Upset, December 2017 / January 2018

upsetmagazine.com Editor: Stephen Ackroyd (stephen@upsetmagazine.com) Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden (viki@upsetmagazine.com) Associate Editor: Ali Shutler (ali@upsetmagazine.com) Writers: Alex Bradley, Dan Harrison, Danny Randon, Dillon Eastoe, Heather McDaid, Jake Richardson, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jessica Goodman, Joe Henderson, Lauren Donaldson, Rhys Buchanan, Rob Mair, Steven Loftin

EDITOR’S NOTE

Photographers: Brendan Walter, Corinne Cumming, Ryan Johnston, Sarah Louise Bennett

IN THIS ISSUE...

Cover Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett 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. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Upset or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.

P U B L I S H E D F RO M

THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M

RIOT!

4 C O N V E RG E 8 N E W FO U N D G LO RY

ABOUT TO BREAK

14 B L AC K F U T U RES 16 G O L D K EY

2018 PREVIEW 18 26 28 28 29

M A RM OZ ETS FA L L O U T BOY M U N C I E G I RLS P U P PY AG A I N ST T H E C U RRE N T 30 WAT E RPA RKS 31 M I L K T E ET H 31 B L AC K FOX X ES

32 32 33 34 35

OF MICE & MEN T H E XC E RTS B RI A N FA L LO N TO N I G H T A L I V E P I N EG ROV E

BEST OF 2017

36 45 46 52 55 56 58

C RE E P E R C H A RLY B L I SS D I ET C I G F R A N K CA RT E R E N T E R S H I K A RI PV RI S T H E M E N Z I N G E RS

RATED

60 W E EZ E R 61 T H E XC E RTS

It’s been a difficult month for rock music, but a necessary one too.

Abuse should never be tolerated, and so - as you’d expect - those guilty of such disgusting acts will not find a home in the pages of Upset. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other, happier things to celebrate. 2017 has been a year packed with great bands - in this issue we celebrate a whole bunch of them, and look forward to even more in 2018. There’s our cover stars Marmozets, getting ready for the release of their second album early next year, and Creeper, who already made 2017 their own. Add to that Fall Out Boy, PVRIS, Waterparks, Diet Cig and a whole bunch more and it’s set to be a Merry Christmas.

E V E RY T H I N G H A P P E N I N G I N RO C K

“WE DON’T PLAY THE GAME”

BOSTON-BASED HEAVY-MUSIC INNOVATORS CONVERGE ARE BACK WITH THEIR FIRST ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS. WORDS: RHYS BUCHANAN

4

I

t feels like metalcore favourites Converge have been away from the recording process a bit too long. Although if you look properly into the void over the last five years, they’ve actually been very busy in the run-up to their emotionally taught ninth album ‘The Dusk Is In Us’.

The Boston band are mightily hard to pin down, but we finally get in touch with vocalist and frontman Jacob Bannon down a crackly international phone-line.

You might expect a reason for the fiveyear wait, but Jacob is very blunt about this. “It came together just like any other

record. We’ve been a band for almost thirty years now, and that’s a considerable amount of time so you just write songs organically when you can.” It was down to logistics as much as anything. “If motivation and schedules permit then we come together, and we craft an album,” he says. There’s no denying that this one took a considerable amount of time though. He proudly reels off the list of things they’ve done in the interim. “We’ve been releasing some disks like a 7 inch, a Blu-ray box set, a live album and photographic book.

We’ve re-mastered a few bits and have done multiple US and European tours. All of our other bands and projects released

music in that time as well.”

Despite approaching thirty years in the game, the new album is full of all life and anger they packed around their emergence in 1990. He says that going back into the studio very much felt the same as it always did. “We’re still in tune with what we are and how we do things.

It’s certainly not a surprise. We self-record, we self-produce, self-do essentially everything but fully manufacture the releases.” Once again there’s an enormous pride coming through in his words, “It’s an all-encompassing aspect of our lives that we undertake. It’s not just a few weeks 5

just write personal, simple songs. I don’t think anyone’s lives are that simple. Some people connect with it some people don’t, but that’s always been the formula.”

“I LIKE WRITING ABOUT CONFRONTATION” in the studio; it’s a good chunk of time.

This material started at the beginning of the year and has only just come out. So it’s basically six months of our lives have gone into this record.”

‘The Dusk Is In Us’ is a hard-hitting and abrasive listen from the get-go. Jacob gets irked even thinking that the studio process played into the sound. “It’s just what we are as a band. We’re a heavy and aggressive with a variety of dynamics, and none of that changes. The songs are formulated and have their identity before we go to record.” He pauses before continuing, “The studio is just a process of documenting them. Everything is pretty much ready to go by the time we start drum-tracking. At that point, it’s just more or less constructing the vision that’s come up in the live room and on demos to ourselves.”

Although there’s undoubtedly a lot to be pissed off at in the world at the moment, the main fuel behind the album is one of inner-struggle rather than anything 6

external. He says, “it’s not really a reaction to much. My process has been exactly the same since I was a kid. I’m forty now, and I started doing this when I was thirteen. I write songs that are personal and about my life in some way. Or it can be working through things because everybody has trials and tribulations that they’re going through in their lives.

Though Jacob loves the urgency of his genre, he finds inspiration in the world of metal slightly lacking. “As much as I love metal sonically, thematically it tends to be kind of dry for me. Sometimes hardcore in a generalised way can be about stereotypical testosterone and angst, and that’s not something that interests me either. I’m more about writing about my own life experience and how all these things affect me personally.”

It’s clear there’s a lot of integrity in this mind as he continues, “I like writing about confrontation and a moral, ethical quarrel in my life but I’m writing about my process and getting through that through my own lens. It’s not purely topical. I

Converge are something of a monster in terms of their output, sound and cult following, but that doesn’t mean they’re happy to go along with the industry.

“One of the key differences between ourselves and some other bands or other approaches is that we don’t play the game. There is no gain in what we do. Our goal isn’t to become the biggest band in the world; our goal isn’t for this to be a small part of our lives either. We’re not entertainers because they are concerned with a career and artists are concerned with a vision.” It’s quite humbling to hear that they’re so unconcerned with ego. “We would be doing it if we were playing in front of a large audience or a small audience. It’s not about accolades or anything like that.” He holds as if he’s processing this concept further. “You wake up every day, live your life, you have incredibly great days, and on the other end, you have days when everything gets turned on its head. More often than not when those days happen, it’s a lot of pressure and emotion attached to that.

We use our art and music as a pressure release or a valve for that. We’re just happy that we have it. A lot of people never discover that in their lives.”

Their hands-on approach carries right through to developing the artwork as well.

This is something quite powerful for ‘The Dusk Is In Us’. Jacob reveals how central he is to that process. “The visuals always play a large role in our band. The album to me was incredibly stark and incredibly emotional. I worked around sculpture trying to create a visual that worked with this narrative of the album, pulling out all of the colour and making it rather stark was one of the key things that we did to try and capture.” Now though, it’s just a case of the band being excited to share their next slice of genius with the world.

“I’m addicted to forward movement. I like and enjoy making things and then moving onto the next thing. I look at all of those little steps that I am a part of in life, whether it’s in this band or other projects, they’re all chapters and steps in some sort of story, but I don’t know how it ends or begins. It just happens. I get excited at the prospect that all of this artistic effort will now be released and free, and people can choose to connect with it and listen to it if they want. That also allows me to be able to think about the next step that I want to do or immerse myself a lot more in that.

That’s what I look forward to for sure.” P Converge’s album ‘The Dusk Is In Us’ is out now.

8

Y R O L G DAYS

AS NEW FOUND GLORY WRAP UP THE UK LEG OF THEIR 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR WITH A SPECIAL TRILOGY OF SHOWS, UPSET SPENDS 72 HOURS IN LONDON WITH POP-PUNK’S GREATEST UNDERDOGS. WORDS: DANNY RANDON. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT. 9

“T

his isn’t a concert; this is just one big birthday party!” Chad Gilbert grins, before he and his three best friends charge headfirst into a breakneck-pace rendition of ‘Better Off Dead’. This call for celebration comes as New Found Glory mark the start of a weekend in London that’ll never be forgotten, either by the four musicians on stage at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, or the clamour of 2,300 fans before them.

By starting their three-night residency in the capital city with a performance of what are regarded as their two most seminal records – the self-titled sophomore album and its follow-up, ‘Sticks and Stones’ – in their entirety, the Floridian four-piece set the bar incredibly high for themselves.

However, having spent nearly all of 2017 celebrating being one of pop-punk’s most consistent and influential bands for 20

years, New Found Glory have never been the kind of band who would not at least try to leap over the bar.

“It’s been really fun and challenging, but also something that has made this year different than any other year of our career,” says Cyrus Bolooki, New Found Glory’s drummer since December 1997. “It’s made us actually more excited to play regular sets again.”

The three-night finale of the UK leg of the band’s 20 Years Of Pop-Punk tour sees them play six of their nine albums across a trio of iconic London venues. When you sit down and do the math, that’s a lot of songs for Cyrus, guitarist Chad, bassist Ian Grushka and vocalist Jordan Pundik to play.

“It’s like going back to school, trying to learn 90 songs in one shot,” admits Ian, arguably the chattiest member of New Found Glory. ‘It’s like your fucking brain is gonna explode. There’s just so much shit in my brain at one time!

“It’s not like anyone said to us, ‘Hey, you need to do a 20-year tour and play these records’. We just decided that it’s almost refreshing to just do it differently and do what we want to do.”

In their 90 minutes onstage at the Forum, New Found Glory play some of their fastest songs at almost twice the recorded tempo, sending everyone in the audience – whether they were 14 or 40 – into a frenzy. Jordan and Chad dart from wing to wing with all the energy of the teenagers

10

NEED TO KNOW

IT’S SLAM DUNK TIME Slam Dunk Festival has announced the first six acts for next year’s event.

The bill will be topped by Jimmy Eat World, with Taking Back Sunday, Four Year Strong, Sleeping With Sirens, State Champs and Trash Boat, too. It takes place in Leeds City Centre on Saturday 26th May, Hatfield Park on Sunday 27th May, and Birmingham’s NEC on Monday 28th May.

DOWNLOAD HAS ANNOUNCED 2018’S HEADLINERS Avenged Sevenfold (Friday), Guns N’Roses (Saturday) and Ozzy Osbourne (Sunday) are the headliners for Download Festival in 2018. They’re currently the only acts listed, so there’s plenty more announcements to come. The event will run from 8th – 10th June at Donington Park in Leicestershire, with tickets on sale now.

that founded the band, while Ian goofs around and pulls faces faster than he tugs at the strings of his bass guitar. Cyrus’ movement behind the drums may be more restrained, but he holds it down as an absolute powerhouse, leading the rhythm section with skill and stamina.

become deeper, then the audiences ace it with flying colours. Saturday is an even sweatier and more sensational affair than Friday, with the likes of ‘Truck Stop Blues’ and ‘Failure’s Not Flattering’ provoking a deafening sing-along from the 1,100-strong audience.

“I think [the reason] we have such a career is the live show,” says Chad.

“Someone might have a friend who doesn’t like our band, and they’ll ask them to come to a show, and they’ll see them, and they’ll go, ‘Oh, they’re better live than they are on record.”

The renditions of the 13-year-old songs from ‘Catalyst’ offer a bittersweet snapshot of New Found Glory at their commercial peak. Often credited as spearheaders of pop-punk’s pivotal second wave, the early 2000s saw the band packing out arenas and going for gold with their album sales.

These days they enjoy a more modest existence while their peers are still lapping up such luxuries, but as opposed to looking at it as a decline in mainstream popularity, it’s allowed them to stay true to themselves as people and as a family.

“We don’t even think of us as even close to being an old band,” the guitarist continues while sat on board NFG’s tour bus, now parked out the back of Camden’s famous Underworld venue. “I was buying bootleg shirts, and this guy selling them saw my laminate, and he said ‘20 years?

We sell shirts for bands that have been around for 40 years!’, and I was like, ‘I know, that’s why I’m buying their shirts’, so even that guy is not impressed. We’ve got a long way to go.”

“At some point, there may come a time where you’re gonna have to slow down, but I’m just hoping that time never comes,” Ian laughs.

“I’m having more fun 20 years into this band than I was having 10 or 15 years ago.”

Of course Friday is just the first night of resounding – ahem – glory for the band, as they take a short trip down the road from Kentish Town to Camden Town for night two, an evening which will see the band perform the commercial smash ‘Catalyst’ and the criminally underrated ‘Not Without A Fight’ in full at the Electric Ballroom, a club half as small as the O2 Forum.

“Even when we were headlining arenas and doing that kind of stuff, we were still pretty young, and so it was just like having the time of our lives,” says Jordan in a softly-spoken manner. “Because we were young, I think it was just all about having a good fucking time and not thinking about all the outside stuff affecting and influencing [us], with people blowing smoke up your ass all the time and all that stuff. We’ve always done whatever we wanted to do, and we’ve always done it ourselves.”

“New Found Glory could potentially be playing arenas if we decided to have fake drums, or we decided to write songs with hip-hop beats, or write songs to be on the radio,” believes Chad. “Commercial success is great if that’s all that you’re looking for, but if you’re looking for a career, it’s the kiss of death. Once a song gets bigger than your band, you’re done. You never want a song to get more popular than your band, you want your band to be more popular than your songs, and that’s why we go on tour and play six albums, not one album.”

If this weekend is a test of the fan’s loyalty, growing in difficulty as the cuts from the band’s back catalogue

“A lot of the way we got here that kind of wrote the path of where we are now,” Cyrus harks back to the band’s beginnings in South Florida. “We got signed, and we got noticed because we had a fanbase,

LINKIN PARK ARE GOING TO RELEASE A NEW LIVE ALBUM Linkin Park have put together a new live album, recorded during the world tour for their latest album ‘One More Light’. “We dedicate this live album to our brother Chester who poured his heart and soul in to ‘One More Light’,” the band explain, referencing late frontman Chester Bennington. ‘One More Light: Live’ will be released on 15th December.

WARPED TOUR SAYS GOODBYE The Warped Tour is coming to an end in 2018. “Next year will be the final, full cross-country run of the Vans Warped Tour,” reads a statement from founder Kevin Lyman. “I sit here reflecting on the tour’s incredible history, what the final run means for our community, and look forward to what’s to come as we commemorate the tour’s historic 25th anniversary in 2019.”

because we had people who noticed us who then passed on our music. That’s the way you want to get big as opposed to having some media or medium push you.”

By the time Sunday, 8th October rolls around, and the band take a trip across the road from the Electric Ballroom to The Underworld, spirits are high amongst the band to revisit songs that haven’t even been played on this side of the millennium, or indeed ever before.

Nevertheless, the 500-strong crowd never cease to amaze in their adoration of the seldom-heard songs from debut album ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’ – a record which isn’t even available on Spotify – and the polarising ‘Coming Home’. Despite it being a night that’s less about the anthems and more about the rarities, it’s somehow the most memorable of the three nights.

“When you’re playing these old songs, you can’t help thinking about where you were or who you were when you wrote it and how far you’ve gone and all the things you went through,” Chad reflects.

“It’s definitely a constant emotional experience – not like we’re holding back tears, it’s just more of an internal thing that goes on in your head.”

“When people come up to us and talk to us and reminisce about what got them into our band or what album did what for their life, it’s been pretty cool,” says Jordan.

“It feels like it’s flown by. It doesn’t feel like 20 years.”

From All Time Low and The Story So Far taking their names from song titles and lyrics, to a bizarre but frankly brilliant appearance from McFly bassist Dougie Poynter to play bass on ‘Hit & Miss’ at the Forum – Dougie was in fact inspired to start a band after seeing the band in the very same venue back in 2004 – the influence of New Found Glory is indelible 20 years down the line.

As they leave London once again, we can only hope that the words emblazoned on the banner beneath Cyrus’ drums – ‘1997 – FOREVER’ – are words that New Found Glory stick by. Then again, when have they ever let us down? P

ROLO TOMASSI HAVE A NEW ALBUM ON THE WAY Rolo Tomassi have announced their brand new album: ‘Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It’ – previewed by new single ‘Rituals’, which you can hear now on upsetmagazine.com – will be released on 2nd March via Holy Roar. The news follows a one-off London show at the Borderline, with more UK dates planned for April 2018.

11

T HIS IS A P UBL IC SERV I CE A N NOU NCEM E N T .

H ELLO , ‘T HE B A N D S ’.

(AND E V E RYO N E E LSE TB H )

W E W ANT ED T O MA K E TH IS VERY C LE A R INDEED. SEX U A L ASSAU LT I N ANY FORM IS NOT OK A Y.

HAR ASSING P E O P LE I S NOT OKA Y. P R ESSU R ING U N D E RA G E F A NS FOR NU D E P HO TOS - NOT O K A Y. R EALLY BLO O D Y GROSS .

AND IL LE G A L. RE A LLY V E R Y I L L E G AL .

TREA T EVER YO N E W IT H RESPE CT .

Y OU R S , U P S E T .

ABOUT TO

BREAK THE BEST NEW BANDS TH E H OT TEST NEW MUSIC

BLACK FUTURES

NOISE-PUNK DUO BLACK FUTURES ARE A MYSTERY WRAPPED IN AN INDUSTRIAL RACKET.

