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YOU’RE NOT YOU ANYMORE NEW CD / LP / DIGITAL OUT NOW
ON ON TOUR TOUR IN IN NOVEMBER NOVEMBER Nov Nov 11 11 -- Patterns Patterns -- Brighton Brighton -- U.K. U.K. Nov Nov 12 -- Clwb Clwb Ifor Bach Bach -- Cardiff Cardiff -- U.K. U.K. ON12 TOUR INIfor NOVEMBER Nov Nov 13 13 -- Vintage Vintage Bar Bar -- Doncaster Doncaster -- U.K. U.K. Nov Nov 14 Rescue Rooms Rooms -- Nottingham Nottingham U.K. Nov14 11-- -Rescue Patterns - Brighton - U.K. -- U.K. Nov 15 15 -- G2 G2 -- Glasgow Glasgow U.K. Nov 12 -Nov Clwb Ifor Bach - Cardiff---U.K. U.K. Nov 16 -- Rebellion Rebellion -- Manchester Manchester -- U.K. U.K. NovNov 13 - 16 Vintage Bar - Doncaster - U.K. Nov 17 17 -- Think Think Tank Tank -- Newcastle Newcastle---U.K. U.K. U.K. Nov 14Nov - Rescue Rooms - Nottingham Nov Nov15 18 18---G2 The The Dome -- London London U.K. Nov - Dome Glasgow - U.K. -- U.K. Nov- 19 19 -- Joners Joners - Southampton Southampton -- U.K. U.K. Nov Nov 16 Rebellion - -Manchester - U.K. Nov 17 - Think Tank - Newcastle - U.K. Nov 18 - The Dome - London - U.K. Nov 19 - Joners - Southampton - U.K. EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVEVINYL VINYL VINYLCOLOR COLOR COLORAVAILABLE AVAILABLE AVAILABLEAT AT AT
upsetmagazine.com Editor: Stephen Ackroyd (stephen@upsetmagazine.com) Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden (viki@upsetmagazine.com) Associate Editor: Ali Shutler (ali@upsetmagazine.com) Writers: Alexander Bradley, Brad Thorne, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Heather McDaid, Jake Richardson, Jasleen Dhindsa, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Photographers: Brendan Walter, Mark Jaworski, Nick Karp, Nicole Guglielmo, Nolan Knight, Tim Easton Cover Photo: Brendan Walter All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Upset or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally. P U B L I S H E D F RO M
THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
EDITOR’S NOTE
IN THIS ISSUE... RIOT!
4 T H E US E D 8 PAC ES H I F T E RS 9 D I ET C I G 10 I RO N C H I C 12 D E A F H AVA N A 13 LO N E LY T H E B R AV E 14 P L AY L I ST
ABOUT TO BREAK
16 A L E X L A H EY 18 EC CA VA N DA L 19 M OV E M E N TS
FEATURES
20 W E EZ E R 28 BU L LY 30 JA M I E L E N M A N 34 K N U C K L E P U C K 36 J U L I E N BA K E R 40 T H E F RO N T BOT TO M S 42 ROA M
RATED
46 W E EZ E R 47 W H O I S S H E ? 48 JA M I E L E N M A N 50 J U L I E N BA K E R 52 B L AC K FOX X ES
When Weezer released their last full-length - the self-titled White Album - you’d be forgiven for expecting them to settle on a formula. Returning to their roots, they regained the critical acclaim they’d shunned, quieting up the ‘we preferred the earlier stuff’ crew in the process. But this is Weezer - expecting them to stand still is folly at best, plain stupid at worst. With their new album ‘Pacific Daydream’ they’re switching things up again, trying to connect with the masses. As Rivers and co. take this month’s cover you have to wonder, if they ever stopped, would they be the same band? Almost certainly not.
E V E RY T H I N G H A P P E N I N G I N RO C K
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CANYON FROM SPILLING HIS HEART OUT ABOUT THE DEATH OF A FRIEND, TO REALLY DIGGING DEEP INTO HIS BELIEFS AND LITERARY INFLUENCES, CREATING THE USED’S NEW ALBUM WAS AN INTENSELY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE FOR FRONTMAN BERT MCCRACKEN. WORDS: JASLEEN DHINDSA.
