Upset, November 2015

DE B U T A L B UM O U T N OW BU Y NOW AT NBTH IEV ES. C OM

FEE L S LI K E SUCC ESS B U L LY

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IN THIS ISSUE

#4 | NOV 2015

RIOT!

06. FALL OUT BOY 09. AGAINST THE CURRENT 10. ROAM 11. MILK TEETH 12. EVERY TIME I DIE 14. EX HEX 15. READERS POLL 2016

ABOUT TO BREAK 16. PETAL 18. MUNCIE GIRLS 20. PRESS TO MECO 21. CHAIN OF FLOWERS

FEATURES

22. BULLY 28. STATE CHAMPS 32. FIGHTSTAR 36. WAVVES 40. FOXING 42. BEACH SLANG 46. COHEED & CAMBRIA

RATED

50. ALBUM REVIEWS 56. LIVE REVIEWS EDITOR’S NOTE We’re not doing our big ‘Best of 2015’ round up until next month, but if there’s one band who have had a special last twelve months, it’s almost certainly Bully. With a five star modern classic of a debut album under their belts, they’ve not relied on anything but their own brilliance to make waves around the globe. Heading back to the UK this month, they’re about to take it up another notch. Check out this issue’s cover feature to discover why they’re a band you should believe in.

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upsetmagazine.com Editor: Stephen Ackroyd (stephen@upsetmagazine.com) Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden (viki@upsetmagazine.com) Assistant Editor: Ali Shutler (ali@upsetmagazine.com) Contributors: Alex Lynham, Amie Kingswell, Corrine Cumming, Danny Randon, Emma Matthews, Emma Swann, Heather McDaid, Jack Glasscock, Jade Esson, James Fox, Jessica Bridgeman, Jessica Goodman, Ryan De Freitas, Sarah Louise Bennett, Sarah Jamieson, Tom Connick 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 Upset. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which Upset holds no responsibility. 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

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Big Love to @ falloutboy for inviting me to work with them!!!! I’m ex cited for you gu ys to hear it !!

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6 upsetmagazine.com

g? - Ed

FALL OUT BOY RULE THE UK SUGAR, WE’

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he last time Fall Out Boy played on tonight’s stage, they were celebrating their return, a new album under their belts and a legion of fans made happy once again. There’s no doubting that they won’t just be content with riding the nostalgia train, but this year they’ve stepped it up even further, returned to Wembley and topped their previous efforts, playing not one night but two.

Tonight marks the first of their doubleheader shows at the world famous Arena and, unsurprisingly, it feels like they’ve got this one well and truly in the bag.

Performing here for the third time (their debut took place pre-hiatus, back in 2008), they’ve become the perfect band for the big stage.

When it comes to tonight’s support acts, the boundaries of genre have been well and truly battered down. From the reggae-infused pop of opener Charley Marley to the high octane rap performance put on by Professor Green, there’s a unanimous sense of appreciation from the crowd throughout.

Genre tribalism seems to be something of the past - a statement backed up by the band’s own Pete Wentz on many an occasion.

In 2015, it’s perfectly acceptable to offer up so many different musical elements.

Wemb-er-ly, Wemb-er-ly, he’s the famous Peter Wentz and he’s been to Wemb-er-ly.

After all, that’s something that Fall Out Boy themselves have prided themselves on doing throughout their career. When they burst on stage, we’re reminded just how brilliantly they’ve achieved it. As the iconic chords of ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’ ring out across the arena and the screams dial up to eleven, there’s no doubting that this four-piece are very much in their prime.

What follows is a set packed with hits from every corner of their 7

RIOT!

AHEAD OF THE SHOW...

Ahead of the band’s massive set, frontman Patrick Stump offers up a few pearls of wisdom about their latest UK run.

You’re back at Wembley! Is it beginning to feel like somewhat of an old haunt yet?

[Laughs] I guess, you stop being so in disbelief of it, I think, and start accepting it, but it’s still kinda crazy.

We’ve been here three times, and by now you’re like, ‘Okay, so this is a thing that happens sometimes!’ rather than, ‘Oh my god, why did they let us in here?!’

This has also been your first full tour off the back on the new record. s It’s been fantastic. One of the thing we’re all kind of surprised by is how e. many people haven’t seen us befor It’s crazy because you get to a place where you almost have in-jokes with the audience – ‘I’m gonna do this thing, but you’ve seen me do this a bunch of times’ – but then they haven’t! Sometimes, it’s almost like the we’re competing with a legend of l band. ‘Oh, you’ll see them and they’l do this!’ and you’re like, ‘Well, I’ll have to live up to that’, whatever it is!

8 upsetmagazine.com

back catologue. Whether it be the Jay Z-introduced ‘Thriller’ - more evidence of their penchant for melding genres - or the serene punch of ‘Jet Pack Blues’, the still-addictive bassline of ‘Dance Dance’ or the playful brilliance of their ‘Beat It’ cover, the band still feel both vital and energised.

What’s more incredible still is the breadth of their audience. No more are they a band for 00s teenagers; their crowd comes made up of just about every generation, with a whole new wave of fans singing along to every word of their newer material. It’s what makes moments like ‘American Beauty / American Psycho’ - which is still wonderfully batshit, especially live - and ‘Centuries’ so powerful. From a band who could’ve easily waved a white flag and hit the road to air their (old) greatest hits, it’s a pleasure to see them still experimenting within new offerings and still coming up trumps.

Always forward-facing, Fall Out Boy are more than just another rock band now.

Full of life and continuing to do things their own way, if tonight’s anything to go by, that’s not changing any time soon.” P Read more from Fall Out Boy in next month’s Upset, on the streets from 1st December.

Setlist Sugar, We’re Goin Down Irresistible The Phoenix A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More “Touch Me” I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me Thriller Alone Together The Kids Aren’t Alright This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race Immortals (Acoustic) Young Volcanoes (Acoustic) Dance, Dance American Beauty/American Psycho Jet Pack Blues Beat It Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy Uma Thurman Thnks fr th Mmrs I Don’t Care Centuries Encore: My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up) Saturday

Will didn’t get the memo about touching your head in all ATC photo shoots.

I

feel like we’re in a pretty good place right now,” says drummer Will Ferri backstage at London’s Islington Academy.

“We’re finding our niche,” singer Chrissy Constanza adds. “We’re definitely evolving as a band.”

A few minutes earlier Against The Current were bringing their, “dream show” to a close. A month into a world tour that’s just kept growing, they’ve hit mainland Europe and Asia, with the rest of the UK and America still to come. “People say that this sounds like a long tour but we’re planning 2016 and it’s going to be a lot longer,” promises Chrissy. “This is baby steps compared to next year”

S TOP TWEET

“We try to bring everyone together at the live shows. Best friends have met through our music and that’s awesome,” offers Will. “When I go to a

tanza @ChrissyCos

rning I know “Hello good mo but it’s time to you’re sleeping e me attention” giv d an wake up

“THIS IS WHO WE REALLY ARE”

BACKSTAGE AT THEIR SOLD OUT LONDON SHOW, AGAINST THE CURRENT DON’T WANT TO FIT IN

show and I get goosebumps during a moment in the set, that’s when I know a band is truly great and doing it right. It’s that moment you go ‘this is amazing’. We want to give everyone goosebumps.”

“We want them to have that feeling where the band is connecting to you as much as you are with them. A lot of our songs have a positive message. We’re always promoting positivity. We want our fans to feel better when they leave our shows,” adds Chrissy.”

That message is proudly held aloft on current single ‘Outsiders’. It’s the first track from their upcoming album and “sets the tone and the pace” for the record, exploring the “concept of being an outsider but doing it in a positive way. Owning that you’re different and that that’s actually a good thing.”

Introducing the song onstage, before filming a video for it, Chrissy declares, “There are no standards. There are no rules. There are no paths.” It’s a sentiment the band themselves embody.

Causing a fuss with cover versions and playing with genre, Against The Current don’t fit in.

On record there’s a sheen to the band but on stage, everything’s more rugged.

From the snarling introduction of ‘Talk’, through the assured stomp of ‘Paralyzed’ until the lofty ambition of ‘Brighter’, there’s more than just huge choruses.

Here, it’s their chemistry that shines.

The band’s debut album is recorded and

is in the WORDS: ALI SHUTLER process of being mixed. “I thought I’d be really annoyed this whole tour, wanting to play the new ones but I haven’t,” admits Chrissy.

“It’s going to be a big change once we start playing those songs live,” ventures Will. “We want to feel we’re doing something different and new.”

“We’re just genuine,” reasons Chrissy. “We’re not trying to be anything else. To quote ‘Outsiders’, “This is who we really are.”

It genuinely is.

We don’t hide anything. That’s something people relate to. We want people to feel comfortable and safe with us. We want to create a positive atmosphere with our fans, but not in a corny, cheesy way. I think that’s something that’s hard to find.” P Read the full interview now on upsetmagazine. com.

TRACKS OF THE MONTH

.AGAINST THE CURRENT OUTSIDERS Against The Current have never quite found a home. Taking that displacement and turning it into a weapon, the outsiders stand on the cusp of something huge.

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RIOT!

B2I0G16 IN

NEED TO KNOW...

BARNETT GOES DELUXE

Courtney Barnett is gearing up to release a deluxe version of her recent debut album, ‘Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit’. It’s due on 6th November, and includes previously unreleased live recordings.

FIDLAR DRONE ON

FIDLAR have released a lyric video for ‘Drone‘. Directed by Ryan Baxley, the clip adds to the expanding B-movie universe FIDLAR have created. It also does a very good job of showing you the lyrics to the song ‘Drone’, which is a plus. Watch on upsetmagazine.com.

ERASER-METZ

METZ will release a new single early next year: ‘Eraser‘ is due on 22nd January 2016 via Three One G, backed by another new track, ‘Pure Auto‘. Both are self-produced and see the band releasing their first material since second album ‘II‘. Listen on upsetmagazine.com.

t do ROAM, Wha key you think is really a to making ? m u great alb

e king sure you’r “I would say ma thing me so e nc die giving the au , familiar to them they know as o, Als . ce en fer dif but with a e ything, becaus listening to an ything.” an m fro rn you can lea

10 upsetmagazine.com

WHEN IN ROAM

ROAM-bo.

FRONTMAN ALEX COSTELLO SPILLS THE BEANS ON ROAM’S DEBUT.

E

astbourne-based five piece ROAM have just finished a lengthy tour with Knuckle Puck and State Champs, and performed at Warped Tour UK; they’ve also not long finished their debut album for Hopeless Records, due out early next year.

guitar] and Alex [Adam, guitar] probably spent more time tuning than playing.

Lyrics and melodies were pretty much the last parts, fitting it altogether.

Before we went into the studio, we had choruses for every song but some did change in the studio, including ‘All The Same’ and ‘RIP In Peace’.”

“We started last January and took until August to finish it,” says frontman Alex Costello. “But being patient and having time to come away at times and re-think a lot of things definitely made a difference. You only get one debut album, it has to be right. We can’t wait to get it out there.

As for the band’s plans before the record is released, “I’d say we’d have two or three songs out, and we’re heading to the US for a co-headline tour with Handguns which is gonna rule.

We plan to kick 2016 off with loads of touring, and have some sick stuff in the diary we can’t wait to announce.” P

“We wanted a change from the EPs,” he explains. “We want to develop as a band, improve our sound and songwriting. So we ventured into listening to all types of music analysing structures, transitions and chord progressions. We wanted to write bigger songs and I think we have done.”

“Before the recording process we had all the songs’ structures pretty much done,” Alex continues. “But some did change, especially ‘Hopeless Case’, in the studio. The rhythm section was pretty much nailed before recording.

I’d say some lead lines and octave parts were thought out a lot more in the studio.

“Working with [producer] Drew Lawson, tuning has to be perfect. Sam [Veness,

ROAM’s debut album will be released early 2016.

TRACKS OF THE MONTH

.ROAM DEADWEIGHT The first single from new album ‘Backbone’, Deadweight features Set Your Goals’ Matt Wilson. Intrigued?

You can get your pop punk fix on upsetmagazine.com right now.

BIG

IN

MILK TEETH IN THE STUDIO WITH...

CO -VOCALIST BECKY BLOMFIELD AND PRODUCER NEIL KENNEDY FILL US IN ON MILK TEETH’S IMMINENT DEBUT. Words: Danny Randon. Photos: Martyna Wisniewska

T

he last time Upset caught up with Milk Teeth, they were lending a hand in battering our ears at the London launch party of this very magazine.

While we’ve only just recovered, the Gloucestershire punks’ debut London headline show was just another notch in their now-lengthy belts, capping off an eventful six months for the band.

TOP TWEET S

After a whirlwind summer spent predominantly on stage, Milk Teeth

@MILKTEET HPUNX

“We’ve been as king for dogs on our rider since day 1 and tod ay is the fucking day. “

Tweet about a

dog, we’ll use it.

20 16

-Ed

decamped last month to The Ranch Production House in Southampton to record their debut full-length.

Co-vocalist Becky Blomfield claims that reaching this particular milestone was “a long time coming”: “I feel like we’d covered all our bases and found our sound. Everything’s just coming together.”

Teaming up with producer Neil Kennedy (who also helmed the desk for EP ‘Sad Sack’), Milk Teeth are part of an uprising of UK punk bands gaining global appeal, having inked a deal earlier this year with Hopeless Records: not only home to the legendary likes of Taking Back Sunday and The Used, but also a platform for the UK’s new breed of punk - Trash Boat, ROAM and, of course, Neck Deep - to blossom. “[Neil] knows our sound really well, and he’s been around to see the original bands with a similar sound to what we’re inspired by,” says Becky. As for joining Hopeless’ roster, she teases of “the start of something new and potentially bigger” for Milk Teeth: “What [Hopeless are] doing right now is taking the next crop of bands that they want to develop, and possibly have the longevity of the

previous bands that they’ve worked with.

We’ll just see what happens, but it’s an incredible opportunity.”

“There’s obviously a 90s revival scene at the moment, but Milk Teeth feel a bit more authentic than a bunch of bands that have just come in with Pixies riffs,” says Neil. “There’s something a bit dirty, like genuinely greasy, nasty and a little bit edgy to them, and they’re really good fun to work with.”

