Dork, April 2022 by Dork

d new BRane day on

oor d t u o tival fes

sports team the pigeon detectives the snuts holly humberstone

HONNE

CONFIDENCE MAN tribes

alfie templeman dream wife the blinders cassia the mysterines lauran hibberd dylan john thomas

kid kapichi

stone

admt coach party courting finn askew kynsy lime garden l’objectif molly payton porij the lounge society the royston club sfven zuzu 5 STAGES | VIP AREA | STREET FOOD | CRAFT BEER

TICKETS AT LIVEATLEEDS.COM

£55 +b f

Index. Issue 64 | April 2022 | readdork.com | Down With Boring

WHAT'S ON THE STEREO? FONTAINES D.C.

Skinty Fia They’re on the cover of the issue of Dork, and our spell check wants to change their album title to Skinny Fiat. Sounds like a radically different album to us.

SUNFLOWER BEAN

Headful Of Sugar Honestly it’s surprising anything else has elbowed its way onto the stereo this month, we’ve been hammering this one so hard. New York trio Sunflower Bean are one of those bands that always hits it out of the park, and their new record’s no exception.

MALLRAT

Rockstar ‘Rockstar’ was a very early taster from Mallrat’s debut album ‘Butterfly Blue’, which has just been announced for May, and one of the very best singles of 2020. Wistful romance with an irresistible bite, “[it] reminds me of a mix between Lana Del Rey, Kacey Musgraves and Violent Soho,” she explained at the time.

CHARLI XCX

Crash The title track from Charli’s new album sounds like a more poptastic take on The 1975’s ‘i like it when you sleep...’ era bops. We knew hanging around with George would bring good things. If only it was a bit longer, we wouldn’t have to keep looping it so much.

EDITOR'S LETTER

WE’RE NOT DUE to review Fontaines D.C.’s new album ‘Skinty Fia’ until next issue - still, you can probably gather some kind of impression from their appearance on the cover of the magazine you hold in your hands. It’s a rare experience, but there’s something uniquely magical about listening to an album for the first time, and feeling that creeping suspicion it’s something special. It’s fair to say nobody would argue if you were to suggest it’s the band’s best work to date. That’s why we’re delighted to have them on the front of Dork for the very first time. It’s taken a while, but the best things come to those who wait. Elsewhere this month, there’s a cast of Dork favourites at every turn. Walt Disco drop a debut album that’s worth a whole galaxy of stars, such is its bombastic excellence. Wallows, The Regrettes and Sea Girls are all back (! Back!! Back!!!) too - we catch up with them all this issue. Flick a few pages and you’ll find our old muckers Thomas Headon, Chloe Moriondo, Confidence Man and Pillow Queens, while in Hype, we’re introducing Daine, Dora Jar and Sprints, amongst others. Oh, and someone called Charli XCX has dropped a new album full of pop superhits? Might be alright. Worth checking out. On an uncharacteristically serious note, it’s been a few weeks where, frankly, music has served as an escape from the world around us. Big, scary and awful things. Our hope is that being able to appreciate the ridiculousness, excitement and release contained within these pages might provide a bit of relief from what’s going on elsewhere - but in no way does it take away from what’s going on outside those doors. Granted, we don’t distribute a whole load of copies to Ukraine, but our thoughts are with them nonetheless.

BAND INDEX.

Aldous Harding Alfie Templeman alt-J Bodega Charli XCX

Wet Leg The most exciting new band on the planet have made the most exciting new album on the planet. Who would have thought it? Yeah, all of us. Go figure.

The Ninth 53 Wave

Editor Stephen Ackroyd

55 Pale Waves

Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden

3, 52 Phoebe Green

Pillow Queens

18, 56

10 Priestgate

53 PUP

Confidence Man

The Queen’s 14, 55 Head

Crows

56 The Regrettes 22 Remi Wolf 25 renforshort 12, 55 Rex Orange 20 County

Daine Dora Jar Drug Church ELIO Enumclaw

24 Sea Girls

Florence + The Machine

Foals

Folly Group

Fontaines D.C. GAYLE HAIM Inhaler Joesef King Princess

LCD Soundsystem

readdork.com

Nilüfer Yanya 7

CMAT

The Lazy Eyes

‘Editor’ @stephenackroyd

Chloe Moriondo

Krush Puppies

Wet Leg

The 57 Mysterines

SEB Sports Team Sprints Swim Deep

24 40 11 16 56 44, 57 20 7 24, 55 57

Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young Scribblers Abigail Firth, Alex Bradley, Connor Fenton, Dan Harrison, Edie McQueen, Finlay Holden, Jake Hawkes, Laura Freyaldenhoven, Neive McCarthy, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Anthony Pham, Danielle Parsons, Dillon Matthew, Jamie MacMillan, Jimmy Fontaine, Jordan Curtis Hughes, Lissyelle Laricchia, Neema Sadeghi, Patrick Gunning, Rich Gilligan, Sarah Louise Bennett

PUBLISHED FROM

3, 26

Sundara 57 Karma

20 Sunflower Bean 16 Superorganism 62 Tessa Violet 15 Thomas 24 Headon 53

Wallice

53 3, 20 20 20 6, 53 20

Wallows

48, 57

7 Walt Disco

34, 57

The Let Go

55 Warmduscher

LIFE

11 Wet Leg

Mallrat

3 Wolf Alice

55 3, 20

WELCOMETOTHEBUNKER.COM

UNIT 10, 23 GRANGE ROAD, HASTINGS, TN34 2RL

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.

Mimi Webb

20 Yard Act

mxmtoon

20 YUNGBLUD

GET EARLY ACCESS, OUR DIGITAL LIBRARY, EVERY ISSUE OF THE MAGAZINE *AND* HELP SUPPORT OUR QUEST FOR MAXIMUM POP NONSENSE!

This Month. #64. APRIL 2022.

Intro. 06 THOMAS HEADON

Indie pop’s cheeky wonder gone Down Under (then back again), Thomas Headon’s new EP ‘Victoria’ sees him stepping up to the plate like never before. All of which seems a good reason for a catch up, if only we can get him to concentrate on the matter in hand...

CHLOE MORIONDO

Dogs are good. Chloe Moriondo is good. Chloe Moriondo has written a dog themed EP, ‘Puppy Luv’. It is good. Wag tail. Woof woof.

DRUG CHURCH

Not just a great band but one with something to say for themselves. Drug Church’s new album demands attention.

CONFIDENCE MAN

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented sounds. Confidence Man have been quietly working away in their chaotic Brisbane home, but now they’re more than ready to share their infectious dance moves with the globe and create a summer to remember.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... RENFORSHORT

You know what’s easier than following around your fave pop stars, day in, day out, to see what they’re up to right that minute? Asking them. Here’s what up-and-coming alt-popster renforshort‘s day looks like.

PILLOW QUEENS

Pillow Queens’ debut album made moves in all the right ways - quietly stacking up the kind of rave plaudits that bed in firm foundations for whatever comes next. with second album ‘Leave The Light On’ now here, it’s time to cash in on all that promise.

20 BANGERS

The best of the latest new tracks.

Hype. 22

Incoming. 52

DAINE

Bridging the gap between pop royalty, rock icons and everything in-between, Daine is a star from the modern school - genre-flipping, hyper energetic and fearsomely creative.

REVIEWS

The new releases you need to hear - and some you definitely don’t.

ARTIST’S GUIDE: PRIESTGATE

Get the lowdown on Driffield’s finest’s debut EP, direct from the mouth of frontman Rob Schofield.

24 SPRINTS

54 Q&A: THE NINTH WAVE

55 ARTIST’S GUIDE: THE LET GO

There’s no shortage of great new bands coming out of Ireland right now. Even for a country with a rich musical heritage, the production line is running hot. Right at the front of the queue are Sprints.

DORA JAR

Not everyone gets the call up to support Billie Eilish, but Dora Jar isn’t your average newcomer.

Features.

26 FONTAINES D.C.

Fontaines D.C.’s ascent has been nothing short of stratospheric, but their third album ‘Skinty Fia’ might very well be their best yet.

34 WALT DISCO

No one does a good time quite like Walt Disco, and now they’re pulling out all the stops for their debut album, ‘Unlearning’.

Get Out. 58 DECENT EXPOSURE

The best live photography from Wolf Alice, Pale Waves and Yard Act.

40 THE REGRETTES

Perpetually the coolest kids on the block, The Regrettes are preaching self-acceptance and playing by their own rules.

44 SEA GIRLS

Spending time at home has come to mean a whole new thing over the past few years, and for Sea Girls, it’s helped inspire a whole new record.

48 WALLOWS

Wallows are coming into their own with their new album ‘Tell Me That It’s Over’.

4. DORK

Q&A: THE MYSTERINES

Backpage. 62

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS... JOESEF

Yes, Dear Reader. We enjoy those ‘in depth’ interviews as much as anyone else. But - BUT - we also enjoy the lighter side of music, too. We simply cannot go on any longer without knowing that Joesef once bought a fake bulldog.

THE BEATING HEART OF POP.

6. DORK

‘FYI’

“NEW MUSIC BEFORE THE MONTH’S OUT” It looks like Sports Team are ready to start dropping new music. A post from the band’s Twitter account shows a screengrab of an email, titled ‘Sports Team – album masters from Randy’. Alongside it, they promise: “Hits only. New music before the month’s out.” Ooooo, etc.

LONDON, WE LOVE YOU...

PARKLIFE! A new batch of acts have been announced for this summer’s Live At Leeds: In The Park. The new all-day field-based festival from the people behind Live At Leeds, new names joining the bill include The Vaccines, The Snuts, Holly Humberstone, Sports Team, Dream Wife, Alfie Templeman, Lauran Hibberd, The Mysterines, Lime Garden and Coach Party. They join a bill that already featured Bombay Bicycle Club, Sea Girls, Easy Life, Arlo Parks, Confidence Man, Courting and loads more on 4th June in Leeds’ Temple Newsam Park.

LCD Soundsystem have announced a new London residency. Their first UK shows in over four years, the band will perform four shows at O2 Academy Brixton, from 29th June to 3rd July, in celebration of their platinum anniversary. The dates mark the twentieth anniversary year of the band’s first ever live shows which took place in London in 2002 at Arthur Baker’s “Return To New York” and Erol Alkan’s “Trash” parties.

Head(on’s) on W ﬁre. WORDS: ABIGAIL FIRTH. PHOTOS: JORDAN CURTIS HUGHES.

“I WENT THROUGH A BIT OF A CRISIS AFTER MY SECOND EP”

hat better way to spend Valentine’s evening than having a natter with indie heartthrob Thomas Headon? It takes about 20 minutes to get around to even mentioning his upcoming EP ‘Victoria’ because we’re deep T HO M AS HE AD ON in discussion about what we’re doing for Valentine’s Day and which bit of the UK was his favourite to visit on his recent tour. “Fuck that whole argument about North and South because I mean, I get it if you’re from here, but the North is really cool,” he says. Moving to London from just outside of Melbourne a little before the pandemic hit, he’s just about made his way around his adoptive home country. A Guinness in Ireland, and Irn-Bru in Scotland and 15 tour dates later – most of which sold out before he’d even played a live show at all – and it seems the excitement hasn’t died down yet for Thomas. “It got to even the day of every show, and I still wouldn’t believe that it was going to happen,” he says of the constant cycle

readdork.com 7.

of getting excited about a comfortable and safe. Which show and not knowing if is amazing and incredible, the tour would be able to go but at the same time, they ahead. were constantly just like, “I think the weirdest thing ‘are you okay? Are you was, because of the constant uncomfortable?’ And I was excitement and not gonna like, I don’t know! I got to meet happen [feeling], it just kept a lot of people, but it was kind getting bigger and bigger. of scary at times and rushed. First, it was a really fucking I do like meeting people, big tour. A lot of people had to though, and I don’t want to explain to me that you don’t ever stop doing that.” normally do 17 dates; you Going into 2022, Thomas do like six or eight. So it was is armed with a new EP, quite a lot, but it was fun. And his first release in almost a I really like touring; I think year. ‘Victoria’ sheds any that’s like the most fun part of last traces of his bedroom what I do.” pop beginnings and builds His interest in music is something bigger. It’s concertlargely down to his sister, who ready and darker in places, took him to small gigs of then- particularly on the titletiny artists she’d discovered track, which centres around a on Tumblr in the early 2010s; heartfelt story about a friend the likes of The 1975, twenty of his who passed away. one pilots and Ed Sheeran. “I went through a bit of a He picked crisis after up the my second guitar after EP, and noticing I think I how relearnt how quickly I like making those music and artists shot the music to fame. I want to “My make. The sister was result is I taking me didn’t release to 100 music for like cap shows 11 months, that were and then then like, you know, within a just spent year’s time time – this is 1000 cap really deep to within a sorry, but – I year’s time very much 5000 cap. learned T H OM AS H E A D O N It became how to super write based attainable on proper because to me, the image of personal experience. the person was still in a 100 “I say this about every EP, cap room.” but I think it is genuinely, for And that’s exactly what the first time, a real personal, Thomas is doing. Divine honest, in-depth account timing meant his move to of my life for, not even the London lined up with a TikTok past 11 months, kind of the boom – the platform where past two years - in and out of he found the most success relationships and friends that after years of posting music come and go, it’s wild. I think to YouTube – and a global it’s my favourite thing I’ve pandemic where he’d spend done so far.” almost two years building up While the process might an online fanbase, releasing have changed, a lot of the music and waiting to take both influences haven’t. Largely IRL. sitting alongside the work of “The small number of his indie boy contemporaries, shows I’ve done before this ‘Victoria’ also has hints of The tour were really small; they 1975 at their most ballad-y were so chill. But for these (think ‘Robbers’ and ‘A ones, I felt like Justin Bieber. Change of Heart’) and a clear There were fucking security potential to go arena-sized guards that, like, their job (which BTW, he’ll do later this was to make sure I was year when he supports Sigrid

“THE SHOWS BEFORE THIS TOUR WERE REALLY SMALL; THEY WERE SO CHILL. BUT FOR THESE ONES, I FELT LIKE JUSTIN BIEBER”

8. DORK

on tour). “I grew up in a town an hour and a bit outside of Melbourne. Funnily enough, it is quite represented in this EP. It’s very much small town vibes, where, you know, everyone’s cousin’s a drug dealer, and no one knows anyone that does anything besides work as a plumber. Oh, God, I can’t say that. That’s so rude.” To be honest, it’s hard to take anything Thomas says as rude. He’s cheeky, yes, and effortlessly charming, and both are traits that he pulls through into his songwriting, penning little love stories and delivering them with a Matty Healy via Charlie from Busted (what a comparison to make in 2022) vocal. Maybe that’s how he convinced his mum to let him move halfway across the globe at 18 to pursue his music dreams, instead of going to university (he was a child prodigy, you know, won a maths award in Year 10 and everything). Luckily for mum, he’s won the bet and then some. “She’s very proud. I don’t think she has any clue how anything works, like moneywise. I mean, I don’t either, to be honest, but I feel like anytime I tell her I’m doing something, I’m like, ‘oh, I’m flying to this place where we’re doing a music video’, or I talk about like, a tour manager, she’s always just like, ‘so who’s paying for this?’ It’s me somehow? But I don’t think she gets it at all. I think she thinks I’m secretly a drug dealer on the side. I’m not, mum.” After spending the last couple of years relegated to his bedroom, Thomas is ready to see the world (he mentions he’s jet-lagged from being in LA and New York; in a couple of days, he’d be jetting off to Paris), and you know, the world should be ready to see Thomas too. In an era of indie sad boys, he’s a big lovesick puppy slobbering all over. “This is one of the first times I’ve ever felt that it was like therapy in writing it. It was absolutely a release, and that’s what I wanted it to be. That’s what I’ve got. Maybe my next record will be the unrelease. Maybe I’ll just lie.” P Thomas

Headon’s EP ‘Victoria’ is out now.

THE NEW ALBUM IN STORES 8 APRIL CD • DIGITAL • LP LIMITED EDITION PINK VINYL EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE AT INDEPENDENT RECORD STORES

THEREGRETTES.COM

Puppy Power WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG. PHOTOS: JIMMY FONTAINE.

hloe Moriondo is a fullycertified Dork legend, so when we heard she was coming back with her first new solo music since last year’s amazing ‘Blood Bunny’ album AND it was an EP all about dogs (the greatest animal in the whole world) with a lead track named after and dedicated to her iconic little carrot-loving friend Sammy, we got Chloe on the line to get the low-down.

Hey Chloe, we’re here to talk about a true legend, and that is your dog Sammy - why did you decide now to immortalise him in song?

He is honestly my best friend, and I have no idea where I’d be without him. I got him as a birthday gift when I was 8. He’s the greatest gift I’ve ever received in my life. He’s what I look forward to coming home to. I love him so much. He’s the best little guy in the world, and I needed to write a song for him. It took a second for me to really find the vibe I wanted to go for. Once it was there, I was really excited about it, and I’m really glad it’s in fruition right now.

Tell us all about Sammy then, what’s he like and what sort of things does he enjoy? He’s crazy. He’s a crazy little guy. He’s ten years old, so he doesn’t get up to much, but everything he does is fun. We have a pool in the backyard, and he frequently falls in in the summer. I’ll look out the window and be like, “oh damn! Sammy fell in again!”

so I’ll have to go grab him, and he’ll be paddling all around. He’s blind, so he doesn’t really know where he’s going ever.

What is it about dogs in general that make them so special? I’ve always been a dog girl. I love all animals and also consider myself a cat person, but ever since I was little, I always wanted a puppy. I would beg my parents for years, “please can I have a dog?” All my little friends in elementary school, I made them help me write three pages of “please can I have a dog?” and it didn’t work, but they were always so special to me growing up. Finally getting Sammy after all those years of really wanting a little furry companion was a really special thing.

What do you think humans can learn from dogs?

As humans, we can learn a lot from dogs. Dogs are very loyal to the people that take care of them. That’s a big thing that human beings need to appreciate a little bit more. It’s great that dogs as loyal as they are also kind of don’t give a shit. As long as they’re eating food and got some water and somewhere to go to the bathroom, they’re just snoozing and chilling and playing all day. That’s what more people should aspire to be like, just be happy with having what you need and trying to make the best of it.

Was it a nice little break for you to take some time out from the serious world of being a major artist to do a playful little EP like ‘Puppy Love’? Yeah, It fell together really organically. We kind of just realised I was writing a lot of dog songs and putting them together in a folder. It just went in that direction from there. It was fun and sweet and felt refreshing for sure to work on something wholesome and not super dark and heavy.

How would you characterise

10. DORK

your progression as an artist since ‘Blood Bunny’?

I’m going in a really experimental direction. I’ve gotten really tired of writing songs alone in my room with just a guitar, as fun as it is, and as much as I like being vulnerable, I’ve been having a lot of fun collaborating with other people and making crazy crunchy shiny pop-sounding stuff. I’ve been having fun trying different stuff in different genres.

Dogs are good. Chloe Moriondo is good. Chloe Moriondo has written a dog themed EP, ‘Puppy Luv’. It is good. Wag tail. Woof woof.

chihuahua.

What’s it like working with people like Alfie and Thomas? It feels like there’s a whole scene bubbling up with like-minded young artists who are making pop on their own terms in a unique style.

It was really amazing to be able to hang out with them and work with them. We all met on the internet. I still haven’t met Thomas in person yet, but it’s hilarious because he was supposed to do some Do you have any titbits shows with me but couldn’t, of exciting info you can and Alfie could, so I met give us? him in person, which was There’s a song that I really sweet. I’m excited played a lot on tour and to be able to hang out with that I’m going to be them both in the UK. I continuing to play that’s think we’re all awkward not released yet that’s little songwriters. I think going to be released we all have quirky ways a lot sooner than I of songwriting that mesh expected. That’s my pretty well because we CHLO E M O RI O ND O tidbit. If anyone knows understand that we’re not of the unreleased song, stereotypical songwriters. It it starts with an H, and I’ve been teasing worked really well because of that. They’re it everywhere because I’m really excited cool dudes. I like them. about it. Aside from dearest Sammy, do you have a

“WE CAN LEARN A LOT FROM DOGS”

favourite famous dog?

There’s a whole new album coming out and a whole new project! There’s tons of music coming out in 2022 that I’m really excited about.