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t’s been three years since The Used released ‘Imaginary Enemy’, and in that time the band have lost and gained a member, released the magical and cathartic Live & Acoustic at The Palace, and now, what is arguably the best album they have ever put out. ‘The Canyon’ is their seventh full-length, and a behemoth 17 tracks of pure heartwrenching honesty and celebration of peace and pain, recorded directly onto tape. It’s the most intimate The Used have ever been. Choosing to start this album’s cycle with ‘Over and Over Again’ might seem like a strange choice when looking at the album as a whole. Its blinding joyful pop beats are strikingly different from the sheer punk and rock angst that drives the first half of the record.
“The place the band is coming from [now], we’re proud of what we’ve done, but at the same time, we understand that inspiration and creative insight comes from what you digest. You can think [that] everyone I’ve ever loved and looked up to and devoured their art and worshipped, that’s where I came from. So in this bigger way, we’re paying as much attention to how important our words are reflected through our inspirations, and how we’ve gotten to the place.” The poetic lyricism of the record is unlike anything The Used have done before, partially inspired by the passing of Bert’s good friend Traegan a year ago. “‘The Canyon’ is a big metaphor,” he says. “It started as a literal double meaning. What it takes to make a canyon is hundreds and thousands, if not millions of years of water cutting into rock and stone like a knife - pretty heavy imagery.
“Also, it’s a great time of year for cowbell, and a reminder that songs are fun and they should allow you to feel everything and anything,” he says with a smile.
“It’s hard for humans to understand deep time. We live in these short mortal lives. Provo Canyon [in Utah] where I grew up was the place where my whole childhood developed all the systems of thought. I grew up very religious, and a big part of my religious fervour and my feeling of spirit was appeasing the parental securities of the confines of family as a kid. When you find out your parents don’t know everything, it’s hugely distressing, and that’s the moment that God is dead.
‘The Canyon’ is undeniably a rock record. It’s the truest punk and rock the band have been for years. “Starting from the last thing we did, which was ‘Live and Acoustic’, everything about that rang true to why The Used still exist, because we still make music and play it live in a way that connects to the bigger picture that has evolved beyond the individual.
“[With] this canyon, I not only found my own peace of mind as far as what I had been taught growing up and my beliefs, but I also discovered music there and other ways of freedom. I spent a lot of time with Traegan up there and a lot of other heavy moments. I’ve had really, really heavy moments there with my dad, maybe within a mile of where Traegan
“The reason we went with ‘Over and Over Again’ first,” frontman Bert McCracken explains, “was because of the underlying message of the importance of being yourself. That’s a really generalised, trueto-the-point-of The Used theme that has been persistent since the beginning.”
took his life, so it represents something that’s so tip-of-the-tongue.” “I drove a lot in LA while I was recording, and whenever I’d have a sentence come to mind, that I thought was important, I’d pull over. I think a big part of it has to do with the growth as humans. [Five years ago] I quit drinking, I replaced alcohol with books in a big, big way, and I wanted to think about this record more like a book, and I wanted the story to be cohesive; we needed to climax at the end.” “The greatest stories are always retold,” Bert says of his literary inspirations. “Homer’s a perfect example of some of the best retellings, [so are] Ulysses and [the band’s 2013 EP] ’The Ocean of the Sky’. We are what we eat, there’s a lot of reflection of the world as it is, and how that affects humans created boredom and mortality. I feel like if you have the time, take the time. “Some of my favourite books, they force me to, like a physical painting, sit and stare at them and take them in. [Then] art becomes something else. Infinite Jest [by American writer David Foster Wallac] is a book that I always go back to over and over, and when I read it, it’s hard work. “I wanted people to take a look at the talismanic numbers and The Book of Revelation, and why the Syrian civil war is like the Spanish civil war is like the war in the Bible in the battle of Armageddon. If you have the time, it’s worth it.” Recording the songs onto tape was a new experience for the band that contributed massively to the album’s feeling. The record’s opening seconds are a raw 5
ABOUT TO
BREAK THE BEST NEW BANDS TH E H OT TEST NEW MUSIC
ALEX LAHEY
