Upset, September 2016 by Upset

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upsetmagazine.com Editor: Stephen Ackroyd (stephen@ upsetmagazine.com) Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden (viki@upsetmagazine.com) Assistant Editor: Ali Shutler (ali@ upsetmagazine.com) Contributors: Alex Thorp, Amie Kingswell, Chris Cope, Danny Randon, David McDonald, Heather McDaid, Jack Glasscock, Jade Curson, James Fox, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jessica Goodman, Kristy Diaz, Martyn Young, Nariece Sanderson, Sam Taylor, Sammy Maine, Sarah Louise Bennett All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of Upset. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which Upset holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Upset or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally. P U B L I S H E D F RO M

THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M

EDITOR’S NOTE Some voices

IN THIS ISSUE RIOT 6 READING & LEEDS 12 H A L F N O I S E 14 T O U C H É A M O R É 16 G O D D A M N ABOUT TO BREAK 18 DOE FEATURES 20 AGAINST ME! 26 BOSTON MANOR 28 BEACH SLANG 32 TAKING BACK SUNDAY 34 EVERY TIME I DIE

36 YOUNG GUNS RATED 40 TWIN ATLANTIC 41 CASEY 42 AGAINST ME! 43 OF MICE & MEN 44 EVERY TIME I DIE 45 YOUNG GUNS 46 TRACKS OF THE MONTH LIVE 48 THE WONDER YEARS VS THE INTERNET 50. TWIN ATLANTIC

are more important than others in music. That’s just how it is. If there was a league table, that of Laura Jane Grace would be near the top of the tree. With Against Me!’s new album ‘Shape Shift With Me’ sounding more vital than ever, they’re a band who belong on magazine covers. That’s why we’re so stoked to have them on ours this month. With Reading & Leeds out of the way - and a huge review in this issue - it’s time to get down to business with some bloody huge albums dropping over the next couple of months. Twin Atlantic, Of Mice & Men, Every Time I Die, Young Guns, Beach Slang, Boston Manor and a whole bunch of others join the 2016 party this month alone. If you thought the year was winding up, think again. x We’re just getting going.

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S ALL. FROM FIREWORK READING 2016 HAD IT S T O , Y ’ K N O W, T S I T R A T E E R T S , S E L T O C O F F E E TA B WENT DOWN. B A N D S . H E R E ’ S W H AT

FIRE! ! S R E C N A D FALL OUT BOY!

ER MCDA WORDS: ALI SHUTLER, HEATH

ID, JESSICA GOODMAN, STEPH

Flames and fireworks galore, Fall Out Boy (Main Stage, Sunday) waste no time in stamping their dominance as they co-headline the final day of Reading. Nothing is done in halves. Minutes in, ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ is whipped out to really set things off, ‘This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race’ has fists flying in the air and throats being tested, while ‘Dance, Dance’ unsurprisingly gets people moving. Even newer radiobangers ‘Uma Thurman’ slot in with almost shocking ease. Pete Wentz talks about following dreams, letting kids follow theirs, and how that this is a moment in which the band get to live their own. It’s an iconic show for bands, and Fall Out Boy triumph while living this particular dream, they thrill and have good fun amidst the occasion of it all. There’s putting on a good show on the Main Stage, and then there’s headlining. Fall Out Boy were born headliners, with a few added fireworks for good measure.

KINGSWELL, SARAH EN ACKROYD PHOTOS: AMIE

FRANK TURNER GETS THE PARTY STARTED Frank Turner (Main Stage, Friday) is a record breaker. He doesn’t like to blow his own trumpet, he says, but on this occasion at Reading, he’s going for it. On top of being his 1955th show, it’s also his tenth consecutive year playing the festival. And he’s running with it. From ‘I Still Believe’, ‘The Next Storm’ and ‘Try This At Home’, he doesn’t waste a moment or yelled breath in getting the crowd revved up for the weekend. SWMRS NEED NO FAMILY LEGACY It’s fair to say a certain member of SWMRS (The Pit, Friday) has something of a family history when it

