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Memphis May Fire
Crawlers
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Stand Atlantic State Champs Taking Back Sunday
NOAHFINNCE. “I’m a massive attention seeker”
JUNE 2022 Issue 77
RIOT 4. TAKING BACK SUNDAY 8. PEANESS 10. NORWAY HOME 16. STATIC DRESS 18. GHOST ABOUT TO BREAK 20. GILT 22. CRAWLERS FEATURES 24. NOAHFINNCE 32. STAND ATLANTIC 40. STATE CHAMPS 44. MEMPHIS MAY FIRE 50. DE’WAYNE
Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Dan Harrison, Jack Press, Kelsey McClure, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Brooke Marsh, Christopher K. George, Derek Bremner, Frances Beach, Kay Dargs, Natalie Escobido, Olli Appleyard, Patrick Gunning, Sarah Louise Bennett, Tom Berridge P U B L I S H E D F RO M
W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L
All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.
HELLO. Exciting bands are always worth a magazine cover - but what do you do when you have two that fizz and bang so much you want to stick them on the front of an issue at the same time? Easy - you do both. This month’s edition of Upset has two separate cover features. Stand Atlantic have been wowing us with their technicolour brilliance for a while now, while NOAHFINNCE is more freshly through the door, but no less
vibrant. You’ll find both in this issue, and can pick up two different variations featuring each of them on the cover in your usual stockists. Bigger is always better, right?
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
Riot.
THIS MONTH >>>
There’s something exciting happening in Norway - a group of bands at the forefront of a thriving new wave of emo. Spielbergs, Onsloow and Flight Mode check in. p.10
EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK
The Big Story
“With any record, the second that it’s released, it’s no longer yours” Twenty years since the release of ‘Tell All Your Friends’, Taking Back Sunday are looking back on an iconic album. Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: Natalie Escobido, Christopher K. George.
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Olli Appleyard runs through Static Dress’ ambitious debut album, from front to back. p.16
Ghost embrace their most theatrical urges at London’s O2. p.22
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way
Flight Mode: Sjur Lyseid, Eirik Kirkemyr, Anders Blom
Nor There’s something exciting happening in Norway - a group of bands at the forefront of a thriving new wave of emo. Spielbergs, Onsloow and Flight Mode check in. Words: Rob Mair. Photos: Kay Dargs, Brooke Marsh.
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Onsloow: Mathias Nylenna, Johanne Rimul, Lasse Berg, Morten Samdal
home I
Spielbergs: Christian Løvhaug, Mads Baklien, Stian Brennskag
f they like you abroad, you get Norway for free,” comes the disembodied voice from Flight Mode’s rehearsal studio. The band are in the middle of their fourth practice ever, even though with the release of EP ‘Torshov ‘05’, the Oslo-based group have a perfect eightsong discography. Vocalist Sjur Lyseid jokes they’ve recorded more singles than they’ve had band practices. If it seems like a back-to-front way of approaching music, then little about making emo-inspired music is straightforward in Norway. With few cities to play in, and a small but dedicated fanbase, Norwegian artists must focus their efforts abroad to get attention. Sometimes acts, scenes, and trends stick – ask the casual fan on the street, and they might mention A-Ha, Sigrid or even black metal – but Norway’s geography is not conducive to supporting an indie-rock scene like those found in the UK or the US. Yet, against the odds, the Norwegian emo scene is thriving, with a handful of acts on the cusp of breaking out. Onsloow’s Mathias Nylenna calls this ‘the third wave of Norwegian indie-
rock’. Oslo’s Spielbergs are the most advanced of the acts associated with it, yet other bands are garnering attention too. Both Flight Mode and Trondheim-based Onsloow have met with overseas acclaim over the last 12 months, while Killer Kid Mozart, Lazy Queen and This Daze continue to build their profiles nationally and internationally. So, what better time to bring together these titans of Norwegian indie-rock to find out just what the frick is going on?
T
o understand the current landscape, you need to go back two decades. Norway used to have a thriving hardcore and emo-core scene, of which Spielberg’s drummer Christian Løvhaug (as part of Dogpile) and Onsloow’s Mathias Nylenna (Angora Static) – alongside many of today’s players – were part. Fast forward ten years, and, echoing the burgeoning emo revival scene in the States, a more nuanced sound emerged. It centred around Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson, who were picked up by doyens of the scene Count Your Lucky Stars.
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NOAHFINNCE is a superstar in waiting. And he’s not waiting for anyone. k Gunning Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: Patric
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32 Upset
Roaring back with their best album to date, Stand Atlantic are back with a clear message - Fuck Everything And Run. ge. Words: Jack Press. Photos: Tom Berrid
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kings of the new age.
T
he throne has been vacant for a while in the pop-punk scene, and all of a sudden, there is a new wave of artists staking a claim backed by radio play and TikTok hype. But, for second-generation pop-punk bands with life still in them after Warped Tour ended, their time is now too. It’s like Game of Thrones but with snapbacks and Super Soakers. The East Coast’s very own State Champs are claiming the crown for their own with new album ‘Kings of the New Age’. It’s not a very subtle title, but it’s absolutely backed by 11 tracks that are all killer, no filler. There are a couple of big-name guest features, and plenty of vibrant, hooky choruses as the band embrace their youth following a rocky few years and their more mature, glossier previous album ‘Living Proof’. ‘Kings of the New Age’ is the chance for State Champs to catch the wave that is breathing new life into the genre rather than be gatekeepers of a scene that sometimes seems quite exclusive. It’s an important album for them and another jewel in the crown for the next generation of pop-punk. Lead singer Derek DiScanio has the lowdown.
Four albums in and State Champs are laying claim to the pop-punk crown. Words: Alexander Bradley.
It’s been four years since ‘Living Proof’; does it feel like a long time? To us, it feels like a lifetime. That being said, we had so much time to make the album. There were no deadlines, so we wrote so much music and took the necessary time, and it shows on this one. We had the time to go “nah, this is not our best” and restart things, rework songs, and work with different people. We never had that time before; we always had deadlines. It [was] always crunch time, and you’d overwork yourself a bit, but it was nice to be a lot more stress-free this time so we could write double the amount of songs we would and have an all-star line-up of tracks for this album. With both the title and the Upset 41
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After a period of self-evaluation and going back to basics, Memphis May Fire return a band reborn. Words: Steven Loftin.
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