MELBOURNE’S ALEX LAHEY MAKES THE KIND OF SCUZZED-UP, HOOK-LADEN, TOTALLY RELATABLE TUNES IT’S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH. Hey Alex, how’s it going? Have you had a good summer? Hey! I’m well thank you. Funnily enough, it hasn’t been summer in Australia at all, it’s been winter but I managed to avoid most of it by going to New York for a month where I enjoyed actually being warm and getting outdoors! Congrats on your new album, ‘I Love You Like A Brother’. How long were you working on it and what sort of headspace were you in when you began? Thank you so much! The actual recording process didn’t take that long as it was recorded incrementally - it all took place between January and April of this year, between tours. The songs themselves were largely written in the last 12 months but one snuck in from a couple of years ago that didn’t go on the last EP but has since been revived. Initially, the prospect of making an album was pretty daunting, but once I got into it, I realised why people love making records and why how it can put you in an enjoyable, all-consuming headspace. Do you have a favourite spot to write your music? At home. I have a little writing room in my house - I live with my mum and my two cats. It’s at the point now there’s so much touring, there’s no point in me paying rent in a place I’m never at - so I’m lucky to have this spot at home and have a settled place to write, which I find much harder to do on the road. How did you find your time in the studio? I recorded this record with Oscar Dawson who produced my 16
previous EP - the relationship we had from that recording made sure it felt like a self-space and somewhere I felt comfortable I could be heard. Mostly I just found it fun, which is something that hasn’t been the case in the past… the pre-production has become part of my writing process so by the time I get to the studio I can hit the ground running, and that’s empowering. What’s the secret to making a good album, do you think? Giving it a red hot go and not thinking too hard about making a “good album”. But who am I to say what a good album is? Ha! Do you have a favourite moment on ‘I Love You Like A Brother’? My favourite song is probably ‘Backpack’ - I feel like I pushed myself in the arrangement and it’s one of the few times where being quite a lyrically driven writer that I allowed space from the words and let the music take over. Does ‘the state of the world’ impact your music, or are you able to shut it out? Fuckin’ hell - big question! I’m a firm believer that there’s an intrinsic link between art and life so of course there’s going to be some link - whether it’s the state of the world or my own world - that impacts on my writing. I think now more than ever; politics is impacting everyone on an individual basis, so the state of the world impacts me as a person, and therefore my music. I don’t actively try to shut it out though. You’ve loads of tour dates coming up, is there anywhere you’re
“WHO AM I TO SAY WHAT A GOOD ALBUM IS?” especially looking forward to visiting? I’m looking forward to coming back to the UK, having toured there earlier in the year with Tegan and Sara, to do my own shows and revisit some of the places we did on that tour. My band and I are also really excited about London Calling in Amsterdam at the iconic Paradiso. Do you have any tips for surviving weeks on the road? There’s this awesome natural cold remedy that my manager told me about called Sambucol which magically heals you if you take it the moment you start to feel a bit sick. It’s one of those things that works, and you just don’t ask any questions - it’s made of elderberry or something. It’s really good! P Alex Lahey’s album ‘I Love You Like A Brother’ is out now.
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WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. PHOTOS: BRENDAN WALTER.
WITH THEIR LAST ALBUM, WEEZER WENT BACK TO THEIR ROOTS WITH GLORIOUS RESULTS. THEIR FOLLOW UP, ‘PACIFIC DAYDREAM’, PROVES THEY’RE A BAND WHO CAN’T STAND STILL.
EEZER HAVE SPENT THE PAST TWENTY-SOMETHING YEARS DEFINING AND REDEFINING THEIR WORLD OF BIG MELODIES AND BIG EMOTION. CONTINUALLY SEARCHING OUT THE NEW, EACH ALBUM CAPTURES A SNAPSHOT OF A BAND ALWAYS ON THE MOVE. ‘Pacific Daydream’ once again sees Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards), and Scott Shriner (bass) burning things down and starting again. “This is what, album eleven?” grins Rivers. “We’ve done so many 180s we’ve covered the whole circle,” he smiles. He feels “pretty damn good” about what’s to come. Chapter ten was the White Album, a critical darling and fan favourite, which saw Weezer recapture and distil their urgency. Born from the desire to do something entirely new and different while maintaining the allure of the classic, it was created by “going back and forth, trying to figure out the best way to move forward and press the most pleasure buttons for everyone.” Tracks like ‘Thank God For Girls’ saw the band write over samples for the first time. “It feels different, and it’s definitely a new sound for Weezer,” Rivers explained just after the record came out. “But it’s still definitely a Weezer song.” There’s something about this band that manages to maintain a musical identity even when trying to kickstart a revolution. “Everybody thinks they’re going to go into the studio and be super adventurous and throw out the rulebook, but sometimes you just sound like you,” Pat shared last summer. The White Album felt like “a minor victory” for Weezer, but it didn’t change things enough. “The positive reception only confirms the direction we were already going in,” Rivers said at the time. “It feels like our audience trusts us now and we have a little more leeway to be experimental on the next record. The audience is ready to be challenged more.” “That’s