With an abrasive punk sound that also transcends grunge, shoegaze and pop, ‘Sad Sack’ allowed Milk Teeth to establish an intoxicating identity, accented by soaring riffs and the unnerving marriage of Becky’s honeysmooth drawl and co-vocalist Josh Bannister’s anguished snarls. Looking ahead to the release of this highly anticipated debut (a subject which the band “can’t really say too much” about), Becky is adamant that Milk Teeth fans won’t have to suffer a huge wait: “I’m so proud of what we’ve come up with, and I just can’t wait to get it out…” P Read the full feature at upsetmagazine.com.

Milk Teeth’s debut album will be released early 2016.

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EVERY TIME I DIE

“THE PEOPLE WHO LIKE OUR BAND ARE DEVOTED”

KE IT H BU CK LE Y PR EPAR ES .

FO R EV ERY TI ME I DI E’S . .M OS T ME MO RA BL E UK .

IN VA SI ON YE T. .

WO RD S: JE SS IC A BR ID GE

MA N. .

TOP TWEETS @willghould, Creepe r

“I have friends now, but will I still do when I quit this life to pursue my real dream of cruise ship cabaret singer?“

1 2 upsetmagazine.com

WHAT ARE THEY ON @glennxh_, Moose Blo

od

“Also how do I join Rag e Against The Machine or Paramor e? Help with any of these is app reciated, thanks.”

ABOUT NOW?

@sad13, Speedy Ort iz

“Being real for a sec, the loch ness monster’s a better candidate for president than literally any human on the GOP side”

“Y

ou don’t live until you’re ready to die,” echoes the lyrics of ‘We’rewolf’, a singalong which has become synonymous with Every Time I Die. For fans at least, it’s these sort of sentiments - of partying so hard you hit rock bottom - that have long had them hooked on the Buffalo mob’s relentless bought of hardcore. So as Keith Buckley belts out “Live forever, just once” on the quintet’s most recent release - 2015’s ‘Salem’ EP - it might be fair to assume not much has changed in the 17 years since Every Time I Die formed.

“It’s a rare thing for a band like us to be able to do that,” Keith anticipates, “It feels incredible.”

Ahead of their upcoming UK tour, the frontman is the first to admit what was so integral to the band in the beginning, remains as such today; much of that lies with their legions of dedicated fans.

“I was 17 when I started so everyone has watched me grow up,” Keith says, “it’s cool to have that relationship with your ‘fans’.” Despite having released their seventh full-length, ‘From Parts Unknown’, to much acclaim last year, the boisterous singer still insists on the quotation marks. “I hate saying fans,” he explains, “It sounds like I’m a rock star or something.” To many of course, he is just that.

Every Time I Die’s success continues at a time when some metal and hardcore bands are finding comfort on arena stages and aspiring for sky-scraping chart positions. With this, Keith goes on to contemplate the idea of, instead, being that mainstream offering in today’s market. “I think the one thing it almost guarantees is that you’re not going to stick around for long because people are finicky and if they love it one day, they will probably hate it the day after.”

Whether he likes it or not, it’s Keith’s willingness to leave his wounds wide open, while using his personal battles with drugs, alcohol and general self-destructiveness to fuel a back-catalogue of brilliant records.

More crucially, his ability to exorcise those demons so brutally within the boundaries of the outfit he fronts, has left him with a prized pedestal position for fans the world over.

It’s as we rally the ins and outs of Every Time I Die’s November tour then, that Keith puts the band’s biggest successes down to the “people that like [his] band”, now resisting the word ‘fans’ altogether.

“We’re not a big band and we’re not a mainstream band that have thousands and thousands of fans in every city,” Keith says. “To come to London, which in my opinion is one of the best cities in the world, and have so many people there that appreciate it is remarkable.”

This month, on top of a 10-date jaunt around the UK, Every Time I Die play four nights in the capital. The ambitious run has allowed fans to demonstrate their dedication by purchasing season passes for all shows and will see the five-piece headline The Dome, Borderline, Underworld and The Old Blue Last in almost cult-like fashion.

Setlists are the priority. With four nights to cover as much of their discography as possible, Keith and bandmates Jordan Buckley, Andy Williams, Stephen Micciche and Daniel Davison are tasked with fulfilling fan requests as best they can. “We might do a ticket survey online to see what people want to hear so we make sure we put it in there,” Keith thinks aloud, “We’ll have fun with it. Maybe we’ll have a spin the wheel so it’ll land on a song and we play it,” he jests.

How does he think Every Time I Die have navigated around the industry’s pot holes thus far? “I think we just really targeted a wonderful group of people that aren’t that touch and go with the things that they say they like,” he explains with a hint of relief. “The people who like our band are really devoted and sincere, which is great.”

There’s no questioning the frontman’s eagerness to return to a town where this sincerity feels more apparent than anywhere, but with the four-night London stretch lingering at the end of the UK tour, the idea of keeping it all together is something he’s not dealing with just yet. Admitting, “I’m not even going to think about it until it’s happening and I’m sure after the first show [I’ll be] completely depleted.

But we’re not doing it begrudgingly, it’s going to be great and I’m looking forward to it.

“I think four nights in a row, in a city like London, is just going to be something you look back on and think you were either the kind of person that was there, or the kind of person that wasn’t,” he concludes. “And you want to be the kind of person that was there.” P Every Time I Die’s UK tour kicks off on 6th November in Southampton. Visit upsetmagazine.com for details.

NECK DEEP, CREEPER + STATE CHAMPS ON TOUR

Neck Deep ha ve revealed th eir biggest UK he adline tour to date in support of their recent debut alb ‘Life’s Not Out um, To Get You’.

Support will co me from Upse t favourites Cree per, State Cham ps, and Ohio’s Lig ht Years.

The run kicks off at Birming ham’s Institute on 1s t February, culminating fiv e days later at London’s Forum .

SLIPKNOT HIT THE UK IN 2016 Slipknot are currently bringing their ‘Summer’s Last Stand Tour’ to a close in America alongside Lamb Of God, Bullet For My Valentine and Motionless In White, but the band have already announced plans for next year.

They will be hitting the UK for a four-date arena tour: Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena (8th February); London, Alexandra Palace (9th); Birmingham, Barclaycard Arena (12th); Leeds, First Direct Arena (13th). Tickets are on sale now.

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Y IME TO PART WHEN IT’S T

Thumbs aloft!

..

EX HEX WILL.

PARTY HARD

“W

EX HEX ARE ABOUT TO LAY WASTE TO THE UK. Words: Jessica Goodman.

e’ve played 170 shows since we wrote the songs,” Mary Timony exclaims of her band’s recent tour schedule. “And we’ve been to Europe four times this year, so it’s kind of a lot.”

Returning to British shores a year on from the release of debut album ‘Rips’, Ex Hex are full of excitement. “I’m kind of an Anglophile,” Mary chuckles. “I’m thinking about staying after our tour and going sight-seeing. And we’re in bigger venues this time,” she enthuses.

Playing eight shows across the UK through November, the Washington DC three-piece have achieved a lot off the back of their first record. “We probably did twenty shows before we even recorded,” Mary recalls, “because we wanted to get better and tighter at playing the songs.”

Twelve months on and the whirlwind energy hasn’t stopped. “I would say that we’re not the most chill band on the road,” Mary laughs. “We tend to party pretty hard, and to have a lot of wacky adventures, for sure.” Having been on tour pretty consistently for twelve

14 upsetmagazine.com

months, the group have no shortage of tales to tell. “It keeps it exciting!”

“I’ve never toured so much in any band ever,” she continues. Reminiscing about previous live runs with Wild Flag, Helium, and promoting solo material, the frontwoman has a lot to draw from.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time,” she chuckles. “I guess now we’ve gotten to the point where we can play the songs while we’re asleep.”

Fond and familiar though their set may be, Ex Hex are no strangers to mixing things up. “It’s fun to have something that’s a little bit creative, y’know?” Mary explains. “Something that you’re still feeling with a little bit of improv, ‘cause it keeps you on your toes. So we’ll think of a new arrangement or something and change a song around a little bit.”

Looking forward to their shows in the UK, for Ex Hex the excitement is bittersweet. “I know it’s our last time there for a little while,” Mary divulges, “until the next record.” The follow up to last year’s ‘Rips’ is already a work in progress. “We’ve got a few songs,” the band disclose. “I can’t say when it’s gonna be out, but we’re working on it.”

Tour Dates NOVEMBER 02 London Sc ala 03 Brighton Ha unt 05 Nottingham Bodega 06 Glasgow Ste reo 07 Leeds Head row House 08 Mancheste r Ruby Lounge 09 Birmingha m Oobleck 10 Bristol Thek la

“We’re still just trying to write songs that we like,” Mary says of the group’s influences. “There is a way of being in music where you’re just caught up in the process of it. This band was not started that way.”

“It’s not the most technical music, and it’s not sad, it’s not meditative. Maybe the next record will have more of that,” Mary continues. “You can see them as fun songs, and you can put them on in the background, but the lyrics make them a little more meaningful.” P

READERS POLL 2015

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WHO WILL WIN? YOU DECIDE! HI. MY NAME IS...

BAND OF THE YEAR

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

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BAND WHO SPLIT, BUT ON REFLECTION IT WOULD BE OK NOW IF THEY UN-SPLIT

BANGER OF THE YEAR (I.E. BEST TRACK) BAND WHO MOST NEED TO GET A MOVE ON AND GET A NEW ALBUM OUT ‘ASAP’ BEST FESTIVAL TYPE ‘THING’ BAND WHO REALLY NEED TO GET IN THE BIN RIGHT NOW, TBH BEST BAND YOU SAW AT A FESTIVAL IN 2015

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NEW BAND WHO WILL MAKE 2016 10/10 AMAZING

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HAS KILEY LOTZ NGWRITER O IVERSE /S D ER Y G LL N NIA SI WONDERFU E M SO PENNSYLVA M O DEBUT FR ID. FORMED HER THER MCDA WORDS: HEA .

ES C EN U INFL

. enjoy that too

or 14, my camp “When I was 13 tor’s me Regina Spek counsellor gave also s wa I d an CD ‘Soviet Kitsch’ two OC, and those really into The me. Regina for it d ge to an y ch journe things totally I heard musician, the d my life. Until Growing up a today Spektor change that’s out there ly really for usic is a force on s wa m no find the voice fro pia , ere her I thought k her everywh anying that speaks is one that too ses or accomp grew classical purpo Serj Tankian. “I her super ar to you. It can he To Cyndi Lauper to l s. ca ian other music and the d playing classi lull you into g and singing up studying an l youth theatrical playin g in a classica it me. I couldn’t led kil d t conversations, piano and singin kin jus s nt wa lyrical conte ily music life nk I would ays choir so my da can open your to it. I don’t thi ung age. I alw if it stop listening can writing at all imented at a yo lly it , ng reg rea as so s of ide wa t red d en ide an sic differ have cons mind to lots of t record. rock and roll mu y around it. I g you ed tha tin d lov let an ry, r he dia of kind weren’t for the histor even work as a d my th. Kiley fascinated with cumentaries an s through its pa were l ed watching do liked. figure out thing sse y lov ve the OC soundtracks a sic as t mu bu ow us de “And then The Petal’s de g rents would sh y had such a wi ing pa din Lotz has used the ow fin e , Gr . us es ca gh nc be ou rie l get en pivota would nal expe couldn’t really lly, the show that I Ho on for a lot of perso hts y sic ug dd Bu mu tho th of range ssed wi the time. of articulating een, up I was obse sub-culture at writing a way down. In , Janis Joplin, Qu ve been more pin ha ver ton ise ne us d Ho erw ha ey t oth bu itn Wh er. My ck was she couldn’t erful and and Cyndi Laup , and I knew who Be an utterly wond m of Warren Zevon, ing else by him ste yth Sy an y, st Da ard turn, ‘Shame’ is mo n he ee the of o Gr really ll X1, ssion of some brother was int dest Mouse, Be ay and Mo nd d Su ha ck y assured expre Ba the g . n kin the riences in life en Heap, Ryan lly a Down and Ta vulnerable expe Nada Surf, Imog I started to rea

1 6 upsetmagazine.com

M A K E YO U P O W E R F U L .”

o really affected. It’s als that amazing to me nd every time a ba a play plays a show, or is a is performed, it solitary event.

see opportunity to “When I had the last year I cried like tel Ho lk Mi Neutral usly it was ole time. Obvio a baby the wh t show tha e us ca also be way awesome, but en that night the pp ha ly on would said the re we t tha words it did and the energy be said and the way they would that on m roo t tha e in of the audienc ke that ma ly on uld wo really cold day ow. The next show THAT sh be all new uld wo it ht nig new day, ole wh a le, op pe leading up ts en ev w ne all the same. to it. Acting is ll be WATCH ON performance wi No INE.COM you never UPSETMAGAZ the same and ll happen.

NOW know what wi video for ce is kind of Check out the Live performan t way and ‘Heaven’ addictive in tha ” really magical.

FACT FILE

S T H AT “T H E T H IN G D IF F E R E N T M A K E YO U

PETAL

: Kiley Lotz Band members vania ranton, Pennsyl Hometown: Sc (US) Formed: 2013 For Cover Signed To: Run about: Likes tweeting 33” pppp potato <3 “Crunch wrappp a _p tal - @pe

s to her When it come rld, sed into the wo ea rel ing be t debu and very ilt for how andably “excited rst de un is e felt a lot of gu sh record and first because I close to very personal le a op It’s . pe us ted rvo ec for ne g my disorders aff ll be empowerin e it was a us ca be ow nd kn I co I hope that it wi er. me, and the se e the most and not a down the person I lov people to hear songs and way of telling ‘The Fire’, ng to write the er. tti eth ge the ds tog o me en int ure fri for ’t st Kiley wasn that I see a fut [Collins, ngs with my be d tal’ ng that Brianna record those so lly cathartic an ‘Petal to the Me which is the so and I wrote but overall rea er] rd a. mb ha ide l s me fee um wa tal t alb Pe no concept occasional lps people to because it fun. I hope it he good to write d together, was ne.” nce her and I an rie pe like they’re alo ex an t r was abou a cyber stalke th wi s d se ha mu ds ” , en some fri n. We float through came to our tow and and as I “Words kind of wn as quickly who eventually was so exciting ir perspective “I jot them do tie Adams.. . It all the of ey.

