ISSUE 31
“I FEEL
APRIL 2018
BETTER THAN I’VE EVER FELT ABOUT A RECORD BEFORE IN MY LIFE. THIS IS NUMBER ONE” THE WONDER YEARS, P.24
DEAR READER,
ABOUT TO BREAK
LIVE
48 WATERPARKS 50 MARMOZETS 52 COMING UP
I’m gonna let you into a secret here, beloved Upset reader. When we kicked off this mad journey, 31 issues ago, we’d never actually designed a print magazine before. We just kind of made it up as we went along. Over that time, the mag has evolved to the point it’s no longer recognisable from those early issues, but the original vision was quite different to what our still blossoming InDesign abilities knew how to achieve. This month, we’ve ripped everything down and rebuilt it in that image - equal parts trashy ‘zine and shiny colour bomb. Almost exactly three years on from when we first started work on Upset, we’re impossibly proud of what we’ve achieved. We hope you like what we’ve done with the place. Another throw back to those early days are this month’s cover stars, The Wonder Years. When we came up with the idea of starting Upset, putting bands like them on the cover was the top item on our mission statement. Now we’ve finally done it. Full circle feels pretty good.
FEATURES
TEENAGE KICKS
STEPHEN ACKROYD, EDITOR
UPSETMAGAZINE.COM EDITOR: Stephen Ackroyd
(stephen@upsetmagazine.com) DEPUTY EDITOR: Victoria Sinden
(viki@upsetmagazine.com)
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Ali Shutler
(ali@upsetmagazine.com)
Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Jack Press, Jessica Goodman, Linsey Teggert, Rob Mesure, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin CONTRIBUTORS:
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Giles Smith,
Mitchell Wojcik, Sarah Louise Bennett, Steve Gullick
COVER PHOTO: Mitchell Wojcik 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. PUBLISHED FROM
THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
THIS MONTH RIOT!
4 FALL OUT BOY 8 TWIN ATLANTIC 10 MILK TEETH 14 PRESS TO MECO 15 DREAM WIFE 16 YOUTH MAN 17 BLACK PEAKS 18 PLAYLIST 22 DREAM STATE 24 TEENAGE WRIST 25 HAGGARD CAT
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36 CASEY 38 BLESSTHEFALL 40 DEMOB HAPPY 42 HOP ALONG
RATED
44 THE WONDER YEARS 46 BLACK FOXXES 47 HINDS
54 TIGERS JAW
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EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK
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FOB-MANIA INCOMING!
FALL OUT BOY’S ‘M A N I A’ SAW THE BAND EMBARK INTO A BRAVE NEW WORLD. NOW, THEY’RE BRINGING IT TO THE UK. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
ALL OUT BOY JUST KEEP GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER. From climbing up the line-up at Reading & Leeds (they’re headlining this year, FYI) to getting further from their basement punk past while keeping that special FOB spark, Pete, Andy, Joe and Patrick have never looked more in control - and they’ve never enjoyed being Fall Out Boy more. New album ‘MANIA’, with its broad strokes, neon inspiration and grinning excitement, feels like a return, even though it’s a departure. Gone are the self-imposed rules and arching themes, replaced by a free-flowing anything-goes attitude.
‘MANIA’ will be once Fall Out Boy are back in the familiar ground of arenas. “With pyro, you know at one beat in the song there’s going to be an explosion. That’s a lot of power,” grins Patrick. “You get so accustomed to playing some of those songs with pyro and stuff, that without them you feel ‘Oh, I have to be entertaining instead. This is so much more challenging’.” The ‘MANIA’ tour in the US was the first time the band had to buy their production, because they created a staging that couldn’t be rented or used by anyone else. With every movement, the band are heading off-road.
Fall Out Boy aren’t afraid to toy with their tracks, either. Live, ‘Young And Menace’ switches gear from jarring “Music keeps electro-breakdown JOE TROHMAN moving and keeps to piano-led marvel. changing,” starts Partly a nod to Patrick. “This is something that Pete has set as those people who dismissed it as all style no a tone for on a few records. If we were 15 and substance, “it’s still a song,” starts Patrick. “It’s coming together for the first time, what would not like a computer algorithm wrote it. I made we sound like? You’ve got to try and tap into a song, but also, I was reading an interview that. There’s an earnestness to it. That goes with The Beatles talking about ‘Paperback away after a while when you start worrying Writer’. This song was so studio heavy; it had about what’s cool or successful” 16 vocal layers and 12 guitars. To play that live you’d have to have a choir of other Beatles. The band are in London following a gig at Brixton Electric to celebrate the release of “It was a similar situation for ‘Young and ‘MANIA’. Tracks that have been out for less than Menace’. We’re able to play it full on live” twenty-four hours are greeted with the same “Mostly to prove it’s possible,” adds Joe - “but roar as anything pre or post-hiatus, and the when I’m doing it, I have to watch everything whole gig flows through the band’s winding I’m doing. I’m controlling my vocals with my history and scattergun present. Everything foot, then I have to switch guitar pedals, and feels at home, so imagine how comfortable I have to sing at the same time. I feel like
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BIG UP BIG UPS
Brooklyn foursome Big Ups are back with a new track, a new album, and a new UK tour. The noisy troupe are going to release their third full-length, ‘Two Parts Together’ on 18th May via Exploding In Sound. The release is preceded by the track ‘PPP’, and followed by a UK tour that kicks off in Leeds on 10th June.