why we wanted to do something more radical this time around,” Rivers muses - and that’s where ‘Pacific Daydream’ comes from. “It’s the first time we’ve managed to change the guitar approach. Instead of just the distorted eighth note, downstroke, power chord thing, we’re trying a bunch of different sounds. There are cleaner sounds, echo and reverb.” Usually, there’s a crunch to Weezer, a grungy guitar hero in every track, but this album sways, twisting in the melancholy beauty. “We’ll slow dance, head on my shoulder,” sings ‘Happy Hour’ just before reminding us that everything is going to be alright. The something different wasn’t always going to be the luscious transportation of ‘Pacific Daydream’, all iconic sixties inspiration of Phil Spector and Brian Wilson cut with their rock band comfort, though. “We set out to do The Black Album, which was to be the opposite of The White Album - very dark and experimental and weird.” As always with Weezer, it didn’t quite turn out that way. “There’s just something about the beach and the sun. That’s very much a 22
RIVERS CUOMO part of who we are, and it’s hard to turn the other direction, especially when I live right here by the beach in LA.” With the want to sound “like a four-piece rock band” central to everything they do, ‘Pacific Daydream’ is “like a seventies British punk band like The Clash playing The Beach Boys.” It feels like new ground. It feels like home. “Right after touring with Panic! At The Disco last summer, we started writing with the intention of making The Black Album,” says Rivers. “[However] some of the songs I wrote didn’t fit that album, so I put them in this other folder off to the side. As I kept writing, that other folder filled up first and seemed like a strong album unto itself, and that’s what became ‘Pacific Daydream’.” It was one of those things that just happened. “It wasn’t totally conscious or intentional. Yeah, we had the idea for The Black Album, but it was mainly ‘cos the last one was White. It just seemed fun to have that contrast. Writing for a theme like that is always very loose and pencilled in. We started going towards that and then, very spontaneously, these other songs started coming out.” Weezer were always going to chase excitement and the new. “Rather than try and combine all the songs, we kept them separate. The same thing happened when I was writing for ‘Pinkerton’ in ‘95. At the same time I was writing those songs, I was writing these country-pop songs that were totally different, so I just decided, let’s keep these songs in two separate piles rather than try and combine them.” It’s an assertive decision that’s stuck and is something they all agree on. “We like to keep each record very unified, to keep the albums as individuals. They each have their own limited pallet and their own feeling. It
doesn’t feel like we’re just picking the ten best songs regardless of what they’re about or what style they are. We want the album and all the songs to fit together and work, so the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. “The cool thing about that is we’re able to keep making albums very quickly because once we finish one album, there are already a couple of other albums that are nearly done.” How many partially sketched out albums are currently sat in the Weezer vault? “I don’t want to talk about that too much because I want to keep the focus, as much as I can, on the album we’re putting out. We still have those Black Album songs...” But Rivers doesn’t know if they’ll ever be released. “I think they will, but I’ve been writing recently, and now something else is happening with some more piano-based songs.” HE WHITE ALBUM WAS A RECORD ABOUT THE EXCITEMENT OF A DAY AT THE BEACH, engulfed in the joy of making new connections and having experiences that would last through the ages. It bounded about the place, carefree and untethered. ‘Pacific Daydream’ finds the band still at the shore, but with the sun setting on the horizon. The day is drawing to a close under the very present danger that this won’t last forever, so there’s a desire to savour this feeling and make the most of every moment. It started with the idea of a daydream. “That was my original inspiration,” Rivers explains. “This idea of this world we could create at a bar by the beach, where you can go escape with your friends. There’s still lots of sadness, but you can transcend it with the music and the camaraderie. I wanted it to be 23
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MAN IE LEN . E, JAM ID UT L E R H S S Y I A S: A L TH E W WORD Y . B D N R E O LL EC AVE FA NEW R EERS H GREAT F HIS P OODY O L B Y N A MA WITH WHILE AGAIN ONCE BACK
W
hile the likes of Hundred Reasons and Funeral For A Friend have gone to the big festival in the sky, and Biffy Clyro have relentlessly moved on and up stages around the world, Jamie Lenman, once the leader of underground heroes Reuben, has remained.
address, someone even posted a letter to my job in London.”
“You could say that was a little creepy, but they just wanted to get in touch however they could. It was two or three years since I played my last show and they just wanted to say, ‘Hey, we liked your band, and we hope we hear new music from you one day’. That low level of constant support from well-meaning people who just wanted to hear some more songs was very encouraging.”