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LOUISE BENNETT

comes to Reading. Really, though, that’s the last we need speak of Dad and his Main Stage headlining antics. This lot are here on their own terms, and they’re making sure 2016 goes off with a Big Bang. ‘Miley’ sends the packed front rows wild early doors, with requests for a wall of death from the stage following not long after. Brattish and brilliant, there’s not a second wasted. With every inch packed tight with fizzy melodies and 100mph power pop, the reaction is little surprise. This is what Reading is all about, after all. ALL ABOARD THE TRASH BOAT “We’ve been coming to

PETE WENTZ TALKS FALL OUT BOY’S ‘BLOOM’ “This album [‘American Beauty/American Psycho’] was an experiment to see if a rock band could, like a DJ or a rapper, put out music back to back. I think it was a success. We nearly killed ourselves doing it, because we went around the world, [but] it was good to know we could go another ten rounds right away. “This specific little run, it’s an art project in itself. We wanted to do something special for these dates that was different from Wintour, so we created this project. The idea behind it being ‘sometimes before you bloom, you have to crack through the pavement’. “So, we made a short film for it and we have a stage show that was built around it because we honestly weren’t going to come out for festivals, but then we were asked to co-headline, so we had to do something special and different.” 7

RIOT FRANK ‘CHAOS, CARNAGE AND CIRCLE-PIT’ CARTER TAKES ON THE MAIN STAGE “Three bands later and they finally let me on the big boy stage,” beams Frank Carter (Main Stage, Friday). And so begins a set of carnage, chaos and circle-pit-fun-runs. By ‘Juggernaut’ he’s in the crowd, by the end he’s on top of it. Club mentality for the biggest of stages – who needs a barrier? reading festival since 2009,” Tobi Duncan enthuses. Taking to the stage, Trash Boat’s (The Pit, Friday) performance is every bit a celebration. “I want to see you tear this shit up!” the frontman exclaims. Hurtling through their set at full velocity, the group incite their addictive brand of chaos in the way that only they can. SUPERHEAVEN GET THE SEND OFF THEY DESERVE Goodbyes are tough, even if they’re not 100% definitely forever. Superheaven (The Pit, Friday) said the infamous words “indefinite hiatus” earlier this year,

CREEPER ARE SIMPLY SOMETHING SPECIAL Creeper (The Pit, Friday) are out of their comfort zone today. The die-hards are still out in force but the curious, the intrigued and the uninitiated flood to the tent and jostle for the same space. It doesn’t take long for everyone to get it though. This is something special. Call it hype, call it what you will but this has always been the real thing and today those dreams get a little bit realer.

and in the sticky heat of The Pit, they have an emphatic leaving do. After quizzing the audience on how much they paid to get in, Superheaven do their damnedest to give the packed and overheated tent full their money’s worth. LOWER THAN ATLANTIS WALK BIG Lower Than Atlantis (Main Stage, Friday) have always talked big. Today they walk big, too. Taking to the Main Stage, they tackle their set with the sort of assured confidence that only comes from a band knowing they’re onto a winner. Grinning, excitable and with a handful of genuine anthems, this is the

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CREEPER ARE PLEASED TO PLAY THE BIG ONE “We’ve done so many festivals,” says Will Gould, “you don’t really know how this one is going to go. It’s the big one, Reading & Leeds. I couldn’t believe it. I was a bit overwhelmed. I always say the same things and I think sometimes it can come off as disingenuous, but it’s very real. It’s overwhelming to see how much support we have. The show was magical. We had some technical trouble but it didn’t matter at all because the energy was there from the crowd. It was awesome.”

band at their peak - but they aren’t going anywhere just yet. WHO NEEDS SURPRISES WHEN THRICE ARE THIS GOOD? When Thrice (The Pit, Friday) decide to grace the UK’s shores, you know what you’re going to get: one hell of a show. Through ‘Silhouette’ and ‘All the World is Mad’, they’re an untouchable powerhouse. They lean on new album ‘To Be Everywhere is to Be Nowhere’ for much of their set but still attract throatshredding vocals sung back at him from even the newest additions. CHVRCHES PROVE READING IS MORE THAN JUST A ROCK FESTIVAL Bands like CHVRCHES (Main Stage, Friday) shouldn’t work at festivals like Reading. Sure, it may have tried to diversify in recent years, but this is a rock festival, right? And yet, despite the odds, they’re smashing it. Of course they are. See, CHVRCHES’ ascent has been nothing less than astounding. If they’ve put a step wrong, it’s gone unnoticed. With only two albums to pull from, every moment feels like a hit.