ALRIGHT, GRANDMA
Fresh from releasing their most recent album ‘Going Grey’ and touring Europe, The Front Bottoms are releasing a new six-song EP. ‘Ann’ - due 18th May - is the second of the band’s ‘grandma’ EPs, following 2014’s ‘Rose’. The shorts feature re-recorded sparkly versions of some of the band’s oldest songs, previously only played live or on sketchy demo tapes.
LOVE IS DEAD
The follow-up to 2015’s ‘Every Open Eye’, Chvrches’ new full-length ‘Love Is Dead’ is due for release via Virgin Records on 25th May. It is an album about growing up and “coming to terms with the fact that there are great things in the world and there are awful things in the world and that you can’t get one without the other,” explains Lauren Mayberry.
BRODY DALLE’S COMING TO THE UK
A few more bands have been added to the line-up for Queens of the Stone Age’s Finsbury Park show, including Brody Dalle. The bill for the event, which takes place on 30th June, already featured the likes of Iggy Pop, Run The Jewels, Black Honey, and Deap Vally. They’ll now be joined by not only Brody, but Hinds, too.
LONELY THE BRAVE ARE A MAN DOWN
Lonely the Brave’s lead singer, David Jakes has left the band, saying that touring has “made things really difficult concerning my mental health”. The band are going to remain active however, with the remaining members revealing that “the four of us will continue with a new vocalist.”
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TONIGHT ALIVE. SMASHED LONDON’S KOKO AS PART OF THEIR UK TOUR. CHECK BACK NEXT ISSUE FOR THE FULL REVIEW!
PHOTO: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT DISRUPT THE NOISE 13
THE BEST NEW BANDS. THE HOTTEST NEW MUSIC.
SO UT H WA LE S
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WANT A NEW BAND CRUSH? CHECK OUT THIS LOT! >>>
THE FAIM
You’re going to be hearing a lot about The Faim this year. Pals with Blink182’s Mark Hoppus and Twenty One Pilots’ Josh Dun, their newest single ‘Saints of the Sinners’ is pretty special, and they’re in the UK this April.
FIV E- PIE CE DR EA M STAT E AR E MA KI NG WA FE ST IVA LS TH VE S, AN D WI TH IS SU MM ER , YO AP PE AR AN CE U CA N BE SU RE S AT LOAD S OF TO SE E TH EM WO RD S: JAC K SO ON . PRE SS.
SELFISH THINGS
This bunch from Toronto have just released their debut EP, ‘Vertical Love’. It’s a massive collection of tracks, with highlight ‘8147 Mulholland Terrace’ all but guaranteeing their place as one of 2018’s breakout bands.
F YOU WERE TO CREATE A BAND THAT WAS RAISED ON A CRASH DIET OF TOOL, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, AND FALL OF TROY THAT BLURS THE LINES BETWEEN THE POST-HARDCORE CRUNCH OF ALEXISONFIRE AND PRESELF-TITLED PARAMORE, WITH CHORUSES THAT COULD ERUPT AN ARENA FULL OF FANS INTO A SING-ALONG AT THE SAME TIME AS MOSHING IN A FRENETIC FRENZY, YOU’D PROBABLY FIND YOURSELF WITH SOUTH WALES QUINTET DREAM STATE AS THE RESULT. Following the release of their sole EP, 2015’s ‘Consequences’, 2017 saw Dream State sign to Australian label UNFD, home to Architects, Crossfaith, and Tonight Alive. Having recently released ‘In This Hell’, a song that wrestles with harsh and clean vocals as the band throw infectious riffs with breakdownheaviness that goes together like a house on fire, they’re sitting on the top of the pile of what’s to come in rock music, honest and raw lyrics in hand. “I’ve had a lot of people write about ‘White Lies’ and how it’s helped them through hard times, and how ‘In This
CALPURNIA
He’s mates with some of our fave bands - SWMRS, PUP - so it’s no wonder little ‘un from Stranger Things, Finn Wolfhard can lay down some charming scuzz-rock of his own. Calpurnia’s selftitled debut EP is coming this spring.