Cu m Kil ton for fro a b me ve Ca so ha . Death wrote ere e them. I different to me ng I ry scary time wh Most can before I los the favourite thi ours. It was a ve s on my phone. t was a ended up being lpless. But tha ird voice memo cause I ry he be we ve of ks a rt ac in so dtr er t un fel so we me togeth took from those rk through it.” the lyrics of my songs co to keep ple and honest good way to wo I have to fight loved how sim tal. itar tones quick way where en gu t gm en jud fer too dif not be re’s a were and all the someone up with it and down to it, the When it boils en I finally got come from they used. Wh me me in 8th hope that can for for of es m’ g nc lin cis rie nti ink pe tla tw l ex that’s the to burn ‘Transa room. moments, and “I think persona ng writing nk I ever left my the darkest of my writing. So rt on of pa lot im a at ly ful me nts as grade I don’t thi pe co me me be ho tool for great music mo main thing to t might very valuable tha a s a en ng in I I had so many be thi s up lar e ha w cu the listener. “Th I’m lucky I gre s record in parti you, or so many ages. lessons tive aspects of a person. For thi New York City that I was given seem like nega ile moving to that you d wh ha it u musical house, yo ote mp ng wr ca es tti nc ge , and that my bad experie the process of s you on instruments s.” provoke, thing and beginning and anxiety ed me some CD did nothing to my depression you don’t , ge counsellor slipp an ch treatment for t uld fel I wish you co says. nk sometimes m alone,” Kiley tlet; Kiley disorders. I thi where I couldn’t only creative ou have to carry the ke you different s in situations much es w Music isn’t her ma lpl lly ho t t he rea tha bu , s n’t ng too theatre “The thi y I loved or I did has worked in ch other? rful, and that an help a person ough, sts seep into ea was going thr make you powe lead to some there’s rstand what I do those intere n ff de nk ca stu t un thi I rk fel ! e wo ap u’v to erl ly ov pain yo me a way “There’s definite ance. and s and people. so writing beca conversations like live perform always beautiful thing You can create nothing really d It t. an e. ou ibl Try al. red ide inc really guess, would be Storytelling is nce/ feel inspired, I situations that .” watch the audie “I hope people their amazes me to ones d some answers something of fin ery ke ev ma en to Giv e c. yb mi ma performer dyna ing that feels ing when ecial yth az sp an am are of ’ is t it en , ou av es n liv ow ’ and ‘He busy and crazy ir lives.” P lling to be “’Camera Lens simple negative in the of people is wi they were just a large group to me because a singer or d a hard or ha y d ha pla I a t to tha s ng silent and listen elves ame’ is out now. and truthful thi in real life. The and allow thems Petal’s album ‘Sh time articulating watch a ballet to be 17

ABOUT TO

BREAK

THE BEST NEW BANDS ST T H E H OT T E N E W M U S IC

“Just look cool guys.”

“I N R E A L IT Y N OT W E ”R E JU S T .”

T H AT C O O L

a split also doubles the band’s potential

EXETER TRIO MUNCIE GIRLS ARE TRYING TO ENCOURAGE A audience is politely dismissed. “That NEW GENERATION OF TEENAGERS. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. makes it sound a bit tactical. We’re not

“I

t’s all about playing live when you’re a punk band,” offers Muncie Girls’ Lande Hekt.

“Going to shows is the main thing. Meeting up with your friends and everyone else in the scene is as much a part of it, as recording is. Playing live as much as possible is really important to us.”

Taking shape in April 2012 when drummer Luke Ellis joined the already existing pair of Lande and guitarist Dean McMullen, Muncie Girls are now three EPs deep, with an album on the horizon. Before that, there’s a split 7” and a European tour with Such Gold. “We’re going to loads of places we haven’t been before,” says Lande, unaware of how right she is.

“Exeter has a long history of punk and indie and the venue, The Cavern, is where

1 8 upsetmagazine.com

we used to all go to gigs. It’s where we met each other and had the idea to start this band. We’ve seen a lot of bands go out on tour from Exeter and we thought maybe that was something we can do.

Being from Exeter is definitely a big thing. It’s part of our identity.“ The isolation that the south west is subjected to has allowed the scene to blossom independently, “It’s part of the magic of it, it is genuinely an underground scene. You have to go there to feel it,” and given Muncie Girls space to flourish into something wonderful.

That split 7” with Sandlotkids was undertaken so Muncie Girls could get to know a band through playing shows with them. It also gave them a platform to release the first single from the Syliva Plath-christened debut album ‘From Caplan To Belsize’. The suggestion that

really bothered by that.” Instead it’s simply seen as a cool way to release music. “It seems a cop out to do one song and a B-side on a 7”. You’re getting more for your money.”

That added value is an inherent part of who Muncie Girls are. From Lande’s involvement in School of Frock workshops encouraging girls to pick up instruments - to their decision to cover The Ramones’ ‘Pet Sematary’ as the B-side to the split, “I like the idea of it not being ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’,” the band are always after more.

“Like most writers, I tend to write about myself,” admits Lande. “I’ve been writing the album slightly differently. There are songs about current issues, politics, sexism and lad culture. What inspires me are negative things that I want to moan about. It’s about expressing discontent.

If something is deeply distressing, you

Muncie Girls’ debut album will be released February 2016.

Band members: Lande Hekt (vocals / bass), Dean McMullen (guitar), Luke Ellis (drums) Hometown: Exeter, Devon (UK) Formed: 2012 Signed To: Animal Style Records Did you know? The album’s title, ‘From Captain To Belsize’, is a reference to Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.

TAKE A PHOTO OF YOUR COMPLETED FORM AND SEND IT TO @UPSETMAGAZINE ON TWITTER WITH THE HASHTAG #BANDSPOTTER. LOVELY.

ONLY NEW BANDS CAN BE CLAIMED. IF YOU TRY TO CLAIM NIRVANA, YOU ARE OFFICIALLY A BIT SILLY AND WE’LL MAKE FUN OF YOU ON TWITTER. ONLY ONE BAND CAN BE CLAIMED PER READER, PER ISSUE. IF YOU ARE ‘INVOLVED’ WITH A BAND, YOU CANNOT CLAIM YOURSELF. THAT WOULD BE CHEATING. WE KNOW THIS IS A DAFT IDEA BUT WE HAD A SPARE 1/3RD OF A PAGE AND, HEY, WHAT ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

I DISCOVERED THEM...

MUNCIE GIRLS

THE BAND I WOULD LIKE TO CLAIM IS...

That acceptance of what the band is isn’t brash or defeatist. It’s left open. Do with it what you will because Muncie Girls certainly are.

“We are achieving what we wanted to. We’ve played so many really fun shows, we’ve been to America, to Europe. We’d like to travel more and to keep doing it but in terms of making friends, we’ve made more than we ever thought we could in our whole lives which is amazing. We just want to continue.”

P

HI. MY NAME IS...

There’s an organic sincerity to Muncie Girls. It’s not forced or thrown about, it’s just how they’ve grown. “None of us have wanted this band to sound any particular way. It just comes out, how it’s come out. We’ve tried to change it a little bit for the album but I don’t think it’s made any difference.

Maybe we’ll always sound the same.”

FACT FILE

want to write about LISTEN ON it, get it out and UPSETMAGAZINE.COM communicate that NOW you’re upset about Check out Muncie Girls’ split with Sandlotkids something. I couldn’t possibly tell what people will take from this album, if anything, but there are a few songs where the lyrics are supposed to be encouraging, in Be first! Claim a political way. People standing up a new band! to things that they disagree with.”

Everyone wants to be first The album, like all great punk, on a new band, but only also deals with self-acceptance one person can actually do through solidarity. “I write songs discover them. But how ally for certain demographics. Whether you settle who was actu it’s a useful piece of advice or just there before anyone trying to communicate.” Lead single else? Easy. We’re starting ‘Gone With The Wind’ is aimed at the Official Upset Band teenage girls and tackles the idea Spotters Club. Simply cut to of “moving out of home, going to out and fill in the form us. university and being fickle. Not the right, then send it to for knowing what you’re going to do We’ll keep the first one and changing your mind all the each band we get on file. e, time. It’s saying that, that’s ok.”

If your new band get hug Sure, those ideas of self-doubt we’ll credit you in the mag e, and confusion are universal and AND send you an exclusiv en’ttimeless but as Lande admits, limited edition, we-hav “I want to reach the whole teen actually-made-them-yet ge. demographic. I think that would Upset Band Spotters bad be amazing but in reality, we’re Promise. just not that cool. We end up with forty-year-old blokes listening to us, which is fine. If anyone’s into it, that’s cool but those middle aged, white men probably don’t need any more encouragement.”

FACT FILE

THE BEST NEW BANDS ST T H E H OT T E N E W M U S IC

PRESS TO MECO

Band members: Luke Caley (vocals / guitar), Adam Roffey (vocals / bass), Lewis Williams (vocals / drums) Hometown: Crawley, West Sussex / Croydon, London (UK) Formed: 2010 Signed To: Best Before Records Album titbit: The recording was funded using PledgeMusic, where you could pay to have Nandos with the band.

F

or five years, Press to MECO have orbited the UK rock scene on a relentless flightpath of round trips, but soon enough, it’ll be the UK rock scene orbiting them. Not only is their debut album, ‘Good Intent’, set to be one of the sleeper hits of the year, but these Crawley / Croydon hotshots have found their flair in flavouring blisteringly techy hooks and djent-esque time signatures with infectious pop sensibilities.

From a melting pot of early influences

20 upsetmagazine.com

WATCH ON UPSETMAGAZINE.COM NOW

Check out the band’s super informative ‘How We Do A Song’ video

PRESS TO MECO AB O UT TO

B R E AK

including System Of A Down, ARMED WITH A PENCHANT FOR EAGLE - EYED PRECISION, The Dillinger THIS GENRE - SPLICING TRIO ARE AIMING FOR THE STARS. Escape Words: Danny Randon.

Plan and ongoing challenge for the band to catch Sum 41, Press to MECO have flipped a their own curveballs. “It’s annoying defiant finger to convention through because I sometimes write music in my schizophrenic choruses and triple-headed sleep,” says Lewis. “I’ll wake up in the vocal harmonies. “The scattier side of middle of the night and have a good idea our sound is a really natural thing,” says in my head, and I’ll be like ‘I should write guitarist / singer Luke Caley. “None of us this down’, but then I’ll be like ‘Nah, fuck have any boundaries or expectations of it, go back to sleep, you’ll remember it in what a song should sound like. The best the morning…’” moments [in our creative process] are the moments of madness, when we’re just Almost everything surrounding Press to pissing about!”

MECO spurs astronomical wonderment, from the colossal technicalities through “We all bring the fucked up nature to to the cosmic shower of colours that [the music],” adds drummer / singer Lewis adorns the artwork for ‘Good Intent’.

Williams. “We all bring the techy aspect Even the band’s name is taken from to it as well because a lot of that comes a NASA term used during a shuttle out when we’re jamming. Sometimes launch: “’MECO’’s an acronym for ‘Main there’ll be a bit of conflict because I think Engine Cut Off’” Luke educates. “In a we’re all quite strong-headed, but we’re shuttle launch, once it’s reached enough always quite diplomatic.” momentum to make orbit without the engines, they say ‘Press to MECO’. It’s the Capturing moments of spontaneity is signal that everything went okay during vital to Press to MECO’s sound, and the launch, and there’s no turning back while ‘Good Intent’ is a constantly unpredictable body of work, it’s an from there.” P

ABOUT

TO

CHAIN OF FLOWERS CARDIFF’S CHAIN OF FLOWERS PLAY BY THEIR OWN RULES.

Words: Ali Shutler.

“W

hen a lot of bands start up, they don’t aim that high with the songs they’re writing. We thought fuck it. People can laugh because we’ve gone so whole hog, but it sounds good. We’ve done what we want to do with it,” reasons vocalist Joshua Smith. “Don’t restrict yourselves, the fucking sky’s the limit.”

Chain Of Flowers’ debut album was finally released in October but things weren’t always so assured for the Welsh six-piece. “Some of us didn’t think it was going to come out at all,” admits bassist Dan Anderson. “We’ve been sat on it for over a year,” adds Josh. “It would have been easy for us to lose faith in it and let it go that way, but we stuck at it and we’re fucking glad we did.”

It’s an album borne out of struggle and that fight can be felt in every tensed movement. The eight tracks were recorded in just four days at Wales’ Monnow Valley Studio before being sent back and forth across the Atlantic over a six-month mixing process with engineer, Ben Greenberg. From the opening whir of ‘Nails’ through the gleeful fuzz of ‘Glimmers Of Joy’ until the epic wash of

‘Drained’, it’s an album that reflects a collective confidence.

“The way we wrote it wasn’t the most methodical. We were very much just in the room, everyone turned up as loud as they can go, thrashing it out over each another. A lot of things can get lost in those situations and you don’t always get the best out of them. Between doing it like that and then playing it live over and over, we ironed out everything we needed to.

“I don’t know if it’s the same approach we’d take to writing another record, there’s been a few lessons learnt, but it seemed to work out,” grins Josh. Across its eight tracks ‘Chain Of Flowers’ crafts huge walls of noise and throws shadows accordingly. “A lot of its very introspective stuff from myself on relationships and past experiences of my life over the past few years of my life as we were writing the record. Things pulling together, things falling apart and trying to enjoy yourself in the interim, as and when you can.”

“I’d like it if people took it as a record, and take us for what it is. We didn’t have any major influences. At no point did we say ‘Let’s do a song like this band’ or ‘Let’s

FACT FILE

BREAK

CHAIN OF FLOWERS Band members: Joshua Smith (vocals), Sami Hunt (guitar), Ross Jones (guitar), Rich Clarke (drums), Daniel Anderson (bass), Matt Clements (synth) Hometown: Cardiff, Wales (UK) Formed: 2012 Signed To: Alter Once Upon A Time: Chain of Flowers formed from the ashes of Holy Roar band, Crossbreaker.

do anything like anyone else’. Because we’ve played for so long this is what we do. I want people to see that this isn’t a rehash. There’s a lot of rehash out there.