“If someone said to me, ‘Lenman, what are you still doing here? You’re completely irrelevant. You belong to a dead scene. Why are you still pumping out these records?’ Well, fair enough. I sorta agree,” he laughs.
It resulted in 2013’s ‘Muscle Memory’, a double album split between folk and thrash which laid out the stall of everything he could do musically as a solo artist.
More last man standing than last one at the party, while others may be reforming and reliving the early noughties, Jamie has made sure that anything he has left to say, is going to be worth hearing.
“It was a complete fucktasm. I think I just made up that word, and I’m not going to find a better word for it. I was just trying every paint in the box without even thinking. That record wasn’t part of my evolution; it was a bizarre experiment.
“Pop music and rock’n’roll are all about youth. It’s quite absurd to have a 34-year-old man who is me, getting up on stage and rocking out. ‘Shit man, shouldn’t you be in a garden centre?’ And that’s where I’ve been today. I’m middle aged as fuck,” he grins. “Really my career should be over, but it still seems to be here.” After breaking up the band in 2008, Jamie walked away from making music, but fans had a hard time letting go. In the years that followed, “people would find my phone number, my email
“I hate it when people trash their previous album to talk up their new one, and it’s not at all what I’m doing, but I think, and I hope that ‘Devolver’ is a more satisfying, cohesive listening experience.” More restrained, streamlined and with a clearer focus, it brings together all the elements of his past and infuses them with something new. “I feel satisfied by it. I’m not sure that’s something I could say about ‘Muscle
TH E O
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Memory’. It was such a weird shape, and you couldn’t really grab hold of it. This one is a nice chunky block. You can hold it and say, ‘Here’s my album’.”
‘Waterloo Teeth’ and ‘Personal’ see him back on familiar ground - “they’re the two most similar songs to Reuben I’ve done since Reuben finished” - but they’re more than echoes of the past. Sandwiched between ‘Hard Beat’, a twitching introduction to a record that wants to mean something to somebody, and ‘Body Popping’, a warped disco in letting go, the whole of ‘Devolver’ fights against the expected. “I’ve never understood musicians or bands who can put out eleven of the same song on one album, let alone eleven of the same song again two years later. For me, it’s a natural part of the process to make something different to what has come before. ‘Devolver’ isn’t bizarrely different to anything else I’ve done.” But there’s enough new to keep it interesting. The title, like most of his album titles, is “a glib, tongue in cheek, poking fun at myself, title,” Lenman says. “I was devolving because I was going back to an earlier point but that only works if you take ‘Muscle Memory’ as an evolution of my musical style, but it’s a blind alley really. Ironically, I think this album has ended up being more of evolution than devolution. But ‘Devolver’ is a better title than ‘Evolver’, isn’t it?
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H U R T L E S S JULIEN BAKER’S NEW ALBUM
‘TURN OUT THE LIGHTS’ SEES HER EXPLORE SADNESS IN A WHOLE NEW WAY.
WORDS: HEATHER MCDAID.. PHOTOS: NOLAN KNIGHT.
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42 WORDS: JAKE RICHARDSON.
THE TRIALS OF LAST YEAR COULD HAVE SEEN POP PUNKS ROAM THROW IN THE TOWEL. INSTEAD, NEW ALBUM ‘GREAT HEIGHTS AND NOSEDIVES’ SEES THE BAND COMING OUT FIGHTING. CO-VOCALISTS ALEX ADAM AND ALEX COSTELLO TELL ALL…
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RATED WEEZER
TH E O F F I C I A L VE RD I CT
PACIFIC DAYDREAM
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that other album, but honestly, that’s okay,’ but there’s a contented assurance to ‘Pacific Daydream’; it’s happy to take you on this journey. Still lonely, still uneasy, it keeps its distance but never shies away from contact.
And this little world of Weezer’s, a bar at the edge of the beach, does feel joyful and full of hope. Sure, you’ve run away from something to get here, but there’s safety in the escape. The new flavours that find a home on ‘Pacific Daydream’ aren’t jarring, precious stones set amongst the gold. Instead, there’s confidence to each step forward and a delighted power in sharing the spotlight.