I do really enjoy Noodle the dog who became famous recently. He took the world by storm with the whole no bones day thing on TikTok. I think he’s a great pug. I love an old dog that’s just sweet and hangs out.

You recently did a song ‘Dizzy’ with Alfie Templeman and Thomas Headon, who we also love, cherish and respect just like you. If you, Alfie and Thomas were dogs, what type of dog would you all be?

We have a few questions we’d like to ask Sammy, but I’m sure as someone who knows him so deeply you can help him answer. So, firstly, where’s your favourite place to lie down?

What else can we look forward to from you this year?

I think Alfie would be some sort of border collie mix. Maybe a border collie/golden retriever. Thomas would be a pure golden retriever or a golden lab. For me, as much as I hate to say it and a lot of people would hate this about me, I’ve always identified with this dog since I was a child because of the movie Beverley Hills Chihuahua! There’s a tiny white chihuahua in it, and her name is Chloe. I was obsessed with it. As annoying as people can find chihuahuas, they are dogs like any other animal, and they have different tempers. I think I’d be a really cute, chilled

Top of the couch. A little corner in the top left where he can make a little den and rip that shit apart. I love his little cave.

What’s the best thing you’ve buried?

Just pee. All he does is pick up grass and bury nothing but pee.

Finally, how good a boy are you on a scale of 1-10 11 and a half. A perfect boy. P

Chloe Moriondo’s EP ‘Puppy Luv’ is out 8th April.

‘FYI’ SHE WOLF

Remi Wolf has announced a UK and European tour for this June. The run kicks off at London’s Koko on 14th June, before heading to Manchester, Dublin, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Cologne and Berlin. You can check out the dates on readdork.com now.

LIFE, OH LIFE LIFE have announced details of their third album, ‘North East Coastal Town’. vocalist Mez Green explains: “Hull and the surrounding area runs through our DNA and has shaped us, weathered us, empowered us, embraced us and made us feel accepted. ‘North East Coastal Town’ is our love letter to the city. The album is an ode to kinship and relationship with its musical and lyrical spine picking out themes of love, desire, beauty, horror, chaos, pride and most importantly the sense of belonging. It’s a reflective body of work dedicated to people and place and those that have always been there and made us feel like we belong. Upon writing and recording this album it was important to us that this sense of belonging was also reflected in the album’s craft and therefore we used locally based studios, equipment, gear, and the community around us to establish what it means to belong in a ‘North East Coastal Town’.” The album is set to land on 10th June.

THE GREATER ESCAPE The Great Escape has announced 120 new acts set to play the Brighton event this coming May. The new acts set to perform include MUNA, Alfie Templeman, spill tab, Dora Jar, Stella Donnelly, Blu DeTiger, Cassyette, Bob Vylan, Porij, Kid Kapichi and loads more. They’re joining a bill that already includes the likes of Yard Act, Baby Queen, The Amazons, and Sinead O’Brien. The Great Escape takes place between 12th and 14th May, featuring more than 450 acts across more than 35 Brighton venues. Tickets are on sale now from greatescapefestival.com.

readdork.com 11.

rug Church are the kind of band bands dream of being. Effortlessly fitting in just about everywhere, the Albany and Los Angeles-based five-piece have built a dedicated fanbase enamoured with their frenzied blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em flurries of towering punk, seamlessly flirting with being hardcore and, sound of the moment, pop-punk. Leading this charge of renegades is the matter-of-fact Patrick Kindlon. Unafraid to speak his mind, a few minutes on the phone is much like staring down the barrel of a quote-gun. It’s in much the same way he writes those poison-dagger lyrics, waiting for the rest of his bandmates - Nick Cogan (guitar), Cory Galusha (guitar), Chris Villeneuve (drums), Patrick Wynne (bass) - to get their scrappy, fast and furious tunes together first, and then seeing what comes out. It’s this process he’s utilised for Drug Church’s last three albums, including 2018’s ‘Cheer’, and he’s once again pointing the crosshairs at anything and everything with bite-sized spicy soundbites on fourth outing, ‘Hygiene’.

Heya Pat. We’re here to chat about ‘Hygiene’, the upcoming record – how are you feeling about it now it’s making its way into the world? That’s a good question. I feel like it’s a very strong record. It’s funny - if you say things like, ‘however people want to receive it is fine’, you come off dispassionate or unconfident, but that’s the truth. I’m good either way. I like when people like our records, but you know, we’ve got to hit a stinker once in a while - but I don’t think that’s this record. My feeling is that anybody that really enjoyed ‘Cheer’ will

12. DORK

WORDS: STEVEN LOFTIN. PHOTOS: DANIELLE PARSONS.

“Nothing’s the end of the world, man”

Not just a great band but one with something to say for themselves. Drug Church’s new album demands attention.

also really enjoy this record. So I guess the person who would be disappointed is somebody who wants something completely different from us. That person might be bummed.

People don’t know what they want until they’ve got something, that kinda thing?

What people love out the gate they sometimes hate two years later. The one that always leaves the biggest impact is John Carpenter’s [1982 horror film] The Thing. When it came out, it didn’t do well. And it was absolutely brutalised by critics. E.T. came out, I think it was the same holiday season, and E.T. was this very loved movie. I haven’t heard anybody talking about E.T. in decades, but The Thing is a perennial favourite of many. This is all to say that people don’t even know what is good and what is not good sometimes. It depends entirely on the cultural moment. Having so little control over that aspect of things, I might as well be on a waterslide.

Is that freeing for you as a band, having that understanding?

I think it would be really rough on my mental health if I was worried about the reception of things that I made. I’d certainly be a more anxious person. Nothing’s the end of the world, man. If people don’t like your music, there are plenty of other things you can do in life.

Your way of working – writing songs under the pressure of the band having done their bits already – is that to let your subconscious do the talking?

No, that might be laziness, but I think it has more to do with just finding a process that works. Having stress to finish something

is important for people who are perhaps natural procrastinators; I’m most in my groove when there’s a clock ticking. It’s also possible to overwrite, and I’ve always subscribed to the idea that I’m giving what I was thinking about on the month of June in 2022 - it’s just a snapshot. I don’t mean it to be an eternal reflection of my beliefs.

That sounds like you see albums as more disposable propulsion for moving the band and yourself to whatever’s next as opposed to concrete chapters.

with their opinions?

People think that’s their buy-in to it, to be part of the conversation, and being part of the conversation makes them relevant and being relevant means that they matter. It’s like, sure, you don’t matter, and I promise that the relevance is - if it exists at all - it’s very fleeting. You don’t have to enter with a take. And listen, there’s gonna be a number of people reading this go, did he really just say that? Because in my life, I’ve wasted many days fighting morons about anything. It’s a waste of your time, but you don’t realise just how much a waste of your time until you have so many projects that you can’t fuck with that anymore.

It is just a moment. It’s just a little time capsule. And I think that they have a lot of value in exactly that way. For example, we have primary sources, What do you see as right? If you and I being Drug Church’s wanted to know more place in the world? about the American We play 300 to 500 Civil War, we’d now cap rooms meant for have all the history rock music; some of between then and now the clubs will exist in to sift through. We 10 years, many will might think it’s most not. The bands we play instructive to go by alongside, some will correspondence: what exist in 10 years, many were people writing will not. We’re not overly to each other? What sentimental as a band. were they expressing We’re sincere but not PATRI CK K I NDLO N in the moment? They self-serious. I think it’s do have a utility to a little bit more difficult understanding things, but their utility is for people to have the emotional connection very limited because it’s one individual that they might have with some other bands. with only their purview. They may have So my guess would be people will enjoy us felt different 20 minutes beforehand; they while we’re here. If we have a legacy, it’ll be might have different 20 minutes after. the songs hold up. I don’t know if anybody’s You’re just getting this impression gonna be playing us at their funeral or of it. wedding; I’m very at peace with that. P

“PEOPLE DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS NOT GOOD SOMETIMES”

How does that work coming through in a scene where people can be Quite Loud

Drug Church’s album ‘Hygiene’ is out now.

THE ﬁnal album the ﬁnal shows out 18.03.22 16.03.22 17.03.22 19.03.22

yes, manchester oslo, london swg3, glasgow

THENINTHWAVE.ONLINE

Out Now On tour with Mitski in Spring 2022

Feels like a different R thing.

WORDS: FINLAY HOLDEN.

idiculous sounds, ridiculous energy, ridiculous clothes and ridiculous vibes. These things define Confidence Man, an outrageously fun act who aspire to deliver an unforgettable live show to ravers of all shapes and sizes. Utilising 2020 to write the follow-up to ‘Confident Music for Confident People’, disorderly band interactions and twisted writing sessions were inevitable when the mysterious four-piece moved into a singular home. “Usually, it’s just us screaming at each other,” Janet Planet confesses from her garden, an early morning sheen on her chequered bucket hat. Sugar Bones, the other half of the front-duo, adds: “Sometimes it is quite chaotic, but after living together day in day out, we’ve learnt to vibe pretty well. We’ve learnt how to efficiently work with each other. Sometimes, the most efficient way is just everyone yelling, though.” Fortunately, the band aren’t new to selfproduction, so a deranged, alcohol-fuelled kitchen set-up provided a sufficient stage for the twelve tracks of ‘Tilt’ to unfold. The downtime ended up being a welcome chance to fit in some much-needed writing sessions too. “I did see it as a really good chance for us to write the record,” Janet says. “We’d written maybe two songs in the past three years, and then our label went, ‘where’s the record?’ Come on, we’ve been touring for like three years! We don’t have time to write songs; we’re not a band anymore,” she laughs. “We were thankful to finally still and make an album.” Sugar Bones chimes in: “It ended up being awesome for us, but we’re ready to party again.” As luck (or geography) would have it, the terrains of Australia provided a good foundation for some staycation vibes, some of which can be seen in the music video for lead single ‘Holiday’. Serving as the first tease for the new record, the ethos, energy, and chaos were all present off-screen as much as they were in the end clip, although elegance in a hot air balloon? Not so much. “We were getting thrown around, and every time we landed, there would be these huge bounces, and we were really hanging on to the side. It wasn’t graceful,” Janet recalls. Somehow even a business outing for

14. DORK

their creative project “Most of what we listen resulted in an adventure, to now is dance music, with the band ending up in so we’ve fully gone to the a Quaker haven featuring other side. No more guitars acoustic serenades in a ‘big in this house!” seating arrangement’. The extent of this “We didn’t want to tell genre betrayal is made them what the song was most apparent onstage, about in case they didn’t where they fight for the SUGAR B O NE S let us film it,” Sugar Bones true release of rave culture admits. “I remember them and do so in increasingly bringing us heaps of brownies, though, outlandish outfits. Despite implementing which was pretty good.” motorised shoulder pads, the group stick For fans on this side of the spinning to black and white because otherwise, they sphere, it is hard to tell precisely what would look “too ridiculous.” Confidence Man’s attitude is from afar; the Enjoying the more material fruits of their front duo offer up “chic but kitsch, old but labour, Sugar Bones praises his co-star’s new” or “fancy but trashy”, but it’s their ambition. “Janet’s always had a thousand roots that explain their core ethos best. and one crazy ideas going on; it’s awesome. While you could obviously never tell from Now that we’ve started growing as a band, their unending seriousness, they actually we can have someone working with us started making music as a bit of a joke. who is a professional dressmaker whom “We’d all been in other bands which Janet can collab with to bring her ideas into were a bit more serious, more guitar-based reality.” bands. We had this dance beat and decided “It’s sick,” says Janet, “because, now that then that we want to make music for when we’ve been around for a while, we have a bit you’ve had two pingers, and it’s 3am,” Sugar of money to spend on crazy things like this. Bones describes. “What do you want in that My mum’s finally been retired. She put her moment? More bass and more beats. The foot down when Sugar Bones lost her handmoment Janet started singing on that… all made shorts.” In answer, he despairs: “I’m of a sudden, it opened this whole new world sorry, Wendy. I love you, Wendy!” for us.” Although they’re an undeniable riot While the lead vocalist may inspire a when half-buried in their alter egos, cult-like crowd obedience, she previously Confidence Man fully commit while worked in marketing. “We unleashed a performing their dance hits and stick with a demon, and we couldn’t put it back in the heightened deadpan delivery that contrasts bottle,” they laugh together. the joyful music, adding a dark and striking Not one to shy away from their lifestyle, twist to their cathartic shows. he admits that “taking a lot of ecstasy at the Sugar Bones explains this choice: “The time probably had something to do with contrast of the uplifting, bubbly sound it. [The sound] made us feel really good delivered by us in full goth mode, looking and gave us loads of energy, so we just kept like we want to fuck you and cut your throat pushing it.” out, really counterbalances our act, catches Janet embraces their complete people off guard and seems to help them conversion from indie kids to rave nuts: enjoy themselves more.”

“WE’RE READY TO PARTY AGAIN”

It may seem a concentrated effort to not let on how much fun you’re having, but Janet explains, “it’s almost sad that when we play, it’s so natural for us not to smile now.” Mercifully, this muted and unexcited attitude did not transpire while fleshing out the pulsating soundscapes of ‘Tilt’. Far from feeling the second record pressures, the group embraces the opportunity to expand their discography and, more importantly, setlist. “Because we blew up so quickly, we were on tour pretty much straight away, and for the first few months, we only had five songs. We were playing catch-up, making the first album while touring,” Sugar Bones explains, unveiling the backstage pressures that are finally being surmounted. “For this second album, we had five times the amount of time to work on it; we were able to explore and develop it a whole bunch more.” Janet continues: “We finally had time to figure out what we wanted on our next record. I knew I wanted French vocals” – as promised to Dork in 2018 – “because I’d lived there for a while, for example. We wrote down and mapped out what we each wanted from this record, so it was more of a choice rather than writing songs and just seeing what happened.” The result? A compact, surreal journey through mountainous and maximalist bangers truly imbued with a new dimension of passion. This eclectic pair agree that “this music isn’t meant to be just played at home, it’s meant to be enjoyed outside in the big world, under the sky with friends.” Where would the ideal place to press play be, though? “Close your eyes, let the last couple of years fade from your mind and embrace a really fun time,” is one answer – the other is, “sit down with a cigarette and a mimosa, wear fancy clothes. Eat a cheeseboard. Yum!” A live setting is the best way to experience these songs in their truest form and, as Sugar Bones suggests less dairy and more narcotic indulgence, the consequence of their unchained new sound is granted to have one side effect even before the morning after. “With all the new bells and whistles, people are going to shit themselves.” Whip out the brown pants and head on down. P Confidence Man’s album

‘Tilt’ is out 1st April.

‘FYI’ “KP2 IS COMMENCING”

It looks like King Princess is about to kick off her second album era. Perhaps it’s reaching a bit, but that’s what we’re taking from a recent social media post, stating “KP2 is commencing”. King Princess’ debut album ‘Cheap Queen’ dropped back in October 2019. Last year she dropped a new single, ‘House Burn Down’, following up up this year with Fousheé team-up ‘Little Brother’.

UP WITH BOARDING Pale Waves are among the latest names for Boardmasters 2022. Also new to the bill, are Remi Wolf, Mae Muller and loads more. Taking place at Watergate Bay, Cornwall from 10th-14th August, they join headliners George Ezra, Disclosure and Kings of Leon. Visit boardmasters.com for more information.

POPPING OFF Foals have announced the full release details of their new album ‘Life Is Yours’. The former Dork cover stars will release their new full-length on 17th June, following up on their two-part project ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ – their first Number 1 record, that also scored them a BRIT Award for Best Group. Frontman Yannis Philippakis explains: “I feel that with ‘Everything Not Saved…’ we touched upon all of the facets of our sound up until that point. This time we wanted to find a new way to express ourselves. We wanted to refocus and do something that shared a DNA throughout the songs: a physicality, a danceability, and with energy and joyousness. It’s definitely the poppiest record we’ve ever made.”

readdork.com 15.

‘FYI’ I2

PHOTO: LISSYELLE.

Inhaler have confirmed they’re at work on a second album, sharing a behind the scenes snippet. “Here’s a little treat from us working on new album material, alongside an instrumental we released on vinyl many moons ago,” they wrote. Alongside the news came a video of the band recording at London’s Narcissus Studio.

The initial line-up for this year’s Glastonbury Festival has been announced. The previously announced Billie Eilish, Little Simz and Diana Ross join the heavily hinted headliner Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar, who both return from the cancelled 2020 edition of the festival. There’s also the likes of – in alphabetical order – Amyl & The Sniffers, Arlo Parks, beabadoobee, Big Thief, Black Midi, Blossoms, Caroline Polachek, Charli XCX, Clairo, Confidence Man, Courtney Barnett, Declan McKenna, Doja Cat, Dry Cleaning, Easy Life, First Aid Kid, Foals, Fontaines D.C., Girl In Red, Glass Animals, Greentea Peng, Griff, Haim, Holly Humberstone, Idles, Inhaler, Jessie Ware, Kacey Musgraves, Khruangbin, Lorde, Megan Thee Stallion, Metronomy, Mitski, Olivia Rodrigo, Phoebe Bridgers, Sam Fender, Self Esteem, Sigrid, Squid, St. Vincent, Tems, Turnstile, Wet Leg, Wolf Alice and Years & Years, amongst others. Glastonbury Festival takes place on Worthy Farm, Pilton between 22nd and 26th June 2022.

WIRELESS IS MORE The line up for this year’s Wireless Festival has been announced. Headliners A$AP Rocky, J. Cole, Tyler, The Creator, Cardi B, SZA, Nicki Minaj and Dave will be joined by a bill including Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Little Simz, Central Cee, Burna Boy, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Jack Harlow, Kali Uchis, The Kid LAROI and more. Wireless Festival takes place between 1st and 3rd July at London’s Crystal Palace Park, and between 8th and 10th July at London’s Finsbury Park and Outdoor at the Birmingham NEC.

A LATITUDE WITH ATTITUDE The initial line-up for this year’s Latitude Festival has been announced. The 2022 edition of the Suffolk festival will be headlined by Foals, Lewis Capaldi and Snow Patrol. The line-up also includes a whole host of other names, including Phoebe Bridgers, Fontaines D.C., Maggie Rogers, Little Simz, Rina Sawayama, Caroline Polachek, Self Esteem, Let’s Eat Grandma and Nilüfer Yanya. And – because we’re not done here – Manic Street Preachers, Modest Mouse, Mahalia, Maximo Park, Akala, Cavetown, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Kae Tempest, Katy J Pearson, Los Bitchos, Mark Owen, Maximo Park, Orlando Weeks, Porridge Radio and more. Latitude Festival 2022 will take place in Henham Park, Suffolk between 21st and 24th July 2022. Tickets are on sale now.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF...

renforshort You know what’s easier than following around your fave pop stars, day in, day out, to see what they’re up to right that minute? Asking them. Here’s what up-and-coming alt-popster renforshort‘s day looks like.

7:30am

I wake up; I always try to set my alarm 30 minutes early so I can snooze at least four times. This morning I was extra tired cause I drove back from a Valentine’s getaway in Oregon, which was a pretty long drive. Then I fed my dog Bisou and took her on a quick morning walk so she could get her business done.

8:30am

Now I have training; I’m prepping for tour, so I need to get my cardio up. My amazing trainer Sydney comes to my place, and we workout together, which I honestly despise while I’m doing it, but afterwards, she stretches me and cracks my back, and I feel instantly better and productive. Then I eat breakfast, either some oatmeal or a fruit cup. Today it was a fruit cup, which was delish.

16. DORK

GLASTONBURY LOOKS STACKED, FYI

10:30am

I call my manager, Riley, and we discuss what my day looks like, what things must get done today, what we need to think about for tomorrow and the next day and the next day. I’m wrapping up a project as well, so things are a bit hectic. Then I get off the phone and cool down a bit before therapy.

12:00pm

Had therapy and let all my feelings out, which was really nice and needed, but now I’m very emotional, so I shower. The shower is my prime brainstorming time where I come up with creative ideas and just think about what’s next. For some reason, it inspires me.

2:00pm

I sit down and prepare for my session with my vocal coach; we’re currently working on my setlist for tour in April

with Tai Verdes. We go over blocked movements, mic technique and breath control. It’s a little exhausting but super important, so after that, I chill a little bit and have a snack.