Hell’ has helped them battle anxiety,” says vocalist CJ. “It’s good not to be alone with it. It makes me feel good not to be alone with it, but it’s inspiring more than anything. It’s more inspiration for me to carry on with it, and try and help people through music the way it’s helping me.”
away from the screens of their smartphones and getting them to go to a gig is becoming increasingly more difficult, Dream State have gone from playing to a couple of their friends in Swansea to playing to a couple of hundred, and it’s only spurring them on.
She’s reflecting on these moments before a mid-tour set, which has seen their self-described “raw, energetic, and very honest” sound reach corners of the UK they’d never expected, their lyrics hitting home more than they could ever expect.
“I feel like rock is making a comeback, everyone is saying rock is dead, and I really don’t think it is. People are in a lot of pain right now, and rock music addresses lyrically deeper meanings in life, and that’s drawing more people in.”
“Lyrically I had to sit down and lock myself away and put into words what it feels like to have that anxiety and to have that feeling of being trapped and inside your head. Sometimes you have to get in your head and be in a dark place just to get those lyrics onto paper. It’s therapy, and it’s reflecting in fans.
With a sound made for arenas and a level of hype few bands achieve across their entire careers, Dream State are riding a wave of confidence that is infectiously inspiring.
“We had a fan who said he suffers from bad anxiety, didn’t really go to many gigs but he came with his mum. He was at the front row singing all the songs, and he felt like it was healing him. He got to scream and get all that tight-chested feelings off of his chest.” In an industry where stealing audiences
“In a non-egotistical way, I can see us doing bigger stages, headlining a festival. I’ve got to keep those positive thoughts and set those goals because if I don’t, then they’re not in sight. I believe we can get that far, we want to tour as many countries as possible and meet as many people as possible. We just want to gig and gig and gig.” P DREAM STATE PLAY BOTH THE GREAT ESCAPE AND DOWNLOAD THIS SPRING.
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THE WONDER YEARS ARE NO STRANGERS TO DELIVERING EXCEPTIONAL RECORDS, BUT, IN THEIR OWN WORDS, NEW ALBUM ‘SISTER CITIES’ “IS NUMBER ONE.” WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. PHOTOS: MITCHELL WOJCIK.
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HE WONDER YEARS’ NEW ALBUM ‘SISTER CITIES’ STARTS WITH THE BAND NURSING A VENDING MACHINE COFFEE IN A RAINY KYOTO. It ends with them missing everyone at once and longing for oceans. In the middle, two years of adventure. Of lessons learned, of friends found and of community extended. The whole trip is about “connectivity and empathy and understanding,” offers Dan Campbell. Those visions of life might be one small part of a much larger story, but it’s in those details that The Wonder Years shine. To them, everything matters. Stray dogs, paper cranes, wet matches. Those oceans, they capture the band’s glass half full to overflowing. “The earth is unified by water, that’s something that connects us to one another in a geographical sense,” Dan starts. “Your continent and mine could be considered to be divided by an ocean. I am considering them to be united by an ocean.” It’s an outlook that tears through the record; a bright side that knows things feel dark. And sure, The Wonder Years have always been about unity. They’ve celebrated what we have in common. They’ve always tried to
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be the friend you could turn to or lean on. From the basements and suburban streets, the band has tried to make good in face of the bad and told stories that carry, at the very least, a hope of resolution. But not on this scale. The eleven tracks of ‘Sister Cities’, each one confident and comfortable in their own space but tightly gripping the thread that’s passed along, manage to dig deeper and reach higher. With the stories set in the months and years that followed ‘No Closer To Heaven’, it sees the band constantly on the move and constantly somewhere new. Inspired by the never-ending journeys, the record also comes with a book of photographs, tour journals, poetry and drawings. “I had this vision in my head of, on release date, a kid taking the LP, putting it down on their turntable, dropping the needle and then opening the book. Then as the songs play, they’re seeing the photos of the places we’re singing about. They can stop, go to the tour journal and read my actual thoughts from that day. They can have this full, immersive experience.” As the band get bigger and the songs more global, The Wonder Years still value that
individual. They care about everyone all at once, and so that’s who they’ve written an album for. ‘Sister Cities’ doesn’t spend much time dealing with the cause and effects of the world we all find ourselves in like ‘No Closer To Heaven’ did, all fire and frustration. Instead, it finds itself “staring at the majesty of humanity. This looks more at people. It looks more at interpersonal relationships and connection with other people.”