It took a lot to make this. I don’t think we would have stuck to it as long as we did if we didn’t love the songs as much as we do.” P 21

Insert a funny caption about Bully and bright lights here. Thanks.

(Yes. That caption is deliberate.)

22 upsetmagazine.com

Feels Like...

Every so often, a band comes along that really matters. With a debut album already starting to feel like a modern classic, Bully are on the edge of something huge.

Words: Stephen Ackroyd Interview: Ali Shutler

H

ype is a curious beast.

To claim that Bully haven’t benefitted from their fair share of rabid attention would be a tad disingenuous; over the months before the release of their debut album, the oh-so-zeitgeisty blogs chattered loudly with their name. But Bully, they’re not like other buzz bands.

Their early tracks burned bright enough to excite anyone with an inbuilt craving for the new and shiny, but where usually that interest starts to wither away as a full length arrives, with Bully it only intensified. Their debut, ‘Feels Like’, wasn’t just a few underground flavours of the month padded out with sound-a-like filler. From the first play it was obvious - this was a special record from a very special band.

Alicia Bognanno doesn’t seem to have the time nor inclination for the ego to go along with 23

‘Feels Like’ really put Bully on the map. ON THE MAP. Geddit?

Never mind.

24 upsetmagazine.com

her band’s success. Bully’s frontperson, primary songwriter, engineer - there’s no way you could accuse her of not putting the hard work in - but when you’re so close to the coal face, it’s sometimes hard to tell exactly what you’ve created.

“I can’t even tell what it is until I’ve had space from it and can come back to it,” she reveals, when asked what she makes of the album. “I can definitely say that when I listened back I was pleased.

I’ve been on the other end where I’ve listened back to songs I’ve taken a break from and thought ‘eurgh, I want to scrap that’. But with this record there’s things I could definietly take and there’s things I could leave. There’s things I want to do differently for the next one but overall, I’m pretty happy with it.”

Read back that statement. They’ve just dropped undeniably one of the albums of the year - one built not on faddish trend or flash-in-the-pan opportunism, but songs that feel like they’ll still ring just as true a decade from now.

They’re riding the love for it around the globe, playing headline dates to fans converted, largely, via word of mouth rather than a huge marketing spend from some guy in a suit who sees them as a sure fire route to a big end of year bonus. Despite that - despite the fact that Bognanno has every right to be doing victory laps of her hotel room every single night - there’s no grandstanding, no kicking back, no careerist suggestion they’ve ‘made it’.

That’s what makes Bully the kind of band to believe in.

“J

ust about every interview I do asks about Electrical Audio, which is fine but I give the same answer everytime. And I always get asked about either the honesty or the frankness to the lyrics, those are the two ones that I always, always get asked about.”

Bognanno may be getting tired of talking about it, but if you’d rocked back up to Steve Albini’s studio after

“I never

interning there to record your debut album - and that debut album went on to sound like a modern classic befitting that legacy - you’d expect to get a few questions about it too.

“I never thought I’d ever have the opportunity to go back.” she enthuses.

It’s just a really amazing studio. There’s a kitchen there, bedrooms, showers, you pretty much have no reason to leave and I’ve known everyone that works there. I can be really comfortable around a bunch of helpful minds.”

It’s clear that first spell working at Electric had an impact on what would become Bully. Surrounded by so much musical history, Bognanno took the oportunity to hoover up as much knowledge as she could.

“I was mostly focusing on engineering stuff,” she explains, “but in my downtime I was trying to study the history of the studio and the history of the different eras of rock in Chicago. There were definitely a bunch of bands I really liked that stood out, which I’d say was pretty influential.

“I wanted to know about the place where I was spending all my time.

There’s such a community.

There are bands that come back time after time to produce their record there. It’s nice to know the story of it; why they keep coming back, who knows who, who used to play in what bands together and all that kind of stuff. Be a little more familiar with the people who help keep the lights on there.”

thought I’d have the opportunity to go back.”

On returning, there was no

She’s Electric(al) If you’ve paid attention in rock school, you’ll have heard the name of Electrical Audio mentioned before. The studio set up by legendary recording engineer (not producer, he doesn’t like that term) Steve Albini in 1997, it’s been the birth place of thousands of albums.

On Electrical’s website, you’ll find a massive list of bands who have recorded there. It’s a who’s who of modern rock and punk. From Built to Spill to Cloud Nothings, Foo Fighters to Kim Deal, there are huge names and new bands, acts who have gone on to be known around the world, and artists who were brilliant but never got their big break. This isn’t a mega studio designed to price out the little guy, but a genuine melting pot of great music. In interning there, and then later returning to record Bully’s album, Alicia ingrained the band with a history that runs deep.

hanging around. Bully knew exactly what they planned to do. “We did seven days of bass and tracking,” Bognanno recalls, “four days of vocals then 9 days of mixing. We tried to get everything, for the most part, worked out before we went in there. The only thing that came together in the studio was ‘I Remember’ and that was a last minute thing.”

25

“I wouldnt put

something out

there that I wasn’t

comfortable with.”

26 upsetmagazine.com

Dog days “I don’t miss Nashville but not being around my dog is really, really, really difficult.

She’s with a really awesome lady who has a bird, and they’ve become really good friends. My dog’s like 80 pounds so it’s hilarious.”

T

hat “last minute thing” is part of the reason Bognanno is tired of being asked about her lyrical content. While others choose to use their songs to hide the parts of themselves which could be a bit too close to the bone, there’s none of that on ‘Feels Like’. From the word go, it’s raw honesty.

“The whole reason it ends up in songs is that it’s stuff I’m not comfortable talking about face to face,” she explains.

“It’s my way of being able to say what I want instead of keeping it all in.”

“People ask if I regret it but I wouldn’t put something out there, that I wasn’t comfortable with. There’s definitely a line I draw. I don’t want to drag anyone else down with my lyrics. If I’m going to dish out information it’s going to be about myself and not other people. If a song is about someone in particular then I would never call them out or say that, just because I think that’s rude.”

It’s that direct honesty that goes part of the way of making Bully seem like a band who stand apart from the throwaway culture of modern music.

In a world where we consume by the track, they’ve recorded an album of gems which work both in isolation and as a whole. Immediate enough to grab the attention, they’re organic enough to feel seperate from the constant hum of clickbait and soundbite-hungry social media. Put simply, they don’t make bands like this anymore.

Maybe it’s the vague association to Albini via Electrical Audio; more likely it’s the gloriously scuzzy, effortless charm of their songs - but Bully feel closer to those world-conquering 90s

grunge bands than they do much of what dominates the scene today. Not that that’s a comparison that’s always sat well with them.

“I went through a phase where I was really sick of the 90s comparisons,” Bognanno reveals, “but then I thought about it, and either way we’re going to be compared to something. It’s a genre and a time that I liked a lot of bands out of, so I just let it slide. Everyone should interpret it how they want and relate to it, whether or not it’s exactly what I felt while I was writing it.”

Those parallels are nothing but a compliment. They’re not about Bully’s music sounding beholden to an earlier time, but rather that it feels permanent.

They’re not a band to throw away when the next hot new thing comes along. Bands like that still exist, but without chasing fame and embracing the hyperactive nature of pop culture, they can find it harder than ever to break through. Bully hit that sweet spot where they punch through without compromise. That’s something to celebrate.

There’s still a long way to go on ‘Feels Like’. Word of mouth is building. The shows are getting bigger, but the fact that Bully are a band to last makes what they do next even more exciting. “I’ve been trying to write while we’ve been on the road,” Bognanno admits. “It’s been good. I’ve been scrapping a lot of stuff but I’ve been working on a couple of songs that I really like.”

With her lack of ego, you’d not bet against a modern classic. It feels like Bully are only getting started. P Bully’s debut album ‘Feels Like’ is out now.

They tour the UK this month.

27

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us when it bit stressful for “It got a little s of us writing ge sta rly ea ry came to the ve the comfor t explains from songs,” Derek Apple. “How Big e th in me of his mum’s ho ntroduce ourselves, do rei to are we going ourselves?” to reintroduce r we even want to carry on ou ing go we e x he muses, “Ar we going to mi are w ho or d, original soun ?” this up a bit

fans looking ink about. For to It’s a lot to th amps’ approach Ch te Sta , gh the in thou la - inspired by mu for d or -ch - has o the three em d an nk pop pu MySpace era of t. But for the from the outse been flawless t zone that or mf co a out, it’s band looking . th wi t en m cont they’re far fro

that we were um, we knew “On the first alb d we knew an nd ba nk pu p considered a po scene,” Derek at th to ter ca that we had to peal of the the natural ap e admits, noting l like we hit th fee “I . ’ wd cro t ‘Warped Tour first album bu e th th wi ad nail on the he

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“Weeee are the champions!”

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your second album is one where a lot of pressure could be brought on easily. People want to hear how you’re going to follow that up.”

With their first record charting at Number Two on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, it was subsequent tours with genre giants like New Found Glory, The Wonder Years, Motion City Soundtrack and All Time Low that gave them the confidence to step outside the pop punk boundaries this time around. Where did they stride? To a sound that centres itself on more glossy, pop-rock qualities, via a recording studio in Los Angeles.

Derek – a self-confessed sound engineer nerd – focuses a lot of his excitement on the production side of their second full-length. With an early influence from 2000s pop punk, he exposes the band’s intention to take that all too familiar mould and “make it sound huge and bring this new sense of production, and experiment with that.” “We definitely stayed State Champs in that it is a pop punk record,” he snaps back at himself. “But it’ll have a lot of tricks and surprises.”

So while the singer deals with the fluttering of newalbum-nerves he describes after seeing responses to singles ‘Secrets’ and ‘Losing Myself’ online, he admits there’s a much grander plan in mind. “There was once a time where you could turn on your pop radio station and you’d hear Good Charlotte, Simple Plan and Yellowcard,” he reminisces. “All these bands were killing it in the main radio rock scene right up until 2006/7.

“That is the main goal for us as a band; if we can get back to a time when bands like that could be the celebrities, and could be on the radio, be all over the TV and be huge stars.”

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“Not that we’re in this for fame,” he clarifies, sensing the hesitation in our response. After all, it isn’t often you hear the punk kids talk about being the ‘celebrities’, but there’s plenty of plausibility in his reasoning, “We want to see this whole genre come back to life where it once was.”

“I think it could happen, and I think it’s only coming closer to something like that with all these awesome bands putting out awesome music in the pop punk scene.”

For a man that still cites The Starting Line as his biggest lyrical influence, this particular journey of musical maturity could stand to tear the singer in different directions. For now at least, it’s the buzz he gets from blending new-world production techniques with old school sensibilities that is sailing State Champs into their second album cycle.

That ship docked in the UK this September, with the US mob bringing Illinois’ Knuckle Puck and hometown newbies, Roam, out with them on their first ever headline tour on these shores. “Do I think I’m at a level where I’m someone who can be looked up to in a scene like this?” Derek asks himself, with a subtle pause of breath. “No, not really.”

Debating the prospect of being an influence to the support bands in question, he adds, “I’m still pretty young and I’m still learning as much as any other young band is.

“I think it’s awesome for us when we do support bigger bands, I certainly look up to those guys and I definitely do learn a lot, and I can only hope to be at a point where I can be looked up to as well and do a bit of the torch passing.” Looking ahead more to the upcoming UK run, he offers, “It’s about good vibes, hanging out and making friends while travelling.”

So with a few weeks to gather his thoughts and

spend time with his mum and girlfriend back home, Derek tells how the band have adjusted to touring since the explosion of ‘The Finer Things’. “It’s always going to be a challenge,” he says softly. “It’s never going to be ideal unless you absolutely love it and can make it ideal. I think a lot of us have found that way to process our lifestyle and maintain all friendships and relationships outside of it, even if they are longdistance.”

“We’ve been at this for about three years now with heavy touring,” he clarifies, “I think at this point we have the hang of it but it’s always going to have its up and downs.”

Like many young bands on the edge of their most successful record then, Derek says the five-some would be itching to be back on the road if left to their own devices for any longer than one month: “We’d start to get really bored and want to get back out there anyway.

We like what we do so it’s usually just a bittersweet feeling when we’re home.”

With that, we recount the early days of State Champs; life before the headline tours, the support slots with 5 Seconds of Summer and the daunting prospect of writing their second album. “All of a sudden we’ve toured four or five different continents, we’ve seen all these different countries and massively toured the US… a lot has happened since then. “It’s cool to see a lot of progress happening, even still; now that we’re still on that first album cycle, we thought people would’ve been way bored of it by now.”

“Needless to say we’re just so ready to get another album under our belts and have even more music to play,” he concludes. P State Champs’ new album ‘Around The World And Back’ is out now.

“We want to see this who le genre come back to life. ”

“I

genuinely think this is the best Fightstar record; I can honestly say that. It’s some of the best shit we’ve ever done,” states frontman Charlie Simpson with an extreme confidence that seems to only come when you’ve been faced with adversity. What a difference five years makes.

“I felt creatively burnt out and, at the time, that I didn’t have it in me to write another record,” recalls Charlie glumly.

“I just needed to separate myself for a while. From 2005 we just toured and recorded, toured and recorded, toured and recorded and just never stopped, we didn’t have one break.”

Following this monotony and creative slump, the band announced they were to go on an indefinite hiatus; two words that no fan wants to hear.

“We’d finished the touring cycle for ‘Be Human’ and we just hadn’t had a rest for five years. I think sometimes you just need to take a break. I think that revitalises you and it refuels the creativity.” At least that was the idea, but in reality Charlie admits, “there was no plan.”

The Fightstar hiatus was all about regaining what they once had creatively, by whatever means, and if that meant taking time off, then so be it. That kind of attitude might suggest the boys have been sat twiddling their thumbs while playing each incarnation of FIFA, but the reality is far from that.