3:30pm

I hop on a marketing call to talk through our strategy when it comes to social media, digital marketing and the creative for my next project. This is always fun to do cause it ends up being a conversation where everyone is just throwing out ideas. One or two stick and that leaves me feeling good.

5:00pm

I make dinner, talk to my friend Amelia, do random alterations like my eyebrows or my hair for no reason, just cause I don’t really know what to do with my time and just chill. Oh! I might also listen to any mixes or updates to my music.

9:30pm

I get into bed, watch some Mad Men and some YouTube videos, then when I know it’s almost time for me to sleep, I switch to cooking shows. I cannot sleep without sound because otherwise, I think too much, get anxious, and can’t sleep. It’s a pretty vicious cycle, lol.

I watch the new episode of Euphoria and take Bisou to play at the park, and then we just chill together for a bit, which I love.

1:30am

6:30pm

renforshort’s single ‘Moshpit’ is out now.

I’m basically done for the day, so

This is when I end up forcing myself to sleep, and that’s a day in my life! P

“We’ve learned to trust ourselves a bit more” Pillow Queens’ debut album made moves in all the right ways - quietly stacking up the kind of rave plaudits that bed in firm foundations for whatever comes next. with second album ‘Leave The Light On’ now here, it’s time to cash in on all that promise.

18. DORK

the world,” the singer-slash-guitarist explains. “We’re making music that we care about, first and foremost. We want to be a live band that people connect with on a personal level more than anything else.” “We didn’t create a queer environment for our songs but more so for ourselves, as to not be the minority in our own band,” lead guitarist Cathy McGuinness reflects. “As long as the world can accept that and listen to the music, great.” The level of comfort enabled by this choice allows a cohesive and collaborative vulnerability. It is undeniable that sailing forward in such a group causes unfair frictions in the world, never mind in music, and each member of Pillow Queens has had to adapt. When in a musical collective, “you can suddenly go from a person who can truly curate how people see you, particularly in terms of online presence, to being very aware of yourself,” Pam explains. “You go from being very comfortable with yourself to being thrown into a position where all eyes are on you.” Concerns and insecurities don’t fade with success, but, luckily for us listeners, the inspection of such turmoil has resulted in a cathartically expressive new LP, ‘Leave the Light On’. Initially fighting to move on from protectiveness over their art, Sarah avows that the quartet have strived to find beauty in the new. “I loved [‘In Waiting’] so much and feared that we’d never have that again; how could we possibly move on? It’s been this weird, lovely growth where we’ve now made an album that I love in a totally different way.” Each musician in Pillow Queens struggles with imposter syndrome and discomfort within their music industry experience. Still, they’ve all found their safe places – be it locked away in their rehearsal space or united as one on stage, Pillow Queens’ art grants a release from tension. You can hear this struggle throughout the varied tones and tight sonics of ‘Leave The Light On’, although this wasn’t necessarily the intention. In fact, there seems to have been no overarching

“ALWAYS AIM HIGH – IF DISAPPOINTED IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN BE, YOU’VE LOST NOTHING” PAM E L A CO NNO L LY

theme planned out in advance at all. “We wrote this album over a very short period and went with moments and feelings rather than big themes,” Cathy reasons. “There are some – loneliness, love, all of these things that naturally came out - but we never sat down and actively thought what we were writing about.” Pam chimes in: “If we did do that, we’d limit ourselves by overthinking. When making this new album, the last thing we wanted to do was overthink. We just wanted to get stuck into an environment where we could experiment, hear each other’s ideas and be our most creative.” She emphasises that hindsight has given her an appreciation of the heart they almost unknowingly spilt onto the page. “This album is unveiling itself to us day by day because it is so fresh for us. I thought I knew exactly what some songs were about at the time, but they only make sense to us now.” Having only released two singles from the LP, there’s much yet to be unveiled to fans too. ‘Hearts & Minds’ gives a strong flavour of the intricate but strong melodies you can expect to find propped up against daunting soundscapes and embedded with heartfelt lyricism. The song alludes to growth and learning to get through tough times, which the band want to inspire others to do; pick up a guitar and use art for your own personal benefit. Pillow Queens offer some definitive advice for those seeking to tread a similar path: “Don’t be disheartened because there’s a lot of shit, you’ll find that in any industry - you have to get through the shit before you get to the good stuff, and I

mean that in all respects,” Sarah shares. Pam encourages up and comers by requesting that they ditch any fear and take the leap they’re pining after. “Something that seems completely unachievable… why not give it a go? The worst you can do is not get it. Always aim high – if disappointed is the worst thing you can be, you’ve lost nothing.” Facing lessons, love and loneliness, Pillow Queens are looking forward to what comes next – not in terms of even more new music (just yet), but the chance to finally revel in strings of tour dates around the globe and lap up the victory they missed on their debut. With the spring release of ‘Leave The Light On’ landing in the middle of a US excursion, there are still many roads left to travel. “It was a very particular learning curve, putting out an album during a pandemic. The more useful learning curve is still yet to come, as we haven’t had the experiences which releasing a debut album would usually give us,” Pam looks back, with the hope of new excitement just over the horizon. Some lessons did hit home, though, as Sarah concludes: “We’ve learned to trust ourselves a bit more because, with the first album, we thought it was a bit mad, and it might be better to stick to what we’re used to. We’ve started to trust ourselves more on [‘Leave The Light On’], and those moments ended up being highlights for us, so that’s something we’re going to keep doing.” Whatever magic the fantastic four-piece might have bottled to date, there’s plenty more to come from Pillow Queens. P Pillow

Queens’ album ‘Leave The Light On’ is out 1st April.

WORDS: FINLAY HOLDEN. PHOTO: RICH GILLIGAN.

ollowing a lockdown debut that had jaws dropping at an alt-indie ambition to stop you in your tracks, Pillow Queens are returning with their second record, ‘Leave The Light On’ - a documentation of four women trying to keep their heads above the water. 2020’s ‘In Waiting’ was indeed a record many had been waiting for since the band formed four years prior; it marked a major culmination of the Pillow Queens’ discography and musical exploration up to that point. As Sarah Corcoran recalls: “It was a gratifying experience because we released it right in the middle of the pandemic, and we were against all odds. We had to restart all our planning and strategy, so we were pleasantly surprised with how well received it was considering.” Pamela Connolly admits that there was an unavoidable tension underlying the run-up to release because “we’ve existed as a band for so long and when you finally put out your debut, you always wonder: is this going to land flat? Is this ever going to be everything we want it to be?” Fortunately, the record proved a critical home run and showed that an unsigned act still has the potential to put out one of the most exciting albums of the year. On the other hand, you don’t join a band for the post office trips. “For the second record, we can hand some responsibility over to somebody else and have a little bit more time to play, write and just be a band, rather than a merch company,” Sarah reflects. “We have a label to do that stuff on our behalf, which allows us to do what we feel is most authentic; actually making the music.” Speaking of the music, Pillow Queens have been heralded as a group here to push social change, but they’re more focused on simply expressing their own emotions and experiences. “It’s a bi-product of being four queer women in a band that everything we sing about is seen as socially conscious or politically active when it’s not – it’s just our existence and how we engage with

readdork.com 19.

THE BEST NEW TRACKS Wallice

Little League

Her first track of 2022, ‘Little League’ is from Wallice’s upcoming second EP, coming this spring via her new label home, Dirty Hit. Hitting similar warm, woozy, alt-pop notes to her LA pal spill tab, if a tad more sombre, it’s about “my love of games (board and video) and my competitiveness,” she explains, with lines like “You play for fun / I’m so god damn bored”. “I also think people can relate to the fear of not being liked,” she adds. Aw.

ELIO

Read The Room

ELIO has turned up her sass to 11 - see, for example, a couple of choice lyrical cuts from her take-no-prisoners new single, ‘Read The Room’: “Your narcissistic tendencies are my version of hell / Let yourself out and please get the fuck out of my face”, “How do I politely say suck my fucking dick / You’re so nauseating how do people stomach it”. Hilarious, brilliant. More of this, please.

SEB

fuck it, i’m the man

Two and a half minutes of confidence-boosting strut, SEB’s new ‘un ‘fuck it, i’m the man’ is the latest in a long line of understated pop hits from the LA up-and-comer. This one’s - unsurprisingly - about assertively doing your own thing and shaking off nay-sayers. “I know I’m definitely not the only one who’s gone through this,” he says. “I want fans who are living through that, to feel empowered to do them, regardless of what anybody has to say.” It’s a good message, and one hell of an ear worm, too.

20. DORK

TRACK OF THE MONTH

Tessa Violet YES MOM

Occasionally, it might feel like pop music has become a slave to the TikTok. If that’s something that concerns you, stay clear of ‘YES MOM’. Initially launched through a self-created trend, it might centre around a single 15 second snippet that lodged in the brain when least expecting it, but in its fully fledged form it’s a track that’’s packed with vampy, dark energy. Smart, postEilish pop music, it’d be a hit by any measure.

YUNGBLUD The Funeral

It’s fair to say Dom Harrison knows how to divide a room. Either a bit too much or a whole lotta brilliant, YUNGBLUD’s path to date has been more about assertive action that uniting those unwilling to follow his rampant, chaotic path. And quite right too - pop music has no room for polite half measures. On the strength of ‘The Funeral’, he’s not about to start consolidating soon. A reinvention across generations, it’s a track that travels in time to an 80s pop-rock paradise. With verses that strut and swagger like Billie Idol dancing with himself, and a chorus with the kind of Cure-kissed, Smiths-esque drama it’s likely to get kicked onto the street for damaging Mum’s gladioli, YUNGBLUD is apologising to nobody. Quite right too.

Mimi Webb House Of Fire

What is Bangers if not for grand statements? ‘House Of Fire’ is Mimi Webb’s best single so far. There you go. This one’s a bit Sigrid, in that it’s quirky, fun, catchy, and very easy to like. It’s also giving what-for to an awful lying shitbag, and threatening arson. A good time.

Sunﬂower Bean Roll The Dice

One of the highest high points on Sunflower Bean’s upcoming album ‘Headful Of Sugar’, there’s something inherently grimy and seductive about ‘Roll The Dice’; like it’s best suited to places that are dark and smoky with plenty of spilled drinks and the kind of underlying what-the-hell tension that results in bad ideas.

HAIM

Lost Track

Previewed initially before screenings of the Alanafeaturing Licorice Pizza, ‘Lost Track’ serves as a reminder that, no matter what the Haim sisters do, music is always going to be the unifying force that pulls them together in the end. All hand claps and twinkling chimes, it’s everything they do best.

Florence + The Machine King

Over the last few weeks, Florence has blessed us with two new tracks. The first of those, ‘King’, reminds us just what we’ve been missing in her absence. Never knowingly understated, it’s a song that plays for the dramatic and does so without the slightest hint of shame. Building over its first half, by the time it explodes, ‘King’ is nothing short of euphoric. By the time she hits the festival circuit this summer, it’ll bring down the house.

Superorganism Teenager (Feat. CHAI & Pi Ja Ma)

There isn’t another band like Superorganism. They’ve already more than proved their ability to pen distinctive, utterly addictive hits, and ‘Teenager’ - a teaser from their upcoming second album ‘World Wide Pop’, due this summer and featuring a new line-up - is another playful cut that sounds straight from the indie-disco.

Wet Leg Angelica

Phoebe Green Make It Easy

With every step forward, it feels like Phoebe Green makes another sonic shift. But while others might flick around the dial trying to find an identity, for the fast-rising Mancunian, it’s more as if she finds herself travelling further down the rabbit hole. Not only that, every one of those leaps sees her getting better at her craft. ‘Make It Easy’ is pop music at the height of its powers. Existing in a rich, textured sonic stratosphere, it’s a promise of something very special indeed.

The latest track to arrive from Wet Leg’s incredibly anticipated debut album, ‘Angelica’ is proof that they are neither a one trick pony, nor a flash in the pan. Five songs in, and they’re already making the kind of moves that have us wondering just how far they can go. How many of us were surprised their November tour didn’t make a play for the indie Mecca of Brixton Academy, eh? Exactly.

mxmtoon Mona Lisa

A song about demanding attention, there’s no doubt that mxmtoon deserves pop’s beady eye to turn in her direction. A breezy but brilliant delight, ‘Mona Lisa’ sees Maia push beyond her previous boundaries in a way that suggests she’s only just getting started. With a new album due to land later this year, that main character moment is only just around the corner.

Academy Events present

Academy Events, Scruff Of The Neck and Friends by arrangement with Chugg Music and Filter Music Group presents

-- UK UK AND AND IRELAND IRELAND 2022 2022 --

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

31.08 01.09 05.09 06.09 07.09 08.09 12.09 13.09 14.09 29.09 03.10

BIRMINGHAM MANCHESTER GLASGOW SHEFFIELD OXFORD BRISTOL EXETER LONDON LONDON DUBLIN BRIGHTON

VENUE RADED O2 INSTITUTE2 UPG VENUE ACADEMY 2 UPG RADED VENUE THE GARAGE UPG RADED O2 ACADEMY2 O2 ACADEMY2 VENUE RADED O2 ACADEMY UPG PHOENIX VENUE RADED ELECTRIC BALLROOM UPG SOLD ELECTRIC BALLROOM OUT THE ACADEMY PATTERNS

LIMECORDIALE.COM

APRIL 2022

05 09

MAY 2022

10 15 16 17

27 28 29

READING FACE BAR SOUTHAMPTON THE JOINERS BRISTOL FIDDLERS

01 04 05 07 28 29

WORTHING THE FACTORY LIVE CHELMSFORD HOT BOX LIVE LONDON O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON MILTON KEYNES THE CRAUFURD ARMS PERRANPORTH BEACH THE WATERING HOLE WOOLACOMBE BAY SPRING CLASSIC

FALMOUTH THE CORNISH BANK

JUNE 2022

THE GREAT ESTATE FESTIVAL NR REDRUTH WESTONBIRT ARBORETUM W/ RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN CANNOCK CHASE W/ RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN GUILDFORD THE BOILEROOM THETFORD FOREST W/ RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN DELAMERE FOREST W/ RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN

JULY 2022

09 BOURNEMOUTH MADDING CROWD 28-31 KENDAL CALLING FESTIVAL

AUGUST 2022 05 06 07

LOVE SUMMER FESTIVAL PLYMOUTH EXETER CAVERN STAYCATION LIVE FESTIVAL

WILLANDTHEPEOPLE.CO.UK/LIVE AN ACADEMY EVENTS AND FRIENDS PRESENTATION

PUBLICJUNEIMAGE LTD 2022 06 07 09 10 12 13 14

MANCHESTER O2 RITZ LEEDS O2 ACADEMY DUBLIN NATIONAL STADIUM BELFAST THE LIMELIGHT SOUTHAMPTON ENGINE ROOMS FROME CHEESE & GRAIN BRIGHTON CHALK

16 17 18 20 22 23

LONDON O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN BIRMINGHAM O2 INSTITUTE BRISTOL O2 ACADEMY NORWICH UEA GLASGOW O2 ACADEMY NOTTINGHAM ROCK CITY

AN ACADEMY EVENTS & FRIENDS PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH RUNWAY

TICKETMASTER.CO.UK & ALL USUAL AGENTS

NEW ALBUM OUT NOW

YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BEST NEW NAMES.

DAINE Daine is a star from Bridging the gap between pop royalty, rock icons and everything in-between, the modern school - genre-ﬂipping, hyper energetic and fearsomely creative.

“E

veryone’s saying ‘in two months, your life will be the biggest it’s ever been’.” Daine is talking about the Venus retrograde that’s just ended. “My friend was like, ‘you’re gonna be really famous in two months’. That’s what the retrograde is saying for everybody.” Astrology buffs say 2022’s Venus retrograde allowed for internal reflection on our career motives, which might explain Daine’s indifference towards the release of her upcoming project ‘Quantum Jumping’. “Hmm, mixed feelings,” she sighs from the other side of the screen, where she’s sitting in her Melbourne bedroom. It’s 10pm, and she’s bundled up in a fleece. “It’s more of a compilation, I guess; it’s all the songs I wrote when I first started making music. There are one or two newer ones in there, but for the most part, everything was written when I was like 16. It sounds quite youthful to me, I don’t know if it sounds that way to other people, but it’s definitely like, a homage to like my youth.” Considering Daine is still only 19, that concept sounds crazy, but once you get familiar with her, you’ll find she’s already lived a few musical lives. Primarily a new-age emo star, she’s dabbled in hyperpop on single ‘boys wanna txt’ with the scene’s key players Ericdoa and Dylan Brady of 100 gecs, she’s dipped her toe into something more hardcore on ‘SALT’ with Bring Me The Horizon poster boy Oli Sykes, and played with emo trap on early single ‘Ascension’. Shapeshifter she is, none of the above appear on debut project ‘Quantum Jumping’, although it’s still a buffet of her influences. Largely inspired by Midwest emo, she looks up to the posters on her wall to reel off some of her influences – Basement, Citizen, Adventures, You Blew It – except it’s not emo the way you might think. It’s emo via 2014 Tumblr, guided by Charli XCX, and made by a

former One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer fangirl. Opener ‘cemetery dreams’ is one of the first songs she ever wrote and pulls together her lo-fi emo side with melodramatic pop melodies. By the time we get to closer ‘new ground’, we’re in much brighter territory, more indie, written at a time when she was listening to lots of Snail Mail and Alex G. In between, ‘Weekends’ nods to Lil Uzi Vert – “It’s soooo 2018,” says Daine. “It feels a little bit dated now, even though I was like 16 and had just gone into a SoundCloud frenzy for the first time” – and ‘glitter’, her selfprofessed ‘most Midwest emo’ song, has an airiness to it akin to The 1975. “I love how The 1975 write. It’s so timeless to me. My favourite songs from when I was like 11 are still my favourite songs now - like, how? Everything else I listened to when I was 11, I’m like, ew, that’s fucking garbage, except The 1975. How DA I N E did they do that?” Legend has it that Daine met the frontman of her long-standing faves at Laneway Festival, the very same day she was introduced to Charli XCX. After playing mini-golf with the pop legend (not jealous at all), and attending the festival, Daine met Matty Healy. “It was so brief, and Charli’s telling me ‘chill out’ because I had my Red Bull in my hand, and I was shaking. My A&R and Charli were like, ‘stop it!’.” Daine is pretty much living the dream right now, but the words ‘A&R’ seem to strike fear into her. Once labelled an ‘industry plant’, it’s a notion she’s desperate to shake. “It’s hard because I’m so genuine with my project. I understand that I

Words: Abigail Firth.

have the massive privilege of being backed by a major label, but I truly do make all the calls when it comes to my creative direction. I creative direct all my videos. I’m incredibly hands-on with everything. So when people are like, ‘she’s in like a cult’ and ‘she’s got rich parents’ and that stuff, you guys are fucking insane and know nothing about me. “There must be some really, really, really, really fucking cool genius executive if they’re able to pull off the direction that I’ve chosen. I don’t think anyone at any label is smart enough or, you know, in with the kids enough to do what I do. I’m not saying that in like a stuck up way, but just in a genuine way, ‘cause what I do is very targeted. I have my own specific niche. So if some crazy guy in a suit and tie with billions of dollars manoeuvred that and is puppeteering me, he must be a fucking genius.” Daine is clearly determined to stay true to her art and vision, although she has no interest in being relatable to her audience. It’s interesting to hear, considering her music is often very personal and honest, and she partakes in similar social media practices to her gen z peers (hello Instagram photo dumps), but she wants to replicate how she felt about musicians growing up for her own fans. “I’m trying to resist the idea that artists have to be influencers who are relatable and vulnerable. I am vulnerable, but at the end of the day, Daine as an artist persona and not as myself, is a project. It’s an entity, and it’s not who I am in my day to day life, and I don’t think anyone’s artist persona reflects who they are. I don’t want to blur the two.