WORDS: JASLEEN DHINDSA

B

lack Futures are a band born out of an epic futuristic imagery, tinged with an essence of the dystopian and unknown. With their own signage, and a black boiler suit “uniform”, they’re the counter thought police, an omnipresent being that is aware of everything wrong and right in the world. “We like to think at times it is equal parts utopian and dystopian.

We are surrounded by a shit load of contradictions, complexities, oddities,” one half of the duo, SPACE says of their distinct image.

14

“Order, chaos, peace, war. The natural world, the churning grind of capitalism and industry, indifference, burning vitriol, a tiny hill side cave big enough for one lone hermit, and the infinite void of space.

What a cluster fuck!” He laughs, “I guess this our inspiration. Anarchic party music to soundtrack your very own dystopian/ utopian future, or some pretentious bullshit like that.”

There’s very little information ‘out there’ about Black Futures, only that the seismic and supersonic industrial punk is created by two members. “We enjoyed a really

nice sticky toffee pudding the other day, and there was a definite hankering to tell everyone in cyberland how much we were really fucking enjoying it, and how they weren’t. We then came round and thought ‘Fuck off!’ We are not a cult, but we are also not not a cult,” SPACE says in regards to their air of mystery.

They continue: “What is Black Futures?

Who are Black Futures? We’re loud, fuck, loud, chaos, joy, joy, fuck, humour, loud and despair. What the fuck is this!? That is far more engaging an experience than sticky toffee pudding, I think.”

“WE ARE NOT A CULT, BUT WE ARE ALSO NOT NOT A CULT”

The band have an eerie mantra of “Never Not Nothing”. “Essentially it is meaningless,” SPACE says. “For us, there is a joy in nihilism. It frees us from thinking that we’re at the centre of all existence.

We’re all special, but not that fucking special. So let’s get out there and marvel at it all. Revel in the chaos and fight everything that threatens and draws us away from an existence of pure love and empathy. ‘Would you like a little utopia with your dystopia, sir?’ Of course I fucking do!”

The band have so far only released two ying-yang singles, ‘Karma Ya Dig!?’, an uplifting and cosmic electronic wonder, and the unruly, unstoppable and pulsating ‘LOVE’. “‘Karma Ya Dig!?’ is a tribute to some truly unique and vibrant humans that were dear friends. I wanted to preserve my most visceral memories of them, and share that joy and abandon.

I visit them in my subconscious all the time…it’s pretty fucking cool. ‘Love’ on the other hand, is a pure anarchic, end of days party banger. A final burst of love to see us off our mortal coil,” they smirk. “Fuck you Trump, Brexit, sexism, poverty gap,

corruption, and bombs. We’re going to go out full to the fucking brim with love.”

With a forthright nature and noholds-barred ethos, what’s the mission statement for Black Futures? “It’s loud, fuck, loud, joy, fuck, loud and fuck off.

Strobe and defiance too.” And as for next year? “I will shout it all again, but there are better things to do, expect what I just said plus more swear words.” P Black Futures’ new single ‘Love’ is out now. It premiered on upsetmagazine.com, you know.

15

ABOUT TO

BREAK THE BEST NEW BANDS TH E H OT TEST NEW MUSIC

GOLD KEY

MEET GOLD KEY, THE NEW BAND FROM STEVE SEARS, LAURENT BARNARD (GALLOWS), JACK KENNY (NERVUS / BLACKHOLE) AND JAMES LEACH (SIKTH).

HEY LAURENT, HOW’S IT GOING? I would normally be feeling great, but this morning I woke up scared to death by a nightmare involving Donald Trump chasing me with giant snakes. Dream experts I await your interpretations.

SO HOW DID YOU GUYS START MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER, THEN? Gold Key’s singer Steve Sears runs his own recording studio called Titan and he produced the last two Gallows records.

It was during the making of ‘Desolation Sounds’ we realised Steve and I should start writing music together. Drummer Jack Kenny works at Steve’s studio and he also used to live at my house. He was always around when demos were shared and Jack liked what he heard. He was in.

For a while we didn’t have a bass player but we decided to ask our close friend James Leach if he could maybe just play on the recordings. We knew he might have commitments with his other band, tech metal giants Sikth. As it turns out he was into it and joined as a permanent member.

WAS IT ALWAYS YOUR INTENTION TO MAKE AN ALBUM? We talked about releasing an EP but we were writing songs at such a rate we had more than enough to fill an album.

16

Admittedly making your first release a full length is a pretty bold move for any band but we really wanted to land with a bang.

I feel singles and EPs often slip under the radar. An album shows we’re serious about our art and at the end of the day, we really are.

DOES GOLD KEY ALLOW YOU TO EXPLORE ANYTHING THAT YOUR PREVIOUS PROJECTS HAVEN’T? I guess I’ve always had a progressive side when it comes to music. Like the time I convinced the rest of Gallows to get a full orchestra to play on ‘Grey Britain’.

Gold Key is like a clean slate for all of us as musicians. Anything we record with our other bands has to follow a theme or keep within a genre. The glitchy electronic beats on the Gold Key song ‘Explode’ would never fit on a Gallows record but it just works on ‘Hello, Phantom’.

WHAT DO YOU MOST ENJOY WRITING ABOUT THESE DAYS? WHAT ARE YOU INFLUENCED BY? With our combined band experience it feels we’ve finally found a project that allows complete freedom in our writing.

If I record a demo that has weird synth sounds and a dance beat I know the rest of the guys will still take the time to check

it out. That’s pretty much how it was when I wrote the music for Gold Key track ‘Crab Traps’. There’s a real ‘anything is possible’ mindset within the band that allows our influences to stretch from Bowie to FKA Twigs.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE MUSICAL LANDSCAPE OF 2017, WAS IT A GOOD YEAR FOR BANDS AND NEW ALBUMS? There have been some great releases in 2017. Leeds band Higher Power are really putting UKHC on the map with their release ‘Soul Structure’. Also Muskets have written an amazing record called ‘Chew’ that you need to check out. Arcane Roots ‘Melancholia Hymns’ is by far my favourite record of theirs, the track ‘Curtains’ sends shivers down my spine.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS IN PLACE FOR 2018 YET? Hopefully we still have time to squeeze onto some festivals in the summer. It’s hard being a new band as it takes a while to get noticed but we’re confident we can lock in some more tours in the new year. P Gold Key’s album ‘Hello Phantom’ is out now.

18

OH GREAT, IT’S TWENTY ONE EIGHT W I T H E AC H NEW YEAR COMES MORE NEW MUSIC F RO M YO U R F AV O U R I T E NEW BANDS. OV E R T H E NEXT FEW PAG E S W E ’ V E CAU G H T U P WITH A WHOLE BUNCH OF TH E M TO F I N D OUT JUST W H AT T H E Y H AV E I N S T O R E FOR A BUMPER 2018.

19

MARMOZETS THEY’VE BEEN AWAY PREPARING THEIR NEXT ASSAULT, BUT AS 2018 COMES INTO VIEW, MARMOZETS ARE BACK. THEIR SECOND ALBUM IS PRIMED TO DROP, AND THEY’RE READY TO TAKE ON THE WORLD. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT

“W

e can do whatever we want ‘cos we’re free,” sings Becca Macintyre with a knowing grin as she leans back into the sofa at the HQ of the band’s record label, Roadrunner. Jack Bottomley smiles next to her. “Quote of the day!” But it goes beyond that.

It’s an attitude that Marmozets have had right from the start. Early EPs captured a band on fire, still finding the beauty in the ashes while belief and command came to a head for their debut album. The band took that control and wrote their own story with ‘The Weird And Wonderful Marmozets’. Capturing something electric, the gang had waited years for their moment and swiftly made sure that each and every one mattered.

From ‘Born Young & Free’, hammering dynamite meets twisted anthem of rebellion, to the moment they pass it ‘Back To You’ carrying hope despite the scratches, the album is a fierce, furious and relentless blitz of statements and intent. Scrawled messages that mean the world.

Its title, a little bit flamboyant, a little bit tongue in cheek, a little bit confident, explained everything you needed to know about the band and what they’d achieve. No bullshit, no messing around, they got right to the point because who’s got time for anything else? It might have taken them two years, but it’s the same for album two, ‘Knowing What You Know Now’.

“It’s one of those phrases that came

20

up in conversation and just seemed to fit everything,” explains Jack. The time between disappearing after Reading & Leeds in 2015 and now hasn’t been the easiest for the group, full of personal struggle and questions of self-doubt, but they’ve come out the other side intact and determined. “If only we knew what we know now, the start of making this album would have been way easier,” he continues. That’s never really the Marmozets way though.

“It feels like we’re onto something here because of what we’ve discovered and learnt. It’s knowing what you know now, innit,” adds Becca. “You realise you always adapt and you always learn something new. It’s a bit of arrogance and a bit of confidence,” she continues, before realising it’s more than that. “There’s loads of confidence in what we’re doing.”

There was no fear in coming back to a muted reaction. “We believe in what we do,” offers Jack.

“We were worried ‘cos we were away for so long,” starts Becca, “but at the same time, I really wasn’t. It’s not like we’re just messing people around and can’t be arsed or would rather be sat at home or be in LA.” From the first hit of ‘Play’, all that passion comes flooding back. “It still sounds like us but at another level.” Stoking the flames, it didn’t take people long to remember just how breathtakingly exciting Marmozets are. That instant reaction and full-bodied embrace, “because it’s real.” It sounds different to what the band have done before, switching grimy attack for neon joy, because “we injected a bit of groove into it.”

“I came from a performing arts background,” starts Becca. “I love to dance, and I used to do street dance, ballet everything. Josh is an amazing dancer, everyone loves to dance, and we don’t just sit and listen to Black Sabbath and Queens Of The Stone Age. We listen to stuff that we love that makes us want to get up and groove. We love the groove.”

Using Josh’s skills as a producer, it felt like ‘Play’ was meant to be. “It just works for us,” states Becca. “It’s more fun for us, and we’ve got to make it enjoyable. We love the music we write. I listen to our album all the time. It’s the one album I listen to all the time.”

“We’re happy that everyone is behind it, for sure,” continues Jack. “However many years between albums, we’re happy that people understand that we’re bound to

“WE BELIEVE IN WHAT WE DO” progress. Some people think they might want the same album again, but you get the others that are more receptive.”

It might be because Marmozets have never bothered with definitions, it might be because they’ve never given anyone a reason to doubt them. Either way, “our fans are up for something different and want those new flavours.”

“You can’t sit and eat cheese toasties every day of your life.”

“You might want a salad.”

“Or a bit of rice.”

‘Knowing What You Know Now’ once again sees the band changing direction again and again, but it never retreads old ground or echoes promises already made. It presses shuffle on expectations.

“These songs shouldn’t work next to each other, but for some reason, they do,” starts Becca. “We never walked into a room and said, ‘This is how it’s going to be’.” There was never a plan to follow or a vision to chase. “You don’t have a fucking clue what’s going to happen, you just want it to be awesome, and you want it to be completely you. The whole feel needs to be there, and we did it. We’re always just going to write whatever the fuck we want to write. I think we’re good at doing what we do and we love it. It is really exciting.”

Considering they “magically came together as a band anyway” all those years ago, Marmozets have no reason to question it. “We’re always going to progress, we’re getting older and learning more about life in general,” explains Jack. “We’ve got ideas for a third [album] already. That’s all different, but it’s all sorts of new different.

We don’t really know what it sounds like at the moment because it’s us again.”

“We want to be a band that’s around forever,” promises Becca. “We don’t want to be a band that has maybe one single that makes it, and that’s it. That’s not what we’ve put ten years in for. We’re already so far gone with it; we want more. We want to do more. We want to make more of a difference.”

In their time away, more have heard 21

Marmozets’ message; the whispers of ‘The Weird and Wonderful...’ are still reaching people. “We’ve gained a lot of fans while we’ve been away,” starts Jack. “Rather than just saying, ‘Hi, nice to meet you’ after a show, there’s been a lot more people who say, ‘Hi, this is my story of how you’ve helped me’. It gets really personal and we never really had that when we were touring the first album.”

“We’re living in a world where depression and suicide are very real,” continues Becca. “It feels dark, and everyone is freaking out, but we’ve got fans coming to us and telling us we’ve helped them through this situation. Most people are so scared to talk about the shit they’ve gone through because they feel they might get

judged but not with us. We have people that come to a Marmozets show, saying ‘I thought about committing suicide but then your songs came into my head and I didn’t. Thanks for helping me out’. It wasn’t even because they were listening to it at the time.

“It feels like this weird thing is happening, but it’s so beautiful and awesome. I like being that band. I’m not saying we’re gods or anything like that, but at least we’re making a difference for some people, in some way. We have to be for them to be so open about it.

That’s better than being the singer that’s onstage wearing hot pants, and having

my fans wanting to buy the same hot pants because I’m wearing them, right? I’d rather have someone come to me and tell me ‘I‘m still alive’.”

That connection - “it’s because of the love” - Marmozets carry. “We’re aware of the world we live in. We’re not one of those bands where it’s all about us, and we won’t talk about depression or anything.

We’re aware of people’s emotions and people’s feelings. Why we do it? We love people, and we love to be with people.

Our music, it is honest, but there is a lot of fun to it. it’s not depressing.”

That joy, that escape, this band - “It means a lot to us, and as long as people always know that we’re enjoying it and loving it,

“WE’RE ALWAYS JUST GOING TO WRITE WHATEVER THE FUCK WE WANT TO WRITE” 22

then they’re going to have a good time with us.”

“Join the party,” invites Jack, a hand outstretched.

“There’s a lot more freedom this time,” says Becca. “With the other album, I knew exactly what I was doing it for. In the back of my mind, maybe I was going through a lot of depression myself, but I remember that was quite a dark time before we recorded ‘The Weird And Wonderful...’, not for myself but just in the world. I was very aware of people coming up to us at our shows saying ‘You’ve helped me through this’. Every time I stepped into that vocal booth I wanted to put all my energy in, so people can listen and feel like everything’s going to be ok.

“I remember the first time I broke a microphone stand in half because I was so into it. You hear about ladies who pick up cars to rescue their kids because of the adrenaline. It’s one of those things. I was only thinking about our fans. ‘Knowing What You Know Now’ is a lot more me being me. Each song is still me, but it’s different, almost like there are different personalities coming through in each song. I’m enjoying myself completely, and I’ve got some insight into how I want people to react to what I’m singing about. I want to make people think and look at the world a little differently.”

Marmozets have never really been a

political band, but there are a lot of wider messages on ‘Knowing What You Know Now’. “It’s one of those things where the idea is there, and the way we think about things is there, but I know when someone hears it, they’re going to automatically know what it means to them.”

There’s this feeling of us against the world. “That’s a lyric,” grins Becca. “That’s where you’ve got that from. I feel like in the last two years it’s been getting a bit darker. I don’t know if it’s because I’m becoming more aware that it’s the rich and the powerful who run things but for me, it’s us against the evil in the world. I will push and do whatever I can to make my space around me happy and better

23

back surgery on her knees left Becca bed-bound for months. “I had to learn how to walk again, and I wanted to be able to sing about it.” But that desire for movement, that need for groove happened naturally. “I felt like I needed to write a song about what I’ve been through, but it happened in its own little way. Me and Sam [Macintyre] both write lyrics, but everyone ends up putting stuff in ‘cos we work beautifully like that. It’s good because it’s real and feels like it’s coming from a source. I’d write something, Sam would write something similar, and I don’t know how it ends up working, but it does.”

Throughout the record, there’s this forward motion. It’s constantly running.

“Have you seen me on stage before?” laughs Becca. “I do what I want; I’m always moving.” Rather than running away though, ‘Knowing What You Know Now’ sees the band constantly charging towards what’s next. “We’ll always run towards something else. It’s what we do,” grins Jack.

for people whenever I come into contact with them. I’m not saying that’s my job, I do have my bad days, and it’s not about changing things for the millions.

If I could change things for millions, that’s brilliant. If that’s my destiny, awesome, but I feel like if I can make a difference to one life, then I’m fucking cool with that because that one life is so precision.”

That’s the energy behind ‘Knowing What You Know Now’, it’s Marmozets saying: “Come on world, let’s see what you’ve got ‘cos the amount of love and passion I’ve got means we’ll win. I guess I’m quite fearless in some respects,” laughs Becca. “It’s a good anger. A fight. I’m going to fight and then be like, ‘Sorry, but I won’. Bring it on.”

That lust for life and need for joy comes from seeing the other side. Right now, Marmozets are untouchable, their new album is unwavering, but it’s been a tough journey getting here. “This is what we’ve fucking been through. In 2015, we were surrounded by that big buzz. We felt really confident in that place. After that, everything went to shit. We all got depressed, it felt like all our songs were shit. I don’t know how many albums we wrote?” asks Becca.

“It was probably four,” Jack answers.

“There was a prog epic, every one was a different genre, and then we found this lovely middle ground. We got a little spice from every scrapped album and whacked it all together.

24

“Writing it, there were moments where it felt like it was missing that excitement.

That’s the difference between the set of songs we have for the album we’ve recorded and the ones we’ve scrapped.

There was some excitement lacking in the earlier demos, and that’s the spark.

That excitement was the thing that made it feel like a Marmozets record again. We knew we were onto something when we’d finish a song, then play it over and over again. We’d smash through the same song twenty times in a row just ‘cos we were so excited by them.