‘Gun’, ‘Empty Threat’ and ‘The Mother We Share’ all bringing genuine festival highlights. With another under their belt, there’s no reason CHVRCHES can’t make that final step up. One things for sure, they’re more than up to the task. FATHERSON OPENING ARE A PLEASURE It’s the hangover after the first night of the festival before, but Fatherson (NME / BBC Radio 1 Stage, Saturday) are as assured a band as you’ll see on a grumbling Saturday morning. They split their time between ‘I Am An Island’ and newbie album ‘Open Book’, through ‘Hometown’, ‘Forest’ and ‘Just Past the Point of Breaking’ with total confidence. It’s really just an

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BRIAN FALLON IS HAPPY TO GO IT ALONE Brian Fallon was at Reading last year as The Gaslight Anthem played their final show and now, twelve months later, he’s headlining the Festival Republic tent under his own steam - and he’s big plans. With one song written for his next album and the rest set to take shape over the next few months. Not that he’s giving anything away. “I’ve learnt from Gaslight that if I say something too early, everyone moans when it comes out. ‘He said it was going to sound like this and it doesn’t, blah blah blah, it still sounds like Springsteen.’”

HIJINKS APLENTY, TWENTY ONE PILOTS REALLY SHINE Twenty One Pilots (NME / BBC Radio 1 Stage, Friday) have been causing ripples for a while now. Their efforts doubled-down with the release of ‘Blurryface’ last year and ever since, they’ve been riding a wave. Today, their first show since playing a sold-out Madison Square Gardens, sees them sub-headline the NME tent sandwiched between a confused Crystal Castles and the Skrillex-fronted Jack U. Ceremony be damned, Twenty One Pilots put in a master-class. Tyler and Josh spend as much time with the crowd as they do leading them. Their set is full of those moments that make you feel connected with something bigger and threaten to stay with you for a while after but, as great as their tricks and hijinks are, it’s the songs that really shine through and they haven’t got close to reaching a ceiling yet. exceptional half an hour to be a fan of music. HECK MAKE PANDEMONIUM LOOK EFFORTLESS Bringing their trademark brand of chaos to Reading, Heck’s (The Pit, Saturday) set is equal parts exhausting and exhilarating. There’s barely a moment when the four members share the stage. Frontman Matt Reynolds positions his microphone against the barrier, and spends the majority of the performance balancing above the audience’s heads – when he’s not diving into the crowd and screaming from the middle of a circle pit that is. It’s anarchy for

anarchy’s sake, cut loose and refusing to give a damn. PARKWAY DRIVE BRING WEIGHT TO THE MAIN STAGE Metalcore on the Main Stage of Reading is not something to be sniffed at, especially when Red Hot Chili Peppers and Imagine Dragons are set to follow later. Metalcore. Imagine Dragons. Not the most natural of bedfellows. So Parkway Drive (Main Stage, Saturday) are right to feel the sense of occasion, they’re right to look as chuffed as they do to be there. ‘Destroyer’ sees them grab the attention of Reading by the throat and refuse to let it go. They’ve got crowds back to the sound desk, and from side-on you see that they’re conducting every inch of it. BRIAN FALLON RISES TO THE CHALLENGE Chilis to the left of him, Mastodon to the right, Brian Fallon (Festival Republic Stage, Saturday) was facing a challenge, but in an arena packed with all sorts of tent-shuddering noise, a humble audience forego the racket for a slightly calmer feel. Slightly.