“IF SOME CRAZY GUY IN A SUIT AND TIE WITH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IS PUPPETEERING ME, HE MUST BE A FUCKING GENIUS”

“Growing up from the early 2000s to now, there’s this huge part of magic in music that we’ve lost because artists are forced to be so relatable and human. I also think it creates a huge culture of disrespect in stan culture people will tear apart artists that they make fan accounts for. I just hate that pressure of having to be so accessible to everybody. It ruins the magic. There’s got to be something magical and intangible about a project because that’s what gets people excited.” Perhaps that’s why for a while, she only appeared in music videos in CGI form; even on the cover of this mixtape, she’s animated. There’s a mystery surrounding her that mirrors that of PinkPantheress – just going about her business from her bedroom and blowing minds all over the shop. Keeping a low profile has meant Daine’s life doesn’t actually look that different from any other 19-yearold’s. Between working with hyperpop royalty Lonelyspeck and Danny L Harle, and lining up collaborations with hardcore hard-hitters Trophy Eyes and Jesus Piece, Daine had enough free time to hold down a fulltime job up until last year. That’s not to say it hasn’t changed at all, though; the title of this project is a reference to the lightning speed at which she emerged. “Quantum jumping is a word used to describe when someone jumps from a parallel universe into another one. That’s kind of like what being 16 felt like to me because I was in school, and all of a sudden, I had a breakup, I became incredibly ill, I started making music. It didn’t start popping off, but it started to present itself as viable. Then, I just dropped out of school and was making music, and it felt like my world did a 360.” ‘Quantum Jumping’ drops on the night of a full moon (coincidence or Lorde-like astrological calculations?), a time often associated with clarity, heightened intuition and some selfdoubt, but most importantly, sudden life changes. Come in Planet Pop, Daine has arrived. P Daine’s mixtape

‘Quantum Jumping’ is out 18th March. readdork.com 23.

SPRINTS Words: Stephen Ackroyd.

“WE WANT TO LOOK BACK AND FEEL LIKE WE’VE LEFT A STAMP ON THE WORLD” K ARL A CHUB B There’s no shortage of great new bands coming out of Ireland right now. Even for a country with a rich musical heritage, the production line is running hot. Right at the front of the queue are Sprints - a band who know how to punch through the post-punk masses with music that demands full-attention. With a new EP ‘How Does The Story Go?’, we caught up with vocalist and songwriter Karla Chubb. The new EP is brilliant. What comes first for you when writing a song - the subject or the music? What do you enjoy writing about? Thank you very much! More often than not, it’s the subject or the feeling of a song. I’ve found that our writing style is constantly evolving, but the one constant is an emotional foundation or a subject that grounds it in something. Often it’s real experiences, feelings or whatever we’re witnessing. An autobiographical approach has been the go-to for our writing and helps keep me honest, accountable and raw. You’re a band who definitely have things to say in your music. Are big topics and experiences central to what makes a Sprints song? Could you ever see yourself making music without that side to it? I joke that I always feel like I’m living in a state of existential crisis, and perhaps that’s the central theme to all of our material. I find it hard to accept or digest that growing up, getting married, working forever without any real sense of purpose is all there could be to life. To keep myself sane and grounded, I try to use my voice to understand the world around me, fuel

24. DORK

a sense of purpose and communicate those struggles, so they don’t boil over inside. At the end of the day, we want to look back and feel like we’ve left a stamp on the world and did something that mattered. Maybe that’s sanctimonious, but I also think it’s the real core of what it means to make art. Are there many shared musical reference points in the band? What’s the stuff that gets you all excited? 100% - we’re lucky that we all share such similar tastes but are also so open to finding new reference points and discovering new things. I’ve been listening to Colm’s Discover Weekly all week, and it reminds you how much amazing stuff is out there that you don’t get served yourself. Musically and lyrically, we all share the same reference points, and the new material is shaped a lot by the likes of PJ Harvey, Bauhaus, Savages and IDLES. Definitely a bit of LCD Soundsystem in there as well. Are you creative in non-musical ways too? We all are. Myself and Sam [McCann, bass] both work in media so get to work a lot with content, video and animation on a day to day basis. Colm [O’Reilly, guitar] and I are avid film photographers, so love going out to shoot. Jack [Callan, drums] is probably the smartest person I know, one of the most incredible academics and always reading and kicking my ass in Fantasy Football, so I think we all fuel our creativity in multiple ways. The Irish music scene seems especially strong at the moment. Does that give you an extra push, or with so many great bands coming out of one place, do you feel like you end up having to compete for space?

It’s simultaneously a great push and a constant challenge. There are so many acts in Ireland who are making serious waves, which, to be completely frank, fuels not only your creative drive but also your competitive nature. It helps keep you motivated; there’s always another goal to hit or benchmark to strive for. We’re very aware that the likes of Fontaines D.C., Just Mustard and Pillow Queens etc. did an incredible amount of work to light the spark that seems to have ignited the media and the Irish scene, so we’re just hoping to keep fanning the flames. When was the first time you really felt you were on the right track as a band? Was there a eureka moment? To be completely honest, I feel like we’re still constantly hit with eureka moments. When we write a new song, when we’re prepping for tour, recording demos, when we were standing on stage at Other Voices... it feels constant that we turn to each other and say, ‘can you believe we’re doing this?’ I don’t want that feeling to ever fade. Do you already know what’s coming next for you? Has anyone within the inner circle dared mention ‘the album’ yet? The album is definitely a constant topic of conversation. Myself, Colm, Jack and Sam are all such massive album listeners and collectors - we really consume them as a body of work. So we wanted to make sure that whatever we wrote felt like one story or chapter in our book. A debut album is really a cementing moment for an artist, so it’s critical in our eyes we get it right, which I think we have. It’s written; now it’s time to bring it to life. P Sprints’ EP ‘How Does The Story Go?’ is out now.

FIRST ON. ↓ KRUSH PUPPIES → Just signed to Holm Front - the

label run by everyone’s favourite indie terrors Sports Team - Krush Puppies will drop their debut EP, ‘Love Kills The Demons’ on 6th May. Before that, they’ve dropped the title-track online. Mixing fuzzy melody with a shot of flute and a whole heap of potential to come, it’s really quite impressive. On the signing, Holm Front’s hot-shot label exec Henry Young says: “Very excited here at Holm Front to be releasing the EP – a major step-up in recorded output from a band already turning heads for their live show in the capital.”

THE QUEEN’S HEAD → Featuring the dual vocals of

childhood friends Joel Douglas and Tom Butler, South London five-piece The Queen’s Head have already caught the attention of some key names within the scene from which they come, including Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey and indie label Permanent Creeps. A mix of post-punk, wonky pop, disco and subversive, anxious energy, they’ve also got a theme tune sort of. ‘The Queen’s Head’ - the song is streaming online now. It’s well worth checking out.

ENUMCLAW → Hailing from Tacoma, Washington,

Enumclaw are kicking up buzz in all the right places. Their debut EP, ‘Jimbo Demo’, saw them whipping up attention Stateside last year. Now, as they drop a new single ‘2002’, they’re starting to do the same over here. Only forming a year ago at a DIY hip-hop party, they’re already being tagged as one of North America’s most exciting new bands. If you want to get a look first hand, they’ll be over in the UK for The Great Escape later this year. We’d not miss out.

DORA JAR Words: Laura Freyaldenhoven. Photos: Neema Sadeghi.

Not everyone gets the call up to support Billie Eilish, but Dora Jar isn’t your average newcomer.

icture this: You’re at home, minding your own business, when, suddenly, your phone rings. The caller – Billie ‘Bad Guy’ Eilish: “Can you open for me on my stadium tour?” Uhm, let us check our schedule real quick… YES?! *continues to cross out any prior commitments* This at least is how we imagine the conversation went when America’s next most exciting newcomer Dora Jar got the overwhelming news that she would be supporting Billie on the American leg of her ‘Happier Than Ever’ tour. Talking to Dork two days before playing Madison Square Garden (!!!), Dora gushes: “It’s very surreal and so beautiful! I just feel so grateful that we have this mutual appreciation for each other. That’s mindblowing because I feel like truly her biggest fan, and she’s changed my life in so many ways over the years. She’s the realest, most down to earth, beautiful soul, and it makes sense that her fans are the same way. Billie has the best fans in the world, and I feel so lucky to be a part of this.” After a very unfortunate case of Covid forced Dora to pass on playing some of Billie’s earlier tour dates,

“I FEEL LIKE BILLIE EILISH’S BIGGEST FAN, SHE’S CHANGED MY LIFE IN SO MANY WAYS” D OR A JA R

so much pain when everything is so comfortable? “But on the other side of the coin, there’s this magical thing that happens when you accept your pain. You can translate it into a comfortable feeling knowing that you don’t have to suffer on top of the pain; you can just feel it, accept it and find comfort in knowing we all have pain, and we can connect through that.” Sonically, the EP is a spectacle in itself. Cinematic nostalgia meets fuzz-rock meets magical realism. All in the space of 15 minutes. In short, ‘Comfortably In Pain’ perfectly captures Dora Jar’s magnetic appeal: a voice nothing short of captivating and a knack for impactful one-liners. Having grown up in a wonderfully kooky family – her mother an actress; her father a Polish translator and interpreter – Dora is a theatre kid with a love for everything quirky. It’s an aspect of her personality that started to seep into her music once she learned to accept the eccentricities of her life and used them to “fuel the imagination of it all.” Thank God for that! Otherwise, we may have never got to experience the bubbly sceneries of ‘Tiger Face’. “It’s inspired by my mom,” Dora laughs. “There was one time we were walking around LA, and she just burst into song - as she does ‘cause she’s a kook: ‘spontaneous remission from a great depression’, because she suddenly felt very happy that we were walking in Venice.” But, of course, we can’t talk about Dora Jar without talking about the lonely mermaid. A character Dora invented when writing crystalline single, ‘Lagoon’. “I guess it’s a way to personify an emotion. With ‘Lagoon’, writing from the mermaid’s perspective, the first line that came to me was ‘I want to be medically examined by you’. I she counts herself incredibly fortunate to have been given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a second thought that was sexy, kinda, but also, ‘there’s something wrong with me, and you need to find out what it is’. I felt time. “It’s such an interesting lesson in letting go and kind of embarrassed to sing that line right off the bat. So, I having faith and being grateful for whatever comes,” prefaced it with ‘okay, this is a mermaid singing this’.” she muses, reflecting on a long journey of practising Some artists have personas; Dora has characters that patience. “In my past, I was very not trusting of my are basically just Dora in fancy dress. A mermaid tail, a life and the way things were happening. I had a lot of funky hat, maybe a moustache on the next EP. Whatever frustrations about what my fate was going to be and disguise she decides to don in the studio, her intoxicating comparing myself to others,” she says. “That’s a real personality keeps shining through. It’s the essence of thing that you have to grow out of.” her sound, the very thing that makes her records feel so Talking about her experience of cultivating faith charismatic. With influences ranging from The Beatles to in herself and her art, it’s easy to see the emotional Gwen Stefani to Foo Fighters, there is no tying Dora Jar intelligence fuelling each statement. Here is an artist down to a genre. You’re welcome to try but convincing who has worked very hard to build a stable foundation her to settle for one singular sound is like asking Andrew for herself. She continues: “I’ve had this realisation that Garfield not to explore musical roles. It would be robbing my path is waiting for me to realise I’m on it. It helped the world of some seriously inspiring moments. me to reframe ‘no, I’m not on their path, I’m not on their “Growing up, it was just me and a guitar,” Dora recalls. path, I’m on mine.’ I’m living my future history, and this “I was craving expanding the sound, and people would moment – even if it’s really uncomfortable and painful be like ‘oh, she’s a singer-songwriter!’ and I was like urgh – it matters. It’s going to be the fertiliser for everything (insert growling noise here). Not that I have anything else.” against that, but I was just like, ‘I’m not just that?’” More specifically, the fertiliser for a collection of If you ask Dora about her sonic concept, the answer songs that went on to become her ‘Comfortably In is surprisingly simple. “The idea is that it’s a house with Pain’ EP – a magnificent record that chronicles pain in many rooms that are decorated differently, and you can all its shifting forms and sizes, whether that’s physical walk through them.” Well then, let’s get wandering around separation, a literal breakup or “singing through the the colourful halls of ‘Comfortably In Pain’. And if, at any pain”. moment, you find yourself trapped in a cloud of self-doubt, Following last year’s debut EP ‘Digital Meadows’, wondering why on earth you didn’t think about writing ‘Comfortably In Pain’ finds Dora at an intersection of a song about the scab on your leg, remember this little contradicting mindsets. “I really wanted to think about snippet of wisdom. “The work that I’ve done, in therapy especially, helped me realise that jealousy is actually the paradox of the meaning in there,” she says of the inspiration. Everyone experiences that icky feeling, EP title. “On one side of the coin, I am blessed in my life to have a bed, and a home, and friends and have all but you can translate it into something that feels more abundant and connects to people. That’s what we’re all of these beautiful comforts, and yet there are things going on in my mind and my heart that are very painful. craving in life: how do we connect with each other?” P Dora Jar’s EP ‘Comfortably In Pain’ is out now. It can feel like this weird dissonance, like, why am I in readdork.com 25.

COVER STORY

Big Fontaines D.C.’s ascent has been nothing short of stratospheric, but their third album ‘Skinty Fia’ might very well be their best yet. WORDS: JAKE HAWKES. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.

26. DORK

FONTAINES D.C.

shots. readdork.com 27.

COVER STORY

F ontaines D.C. have an intimate connection to their immediate surroundings. While some music can be nebulous, too broad to be anchored to any one place, everything Fontaines have put out has been the direct result of where they are right now. ‘Dogrel’, the debut album that launched them out of pub function rooms and into proper venues with sold-out crowds, was a love letter to Dublin, the city where they formed and grew. Follow-up ‘A Hero’s Death’ was a response to the pressures of touring, a rootless and opaque record that helped them shed what remained of the post-punk clothes they’d been forced into by the press. So where does that leave ‘Skinty Fia’, the band’s upcoming third album? Coming after their relocation to London, it’s full of references to Ireland. The title, meaning ‘damnation of the deer’ in Irish, is an obvious place to start, but there’s a current of Irish identity running throughout every song. This isn’t the everyday Ireland of ‘Dogrel’, but the remembered Ireland of a diaspora community, deeply embedded in London and across the world. If their debut showcased Dublin through the eyes of someone who’d spent their life there, then ‘Skinty Fia’ is about being Irish outside of your home and coming to terms with what that means. “My favourite thing about the phrase ‘Skinty Fia’,” says vocalist Grian Chatten. “Is that it’s a phoneticisation that we invented in order for it to be understood. The phrase is an old Irish curse, but the spelling is anglicised. I think that sums up the whole idea of the album and this idea of an Irish diaspora for us – how culture changes and is changed to become more easily understood.” It’s been common throughout history for immigrant communities to group together, recreating a nostalgic image of home to cope with the strange and unknowable. With this in mind, it’d be easy to assume that any issues Fontaines D.C. had with Ireland would have faded away. But while the band enjoy Irish pubs and have Irish friends, they’ve resisted slipping into a rose-tinted view of their home country.

28. DORK

“I draw inspiration from Ireland, even when living over here,” says Grian. “But I find it a less romantic place. There are serious issues there, which have only been exacerbated in the last five years. In some ways, those issues make me enjoy living here in a selfish way because I can afford to move out instead of struggling away at my parent’s gaff. People don’t believe you when you tell them it’s harder to rent out there than in London, but it’s way worse.” We’re talking to him, along with lead guitarist Carlos O’Connell, in a pub in deepest darkest South London. It’s just across the way from producer Dan Carey’s studio, where the band have been working all day, along with rapper Slowthai. Grian complains of callouses from too much tambourine playing as he orders his Guinness. It’s midweek, and the pub itself is almost completely empty, although an ominously advertised pub quiz is supposedly starting in an hour’s time. Better get on with it, then. “I think being in London as an Irish

person is similar to how people from the North of England probably feel here – there’s a divide there, a small air of ‘you’re not from here’.” Grian continues once we get back to the table. “I do still find it very exciting, though. There’s an expansive nature to this city which is still fairly alien to me, having grown up in Dublin. London’s a nice city to disappear into – Dublin’s so small that it can be hard just to walk down the road sometimes.” “It wasn’t that natural to move here,” adds Carlos. “Grian moved, then the pandemic left us all not knowing what we were doing, and I think I was the first one after that to get a place. I was looking at flats, and I just didn’t see why I’d get another place in Dublin, so I came over here instead. We’ve got a rich life here, full of friends who show us an enthusiasm for the city.” “I grew up in Madrid, so in many ways, I was an outsider when I moved to Dublin anyway,” he continues. “I looked at the city through the window my Irish family showed me, and that’s

FONTAINES D.C.

always felt a part of me. But in the same way, when we moved to London, no matter where in London or what our lifestyle is, we’re always looking at this city through the lens of an Irish person. This city to us is impacted by the history made by Irish people, and the attempts to crush that by the English, so no matter how welcoming or unwelcoming London is, I already have preconceptions about this place. The flipside of that is that there is a very strong Irish community here that we entered London through. We didn’t just arrive as five lads who didn’t know anyone – we were surrounded by Irish friends.” When immigrating to a new country, communities don’t just group together out of shared nostalgia, but also at times against a host nation that can seem at best disinterested, and at worst openly hostile, to their existence. Areas of North London, including Cricklewood, Kilburn, and Camden Town, saw waves of Irish immigration throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. These immigrants brought their culture with them, still clearly seen in historic Irish pubs, including the Dublin Castle and the Boston Arms (located

below The Dome, where Fontaines recently played) and the London Irish Centre in Camden Square. Despite the huge Irish population in England and the historic British rule of the country, understanding of Irish history and culture within Britain is still frustratingly low. “Even the most ostensibly woke people would struggle to put the line on the map between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Some of them probably don’t even know there is a line,” Grian says with visible annoyance. “The conversation just feels so underdeveloped, and I don’t know why that is.” “I’ve met people, liberal people, who actually think Ireland is in some way part of the UK and don’t see why that would be offensive to say,” says Carlos. “This country is built in a way that there’s no ownership taken over its mistakes – if you want to be generous and call them mistakes. It colonised half the world! How can it not teach the actual history of what happened? There’s so much injustice in taking this attitude of ‘leave the past in the past’, which is fine if you know your past, but you can’t just forget it because it

“This album hasn’t been a squeeze to get out; it bled from us by necessity” - Grian Chatten

readdork.com 29.

COVER STORY

doesn’t paint you in a good light.” This bubbling anger is present throughout ‘Skinty Fia’, but nowhere more so than on opening track ‘In ár gCroithe go deo’. The title is Irish for “in our hearts forever”, a phrase a family wanted to be inscribed on a gravestone in a Church of England graveyard. After a legal battle, they were told that the inscription would not be allowed without a translation lest it is seen as a “political statement” due to “the passions and feelings connected with the use of Irish Gaelic”. Despite feeling like a ruling from the height of the Troubles, this was a decision made in 2020. “They don’t want to teach this in schools, but by rule and regulation, they’re still discriminating against Irish people? It’s very telling.” Grian shakes his head as if in disbelief. “We’re not foregrounding our Irishness as an intentional aspect of our makeup as a band; it’s just a reality. This energy is very real to us and to people in Ireland. There’s a righteous anger there, and why shouldn’t we

30. DORK

harness it as a colour in our palette? It helps me engage with the tracks when we play them night after night, to know that I’m singing about something worth singing about. It’s not reflective; it’s us singing about something we want to change and the friction that it causes. As long as there continues to be that friction, we’ll continue to be inspired by it.” This anger that permeates the Irish experience is deeply rooted. During British rule of the country, use of the Irish language dwindled, with English favoured in schools and everyday life, leading to the situation where the use of the language can be taken as an overtly political act in Britain, no matter how innocuous. Despite this, there’s been a recent revival in the language’s use, with it now taught in schools and championed as an important part of Irish heritage. “[James] Joyce once said that the Irish accent is the ghost of our language,” says Carlos. “Our accent is the accent of a foreign person learning a language and speaking it with their

native accent. The physicality of that language is amazing because you develop these muscles as a kid. You’re growing your own instrument, and it’s always going to carry that – it’s not just an accent, it’s a part of the music and a part of our culture.” “You know Tommy Tiernan, the Irish comedian, once said: ‘The English language is a brick wall, and “fuck” is my chisel!’,” says Grian, laughing. “Different phrasing, but he’s saying the same thing. The English language doesn’t suit the Irish soul. Some languages just don’t fit in your mouth properly – English is a square peg in a round hole for us.” All of these feelings and realities blend together on ‘Skinty Fia’, but that’s not to say there was any conscious narrative laid out before Fontaines sat down to write the album. Even though the pandemic gave the band a breathing room they’d never had before, it was still more of a plunge than a thought-out project. “We’re responding to a call,” says Grian. “This album hasn’t been a

squeeze to get out; it bled from us by necessity. It’s inspired by moving country and being faced with all these different versions of Irishness which we’d never considered before. It was us donning the cloth of our culture. That feeling was a moment in time - I don’t know what the next chapter in our lives is, so I can’t say what our next album will sound like. “One thing that has changed is I don’t feel as trepidatious about picking up different instruments,” he continues with a smile. “Not like I’m fucking Noel Gallagher picking something off the wall in a studio and giving it a go, but the songs we hear in our heads aren’t always two guitars and a bass and drums – sometimes they’re more nebulous. It’s just now we’ve got the confidence to realise that. There’s more scope.” “I do think we would always have done that, though,” says Carlos. “From the moment the first album was done, we knew the next one would be different, and the same after the second. By the time we’d written

FONTAINES D.C.