That’s a big part of the band, the energy.

You get it just from listening to it. It gets you going, even if it’s not the heaviest stuff in the world or the most intense or uptempo. The excitement is key for us. If we don’t have that, we’re doomed.”

“We won’t just release anything,” promises Becca. “We’re not the sort of band who’ll say ‘that’ll do’. Everyone was telling us the second album is never as good as the first. I want our albums to get better and better every time. That’s my vision. I know it’s a lot of hard work, but I don’t care. I’m willing to do it.”

‘Knowing What You Know Now’ sees Marmozets open up and get vulnerable.

Once again, there’s a fearlessness to it. “It’s not that I don’t care, I care so much, but it’s just stuff I needed to get out. There is a vulnerability because I was in a vulnerable place back when I had my operations done.” Back to

“There are just moments where we wanted to sound ridiculously big. I remember when we first heard the introduction to ‘Start Again’ and it felt like the world was burning,” Jack continues. But the record comes from the intimate connection the band share.

Each part was recorded away from everyone else at the request of producer Gil Norton, so everyone’s personality comes through really naturally.

“Everyone needed to individually get lost in the song and get creative in their own vibe,” explains Becca. “We’ve been together for ten years now, known each other for even longer. We bring the best out of each other. We got so much joy out of writing this record. Some weird shit still happened but we seemed to hold it together, probably better than we would have done before. When we’re writing, sometimes we don’t even talk to each other. It’s like we can read each other because we know each other so well. Some people get freaked out by that.”

‘New Religion’ came from “conversations me and Sam were having about superstition,” says Becca. “There are loads of people in the world who are so anti-religion. It’s weird how people get so angry about any religion, but they believe if you walk underneath a ladder, you’ll get bad luck and that kinda thing. For us, it doesn’t quite add up. Are you really sure you’re going to be that angry and bitter about someone else’s beliefs when you believe in something that’s completely bullshit? It’s just about

“IT’S US AGAINST THE EVIL IN THE WORLD” making people question what they think.”

Those questions about belief and the want for equality also rages on ‘Like A Battery’. “The kids in the street, they don’t know what to do. They’re used to it like it ain’t nothing new. One day they’re gonna run your country too,” it warns, anger bubbling underneath. “I live outside two tower blocks filled with people who ran out of luck, but they still get by.” Written when Sam was in Glasgow, the track is a “wake up song” about the state of this country. “People are just getting by. Give them a break; they’re as good as anyone else. It’s a very British sounding song. I think anyone who has been bought up in those types of situations; they’ll get it completely.”

What makes the message all the more powerful is the fact it’s coming from a band like Marmozets who formed in the outskirts of Bradford; Becca, born in Scotland, was raised in council houses. “I lived in the top of a church when my mum got married ‘cos we couldn’t afford a place. We’ve come from nothing.” So when they sing, “don’t you know they need a break too? Don’t look at me like I know what to do; I’m used to it like it ain’t nothing new,” believe they know what they’re talking about.

“Everyone thinks we have these fabulous crazy lives, but we don’t. We’re just normal. People ask me to buy pints for them or ask what car I’ve got. I can’t afford driving lessons, so why would I have a car? What house do you have? I live with my mum. We’re still pushing.

We’re trying our hardest here,” promises Becca. “It always feels like we’re living on the edge. We don’t know how we’re going to pay for this or do that, but that’s life. It doesn’t matter what background you come from or who you are; you can have a place in this world to make a difference.”

“I rejoice through the bad,” continues Becca, finding power in tenderness. “It’s one of my mottos I’ve picked up along the way. My mum always says, ‘You know what, it’s really shit that’s happened, but laugh about it, Becca’. There’s always a way out. Some people just get stuck, but I don’t. I believe you can always change things around. I always push through. I do have a lot of fire,” she smiles, realising she’s one of the lucky ones. “Life could have been different.

Everything has worked out good, even when it didn’t seem like it was going to and we lost a bit of faith in everything.”

Knowing what they know now, the band can see “that’s why that didn’t happen,

and that’s why we went through that. It’s almost like you have to go through the bad bits and bobs to be in the place you need to get to.”

The album is full of “good things and the belief that people can do what they want. Stuff that’s going to benefit and help you and your friends. There’s happiness, fulfilment, inspiration and colour. I don’t see just black and white with it,” explains Beeca. “I see a lot of colour. It doesn’t just fit for one group of people; it’s for everyone.”

It still feels like a Marmozets record, and it’s tough to pinpoint why. But that energy, that love for all people and that power, “it’s just our vibes, dude. That’s all it is. It’s something no one else will be able to do. They can try, but no one can be Marmozets. We live on the edge. We always live on the edge. Most people would’ve had a heart attack by now, but it’s the way it’s always been for us. We’re always trying so hard, pushing so hard to have our dreams come true. There’s loads of exciting stuff to come along. It’s one of those things, I have an idea, and I want it all to happen now. We get really impatient with our own material. You realise you’ve written songs to put in place for an adventure.” P Marmozets’ album ‘Knowing What You Know Now’ is out 26th January.

25

FALL OUT BOY ‘M A N I

M

“

AFTER MONTHS OF DELAYS AND REWORKINGS, FALL OUT BOY’S NEW ALBUM A’ IS FINALLY LANDING IN JANUARY. THINK YOU KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT? THINK AGAIN. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. PHOTO: BRENDAN WALTER

aybe this dooms it, but I feel the most pleased with this record than I’ve ever felt before,” starts Patrick Stump. “The record isn’t even out yet, and I love it.”

Good news everyone, Fall Out Boy’s ‘M A N I A’ is finally done.

“It feels great that it’s actually done,” adds Pete Wentz. “You know when you’re driving somewhere, and your GPS fails,

26

but you still make it there, and there’s a little bit of wonder at the fact that you made it? Well, that’s how I feel because we got off course a little bit but we still made it to the end.”

For a brief moment, it seemed like Fall Out Boy might get lost along the way. Announcing the record’s release before finishing it was always meant to capture the excitement of that moment “when the coach is like, we’re down by two points, and there’s one second

left, you’ve got to make the shot.” The September release date came and went, delayed until the start of the new year so the band could get it just right.

“It was weird because inspiration comes when it comes.,” says Patrick. “It’s not a thing that happens on a clock.

Everybody knows that, that’s not news, but one of the things that happens sometimes is that you’ll find yourself building up to something and you can feel it. ‘Oh man, I think I have something

here’, but then you run out of time, but you know there’s something really good here. What we have so far is good, but there’s something really special coming, and it’s just not ready yet. That was one of those things where you ask yourself, do you just keep the date where it is because you said somewhere along the line that you were going to put it out that day, or do you let yourself push it back and follow that thread of inspiration? That’s what we did, and I feel so good about it.”

Along the way, ‘M A N I A’ has shifted shape. ‘Young And Menace’ throws neon paint over a new canvas, while ‘Champion’ echoes the past, all uplifting anthem and powerhouse return, before ‘The Last Of The Real Ones’ gets mistyeyed. The latest taste, ‘Hold Me Close (Or Don’t)’ further blurs the lines of expectations. “I don’t think people have been able to get a grasp of the record yet,” grins Pete. He was inspired by a conversation with his therapist about almost committing to opinions; she said

“you have to stop saying ‘I kinda’ about everything,” Pete explains. The track circles that “wishy-washy neurosis but at the same time, it’s a love song for the times we live in. It’s a love song for people who like swiping right and who watch two-minute YouTube videos.”

So far, every track from ‘M A N I A’ feels joyful. In their own way, each one is a love song. “It was easy when we were younger to tap into these really big emotions,” explains Pete. Now they’re older, “these ones are a little bit more subtle, a little bit harder to figure out.

And they’re not perfect, they’re messy, and they’re flawed, but I think that’s what interesting about them. I feel like we live in a world that’s full of abject negativity and I don’t really want to add to that.”

Both Patrick and Pete agree that ‘M A N I A’ “is a progression. It feels like it’s pushing the ball forward.” “It’s pretty broad in terms of sound,” furthers Patrick. “That was one of the things that

came into focus early on. It’s not a thing you can pin down, it’s a lot of different things, and I think that’s neat.”

Someone once told Patrick something, and it’s stuck ever since he heard it. “One of the things about Fall Out Boy is that you have this natural thing that’s you,” he recites. “Pete’s words, my voice, the way Andy plays drums and Joe plays his guitar; there’s something natural about those things that comes through in any context. Or it seems to. If we played ‘Old McDonald’, there would be something inherently Fall Out Boy about the way that we’d do it, so that was a bit of a license to go on some musical vacations and do some weird things. There were some pretty out there moments. This is one of our more all over the place records,” he promises. “But in a good way. Listening to it back, I’m excited. I just want people to hear it now. I just want it to be out. We’re weeks away from release, and I don’t want to wait that long.” P

OH GREAT, IT’S TWENTY ONE EIGHT

“WE GOT OFF COURSE, BUT WE STILL MADE IT TO THE END” 27

MUNCIE GIRLS

WE COULDN’T BE MORE EXCITED FOR MUNCIE GIRLS’ NEW ‘UN IF WE TRIED - AND THANKFULLY, THERE ISN’T LONG TO WAIT...

M

uncie Girls went into their debut album confused and a little lost. “I don’t know how anyone else does an album, but we were perplexed,” Lande Hekt told us just before the release of ‘From Caplan to Belsize’. “How do you get this many songs together?”

The ragtag trio, Dean McMullen, Luke Ellis and Lande made it work though. Ten tracks that dealt with feeling lost, alone, fucked off and confused delivered with a heart-warming honesty carrying a soul-baring truth. It was Upset’s album of the year for 2016, and for good reason.

PUPPY

The band have been recording a bunch of new songs and “things have changed,” smiles Luke.

NEWLY-ISH SIGNED TO SPINEFARM RECORDS, NORTH LONDON TRIO PUPPY ARE WITHIN SPITTING DISTANCE OF RELEASING THEIR DEBUT.

“We recorded 19 songs,” starts Lande. “It was hell on earth.

We kept having this joke that we would rename the studio and the experience ‘Pure Hell’. But not in a bad way. It was laborious, like hell is laborious. We just thought if we did 19 songs, a few of them have got to be alright, haven’t they?”

Hey Jock, it sounds like you guys have an exciting 2018 ahead how’s the album coming?

It’s coming along nicely. It’s all written, and we’re about halfway done with recording it now. I’m really excited for people to hear it.

The band don’t remember much of the recording process, caught up in the sheer scale of the task and haven’t heard anything back yet because “19 songs takes a year to mix.”

What’s your favourite thing about the record so far?

In terms of the songs it’s the best stuff we’ve done yet. Every time we’ve started a writing or recording process, it’s always quite scary looking at a blank page and hoping you can pull something out the bag, but I think we’re all really into what we’ve managed to put together.

“Sonically, there’s a wider spectrum of styles,” offers Luke.

“Even when we narrow it down, there’s a wider spectrum of diverse sounding songs compared to the last record.”

“You might be right, but I don’t know anymore,” grins Lande.

“I honestly can’t remember if it was any good, what the songs sounded like or what they were about. But that’s exciting. I didn’t know what a lot of the songs on the last record were about until people told me, so I’ll wait and see.

There might be some real surprises.”

And that includes when the band will be releasing new music, or what form it will take. “These things are hard to figure out. Hopefully, we will release something at some point though. Well, We better do, because we went through pure hell. It was anything but magic. The only magic was that we came out of there alive.” P

Does it sound like you thought your debut would?

I don’t think we had any expectations to be honest, apart from wanting to push ourselves in new directions and keep growing and getting better as a band. In that sense then yes, I feel you really get that from the material we have.

How are you finding your time in the studio?

It’s been really great so far, everyone’s been doing such a great job in terms of playing, and it’s been fun having something to work on together.

Congrats for joining Spinefarm earlier this year - how’re you getting on there?

It’s going really well - they’re super supportive of us doing what we want creatively. We couldn’t be happier with the setup.

Where will you guys be over Christmas? Are you taking some time off?

We’re heading back into the studio in January to finish the album, so December is gonna be us locked in a practice room just trying to nail all the new songs down before we do.

Exciting times!

Are you going to buy Christmas presents for your bandmates?

No, but I’m planning on hiding at least one lump of coal in their instrument cases sometimes between now and then. P

28

OH GREAT, IT’S TWENTY ONE EIGHT

AGAINST THE CURRENT

FRESH FROM SOME OF 2017’S BIGGEST FESTIVALS, CHRISSY, DAN AND WILL CONTINUE THEIR ASCENT NEXT YEAR WITH ALBUM NUMBER TWO. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.

“A

s soon as we hit these milestones, we’re onto the next thing,” starts Will Ferri. Just after Against The Current had finished playing Reading’s Main Stage, the gang - Chrissy Costanza, Dan Gow and Will - were already huddled backstage, swapping notes. “We’re not easy on ourselves,” he adds, but those dreams of being the biggest band in the world, they’re still burning bright.

“Watching Muse last night, I realised okay, I’m ready to do that. We want to headline Reading & Leeds.”

It’s what made their debut album ‘In Our Bones’ such a varied collection of sparkling brilliance. From the relentless stomp of ‘Running With The Wild Things’ through the reflective shimmer of ‘Roses’ to the twinkling escape and sure-footed attack of ‘Wasteland’, Against The Current are a band who wanted to be the best at whatever they put their name to. After a lot of time on the road, (there’s a running joke in team ATC that they’re always on a world tour because, well, they are), the band are now looking at album two.

“It’s going good. We’re writing more than we expected, but I guess that’s a good thing, right?” asks Will. For a while it looked like the band knew what album two would be, “then we started writing some more stuff, and now we’re a little unsure. We had three-quarters of it done, then we wrote some more songs and suddenly, it’s different.”

Taking to Instagram while in the studio, Chrissy explained that she’d been able to “work with someone who let my soul saturate both of the songs we worked on.

She [Sarah Hudson, who’s also worked with Katy Perry, Five Seconds of Summer and Dua Lipa] helped me write about [Chrissy’s friend] Julius’ death in a way that was so cathartic; I cried out of relief the moment I got home. For a moment, the pain had been relieved, and I had a little more understanding.”

It’s a freedom that’s dominated the work on album two. “It’s been really cool. On ‘In Our Bones’, we were just signed to Atlantic and Fueled By Ramen, and we were really put through the gauntlet of writing with all these amazing people. People that

have written Justin Bieber and things like that. It was overwhelming, and there were times when I didn’t really want to put too much of my input in because I thought these people knew best.”

“Too often I’d tell myself they’re better, they know best, and sacrifice things that were of paramount importance to me. It left me questioning my power, and the validity of my feelings. Ultimately, our voice came through on that record. The songs that didn’t have our voice on didn’t ever make it very far for that reason.” But this time, it’s all them. “It’s more, ‘Okay, this is what I want to say’. This is Against The Current’s voice right now.”

“It’s down to confidence and experience.

I’m only 22 years old, so I’m pretty much the same age as a lot of our fans,” continues Chrissy. “We’re dealing with the same things. We’re insecure about the same things. It’s a learning experience for both of us, for me to write about it and use our songs to work through these things, and then to help other people get through these things as well.” P 29

W

aterparks are set for a massive 2018. Debut full-length ‘Double Dare’ saw Awsten Knight, Geoff Wigington and Otto Wood rightly heralded as one of this year’s stand-out bands, but with a new album – ‘Entertainment’, set for release on 26th January – comes new challenges. And in the case of Waterparks, it turns out just about everything else around the band is new as well.

“Everything about ‘Entertainment’ is different, except the people playing the songs!” offers an excited Awsten when quizzed about the new record. “The tracks are bigger and better. This is the first Waterparks release that has been written while we’ve had eyes on us, which is weird. ‘Blonde’ is the only song we’ve released so far, and it’s definitely the most ‘Double Dare’ song on the album. I wanted to let that one go first to ease the transition a little bit.”

From that statement, one naturally

assumes that ‘Entertainment’ takes Waterparks into territory previously unexplored, and Awsten is certainly hinting that is the case.

“We had a big debate about which song to put out first,” he remembers. “There are tracks on ‘Entertainment’ which are better than ‘Blonde’. We’re always going to be progressing, but that being said, I don’t want our transitions to be jarring. ‘Blonde’ captures all the best elements of ‘Double Dare’ and works really well in terms of bridging the gap between the albums.”

Awsten is clearly buzzed about unleashing Waterparks version 2.0 into the world, and there are a few songs, in particular, the vocalist/guitarist had plenty of fun working on.

“I was excited to do a song on the record called ‘Crybaby’,” he reveals. “I love hearing how big it gets and all the layers it has.

There’s a song called ‘Tantrum’ which was fun to sing, as was ‘Sleep Alone’. ‘Lucky People’ was cool track to work on too, just

because we played through it three times almost without stopping and then that was it – we just nailed it and didn’t record any further. We typically go over our recordings and try and make everything perfect, but we felt like, with that one, it was best just to leave it open.”

Sounds intriguing. But what about that notorious sophomore album pressure?

Waterparks’ rise has been spectacular, but with the eyes of the alternative scene now on them, was the expectation in any way playing on the band’s mind when making ‘Entertainment’?