“I knew that I wanted to do a solo record at some point; I’d always wanted to do a solo record,” says Charlie; still seemingly reeling from the excitement of the opportunity he was gifted years ago. “And Dan [Haigh, bass] and Alex [Westaway, guitar] started a production company called Horsie In The Hedge, and they do a lot of visual effects work.

We all decided to do our own thing.”

Fightstar found their way back to each other by spending some time by themselves - or that’s how their individual projects make it sound. But it doesn’t seem like they ever really had a break from their bandmates. “We saw each other a lot during the time we had off. It was actually nice just to be 32 upsetmagazine.com

friends again, and be friends outside of the band. We’d sometimes get together and just jam stuff out and have some fun. But we weren’t in a working mode at all.”

One thing that Charlie strains to make clear here is that their eventual return wholeheartedly mirrors the organic nature of their initial hiatus. “I don’t think we had any time constraints or said ‘We have to do it by this point’. I was in France with my family and I ended up listening to some Fightstar, which I hadn’t

done in a while and I was like, ‘Fuck, this is awesome’. I felt kind of nostalgic about it all and realised it was coming up to our ten year anniversary.

So, I sent an email from France saying to the guys. ‘Look dudes, how do you feel about doing a show in December? Why don’t we do a one off show?’ and they all emailed back saying, ‘Yeah that’s a

DEVIL’S IN THE DETAIL THE

What’s Charl ie Simpson u p to these da Fightstar ha ys? Some of ve ever done, “the best sh apparently.

Words: Jack it” Glasscock. P hotos: Emma Swann.

33

Devil’s Back’ themselves. “I just don’t see the point in signing to a record label if you already have a fanbase. Fightstar have a fanbase and we can connect with them on our own. I just don’t think there’s a need to create a middleman.

We go through [distributors] ADA, which is part of Warner, but we are in total control of the record release. For me, I think that’s an important thing to have.”

fucking great idea’. It was very much for a laugh; a one-night thing.”

Fuelled by nostalgia, they put on a show at the London Forum and it seemed as though everyone else had that same rose-tinted feeling as Charlie: it sold out in ten minutes. “It was like, ‘What the fuck just happened?’ You just don’t know do you? I was definitely anxious the morning the tickets went on sale,” says Charlie, recalling that pivotal day. “It was lovely to see our fanbase was very loyal, and it makes you think that the records we made back then still mean something today.

I think that’s the greatest compliment you can get as a musician. That’s when the thought of writing new music came into our minds. It was very much an afterthought.”

“WE’RE IN TOTAL CONTROL: THAT’S AN IMPORTANT THING TO HAVE.”

“I didn’t want to make new music for the sake of it,” he continues. “I was very clear with the guys that if we wrote some new stuff and I didn’t think it was better than anything else we’d done before then I wouldn’t put it out.”

Thankfully, Charlie admits, “That show was probably one of the best I’ve played in my entire life. The whole night was amazing and was obviously the fuel for the fire that made us want to do it again. I think it was definitely us being in that environment again and seeing the crowd’s reaction.” The stabilisers were off and Fightstar were making a full-scale comeback, largely dictated by the intense loyalty of their fans.

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Fightstar appear to have successfully traversed the murky waters of a hiatus and come out the other side with exactly what they desired; a huge well of creativity. From that first show in December, they managed to turn around an album’s worth of material; written, recorded, released. Well, “It was actually quicker than that,” corrects Charlie, “because I didn’t start writing until March. We started recording in May. I had so much pent up creativity for Fightstar music. It almost felt like it wasn’t a challenge.

It was very organic and very natural, but that only happens when you’re in the right place and the right headspace. I like to focus on one project at a time, so writing riffs and all that stuff was really exciting because I hadn’t done it in so long.”

If Fightstar were to write new material, it had to have an impact, one to match the impression that their back catalogue has clearly had on so many - so they went heavy. Really heavy. “It was a conscious effort; we started using seven strings; that was a big thing. I wanted to move the sound more that way. Using a seven string has so much power and it makes the riffs sound even bigger, and even heavier. We listened to a lot of bands that use seven strings; bands like Architects and Bring Me The Horizon.

They have so much power in the guitars and I thought that I just wasn’t going to get that out of a six string; you have that bottom string and you get that power.”

The band are adamant that they will stay in control by releasing ‘Behind The

The stars are aligning for Fightstar. From 2010 when hiatus felt like their only option, through the creative successes of their solo projects, to the connection with their loyal fans and back around to the ease of writing a record that they can honestly say they’re proud of.

“I’m confident,” states Charlie quickly and emphatically when asked whether he’s nervous about the release of new music. “We just wanted to make a record that we liked and that we were confident that the fans would like; and I think we’ve done that. I’m pretty sure that all the Fightstar fans are going to go out and buy this record and be happy with it and that’s all that really matters to us. I’m feeling confident because I believe in the record. I think the record’s great.”

And with that final flurry of conviction, Charlie Simpson sets off to join his bandmates for Fightstar, round two. P Fightstar’s album ‘Behind The Devil’s Back’ is out now.

Now they were selfreleasing, Fightstar could only stretch to one light bulb between them.

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WORDS

: ALI S HUTLE R

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M PTIMIS WED O THAN A RENE A AT LPED N H A S H E S C R E AT E W H ’ M ES A V I V L WIL E WA W E L L B T. E COULD Y ECORD BEST R

Wavves’ new stylist certainly had brave ideas.

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H AT ’S J U S T T H E WAY T H E M E D I A WA N T S E V E RYT H I N G TO B E,” E X P LA I N S WAVV E S’ N AT H A N W I L L I A M S.

deals with. The idea of being lonely or depressed and trying to deal with those feelings with a substance is an age-old thing. We’re not the first people to talk about it. That cliché idea of hard-partying, misogynist rock stars is just weird. Romanticising drugs or alcoholism irks me.”

“Everything has to have a bigger story. It can’t just be a couple of guys writing songs, they’ve got to be drug addicts who are drunk every day or whatever bullshit.”

Initially, stories swelled that the fifth Wavves album was recorded on the hangover from touring 2013’s ‘Afraid Of Heights’. One hundred bottles of beer on the wall and whiskey for good measure, the order of each day. “I’m sure we’ve all drank too much or have taken some drugs but the true story is, realistically we’re just normal guys who write songs.

We’re probably pretty boring.”

“I like to smoke pot and play chess,” might not be the overbearing admission that’ll shock a new audience towards Wavves’ new album, but when the songs are this good, little else matters. Starting life as the recording name for Nathan, Wavves has slowly grown into a fully formed band with the addition of Alex Gates, Stephen Pope and Brian Hill. Other people came before them but this is “the first stable line up that Wavves has had.” That solid foundation meant that the writing process for ‘V’ was much more collaborative than normal, “I couldn’t have recorded this album without the people around me, or line ups prior.” The voice of Wavves is stronger, louder and more refined than ever. “That’s come from releasing a ton of records, but having people around you that are good at what they do, helps you step it up. I think it ended up being the best Wavves record, with the best songs, to date.”

“W

Despite the emotional depth, the musical progression or the simple fact that ‘V’ is packed with wall-to-wall bangers, there’s still that shadowy narrative. “It’s been like that since the very beginning of my career,” says Nathan of the drug-laced brush people wave towards him. “Maybe they’re right and I just don’t pay attention to it, but whenever I release a new album, the questions are the same. ‘You guys are dealing with drink?’ We deal with the same things that everyone else

His reluctance to discuss these issues is not to do with shame, ignorance or embarrassment. It’s truth and consequence. “You have to understand the bigger this band gets, the younger the kids are that are coming to shows.

They’re thirteen years old, they’re my little sister’s age. That hit home because it’s family. I try hard to take the conversation into a different place and people don’t give a fuck. They’re going to write their story and they’re going to say what it is. It’s frustrating, but you can’t really pay attention to them too much. We write songs and I think people, the kids especially, relate to those songs and that’s what the important thing is to me.”

HAR E’R E

DER

O N O U R S E LV E S

THAN A N YO N

E

E L S E W I L L B E.” That abrasive dose of reality, coiled and frayed, gives people something to hold on to. Wavves are a band never out of reach. “There’s a lot of frustration [on ‘V’]. Stephen and Alex were writing with me and we were all coming from different places but all touching on those feelings of loneliness, frustration and relationships getting fucked up.

It’s all stuff that can be construed as aggressive frustration, but it’s not. It’s therapeutic. It’s getting rid of demons.”

It’s a therapy that Nathan indulges in often. He’s released eleven records in three years across a variety of projects, including an effort with Cloud Nothings and the brotherly collaboration of Spirit Club. Each and every one has given him the chance to work something through.

It’s why he likes recording. “It is my career but when I have off time, what I

like to do is record. At this point, it just comes naturally. If I don’t record for a long period of time, I start to feel like I’m slacking. I don’t think it’s pressure from anyone else, it could be pressure from myself but it’s something I just love doing,” Five albums in, there’s still no ceiling in sight and there’s an audience that shares in that adoration. “If I thought about the expectations of other people, that could just drive me crazy. When we’ve finished a record and we listen to the songs, you can see it on everyone’s face. Yeah ok, this is good. If we can meet our expectations, I don’t think we even need to worry about anyone else.

We’re probably harder on ourselves than anyone else will be. I think everybody will take away something different. The vital thing for me is that it gets better.”

Wavves albums don’t come with a manifesto. Less concept, more snapshot, ‘V’ is “fifteen different things. The statement could just be the date of when we started recording it.

It’s what the other guys and I are personally going through at that point in time. It just so happened to be drinking too much, relationships, loneliness and an uncertain future.” It sounds bleak but it’s not. “On this one there’s a pinch of hope. That’s not something that was really present on ‘Afraid of Heights’ because Stephen and I were not in a good place when we recorded that record. If anything, this one is a testament to the fact we’re still fucking up. That’s part of being human. We’re grasping the idea that even if you fall down, you can get back up.”

There’s acceptance and a niggling sense of optimism from the back to the front.

“The artwork is the tarot card, the five of clubs. If it’s pulled during a reading, it’s a bad omen. There’s five cups on the cover and there’s a figure staring down at the three spilled cups, not noticing the two cups that are full. You can sit there and dwell on your problems, or you can look at the things that make it worth living.

That’s where I’m at now. I don’t always need to be a sad sack of shit and feel bad for myself because truly I have stuff worthwhile in my life. To just dwell on the bad stuff would make me a spoilt brat and a fucking cry baby. I’m grateful to be back out on the road,” he offers from the back of a splitter van. “And that’s not something I would have said a couple of years ago.” P Wavves’ album ‘V’ is out now.

“W

e could have easily written another record that sounds like ‘The Albatross’,” admits Foxing bassist Josh Coll from his home of St Louis, MO. “A lot of people probably want that but you have to be true to yourself. You have to do what satisfies you as a creative person. People are drawn to other people making decisions based on their own creative tendencies and not basing decisions on crowd sourcing of what they think people want to hear.

We had to make something we were really happy with.

I think that is what anybody who writes should be trying to accomplish. Everything else comes second.”

In late 2013 Foxing released their debut album ‘The Albatross’ to little fanfare.

Their name, the phrase for the ageing process of paper that creates little brown spots on the page and is what you used to replicate with a used tea bag for school projects, commanded mortality. The fully formed, arching demand of that debut, even more so. Foxing wouldn’t be around forever and they knew it. The band played shows, word of mouth spread and Triple Crown Records got involved. In late 2015, Foxing released ‘Dealer’ to a baying mob of expectation. It’s a “more lush and reserved record, but it has parts that are much bigger and heavier.

Overall, it’s a more restrained, introspective record. The subject matter is a lot more weighted. The ideas we’re exploring are a lot more intense and more personal to all of us.”

In order to distance themselves from the expectation that surrounded them, the band decamped to Vermont in the middle of winter. They “were very isolated, and the sounds started coming naturally as we were writing every day.

We didn’t sit and map out the

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N O S D R CA THE TABLE record. We used to all get together and jam and write in a linear fashion, but this time we had frameworks for songs. What’s great about that is, you can go in any direction when you have a structure. We were really not expecting it to come out the way that it has done. As that was happening, we all got really excited about breaking new ground.”

The result is an introspective album that really gets to the bones of Foxing. The metaphor heavy storytelling of their debut is replaced with abrupt confession. “When Conor [Murphy, vocals] and I were writing the lyrics, we wanted to touch on things we felt were more personal than we had on ‘The Albatross’. That album had very personal songs to us but for the most part, they were relationship

songs. They were songs about how we interact with other people. While we were on tour I lost my grandfather who was like a father to me growing up. Conor had lost his grandmother and during that time, especially when you’re on the road, there was really no outlet for it. We wanted to talk about things like the loss of loved ones, fear of God, fear of death, post traumatic stress and depression.

“Right before we started

“

WE ALL GOT REALLY EXCITED ABOUT BREAKING NEW GROUND.

about dealing with yourself as opposed to how you deal with other people.“ Opening yourself up offers therapy but there’s a vulnerability to such honesty.

“When you create any sort of art it’s because you r’, le ea ‘D m u lb want to connect cond a , es su is ig b With their se to people. It’s le ck ta to t afraid like putting out . er tl Foxing aren’ u h lls Ali S a beacon to find te l ol C h os J bassist like-minded people or people who are just looking for something there’s a song about that on that feels honest to them. the band, I spent a year in the album. The ideas of loss It is hard sometimes. You Afghanistan. I fought in and fear of a higher power have to balance how much the war, and it’s something and what happens after you of yourself you’re willing to I’d never talked about in die, that’s something a lot reveal and how much you the band. I never used the of people go through. My need to keep for yourself. band as an outlet for that. experience overseas, I don’t If you give everything to Even though ‘The Albatross’ think that’s something a lot people you can feel even is heavily indebted to of people who listen to our more isolated. I had a lot of that experience, I was not band have to go through, reservations with writing personally willing to speak which I’m grateful for, but about some of the things candidly about that, so I what that song in particular because until that point, cloaked a lot of what I was is about, it’s not specific to that was an aspect of my life writing in metaphor. I’d been that. It’s about going through that couldn’t be scrutinised encouraged by friends to something traumatic and or put under any sort of speak about that stuff in a having to deal with it in the microscope. It was never an way that could be cathartic wake of coming back to a aspect of my life that could to the experience. To not more stable environment. be misinterpreted because I never gave it to anybody.