‘Dogrel’, we’d left ‘Boys in the Better Land’ and ‘Liberty Belle’ behind. We were never gonna let ourselves get boxed in. That was part of the reason why we put ‘Dublin City Sky’; on the first record, which was a total trad [traditional Irish music] ballad. Maybe another band would’ve just tried to make ten bangers, but I don’t think that was of any interest to us.” This constant search for newness is present throughout ‘Skinty Fia’. Whether it’s the understated menace of ‘Big Shot’, the gentle romance of ‘I Love You’ or ‘Skinty Fia’ itself, which boasts an almost industrial feel, it’s clear that the band are always seeking to push themselves. Even songs that skirt closer to a ‘traditional’ Fontaines sound show an ever-growing lyrical maturity and deftly avoid treading the same boards as previous outings. ‘Bloomsday’ is one such track, named after the annual celebration of Irish author and poet James Joyce. “Bloomsday is this pilgrimage that fans do every year,” explains Grian. “But it was sort of founded by Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh, and Flann O’Brien [all Irish poets, playwrights, and authors]. There’s footage of them at the first Bloomsday, in black and white and sort of sped up like all those old films are. They’re just enjoying themselves, and I saw us in that, walking in the so-called footsteps of these great men. But there’s a melancholy in there too, because I wrote it partly to let go of my old idea of Ireland. I was clinging to this youthful dream of Dublin, and I needed to get off of that treadmill of romanticism. It felt like celebrating the last birthday you’ll ever have.” This conflicting view of Ireland rears its head again and again when talking to the band. In leaving the country, it feels as if they’re more determined than ever to understand it and show it to the world. The logical end point of this attitude is ‘The Couple Across the Way’, a tradinspired ballad that is played entirely on a hand accordion Grian was bought for Christmas. Slow and meandering, it evokes Irish folk music without giving itself over to nostalgia in a way that no modern band has managed since the Pogues over 40 years ago. “My mam bought me that accordion for Christmas, and I drove everyone mad learning to play it all day,” Grian says, laughing. “I was walking up and down the stairs, and they were creaking, and the accordion was creaking while I worked out how to use it. I just have an obsession with getting something to sound how I hear it in my head, so I wasn’t even thinking about whether the finished song would work on the album; I just needed to do it. I do think we’ve developed enough personality and a character that’s unique to us, so we can pull off various

“I don’t know what the next chapter in our lives is, so I can’t say what our next album will sound like” - Grian Chatten

readdork.com 31.

COVER STORY

“I felt like a cliché of myself every time I read a book of poetry” - Carlos O’Connell

32. DORK

FONTAINES D.C.

arrangements, and it’d still sound like Fontaines. Unless we do a disco album – we’ve been flirting with that idea for a while.” He grins, and we don’t think he’s being serious. It’s the kind of throwaway joke that both Grian and Carlos engage in throughout our conversation, something that wouldn’t be surprising if not for the overblown media image of the band as brooding poets who are happiest when alone reading Yeats in a Dublin dive bar. This mantle

of the Irish band who are deeply in touch with the balladry of their home country wasn’t a complete fabrication but quickly mutated beyond all recognition, often overshadowing the band’s musical influences and forcing them into a box they weren’t comfortable inhabiting. “That was all true; we really did bond over poetry,” says Grian, picking his words carefully. “But if that personal history of ours is fetishised to the extent it has been, we start

having a bad relationship with it. It’s actually a part of our life, and it’s started to feel like it belongs to the press and isn’t ours anymore. I almost feel like saying it was all bollocks, and I’ve never read a poem in my life, just so it can be ours again.” He pauses, drumming his fingers on the table. “It just... snowballed. Every interview we did added to this myth, and every interviewer was keen to embellish on it. It got to the point where we built up a collective resentment of poetry and trad music and stuff. I do think that’s why our second album sounds less Irish than our first and our third, because it was a period where we were completely sick of it.” “I just felt like a cliché of myself every time I read a book of poetry,” adds Carlos. “I remember the turning point, which was this really shitty day I had around the first album. I went into the Garage Bar in Dublin, which was our local place, and I sat down with a book, just to be on my own. A couple of lads walked in the door and came over because they knew Fontaines, and suddenly I realised that... that I was performing. Not in my mind, but in other people’s, and that really stopped me reading poetry for a long time – I still don’t have the same love that I used to have for it, because I can’t feel intimate with it. It always feels like there should be a camera on me because I’m living out this image of the band in other people’s heads.” “We were robbed,” says Grian, simply. These early experiences with media mythmaking could well have led to a much more guarded approach in interviews or anxiety about how the band were perceived more generally, but Fontaines seems genuinely nonplussed by the reaction their music gets. “We protect our relationship with our creativity,” explains Grian. “To me, that is the most important thing in the world because I don’t ever want to fall out of love with songwriting. It’s really important that nothing crosses that line; it’s a sacred thing. But that also means I don’t think we feel as vulnerable actually releasing the music, because it’s just about writing it and loving it as a band. Even if it was the best-received thing in the world, I don’t see the point of creating a clone or a twin of a tune – it’s laborious.” “Accepting we have a bad relationship with our creativity would be devastating,” agrees Carlos. “So we just won’t ever allow ourselves to get to that point. If you’re going to write to a brief, you might as well quit and go and do literally anything else. Our albums come from necessity, not obligation – something which I hope will always be the case.” P Fontaines

D.C.’s album ‘Skinty Fia’ is out 22nd April. readdork.com 33.

FEATURES

34. DORK

WALT DISCO

isco inferno No one does a good time quite like Walt Disco, and now they’re pulling out all the stops for their debut album, ‘Unlearning’. WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG.

readdork.com 35.

FEATURES

alt Disco are a band like no other. The six-piece from Glasgow are warping the transcendent power of pop in their own beautiful, playful and wonderfully expressive image in a way that makes them stand out a mile in the creative mashed-up pop ecosystem of 2022. It’s been a long ride, encompassing a swelling line-up, years on the road, musical awakenings and long periods of personal reflection that have all culminated in the release of ‘Unlearning’, their stunning debut album. When Walt Disco started, they were a very different beast to the glam-pop explosion they are now. Stuck with the all too convenient post-punk tag, the band were finding their way to express their true selves. The founding members of frontperson James, guitarist Lewis, and keyboardist Dave

“We wanted to make a record that was very different sounding to anything that’s been created before” - James Potter 36. DORK

have been joined over the past five years by drummer Jack and guitarist and keyboardist Finlay and most recent addition Charlie on bass to flesh out the gorgeous blossoming of Walt Disco into a pop monster.

“It’s turned the band into a slightly different thing, or maybe more of a fruition of what it was meant to be,” explains Jack. “We’ve become best friends and are able to create together. It’s been an amazing time.”

WALT DISCO

Cut Your Hair As true scholars of pop, Walt Disco know there is almost nothing more important than a really good haircut. In honour of their amazing banger ‘Cut Your Hair’, we had to get Walt Disco’s take on some of the best hair cuts in pop history 1. Grace Jones on her iconic album cover for ‘Nightclubbing’: “We’re all in sync with that,” says James. 2. Here’s where it gets difficult, and an argument breaks out about David Bowie’s various looks. Finlay dives straight in with “his ginger mullet on the ‘Aladdin Sane’ album”, an opinion that deeply disappoints James: “That’s my least favourite Bowie era in terms of his look. I prefer the ﬂoppy hair on ‘Low’.” Jack says, “I like The Thin White Duke better, crazy alien ginger.” Eventually, they compromise on “Bowie between 19751980”. 3. Robert Smith of The Cure: “Totally recognisable.”

4. St Vincent: “I really like St Vincent on the 2014 self-titled album with the frizzy silver hair,” says James. 5. “Man from A Flock Of Seagulls”. So, A Flock of Seagulls are an old 80s band with undoubtedly crazy hair, but there’s one that really stands out. Finlay has to do some quick digging to get the details. “Mike Score is his name, and apparently, he used to be a hairdresser.” Fancy that. But the all-important question is who has the best haircut in Walt Disco? The answer is unanimous. “Lewis has the best hair in Walt Disco,” confirms Finlay. “Lewis’ hair holds some mystical powers that we don’t quite understand yet.”

The past two years have seen them evolve into potentially their final form as they spent the pandemic lockdowns fully ensconced in their own bubble, free to experiment and create and explore all their wildest musical notions. There were no outsiders, no big studios, no label directives, no extra pressure. What we have is pure, undistilled Walt Disco as they worked tirelessly out of Dave’s bedroom to create something special and further expand their own little world. “A lot of this album was self-produced, so we did a lot of learning as we went along and also we were making a lot of mistakes as we went,” laughs Finlay. Like a lot of great pop though, the mistakes are where the magic happens. Just as important as the time spent creating together were the forged bonds and gang mentality that fostered a sense of ambition and strength between the six of them. “The album that has come out of it is really exciting,” beams Finlay. “The band has made us all feel a lot more confident in who we are.” Confidence and exuberance are at the heart of everything Walt Disco do. “I’ve never had to brag before in front of anyone before joining this band,” laughs Jack. Bragging is good, though: Walt Disco have already more than earned the right to big themselves up as stars. The drive and ambition the band hold comes from a collective place.

“It’s a really good time to be a group that wants to write pop-oriented music” - Finlay McCarthy “It’s brought a lot of good things out of us and helped us realise our potential as musicians,” explains James. “I’ve also come into my own more with singing and songwriting since doing that with the band. It’s definitely nurturing, and we’re all pushing each other and seeing what we’re capable of and helping each other achieve that.” ‘Unlearning’ is a debut characterised by a fevered rush of emotions that take you on an exhilarating journey. From the brash brilliance of ‘Cut Your Hair’, ‘Selfish Lover’ and ‘How Cool Are You?’ that front-load the beginning of the album to the second half ’s tender exploration of the soul, the record tells the story

of Walt Disco’s evolution both in a musical and personal sense. “We wanted to make a record that was very different sounding to anything that’s been created before,” says James. “We wanted to be very experimental and mould new genres together while keeping it concise within the boundaries of a pop structure. I think we did it,” they continue. “I’m really excited to see what people call this. It’s gonna have to be a seven-genre-long title,” adds Finlay, before James puts us on the spot to reveal our judgment on the sonic world of Walt Disco; fortunately, they gratefully accept our observation of an insane smorgasbord of glam-pop

readdork.com 37.

FEATURES

38. DORK

WALT DISCO

“We’re the antipasti platter of pop” - James Potter brilliance, like a beautiful selection of exotic cheeses. “We’re the antipasti platter of pop,” laughs James. Like all good platters, you have the opportunity to help yourself to a wide range of supremely satisfying treats. “I do quite like the idea of a song from the album being on a rock playlist and a hyperpop playlist at the same time,” ponders Finlay. Over the past few years, the band have forged their reputation, powered by some incredible live shows and a string of iconic and uproariously fun singles. Consider the thrilling kiss-off shade of ‘Cut Your Hair’ and its mantra of being “young, hard and handsome, darling”. However, the album allowed them the opportunity to go a little bit deeper. “The album covers all sides of us,” says Finlay. “We do still love making a fun bouncy banger, but this album was a chance to explore the more introspective side of our songwriting.” The way they recorded the album also gave them more opportunities to refine their songs. “The fact we didn’t have time restraints on studios, and we could just sit until 3am if we wanted to in front of a laptop driving ourselves mad gave us the chance to really think about what we wanted to do, which was quite a big thing on a first album,” he adds. The insular mode of recording coupled with their naivety in dealing with new equipment and the actual practicalities of recording music led to them immersing themselves in the process to an extra degree. “There was a point making the album where there was one thing that would take us all day,” laughs James. “Obsessing over one tiny thing,” adds Finlay. “It took

like an hour and a half to essentially record 20 seconds of guitar,” he laughs. The search for perfection was necessary to match the development in James’ songs and lyrics which provide the record’s heart. “The album is about a lot of exploration,” they say. “These songs are about stories and relatable experiences that we had had in the past.” The songs describe awakenings and affirmations of who they are and how they are going to present themselves. There’s a palpable feeling of inclusivity and discovery driven by the queerness that shapes and inspires the band, and the desire to encourage people to follow their own paths. A key song on the album is the opening track ‘Weightless’, which deals tenderly and beautifully with issues of gender identity. “That song was quite a breakthrough,” says Finlay. “’Weightless’ shows that it can be difficult to be yourself, but there’s that feeling of bravery and accomplishment when you find that you can, and the album really gets that feeling across,” says Charlie. “We’ve all felt that way that there’s maybe a version of us inside that we don’t feel we can totally let out or explore fully, but in our songs and when we’re together as a band, we get to do that.” Knowing that they are inspiring people to have the confidence to express themselves and find their own identity is something that Walt Disco cherish. “Even if it’s just for one person, then that’s the best feeling,” says Finlay proudly. For primary songwriter James, the delicate, tender beauty of songs like ‘Those Kept Close’ or the heart-

stopping epic of ‘If I Had a Perfect Life’ is amplified by being surrounded by the in-your-face shininess of the singles. “You can’t recognise happy moments if you also don’t feel low as well. That’s how the record goes. There’s a mix of emotions. I love albums that are just sad from start to finish, but I don’t think it represents the way we are. Extremes of emotions are how we function. I’m not saying it’s healthy, but it’s how we are. Those tender moments feel more special in between lots of different types of emotions.” For a band with such a strong visual aesthetic - Walt Disco never look anything short of amazing - it makes sense that the album takes on a filmic quality or, indeed, that of a multiact play. It even has an instrumental song called ‘The Costume Change’ in the middle. Faded Hollywood doomed glamour is a vital part of their aesthetic, and they revel in that here on songs like ‘Be An Actor’. “I love the Hollywood songs that are so ridiculous and over the top,” explains James. “On ‘If I Had A Perfect Life’, the chorus is slightly interpolated from a Doris Day song from Calamity Jane. I was obsessed with the melody that was so tragic and so beautiful.” It’s important for Walt Disco that their message of inclusivity and selfexpression is delivered in the most direct way possible. In a previous Dork Hype List feature, they revealed that they had sat down and decided, “right, we are a pop group”. ‘Unlearning’ is the ultimate fruition of that line in the sand mission statement. “Pop is one of the best ways to free yourself and be experimental,” says James. “There are so many things that define pop. Often, it’s just how concise you get your point across.” The band have many touchstones from the golden pop era of the 70s and 80s - for example, the cult classic album ‘Hats’ by fellow Scots The Blue Nile. It’s a record also loved by a certain M. Healy from the-band-withthe-numbers. “It’s one of the most heart-wrenching records, but there

are moments of tender joy on it. The space is really cold and electronic but still feels really human,” eulogises Finlay. You can trace some of the band’s glorious fashion choices and singular individualism back to Elton John’s outrageous stage costumes, something the band all agree was inspiring. Indeed, Elton influenced the album as they came up with the pop nonsense ‘la, la, la’ chorus earworm on ‘How Cool Are You?’ after watching Rocketman. Despite their love of pop from the past, their primary influences now are the new generation of artists doing things differently. “It’s a really good time to be a group that wants to write pop-oriented music,” exclaims Finlay. “The average listener now is so much more open to crazy sounds in music and mashing up genres. If you look at people like Rina and Charli XCX Charli’s ‘Pop2’ mixtape, some of the sounds on that are nuts, and Rina’s mashing up nu-metal, and everybody is up for it.” “That’s what it’s all about,” sums up Jack. “Pop has always been a vehicle for change in music.” The fact that a band as idiosyncratic and brilliantly creative as Walt Disco are thriving in a diverse and inclusive new pop ecosystem is testament to the fact that things have changed. Walt Disco are at the heart of a new way of expressing yourself. There’s a desire to explore new sounds and forge new paths. A desire to have fun and never restrict yourself. Perhaps their description of the Walt Disco live experience offers the best summary of the vibe that has made them so special: “It’s gonna be big, ridiculous and outrageous.” P Walt Disco’s album

‘Unlearning’ is out 1st April.

readdork.com 39.

FEATURES

Dance pain away the

Perpetually the coolest kids on the block, The Regrettes are preaching self-acceptance and playing by their own rules. WORDS: NEIVE MCCARTHY. PHOTOS: LISSYELLE LARICCHIA.

40. DORK

THE REGRETTES

readdork.com 41.

L ydia Night has been doing a lot of reflection and learning over the last couple of years. Over Zoom, with her cat Casper incessantly nipping at her and Buffy the Vampire Slayer lovingly watching from a framed portrait on the wall, she’s often deep in thought. As the frontwoman of The Regrettes, she and her bandmates are currently gearing up for the release of their third album, ‘Further Joy’. It’s their darkest, most ambitious, and most hopeful work yet. So naturally, something quite daunting to be on the cusp of. “In the past, I’d always viewed my lyrics as being super honest and talking about subjects that were hard, and I was,” Lydia recalls. “I didn’t realise how much of a front I was putting up still because I was talking about things on such a surface. With this album, this isn’t some diary entry of mine. This is like a therapy session, and it’s on full display. It’s equal parts terrifying and freeing.” On ‘Further Joy’, the mask is off, and the walls are down. While unapologetically grappling with topics the band might have shied away from once before – anxiety, sexuality, the less evergreen moments in a relationship – they also shrug off the crunchier, grittier sound they’ve been known for previously. The Regrettes transform under the neon-tinged 80s inspired lights of their fresh pop sound: it’s a brave new world in a multitude of ways. That bravery is something learned, for sure. ‘Further Joy’ is bound together with startling self-acceptance and the need to finally do something

that they really, really love as a group. “I was naturally gravitating towards pop music in my life; that’s what I get in the car and put on,” Lydia explains. “I’m writing these pop songs at their core. Why would we go in the studio and make them sound rockier, cooler? That would be really dumb.” “Instead of being like, ‘no, that’s too much of a poppy melody’, I realised that’s actually what makes this special. Let’s push that further. Let’s fully dive into those waters instead of just dabbling. I think that’s when my brain exploded with so much inspiration and excitement to make an album that felt like us as people and not just the way we wanted to be viewed and portrayed in our music. It was this moment where we get to pick if we make a pop album, whatever that means for us. So, we did! It’s so funny when you tell yourself a lie for so long that you can’t do something, and then there’s that click where you realise no one is sitting here saying you can’t. Even if they were, who gives a shit? Do it. Life’s too short.” It’s a sentiment that echoes the quote from prominent British philosopher Alan Watts, which plays out over the beginning notes of ‘Nowhere’: “You can’t live at all unless you can live fully now.” It carries through ‘Further Joy’, an album grounded firmly in the present, experiencing all the heightened emotions of the here and now in glorious fullness. For the band, it seems acceptance and ownership were fundamental for this album to come to fruition. Sometimes, things aren’t completely peachy, and yet at others, you might feel on top of the world. They immaculately capture those sensations in all of their intensity. Album opener ‘Out of Time’ sets the example with immediacy. Spiralling and tightening with fraught, almost unbearable tension, it joltingly produces a sonic version of the physical experiences of anxiety with impressive accuracy. “We really wanted to capture this walls-caving-in feeling. Yet, with that release in the riff, it feels anthemic in a way. It’s the first time we’ve ever had that – it’s such a dark song, but it’s so empowering at the same time. It feels like you’re running away in this beautiful way from this anxiety monster, and you’re finding liberation in it. I think a lot of the time, that’s how I feel with my anxieties. I have these moments where I’ll come out the other end of having a panic attack, and the other side of that feels like such a high, and it’s so freeing to come back into my body and realise none of that is happening.” It’s somehow frozen with fear

and yet an exhibition of strength. These moments happen, and they’re terrifying, but as tracks like ‘Out of Time’ show, they soon pass. That feeling doesn’t last forever, and the present very quickly becomes the past. The Regrettes have been encouraging us to experience the full depth of our emotions since their aptly titled debut album ‘Feel Your Feelings, Fool!’ but never more firmly than in this exploration of the present. Experiencing your feelings as and when they unfold might be horrifying, but those ups and downs are fleeting and important. Regardless of how lump-in-throat heart-wrenching their lyricism gets, the album still feels like one long opportunity to twirl and dance your sorrow away. It’s emotive and unleashes a world of painful truths, but their new pop sensibilities let it spin under the dancefloor lights. That juxtaposition is something Lydia has been striving for throughout, even subconsciously at times. “I always wanted this album to be a dancing the pain away kind of thing and forgot in the process of making it that that’s what I pictured the third album being. It happened really naturally because of so much of the subject matter. I just love music like that, and I’ll always continue to go back to how much I love The 1975. I feel like their lyrics and subject matter a lot of the time is really fucked up and really dark, but you just feel really good listening to it. You can feel heard while also only internalising how much of that you want to. You can cry to those songs; you can dance to those songs – that’s something I just love as a listener.” ‘La Di Da’ is perhaps the perfect example: a twinkling, childlike track intended to evoke the playfulness of ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ and its ilk. It’s hard not to revel in the uplifting, nostalgic nature of a track that makes you want to dance with the abandon of your childhood. On closer inspection, however, it explores disassociation and not being present in a way that is at odds with the lighthearted sound. It feels almost like a celebration of the honesty that is so crucial on ‘Further Joy’. By

understanding and owning the less easy elements, the album possesses a levity and relief at casting these thoughts into the world. And that levity, in turn, lets you dance those sorrows away. “I used to be a little more open on Instagram and online on social media. I try and be very real on those apps, but naturally, things are very curated,” remarks Lydia. “I try my best to show both sides of certain things, but there’s a lot that I choose to not