“It was weird,” offers Awsten. “I stopped looking at social media for a while. I’d still post, but I wouldn’t look at replies or anything. I tried not to think about what people wanted, because if I did that, it would’ve come out as dishonest. This album is all my emotions and personal shit that I don’t like sharing with people exposed. It’s hard for me to not write in that way. That being said, I’m excited for people to hear it!” P

WATERPARKS THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN: WATERPARKS’ NEW ALBUM IS INCOMING. WORDS: JAKE RICHARDSON.

30

MILK TEETH

OH GREAT, IT’S TWENTY ONE EIGHT

FOLLOWING TWO TOP-NOTCH EPS THIS YEAR, MILK TEETH ARE (HOPEFULLY) GOING TO PUT OUT A “BANGING” RECORD IN 2018.

Hey Becky, how’s it going?

I’m okay thanks. Just had some post work rum in ‘Spoons and now sat in front of the fire watching South Park.

You guys have had a great year - what’ve been your highlights?

Thank you! A personal highlight for me was our headline tour for the ‘Be Nice’ EP, we had so much fun and it felt like falling in love with being in a band all over again.

Have the EPs helped shape what you want to do with your next album at all?

Yes and no. I think we are always aiming to do better than whatever we’ve put out previously or if not better of the same then branch out and explore all the influences that formed this band and experiment. That’s what I love the most about Milk Teeth, there’s room to move between a bunch of different genres and keep both us and fans on their toes.

How far into planning for the record are you?

It’s at demo stage. We’ve got a good selection of songs to choose from - we tend to be working on songs all the time from the time the release previous was written, so it tends to span a couple of years the selection of songs that get put out. These EPs out right now I wrote two years ago primarily.

The stuff for the album will be a year or so old by the time the record comes out, but it works. It’s good to reflect.

What’ve you currently got in the diary for 2018?

We are returning to America for six weeks with Enter Shikari in January and February which is so exciting for us! We loved our first tour there in 2016, and we are all so excited to be back. Everything there is so different to Europe and the UK. That and there will be recording for an album.

What would you most like to do or achieve in 2018?

Put out a banging record I’m proud of and keep touring; we’d love to get over to Asia and Australia, that’s next on the list. P

BLACK FOXXES

BLACK FOXXES’ SECOND ALBUM IS DUE IN MARCH, AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THEY’RE ALREADY LOOKING TO THE FOLLOW UP...

Hey Mark, are you hard at work on your new album?

We’ve finished the new album!

Can you let us in on any song titles or themes?

We went for a little bit of a concept based around the moon, light and black etc. The first half of the album will be a lot more upbeat than the second. It’s a super dynamic album though. Lots of strings and brass sections! So much fun to record.

Was there anything you learnt during the making of ‘I’m Not Well’ that’s helped you out on this one?

We’re a much tighter unit now so we could really have fun on this one. The first was a little stressful given the content, it was a new experience for us, and we were putting ourselves under a lot of pressure. We honestly just learnt to have fun with it.

Do you have any other plans for 2018 yet?

We’ve got a headline run in the pipeline; we plan to get over to Europe and America again too. We’re just so excited to get stuck in; it’s going to be a crazy busy year next year.

Aside from your own, which album are you most looking forward to being released next year?

Idles over absolutely anything else. That band are unreal.

Are you guys up to anything fun over Christmas?

We get back from the Deaf Havana tour on 25th November and then I plan on chilling the hell out. I’m off to Dublin with some mates before Christmas for a catch up which will be cool.

We’re also planning to start writing for the third record over Christmas; we really want to stay ahead of the game on it.

Will you be making any New Year’s resolutions?

Just to push myself as hard as I can to make this career as viable as possible; let’s say Jools Holland and a Biffy tour. P 31

OH GREAT, IT’S TWENTY ONE EIGHT

THE OF MICE XCERTS AND MEN THE XCERTS’ NEW ALBUM ‘HOLD ON TO YOUR HEART’ IS IMMINENT - FRONTMAN MURRAY MACLEOD OFFERS A LITTLE INSIGHT. INTERVIEW: HEATHER MCDAID.

You talk about pushing yourselves on the album – how did that manifest itself?

It was just kind of a feeling more than anything, with ‘There is Only You’ there was real hunger to prove ourselves and show everyone that we want to be a big band, and with this record, it was even more so. We were really fired up to make this widescreen pop record, so again it was that feeling of okay, ‘There is Only You’ brought us a step up the ladder, but this time we want to take like ten steps up the ladder. It was that kind of feeling of wanting to compete with the big dogs, like we want to be on the main stage of the festivals and playing very big rooms and we no longer want to be looked at like as a little Brand New or a little Biffy. We didn’t want that anymore we want to make a real statement.

What do you hope people will take from the record?

I hope people feel invigorated by it and feel like they could maybe get off their laptops and run outside or something. The whole record really is about self-worth. I hope people find light in it it’s a pretty positive record for it coming from such a dark place. I hope people realise that they mean a lot, that they mean everything really. P 32

OF MICE & MEN’S ‘DEFY’ IS ONLY A FEW WEEKS AWAY - IT’S THEIR FIRST WITH A NEW LINE UP, AND MARKS THE START OF A WHOLE NEW CHAPTER. Hey Aaron, how have you guys found 2017 so far? Any particular highlights?

2017 has been phenomenal. A definite highlight was playing on the Main Stage at Download Festival. That and Main Stage at Hell Fest. I don’t know, between so many amazing shows and finishing our new album, it’s hard to pick just a few.

What news stories have affected you this year?

So many. From seeing a rampant rise in racism to losing many amazing musicians, it’s easy to become depressed and disillusioned when you watch the news.

So you’ve a new album about to drop - is it all done and dusted now?

It’s all finished. Completed!

What themes do you cover lyrically on the album?

A lot of the album has to do with change, and how I’ve tried to work through that change.

You’ve said before that you’ve written an awful lot of material this year, did much end up on the cutting room floor? How did you decide what you wanted to use or develop for the album?

I’d say 80% of ideas we craft during the production of a record end up on the cutting room floor, or permanently entombed and preserved in the Dropbox demo folder, like mummies, haha!

Do you have any other exciting plans for 2018 yet?

Lots of touring and dropping a new album. Can’t wait!

Aside from your own, which album are you most looking forward to being released next year?

I can’t wait for the new A Perfect Circle album. They always do amazing work. P

T

he writing style that I have, and I think that everyone has, is a style that’s just inherently them.” Listening to ‘Forget Me Not’, the first single from his new album, it’s hard to disagree with Brian Fallon’s assessment of his songs. The furnishings may be different, with Fallon’s yelped vocals more playful than passionate and a retro organ flitting behind the guitars, but the backbone is reassuringly familiar.

Through a career or highs and lows under various names and in different bands, Brian Fallon’s songwriting has always had a distinctive character that lets you know just who you’re listening to.

Whether it’s The Gaslight Anthem’s punk spin on Springsteen’s heartland rock or the moody blues of the oft-overlooked ‘Horrible Crowes’, Fallon’s songs are rooted in melodies and lyrical twists that, after more than ten years in the game, are unmistakably his.

While the core of his songs remains the same, Fallon is adept at dressing his tales of heartbreak and highways up in different clothes; be they The Gaslight Anthem’s blue jeans and white T-shirts, a Tom Waits suit with The Horrible Crowes or the jean jackets of his solo debut. As always, with a new project comes a brand new disguise.

After trying his hand at folksy Americana on his solo debut ‘Painkillers’, Fallon decided

to amp things up for the follow-up. “It’s definitely more electric; there are more uptempo songs on it. A little bit more influenced by a lot of the 60s RnB groups like the Animals with some of the organ sounds. But also Elvis Costello and the Attractions and The Jam and stuff like that were pretty influential in mixing the American soul music with the British punk, R&B thing.”

Due for release in February, ‘Sleepwalkers’ was recorded over the summer of 2017 with ‘‘59 Sound’ producer Tedd Hutt.

Despite the familiar faces, Fallon is still trying to push the way he writes songs in new directions. “I had these handclaps loops like drum loops. So I would start out with that kind of shuffle and look

at it through the eyes of the punk rock that I grew up on and then add the Vox Continental [organ], writing riffs on that and almost using that riff as a loop, which I’ve never done before.”

With a new album ready to go and tours of the UK and USA already selling well, Fallon is ready for spell out on the road with his new band The Howling Weather.

“The record flipped a little bit from the more folk-oriented thing on ‘Painkillers’ to a more R&B, punk-leaning thing. It’s such a drastic shift that you’ve got to get some different people and some new blood sometimes to do that because it requires a different finesse and a different perspective.”

From a new band to an old one, Fallon says he’s stayed in touch with the members of The Gaslight Anthem despite their lengthy hiatus. “We’re still friends, and we still see each other. I went to Alex’s show; he’s got a band called Dead Swords, Benny is playing in a band with Jared Hart, who was also on tour with me last year, so they’ve got a bunch of stuff going on.” While the band hasn’t played together since a Reading Festival farewell in 2015, Gaslight have by no means played their final show. “It was never like a tumultuous thing between the four of us, which is cool cos, you know we didn’t ‘split up’, I would still call us a band for sure. I would never say that we’re split up, that’d be weird.”

With a new album ready to go, a new band behind him and a fresh “heavy R&B” style to mess around with, 2018 is set to be a busy year for Brian Fallon. P Brian Fallon’s album ‘Sleepwalkers’ is out 9th February.

BRIAN FALLON BRIAN FALLON’S BACK WITH A PUNK AND R&B INFLUENCED NEW ALBUM - “IT’S A DRASTIC SHIFT.” HE SAYS. WORDS: DILLON EASTOE

33

I

t feels like Tonight Alive’s ‘Underworld’ is the record they’ve been threatening to make for a decade. “It has the polished, cinematic soundscape of [2016 album] ‘Limitless’, but we’ve returned to the angst and aggression that the other two records had. It’s the perfect balance for us,” explains Jenna McDougall. “It’s interesting to have done those two polar opposite records, ‘Limitless’ and [2013 album] ‘The Other Side’ and then meet in the middle for ‘Underworld’.”

As always though, Tonight Alive aren’t retracing their steps. They’re on a journey, and you’re part of that adventure. “I’m exploring my darkness a lot more. On the last record, I was scratching for light at a time where I really needed it.”

Issues within the band, with their label and going through personal things left Jenna asking, “How can I enjoy my life more? How can I take control of my life? Becoming vegan and getting into

spirituality, I was drawn into the light.

Once you’re on that journey though, you realise there’s deeper work to do. The shadow work.” ‘Underworld’ sees Tonight Alive explore that pain, take those unspoken truths and give them a voice.

If you wanted proof that the band are properly digging down into their issues and confronting them head on, you just need to look to Whakaio who, after recording the record, stepped away from the group to work as a songwriter, producer and engineer in Nashville. “It’s weird that this is part of our story now,” starts Jenna. “Whak was always the leader of our band, and I do feel like the core of Tonight Alive has been pulled out. But the four of us have been really integrated to that centre and have created a new one. We’re more united than we ever have been, and that’s out of necessity.

Whak’s drive is in the studio. He’s such a good songwriter and I know he’s a lot happier being creative than he is being a

performer.”

OH GREAT, As for Tonight IT’S Alive, “it felt TWENTY like we were in ONE the eleventh hour of the EIGHT band. I know people on the outside see things differently, but when you have a dream, a vision of where you want your band to get to, we don’t feel like we’ve reached our peak, the goal or the finish line yet. We’re approaching that ten-year overnight success story. We wrote the record we wanted to write, and it didn’t feel like we were finished yet. I know we’re not. And I know our fans know that as well. We’re not finished yet. We’ve got a lot more to do. It was never an option for me to step away from Tonight Alive.”

Instead ‘Underworld’ sees the band stepping up. First single ‘Temple’ is a fiery

TONIGHT ALIVE IT’S BEEN A TUMULTUOUS TIME FOR TONIGHT ALIVE, BUT AMIDST HEALTH ISSUES AND A LINE UP CHANGE, THEY’VE BORN A BRAND NEW RECORD. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER

34

bloodletting, written at a time where Jenna “felt like I was war with myself and my body.” Tonight Alive’s music have always offered a light in the dark but for the first time, the band name their demons.

“I’m intoxicated by my depression,” starts the song, before admitting: “I’m consumed by the fear that I might never find the answer.”

There’s no silver lining here.

“It was a case of either I own this thing or this things owns me. I don’t truly believe that now, but at the time, I felt saturated by depression, darkness and lack of health,” Jenna explains. Her eczema, the thing that caused a lot of the pain behind ‘The Other Side’, returned. “It was this chronic state, full body discomfort. When you’re itchy, it creates anxiety. You’re constantly irritable. Using energy for anxiety is exhausting, so you get fatigued and that causes head spins and heart palpitations because your body is working overtime. I was highly strung, I couldn’t sleep and I developed a food allergy to everything.”

With everything she ate giving her an outbreak, “over the past couple of years I developed what you’d now call an eating disorder. I got into this bad habit where I had to throw things up because I was terrified it would get worse. I was in a state of fear for two years that anything I ate was going to trap me, make me worse, less happy and less comfortable so I found myself addicted to that habit of rejecting everything. It was bad.”

Jenna started counselling. “I’m on a much better path now. Finishing the record, my health has improved so much. I’m no longer battling with that addiction but it’s so fresh. It’s only been a few months since the last time I made myself sick. ‘Temple’ was written in May, recorded in June and was released in October. It’s full-on, being onstage and singing ‘I make myself sick just so I can hate this a little bit more’. It’s such a self-destructive habit, you throw up, you look in the mirror, and your eyes are bloodshot, and you say I hate you. It’s such a negative place to be, but it’s actually so freeing to sing and talk about it. And for it to not have been written two years ago and only just come out. This is a new chapter for us, with this sort of honesty.” P

PINEGROVE W

GATHERING NEW FANS WHEREVER THEY GO, IT’S AN EXCITING TIME FOR PINEGROVE. WORDS: JESSICA GOODMAN

hen Pinegrove released ‘Cardinal’ in 2016, they opened the door into a world of verbose observation and innate emotion that continues to resonate with listeners the world over. “We had suspected there was something special about this music because it moved us,” Evan Stephens Hall reflects. “When we started showing friends and family and playing small shows, people in town were excited about it.”

Playing in front of increasingly bigger crowds, presenting their music to an ever-widening audience, that sense of excitement that comes with encountering something special has only grown under the spotlight. “We suspected that it was just a matter of platform, and if we could reach more people, then they would respond to the message,” the frontman comments. “It’s exciting that that turned out to be true.”

It’s not just the band that are excited. In the nearly two years since the release of ‘Cardinal’ Pinegrove have held audiences enchanted across several different continents. While new songs have been working their way into the band’s live performances, that excitement has been steadily building to fever pitch. “I’d say people have been pretty excited to hear new songs more than ever,” Evan enthuses.

“Maybe because finally, they’re starting to get tired of the ‘Cardinal’ songs,” he laughs.

Rest assured, anyone excited for new material from the outfit shouldn’t have to wait for too much longer. With work on a new release completed, as documented by the band through a series of video diaries, now is the opportune moment to plug in

and switch on to the world that Pinegrove have been creating. “I’m challenging myself to be more honest and be more open,” Evan portrays. “This is maybe a reflection of that type of approach.”

Dubbing the process “radical transparency,” the as of yet unannounced release seems set to present Pinegrove at their most open yet. “I’m making music that I want to hear, and I really like this new thing,” the frontman expresses. “I feel creatively and emotionally fulfilled from this project.” As for what we can expect, the band have left a trail of ample-sized breadcrumbs to keep their audiences sated.

“This may be an artefact of a wider listenership,” Evan explains. “I’m really interested in understanding that music can actually actively change things in our reality. I feel like if it’s exciting to me, then maybe it’s going to be exciting to other people,” he conveys. Delivering new music with their own sense of enthusiasm, it’s only natural for that same enthusiasm to catch on.

“More than anything, we want a wide listenership because I think we have an important message,” Evan continues. “In a world that values speed and quantity, we want to encourage deliberation and introspection and compassion and consideration and a true evaluation of love and how we can do that as well as we can.”

“We’re just psyched about the opportunity to spread that as widely as we can,” he summarises. “We have a microphone, so it’s time to talk about what we consider important. We want the world to hear this.” P 35

V

ER

Y BEST

O

F

TH

E

2017

BEEN HAS YEAR NO Y S R I E 7 V , 201 AY E L S E L E E ’ W W WE R HOW EAH, GES T IC? Y NOW W PA S S K E E U F B U M YO XT RY FOR E NE E VE .

ZING R TH H TH LIST AMA EAR . OV E ROUG T Y H N E T E H R U T E O F F Y F O DI RUN BUMS G TO R AL GOIN IA OU V , !

7 N 01 LF I OF 2 URSE P YO STRA

36

y Miser usiness B C R E E P E R H AV E H A D Q U I T E T H E 2 0 1 7 - F R O M D R O P P I N G T H E I R D E B U T A L B U M TO TO U R I N G A R O U N D T H E P L A N E T, W E TA L K W H AT ’ S B E E N , A N D W H AT ’ S T O C O M E W I T H THE BAND OF THE YEAR.

WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. P H OTO S : S A R A H L O U I S E B E N N E T T.

37

V

ER

Y BEST

O

F

TH

E

2017

TH

E

V

ER

Y BEST

O

F

38

W

ILL GOULD IS THINKING ABOUT THE END OF CREEPER. It’s not the first time he’s thought about the demise of his band, and it definitely won’t be the last.