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MILK TEETH LOOK TO ALBUM #2 “We’ve written some new songs now,” boasts Becky Blomfield of Milk Teeth’s next album. “We’ve demoed it and it’s great,” adds Chris Webb. “I’m going to tell everyone everything except for the name. We’ve got 14 songs. We’re going to cut it down to 11, which is going to be shitty because we all like different songs.” “We accidentally wrote a Christmas song,” continues Becky. “So that’s getting cut. But the rest is good. We’ll keep it for when we want to be Slade and live off of that sweet PRS.”

Foot-stomping, handclapping, smile-raising, sing along-rousing, it’s everything and more you’d expect from Brian, and, to be perfectly honest, it’s just absolutely lovely to have him back again.

RIOT STATE CHAMPS GIVE THE BUSINESS You know when a band come on stage to a Backstreet Boys x House of Pain combo, they mean business. State Champs (Main Stage, Sunday) talk of Reading’s iconic status TONIGHT ALIVE ARE AT THEIR VERY BEST Tonight Alive (NME / BBC Radio 1 Stage, Sunday) have come a long way. Obviously there’s the literal miles the Australian five-piece have travelled to get to Reading, but that’s just being silly. Over the past eight years the band have been on a journey, bookmarking each step with a record. This year’s ‘Limitless’ felt like an arrival, a destination finally reached and while it’s taken a little longer for the rest of the world to catch up, today everyone’s on the same page. Their set is a solid burst of glittering emotion and inspiration, and the cry of “My reality, my fucking expectation,” is one that’ll stay with people for a long time to come.

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BASEMENT JUST WANNA HAVE FUN Third album ‘Promise Everything’ was a return to form for Basement; an unmistakable progression from the songs of old, but one that came about very organically. “People have been responding to it really well,” Andrew Fisher enthuses. “It felt like we were playing older songs in the way that people are reacting to it.” Their success might come as a shock to them, but to their ever-growing fan base it’s been a long time coming. “We never really think of the outside world when we’re making decisions,” Duncan Stewart considers. “We just want to have fun and play music. That’s all we worry about.”

from the start, and they savour every moment. Technical hitches hold them up a bit, and there is a little bit of babbling to try fill

NO ONE DOES IT LIKE THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN There are shows where people make it look too easy, and then there’s The Dillinger Escape Plan (The Pit, Saturday). Slap bang in the middle of the stage is a nice little coffee table and a couch, and upon that couch is Greg Puciato. Close your eyes and it sounds like a normal Dillinger show, watch what’s going on and it’s Greg reclined, sipping tea and occasionally going “Hey did you know,” to the band, and saying they have a new album out soon like some homely performance piece, but more of a racket. There’s no one out there who do it like Dillinger. the void, but by the time ‘Secrets’ comes around to close the set, their fate is sealed. Pop punk fun in the

sun, and the day is set off in fantastic fashion. BLACK FOXXES ARE SPELLBINDING Blasting away the cobwebs on the last day of a long weekend, Black Foxxes (NME / BBC Radio 1 Stage, Sunday) might be feeling the brunt of a festival induced hangover, but their performance is deliciously fresh. Sparking up the energy for the hours ahead, the group’s dynamic melodies and get up and go mentality are a storming way to start the day. From the of ‘Husk’ to the resounding frustration of ‘Home’ and beyond, the group present their brand of weighted calamity without fanfare: just simple, honest, thrill for the system rock. And if anyone’s still not awake after that, then really, what hope is there? GREYWIND DELIVER A LIFE OF COLOUR Greywind (Lock Up Stage, Sunday) and transfixing. Through their set, ‘Safe Haven’ to epic closer ‘Forest Ablaze’, there’s a proper power lurking in their music; Steph O’Sullivan’s exceptional voice backed by the atmospheric, at times haunting and theatrical rock just soars over the tent. You kind of want it to soundtrack your own life in a movie walking to something spectacular in slow motion. IT’S ALL ABOUT FUN FOR WATERPARKS Waterparks (Lock Up Stage,