“I didn’t realise how much of a front I was putting up” - Lydia Night

42. DORK

THE REGRETTES

talk about online because I want to make sure I’m delicate and thinking before speaking, especially when it comes to things I struggle with day to day. I’m not getting online being like, ‘just had a panic attack, what’s up guys?!’ – that’s just not something I feel good doing. With an album and songwriting, there’s a lot more time, and it can be a lot more delicate, so it felt like the right time to touch on that for myself. I felt like I was in a place where I was ready to do that but also in a place where I felt ready to share those sides of me and pieces of me that have been really hard to talk about in the past. It’s a total mix of nerves, and also just excitement for as much as other people might listen to a song like ‘Subtleties (Never Giving Up On You)’ and be like ‘oh, I connect to that’, I get to feel the other end of that connection and know that I’m not alone too. If someone comes up to me at a show and says a song helped them with this,

I feel so much less alone. It’s a special exchange, but it’s so weird because it’s so unlike any other art form, I feel. It’s bizarre.” ‘Further Joy’ beautifully navigates those difficult internal struggles Lydia mentions. It’s breathtaking how the band manage to articulate their experiences with such gorgeous tenderness. ‘You’re So Fucking Pretty’ is a first for Lydia and the band, chronicling a crush Lydia once had on a girl. As the first time she had openly acknowledged her sexuality in her writing, it feels a really important, validating step: achingly gentle and normalising, that openness The Regrettes are so adept at seems to spill forth more easily from this point onwards. It’s a truly stunning moment on the album. “Every time you write a song that pushes your comfort zone a little bit more, you realise it’s not so scary,” Lydia reflects. “It really is like therapy.

Every single time I’m in a therapy session and I’m honest and talk about something that I was nervous about or avoiding before, the next time I come into a session, I’m going to be a little more open and feel comfortable because I just think life is that way. You do something scary and realise that wasn’t that bad, and it’s the same thing with writing this song, especially putting it out. Now that it’s out and I’ve talked so much about it, I’m just like, oh, okay. People are so nice, and everyone has been so sweet. It doesn’t change anything. I’ve known I’ve been this person for years. What’s the difference? I have so much imposter syndrome all the time. A huge piece of why I didn’t want to refer to myself as being bi or being part of any sort of queer community was pure imposter syndrome screaming in my ears and telling me that it wasn’t my place, and I don’t get to be validated in that way – it’s totally this fucked up part of my

head. The more I push myself and am honest about who I am, it feels exciting to talk about other songs on the album, and it feels exciting to go there and to write even deeper and deeper into these subjects. It was really emotional and powerful to have the song coming out.” The song in itself is unbelievably pretty. It’s graceful and soft, and Lydia’s vocals are at their most bewitching against the track’s atmospheric piano. It feels like a freeing whirlwind from this point of the album onwards. As ‘You’re So Fucking Pretty’ lets out a sigh of open release, the final tracks find a dazzling lack of tension and instead grow euphoric. As they embrace a healthy dose of synth-induced optimism, they seem to find that capacity to live fully and unashamedly. “I’m in such a better place now,” Lydia observes. “I’m still struggling with a lot mentally and just in generally in my life, but I’m allowing myself the space to deal with that versus making it so much worse by getting mad at myself for struggling with it. That was the wheel I was stuck in for a long time. In this culture of wellness and optimal health, all this shit, it’s so easy to be like, I’m a terrible person for not knowing how to feel better. Once I did a lot of work and a lot of therapy and this album came together, I’m now able to just take space and take time and realise, hey, I don’t feel very good today. That’s okay! That’s not a choice. I’m not sitting here like, I’m going to feel like shit today. These aren’t things you have control over a lot of the time. You just have control over doing what you can to take care of yourself, whatever that looks like. I’ve gotten a lot better at taking care of myself, and that’s been huge.” As the pure joy and love of ‘Show Me You Want Me’ plays out, drawing the album to a close, that ‘Further Joy’ has never felt more significant. It’s that hopefulness that plays out amongst all the vulnerability and darkness and nestles at the core of the album, resulting in this sense of freedom and contentment. There are dark times, but if you’re living fully, then that is part of the experience. The Regrettes have found their feet despite those, and along with it, their ability to get themselves through those trying times. And, of course, then write a banging, light-filled album about that journey. P The Regrettes’ album

‘Further Joy’ is out 8th April.

readdork.com 43.

FEATURES

Sick of it Spending time at home has come to mean a whole new thing over the past few years, and for Sea Girls, it’s helped inspire a whole new record. WORDS: NEIVE MCCARTHY. PHOTOS: PATRICK GUNNING.

44. DORK

all.

SEA GIRLS

. readdork.com 45.

T FEATURES

hink of homesickness, and your mind probably wanders to some sort of negative, difficult experience: feeling lost or alone, perhaps. That’s not always the case, though. When you really consider it, feeling homesick can be positive: it means you have somewhere or someone that makes you feel comfortable and at peace. Something you can return to and will miss when you’re away from it. “It’s quite grounding. It’s a sense of belonging. It can be a group of friends where you’ve found your identity. It doesn’t have to be where you grow up,” muses Henry Camamile, frontman of indie sweethearts Sea Girls. As the band approach the release of their second album, ‘Homesick’, they seem to have secured that idea of home in many ways. More comfortable and confident in their abilities, the album is perhaps their most powerful, selfassured output yet. Back at home with his parents for lockdown, Henry became well acquainted with retrospection and a kind of homesickness for times that had passed, making memories with mates and fans before the world ground to a halt. That time offered a unique chance of introspection and saw the band emerge satisfied with who they are, stories uncovered, cards on the table, and free. There’s a new awareness at the heart of ‘Homesick’ symptomatic of those times spent unravelling one’s thoughts and meditating on the past few years. It’s as though Sea Girls are stepping out on stronger feet, and it’s the sort of growth that this unusual time ultimately facilitated. “I felt I had a purpose for lots of things,” Henry recalls. “There’s a song called ‘Lucky’, and during lockdown, my mum showed me some letters from my great-grandparents. Maybe I wouldn’t have had time to read them before. One was from my great-grandad, writing home before he got onto the shuttles over to D-Day. He’s just talking about his day and saying kiss the kids for me. I just thought, I have to write this. I feel so much safer where I am now, compared to one of my family having to go through that. I was full of gratitude, and I definitely wanted to put that into the world. It was like a what-if, just thinking about him in war and how fucking lucky am I? I’m never going to be sad again if I can help it. I had an affirmation that I’m never going to be sad again. It was quite soul-searching, and a lot of people were soul-searching at that time.” The band have always worn their hearts on their sleeve, but on ‘Homesick’, they repeatedly wrench up emotions from the depths of their souls. “There are a lot of important things I’d never said before. In ‘Hometown’, things like that had happened recently. A close family friend, younger than me, died at the start of 2020, and it really made me think. I’d recently turned my life around, and I had time to think about how I’m not going to waste my time.

46. DORK

That could’ve been me, the way I was living, I could be dead. It’s eye-opening. Something like that is a quite powerful moment, and I wanted to write something that was worthy in that respect and accepting how lucky I am. It was important to do a good job of that.” Henry’s writing tackles these topics with grace and delicacy, grappling with these moments of grief but transforming them into something celebratory and resonant. It’s part of why ‘Homesick’ soars. ‘Lucky’ is a special moment on the tracklist – it’s roaring and anthemic as it expands and glances around in awe at the beautiful life around them. Amongst other moments on the album, it feels born from a fresh perspective that embeds respect and appreciation into every note. There’s an acknowledgement of dark times and unfiltered, free-wheeling joy all at once. Those contradictions are a crucial mainstay throughout the album. It’s reflective and raw, but there’s a real hopefulness in each track. That time to dive deep allowed Henry the chance to sift through his memories and perhaps spin new ones whilst still looking ahead with fingers crossed and a good feeling about

things. “We’re all multi-faceted, and our lives change quite fast, and our preferences in life do and what we’re sick of. The album changes mood throughout from ‘Sick’ to ‘Friends’. As it went on, writing it became a bit more hopeful. ‘Friends’ was the last song we wrote, Rory, Oli and I together. It’s probably the most optimistic song on it. That’s the nature of life; you can change in a month with what goes on. Everyone is unsure, you can feel like you’re having the shittest week, but it could feel like the best by the end of it.” There are some moments that you know you’ll look back on fondly even as they’re unfolding. It’s on ‘Friends’ that Sea Girls encapsulate this running message of embracing what you have in the present and revelling in every delirious second. It feels like one for the fans: you can practically see their usual raucous crowds, arms around each other, throwing love out into the world. For the band, for the memory, for their friends. Over the years, they’ve cultivated quite the loyal fanbase. Constantly in contact and interacting and appreciating those that have followed their journey from the start, it’s a really precious relationship

SEA GIRLS

between artist and listener in this case. “We managed to keep in touch well out of lockdown and touring – we always as much as we can stay afterwards and chat to them,” assures Henry. “Whatever we’re doing, we always make sure we’re talking and doing phone calls around tours. If anything, it’s gotten stronger with us. It’s felt like the right thing to do, and it’s quite special starting a band and getting a certain level of success because of fans. Having people who will stick by us is pretty cool, and we’re definitely grateful for it. We just love it. It’s kind of a crazy journey, so it’s good to be talking to the people that like your stuff and not just creating music in a void.” In many ways, that knowledge that a solid group of people are going to have your backs regardless of what comes next only contributes to that confidence Sea Girls have been building. Perhaps that’s why ‘Homesick’ feels so much more determined. Where their debut ‘Open Up Your Head’ found a winning formula and played it safe, ‘Homesick’ plays with the rules far more and nudges the boundaries and expectations that listeners might have for the band.

“I think that will always happen,” considers Henry. “You grow in confidence and want to try things. You have license. You’re like, ‘oh fuck it, let’s just have a really good time’. Making this music is such a treat, so there are plenty of ideas and places we tried out soundwise that we didn’t do. We stretched our legs a bit more. It definitely feels more confident. We had a goal for everyone to have a moment to shine, even if it’s a bar or a few seconds where drums will just come in, or there’ll be some really strong guitar. I think it was way more focused; it’s direct, so everything hits really well. Following your nose is the trick with being a musician. If you follow your nose and think, what do you like? What feels cool? We’ll just make that. We did that across this album.”

That thrill seeps into the album’s every pore. It revels in the unpredictable moments, like an intense shift from the dreamily soft first half of ‘Cute Guys’ into the alt-rock inspired, electrifying climax of the track. It strays in so many differing directions that you’re never quite sure what they might throw your way next. In parts, that could be due to the starkly new experience that putting this album together brought. Working from a studio in Brixton but in constant communication with producers over in Topanga Canyon, ‘Homesick comes into life somewhere in the midst of those seas. “It was definitely interesting, and it wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the pandemic,” Henry asserts. “It’s night-time vibes. It would be kind of dull

“There are a lot of important things I’d never said before” - Henry Camamile

in the mornings, and you work and come out at night – there are no windows in the studio. There were late-night phone calls and things like that to America because they were on the West Coast. The relationship I had at the time was with someone in America, so lyrically, I throw in some American phrases. I think production-wise, with something like ‘Lonely’, it made sense to really go down that Western, [composer Ennio] Morricone vibe. Maybe that made us braver with stylisation. Morricone had died during that first lockdown, which was around the time I wrote it. There were lots of tributes on the radio, and they were playing ‘Ecstasy of Gold’ from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, with all the whistles. It made sense to put one in to celebrate and reflect that Transatlantic thing and the American film world. Because it was lockdown, I was getting back from recording at 1am and watching a shitload of American films or loads of The Sopranos. I think making it feel very cinematic and stylised and Western made sense.” ‘Lonely’ is one of the strongest tracks on the album – combining the finest points of Sea Girls’ previous releases with that dramatic, heavy atmosphere they build; it’s a dark, fearless Sea Girls that rise to the surface properly here. They benefit massively from pushing the boat out and being true to what they want to create, never mind how out of sight it might seem at first. That brutal honesty and earnestness is absolutely key on ‘Homesick’. They might be finding themselves in courageous new waters, holding nothing back and making a stand that this is Sea Girls, take it or leave it, but there’s no concern there. This is an album cut from the fabric of who the band are. “This album is very frank, and there’s not a thing that other people or our fans won’t feel themselves or haven’t felt during writing this album,” recognises Henry. “It’s common feelings. It was a joy to write. I felt really confident about it, and I felt like I was encapsulating life and putting down what I wanted to say. We had something new to give and in a fucking cool way. We’re massive fans of these songs. The different stories we put in; they just sound good. It’s fucking exciting. We’ve been in the rehearsal studios just playing it through and loving it. It’s been great.” On one of the final tracks on the album, the sunny, upbeat ‘Watch Your Step, a more stripped-back moment sees Henry sing of how “treading water is overrated”. It’s a thought that ‘Homesick’ embodies, again and again. This is no treading water for Sea Girls: this is a cannonball, right into the deep end. There is no hesitation, no tentative moves. They’ve outgrown the shallows now. P Sea Girls’ album ‘Homesick’ is

out 18th March.

readdork.com 47.

FEATURES

48. DORK

WALLOWS

Over + out Wallows are coming into their own with their new album ‘Tell Me That It’s Over’. WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG. PHOTOS: ANTHONY PHAM, DILLON MATTHEW.

readdork.com 49.

“I FEATURES

actually do have a telescope,” begins Wallows guitarist and singer Braeden Lemasters as he tells us of his love for astrology amongst his many other interests, including golf, walking, playing basketball and researching history and ancient pasts. “Funnily enough, Atlantic Records gave me a telescope for my birthday two years ago. It’s a really nice telescope. I saw some sort of moon phenomena happening recently, but no UFOs or anything like that. Just beautiful constellations and all that stuff.” Perhaps if he continues looking, Braeden might just see Wallows’ continued success and flourishing as one of the most exciting bands on the planet written in the stars. It’s been a swift rise for the three childhood friends - Braeden, Cole Preston, and Dylan Minnette - since Wallows became a serious concern in 2017. In truth, their journey began far earlier, back in school, but since they evolved into their current form, their trajectory has been accelerating at warp speed. Their 2019 debut album ‘Nothing Happens’ established them as something special, and they’ve continued to develop through EPs and a constant desire to constantly create and push themselves. Due to the pandemic, though, they haven’t really yet had the opportunity to truly experience and feel what it’s like to be a band in that breathlessly exciting first flush of fame where anything feels possible. With their kaleidoscopic alt-rock odyssey of a second album, ‘Tell Me That It’s Over’, the trio are ready to usher in a new era and realise their dreams.

“It’s bold. Some people might be like, what is happening here? Have they lost the plot?” - Cole Preston 50. DORK

“It has been pretty surreal,” says drummer Cole as he reflects on Wallows’ journey. “The three of us have been playing together in the same band under different names since we were teenagers. We were writing songs and playing shows when we were 12 or 13 years old and cut to now when we’re 25/26, and that’s insane. More than half of our lives have been dedicated to this mission. Our dedication and passion for this band has never really changed, but the more effort we put into it, that’s what we’re seeing back. We’re just continuing to do what we love. We had probably our biggest moment during the pandemic with our song ‘Are You Bored Yet?’ which had this TikTok thing, but we haven’t really played shows or been out into the world since then. Up next for us is this second record, and we’re back touring, and I think that will be the time when actually materialise all that’s happened.” As singer Dylan explains, there are obviously also added pressures that arise from officially becoming A Very Big Deal. “It used to be strictly for fun only, and it is still so much fun, but it’s weird how now we’re running a company almost. Actual funds are going into this thing that we’re doing. I feel lucky that if we’re running the business of Wallows, then it’s with these two guys who I consider my best friends. We’ve come a long way from just playing fun shows in LA and just practising in our houses. It’s still just as fun and fulfilling. I’m so happy we saw it through and believed in ourselves.” Part of the real magic of Wallows is the chemistry between the three friends that radiates between them, whether it’s on stage, in the studio, or just casually hanging out. All the best bands are built on an indelible bond between different characters who come together to create something transcendent, and you can hear that in everything that Wallows do. “We understand each other more all the time, and we can predict what each other is thinking at any point,” explains Dylan. “We can predict what someone’s opinion on a subject might be or what’s going to come out of their mouth next. We know how we each operate, and I think that helps us problem solve a lot. We know where everyone’s coming from.” The ever-closer relationship helped the trio create their most ambitious and dynamic project yet on ‘Tell Me That It’s Over’ as they challenged themselves with a new super-producer in alt-pop production legend Ariel Rechtshaid, who has worked magic with the likes of Vampire Weekend, Haim and Charli XCX, and a burning desire to shake things up. It took a while, though, before the album’s final form came into focus. “The vision was a lot different when we started,” says Braeden. “It was going to be a longer album, maybe more lush and going down a different road. Halfway through the process, though, we had this idea because, basically, the songs changed drastically. We started

Snow Buddies. If you know anything about Wallows, you will know that as well as being a super exciting band, they are also multitalented; Cole is a musical legend, and Braeden and Dylan are actual proper actors as well. Dylan, in particular, has recently been on fire with prime roles in the new Scream film reboot and acclaimed Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why. Despite being amazing in all those roles, though, this is Dork, and there’s one film that we had to find out more about. A film that is surely a cult classic. Yes, it’s 2008 straight-to-video actionadventure Snow Buddies. “That’s Dylan’s masterpiece,” laughs Braeden. So Dylan, what can you tell us about this legendary film? “I was 10 years old. There were a bunch of dogs. It was in Canada. The movie is pretty insane,” explains Dylan. “It’s an extension of Air Bud, and at the time, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m in an Air Bud movie’, and now when I look back, I’m like, what the heck is that movie?” We think we can take that as a ringing endorsement so please, dear reader, let us know what you think when you all scramble to watch Snow Buddies. It’s got dogs in it. What more do you want? recording on January 1st or 2nd or whatever it was, and a day or two after, Ariel FaceTimed us and said, why don’t you guys just come in tomorrow? And we were like, ok! We went into the studio the next day; we had talked with him, but it was never confirmed, so we were like, woah, ok, let’s go in. We did three or four songs on the first day, and I remember being so happy with it.” As they started working, a new project rapidly began to take shape. “The songs kept changing,” continues Braeden. “When you have demos, it’s very much like the first idea is the best idea, and you roll with it. Those demos transformed through Ariel. They took on a different life with different styles, different arrangements and different ideas. It was very inspiring. We were like, why don’t we just make this album 10 songs instead of like 17 songs and make it the best and the quickest. I view the album more like you’re opening a bunch of doors versus being strung along through an elevator. It’s almost like ‘Nothing Happens’ was you’re starting at floor 1 and end at floor 10, but this album feels like you’re getting off at every floor to go get a bagel. It’s like you’re building a journey instead of just getting to the destination. This album is