This year has reinforced every shining light that we’ve held up to them. From the fantasy epic of debut album ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’ to the ever-shifting gleam of their live shows, they’re a band who find inspiration in emotional extremes, who see the importance in the everyday and crave excitement in every moment.

“Things are going great for us,” grins Will. “But it’s important to keep in mind that nothing lasts forever and that’s exciting now. These things have a lifespan, and that’s important to remember. The band will have a day it dies. We’ve got a limited timeframe where this thing holds together, and while there’s a momentum behind it.”

Their music longs for misspent youth and misplaced love, wanting to take those moments of life-affirming feeling and make them eternal. Those flickering dashes of joy, hope, love and togetherness are temporary but live on for an eternity in your heart.

There’s always something to treasure and Creeper are both narrator and protagonist in this tale. “This isn’t going to last forever,” repeats Will. “That’s why it’s significant now. I can’t be this age forever. I can’t be this able forever. We have to do it while we can. That’s why each show is living on your heartstrings.

That’s why you throw yourself into it every time ‘cos we’ve all seen those bands that hang on too long and they don’t have it in them anymore. And that’s sad. Go on and do something different. ‘To die would be an awfully big adventure’,” he beams, quoting Peter Pan. “It’s really apt. That storytelling, it’s what Creeper is all about. I hope that long after we finish the band, we’ve done our work, and the project resolves; I hope that people will look back and think, ‘Oh, do you remember that experience we had with Creeper?’” It’s a small wish, but sometimes they’re the most poignant.

“I hope that people will remember it fondly,” he smiles.

After years of setting scenes, character introductions and leaving frayed ends, Creeper gathered them all together for ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’. Eleven tracks of fantastical storytelling and personal memories, it marked the completion of a world that’s still being explored. “The world’s on fire, and you need culture and art more than ever in those times.” You can lose yourself in a good book. You can find yourself in a great album.

“There’s a crossing over period where you give your records to your audience, and they take it then make it their own.

People claim things for their own, and that’s the magic of music. You have a personal relationship with the records that define you as a person. They’re part of you.” ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’ might be telling the stories of fictional people, but they reflect something very real and everyday. There’s something special about a universe that understands you.

“That’s one of the great things about the album, people have made it theirs. It’s become part of their world, and that’s a huge privilege. I’m proud to be part of these kids lives. Those years where you grow up are so important. It starts off the way you intend it; then the audience make it into something else.”

The band always knew what their debut album needed to be. “We’re super proud of it. I’m proud of the guys and Hannah [Greenwood, keys], their work is absolutely fantastic, and some of the best songs Ian [Miles, guitar] has ever written are on that record. It’s varied, challenging but still accessible. It’s a difficult balance and I’m proud of what it’s done. Making the record was stressful; it was hard work because we were very specific about what we wanted. It had to be right because the EPs had propelled us to a point where I didn’t want to let anyone down but at the same time, I was adamant that I wasn’t going to think about anyone else.

record had so many different things on, and we got away with putting it all out.”

There’s the hardcore swing of ‘Poison Pens’, the fourth wall break of ‘I Choose To Live’, the torching empowerment of ‘Crickets’ and the theatrical pomp of ‘Black Rain’. Every track is jagged, taking from the well-read book of their influences but then twisted, reimagined and doing something unique. “It’s a thoughtful record, and it’s the most challenging record we could have made in that instance, we’re not a math rock band or anything,” he adds. “Stylistically it’s very interesting. It came from a place where I was very stressed out, and I was really worried.”

Recording the album in secret, trying to maintain their hectic tour schedule and match their own stargazing expectations, ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’ almost killed the band then and there.

“When things are about to fall apart, that’s when things happen. If you’ve never been in a position where you feel like you’re on the brink of collapse, you’ll never appreciate anything at all. If you live a life that’s sheltered, you never learn to appreciate anything.”

2017 has forced Will to live in his own art, away from the shelter of moving onto the next thing without looking back. “You’re constantly reminded of it.

You know all the things that are wrong with it, and it drives you mad after a

“Me and Ian shut the record label out of every conversation and floated the idea of an hour-long odyssey with a song that was just all organ. At the time we thought that was such a good idea,” he laughs. “What I’m really proud of is that we didn’t compromise on anything. Our

“THIS ISN’T GOING TO LAST FOREVER” 39

V

ER

Y BEST

“THE WORLD’S ON FIRE, AND YOU NEED CULTURE MORE THAN EVER”

O

F

TH

E

2017

TH

E

V

ER

Y BEST

O

F

while. If you look in the mirror, you have all these insecurities about your own face or body, and it felt like that. You’re constantly staring at what you’ve done.

Forced to look at those things you’re insecure about on the record but the nature of being an artist is that you constantly feel inadequate and you constantly doubt yourself all the time.

You feel constantly insecure.”

“I do love it though,” he adds. “It was made in Southampton, it’s a homegrown record, and it’s taken us around the world. We’ve taken songs we wrote in my living room, recorded with the same guy who’s been recording us for 15 years and we’ve become this band that’s touring the world. It’s insane. I never thought Creeper would be doing this stuff. I’ve been saying it for years; I’m constantly in shock we’re doing anything. It’s so silly all the time.”

It’s in the moments where the band 40

spend a night with friends and fall asleep in their own beds or sell out The Joiners in ten minutes when they could never do that with their old bands that are particularly special. “Suddenly you realise we’ve gone on a big journey with this band. It’s all-encompassing.

Every time I’ve struggled this year, it’s been important to keep that in focus, remember where Creeper came from and keep the ideals of the band close to heart. We never lost sight of those, but sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind.”

Creeper are giddy, over the moon and full of humble joy that they’ve been allowed to do the things that have made up their 2017. Their music has reached people around the world, and for that, they’re truly thankful. “It’s all the things that come alongside it that are frightening sometimes. Being at a show and having people looking at me, I hate it. I find it really odd. I

sometimes miss just being someone who just enjoys music but at the same time, what we’re doing is important.

When you get offstage, you have an almost instant review of your set. You can literally watch a video of yourself performing that’s been tweeted to you the second you get back to the dressing room. It’s insane.” Creeper have set about amplifying the sort of crackling electricity that can’t be captured.

“Nowadays everything feels so fast and disposable, so what we’ve been trying to do recently is slow the whole thing down. Do less but when we do it, make it more. Trying to make it an experience for people. Trying to do less but more at the same time and making things that feel important in a world where everything means nothing.”

“We live in a strange world where everything is a photocopy of a photocopy; Creeper are absolutely in that camp as well. There’s nothing that monumental anymore. When I go to Hammersmith Apollo, I know that’s where the last Ziggy Stardust show was. When I think of The Mayflower in Southampton, I know that’s where people saw The Who back in the day.

It’s hard to generate those significant moments in this day and age, but we’ve been trying our hardest of late. The focus has been on making these shows this all-encompassing experience, to try and give people something they can take away with them and think about. What comes along with that is that everything is really hard work,

everything takes a million years to plan. Where a lot of bands would just rehearse, get a lighting guy and get on the road, with Creeper we’re literally writing scripts and having to have things built.”

For their upcoming headline tour, their Theatre of Fear, everything is taking a lot longer. “It’s a challenge, but it has to be otherwise we’re just a band playing some gigs, and we may as well not even be a band. It’s very Creeper; there’s lots of running around, being stressful and just wasting our money all the time on the shows. We’re the worst business people in the world, but it’s part of Creeper’s responsibility to do more. Our audience wouldn’t expect anything less. They’re fans of this band for a reason, and everything has to be perfect, everything has to be different.

We’re not like other bands,” reasons Will. “Music should be exciting. For too long, bands have played it safe. It feels like we’re living on the edge all the time, everything could fall apart at any minute and anything could go wrong.

That’s the only way to keep it exciting and interesting though.”

The thing about Creeper is that they’re much further along in the story than we are. They’re always straddling their present with the past. The two worlds, onstage and offstage, are out of sync.

Existing in this netherworld is a strange feeling. “Those EPs and that growth, all that happened onstage. Behind the scenes, those things happened a long time before. I really believe in Creeper.

But I believe Creeper is capable of doing so many things with sound and with ideas. If you think of Creeper as an author, this story so far is one of the books.

“Sometimes I wonder if people see us as just one thing. Since the beginning

“FOR TOO LONG, BANDS HAVE PLAYED IT SAFE”

of the band people have said to me, ‘Your band is like My Chemical Romance’, ‘You’re like Alkaline Trio, or AFI’.

We’re always being told we’re the next something and I used to find it so complimentary at the beginning but as time’s gone on, I’ve found it more difficult. I understand people saying we’re the next MCR, that’s really nice, but it gives people this expectation of us, this idea that we should achieve the same things MCR achieved.

“It also lumps us in their mind that we’re going to be a replacement for that band, and we’re not. We’re a completely separate band, and I find it exhausting. I know it sounds bad, but sometimes it feels like we’re stuck in this loop where everyone tells us we’re the next MCR and we’re going to be stuck in this loop forever. I don’t want to be MCR. I love them, but I don’t want to be them. We’re Creeper.

That’s our band, and we’re very different. Same with AFI, or Alkaline Trio. I feel like people sometimes group us into this box.

And I feel boxed in by those comparisons.”

Rather than sitting idly by, muttering under their breath or aggressively correcting people, Creeper know the only way the box will break is with change.

Nothing will shift “until we can really prove ourselves. Until we can make a fundamental step forwards.” A lot of this year, rather than enjoying the success or exploring the reality of their dreams, has been about that proof.

“I’ve felt ready to shed my skin for a lot of the year, but it’s not time yet.

I’m always in this constant state of transition as a person, in terms of how I look, or what we’re doing musically and sonically. That’s why the band evolves a lot of the time. We all have this will to evolve, grow, change and metamorphosis. It’s almost imprisoning to live the same life over and over again when you’re ready to do something else and push forward. It’s a very odd thing, and I’m finding it hard to articulate.

“The band used to be something that really liberated me and was my release from my day job. Sometimes this year, the band has felt like a bit of a prison. I feel like I’ve lived an entire lifetime in these past few years. There’s something liberating about beginning again and starting with a blank page. When you’re going to write the next thing, there’s a new set of ideas and a new bunch of parameters and rules. It’s a new game, isn’t it? That’s something I think about an awful lot at the moment.”

“I’m really proud of what we’ve put out,” Will assures. “I’m so pleased and what we’ve built is something that’s important and dear to us all, but it feels like this album campaign has lasted for the entire career of the band. Part of me craves that reinvention process.

There are a lot of adventures we haven’t started yet. We know what we’re going to do, we’ve already started working on it, but everything feels so far in the 41

Y BEST

O

TH

E

2017 E

V

ER

Y BEST

O

F

We ask about hearing new music next year. “I can’t tell you if that’s going to happen,” is the response. “So much of what we do, the magic of it comes from being a secret. It’s hard to even think about writing another record even though I’m so desperate to move on.

The last one took so much of my soul; it almost broke the band up when we were doing it. It was really trying so the idea

ER

TH

distance all the time. I know absolutely what we’re doing next, I have to be in control the whole time because I’m a control freak, but it’s top secret.

Teachers always said I seemed ready for college before school was over, and I feel like that’s what’s happening now.

The next chapter, I’m ready for it. I’m eager to get going. Next year is going to be an exciting time for the band, not necessarily in terms of a career but as creatives, it’s going to be special.

V

F

“I KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING NEXT, BUT IT’S TOP SECRET”

that I’m about to do all that again, it’s stressful.

But it’s the magic of doing the band.

It’s why we do it.”

That magic, being able to tell stories and have people listen. To create, just for the sake of creating and to be inspired by the people they’re inspiring.

“It’s incredibly rewarding; I still feel totally blessed and so lucky to be doing what we do. It feels like someone made a mistake letting us in. We shouldn’t really be in this position, and it’s somehow working out. We’re still getting by,” laughs Will. “Creeper is the black sheep among black sheep.”

For Hallowe’en, Creeper did a benefit gig at their local, The Joiners, under the name The Midnight Kids. It was confirmed a week before (the joys of trying to work with the many cogs of the industry machine), and as soon as they got the green light, the band realised: “We’re not going to need a creative for this. What can we do?”

Olly stayed around Will’s house, and the pair got arts and craftsy in the direction of The Twilight Zone. Lights, signs and a big The Twilight Zone spiral entrance, edged with balloons set the scene for purpose filmed video and voiceover. “We did all this shit for one show, but I felt like I couldn’t let anyone down. People are expecting a Creeper show; we have

to give them a Creeper show. We can’t only care about the big shows, we have to make everything special,” promises Will, before asking: “Maybe sometimes I’m doing things so much for myself that I completely lose track of our audience, who probably would have just been happy with ‘Monster Mash’ being played?” But that dedication and total immersion in everything Creeper is, that want to be the band they needed as kids, that’s what makes them so special. It’s why they mean so much.

“It’s such a lovely community, and the community aspect of our band is something we’re really trying to focus on at the moment. We’ve got this big plan for next year to do something in regards to that and pull it all together,” teases Will. “Watching people let the record into their lives, let it be a part of them.

It’s real magic, isn’t it?”

The band might be driven forward by a fear of things becoming temporary, but they’re not afraid to start again. To burn things down to make space for the next step. The show at The Joiners was a oneoff, never to be repeated. Their Theatre of Fear will play for six nights, and that’s it. The band are talking about moving on to the next story, ruthless but necessary to their survival.

“The only thing that really lasts is that real-world magic. It’s the only thing you

really remember. I try and block out all the negative in my life and focus on the really special moments. One little magical thing makes you appreciate everything else. The show at The Joiners, all that work gets thrown in the bin, but in the heat of the moment, I like to think that when one of those kids goes back to a gig at The Joiners, they’ll remember when we played there and what a special show it was.

They’ll think, ‘I felt really at home that night. I felt like I really belonged. I saw that show, and it inspired me to make my own film or do something different with my band.’

“I’m hoping for that real-world magic every time, even if it’s from silly painted signs and hanging fairy lights. Even if we build it ourselves, it’s trying to make it an experience they’ll remember forever.” That what Creeper is. “That feeling of the gig, the experience of it, it becomes more than a show. It becomes part of your identity; it’s something you can stand by. It’s something you can believe in and hopefully, what we’ve always tried to do with Creeper is inspire people to do their own thing. And when Creeper stops, it’ll be time for someone else to do it. It’s important to keep that positive space. We have to set the bar every time.

I don’t want to be a band who doesn’t do these things, because they’re the bands you forget. The bands you don’t think about are the ones that just play their songs. You can go to a million gigs like that; you only go to a couple where it feels like something is happening to you.”

“We’re playing different size rooms now, but we’re still a small band. We have to sit down and ask, ‘What will people expect of us in this position?’ ‘What can we do that’ll make people think about the next thing we’re doing and believe us when we say it’ll be unmissable?’

I don’t want people to think we’re all talk,” reasons Will, but that responsibility goes beyond lights and theatrics. “When we can call the shots ourselves, we can bring out who we want and be a positive change in the industry.”

On their upcoming tour, just like their March 2017 headline run, every venue will have non-binary toilet signs. “That’s something that’s important to us. All this stuff we’ve seen recently about abusive men overstepping their mark are a telltale sign of the entire industry in general. It’s slowly crumbling away, and it’s up to us bands on the way up to change it for the better. It feels like the pillars of the scene are falling down around everyone and I’m glad to be a

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

CREEPER

E T E R N I T Y, I N YO U R A R M S ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’ is an album about belief, whichever way you paint it. Taking the familiar and making it strange, then stranger still, Creeper twist, craft and inject a purple haze into everything they know.

There are nods to favourite albums, movies, and every adventure Creeper have had before yet somehow, it all feels fresh. Excitement is paramount. Boring is out. Nothing is rehashed, and the band aren’t the next anything as they push the limits of what they can get away with. Glint in the eye, smirk on the face, paintbrush in hand, this is a band out to make mischief and make

part of it. There are things about the music industry that make me feel very uncomfortable. It’s very much still a boys club; there are a lot of jack the lad band people. There’s a weird lad culture that comes along with it, which I despise.

We’re trying to make Creeper shows a really safe space, and something people can rely on.”

it on their own terms.

Wracked with heartbreak, terrified of loss and angry to the point of tears, the eleven tracks of ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’ tell a story. But it’s not the one of James Scythe and The Callous Heart. From the West End opening of ‘Black Rain’, through the charged intensity of ‘Suzanne’ and ‘Hiding With Boys’ until the straight-to-camera admission of ‘I Choose To Live’, Creeper’s debut album is a struggle in making sense of the real world.

They might not have the answers, but Creeper make it abundantly clear that whatever happens, this album is something to believe in.

Ali Shutler

anything with the band, we try and make it worthwhile. The memory of it lasts on beyond that one night, even if the signs are in the bin somewhere rotting. The idea of it lasts. That’s what you hope anyway because real magic is the only thing that lasts forever.” P

“When this band breaks up,” he continues, “I hope people say ‘Creeper were reliable’. That’s what I want our epitaph to be.

What a reliable band they were, because maybe we’ve made mistakes at some point, but I hope people know when they’re sending their kids out to see us, that we’re a safe band. You might get kicked in the head by a crowd surfer, but that’s the worse thing that’s going to happen to you.