In general, ‘Dealer’ is more hide it but to expose it, so

“While almost everything I wrote for ‘The Albatross’ is about my experience coming back from overseas, I never really gave it to anybody.

Nobody would ever know that those are what those songs are about because I wasn’t willing to reveal that part of myself. A big reason for that was because I was going through it at the time.

I felt like if I wrote songs about it, people are going to criticise something that I’m currently going through, that I’m dealing with right now and I wouldn’t be able to handle it. There was just a point where I started opening up with certain people. Their encouragement to not be afraid to explore those facets of my life helped. That willingness to open up more was helpful for Conor, he picked it up and ran with it for situations in his life that are very personal and very, for lack of a better word, dark. We just really wanted to speak from a place of unfiltered honesty.

Knowing that people are going to hear these songs and have their own interpretations, or maybe completely misinterpret them, and that’s ok.” P Foxing’s album ‘Dealer’ is out now.

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42 upsetmagazine.com

PH OTO: J ESSI CA FLY N N

from. That’s s who I come champion. That’ at line felt Th . nk e pu o es th t int here’s a light on the reason I go in that us of all e to th g ere kin filthy streets wh like it was spea ate. We’ve im d int an ry ve ird t we fel t ll throwaways ge group but it sti nch and I still s Beach Slang ng a whole bu played this so with me?” recite nding up.” sta s ch arm mu free. Are you in my x after get the hairs on rist James Ale ’s ere Th . gh vocalist / guita enou oes it cut you t at me at deliberation. “D t to fucking e that jumps ou and a time jus “That’s the on er these ov r ou ing en lab op lly a time to bleed e I rea s’, th first but man, m ‘Throwaway ve one line ha e I lin if a ow run.” Lifted fro it’s kn , n’t um things so I do nd’s debut alb James. track to the ba me,” concedes the essence of that does it for test, captures me. to el nt Fe o rta po Wh that, under pro le im is op Do To Find Pe “Every syllable make the ’ll ey th d an ‘The Things We write Some people be louder, n ca s oru Like Us’. ch e th verse quiet so to that. ver subscribed gsteen idea of nel that Sprin lyrically I’ve ne d to be d nte an wa I go . let me Trying to chan to to u nt ng pushing yo It’s all importa to be a of d s ge nte ssa wa I escape, it’s a so me e re for ere are nine mo a writer long be are “just do it.” Th stopping us a singer. Words follow. “What’s guitar player or ke to me.” ma to defiant hope to ing go cessary things that’s ne , ing big th lly is th rea e from chasing out an audienc ppy? I write ab k’n’roll, us our most ha under the n about in roc tte go for en Formed in 2013 set I that’s long be rs. That’s who friends, James de of t tsi en ou e em th vis d ad the misfits an

about building a vessel for his words. Speaking during the band’s first real break since they released their debut EP ‘Who Would Ever Want Anything So Broken’ in the spring of 2014, he’s restless but thankful.

“The record’s out soon and everything’s come to this grinding pause. We’re getting ever so close to moving again, which is exciting. We’ve had that time to step back, listen to the record and hear it as a disconnected third party. When you’re inside of it, you’re in a bubble and you can’t look at it objectively.

This little pause, even though I’m not good when idle, has been healthy.”

Phone calls have been exchanged between drummer JP Flexner, guitarist Ruben Gallego, bassist Ed McNulty and James. They all agree the record sounds really good and you’d be a fool to disagree.

From the scene setting rattle of ‘Throwaways’ through the bone crunching march of ‘Young and Alive’ until the dying cries of ‘Dirty Lights’, it’s a gritty, immersive listen. It’s a continuation of the world offered up by Beach Slang’s previous work but for the newcomers, it provides a warming welcome.

“When you create a new thing, you’re nervous.

Here’s a better part of your heart, ready to be offered to the world. I barely slept before the release of those EPs, I can’t imagine how I’m going to feel the night before this album is released. A lot of it comes from the same things that inspired those first two EPs. They were such short bits of the world I’m living in, how can I get it all out in eight songs.”

Realising people weren’t sick of the band after two EPs of figuring it out, Beach Slang decided to legitimise the band with a full length. “I just want to keep moving forward. I get bonkers if I sit around for too long,” James admits before letting slip that he’s already got half of album two written.

Channelling the broken dreamer aesthetic of Charles Bukowski, the writing of a John Hughes film put through the songwriting of Paul Westerberg and christened via a napkin from a bar, ‘The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us’ is full of charming affect. “I had the title for this record long before I had any of the songs.

I knew it was right for it. Playing in bands is all I’ve ever really cared to do with my life but this is the first time I’ve ever been really honest. Heart on my sleeve, I just don’t want to hide behind anything anymore. If you’re trying to do anything creative, all you want to do is connect.

I’ve always kept this protective barrier up over me but what if you stripped this down? There’s something really healthy in baring it all and people seem to really respond to that.”

“At the beginning it was stuff I felt like I needed to write to feel better. Then I felt like I had that moment, this is that voice I’ve been trying to find. From the first time I ever tried to write words,

PH OT O: JE SS IC A FLYN N

or tried to make a song, the thing I heard in my head was always better than whatever I put down on tape.

I could never get the right thing out and that’s a really frustrating process.

I’ve banged my head against the wall enough times now. I like what it’s doing to me, what it seems to be doing for other people. I feel like maybe this is the thing I’ve been waiting to find.”

There’s a weathered sense of motivation behind Beach Slang. Commanding you to try without the naivety of an easy ride, there’s a reason people have got behind the band. There’s better things for the band to do than get caught up in the expectation of the game though. “I read things that are really sweet, then file them away under ‘life affirmations’. I want to stay hungry. I still want to feel I have something to prove, which I obviously do. I want to just stay in that realm. I’d be lying if I said I don’t listen to it at all. You can’t help it. but I try to jump in and jump quickly back out of it. I just want to be the guy at home, writing songs, and thinking no one likes them because it keeps me razor sharp, it keeps it important to me.”

Despite the creative mentality that isolation drives improvement, Beach Slang can’t help but lift others up. “People have this notion where they hit a certain age and decide they have to get serious in their life now. ‘Time to put the drums away.’ Even if we drag a couple of people out of that murk and bring them back into remembering the thing they loved when they where 16... man, you never have to give that stuff up. Maybe you can’t do it full time, maybe you can’t hop in a van tomorrow and drive around the country, but how great is it going to feel when you come home from work and turn up your amplifier and just scream out these things that mean a lot to you? Don’t forget how powerful that stuff is. Never retire from being alive.”

That glorious, reckless almost foolhardy idea of never giving up the chase is a treasured one. That glittering hopefulness shines in every broken word on Beach Slang’s ‘The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us’ and for good reason.

“I’m unapologetically an optimist. That’s a guarded position for most human beings but I don’t know what else to believe in. I have to think that if we get knocked down, we’re going to get back up. I have to trust that if it gets dark, it’s going to get light again. I’m super dumbly into that mindset and I’m offering that out there. If it helps people, that’s great but if it’s not your bag, that’s cool. Go find whatever the thing is that lights you up. With the people that this is resonating with, it’s becoming this really important give and take. This band has really helped fix me up. It’s helped much me as much as anyone.” P Beach Slang’s album ‘The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us’ is out now.

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H AT D O YO U D O W H E N YO U’ V E C R E AT E D YO U R O W N I N T E RG A LACT I C UNIVERSE AND CO N T I N U O U S LY E X P LO R E D A N D E X PA N D E D U P O N I T F O R T H E PA S T D E CA D E O R S O?

“Normally I tend to wake up really early around 4 o’clock, 5 o’clock and that’s the time I feel at my most productive. When I

PHOTO: SARAH LOUI SE BENNETT

Well, first of all, you can come back to earth. That’s a nice start. But for Coheed & Cambria, they’ve more than just removed the concept that’s seen them unravel the thrilling tale of the Amory Wars bit by bit - they’ve gone personal.

“I wrote the record in an apartment situation,” he continues. “Typically, I have a house in the country outside of New York City where I wrote most of the Coheed records, at least from ‘No World For Tomorrow’ to ‘The Afterman’, I wrote in this country house.

‘The Color Before the Sun’ started life as a solo project for Claudio Sanchez and, bit by bit, came back to the band.

“Looking at it now in hindsight, when I was recording the record I didn’t realise I was writing a Coheed record,” admits Claudio. “That was maybe some of the frustrations that I had when I was writing this record, that this doesn’t fall within the sort of lines that Coheed has created for themselves with the concepts. Now, just looking at this as a Coheed piece, it just feels good, it doesn’t feel weird.

moved to this apartment, I didn’t have that luxury anymore. That’s kind of the difference - I started to write these songs in this apartment and I think there was this sense of exposure that was leaking in to the execution of the

songs because I knew my neighbours could hear me. It wasn’t the solitude that I was used to when working on music.”

All these changes in circumstance, some great personal highs, others unfortunate lows, began to infiltrate the creative process. “They can hear me, they can’t hear the music, they can’t hear the context of the song that is being created. They just hear a person’s voice singing the melody so I think that leaked into my consciousness when writing the songs, but then of course the stress and frustration of being in this situation and not having my comfort zone leaked in too.

“You know, when I realised I was going to become a father and some of the thoughts that come with it, before the birth and after the birth, that leaked into the record. My country home that we left got vandalised while we were away so that got in there; just all of these thoughts and experiences and hurdles that I sort of jumped were part of the writing process that weren’t there on previous records. That kind of had a hand on my emotional state when writing these songs.”

With the concept stripped and personal, there are a

47

“Every song is deeply rooted in something very real. It’s funny - ‘Atlas’ is about my son and the inevitability of having to leave him because of what I do for a living. I wrote that song before he was born and now I do actually leave him for the road and that song couldn’t ring any truer. All of the songs are about something very real and very personal.”

Given its origins as a solo record, ‘The Color Before the Sun’ couldn’t have originated as a defiant statement that Coheed can break away from their concepts, but acts as one nonetheless. It’s an album that fans from all eras can find something in, the band smashing it when it comes to all their trademarks, while treading into new territory with confidence.

“When I wrote this record and I looked at it, I didn’t think it was a Coheed album for a minute,”

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“THERE’S NOTHING TO PROVE.”

lot of songs the ring particularly close to Claudio’s heart. “‘Ghost’ is my thinking about what kind of parent I am going to become to my son before he was born,” he begins. “‘Here to Mars’ is about my love and respect for my wife and how limitless I think it is.

Although, some may say I pose a limitation by saying I can only love you from here to Mars, but how many of us are really going to Mars? It might as well be the other end of the universe!

Claudio says, when considering it as a statement. “Every once in a while you can think it’s tough because Coheed is the band with the concept, it’s the band with the comic book counterpart.

“Every human being goes down a path and you always wonder what it would have been like if you turned around, or if you gone down a different road. There are always going to be those moments like ‘What could I have proved if I went left instead of right?’ For the most part it’s like I don’t know, I’m here now, it doesn’t matter.

As much as that could leak into your consciousness I don’t know if I really care - I guess that’s the sentiment behind ‘You Got Spirit, Kid’, that it just doesn’t matter.

There’s nothing to prove; it just feels good and all I wanted was to feel good.”

One of the joys of their new album

is that they’ve perfected Coheed in a way. With the sound feeling so on point, does the content of their songs actually impact their surroundings?

“For me the music is always the thing that steps out first,” says Claudio. “I write the guitar parts before I even think about what I’m going to sing about. The lyrics are the last thing, so the music that you hear is where I’m at emotionally at that moment.

It’s really just a product of my surrounding, the music that I write.”

Given his connection to this, it’s natural that he hopes it extends to others. “I hope that something in the record resonates with somebody personally. Concept or no concept, you’re going to feel a certain way regardless - something in there is going to resonate with you whether it’s the tonalities of the song or the theme that’s being expressed in the music or the lyrics.

I just look for a connection. That’s all I want is for somebody to find something to connect with and whatever they think that means , that’s right. However you look at it is the right way to look at it.”

So is this perhaps the first of many steps away from the Amory Wars, musically at least? “We might write a record concept-less again,” muses Claudio, but it will never be a permanent move. “I’m not going to abandon the Amory Wars - that’s mine. I have a love-hate relationship with that monster, so I could definitely return to that. I really don’t know what the next step is. Are we going to go down the right or are we going to go down the left? We will decide when we get to that moment.” P Coheed & Cambria’s album ‘The Color Before the Sun’ is out now.

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RATED

STATE CHAMPS AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK

Pure Noise

eeee appear in the form of title track ‘Around The World And Back’. It quickly pushes the sound of State Champs towards the sugarcoated, bubble-gum end of the generic spectrum and doesn’t do justice bright ‘All You Are Is History’ and to the rest of the album. Unfortunately the bounce of ‘Perfect Score’. The the few tracks from that moment begin unashamedly pop vocals of Derek to lose their bite, even DiScanio give voice if they do pick up the to a hugely optimistic tempo. However, this and uplifting set of Tracklist small blip doesn’t take lyrics, underpinned by away from the strength of fast-paced, forceful 1. Eyes Closed this album as a whole. instrumentation.

2. Secrets

STATE CHAMPS HAVE DELIVERED EXACTLY WHAT FANS WANTED WITH THIS ONE; AND YES, THAT INCLUDES ALL THE POP PUNK PIZZA YOU COULD ASK FOR.

I

n an age that sees genre toppling from its position as the most discussed aspect of any musical venture, 2015 has still seen pop punk return in a big way.

State Champs’ ‘Around The World And Back’ features all the cornerstones of what is brilliant about pop punk: nearly every single song has an absolutely raging chorus. Anyone would be hard pushed to deny the legitimacy of the sing along moments that State Champs have delivered.

As you should all know by now, ‘Secrets’ is undeniably one of the anthems of the year and is backed up by stomping opener ‘Closed Eyes’, the fantastically 5 0 upsetmagazine.com

‘All Or Nothing’ appears as a stopgap in the centre of the album, slowing down the pace without ditching the quality.