‘Mexican Fender’ falls in love with summer, new experiences and new light before ‘Beach Boys’ finds new reasons to adore the familiar and sees the band taking control of their own march on. ‘Feels Like Summer’ has Weezer at their happy/sad best, all deceptive yet plain speaking, while ‘QB Blitz’ sees them on
Eleven albums in and it feels like Weezer are comfortable in their own skin. Rather than burning bridges and fleeing the past, they appreciate the journey, relishing the space to tell stories and embracing their legacy while still doing exactly what they want. Ali Shutler
eeee
ollowing on from the nineties-infused swing of The White Album, Weezer once again buck the expected with ‘Pacific Daydream’. Laying big harmonies on thick and fast before building a gentle and beautiful world around it, Weezer’s eleventh album sees the band at ease with their surroundings and wanting to enjoy the sunshine a little longer. Often, it feels like you need to defend new Weezer. ‘Yes, we know it’s not like
“an epic quest, pursuit of happiness.”
AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR
THE ENDLESS SHIMMERING
Sargent House
eee And So I Watch You From Afar’s new album sees crescendos make way for quiet moments, and clashes of sound come together to form enthralling spectacles. The progression through ‘The Endless Shimmering’ can occasionally feel a bit tedious, but thankfully it’s never long before a swift shake-up. Darting between maniacal and relentless focus is the hook that ASIWYFA have relied upon for so long, and it’s yet to fail them. Steven Loftin
CONVERGE
THE DUSK IN US
Epitaph / Deathwish
eeee Having been players in the metalcore game for over a quarter of a century, Converge are still as brutal as ever. Their first release in five years, it feels like the time spent away has bred a completely new line of savagery. Kicking you in the face immediately with ‘A Single Tear’, ‘The Dusk In Us’ wastes no time in getting the flurries of riffs and barrage of drums going. Across the thirteen strong tracks, Converge constantly test their boundaries. The blood-thirsty screams of Jacob Bannon always try to push the chaos to the next level, be it a pained shout or an almost soundless roar; it’s all or nothing. Steven Loftin
HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD
FIVE
Dove & Grenade Media/BMG
ee They’re back. Those five masked chaps
WHO IS SHE?
SEATTLE GOSSIP
Father/Daughter Records
eeee
Who Is She’s debut LP ‘Seattle Gossip’, is a short but sweet encounter. With every track under three minutes long, there’s no room for boring and fun is at every corner. With nods to Jared Leto’s My SoCalled Life alter-ego Jordan Catalano, the relationship between Courteney Cox and David Arquette in Scream, and MySpace friendship rankings,
A SHORT Q&A WITH...
WHO WHO IS IS SHE? SHE? ROBIN EDWARDS (LISA PRANK), JULIA SHAPIRO (CHASTITY BELT, CHILDBIRTH), AND BREE MCKENNA (TACOCAT, CHILDBIRTH) HAVE TEAMED UP FOR ONE OF THE MOST FUN ALBUMS YOU’LL HEAR ALL YEAR
Hey guys, how are you all? Robin Edwards: To be honest I was feeling a little down today but I think it’s starting to turn around now. Julia Shapiro: I’m feeling pretty good but a little overwhelmed right now because I’m leaving for Europe tomorrow and I have a lot to do. Bree Mckenna: I’m doing super! I just had a little bit of a dramatic
‘Seattle Gossip’ talks about everything you would expect a Seattle girl-punk supergroup to talk about. It’s a 00s and 90s nostalgic trip, with relatable everyday-isms thrown into the mix. Channelling the raw surf pop-punk of Tacocat’s debut, most tracks are sugary delights with hooks at endless disposal, with the album’s closer ‘Angry Bitches’ is a grungy, feedback-ridden riot grrrl ode that the record would feel incomplete without. ‘Seattle Gossip’ will have you reaching for your butterfly clips in no time. Jasleen Dhindsa
week with a failed fling, but it’s all turning around now and I have a date with my ex tonight.
Whose idea was it for you guys to form a band? Bree: It was no one’s idea. It was an accident. Robin: I lived in the room next door to Bree and we started writing silly songs together in our spare time in our bedrooms. Julia: I was spending a lot of time with Bree and Robin at the time and wanted to get better at drumming, so I hopped on the drum stool and started hitting the skins. It must be a lot of fun, making music inspired by pop culture and the like - what have been your favourite subjects to write about? Bree: A lot of our songs were prompted by I Saw You ads, so that was a fun starting point. I think it goes without saying that My So-Called Life is a rich well to draw from. Robin: I’ve always been enchanted by Courteney Cox and David Arquette’s magical on screen romance in Scream, so that one was really fun to write. Do you think you’ll do a second album? Bree: We have a handful of new songs written, so probably! P 47