WALLOWS

more like a collage.” For Dylan, one of the key aspects of the record was emphasising a deep relatability and emotional resonance. “We wanted to make sure everything was coming from a really honest place,” he says. “It was very personal. It’s not that our songs previously haven’t been personal, but there have definitely been songs that stretch reality a little bit, but that’s just how people write. It was a goal for it to be really honest, and it was all written over a period of a couple of years when I was falling in love, and Braeden had been in and out of love during that time. The theme of the album really is about relationships.” You can hear that theme of emotional connections and all the conflicts, doubts and swings of emotions that go along with it on the open-hearted and super melodic songs like ‘Especially You’ that give the album its emotional core. “We ended up landing on something where the theme is very obvious,” continues Dylan. “We figured out later for ourselves that this is an extension of ‘Nothing Happens’ in a sense as that was about the fear of transitioning from youth into adulthood. If you’re in adulthood, you still have those relationship insecurities and feelings,

but they’re enhanced because we are in our 20s now, and any decision you make might be a lifelong decision. It makes things a little extra intimidating at times. The highs and lows of those feelings are the theme of this album. The start of the rest of your life.” Experimentation allowed the band to have fun working from a different musical palette that offers some surprises. “For the song ‘Especially You’, Ariel had this crazy idea to bring in a banjo player,” laughs Cole. “Now, that would be like your one-hundredth instinct, but that’s Ariel’s first instinct. Throughout the process, there were a lot of moments like that where it was just, ‘let’s do harmonica’. People don’t do harmonica, people don’t have banjo and 808 kick drums in the same song, so let’s try and make this stuff work.” “It’s bold,” he continues. “Some people might be like, what is happening here? Have they lost the plot? But that’s also exciting as at least if that’s someone’s opinion, then we’ve done something more polarising than safe.” “I think we’re finally finding the plot,” laughs Dylan as the band revel in the thought of playfully messing with people. There are few bands with a more

devoted and passionate fanbase than Wallows, and their reaction to such a bold statement is one the band are looking forward to. “I’m very curious and excited to see how our fans react to this album,” says Dylan. The relationship between the band and their fans is one that they cherish and continually look to nurture. “It’s extremely important to do that as nowadays, there are just so many different avenues to communicate directly with people online,” says Cole. “Our method is that we grew up together all discovering the same sort of bands at the same time. We were in the 1% of music fans for the bands we loved. We can put ourselves in the shoes of the people who love Wallows. If we think back to what we would have wanted when we were kids, whether it was Kings Of Leon or The Strokes or Arctic Monkeys when that was dominating our lives, and it’s good that we are able to do that. It’s the most important thing. We’re always considering the fans when we’re building the setlist or doing something. It’s never about what the label wants, or anybody else wants. You have to put the fans first because that’s who is in the driver’s seat for what happens for the rest of your career.”

We’re currently in a musical moment when there’s an exciting new generation of bands and artists capturing what it’s like to be young and engaged in the 21st century, and Wallows are at the heart of it. The time now feels very different to when Wallows were inspired by a different era of indie rock bands. “When I think of Wallows and contemporaries, it’s funny because I always think of solo artists and never bands. Rex Orange County and Clairo and those sorts of people,” says Braeden. “I don’t know if there’s a common thread between artists representing something particular. When I think of our band, I think of the bands we grew up with like The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys, which is obviously not our generation, but it’s funny how that’s what I relate to the most.” Expanding on the subject, Dylan attempts to put his finger on what it is that links so many disparate people. “With artists that are in our lane in this era and the space we exist in right now, I think it’s interesting that genre is so bent now,” he says. “Fans are so open. People listening to Clairo and us are very different, or Rex and us are very different. It’s harder to think of bands in the way we were fans of those bands growing up. There are fans of ours that are equally fans of people like Clairo and Conan Gray. It’s an interesting time. You used to have fans of certain genres, and that’s not really a thing anymore. It’s really cool. That’s what allows us to feel comfortable experimenting for our fans.” They are only five years in and have a long career ahead of them, but it’s always fun to try to gaze into the future and wonder what your legacy might be. “I wonder in 15 or 20 years’ time, when you’re looking back on music in 2022, who are you still talking about, and what are you saying about it? Who’s going to be in the conversation? Are we going to be in the conversation?” When we’re talking exciting alt-rock in the 2020s, it’s clear that Wallows’ position at the top table is assured. The year promises to be a big one for the band. “I cannot wait to be on the road and see everyone and play our music for people. It’s been so long since we could play shows,” exclaims Braeden excitedly. “I’m excited to keep writing and seeing what comes next,” adds Dylan. “Now that the record is close to release, I’m already thinking past it a little bit. We have some extra songs from the recording sessions we want to finish, so hopefully, that comes out this side of the year. I’m excited to extend the album a little bit.” Consider this year a belated global straddling victory lap for a band firmly at the top of their game, challenging themselves and their audience and having the time of their lives doing it. P

Wallows’ album ‘Tell Me That It’s Over’ is out 25th March.

readdork.com 51.

ALL THE RELEASES YOU NEED TO KNOW (AND SOME YOU DEFINITELY DON'T)

WHAT DO THE SCORES MEAN? e Rubbish ee Not Great eee Fair eeee Good eeeee Amazing

Charli XCX CRASH

eeeee

Out: 18th March 2022. → For someone so open, Charli XCX remains somewhat of an enigma. A pop polymath, she’s spent her previous four albums and associated creative endeavours flicking around the zeitgeist’s dial trying to find signal amongst the noise. From bratpunk to the early sparks of hyperpop, huge collaborations to intimate bedroom pop, there’s little she’s not found a way to excel at. And yet, in many ways, ‘Crash’ feels like the first time we’re hearing the real Charli. Heralded throughout the run-up as the final album in her deal with Atlantic Records, there’s a suggestion that this is Charli unleashed. Set free of expectations of what comes next, she’s out here, living her best Big Pop life. In others, though, it’s the sound of a triple A-list songwriter working tighter to the brief than ever before. A collection of giganto-bops flung with gleeful abandon, Charli is nothing if not a juxtaposition. This time, though, the results are nothing short of a triumph. The layers within ‘Crash’ are countless. Opening title-track ‘Crash’ is a voguing ‘i like it when you sleep...’ era The 1975 pushed to extremes, all clipped guitars and 80s neon glow. Early singles ‘Good Ones’ and ‘New Ones’ prove that both on her own or with a crew, few can craft a bop like Charli XCX, while ‘Baby’ drips with sass and swagger, fuelled by orchestral stabs and a fearsome promise to “fuck you up”. But ‘Crash’ isn’t just direct hits. It’s a meta marvel too. As a standalone single, Rina Sawayama collab ‘Beg For You’ might have left a few hoping for something more from two of modern pop’s defining icons. In the confines of an album, it soars. An interpolation of September’s 00s hit ‘Cry For You’, it’s a spearing of the trend for reinterpreting those previous club bangers to grab the tailwind of a TikTok trend. Building and deconstructing pop music at will, it’s a sign of a master crafter at work. From torchlight epic ‘Move Me’, to the blogpop meets 80s excess of ‘Lightning’ and the raw stab of ‘Every Rule’, it would be easy for ‘Crash’ to feel like a collection of disparate songs. While its sonic palette may shift, though, its quality never drops. Tight, focused and moving with dangerous intent, ‘Crash’ is Charli XCX’s main character moment. STEPHEN ACKROYD

52. DORK

Thomas Headon VICTORIA EP

eeeee Out now.

PRIESTGATE

ARTIST'S GUIDE.

EYES CLOSED FOR THE WINTER EP Get the lowdown on Driffield’s finest’s debut EP, direct from the mouth of frontman Rob Schofield.

Bedtime Story

‘Bedtime Story’ was one of the first tracks we wrote together in quite some time; I think there was some self-doubt in the air. We were sort of questioning if we’ve still got it at times; I guess that’s sort of expected when you’ve done nothing but feel sorry for yourself & watch videos of cats for the last few months. Looking back at it, that self-doubt probably helped us in one way or another... We’re still trying to figure out how, though.

Eyes Closed For The Winter

‘Eyes Closed For The Winter’ was the last piece

Priestgate

EYES CLOSED FOR THE WINTER EP

eeeef

Out: 25th March. → Get any old codger into a conversation about music, and he’ll probably tell you they don’t make bands like they used to these days. They’d be wrong, though. Straight off of the bat, Priestgate’s debut EP ‘Eyes Closed For The Winter’ has that timeless feel of a gang ready to take on all comers. Draped in their own dreams of something bigger, opening track and debut single ‘Bedtime Story’ especially sounds like the standout offering from a far more established act. Nothing is more exciting than starryeyed potential, and Priestgate have that in spades. Those good old days are here again. STEPHEN ACKROYD

of the puzzle if you will; it made the rest of the EP make sense - we were writing another song at the time, and Kai just started playing the riff. Everyone lost their heads a bit; it was one of those “this is the best song ever” moments for a minute or two. I think it’s good to feel like that about every song you write for a short amount of time, then you can go back to thinking you’re no good.

Credits

‘Credits’ is all about questioning things that don’t really have answers; it’s human nature to wonder if there’s more. These sort of everyday shower thoughts and

the passing of time are recurring topics throughout the EP - none of us really noticed until we heard it all... I never really start writing a song and think, let’s talk about “this” or “that” - I reckon that’d spoil the fun.

By The Door

‘By The Door’ was probably the hardest to get right; I’m not entirely sure why either - I think sometimes the more you try to make a song sound how you want it to, the less it does, and that can be very frustrating. Once we took a step back, it all just clicked into place, really; building creative expectations up in your head is so fun until... well... until it isn’t. P

RECOMMENDED RELEASES MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT THESE ALBUMS AND EPS.

CMAT

IF MY WIFE NEW I’D BE DEAD → Great music, big personality and a sense of fun that never loses the run of itself - who needs religion when we have CMAT to guide us?

alt-J

THE DREAM → alt-J have chucked opera singers, barbershop quartet style singing, and euphoric Chicago House beats into the mix, even managing to make singing about cryptocurrency almost feel kind of sexy. In what is already an exciting time for fans of music that can’t be easily defined genre-wise, alt-J have pushed themselves back to the front here.

Nilüfer Yanya

PAINLESS → ‘PAINLESS’ feels like the purest form of poetry: raw and inescapable. Hard to define but easy to love, Nilüfer Yanya’s found a niche that not only works, but makes music a little more interesting.

→ Indie pop isn’t an easy trick to pull. Play it too leftfield, and you’ll restrict yourself to an audience that deems itself too cool to give you the time of day. Go too far the other way, and an artist can easily fall between the cracks - not enough big business budget to reach the mainstream masses, not enough salted sugar to find an audience willing to seek out something Sundara Karma new off their own back. OBLIVION! EP Some people make the eeeef difficult look simple, though. Out: 1st April. Step forward Thomas → What do you Headon. Fast pushing expect from through the pack of main Sundara alt-pop boys, his new EP Karma? Stupid ‘Victoria’ is a textbook question, right? lesson in how to play the Whatever you’ve got in mind, game to perfection. Catchy, sonic revolutions are their immediate and packed with stock in trade, and ‘Oblivion!’ joyful abandon, its youthful is an EP that takes their exuberance spills out of previous reinventions, and the edges while never once laughs at their lack of losing the run of itself along ambition. This time through, the way. From sofa-themed it’s a zeitgeist-friendly megabop ‘Nobody Has combination of late-90s pop- To Know’ to the swoony rock, 00s emo and summer’s day of ‘Strawberry shimmering 1975-tinged indie- Kisses’, Headon knows how pop in their sights. As ever, to write a hit. Title track they do it brilliantly. Sure, it’s ‘Victoria’ has the smoky a combination of sounds that neon glow of early days The every focus grouped TikTok 1975, while the slow strum writing team are churning out of torch song ‘The Most en mass, but in Sundara’s Beautiful Thing’ tugs at the hands it hits differently. From heartstrings. Each track pulls the sugar rush of ‘All These a different vibe, each does it Dreams’ to the greebo cool of brilliantly. The competition its title-track, indie rock’s best start taking lessons great shapeshifters refuse to Thomas Headon is starting be pigeonholed. STEPHEN to run away with the game.

ACKROYD

STEPHEN ACKROYD

The Lazy Eyes

PUP

SONGBOOK

eeeef

THE UNRAVELLING OF PUP THE BAND

→ Open up The Lazy Eyes’ ‘Songbook’, and there’s a decent chance you’ll be struck by an array of vivid flowers and the sudden heat of the sun beating down. Lay back, close your eyes, lap up those rays. It’s time to unwind. The saturation is turned up to full blast, the yellow and orange hues of The Lazy Eyes’ psych-rock world at their most vibrant. Each track is a rush as it eases through your veins, relaxing every part of you bit by bit with its breeziness. At times it leans more into those rock influences, with ‘Trance’ playing a far more ambitious, cinematic card. ‘Fuzz Jam’, too, relies on those inciting, heavy guitar lines. It’s a debut album to become enamoured by and caught up in. NEIVE MCCARTHY

Out: 1st April 2022. → For their fourth album, PUP find themselves at a crossroads between their hot-headed garage punk band roots and the more clean-cut, out and out, rock outfit they are becoming. For the most part, it’s the most polished chronicle of their mental breakdown yet. The selfloathing is back in abundance, now backed with piano, horns, synths and a number of guest vocals as PUP step further away from any semblance of a comfort zone. The Canadians have served up a blend of strong haymakers like ‘Waiting’ or ‘Grim Reaping’, with the fingerpicking of heartstrings in ‘Cutting Off The Corners’ and ‘Robot Writes A Love Song’. ALEX BRADLEY

Out now.

eeeef

readdork.com 53.

COMING SOON. ALBUMS TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS...

Fontaines D.C. SKINTY FIA Out: 22nd April 2022

The Ninth Wave Heavy Like A Headache Out: 18th March

eeeef → Listening to a new album by a current band, knowing once it lands they’re going to take an elongated break, is a strange experience. There’s every chance the work you’re presented with might take on an air of an abandoned vehicle, burned out by its own engine, gathering rust in the rain. To the credit of The

↓

By the time their second album ‘Heavy Like A Headache’ lands, Ninth Wave have already decided to take a break. With hiatus looming, we caught up with the band’s Calum Stewart to get the lowdown. Hello Calum! Your second album is nearly here what’s life been like for you since your debut? Any big changes, pandemic aside? Well, just before the pandemic, we managed to get up to our favourite place on Earth, the Outer Hebrides, to record the ‘Happy Days!’ EP with Faris Badwan from The Horrors. I think this was a real pivot point after ‘Infancy’ as it informed our approach to ‘Heavy Like a Headache’ in a big way, and encouraged us to really push our boundaries when we started writing and recording the album. Otherwise, since summer ‘21 it has been great to get back to gigging again. The first few gigs we did felt pretty surreal after 18 months of not playing at all. When did you start work on this one, and how were you feeling going into it? Some of the songs on the album have existed for a very long time, with some words and ideas coming from even before the ‘Infancy’ period. In that sense, there was no point at which we all got in a room and agreed, ‘this is us now writing songs for the

54. DORK

Ninth Wave, ‘Heavy Like A Headache’ gives no such impression. Instead, from the brilliant ‘Heron on the Water’ to the glitching percussive groove of ‘These Depopulate Hours’, it’s an eclectic mix of influences crafted into a record for a band that arguably deserved to soar so much higher. DAN

HARRISON

new album’. In any event, we couldn’t be in a room together initially because of the lockdowns. We worked a lot in that time individually on songs, pinging ideas to one another. It was good, in a way, to get to try a different way of writing, but it definitely felt better when we could all get in a room together and flesh ideas out. We read you didn’t initially think you were working on an album - do you think that made it easier? Yeah, I suppose the situation dictated a lot of uncertainty. I think that was good, though, because we were all writing songs and ideas for the enjoyment of it, rather than for a specific end goal of an album. I think it let us loosen up a little bit in terms of having any pre-determined rules to follow for songwriting. It’s your first fully selfproduced project. How did you find that responsibility? Any steep learning curves? We really enjoyed it. It was

Blossoms

RIBBON AROUND THE BOMB Out: 29th April 2022

great having Dan Austin produce the first record, as he was a really positive force, especially for a band recording their first record. Having Faris produce the ‘Happy Days!’ EP was also really great as he encouraged us to follow our own ideas. So I think it was a natural progression that we ended up producing it ourselves. We’re four fairly strong-minded people, and we all had pretty concrete ideas of how we wanted this album to sound. Kudos has to go to Max Heyes, who engineered the album, as he helped to generate a lot of ideas when we were in the studio as his knowledge of studio wizardry is vast! Your music often feels pretty weighty - what is it about heavy subjects you find compelling? Is it an attraction reﬂected in music you listen to, as well as make? I’m not sure. We all listen to a lot of different stuff, and not always with lyrics. But I’d say there are common themes we tend to coalesce around, and these tend to be fairly weighty. We find music a very cathartic process, and it allows things to be said that you might not otherwise find the courage to say. So the songs end up with a weight to them, but I think that’s a great thing and should be celebrated. What’s your current favourite track on the album? I love ‘Some’. It’s just so different from a lot of the other songs we’ve ever done. Haydn [Park-Patterson]’s lyrics are just really like a punch in the gut, and the end comes and goes before you’ve had a chance to process it, which I love. P

“WE WERE WRITING SONGS AND IDEAS FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF IT, RATHER THAN FOR A SPECIFIC END GOAL OF AN ALBUM” CA LU M ST E WA RT

Sunﬂower Bean HEADFUL OF SUGAR Out: 6th May 2022

Alfie Templeman MELLOW MOON Out: 27th May 2022

Warmduscher

Confidence Man

eeeef

AT THE HOTSPOT

PHOTO: YAËL TEMMINCK.

Out: 1st April.

→ ‘At the Hotspot’ bellows forth with all the gusto and bravado of Warmduscher’s debut, but with an 80s sheen over its muddied soles. An unnervingly eclectic dose of cynicism and joy in equal measure, their fourth record’s sneering opening, addressing listeners as ‘piggies’, disorients just enough for the rest to deliver like a fever dream - as though Willy Wonka’s wild tunnelled boat ride has plunged forward into a darkness, lit sporadically in neon colours. It’s an album that rides high on a mixture of adrenaline, paranoia and ecstasy, screaming to be heard live – if only you could catch your breath. EDIE

TILT

MCQUEEN

Drug Church

Sprints

eeeef

Out now.

→ Four albums in, and Drug Church are no green-gilled newcomers and yet ‘Hygiene’ holds none of the weary resignation that eventually grabs hold of so many others. If anything, it’s the sound of a band more engaged than ever before. Immediate and easy to love, ‘Super Saturated’ sounds like a classic in its own lifetime, gigantic riff bouncing off the walls like a rubber ball. From ‘Detective Lieutenant’ and its refrain of “we don’t toss away what we love”, to the gloriously-titled punk-rock blast of ‘Piss & Quiet’, ‘Hygiene’ is an album that both demands attention and respect - but better than that, it’s a hell of a ride.

ACKROYD

Folly Group

Bodega

eeeee

eeeef

Out: 25th March. → If Folly Group’s first manoeuvres showed promise, their new EP ‘Human and Kind’ proves them the real deal. Sonically sharp, often claustrophobic, frequently deeply dark, it’s every inch a band gaining in confidence as they go. Pushing both inwards and outwards as they go, opening track ‘Faint Of Heart’ is a jagged introduction, while ‘I Raise You (The Price of Your Head)’ proves this is a band who can both be dangerous and exciting, but accessible and immediate too. Add in the post-punk-disco of ‘Paying The Price’ and you’ll be left wondering if there’s anything Folly Group cannot do. STEPHEN ACKROYD

Out: 18th March 2022. → American export The Let Go have returned with the succinctly-titled ‘DELETE MY FEELINGS’ EP – not their first short-form release, but one that reinvents their style and potential. Making indie-pop their own with a glossy and vibrant sheen that stands out above the crowd, the six tracks deliver a cohesive narrative that flows through hopelessness, desperation and obsession, all of which serve to sonically manifest the fears we face mostly when “stoned alone”. With The Let Go launching themselves upward as one of the most exciting and intriguing duos around, ‘DELETE MY FEELINGS’ is a vibrant and emotionallycharged step forward for a band truly in it for the long haul. FINLAY HOLDEN

Out now.