However, the token pop punk album acoustic number does

3. Losing Myself 4. All You Are Is History 5. Perfect Score 6. All Or Nothing 7. Shape Up 8. Back and Forth 9. Around The World And Back 10. Breaking Ground 11. Tooth And Nail

State Champs had a chance to make their mark on a very special year in pop punk and they have absolutely taken it with this album, affirming their place as one of the genre’s brightest lights.

Jack Glasscock

PH OTO: E M M A SWANN

DO NOT MISS

TRACKS OF THE MONTH

THE ALBUMS FROM THE LAST FEW MONTHS YOU NEED TO HEAR. .BRING ME THE HORIZON THAT’S THE SPIRIT “Bring Me The Horizon relish the fighting that comes with every step of an evolution. It’s that which marks out ‘That’s The Spirit’’s true majesty –so much more than just the next rung on the ladder.” Tom Connick

.MUNCIE GIRLS GONE WITH THE WIND The first song to be lifted from Muncie Girls’ upcoming debut deals with being fickle. This track is marvellous.

.ALLISON WEISS NEW LOVE

.BRUISING EMO FRIENDS Try as they might, the beaming smiles of Bruising can’t help but permeate their first, proper single.. ‘Emo Friends’ may twinkle but Bruising shine.

“Even in candyfloss-sweet moments, Weiss keeps it startlingly real: from the one that got away to the emptiness good advice can hold. Her lyrics are each a journey in themselves.” Heather McDaid

.CREEPER THE CALLOUS HEART EP “Not only does ‘The Callous Heart’ sound bigger, it’s got ambition to match. There’s a confidence to this growth: as Creeper’s platform rises, so does their ability to surprise.” Ali Shutler

BEHIND THE DEVIL’S BACK

Fightstar

eee FEAR NOT, FIGHTSTAR HAVEN’T GONE SOFT IN THEIR FIVE YEARS OFF.

.WAVVES V “‘V’ is fuelled by a tightly-honed sense of frenzy.

The internal chaos of the lyrics is complemented by resoundingly chaotic refrains. When disorder takes hold, ‘V’ offers the solution: ride the waves.” Jessica Goodman

FIGHTSTAR

.METZ ERASER Crashing about and mumbling the title, it sounds like METZ have just been woken up on the start of ‘Eraser’.

Snarling, chaotic and finding new ways to detonate.

‘I

s it still relevant?’ bellows the big rhetorical ghoul. That’s a completely understandable position to take, but there’s a cynical connotation that comes with that question.

Let’s agree to judge on a case-by-case basis, at least for the next few paragraphs.

So, straight off the bat with opener ‘Sharp Tongue’ everyone can breathe a sigh of relief as the heavy, pacey riff of the introduction signals that Charlie Simpson’s acoustic project hasn’t made the band go soft. There’s still grit to Fightstar’s sound and this is undoubtedly when they’re at their best. The undeniably brutal roar on lead-single ‘Animal’ is an example of where Fightstar absolutely nail it. The track sees them really let go of the reigns and go all in on a ludicrously heavy sound before allowing an almighty release in the form of a chorus you can’t help but nod to like the bloody Churchill dog. It’s the same story with the highlight of

the album, ‘Sink With The Snakes’. It features a riff that wouldn’t seem out of place on a metalcore record and a chorus that will be roared back at them. It’s a drastic, harsh transition, but it works beautifully.

Now, it’s no secret that Fightstar like to channel their inner Deftones and it’s this element that’s nestled between the hard-hitters, where Fightstar run the risk of sounding lost. The songs meander and the instrumentation makes no real effort to impact in the same way as the more aggressive tracks.

There’s also a lot less vocal exchange between Charlie and guitarist, Alex Westway on this album. Although Charlie’s voice is as velvety as always, this lost element isn’t there to save the small handful of more downtempo songs.

But, when Fightstar do let it rip here, they really deliver and that should mean there’s enough great material on this to keep them relevant in 2015. Jack Glasscock 51

risk a lack of captivation.

FOXING DEALER

Triple Crown Records

eeee

The remoteness of Foxing’s Vermont recording getaway resonates throughout ‘Dealer’, which tenderly touches on elements of both emo and post-rock.

But while the songs are undoubtedly approached with a much calmer attitude, for some this lack of urgency may sometimes

DEARIST

THIS HOUSE HAS NO WINDOWS

Close To Home Reocrds

eee

From the sombre ‘Blemish’ to painfully pessimistic ‘Fake’, ‘This House Has No Windows’ is a cynic’s shoulder to turn to. It’s brash, incredulous and has enough ups and downs to have you sobbing one minute, before thrashing your fists in all directions the next. As topics span love, loss and, inevitably, heartbreak, this isn’t just another record that’s regurgitating what’s come and gone. Dearist have their own niche: one which is both dreamy and emo. Emma Matthews

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That would only ignore ‘Dealer’’s more breathtaking moments, though. ‘Night Channels’ sends sombre piano chords and angular guitar twangs darting from ear to ear, while ‘Glass Coughs’ has the intense swell of a post-rock epic down to a tee.

A slight air of desperation could have surrounded this self-proclaimed ‘make or break’ record, but Foxing have swapped a visceral edge for a sense of melodic clarity. Whether or not it’s the full-length to send them stratospheric, this is an album for late nights and long ponderings that will warm the cockles of even the most sorrowful souls. Danny Randon

GOOD TIGER A HEAD FULL OF MOONLIGHT

Self-Released

eee A massive debut.

Though Elliot Coleman’s vocals may not be to everyone’s taste, Good Tiger have, by distilling down the frantic genre-blending of The Safety Fire, created something unique and compelling in ‘A Head Full Of Moonlight’. Not only that, but they’ve created something substantially more accessible, and in a fair world, they’d be expected to appear on end of year lists in not just the djent and tech metal scenes, but also in math and prog. Time

‘DEALER’ WILL WARM THE COCKLES

OF EVEN THE MOST

SORROWFU L will tell if this comes to pass.

Alex Lynham

ESCAPE THE FATE HATE ME

ElevenSeven Music

ee

‘Hate Me’’s opener is as you’d expect from Escape The Fate, but its successor has such an upbeat groove to it, the band’s ambition for a new level is clear. The issue is that most of it sounds a bit uninspired. The abandoning of some styles in order to progress into new territory is fine, but when it’s being done so well by the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, this just misses the mark. It has ambition, but it doesn’t have quite the focus to pull it off those heights they seem to aim for. Heather McDaid

GRAVE PLEASURES DREAMCRASH

Columbia

eee

“There is no more frightening and dangerous place on earth than the human mind and how it deals with its own breakdown,” said singer Kvohst, and it’s with this complicated look at the

SOULS.

psyche that Grave Pleasures aim to leave a mark that surpasses the ashes from which they rose, Beastmilk.

Their former band’s imprint is still there, but the edges have been worn off a little; it doesn’t quite smack you as hard, instead opting for catchier climes. They take a bit to find their feet, but when they do ‘Dreamcrash’ can be complex, a little surreal, and an interesting ride. Heather McDaid

THE TWILIGHT SAD

ÒRAN MÓR SESSION

FatCat Records

eee

Take Scottish lads The Twilight Sad in the year following the brilliant ‘Nobody Wants To Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave’ and plonk them in a great Glasgow venue, and slowly, they tweak their own music until you see a subtly different side of the band.

The bones of their album are still there, with one or two others thrown in for good measure, but it’s like being a fly on the wall way back when they were crafted, like sitting in on an intimate musical affair. Heather McDaid

AT WITH...

A SHORT CH

DINOSAUR PILE-UP

“W

e recorded this album in January and had the songs to record before that,” explains Dinosaur Pile-Up frontman Matt Bigland. “For us, it’s been a long journey to get to this point. We want people to hear where we’re at now as opposed to two years ago or whatever. And we’re really proud of it.”

WORDS: H EATH ER MCDAID

Where they’re at now sees them cranking things up a notch or two.

“There’s a heavier vibe to the album and I think people are excited about that, particularly fans of the band which is so cool for us. We’re as excited about it as they are. They want a real rocking album and they’re about to get one.”

It was snatched moments during their momentous touring schedule that their third album began to find a voice. “Our schedule was pretty tight with dates in Japan and India and stuff, so I ended up writing a lot of lyrics in hotel rooms and on flights,” he says. “I write a lot of material, so I kind of used that energy whilst on the road.”

From the chaos of their debut and their hooky follow-up, Matt has consistently pushed that little bit further on. “Looking across all the albums, I can see a really natural and positive progression without losing what is key to making this band what it is,” he explains.

While the album is markedly darker, the lyrics are a culmination of all that time spent on the road. “I wrote ‘Anxiety Trip’ about suffering from anxiety whilst in India,” he reveals.

“No sleep, crazy schedule, big show...

The line in ‘Nothing Personal’, “Sit in the grass in the holidays,” is about sitting in Hyde Park in Leeds. I wrote the lyrics to ‘Cross My Heart’ on a twelve hour flight back from Tokyo.

‘Friend Of Mine’ is about painkillers, not a girl.”

The sporadic topics feel fitting for an album that found its early signs of life in all pockets of the globe, but regardless of topic, the mission statement for the album is far more succinct: “We’re about to kick your ass for ever thinking heavy alternative rock had quit and gone home.” P

DINOSAUR PILE-UP ELEVEN ELEVEN

So Recordings

eeee

.DPU GET SERIOUS WITH ALBUM NUMBER THREE. ‘Eleven Eleven’ sees DPU taking a somewhat more earnest tack, stepping off the fence between goofy and serious, even mirroring this in the guitar tones used. Less wall-of-distortion in a Smashing Pumpkins or Deftones vein, it recalls Queens of the Stone Age to a degree and completely changes their characteristic chord progressions.

Lead single ‘11:11’ is actually a pretty good representation of the album, subtly taking a sound that is recognisably DPU and giving it a twist. The effect, at its most atmospheric, is to almost recall Tool’s ‘Aenima’ or Nine Inch Nails around the period of ‘With Teeth’. Despite these touches, their sound remains more full-on, straight-up rock than the influences they tap.

None of this is to say that Dinosaur Pile-Up have become less fun; they’re just fun in a different way, the way that loud, fast, give-a-fuck music is inherently exciting. Whether or not this turn resonates with a wider audience remains to be seen; it’s a bold step to take, and it needed to happen sooner or later. Alex Lynham

53

CHRIS A ALOLOL W PS PE TA Trans Records

eee DE AT H .T HE FO RM ER E TI CU R FO CA B M AN GO ES IT ALON E. into id before diving It should be sa t expect no do rk: wo this complex ly akin to Chris anything remote , Death Cab For nd ba r me Walla’s for he explains all, as Cutie. The title utation as rep his t os bo to sets out writer. well as a song a producer as ctive approach pe ros ret the Taking g analogue of manipulatin e collection of fiv s thi s, ing record ven almost dri ls, nta me instru der electric entirely by ten re fitting for a mo s em se , no pia ack. It may verge dtr un so vie mo with a lack of on monotony er t closing numb bu , on ssi gre pro n some salvatio ‘Flytobe’ offers callt curveball of with a pleasan r. As acoustic guita and-response its d intelligent as introverted an Loops’ runs the composer, ‘Tape and manding focus risk of over-de ard rew at gre ers off patience, but y ck with it. Dann to those who sti Randon

CHEATAHS MYTHOLOGIES

Wichita Recordings

eeee

SEAWAY

COLOUR BLIND

Pure Noise Records

eeee Bridging the gap between their full-length debut and most recent EP, ‘All In My Head’, throughout the recording of ‘Colour Blind’ Seaway insisted they wanted to adopt a “fun and playful feel”, and in essence that’s exactly what’s offered. It’s pop-punk in its purest of forms.

Songs are fresher; more up beat and put an optimistic spin on even the most pessimistic of problems with tangled riffs, kicking snares, and contagious melodies.

Emma Matthews 5 4 upsetmagazine.com

CHAIN OF FLOWERS CHAIN OF FLOWERS

ALTER

eeee Layers of chiming guitars, scuzzed up melodies, and potent rhythms power furiously and ceaselessly.

It’s as deep as it is dark, as multifaceted as it is both savage and glistening. With their anthems for the down and out, or the lost and confused, Chain Of Flowers might not have all the answers, but they know enough to drown out the questions and fears that daunt us.

Jessica Goodman

NOTHING BUT THIEVES NOTHING BUT THIEVES

RCA

eee Right from the start, Nothing But Thieves make their diverse influences clear: it’s not just a rock album. In essence incorporating so many different elements is a bold move. On the plus side, it doesn’t let the band be pigeonholed; but at the same time it doesn’t sound like they’re a group who have a solid idea of what they’re about. Emma Matthews

.CHEATAHS PUSH BOUNDARIES TO DRAMATIC EFFECT. Roaming through various recording spaces everywhere from London to Glasgow, Cheatahs have birthed a record that echoes outside of time and location. Sprawling and cinematic, yet equally raw and raucous, ‘Mythologies’ is a venture through everything the band are.

From the ethereal shoegaze of ‘Red Lakes (Sternstunden)’ to the droning chimes of ‘Reverie Bravo’, the London quartet forge a sound that’s entirely transformative.

Dark in nature, with topics often hazy in translation, ‘Mythologies’ is as expansive and intangible as the name it possesses. Serving variety and intrigue as dish of the day, the record excels as both real and rare.

Jessica Goodman

CROSSFAITH XENO

UNFD

eee

Genre-blending isn’t new, but it is a fine skill. Crossfaith can go from atmospheric orchestral offerings to a brutal onslaught of unrelenting metal. Cohesion isn’t on the cards, but ambition is. Their leading character, Xeno has got a goal in a confusing and ever-shifting world. There’s dark and light, a constant battle between the two, and if ever an album was to represent that erratic self-journey, then ‘Xeno’ is it.