READING 2016 MAY BE BIFFY CLYRO’S FINEST MOMENT YET This isn’t Biffy Clyro’s (Main Stage, Sunday) first time at the rodeo, but it sure as hell is their finest. “I don’t know why you’d go see anyone else,” jokes Simon Neil, but he’s right. This is the set of the festival before they’ve really got going, a flawless set list of old and new supported by a light show worthy of hosting the last seconds of the weekend. They’ve always been good live, but in the last three years they’ve clicked those last few pieces into place and now it becomes a master class. Biffy Clyro are one of the greats, and they are going absolutely nowhere other than up. Sunday) - featuring bass stand-in Mikey Way - are fun. That’s about all you need to know. Whether it’s Awsten Knight’s out of control babbling between songs, or just the vibe of the tent, it’s good times that are on the table. They launch from ‘Mad All The Time’ to the rallying call of ‘Crave’, straight into ‘Pink’ and its rock swagger. Half are there for the band, the other half to stay clear of the rain, but no matter what side of the coin the crowd came from, Waterparks are reeling them in, one odd joke and cracking song at a time. The party grows by the minute. HEARTFELT AND BRILLIANT, MODERN BASEBALL WIN OUT With cheers of appreciation flooding the tent before the band even start playing, there’s no ignoring the

dedication Modern Baseball (Lock Up Stage, Sunday) inspire in their fans. Since the release of ‘Holy Ghost’ earlier this year, the band have risen from cult status to cultural heroes. And it’s a mutual appreciation. Checking in on their crowd between songs, there’s every sense that Modern Baseball are here just for those present. The group secure their place in the hearts of everyone they’ve encountered. BEACH SLANG PUNCH READING RIGHT IN THE HEART “We’re Beach Slang and we’re here to punch you right in the heart,” they declare. Mission: set. Game on. Beach Slang (Lock Up Stage, Sunday) spare no seconds, leaping straight into a set that’s raucous and loud and exceptionally well-dressed. A sign hoisted in the crowd has the band giggling like children. It’s loud and crackly, absorbing. You don’t want to look away for fear you miss something.

Beach Slang are predictably unpredictable. Mission accomplished. BASEMENT ARE A WELL-OILED MACHINE “For people our age, Reading is the festival,” beams Andrew Fisher. It’s a sentiment plenty have shared across the weekend, but it’s one that comes with its own added pressure. Luckily, Basement (NME / BBC Radio 1 Stage, Sunday) are a well-oiled machine. They step on stage, they deliver, they leave; it’s a fairly good way to operate to be honest. P

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS ARE, Y’KNOW, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS Think what you want of Red Hot Chili Peppers (Main Stage, Saturday) – love them, hate them, or simply don’t give a damn, but with thirty-three years of history to their name, the band are impossible to dismiss. Having been in the game for so long, anyone would be forgiven for expecting a little more finesse. But stood in a field full of people echoing every lyric to ‘Under The Bridge’ it’s a struggle not to get caught up in the moment. Guilty pleasure or long-loved treasure, it really doesn’t matter. Tonight Red Hot Chili Peppers present indulgence at its most delighted – what else are festivals for?

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he summer months have been and gone already, but Halfnoise recaptures that warm, vibrant atmosphere. ExParamore drummer Zac Farro initially set up the project back in 2010, and is about to release third full-length ‘Sudden Feeling’. And to some extent, sudden is what this record is. “I work quickly so I set aside two months to write, and within the first two weeks I figured out what I wanted it to be. I just smashed it out” In terms of writing, Zac embraces his unconventional route. Through the use of sound editing software Logic, he explains: “I’m sampling sounds, manipulating them and tweaking them. Building tracks and working on the production first instead of the song. I’m kind of writing as if I’m every band member. Once I figure out what the melody is, the keys or whatever, I’ll jump in with the other instruments.” Like Halfnoise’s more ‘indie’ sound, Zac seems relaxed and confident. Although widely known for his work behind the drum kit, he’s a natural frontman and driving force. “I’m the most excited I’ve ever been releasing my own music,” he says. “When I’m not drumming, this is what I want people to know I write.” After the frontman figured out what style he wanted, he was ready to chase it. “I really wanted it to feel like a sunny, upbeat, beachy album. It was quite hard when it would start raining in Nashville to be inspired. Weather and location did really affect me, so that’s why I did go to Los Angeles – it’s always sunny there!” Although the album captures an “upbeat” mood, Zac specifies the more serious importance of relatability. At first listen, the album streams with sunshine and positivity. On another, it sounds a bit more personal. “The funny thing is, the music itself is ‘sunshine goodness’ but the lyrical content is all a common theme for sure. “I went through a pretty bad break up a few years back and now is my time to get through it I guess. It is kind of a glorified break up album. The good thing about music is that sometimes lyrics are really direct. But I like music that isn’t super direct and is a bit more vast so it can relate to more people.” 12 upsetmagazine.com

