playing games.

If you won the lottery, what would you spend the cash on?

A really cool studio space. I also wanna make a cafe that’s also a record store and a vintage store.

What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?

54

This month it’s

GIRL IN RED The Smiths.

If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?

Who is your favourite member of One Direction?

I really wanna know what dinosaurs sound like even tho they would prolly kill me.

Which defunct band would you most like to reform?

Harry Styles.

What did you last dream about?

A girl woke up at night and heard a puppy crying and then she found it in her apartment building and then she stole it. Eventually turned into a crazy person because of the dog, and she was ruining all her relationships and raising a dog without telling her mom.

It felt like a 7-hour long movie.

NOVEMBER 2019

DORK

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

In first grade, a bird took a shit on my leg, and it was the worst thing ever. I ran away from my friends, screaming.

Who was your favourite musician or band when you were 14?

David Bowie!

What’s the best song you’ve written or played on?

I really love my songs ‘watch you sleep’ and ‘i’ll die anyway’.

If you could have a superpower of your choosing, what would it be?

I wanted to be a superstar AND a teacher.

Flying.

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?

I loved Euphoria sm, and I love New Girl.

When I was in the 4th grade, I hid four cigarettes in a plastic bag in my room for a long time, and that shit fucking scared me. I was so anxious my mom

Have you ever been thrown out of somewhere?

What’s your fave TV show?

Never.

readdork.com Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young Events Liam James Ward Scribblers Alex Cabré, Blaise Radley, Dan Harrison, Dominic Allum, Jake Hawkes, Jamie MacMillan, Jenessa Williams, Kelly Twardziak, Laura Freyaldenhoven, Liam Konemann, Sam Taylor, Sophie Shields Snappers Frances Beach, Jamie MacMillan, Patrick Gunning, Sarah Louise Bennett Doodlers Russell Taysom PUBLISHED FROM

WELCOMETOTHEBUNKER.COM 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.

How punk are you out of ten?

I’m 10/10 punk.

What was the last thing you broke?

I put a bottle of wine in my sister’s suitcase, and it broke during our flight, so all her clothes got stained.

Have you ever had an imaginary friend?

Yes, his name was Cedric, and I kinda wanted to be him.

What is your most treasured possession?

All my hard drives with my music. P girl in red’s ‘chapter 1’ and ‘chapter 2’ EPs are out now. She plays London’s Electric Ballroom on 29th October.

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