It’s a safe space for people to be themselves.

“Having a safe spot away from an oppressive world is important.

Having a break from school or knowing there’s somewhere you can go where you know you’re not going to be harassed; now it’s more important than ever. I like to think that’s what we offer. We try very hard to speak our minds on what’s important to us, but at the same time, create spaces at our shows that are inclusive of everyone. Anytime we do 43

‘Pretty Little Distance’ already feels sortof-like a classic in waiting, while ‘Hey Rachel’ showcases that this is a band fully able to play in the big leagues. Far, far better than okay. Stephen Ackroyd

AT T H E D R I V E I N I N -T E R A- L I -A

V

ER

Y BEST

At The Drive In have never felt like a band willing to let gravity do the work, and with ‘in-ter a-li-a’ they’ve found a forceful shove that proves there’s still momentum those old legs yet. There’s a demanding immediacy to ATDI v2.0 that’s every bit as insistent as first time around, launching themselves kicking and screaming at a world that’s left without option but to clear the way. That fire still burns, and with fuel like this, we all might just catch light yet. Stephen Ackroyd

O

F

TH

E

2017

TH

E

V

ER

Y BEST

O

F

ALL TI ME LOW LAST YOUN G RENEGAD E All Time Low are at a crossroads. The band are finally operating on the sort of scale they’ve always hinted at, selling out arenas and headlining big stages at festivals but the pure-pop-punk that defined their early years has become diffused of late. Eyes on the window, ATL were getting restless.

They wanted something more. And so they came up with ‘Last Young Renegade’.

With central characters, a weaving tale and fierce focus, All Time Low have taken the leap to being more than they’ve dared

A RCANE RO OTS M E L A N C H O L I A H Y MNS ‘Melancholia Hymns’ is a bold new direction for Arcane Roots. Now drenched in sprawling electronic soundscapes, the trio have achieved a sound that is both cinematic and devastating in equal measure. The trio have approached everything you thought you knew about them and flipped it in this meticulously crafted work of art. Alex Bradley 44

before. Bold and distinctly different, it’s littered with moments of charm and sees the band put their very best foot forward.

Ali Shutler

AS IT IS O K AY. Fun is underrated. While the forces of cynicism like to drag us towards more boring concerns, there’s a lot to be said for a band who understand the pure hit of pop punk can deliver us from all evils. On their second album, As It Is have not only stepped up to the plate; they’ve knocked it into orbit. Opener

B U L LY LOSI N G In a titular nod to what came before, Bully tear the album open with ‘Feel the Same’, marrying 90s slacker pop with Alicia Bognanno’s brutally honest lyrics with a callback to ‘Feels Like’ opener ‘I Remember’. If Bully don’t necessarily leap out of their comfort zone, things rarely get stale, with the band’s energy permeating each squalling riff and yelped vocal. Dillon Eastoe

CA N ’ T SW I M FA I L YOU AGA I N Last year, upon releasing their debut EP

BRUTUS BURST

C O D E O R A N G E FOREVER

Brutus are as raw as you can get without your ears bleeding.

Stefanie Mannaerts’ howling and aggressive vocals match her drum style perfectly, and neither relents.

From the opening urgency of ‘March’ to the delayed fury of closer ‘Child’, the album refuses to set you down.

The trio are kicking up dust and throwing it in the eyes of all that is inane and boring. Steven Loftin

Code Orange’s third album, and major label debut, saw them burst out beyond genre boundries to become something of a sensation. From magazine covers to Alt-J remixes, they may be a while off bothering the true mainstream conciousness, but in those all-knowing alternative circles, 2017 is the year Code Orange’s name went from knowing nods to an unholy roar. Dan Harrison

‘Death Deserves A Name’, Can’t Swim hadn’t so much as played a live show.

Now they’re releasing an album that’s packed with the kind of re most bands would kill to put on stage. ‘Friend’ sparks with tales of loss, an echo of past regrets; ‘Quitting’ pulls things back from the brink, showing Can’t Swim have more than a single gear, while closer ‘All The Moves We Make Are In The Dark’ moves from slow burner to towering inferno.

Safe to say, ‘Fail You Again’ is lit. Stephen Ackroyd

C H A R LY G UPPY

“W

CASSELS EPITH ET A collaboration that’s been more than a decade in the making, Cassels have finally come to fruition on what is technically their first full-length release.

Delivered not so much with a tongue in cheek, but with a tongue stuck firmly out while its owner defiantly flicks the Vs, ‘Epithet’ grows more visceral and vital with every burst of scathing honesty.

Danny Randon

e’re all terminally humble,” grins Eva Hendricks.

She and the rest of Charly Bliss are sat downstairs of London’s Old Blue Last. It’s their first time touring overseas and tonight sold out months ago. “Sometimes you just have to get rid of that mentality though and force yourself to get excited,” she continues. “Fuck yes, we’re really doing it, and it’s going well.”

STRONG E R

2017 has been “exciting and emotional” for the group. “We’ve been a band for seven years and known each other for even longer than that, so at least once a day, all of us have a moment where we stop and are hit with the realisation: ‘We’re here, and we’re doing this.’ It’s just crazy, and I don’t think we’ll get over it anytime soon.”

It’s not the machine Counterfeit are raging against, it’s the world. In your face, savage but full of soul, they’re a band you wouldn’t want to stand in the way off.

‘Together We Are Stronger’ isn’t just a title.

It’s a promise. It’s a powerful message of community as they tear walls down and raise spirits up. Ali Shutler

After finishing a debut album, the band scrapped half the songs, rerecorded the others and wrote a load more. “I definitely cried to my mom that the record’s never going to fucking come out,” smiles Eva. The finished ‘Guppy’, inspired by Weezer’s

COUNTERFEIT TOG ETH ER WE

ARE

B L I SS The Blue Album and putting big emotion and big fun front and centre, was finally released in April. Passed around on personal connection and word of mouth, it’s forged deep-rooted and intimate relationships with everyone who’s crossed paths with it.

“As an artist, you’re always trying to create something that younger you would have benefited from. For me, my happiest memories from when I was younger were being in a car with my friends and having something we could all scream along to and all loved.” Alongside that sunshine abandon though, sits feelings of selfdeprecation and self-love. “I always feel both things at once,” explains Eva. “I wanted to make something that captured that sentiment. The lyrics are pretty emo at times or contrasting with the fun nature of how the songs sound, and there are certain things I wanted people to take away from that. I’m really happy there’s a song about therapy, and loving your therapist on the record because that was something that was hard for me growing up.”

From the snarling fizz of ‘Percolator’ until the flip-flop triumph of ‘Julia’, Charly Bliss take that opening wink of ‘I think it’s cool I’m in touch with my feelings’ and drive towards the horizon. The record gives validity to every emotion that courses through it, carrying weight, reason and refusing to be silent. There’s power in the vulnerable. Hopelessness isn’t interesting.

“People say my lyrics are dark and even though I struggle with anxiety and with depression, what excites me in music, art, isn’t just bleak despair.

That’s so boring to me. And it’s way too easy if we’re honest. I think anyone can be negative. Anyone can just look at something and say it’s fucked. I find joy and humour so much more interesting and inspiring. That’s what I’m always striving for. Most of the lyrics are funny to me. I’m usually trying to make fun of myself, even when I feel dark.”

As for the delivery, “If Guns ‘n’ Roses get to screech at the top of their lungs and sound squeaky and high pitched, then so the fuck can I.” P 45

“IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE FUN” E

F

TH

TH

E

7 1 0 2 F

O Y BEST ER

46

ER

Y BEST

V

V O

“W

hen you’re feeling horrible, or you’ve had a hard day, you can get on stage and everything changes,” starts Alex Luciano. “Okay, we’re doing this thing. Usually, there’s at least one person in the crowd who is so stoked, so excited they’re dancing and singing.

I just zone in on this one person, and even if I’m tired, I’m doing it for this person who’s so happy to be here.”

2017 has been hard work for Diet Cig. They released a record back in March and haven’t been home since.

Today they’re seven weeks into an eight-week tour and “it feels like we’re floating.” They’re still the best of friends and still excited by absolutely everything. “It’s the people that come to our shows that keep us inspired; they’re so fun. It’s a whole room of people who get me,” beams Alex.

Their debut album ‘Swear I’m Good At This’, all community action, holding people to account and protesting for your right to safety, is a rip-roaring burst of energy, excitement and electrical charge. In real life, the pair are the same. Their live show starts with instructions about the evening being a safe space, inviting people who disagree to leave and pointing out who to speak to if you’re made to feel uncomfortable. The floor is littered with balloons the band have spent the afternoon blowing up, and Alex has to climb on a table to check if the ceiling is covered in real glitter.

It is, by the way.

Despite being on tour together for at least five weeks, both Alex and bandmate Noah Bowman are in the crowd watching The Spook School, diving forward when the moment takes them. Their positivity is relentless. Their music, raw, powerful and change affirming.

O N E O F O U R F AV O U R I T E T W O S O M E S - A N D F O R M E R U P S E T C O V E R S TA R S , N O L E S S - D I E T C I G A R E CHANG ING THE WORLD WITH THEIR SENSE OF FUN AND C O M M U N I T Y. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. P H OTO S : S A R A H L O U I S E B E N N E T T.

“It’s so cool to meet people who have gone through the same stuff,” continues Alex. “This record has so many emotions, from happy to angry to lonely to stoked or furious; it has every feeling that I feel on it.

Meeting people who say it resonated with them is super cool and super validating, especially ‘cos we wrote it just for us. To have anyone say ‘I love this song’ is like, you get me. It’s felt very special meeting everyone; this is why we do it.”

“It’s a very human record,” adds Noah.

47

“WE WANT TO BE OUR BEST SELVES” “You wrote about all these emotions, and if you’re a human, you’re going to have all these emotions at some point in your life. It’s easy to resonate with that.”

It’s hard to show the world who you are though, isn’t it? “A lot of artists are very poetic and metaphorical; I’m just honest and straightforward,” says Alex. “This is how I’m feeling, I’m going to write about it. When we’re recording, sometimes Noah will say, ‘Woah, the way you said that is pretty slick,’ but I don’t even think about it like that. I just try and make the lyrics relatable. I didn’t realise it was as good as everyone is saying it is. I try and act like I’m the smarty pants over here with my wise words, but it’s just me being honest. A lot of the things I’ve gone through, other people have as well.

It’s real.

“When you listen to a song you haven’t written, you assign your own narrative or feelings to it, and that’s why it resonates with you. Honestly, I feel like our songs still resonate with me in different ways depending on how I’m feeling. I’ll be singing ‘Bath Bomb’, which is about certain feelings I had but it’ll resonate with whatever emotion I’m feeling that night. ‘Oh, I’m so tired or lonely’. It’s cool to be able to play the songs live, and they become even more powerful and emotional for us.”

Even the title saw Diet Cig trying to be positive in the face of self-doubt; ‘Swear I’m Good At This’ is a promise flecked with uncertainty. “Playing the songs has been validating,” admits Alex. “Yeah, I am good at this. The whole title was so real. I literally tell myself, ‘I swear I’m good at this. It’s good, I got this,’ every day of this band because there is so much self-doubt that goes into being so vulnerable and making music. As we’ve toured and met everyone who it does mean something to, it has made us more 48

confident, but I don’t think that feeling ever goes away.”

“I’m nervous about the next record,” adds Noah.

“Some days I can’t believe I wrote this record,” Alex continues. “I’m so proud of it, and I love it, but other days I feel like, ‘God, I am such a fucking idiot. Why did I write this?’ It’s tough. No level of press or big shows is ever going to quell that imposter syndrome you try and push down. It’s definitely still there, and it’ll always be there I think.”

“That’s what makes it fun,” Noah grins.

“It makes me push myself,” Alex explains.

“We push ourselves because we want to be the best at it. We’re our own worst critics, everyone is their own worst critic really, but we want to be our best selves.”

Being your best as the world tries to tear itself apart isn’t easy. 2017 has been an undeniable “shitstorm of shit” but ever the optimists, “it’s also been really cool to foster a safer space at our shows where people can come and have a cathartic release of joy and friendship with the people they’ve come with,” ponders Alex.

“If we weren’t touring this year, I’d go crazy,” she says. “Playing shows is the ultimate. You forget about all this bullshit. It’s a safe place in an allotted time where you can put all your worries and all that bullshit floating around in a box. You’ll come back to that box, but for a little while, you can just have fun, feel cathartic and feel heard - that’s so important, even for us. Getting to do this as our job feels so good. It refuels us so we think, ‘Okay, we can do this’. There are so many people out here who care and want to just have a human experience together, and I feel like it goes both ways; I am so thankful we have been touring this year.”

“It’s a release of all that pent-up anger or frustration,” adds Noah. “You get to do it in a place we get to create, where we are all on the same page, and if you’re not, you can leave. We’re all here together, and if you don’t stand for what we stand for, the door is there.”

“I talk about how our shows are safer spaces, and we want people to feel fun and to be able to get vulnerable with themselves and everyone in the room,” Alex explains. “If someone’s not about that, if someone’s not going to keep it safe or try and invade peoples personal space, they can fucking get out. It’s so

radical to have fun at this current time; all these oppressive forces want you to be isolated and miserable so to be a night where you come together with other like-minded people and have fun and support each other and be there for each other, that’s so fucking radical.

That’s cool as hell.”

“I don’t think our band is any more important than true activism,” continues Alex. “A lot of times, bands get pinned as this political thing. Y’know, these bands are activists, and they’re changing the world. There are real activists out there doing real stuff, but at the same time, I think our band is important for that release. Self-care is important. It can be seen as frivolous, it’s not needed to end oppression, but you have to take care of yourself. It’s important to have fun.

Being able to express your feelings with other people and to feel heard, it’s so important. The fact our band can be that for even one person, I think that makes it important.”

When we spoke to Diet Cig two years ago ahead of their first ever trip to the UK, they boasted about their new friendship with a ten-year-old fan.

“We’ve been emailing, and she got to come to some of our shows. It’s inspiring because she’s so young but so in touch with music,” Alex smiled at the time. Today, one of the best things that happened to Diet Cig was playing a show with her band.

“We had been working with Girls Rock Philly for our ‘Tummy Ache’ video and later on for touring stuff, but we first started getting involved in Girls Rock because of this girl Mia, who’d been tweeting us since our first EP came out.

She’d be sharing covers, her mom was so nice, and we’d met her before shows, and we’d built this relationship with her. She’d gone to Girls Rock camp and would play our songs with other girls there.

“We played this show in Philly that was a fundraiser for Girls Rock camp, and they got to open for us. It felt really special. Our band inspired her to start playing music, so it was cool to finally play a show together. They were so excited. Her mom was like ‘she can’t believe she’s getting to play with one of her favourite bands’. We also got to raise a ton of money. They had so much fun, we had so much fun, and it felt really cool. This is why I’m in a band,” beams Alex. “That’s the embodiment of why we do this.” P

49

DOWNTOW N BOYS THE COST O F LIVING There’s nothing that beats a bit of good old fashioned punk rock action. That’s something that Downtown Boys know well. A shot of pure adrenaline, ‘The Cost Of Living’ is an antidote to the carefully posed, cynical window of modern life. No time for frills, they’re true to their core.

Start the riot. Stephen Ackroyd

FRESH FRESH Fronted by Kathryn Woods, London indiepunks Fresh have got a literate star in the making, and someone who can transform mundane moments into flashes of piercing insight. Like fellow 2017 stars Diet Cig, there’s a strong message of rebellion to Fresh’s tales of dissatisfaction. The result is a journey of self-discovery wrapped up in two-minute pop songs and, even in its quieter moments, it’s a blast. Rob Mair

G IRLP OO L POWERPL ANT Armed with a full band, Girlpool’s second effort ‘Powerplant’ takes the duo’s raw folk punk to a whole new level and experiments with a soundscape they haven’t really explored before.

‘Powerplant’ is filled with endless delicate and twanging melodies and vocals; coming together in a perfect mix of emo grunge and jangly 90s pop. There’s a confident feeling, from the sweet-toothed

D E A F H AVA N A A L L THESE COUNTL ESS

‘Kiss and Burn’ to chirpy keys featured on the title-track.

As Harmony and Cleo move into early adulthood, it feels like the selfconsciousness that shrouds their earlier material has eased up considerably. The duo prove how simply amazing they are on ‘Powerplant’. Jasleen Dhindsa

down to the astutely British vocals from Mark Bowen, IDLES are a change of pace from the usual straight-forward rock that’s inundating the genre. The onslaught is constant and consistent, up until the album’s closer ‘Slow Savage’ which is, well, slow and savage. Post-punk never died, it was just waiting for IDLES. Steven Loftin

G REYWIN D AFTERTHOUG HTS

I N H E AV E N I N H E AV E N

Recorded without ever playing a live show, Greywind’s debut album is running on one hundred per cent ambition.

‘Afterthoughts’ carries an emotional depth below it’s shiny exterior that’s easy to get lost in. Bouncing from hope to hopelessness and back again on a knifeedge. ‘Circle’ and the moody shudder of ‘Car Spin’ tumble with endless abandon, while the likes of ‘Safe Haven’ and ‘Wander’’s twinkling daybreak lead the way in a daring, determined escape. Cut off from a scene and forced to believe in themselves, Greywind have captured a daydreamers spark and used it to light something grand.