STEPHEN ACKROYD

HUMAN AND KIND EP

eeeef

A MODERN JOB EP → By logic alone, Sprints shouldn’t stand out like this. Postpunky riffs, vocal delivery that sometimes skirts close to Now That’s What They Call Sprechgesang Vol. 2 - by simple two plus two maths, they’re a band that sail on the prevailing wind. And yet levelling any of that at the Irish newcomers would be painfully unfair. Why? Attitude. What other bands do with a carefully posed grab for cool credentials, Sprints charge at with raw, righteous feelings. Always sounding one sharp tug of coming off the chain, ‘A Modern Job’ is an EP made by the primal force that propels it forward. STEPHEN

BROKEN EQUIPMENT Out now.

→ There are a million and one reasons to feel disillusioned, but New York art-punk creatives BODEGA haven’t let it get them down; instead, they’ve channelled it into their punchy second album, ‘Broken Equipment’, which fires direct shots at the capitalist hellscape that we call home with pinpoint precision. Born out of the band’s philosophy book club meetings from early 2020, the record sees BODEGA applying their iconic bass grooves with lyrics even sharper than those of their debut release. The Beat Generation lives on, only now taking the form of artistic, anti-establishment punk rock. CONNOR FENTON

The Let Go

DELETE MY FEELINGS EP

Out: 1st April.

→ Aussie quartet Confidence Man have exceeded expectations with a concentrated dose of rave magic in the form of ‘Tilt’. Obnoxious and charmingly justified in its attitude, this twelve-track ecstasy pill conjures an immortal storm of relentless hype. From the glorious demands of opener ’Woman’, Janet Planet basks in the attention she deserves, insisting: “Don’t call me the spark; I’m the fire and the flame.” Heavily textured, exhilarating insanity manifests a sound that cannot be dated; every tune here would feel totally at home blaring by a hot poolside or in a dingy nightclub. FINLAY HOLDEN

HYGIENE

PHOTO: BELLA HOWARD.

off that same feeling.

Beabadoobee

ARTIST'S GUIDE.

THE LET GO DELETE MY FEELINGS EP

Cole and Scout give us the full run down of their Really Very Good debut EP.

Delete My Feelings

‘Delete My Feelings’ was our cathartic mess turned into a song. For the most part, the instrumentals took inspiration from Frank Ocean’s ‘Nikes’. The feelings that ‘Nikes’ portray are so relaxed, but at the same time, the song is a build-up of emotion. Encapsulating that feeling in a song is so hard to do. This was us doing that and pouring everything we have into it. The lyrics are about an unfinished relationship, which is what the entire record is about. Setting the vibe with words like: “Dreams, they’re make-

believe / cause you just aren’t what you seem / make me delete my feelings.”

Vegas

This song means the world to me [Cole] because it’s about a relationship that feels unresolved. I wanted the song to feel that way. Further into it, it references a relationship with someone who’s super successful, and on every fucking billboard you see. Even when the relationship is gone, it feels never-ending because you see their face everywhere. It’s the worst feeling. I also think it’s a very specific type of breakup, and I

wanted a song to relate and focus on that.

Woke

‘Woke’’s lyrics imply that it’s so hard to be happy with yourself in this age of the internet, so we wanted to create something that wasn’t supposed to fit together but did anyway. Pairing different styles of guitar and unconventional drum sounds, ‘Woke’ is meant to bring forth a feeling of chaos and trying to patch it all together into one cohesive mess.

Last Year’s Model Club

‘Last Year’s Model Club’ is about the angst of a breakup and the lingering feelings you get whilst trying to heal. We wanted to write a song that people could scream their heads off to in their car. With an in-your-face bass sound and abrasive guitar lines to top it off, we wanted ‘Last Year’s Model Club’ to be simple to understand. It’s supposed to be raw, punchy, and simply angry. Everyone has felt like screaming into a pillow after a shit breakup, and we formulated ‘LYMC’ to give

‘Beabadoobee’ is about being so unhappy in a relationship that you look to someone you admire instead. Because the melodies are so rhythmic, it was so fun to make. I [Cole] adore making melody lines that are really rhythmically driven and have movement. For me [Scout], I wanted to make the instrumental feel like you’re falling. With the heavily reverbed guitar, droning and detuned synths, and the pitch shift at the end, the track is meant to give off an unsettling feeling, like the turning point of a toxic relationship.

Ghost

‘Ghost’ is about a relationship that never feels finished, and because of that, you never feel closure. By making the guitars sound like they’ve been ripped off of an old record, we wanted it to emphasise the raw feel of the lyrics. This song is a closing door on the record, as it reflects all the feelings that went into it in one song. You can hate on someone all you want after a relationship ends poorly, but this song represents those bits of time where you know you could never hate them. They linger in your mind and haunt your apartment. It’s a terrible feeling, but you never want it to go because that would mean that they’re really gone. P readdork.com 55.

Crows

BEWARE BELIEVERS

eeeff

Out: 1st April.

→ London four-piece Crows have had a fearsome reputation on the live circuit a good while. Assertively thundering past at pace, ‘Beware Believers’ may only be their second full-length, but while it may have taken time to arrive, it certainly isn’t planning on hanging around now it’s here. Never less than good, if there’s a criticism to be had it’s that it’s perhaps sometimes a record in need of a second gear - but that’s not to take away from Crows’ obvious strengths. At their best, when franticly throwing themselves off the walls, ‘Beware Believers’ is an album for shouting loud about. DAN HARRISON

Rex Orange County WHO CARES?

eeeef Out now.

→ It takes a brave person to label their album ‘Who Cares?’, but with an assured, confident sonic embrace, that’s not something Rex Orange County need worry about. An orchestral swell puts wind underneath the wings of a record that often feels like a sinking back into squishy musical marshmallow. An album that’s definitively Rex Orange County, but welcoming enough to be for everyone, ‘Who Cares?’ is personal but oh so relatable. More than enough to ensure continued devotion remains. STEPHEN

ACKROYD

Pillow Queens LEAVE THE LIGHT ON

eeeef

Out: 1st April.

→ A complex dyad of intimate sensitivity and anthemic passion, ‘Leave The Light On’ marries the vociferous strength of lead vocalist Sarah Corcoran and the angelic backing vocals of her fellow bandmates. With this golden formula, they explore the journeys our relationships to ourselves and others take, effortlessly translating them into uplifting and, quite frankly, badass tunes. Thanks to the fuzzed-out noodling of Pamela Connolly and Cathy McGuiness along with the thumping percussion of Rachel Lyons, every track is imbued with a confidence to speak its truth. CONNOR

FENTON

56. DORK

The Mysterines Reeling Out now

eeeef → Liverpudlian legends The Mysterines seem to have settled comfortably into the underworld over the last eighteen months. On their debut album, ‘Reeling’, they extend an invitation to join them in their shadowshrouded other realm. From that very first riotous track, ‘Life’s A Bitch (But I Like It So Much)’, frontwoman Lia

↓

It feels like the time is right for The Mysterines to deliver their debut album. Created during a pandemic, ready to arrive once it starts to subside (for now, at least - Ed), ‘Reeling’ is an album that confirms the Liverpudlian gang as bonefide talents. We caught up with Lia Metcalfe to catch up on how the album came together, and what to expect next. It feels like the process of putting together an album and the whole Covid lockdown thing came pretty much hand in hand for you as a band. Did working on it during a period like that make a big difference to the end product, do you think? I think the strangest thing about the pandemic and the writing/recording process of ‘Reeling’ is that I’d never experienced either recording a debut album or a pandemic, and nor had the lads - I guess like most people. It was a time of completely new encounters for us all, and I guess because we didn’t really know any different about recording at that point, it didn’t feel like limitations were in place, or we were doing anything differently to how an album is constructed… You know, it’s sort of like placing someone on a rollercoaster for the first time, without a seatbelt, and them surviving the experience and then asking them to describe how unsafe they felt… I

Metcalfe extends a hand from out of the dark depths and drags you headfirst into their deliciously reckless orbit. The weather forecast for ‘Reeling’ is relentlessly stormy and wild: it feeds into that impulse to stomp and rage and become your most ferocious self. The Mysterines certainly have. NEIVE MCCARTHY

mean, if they didn’t know seatbelts existed, they’re not going to know any different, and quite possibly, they’re always going to want to ride the rollercoaster that way. Pandemic aside, did you encounter any unexpected challenges making the record? Yes, of course - but the challenge is the fun part; it’s where the vitality of something is born. I don’t tend to trust things that are completed too easily. What comes first for you when writing a song - the subject, or the music? What do you enjoy writing about? Is it usually the same process? It’s a process I don’t get to choose and something I wouldn’t wish to choose either. I see it as more of a channelling process, without getting too spiritual about it… All I know is that survival for me is writing every day. How does it feel now to listen back to it, now it’s finished and in the can? Pride? Flashbacks? Things you’d change? I’m in a place now where I can listen to the record from both an outsider’s perspective and from a place where I can connect to it deeply. I’m proud of ‘Reeling’; we all are. I guess that was the one true goal. You made the decision to not go back and include the older releases that first

“A PROPHET ONCE SAID AWARDS ARE LIKE HEADLIGHTS STAPLED TO YOUR CHEST… I THINK HIS NAME WAS BOB DYLAN” L IA METCALFE

made an impact for you on the album. Was it important to you to have that clean break in terms of material? Most definitely, I didn’t connect to it anymore, and it was important for me to be able to. I guess a good way to put it is trying to fit into old clothes that you know don’t fit you anymore; inevitably, it’s going to be uncomfortable and probably not going to look very good, haha. You worked with producer Catherine Marks on the record. She’s been involved with so many great bands in recent years. How did you find that process? ‘Reeling’ wouldn’t exist without Catherine, and I don’t just mean in a literal sense. Catherine allowed it to become a part of her and also helped me personally so much throughout the journey of the record. You don’t meet people like her often, and you also can never expect anyone to become so invested emotionally in your art - even if they are producing it. The fact that she did that is a great part of why the record sounds the way it does. What’s your current favourite track on the album? We’ve currently been rehearsing the record for the tour in March/April, and I’m really enjoying performing ‘Under Your Skin’ at the moment. Do you have any specific ambitions for this album, or is the win for you simply getting it out there? A prophet once said awards are like headlights stapled to your chest… I think his name was Bob Dylan. The ambition for me is that people find some way to connect to the record and enjoy listening to it in a multitude of different circumstances and situations. The rest isn’t really up to me, and once it’s been given to the world, it no longer belongs to us. That’s the exciting part. Have there been any moments recently with the band where you’ve had to pinch yourself to make sure it’s really real? George [Favager, bass] was round at my house the other evening, and I think at one point in the night, he did try and climb into the oven. I definitely had to pinch myself then, haha. Have you already started dreaming about album two? Any ideas about where you want to go next? Haha, yes, the dream is always in motion, with no direction. Always heading towards something real. P

Wallows

Sea Girls

eeeee

eeeef

TELL ME THAT IT’S OVER Out: 25th March. → Good bands write good music, but great bands bring something more - an inherent vibe that radiates out of anything they do. Like Weezer or the Beach Boys before them, Wallows have that innate ability to make any day that little bit sunnier just for hearing one of their songs. It’s a trait that runs right through the centre of their second album ‘Tell Me That It’s Over’. A mix of California sun and crooning Strokesesque cool, from opener ‘Hard To Believe In’, it’s evident the Los Angeles three-piece have stepped things up a gear for an album you’ll never want to end. STEPHEN ACKROYD

Aldous Harding

HOMESICK

WARM CHRIS

Out: 18th March. → After swinging for a big hit and connecting on every level with a strong 2020 debut, Sea Girls’ frontman and songwriter Henry Camamile didn’t get to revel in glory, instead forcefully placed back in the bedroom of his adolescence. Inevitably conjuring up some old memories, both joyful and playful, the indie-rock quartet’s second LP ‘Homesick’ is burdened with an unwilling exploration of identity. It’s a record sonically expressing a disjointed reminder of youth; the highs, the lows, trying to explain your own actions and move forward with a positive mindset.

Out: 25th March. → Aldous Harding’s fourth album, ‘Warm Chris’ unfurls like a long-buried memory, shaking off its dust motes and cranking into life. The whole album tilts constantly between dawn and twilight, not sure whether the sun is coming or going, but keeping you in that suspended state of gentle light. The title-track provides a gentle, cerebral alternative to the androgynous groove of ‘Fever’, the light pattering of rain in the background transporting you to quiet Sunday afternoons - a motif that returns later, helping to gloss the record with a feeling of completeness that leaves you feeling satisfied.

FINLAY HOLDEN

eeeff

EDIE MCQUEEN

GAYLE

A STUDY OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE VOLUME ONE EP

eeeff

Out: 18th March. → If there’s one thing a pop star needs, it’s attitude - and there’s no suggestion GAYLE lacks any of that. Her first collection, ‘a study of the human experience volume one’, is packed with it. From the ubiquitous chart topper ‘abcdefu’ to the cutting thrust of ‘ur just horny’, that swagger is enough to carry her far. More interesting still is ‘z’, a team up with UPSAHL and Blu DeTiger. An alternate universe girl band who get shit done, those shared sparks elevate all involved. There’s no doubting GAYLE’s main character potential.

STEPHEN ACKROYD

Swim Deep

FAMILIARISE YOURSELF WITH YOUR CLOSEST EXIT EP

Walt Disco UNLEARNING

Out: 1st April 2022

eeeee

eeeef Out now.

→ It’s weird to think it, but Swim Deep are now the kind of band with a legacy, and they still sound fresher than many of their lessestablished peers - able to take their swooshy, blissed out pop and channel it in new, exciting directions. On their latest EP ‘Familiarise Yourself...’, two tracks featuring Aussie popster Hatchie sparkle in uniquely different ways, but it’s ‘Big Green Apple’, featuring frontman Austin’s fiancé Nell, that steals the day, proving there are still countless pages left to write in Swim Deep’s musical story. STEPHEN ACKROYD

→ Timing is everything, and getting that debut album right is vital. Go too early and your identity may not be fully formed, leaving unfulfilled potential. Leave it too late, and that all important buzz might fade. Thankfully, Walt Disco’s timing is impeccable. Over the past few years, the Glasgow band have blossomed, growing into their own sonic skin to become one of the most iconic, identifiable new acts around. From the one-two punch of opener ‘Weightless’ and followup ‘Selfish Lover’, with ‘UNLEARNING‘, Walt Disco prove they always go big. Lavished with pomp and bombast, there’s no chance

of slipping past quietly. The yelping, razor sharp ‘Cut Your Hair’ remains a highlight, while closer ‘If I Had A Perfect Life’ shows an altogether different side to the band - weird but wonderful in a whole new glitching sonic palette. But the true strength of Walt Disco is in their desire to exist amongst the fantastical. The vampy drama of ‘Macilent’ and the lackadaisical swagger of ‘How Cool Are You?’ mark a band who don’t just stand out in the here and now - they’d have stood tall amongst the Smash Hits pop icons of the 80s, too. As accolades go, they don’t come better than that. STEPHEN ACKROYD

readdork.com 57.

PHOTOS FROM THE FRONT LINES.

58. DORK

Wolf Alice might just have proved themselves the best band on the planet Eventim Apollo, London. 20th February 2022 Yeah, sure, we love to slap on a bit of the ol’ hyperbole when it comes to everyone’s favourite indie-rock titans Wolf Alice - but honestly, their current run in support of latest album ‘Blue Weekend’ is something else. Stylistically brilliant yet so impressively simple, it’s a show that relies on a dynamic that no other band really comes close to. Given that earlier this year they were crowned the best band in the country at the 2022 BRIT Awards, there’s only one place left to go. Next stop, the stars. cont PHOTOS: Sarah Louise Bennett

readdork.com 59.

THE BEST PHOTOS FROM THE FRONT.

→ PALE WAVES

Roundhouse, London. 28th February 2022

It’s more than twelve months since Pale Waves released their second album, ‘Who Am I?’. Itself released almost a full year into a period of global upheaval, the wait to bring the album to the live arena proper for a full blood and thunder UK tour has been a lengthy one. So lengthy, in fact, that by the time they hit London’s Roundhouse, they’d already long announced they’d finished work on its follow up. With a new song, ‘Jealousy’, already on the setlist, Pale Waves are starting to feel like a new, tighter beast. Stepping up a gear, there’s new-found confidence and bounce in their stride. Photos: Patrick Gunning

↑ WOLF ALICE 60. DORK

(CONTINUED)

↓ YARD ACT

Village Underground, London. 17th February 2022

It’s fair to say Yard Act have had quite the year so far. Locked into a perhaps unlikely chart battle, that isn’t the end of the madness surrounding the Leeds gang of late. Their live shows, fast gaining a reputation for their brilliance, are selling out at pace. That includes their recent London show at Village Underground. If you got in, you did well. Photos: Patrick Gunning

Any Other Questions?

Joesef. Yes, Dear Reader. We enjoy those ‘in depth’ interviews as much as anyone else. But - BUT - we also enjoy the lighter side of music, too. We simply cannot go on any longer without knowing that Joesef once bought a fake bulldog. What did you last dream about? Being tied to the front of a Stobart lorry.

anyway, have you seen them butter adverts?

What’s your biggest fear? Choking to death on a Skittle.

If you could read the mind of one person, who would it be? My dog.

What’s your favourite type of weather? Blue sky but freezing.

What was the last thing you broke? Literally everything I touch.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? You honestly don’t want to know, but I’d try anything once.

What’s the best way to cook a potato? Cover in olive oil, salt ‘n’ pepper, microwave for 8 mins each side, wack in the oven for 10. Thank me later.

If you won the lottery, what would you spend the cash on? A food shop in M&S. Who’s your favourite pop star? Lady Gaga. Have you ever seen a ghost? Naw, but I’ve seen a pigeon lifting a full Pret baguette out somebody’s hand before. What’s your standard order from the fish and chip shop? Sausage supper. If you had to live as an animal for one year, which animal would you pick? Giraffe, I feel like they are pretty sound. What’s the laziest thing you’ve ever done? Pissing in a bottle in my room cause I cba going to the toilet. What is your earliest memory? In one of them Silver Cross prams looking up at a blue sky, d’no if it’s a real memory or a dream. How punk are you out of ten? More punk than Johnny Rotten

Which defunct band would you most like to reform? Spice Girls. What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you? I’ve pished myself too many times to get embarrassed. Do you believe in aliens? Course. What’s the best invention you’ve thought up but didn’t develop? Something that instantly untangles cables for me. If you had to get a tattoo today, what would it be of? My mum’s name. What song would make the best theme music for you? ‘2 Become 1’, Spice Girls. If you could be best friends with a celebrity you do not know, who would you choose? Adele.

What have you got in your pockets right now? Lip balm, two snotty hankies and a bank card. Have you ever been thrown out of somewhere? Of course. If you could learn one skill instantly, without needing to practice, what would you pick? Would love to be amazing at drums. What’s one thing people don’t know about you? A lot of people don’t know I’m Scottish for some weird reason. Have you ever fallen for a

scam? I once bought a fake bulldog on Gumtree - they said they were going to deliver the dog to my door, literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. What’s your favourite sandwich filling? I like a tuna Branston pickle. What’s the stupidest lie you’ve ever told? That I’m David Tennant’s son. If a genie granted you three wishes, what would you ask for? For my maw to have no worries, for the government to not be run by literal Disney villains, and

bring back sugary Irn-Bru. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? I like Ariel from Little Mermaid. What fashion would you most like to make a comeback? I feel like everything ever has come back, so I honestly don’t know. What’s the silliest thing you own I told my maw I like llamas a few years ago, and she keeps buying me random llama memorabilia, so probs that. P Joesef tours the UK & Ireland from 7th May.