T
HE IDEA STARTED WHILE THE WONDER YEARS WERE TOURING THE UK WITH ENTER SHIKARI IN EARLY 2016. They had only just released ‘No Closer To Heaven’ so “we weren’t thinking about a new record yet”. What they were thinking about though, was all the touring opportunities that had begun to pop up.
this dream of making a documentary about all the touring we were doing, all the places we were going, and it never really felt particularly feasible. “Then I started thinking, well, we always have a fantastic photographer with us, there’s usually someone talented, so you know what, let’s take a bunch of photos. We started spit-balling that idea and, as is my normal behaviour, the gears in my brain started churning as I lay in my bed at night after those Shikari shows. What else can we do with this?” Quickly the idea to keep a journal of everything to go alongside the photos fell into place. “Obviously there can’t be a narrative presupposed because it hasn’t happened yet, but what if, after this world tour, I’m able to revisit these journals and look back at these photos and see if we
can sculpt that into a record somehow? Maybe these are the life events that I’m going to sing about next time. That’s when we decided to see where it could take us. Let’s go document everything and see where it goes.” The Wonder Years like to make sure they get things right. “We want to write a better record every time we write a record, so it has to be more ambitious, right? It can’t be the same or less, or it wouldn’t be a better record.” In everything the band do, from interviews to artwork, The Wonder Years want it to have value. “We put in an immense amount of work to make sure that happens. We’re not comfortable making something that doesn’t feel valuable. We’re going to push hard to make art that has value. If we don’t feel capable of that, we won’t
“We were in England, and we knew we’d be doing a tour in the States with Letlive. (RIP), and we knew we had opportunities coming up to do Australia and Japan and Europe, and then South and Central America for the first time. We always had
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. THE ONLY VERD ICT YOU NEED
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BLESSTHEFALL HARD FEELINGS eeee
ONCE THE MOST IMPORTANT POP PUNK BAND ON THE PLANET, THE WONDER YEARS HAVE PROGRESSED FAR BEYOND ANY SIMPLE GENRE. WITH THEIR LATEST FULL LENGTH, THEY’RE HITTING A WHOLE NEW LEVEL.
“I
feel like if you’ve been following The Wonder Years, this is where it’s been going,” promised Dan Campbell as they announced their sixth album ‘Sister Cities’. The band have a habit of telling the unflinching truth and from the downpour of ‘Raining In Kyoto’, they’ve gone and done it again. There’s an instant familiarity to ‘Sister Cities’, a warmth in old friends and a comfort that while everything’s changed since you last crossed paths, you’ve shifted together.
in being with yourself, staring at the ground and kicking up dirt, it bursts, and it decays while ‘We Look Lightning’ feels eternal. Subdued and manic, it embraces everything it can. ‘Sister Cities’ is bigger than The Wonder Years have ever dared to dream while losing none of that heartfelt intimacy. ‘Pyramids of Salt’ creeps under skin and dances on the back of necks, building something from frustration, blame and whispering uncertainty before it collapses, pulling you down with it.
The Wonder Years have always been excellent at closing tracks but the SISTER CITIES six-minute-plus HOPELESS RECORDS The spirit of The adventure of ‘The eee e e Wonder Years Ocean Grew Hands IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL remains unmoved To Hold Me’ picks LIKE... GOOD THINGS, - a celebration at your soul and PROBABLY of humanity wraps itself around and strength in the bones of your unity - but ‘Sister being. Finding the Cities’ sees the band at the edge of band invigorated. They plough forward everything, the future is as uncertain as into the big, wide, unforgiving world, it’s ever been and the present isn’t much bubbling with excitement. better, but there’s a resolve to carry on. Triumphant in knowing that through it Full of purpose and absolved of selfall, we haven’t torn ourselves apart. doubt, there’s an absolute belief in the space that each track takes up. The Over the past decade-and-a-bit, The Wonder Years have never been so sure Wonder Years have built something of themselves as they are on ‘Sister special in telling stories and taking Cities’, weightless and everywhere at chances. ‘Sister Cities’ is their crowning once, it finds a home in the kindness achievement. As all the pieces fall into of strangers as it moves, unblinking place, they’ve created something worth and unburdened. ‘Flowers Where Your following and something to believe in. ALI SHUTLER Face Should Be’ finds an uneasy peace
THE WONDER YEARS
When an established band takes a sonic shift, it’s always going to cause a rumble in the cheap seats. While the established wisdom is a band shouldn’t stand still, it often feels a lot like that’s more a case of saying one thing and wanting the opposite. But chasing down fresh horizons is something Blessthefall should be commended for. While ‘Hard Feelings’ finds joy in the melodic moments, it still packs an almighty punch. Beau Bokan’s vocals mesh perfectly with the evolution - and that’s exactly what this is. Change is for the better. DAN HARRISON