Ali Shutler

Inheaven might have started off taking grunge, cutting it with shoegaze and giving it all a bit of sparkle but their glittering self-titled debut is far more colourful than that. Bigger and more powerful than their list of influences normally allows, ‘Inheaven’ is forwardfacing and with a list of demands. It’s vibrant excitement from front to back.

From the end of the world and speaking up just to make sure your voice still works to the delicate start of something loving, ‘Inheaven’ soundtracks the little moments that make you feel like the centre of everything. Ali Shutler

IDL ES B RU TA L I S M Do you like abrasive, self-indulgent lyrics?

Music that simply doesn’t care for soft touches? Then you’re in the right place.

The debut album from IDLES is filled with all of the above, not to mention lyrical genius. With a sound that is everything you’d have expected to hear back in the 80’s burgeoning post-punk scene, even

JA M I E LE N M A N D E V O LV E R ‘Devolver’ is all about Jamie being let loose to explore his ideas and influences, and it somehow all ties together brilliantly.

That freedom that flows through the album results in tracks to dance to, head bang to, laugh and cry to and from those first Reuben fans to those new to the party, ‘Devolver’ has something to love. Alexander Bradley

E M PLOYE D TO SE RVE T H E WA R M T H O F

HEY VI O LET F ROM TH E OUTSI D E

N IG HTS

A

Deaf Havana have returned with the album they’ve always threatened to make. Gone are the band who looked like they’d given up at the end of ‘Old Souls’ and in their place stand a group with stories they’re desperate to tell. Eager eyes, loose lips and a warm welcome, there’s an instant connection. Ali Shutler

This is a record that hits you with more force than a swing of Thor’s hammer. Justine Jones leads the charge with a vicious, virtuoso performance throughout; a vocal display that’s a head-splitting joy to behold. When it comes to hardcore, this five-piece are one of the best in the business. Jake Richardson

‘From The Outside’ refuses to enforce limits or second guess itself.

Full of conviction and following a visceral need for entertainment, it’s both vulnerable and vibrant. Smart but never taking itself too seriously, there’s an embrace to every big movement as Hey Violet refuse to listen to anyone but themselves.

Ali Shutler

50

DY IN G

SU N

T

F

O

T

S

A substantial development from 2015’s ‘A Different Space Of Mind’, with ‘Double

Y B VER E

TH E WINTE R PASSIN G D OU B LE E X POSU RE

E

SOCIAL Embracing her DIY brilliance, Candy Hearts’ Mariel Loveland has found her inner strength. Taking a world of self-doubt and anxiety and wrapping it up in a package of hook lines and pop sensibilities, the results are remarkable. ‘Girlfriend’ is a stone cold banger, all sparkle and sass, while ‘Someday’ - and its refrain that eventually we’ll get it right - feels the perfect marker. ‘Ice Cream Anti Social’ is the sound of an artist finding their mark in the best way possible. This is one Best Ex everyone will want to look up. Stephen Ackroyd

The retro punk attitude fits perfectly with the nature of the record and its title-track, and is a reminder of how great Bleached are, and how punk. Jasleen Dhindsa

H

ANTI

T

B EST E X ICE CREAM

2017

F

I T ’ S N O T J U S T A L B U M S T H AT H AV E M A D E WAV E S I N 2 0 1 7. T H E E P S H AV E C A U S E D A S P L A S H T O O .

VERY BE S O

E PS

E

T

AW E S O M E

H

Exposure’ The Winter Passing have struck a greater balance between dynamic, sprightly flourishes and their impassioned throwbacks to the golden age of emo.

Featuring one of the most infectious opening tracks you’ll hear all year, the EP’s addictive personality rarely lets up. Short, sharp and sensational, ‘Double Exposure’ is a snapshot of what will hopefully be a turning point for The Winter Passing.

Danny Randon

B LEACH ED CAN YOU DE AL ?

“Yeah I’m a girl, and I play in a band / Can you deal?” sings frontwoman Jennifer Clavin on the title-track of ‘Can You Deal?’.

After the success of their second album ‘Welcome the Worms’, the Californian punk rockers still fell victim to alienating and diminishing comments about their gender. The ‘Can You Deal?’ EP, though comprised mainly of reworked demos, is what’s needed after the comparably polished sound of ‘Welcome the Worms’.

MI LK TEETH B E NIC E + G O AWAY EPs are, more often than not, the resolve of bands finding ways to establish themselves on their way to a debut full-length. The two extended players Milk Teeth dropped in the back half of 2017 turned that theory upside down.

What they showed instead was a band developing into one of our very best. Stephen Ackroyd

BE L L EVUE ROSE HILL

DAYS

If there were any doubts Bellevue Days are one of the UK’s best new bands, then their latest EP should put them firmly to bed. A product of a scene that’s turning out uncut gems at an impressive rate, there’s every chance they could be one of the most sparkling for all. Here is a band who refuse to be pinned down; expect them to show up at the very top before long. Stephen Ackroyd

SA INTE SM I L E, A N D WAV E Tay Jardine’s first release as SAINTE may be tagged as an EP, but with seven tracks it’s something more.

And that’s not just a question of volume. With day glo ambition and soaring possibilities, it’s a record riding towards wide horizons. With a sassy shuffle and inner confidence, it’s dip-dyed in brilliance. A vibrant triumph. Stephen Ackroyd 51

FRANK CARTER

& T H E R AT T L ES N A K ES WITH NEW ALBUM ‘MODERN RUIN’, FRANK CA RT E R O U T D I D H I M S E L F. I F I T ’ S N OT O N Y O U R A L B U M S O F T H E Y E A R L I S T , W H AT A R E YO U D O I N G ?

P H O T O : R YA N J O H N S T O N .

HEY FRANK, HOW’S IT GOING? HAVE YOU ENJOYED 2017?

I’ve enjoyed moments, but mostly the year has been a pretty turbulent one for me.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING TO HAVE HAPPENED ( SO FAR ) THIS YEAR? Seeing my daughter sitting side stage at Reading Festival with a giant smile on her face while we played.

That was about as good as life gets.

THE YEAR’S NOT OVER FOR YOU YET, WHAT WITH YOUR DECEMBER TOUR ’N ALL - DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING SPECIAL PLANNED FOR THE SHOWS? There was talk of trying to play every song we have released, I’m not sure if we will manage all of them, but I think we will for sure be playing a longer set that has a proper pace to it. Basically, I can’t wait to play ‘Rotten Blossom’, haha.

‘MODERN RUIN’ CAME OUT WAY BACK IN JANUARY, HAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ALBUM CHANGED AT ALL SINCE THEN? My relationship with my art changes constantly. I think it would be foolish to believe I could love or hate anything forever. As we live, we are affected by everything around us and in turn, it’s easy for that to allow us new perspectives.

WHAT NEWS STORIES HAVE AFFECTED YOU THIS YEAR? Honestly, if I start answering this question I’m going to have to go punch something for a couple of hours, and I don’t have time to drive to the boxing ring right now.

HAVE YOU LEARNT ANYTHING NEW ABOUT YOURSELF DURING 2017?

I have learnt more about myself than I thought it was possible to learn. This year has been a year of self-reflection for me. I am trying my hardest to break old patterns and build a much stronger, more positive present.

ARE YOU TAKING A BREAK OVER CHRISTMAS? WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON? Yes, I’m gonna buy my daughter all the presents, and I’m gonna eat all the food and then I’m gonna try and get some sun for a week.

WHAT’S THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT YOU COULD RECEIVE? A week in the sun.

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING IN THE DIARY FOR 2018 YET? Loads. Australia in February, Europe in March... loads of amazing stuff planned for the UK, but I can’t talk about it.

V

ER

Y BEST

O

F

TH

E

2017

TH

V

F

E

ER

Y BEST

O

52

WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO ACHIEVE NEXT YEAR? I’ve been working on some new paintings so I’d very much like to have a solo exhibition at some point.

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE TOPPING FESTIVAL BILLS NEXT SUMMER? Biffy Clyro, QOTSA, Rattlesnakes, Demob Happy and Tame Impala, would be a pretty solid day out... P

M A N C HESTE R O RC HESTR A A B L ACK M I L E TO TH E S URFACE The influence of Andy Hull and Robert McDowell’s film work is evident as early as the opener on ‘A Black Mile to the Surface’.

‘The Maze’ is a pulsating love song for Hull’s daughter that takes off as a yearning vocal declares “there’s nothing I have when I die that I keep.” Part of Manchester Orchestra’s journey has been Hull’s struggles with his place in the world, and here he has found a new sense of purpose.

Where before the band combined to create a sledgehammer of sound, here they find the spaces between the instruments and let them breathe. After some time away and a change of scene, they’ve shown us there’s another way. Dillon Eastoe

QU E E N S

O F

THE

STO N E AG E VIL L A I N S

LOS CAMPESI N OS !

SICK SC EN ES Being one of Britain’s most impulsive bands, Los Campesinos! set a challenging precedent where one can never quite guess what on earth their next record will sound like. However, it is unlikely that even

the widest medium could’ve prophesied that ‘Sick Scenes’ was going to be as much a humdinger as it is. Their self-deprecating accounts of banal day jobs and debilitating bouts of depression offer a tongue-incheek contrast to the sobering state of current affairs and, as a result, this is the best that they’ve sounded in years. Danny Randon

You need not worry about a superproducer like Mark Ronson making the Californian desert rock monarchs sound like Bruno Mars. If anything, ‘Villains’ has a deeper, dirtier, downtown funk lingering around it. Four years on from the sprawling art-rock masterpiece ‘…

Like Clockwork’, ‘Villains’ is a continuation from its predecessor as much as it is a departure. It’s a superbly spaced-out, funkadelic odyssey of an album which will be hard for some to stomach, but even harder for all to resist. Danny Randon

JULI EN BA KER TU RN OUT TH E L IG HTS

LOWE R TH A N AT L A N T I S SA F E IN SOU N D

PA R A M O RE A F TER L AUG HTER

Ruminating on broken hearts, tested faith and the strains of mental health, Julien Baker embraces life’s darker moments knowing that the light will pull her through. The album’s message is best summed up in ‘Appointments’: “Maybe it’s all gonna turn out alright, and I know that it’s not, but I have to believe that it is.” Dillon Eastoe

This is a more self-aware Lower Than Atlantis. Building on the direct aims of their self-titled record which fully embraced the band’s ability to write a banger, ‘Safe In Sound’ gets straight to the point. Written with huge moments in mind, album five sees Lower Than Atlantis reach higher than they’ve ever dared to dream before. Ali Shutler

After years of internal shifts, line-up changes, allegations and legal disputes, it’s no shock that Paramore would find themselves feeling more than slightly shook up by this point.

What’s remarkable is how they’ve used it to make what in many ways is their best album so far. More than ever before, we are Paramore.

Stephen Ackroyd 53

ROZW E LL KI D PRECI OUS A RT Kings of the riffs and witty one-liners, West Virginia’s Rozwell Kid have been one of the more interesting US breakouts of the last few years. They’re certainly a huge amount of fun, even if their recorded output to date displays the awkward growing pains of a band trying to find the right voice. There are no such problems on ‘Precious Art’, which dazzles from start to finish. Rob Mair

SHE E R M AG N EED TO F EEL YOUR

R AT B OYS G N

RISE AGA INST W O LV E S

Heroes of the indie/emo scene, Ratboys have returned with their most rounded set of songs. ‘GN’ (short for goodnight) is an album filled with lilting textures and wry observations. “This is a record of my life,” sings Julia on standout ‘The Record’, and it’s hard to disagree when so much here is clearly autobiographical; like the gorgeously arranged and poetic – albeit comically bleak – ‘Elvis in the Freezer’, a song about Julia’s dead cat who was kept in a frozen state. Like recent efforts by Hop Along and Pinegrove, ‘GN’ is an album that rewards investment. Rob Mair

Unsurprisingly for a band with Rise Against’s politically-motivated trackrecord, ‘Wolves’ is an album born out of the frustrations of post-Trump America. What may come as a surprise to some, however, is the fact that not once does the Chicago punks’ eighth LP come across as preachy.

‘Wolves’ is undoubtedly a political, antiTrump, anti-Republican album, but it’s one in which social protest collides with themes like love and self-worth, meaning that unlike previous Rise Against records, this feels like more than a political statement. Jake Richardson

LOVE

Tina Halladay propels vocals with a fight that perfectly encapsulates the Sheer Mag vibe. Lines such as “We get our kicks, with bottles and bricks” in ‘Meet Me In The Street’, when backed with lightning sharp riffs which dominate throughout, proves to be an untouchable formula. Sheer Mag will command your full attention. Steven Loftin

SO RO RITY N O I SE Y O U ’ R E N O T A S ___ AS YOU

TH IN K

‘You’re Not As ___ As You Think’ is emotional, powerful and, at times, uncomfortable, but armed with a dark humour and a dynamic want to make the most of the day, it’s a record that embraces the light. “I’m not trying to say it’s easy,” offers ‘A Portrait Of’, “but I’m trying to say it’s fine.” Ali Shutler

ROA M G R E AT H E I G H TS AND NOSE D I VES

SLØTFACE TRY N OT TO FRE A K OUT

THE F RO NT BOTTO M S GOI N G G REY

ROAM’s ‘Great Heights and Nosedives’ is driven by a newfound lust for life. Following on the from the scrappy, nervous energy of debut ‘Backbone’, the band’s second album is the sort of perfectly balanced record dreams are made of. Banding together and enduring, there’s wisdom in the smiles and a hope in the broken shadows. Ali Shutler

Dancing at the end of their world, Sløtface are relentlessly optimistic and very much in love with the road before them. There’s a community embrace to ‘Try Not To Freak Out’, an importance in their tales and while the questions remain unanswered, the search is never a lonely one.

Poised and ready for action, watch them run. Joe Henderson

If the title ‘Going Grey’ is the band acknowledging their maturity, then the record itself is them asserting where they’re headed after three albums of staking their claim as pop-punk stalwarts. Some will baulk at the streamlined sound and more pensive lyrics, but The Front Bottoms never lose their sense of fun. Dillon Eastoe

54

ENTER SHIKARI W I T H ‘ T H E S PA R K ’ M A R K I N G E N T E R S H I K A RI TH I RD TO P 5 A L BU M , 2017 H AS B E E N P R E T T Y B L O O D Y G R E AT .

PH OTO : SA R A H LOU I SE B E N N ET T

What’s in your diary for 2018 so far?

Visiting a few wineries, brushing up on my foxtrot and samba steps, learning Chinese, making more use of my national trust membership…

I, of course, am chatting absolute shite, 2018 is just one long, in fact seemingly interminable, tour.

V

ER

Y BEST

O

TH

E

2017

TH

F

E

O

What are you up to for Christmas?

Have you started your shopping yet?

I’m quite conservative and consistent when it comes to Christmas. It’ll be back to the parent’s house as always; friends and family, trying to cook, drinking too much Baileys, all that business.

Have I started shopping yet? No, I’m a normal person. P

F

What news stories have affected you this year?

Christ, the whole news cycle has been unrelenting and grim. The sexual harassment stories, the terrorism, the natural disasters and the barrage of all things Trump; he’s obviously the big red boil on the arse of 2017. The Grenfell Tower disaster affected me quite a lot. The chap I produced The Spark with David Kosten has his studio a few minutes from the tower itself.

I think it highlighted how much is wrong with the news cycle itself too. The fact that a story like that can after a few days basically be forgotten about is enraging. The people were left to struggle, and the mainstream media moves on to the next story. Governments must know that if they can ride out the initial storm of bad press, they’ll survive as they’ll then be off the hook as the news cycle moves on.

Did you achieve everything you wanted to this year?

I don’t look at things on a year on year basis really. Life is just one long road where you learn as you go. I achieve or progress in some areas and fall back or stall in others, all depending on what’s thrown at me.

Y BEST

Album release aside, what have been your highlights of 2017?

My first harvest of homegrown food from my wee garden. I say harvest, it was only some garlic, onions and spinach, but still, I was pretty happy with that.

ER

Congrats on ‘The Spark’ doing so well, did you expect it to go Top 5?

I don’t know what I expected to be honest. I seem to generally fluctuate between a general lack of confidence and then overwhelming ambition and high expectations, there’s a lot of intense emotions in those head spaces, so often I just try to live in the present and not expect or hope for anything.

What do you think has been the biggest music-related news story of 2017?

Christ, I don’t know… or really care, I mean, it was probably something to do with Taylor Swift, wasn’t it?

Here’s the biggest music-related news story of 2017 for you: Music, against all the odds, in a historical period of real human division, intense individualism, capitalistic narcissism and self-centredness, is still managing to bring people together, from all backgrounds, indiscriminately, all around the world; to sing together, to feel connected to one another, to feel empathy, to feel community. That’s the biggest music-related news story of 2017.

V

Hey Rou, how would you rate 2017 out of ten?

I would give it a moderately decent 7.6 I reckon.

55

W I T H O N E O F T H E M O S T A N T I C I P AT E D A L B U M S O F 2 0 1 7, P V R I S A R E F I G U R I N G O U T T H E I R P L AC E I N T H E WO RL D.

I

“

forgot what month it was for a moment there,” starts Lynn Gunn.