Heather McDaid

ECHOIC TESTIFY EP

Self-Released

ee

Echoic could’ve done with holding onto the reigns a little longer. The opening, title-track of their ‘Testify’ EP is gold - stuttering, math-rock inspired riffing and a vocal range that sounds eerily like Brendon Urie’s theatre-school campness it’s a hell of a start,

but one pretty good song does not a band make. Might be time to get re-acquainted with that drawing board. Tom Connick

PETAL SHAME

Run For Cover Records

eeee .NICE ALBUMS DON’T FINISH LAST. The striking thing about ‘Shame’ is just how relentlessly nice it all is.

Not in a half-hearted, “oh, that’s nice” kind of way; ‘Nice’ in the sense that it’s nearly impossible not to be taken in by the record’s charm. Whether Kiley Lotz is caught in melancholy reflection, as she is on opening track ‘Camera Lens’, or singing sweetly about being in love on ‘Heaven’, there’s a deeply personal level of honesty to every word sung, leaving the subject matter entirely believable and easy to empathise with. Ryan De Freitas

PRESS TO MECO

GOOD INTENT

Best Before Records

eeee

BEACH SLANG THE THINGS WE DO TO FIND PEOPLE WHO FEEL LIKE US

Big Scary Monsters

eeee Philadelphia’s Beach Slang bring an undeniably infectious energy both live and on record with an agitated mix of emo-punk

sounds.

“No, These Streets don’t feel like love.

They’re not hungry or wild enough.” sings vocalist James Alex for the opening moments of ‘Throwaways’, introducing feelings of fiery young-adult dissatisfaction.

It waivers at times, but on the whole this perfectlytitled album delivers Beach Slang at their best: the anxious energy of youth set to dynamic arcs of musicianship. James Fox

Tech-metal hooks with poppy undertones may be initially unnerving, but throughout their debut full-length album, Press To MECO play two blindsiding hands in tandem. There’s the gargantuan grooves, djenty time signatures and pulse-pounding attention to technical detail, but then there’s also irresistible vocal harmonies and killer alt-rock choruses. This is a band with potential of stratospheric proportions, and the the songs to prove it. It’s all systems go. Danny Randon

ARCANE ROOTS

HEAVEN AND EARTH EP

Sony Red / Easy Life

eeee

It’s a ‘clean slate’ approach that’s helped shape Arcane Roots’ new EP, ‘Heaven and Earth’. The band’s latest offering isn’t completely out of touch with 2013’s ‘Blood & Chemistry’; their signature sound is still there: the cutting snares, soaring melodies and sombre appeal. That said, there has been a new approach towards creating: one which has seen riffs become bigger, heavier and more powerful. Arcane Roots may have started afresh, but it’s only the beginning.

Emma Matthews 55

LIVE WOLF ALICE

O2 BRIXTON ACADEMY, LONDON eeeee

.BRITAIN’S BEST NEW BAND ROUND OFF A MOMENTUS YEAR WITH A MASSIVE FUCK OFF LIVE SHOW.

T

Words: Ali Shutler. Photo: Corrine Cumming.

he pace of Wolf Alice has quickened of late.

From their celebratory teeter at their last London headline show – a sold out Shepherd’s Bush Empire – through to their summer of album love, it’s been one dizzying high after another. Tonight as they take to Brixton Academy, the final night of an eight date run, and the sixth sell out, it’s more than their love that’s cool.

From the opening whisper of ‘My Love Is Cool’, the hidden track that closes their debut album, Wolf Alice are predictably brilliant. Not wasting time with the ceremony of the evening, they let their back catalogue provide the bluster. From the joyful skip of ‘Freazy’, ‘The Wonderwhy’’s refrain or the clenched fist of ‘You’re A Germ’, they carve out a dynamic swathe.

On record the band toy with colour and shape but live, every moment is more vibrant. ‘Bros’ is amplified into an arena-commanding anthem while ‘Swallowtail’ is taken to the very edge before lashing out. Confident and commanding, Wolf Alice

5 6 upsetmagazine.com

are no longer an excitable rabble. Caught up to the runaway success that’s led them here, the band are still doing exactly what they please.

Party hats, glitter cannons and more than a few beaming grins on stage, tonight sees Wolf Alice host their own triumph.

As the emotional wrench of ‘Blush’ leads into the carnival abandon of ‘Giant Peach’, it feels like a celebration. This isn’t a lap of honour, nor is it a pinnacle. As the band leave the stage, audience wanting for more, there’s still much more left to say. P

BOOKING NOW

.CHVRCHES NOV 2015 TOUR The Glasgow trio’s biggest tour to date culminates with a stop at London’s Alexandra Palace, with special guest Four Tet.

TWIN ATLANTIC

PERTH CONCERT HALL eeee Words: Heather McDaid. Photos: Jade Esson.

.BRING ME THE HORIZON NOV / DEC 2015 TOUR Upset’s former cover stars head out in support of their new album, ‘That’s The Spirit’.

“I

still can’t believe we get to play to this many people,” grins Sam McTrusty.

Celebrating the 10th birthday of the humble Perth Concert Hall, it feels an odd sentiment.

This is the same band who just this year stormed the Hydro and commanded tens of thousands as second stage headliners at T in the Park. To most – on a stage that hosts Christmas pantomimes like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty – this is intimate.

But that’s kind of the point – as ‘Edit Me’ sets off with full throttle ferocity from the crowd, Twin remain humbled. They make a normal venue feel as intimate as a club, but as powerful as an arena. All four genuinely enjoy every moment, even when Sam apologises to Barry’s mum for shouting at her to

.BIFFY CLYRO 31ST DEC PRINCES STREET GARDENS, EDINBURGH What better way to bring in the New Year?

crouch down mid ‘I Am An Animal’.

It’s hard not to feel the same.

‘Crash Land’ strips it down, with a sing-along so stunning Sam barely utters a dozen words, while ‘Yes, I Was Drunk’ charges the room. ‘What Is Light? Where Is Laughter?’ is almost nostalgic, if Twin can yet be such a thing, and ‘Brothers and Sisters’ feels like the perfect sling-your-arm-round-astranger anthem.

As they take a haphazard, drawn-out, collective bow with crew (“It’ll be worth it, honestly,” assures Sam), there’s a feeling of anticipation over what they come with next. Even ‘Great Divide’ tracks feel like old, familiar friends.

This is goodbye to the album, in Scotland at least. And like a night surrounded by good friends, it’s fun; it can get a little rowdy at times, but you leave feeling pretty euphoric. P

T WITH...

A SHORT CHA

FORT MINOR

SCALA, LONDON eeee Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

L

aptop screens facing the crowd, there are no secrets about tonight’s gig. Returning to the UK for the first time in 10 years, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda has brought his Fort Minor project to London’s Scala for an intimate one-off show.

the music. Given a space of his own, there’s a sense of relaxed comfort underpinning every spat vocal and charmed secret. A stunning rendition of ‘Kenji’ sees Mike leap onto a speaker stack to get closer to the audience, his deliberate stare giving the performance an edged, soulsearching honesty.

Taking to the stage via juddering rumbles and chants of his name, Mike is an effortless host from the off. The shotgun openers of ‘Petrified’ and ‘In Stereo’ set the boundless pace for the evening as he leaps feet-first into it. Remixing tracks from 2005’s ‘The Rising Tied’ alongside Linkin Park cuts, Fort Minor hits like an arena spectacle while maintaining the club intensity.

Whether taking requests from the audience and putting them over a drum loop or playing guitar just because he wants to, tonight highlights the freedom that Fort Minor gifts Mike. More than a sideproject, it’s a magnified look at a man who helped steer a movement. While ‘Welcome’, all Florida keys and cultural sunshine, and the clenched fist celebration of ‘Remember The Name’ bring the evening to a glorious end, it’s a curtain call that leaves the door to Fort Minor on the latch. P

Two songs in, he announces that this evening isn’t just about the songs; it’s a chance for him to tell stories. True to form, studio secrets and anecdotes flow as freely as

DA MIKE SHINO

“P

eople forget what it was like in 2000 to come out with this band,” reflects Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park’s origins. “Back then people listened to a style but now, you cant even pull one genre from another,” he exclaims. “The most exciting music out right now is stuff that’s above genre.“

Linkin Park are currently winding down the album cycle for ‘The Hunting Party’ before disappearing into the studio to work on album seven. There are 50 demos already floating about alongside a sense that “our best work could be infront of us. I feel really inspired.”

Originally conceived back in 2005, Fort Minor was a way for Mike to explore his hip-hop leanings away from the band. “The first two Linkin Park albums were very similar in style, so a bunch of hip-hop songs didn’t feel like they would fit.”

An album, ‘The Rising Tied’ followed but as Linkin Park “decided to drastically broaden our horizons, every idea was appropriate,” Fort Minor fell by the wayside. “We opened the door to anything, so over the years any Fort Minorish ideas became a Linkin Park song,” explains Mike. However, “a few months ago I came up with this song ‘Welcome’. I listened to it and it was just me. It didn’t sound like Linkin Park. It didn’t sound like anyone else. It always just felt like a Fort Minor song, and it opened the door back up.” P Read more at upsetmagazine.com.

BOOKING NOW

.ALL TIME LOW FEB 2016 TOUR Another ‘biggest tour to date’, All Time Low’s ‘Back To The Future Hearts’ arena run includes a gig at The O2 in London.

BRAND NEW

ALEXANDRA PALACE, LONDON eeee Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Amie Kingswell.

.MUSE APR 2016 TOUR For their ‘Drones’ world tour, Muse will offer up “a true 360 degree audio/visual sensory experience”.

Blimey.

.DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL JUNE 2016 One of the UK’s biggest rock festivals 2015 hosted headline sets from Slipknot, Muse and Kiss.

G

bedroom.”

It’s a rare moment of calm one is the reckless abandon reflection from a band who, for a long while of those intimate June shows now, have managed to stay as Brand rooted in the present. A solo New return ‘Play Crack The Sky’ swiftly to London. follows, feeding the creeping Swapping nostalgia before the rallying Setlist the confines of the Brooklyn growl of ‘Mene’ draws a bold Bowl for Alexandra Palace’s line underneath. It’s here Soco Amaretto Lime expanse, tonight Brand New that Brand New really come Vices mean glorious business. into their own. Meshing old, Gasoline older and new effortlessly The Archers Bows Have From the opening rattle of together, tonight feels unifying Broken ‘Soco Amaretto Lime’ through and daring with a sense of Millstone to the extended question of timelessness thrown in for Sic Transit Gloria... Glory ‘You Won’t Know’, the band good measure.

Fades doesn’t waste a second with Okay I Believe You, but My needless indulgence. Sleek, As the rumbling wall of Tommy Gun Don’t elegant and devastating, Brand noise comes to a juddering Mix Tape New might be sticking to the conclusion for ‘You Won’t Degausser shadows but their rainbow Know’, the band collapse in Limousine (MS Rebridge) back catalogue is pristine. on themselves. Instruments Sealed to Me and bodies are thrown about, Jesus The double shot of ‘Millstone’ desperately wringing every Luca into ‘Sic Transit Gloria…Glory ounce. Jesse rips the flowers At the Bottom Fades’ ignites the arena choir from his mic stand and throws Sowing Season while the run of ‘Limousine’, them into the crowd, laying ‘Sealed to Me’ – a new song the show to rest.

Encore: written for Jesse’s wife – and Play Crack the Sky ‘Jesus’ holds the crowd on There’s no anniversary to Mene an emotional, gut-wrenching celebrate and no album to You Won’t Know knife point. And twists. promote. From the moment tonight was arranged until its “It’s hard to separate this,” haunting, dying throes, Brand starts Jesse, gesturing to the New simply do whatever they crowd before him, “from the fact we started want. It makes for one hell of a ride. P this band as teenagers writing songs in Brian’s 59

TELLISON

THE LEXINGTON, LONDON eeeee

T

Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

he smirking irony of ‘Letter To The Team’ is amplified as Tellison step into their second sold out London show in as many weeks. The false-step resignation lures listeners one way on record but tonight, whispered by a capacity crowd at The Lexington, there’s a glorious affirmation to that confession. From here on out, it’s a united front.

The band’s third album ‘Hope Fading Nightly’ has only been out a matter of days but it already feels classic. Drawing heavily from the front and toying with the reality of broken dreams, there are no guarantees about tonight. The one thing that can be relied on though, is that Tellison know how to write a bloody ace song. The reflective hammer of ‘Boy’ leads into the swaggering cry of ‘Helix’, showing off their shiny new hooks.

A polished one-two of ‘Say Silence’ and ‘Freud Links The Teeth and The Heart’ not only shows off the band’s shiny back

6 0 upsetmagazine.com

catalogue but gifts the older material with rediscovered fire. There’s a clenched fist determination to every movement Tellison now make.

The gritted teeth snarl of ‘Tact Is Dead’ sounds more vicious live, frustration and hope colliding in a fit of anthemic march while the twitching jangle of ‘Collarbone’ is urgent and weighted. ‘Tsundoku’ sees the band dropping back, the delicate heartbreak screaming out before it swells into a powerful twist.

“We’ve had the greatest time,” the band humbly declares before ‘Get On’ takes that sincerity and makes it glow.

“That’s an overwhelmingly positive response,” chuckles Stephen Davidson after asking how the room is. Later he declares tonight “ridiculous” and admits that it “means a lot to us.”

Sure, The Lexington might not be Wembley Stadium and maybe the band will never get close but tonight feels like a staunch victory. All together now, “Glory to the team and all who sail in her.” P

NO DEVOTION CARGO, LONDON

eeee

Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

T

he future of their record label is in doubt, their lead singer was robbed a few days previous and they’re a man down. It’s been a tough week for No Devotion but there’s only one story that’s going to be remembered after tonight. This one.

‘Permanence’ captures the sound of a band letting go and this evening, at London’s Cargo, that freedom transforms into something glorious. As the band collapse into the shimmering dusk of ‘Break’, mushroom clouds are projected onto the wall behind them. Destruction leading to a blank canvas.

‘Addition’’s promise of “If I make it to next year,” is turned into a defiant battle cry. Two songs in and it’s a powerful statement to offer but as the set progresses, so does No Devotion’s impress.

This isn’t simply a new chapter. It’s bigger than that.

As ‘Grand Central’ brings things to an arching close, No Devotion demand their own volume. Tonight sees them draw a line and decorate it with the dazzling and the dark alike. P

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