CASEY
WHERE I GO WHEN I AM SLEEPING eeee Casey’s ‘Where I Go When I Am Sleeping’ is a record of pain. You don’t need to know the details of the afflictions that vocalist Tom Weaver suffers from to feel the weight; the struggles are front, centre and scarlet-soaked. Scratched vocals and furious colours run the show as the band point the finger, wallow in pain and try to find a way out. Disappointment and frustration at their own shortcomings crackle like lightning before they lash out with thunderous rage. It’s a record of pain, sure. But more importantly, it’s a record about wanting to be better. ALI SHUTLER
CONJURER MIRE eeeee
If you’ve been paying even the slightest bit of attention over recent weeks and months, you’ve probably seen the buzz for Conjurer’s debut full-length building. Initial promise following the band’s second EP back in 2016 has turned into a tsunami of attention - every bit of it deserved. Metal that paints itself in varied hues, the sheer creativity for a band on their first album is astounding. That it still feels like there’s further potential to be realised is nothing short of stunning. DAN HARRISON
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ON STAG E. IN HERE .
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LIGHT UP LONDON’S OLD BLUE LAST. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
A
flurry of synthesised notes signals the beginning of Waterparks’ set, and from the very first sound, a generation filled with adoration for the Texas trio is let loose. Considering those at the barricade were queueing since 5am in order to be front and centre for this exact moment speaks volumes for exactly what Waterparks have created. Since gaining popularity in waves, Waterparks have been in the spotlight for their stunningly bright and sugary take on pop-punk - rife with electronic leads and pure melodies. None of which is a bad thing. At all. But this creation has drawn its naysayers and, tonight at London’s KOKO, Waterparks are here to silence them. As opener ’11:11’ reaches its flurried climax, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that every word is being bounced straight back at frontman Awsten Knight. Every quiet moment that, on record, creates a passage to the eruptive chorus instead acts as breathing room for the
T vying crowd to offer their input. One thing that becomes abundantly clear at a Waterparks show is you can forget the age-old expectation of poppunk bands being dominated by guitarwielding singers. Awsten is a hybrid who bounces between pop-sensation leading agent, and the more normalised trope, with spectacular ease. The mist of the stage creates a silhouette of a leader of a movement, one who’s not afraid to offer everything underneath a poptastic exterior, complete with the venom of punk. The palpable chemistry between the band and their fans is where the magic of Waterparks lies. As Awsten orchestrates the crowd, guitarist Geoff Wigington bounds, spins, jumps and just about any other form of physical movement from each side of the stage, encouraging the baying throng. Powering through the majority of ‘Entertainment’, the isolated acoustic ‘Lucky People’ shows the behemoth can have its tender moments. The unstoppable power within the tracks, be it a pulsating beat, or snarling chords, truly lies in the emotional energy of the words and once these are presented unfiltered, it all makes sense. Ending with ‘TANTRUM’, wherein Awsten takes aim at, well, pretty much everything, this tour is clearly where Waterparks are showing they’re ready for war. They’re here to reinvigorate the world with their electronic-fuelled fury of melody, and the army behind them will make sure you know about it.
he last time we saw The Winter Passing, they were stretched out across a stage at 2000 Trees Festival. Tonight, the first date of their UK tour, things are a bit more cramped as the band pile into London’s Old Blue Last. These close quarters just dial up the wondrous intensity though. “I just need to keep telling myself that everything’s kind of okay,” reasons ‘Like Flowers Ache For Spring’ and for the rest of their set, The Winter Passing seem determined to double down on that truth. On record the band burst with a sparkling enthusiasm that’s both reassuring and contagious. Live, it lights up the room.
‘So Said Virginia’ binds everything together, bristling gang vocals making way for driving reflection before ‘Significance’ takes a deep breath and continues the adventure. In bloom and pouring out their hearts, The Winter Passing find a robust, gritted teeth strength in their vulnerability. They hurry through their repeated onstage thank yous, nervous or just excited to be back, but that never overflows into the purposeful dance of the songs. Constantly searching and doused in a rainbow sheen, every movement is deliberate, every explosive whisper or heartfelt cause for celebration is joyous and every scarlet story glistens with an unwavering power. ALI SHUTLER
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