“A lot has happened this year, in all aspects.” PVRIS have just turned up to tonight’s venue, Zurich’s Dynamo, and they’re “just trying to figure out what the fuck’s going on. The usual, y’know?” They’re currently in the midst of a world tour for second album ‘All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell’ that started back in May and, if the tour cycle for debut ‘White Noise’ is anything to go by, will run on and on.

“It’s been exactly a year since we were in the studio. We were finishing up ‘AWKOH’ around this time last time. It’s crazy just being a year later from that, being out on the road and playing these songs. There was never really any gap in between. It’s been incredibly go go go and busy, so like the last record, I haven’t had a chance to reflect on anything yet, but I’ve been trying to here and there.”

PVRIS’ second album sees the band build on everything that made ‘White Noise’ such a glorious wonderland. Acted out on a bigger screen, the record digs down into the bones of fear, self-doubt and loneliness. Stories of heartbreak, dull aches and stabbing pains tightly wrapped around turbulent waves and screaming lightning bolts. There are shards of PVRIS’ soul left on the record and releasing it didn’t heal those wounds. Not completely, anyway.

“It felt strange that it was out. It felt like it had almost leaked. Obviously, it hadn’t, but yeah. It was Reading & Leeds that weekend, and that in itself was incredibly stressful. It was probably one of the most hectic weekends of my life,” offers Lynn.

“So far,” she adds, knowing things can always get worse.

“To me, it was scary because I’m still reflecting on and trying to figure out a lot of the record and the contents of it, and it was already out to the world. It felt intimidating and vulnerable, but now

56

WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.

that it’s been out for a bit, and seeing how it’s translating live it’s been comforting to see how people are connecting to it. That’s been a really positive thing.

It’s interesting, playing live sometimes disconnects you from the song and puts you in that moment instead. It’s helped me step away from them for a moment and just be in whatever present moment is happening onstage.

“Putting them out and finally having those songs brought to light, and those feelings shared, that’s been a really healing, helpful thing. Not just for me, but for everyone listening. I’ve just been looking at it in that way. It’s very comforting. I wouldn’t say I made peace with it fully, but it’s very comforting to have shared it and know that I at least tried to get those emotions out there and express them. I think what the songs mean slowly pieces itself together.

Sometimes they come full circle. ‘Anyone Else’ always comes full circle and is relevant. In fact, all the songs really still feel pretty personal, like they’re being healed from. Seeing people connect with that, it’s beautiful and comforting.”

On the first record, PVRIS felt like an idea shrouded in an ambitious mist. This time around, they shine as three united individuals, each with something to say.

“That comes with, not maturity, but we’ve just been doing this for a while now. We’re figuring out our place and identities more.

It’s a little less fuzzy now. It’s a little more defined and hopefully that just keeps uncovering over time. We’ve all found our flow and our dynamic, and have sat into those a little better. Especially live, we’ve all figured out our strengths and weak points and worked how to arrange that, so it’s all balanced out and complementary.”

As much as it struggles beneath the surface, ‘AWKOH’ is constantly trying to find a place of self-love. “And there’s a lot of attempting to find that right now,” smiles Lynn. “That was such a heavy theme on the record, and also

just touring off it now. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I definitely struggle from that, especially on this tour and I have been finding that a really difficult struggle this past year that I’ve been working through. I try not to show it onstage, but sometimes I can’t help it.”

Learning to love yourself is “definitely one of the hardest things. It’s ironic, and it’s backwards that one of the hardest things for us as humans to do, is be kind to ourselves and love ourselves when I feel like we should always be able to do that. It should be effortless, but it’s the complete opposite.”

As the band grow, they’ve found space to have fun too. A cover of Foo Fighters’ ‘Everlong’ was aired for Radio 1 while a version of Tegan & Sara’s ‘Are You Ten Years Ago’ was recorded for ‘The Con’’s ten year anniversary. “It was refreshing to step away from our stuff for a second and focus on something else. I love covers; I wouldn’t say they’re challenges but I love little tasks like that, being given guidelines and still trying to make it your own, it’s a fun test.”

As always, PVRIS “have some things up our sleeve that I can’t share yet but after this tour, we go back to the States, and we have the holidays and a bit of January off.” As always, Lynn is only “kinda” taking a break. “It’s never really time off. I’m going to be going out to start writing. I’ll be posting up in different areas to start working on some new material. But I would also just love to get out, take some pictures, paint and do anything else creative just for myself. We’ve obviously got some touring lined up as well.

I can’t say what it is yet, but we’ve got some stuff planned.” P

E

VERY BE

S

T

2017 T

O

O

F

F

T

H

E

Y B VER E

S

T

“I’M GOING TO START WORKING ON SOME NEW MATERIAL”

H

57

THE MENZINGERS Y E A H , O K AY, N O T E V E R Y T H I N G A B O U T 2 0 1 7 WA S G R E AT ( “ Y O U K N O W, T R U M P A N D S H I T. . . ” ) - B U T T H E M E N Z I N G E R S H AV E S T I L L H A D A P R E T T Y D A R N G O O D Y E A R .

Hey Greg, how would you rate 2017 out of ten?

I’d rate 2017 a so-so 5/10. Everything is going great in my personal life, really really great actually, but you know…

Trump and shit...

some solid working ideas. When I’m not on tour, all I do is write songs. Some will never see the light of day and the lucky ones end up as a halfway decent idea.

It’s a lot slower of a process than I’m willing to accept sometimes.

How’re you guys feeling a few months on from ‘After The Party’? Did everything with the release go as planned?

Yeah, it’s been a brilliant year for us.

The album did super well, and it seems our fans are stoked on it. Couldn’t have asked for more.

Album release aside, what have been your defining moments of 2017?

The tours we did in 2017 were our most successful tours we ever did as a band, so those absolutely have to be the main defining moments of the year for me.

We tackled Australia, Japan (first time!), Europe, United States, Europe (again), United States (again), and Canada. Been a hell of a ride. The band aside, I got to see the solar eclipse in the view of totality while on a family trip in the Pacific Northwest. My girlfriend and I are officially eclipse hunters now.

Did you learn anything new during the record’s creation or release that’ll come in handy for the future?

Absolutely. We learned a lot about song arrangement from the help of super producer Will Yip, and next time around I think we’ll focus more on the meat and potatoes of the song then say spending a whole day working on the icing. Does that make sense? Haha.

Have you started tinkering with new material yet?

The four of us have been coming up with ideas on our own, but we haven’t started meshing them together yet.

It usually takes a bit to come up with

V

ER

Y BEST

O

F

TH

E

2017

TH

V

F

E

ER

Y BEST

O

58

Who did you most enjoy seeing live during festival season? Were there any surprises for you?

Without a doubt, seeing Jawbreaker at Riot Fest was the best festival set I saw all year. Hell, it was the best set I saw all year. Still can’t believe that happened.

What news stories have affected you

this year?

It’s been a tough year for a lot of people around the world, unfortunately. The terrorist attack in Las Vegas is still a very difficult one to process. We were in Las Vegas two days before it happened playing a large outdoor venue, so the news hit close to home. We as a society need to have some difficult conversations.

Do you have anything planned for 2018 that you’re particularly looking forward to?

We have two tours confirmed that I’m excited about. I’m also looking forward to writing a new album. Finally, my little brother is getting married! I gotta write a speech!

What has been your favourite album of 2017?

What a year for music. I’ve got a bunch of favourites: Jason Isbell ‘The Nashville Sound’, Phoebe Bridgers ‘Stranger in the Alps’, John Moreland ‘Big Bad Luv’, Tigers Jaw ‘Spin’, Wild Pink ‘S/T’, White Reaper ‘The World’s Best American Band’.

It’s nearly Christmas now - how do you get into the festive spirit?

Easy, Chris Farren’s Christmas album. P

TH E G OSPEL YOUTH A LWAYS L O S E

TIG E RS SPIN

There’s something special about a band who can write songs that can bring you to shed tears of catharsis, tears of joy and maybe even tears of sheer euphoria. Vibrant and vital, ‘Always Lose’ is an astounding achievement for this generation of British rock. Forget about always losing, The Gospel Youth have clasped victory. Danny Randon

TA L L S H I P S IMPRESSI O N S Tall Ships have stopped looking to the universe for answers. Instead ‘Impressions’ sees the band turn inwards and explore what surrounds them. From the daybreak of ‘Road Not Taken’, all stretching horizons and calm beauty, their second album sees them choose life and all the absurdity that comes with it. Ali Shutler

TURNOVER G O O D N AT U R E Hearing Turnover sound so at ease makes for a pleasant switch-up from their wistful and forlorn musings, and this sunnier outlook on life reflects so clearly in the lackadaisical delivery of ‘Good Nature’.

Sure, this record is less likely to get you right in the feels in the same way that ‘Peripheral Vision’ does; there’s no longer a sense of self-loathing here that will lead to a jaded transcript of the lyrics on Twitter. But once it snuggles its way into your soul, ‘Good Nature’ is simply sensational. Danny Randon

THE

WO RLD

I S

JAW

If ‘Charmer’ displayed all of the awkward growing pains of a band trying to find their way forward through adversity, then ‘spin’ is the return of a confident and elegant Tigers Jaw. In fact, it’s rare for a group’s major label debut to be so much better than their indie swan song. When Tigers Jaw are good, not many can match them, and ‘spin’ is a dazzling return to form. Rob Mair

W E EZE R PACIF IC DAY D R E A M Following on from the ninetiesinfused swing of The White Album, Weezer once again buck the expected with ‘Pacific Daydream’.

Laying big harmonies on thick and fast, Weezer’s eleventh album sees the band at ease with their surroundings and wanting to enjoy the sunshine a little longer. Ali Shutler

third album, they’re reaching even greater heights. Steven Loftin

WO LF A LI C E VISI ON S OF A

WA X A H ATC H E E OUT IN THE STO RM

There’s a scope to Wolf Alice’s second full-length that other bands would be too scared to attempt. From the soaring brilliance of opener ‘Heavenward’ to the beat driven spoken word rumble of ‘Sky Musings’, this isn’t what playing it safe sounds like.

And yet, when they bring their arsenal into full focus, Wolf Alice prove they can do direct too. ‘Yuk Foo’ thunders like an angry itch, while ‘Space & Time’ eats anthemic indie for breakfast. It’s ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’ that really stands out, though.

Crystal clear, like the album it’s from, it’s nothing short of remarkable. Stephen Ackroyd

Katie Crutchfield’s fourth album as Waxahatchee is her boldest yet as she continues to develop an indie rock voice that becomes louder with every release.

‘Out In The Storm’ immediately barges the door down with rousing opener ‘Never Been Wrong’ and proceeds to run through every shade of her impressive songwriting palette. Waxahatchee has grown into something bigger than just Katie Crutchfield, and with a new band behind her ‘Out In The Storm’ marks a significant turning point. Martyn Young

L I F E

A

BEAUTI FUL PLACE A LWAYS F O R E I G N From the atmospheric beginnings of opener ‘I’ll Make Everything’ to the mental health focussed ‘Gram’, The World Is A Beautiful Place... use ‘Always Foreign’ to confront topics that are rife. Raw and unbridled, the lyrics aren’t the only hard-hitting aspect; there’s an underlying ferocity throughout. ‘TWIABP’ never fail to convey what they need to, and on their 59

P H OTO : S A R A H L O U I S E B E N N E T T.

RATED

WEEZER GIVE WEMBLEY ARENA A LIST OF REASONS WHY THEY’RE SO ADORED 60

W

THE XCERTS FEEL AT HOME AT LONDON’S SCALA

L

“

et me give you a quick backstory on why tonight is so monumental for us,” starts Murray MacLeod midway through tonight’s set.

Turns out The Xcerts have been driving past Scala since the very beginning, looking out of misty windows and wondering when they’d get their shot on that stage. It’s the sort of hopeful, humble but ambitious attitude that’s always been with them. Every album looking at the horizon, every promise delivered with a crossed heart. The Xcerts have been waiting for their shot for years now.

They treat tonight like a gift, careful hands and wide eyes but since the release of ‘Feels Like Falling In Love’ something has changed within the band. Instead of waiting for something to happen and dwelling on what might have been, they’re more forceful, more demanding, more sure that they deserve what they want.

And The Xcerts know they’re good.

Playful and potent tonight, ‘Distant

PH OTO : C O RI N N E CU M M I N G .

eezer are a band driven by their own intuitive whims and flight-of-fancy desire to bottle the present day. Each album draws from a singular colour palette, the ten or so tracks making up a world to explore with defined lines and sharp edges.

Chapter by chapter, Weezer are telling their story and trying to keep it interesting. Their albums fear the past, running from whatever has come before, desperate to uncover something fresh.

Live though, Weezer are entertainers.

They’ve got one evening to tell their story and tonight, at Wembley Arena, it’s their biggest UK audience yet. So it makes sense they start from the beginning.

The rolling waves and sunshine chatter of ‘California Kids’ quickly break as the band deliver of trio from the start. ‘El Scorcho’, ‘In The Garage’ and ‘No One Else’ taking it back twenty years to when the band had nothing but dreams and a want for more. As Rivers looks out from the stage, a smile and a taste for the grand, some things never change.

What follows is a constantly growing list of the reasons why Weezer are so adored. From the coming-of-awkwardage classics ‘Undone-The Sweater Song’, ‘My Name Is Jonas’, ‘The World Has Turned And Left Me’ to the defining anthems of ‘Buddy Holly’, ‘Island In The Sun’ and ‘Hash Pipe’ through the outlandish and unpredictable. Yes, we’re looking at you covers of Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya’ and Mike Posner’s ‘I Took A Pill In Ibiza’.

Every song serves to bring joy and to entertain, but they’re also cherry-picked to make sure everyone feels welcome.

That cover of Outkast might seem a weird choice, especially when your back catalogue is eleven albums deep, but it’s there to make sure someone who has never heard of Weezer has a chance to sing, to feel part of something bigger.

Just two songs from the super-recently released ‘Pacific Daydream’ are aired, but both ‘Feels Like Summer’ and ‘Happy Hour’ make sense within tonight’s tale, adding a dash of serenity and space while the instrumental ‘A Ballad For The Fallen Soldier’ sets up what comes next.

Beaming smiles and rock star moves honed in bedroom mirrors, Weezer might not be making music that sounds like the nineties anymore, but that desire to create a world of their own and share it with a room full of strangers hasn’t changed. It’s a timeless escape, a reliable friend, a never-ending adventure. Ali Shutler

Memory’ is sped up, ‘Pop Song’ is slowed down and the Aerosmith break of ‘Slackerpop’ is teased to the point of pantomime but never topples into self-indulgence.

The full bodied embrace of ‘Feels Like Falling In Love’ works its way back through their back catalogue, adding a glint and a sparkle into songs of heartbreak and abandon. ‘There Is Only You’ and ‘Aberdeen 1987’ draw power from the pained, tumbling into anthems of resilience while the new songs bring their own glimmering grasp. ‘Daydream’, all summer heights and whooping cheer, shines the way for the sweaty palms, nervous laughter and rose coloured glass of ‘First Kiss’ before the slow dance mortality of ‘Show Me Beautiful’ wants to make this last forever.

Tonight might have been a long time coming for Murray, Jordan and Tom but The Xcerts have never taken the easy shot or asked for much. Now, as they head off to ‘Hold On To Your Heart’, monumental is theirs for the taking.

Ali Shutler

61

What ’s

EXCITING WE ASKED THE BANDS WHAT WAS FLOATING THEIR BOAT THIS MONTH.

“Life. Getting to play music live all over the world that I’ve written with my best friends. So much to be happy and excited about.”

AARON, OF MICE & MEN “Lately I’ve been nice watching Mind Hunter, True Blood and the most recent series of South Park. That’s floating my boat.”

BECKY, MILK TEETH “I just bought a new tv so I’m excited to spend the winter writing songs and binge watching shitty television in front of this sucker. I also dug out my

62

old Super Nintendo from the basement which was one of my better ideas.

Don’t worry Princess Peach, I’m on my way.”

GREG, THE MENZINGERS “Our UK and European tour.

I can’t wait to play the new songs live and we get to play them in some beautiful venues and arenas too.”

ROU, ENTER SHIKARI “I’m excited for people to hear our new album, ‘Entertainment’ – I don’t want anything else!

We’re going to get to

You, ‘ The bands’? play everywhere and see everyone again, which I’m looking forward to.”

AWSTEN, WATERPARKS “Stranger Things 2 was amazing, there I said it. I have friends who think it sucked but they obviously lack any youthful imagination. Also my girlfriend and I recently adopted a baby kitten that we’ve called Frida. She likes to sleep on my chest at night and I can’t wait to see Frida grow up to be a loving little cat.”

LAURENT, GOLD KEY

“Well up until recently it was Stranger Things season 2, but I’ve finished that now so I’m sort of in excitement limbo at the moment.

Maybe it’s needed though - I tend to get a bit over excited about Christmas in general so some down time might be good.”

JOCK, PUPPY “All the buzz about having new music out is creeping up on me. I’m just excited to be back in campaign mode, having videos out etc. It’s such an exciting time!”

MARK, BLACK FOXXES

TIGERCUB ARE HEADLINING

SCALA LONDON

THURSDAY 18TH JANUARY 2018

CONCORDE 2 BRIGHTON FRIDAY 19TH JANUARY 2018

NEW E.P ‘EVOLVE OR DIE’ OUT NOW. AVAILABLE FROM ILOVEALCOPOP.CO.UK