“T H I S I S ” . E V O L I T A WH ES : Z AC N D E RTO N ERIOUS U TEN P WITH S O P E I D N TO B RI G H IS HERE BREEZY I E ALBUM ALFNOIS H . W N E O N S NDER FA R R O ’ S RIECE SA ORDS: NA TUMN. W YO U R AU

If one thing’s for sure, Halfnoise was not created to isolate. Zac admits: “I do love to travel; I get kind of bored at home. So, I think that’s where I get a lot of the inspiration to write, ‘cause if I were to stay at home in Nashville I feel it would be hard for me personally because it’s such a small town. It’s growing, but I like to tour around and see what’s going on elsewhere, so I don’t feel so alone in the world and I can see what’s going on.” But what are Halfnoise’s long-term ambitions? Zac is positive about what he wants to achieve from his project. “I’m not really concerned about ‘oh I hope it sells a ton and that I headline Reading & Leeds!’ That stuff would be rad, but that’s not really the goal. “The goal is that this is what I love and I’m having so much fun making it. It’s been super fun and there’s not been anything stressful at all. I kind of want to keep it that way! I’m really excited for people to hopefully catch that when they listen to the music.” P Halfnoise’s album ‘Sudden Feeling’ is out now.

PARAMORE UPDATE...

He may not be an “official” member anymore, but Zac will be drumming on his old band’s much anticipated new record. Come on mate, spill the beans . “You should be [excited]! I love what they’re doing. It will be a really cool album. There’s nothing more I can tell you - if it were my album I’d love to talk about it. “I was in an interview last week and the guy was like, ‘So, what’s it sound like?’ I was like, ‘It sounds like Santa na’. And he was like, ‘Santana?!’ ‘Yeah, you know that Santana and Rob Thom as song – ‘Smooth’?’ I was having to joke around because he was askin g me about their album, and I was like, ‘Dude, I can’t tell you that!’ “I’ll be able to talk about it when it comes out, probably. The album’s not even done yet. I guess it’s interesting because it’s Paramore, a massive band that people want to know. What everybody needs to know is that they’re not gonna be let down. “They’re an awesome band and I worked real hard on that. People always ask, ‘Is the sound going to change?’ And I always say even if the sound’s completely different, if Hayle y sings on it, it will sound like Param ore.”

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s long as there’s an honesty in what we’re doing, that’s what keeps people around: people go through these things that I’ve been singing about.” Touché Amoré frontman and wordsmith Jeremy Bolm reflects on the raw and open truthfulness that bonds his band with their fans. It’s a quality notable on their upcoming fourth release ‘Stage Four’, which sees them taking on new depths lyrically as well as musically. “The guys knew pretty early on what the record was going to be about,” he says. ‘Stage Four’ concerns the illness and death of Jeremy’s mother in 2013, and the lyrical content is a heavy listen. “They’ve been with me through everything so it’s sort of to be expected… and I think it helped with writing the music, they had that in the back of their mind.” Recording was always going to be difficult for Jeremy, and there’s an emotional edge to his voice when describing the process. “I waited until we had a few songs before I started writing lyrics,” he explains, “My mum was sick for about a year and a half before she eventually passed, so there’s so many different things I

could touch upon. I wanted to wait so I wasn’t left with all these things in my brain and in the front of my thoughts with no way out.” With such delicate lyrical content, Jeremy took a softer vocal approach; a change he felt was necessary. “The guys were bringing in all the musical elements, and these things warmed me in a way. The melodies and stuff were very pretty which inspired me to do the singing element. There are certain parts where it would make no sense for me to just be screaming, I would be doing the band a disservice.” The album is littered with references that only the most die-hard of fans will be able to piece together. It’s these little breadcrumbs that Jeremy revels in from other musicians. “There are a lot of references that if you follow the band or what I’m doing you have almost an inside scoop on what’s going on,” he reveals, “and what’s really being sung about. “I’ve had a couple of people ask me, ‘Oh what’s 8 Seconds?’ That’s the name of the venue we were playing in Gainesville the night that my mum passed away. As a music listener I love that stuff. I nerd out on things like that all the time with certain bands I love, where you can paint the picture of what’s going on. That can only make me love the song more.”

WE WANT AMORÉ

Touché Amoré are an enduring band. You might think now they’re nearing their tenth birthday, celebrations would be afoot; but Jeremy doesn’t quite agree. “I’ve always had a problem with us being called a band that started in 2007, because I don’t consider a band an actual band until they’ve put music out,” he insists. “Our first demo came out in 2008 and we didn’t play our first show until 2008. “You can’t call yourself a band unless you’ve recorded music and played a show. When you’re in high school and you’re in a band: ‘Oh my friend plays drums, I play guitar - we’re in a band!’ Well, you’re not.” Though he doesn’t dismiss the idea entirely. “Maybe we’ll try and book a show for the anniversary of our first show which was March ’08, I believe. It’s still crazy, in my brain we’re still in the van, I think it’s the punk rock stunted growth thing where you feel younger than you really are. “If you’ve found punk rock at some point in your life then in your brain you’re always going to be 19 years old. Then you wake up one day and you realise, ‘Oh shit, I’m still wearing jeans and a band t-shirt every day, am I an actual adult?’” P Touché Amoré’s album ‘Stage Four’ is out 16th September.

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e played with The Pigeon Detectives and we thought, ‘This is the biggest thing in the world!’ We were so naive.” From their early days spent cutting their teeth in indie bands to recent years spent igniting the country’s rock scene, the duo comprised of Thom Edwards and Ash Weaver have their fair share of stories to tell, the latest arriving in the form of second God Damn album ‘Everything Ever’. “I bet it’s a bit of a shock,” Thom chuckles of the release. “This one is completely different.” For anyone familiar with God Damn’s extensive background, the record is indeed a departure. But coming from a band who’ve evolved as much as the Wolverhampton outfit have, that in itself is no surprise. Building from the foundations of the group’s ‘Heavy Money’ EP, debut album ‘Vultures’ was wholly new territory. “It was a bleak time for us as a band,” Thom mulls of their first full-length. Working as a two-piece while a co-founding band member recovered from life threatening injuries, the resulting record encompasses its fair share of darkness. “We wanted to bring the party back into it a little bit,” he 16 upsetmagazine.com

Y THE HISTORHING OF EVERYT

OT B A B LY N S” IS PRO N. N D I E B OY ASSIVE I G O D DA M M M E O R R ’ F E R W “ O HEA E X PECT T D ’ U O Y NG AN. SOMETHI A GOODM S: JESSIC ... WORD AND YET

describes of their latest efforts. Taking God Damn’s innate ferocity and reigning it in with a hook-driven mentality, ‘Everything Ever’ is a brand new direction for the outfit. “We wanted to do something completely different,” the frontman illustrates. “It kind of harks back to mine and Ash’s early days: we’re actually massive indie boys.” Taking as much influence from The Cribs as they do The Melvins, the duo fuse an unhindered honesty with an innate brutality. “We’re not stylized, we don’t sell clothes, we’re not good looking, we’re not young anymore…” Thom says. “We’re two chubby boys, so we might as well be honest.” There’s no shortage of integrity in what God Damn create. Even when dealing with their darker side, they aren’t afraid to say it straight. “We write some pretty nasty songs, we’ve always done that,” Thom states. One listen to the snarling refrains of ‘Dead To Me’ and it’s instantly clear that the duo have no qualms when it comes to addressing their darkness. “There’s not actually a hatred that I’m writing about. It’s more like

questioning why do I have to carry these negative emotions. It’s venting.” Unloading their troubles and cares onto record, God Damn are raring to carve out their mark on the world around them. “We just wanted to do something that was going to piss people off,” Thom shrugs of their early motivations. “We didn’t give a shit about what people thought.” Six years down the line, their attitude is similarly nonchalant. “I’m proud that we’ve got this huge story already,” he expresses. “Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I stop and think, ‘Fuck, I should really grow up and do a job that cripples me and be desperately unhappy’.” Choosing instead to pursue their passions, the God Damn story shows no signs of slowing down. “We’re still on our journey, and we’re still enjoying it,” Thom grins. “We want to reach as many people as possible, and we want to play and get out there. I hope that it’ll make some people happy, and I hope it’ll piss some people off.” P God Damn’s album ‘Everything Ever’ is out 23rd September.

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CASEY R E L E A S E D S E P T E M B E R 2 3 RD AVA I L A L E O N L P / C D / D L

“A stunning debut with real heart and soul” Up se t 4/5 U K

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2 2 . 0 9 Fa c t o r y , M a n c h e s t e r 23.09 Corporation, Sheffield 24 . 0 9 Old B lu e L a s t , L o n do n 25.09 Anvil, Bournemouth 2 7 . 0 9 1 1e r , Fr a n k f u r t 2 8.0 9 Nau ma n n s, Leipz ig

CA S E Y T H E BA N D . COM

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ABOUT TO

B R EAK

THE BEST NEW BANDS TH E H OT TEST NEW MUSIC

Doe “I had one night where I was lying in bed thinking oh shit, I don’t think anyone’s going to give a fuck about this record,” starts Dean Smitten. “But that passed. I think the songs on our record are really good so it doesn’t seem that surprising that people are into it. That sounds really arrogant, but it’s not. If I hear a good song, then that’s a fucking good song, regardless.”

that Doe have in abundance on ‘Some Things Last Longer Than You’, it’s good songs. Packing a punch, it’s a rough and ready listen that’ll make you feel like you can take on the world. It also provides comfort for those days when you know you can’t. “It’s something we’ve been wanting

And if there’s one thing

Fact File Band members: Nicola, Jake, Dean Hometown: London (UK) Formed: 2013 Did you know? Nicola always chooses the dog when playing Monopoly; Jake, the car because he can’t drive IRL; and Dean, Princess Bubbles because he only has an Adventure Time Monopoly set.

TA K I N G T H E I R C U E S F R O M THE LIKES OF WEEZER AND S L E A T E R - K I N N E Y , D O E H AV E ALL THE TRAPPINGS OF A N E W F AV O U R I T E B A N D . WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.

to do for a while,” continues vocalist/ guitarist Nicola Leel. Focusing on the present and saying ‘yes’ to every cool opportunity that came their way, the band were too busy having fun in the moment to look ahead to a future full-length. Eventually things fell into place: “We were finally ready to write an album, then our old guitarist Matt left the band. Jake [Popyura, drums/ vocals] and I had started writing the songs and were like, fuck, this is annoying. We just wanted to get this album out but we’re super glad we ended up writing with Dean.” This new line up “makes the most sense,” according to Jake. “We’re all on the same wavelength and we all had the same vision in mind. It’s the most comfortable, and the band has never felt truer to itself. It’s the most Doe that Doe has ever felt,” he adds before mocking himself with a fake rock star accent. “We’re just being Doe.” Working with a producer for the first time, the band went into ‘Some Things Last Longer Than You’ knowing what they wanted the record to sound like, knowing the arrangements and knowing the sounds, “but in terms of the end product, MJ offered loads and bought loads to the table,” they explain. “Even though we knew what we wanted it to sound like, he shepherded it together.” After a handful of

sheep-based jokes, the band settles on: “We were Doritos to his salsa.” Taking the songs from living room acoustic demos to fully-fledged bangers in their practice space, Doe then went to work with MJ because they wanted it to sound really powerful. Despite the best laid plans, the whole process only felt like it was coming together on the final night, during the last ten minutes. Both Nicola and Dean suffered anxiety dreams about not getting it finished throughout the short time they were working on it. “At first we thought five days was going to be plenty of time but we underestimated how long it takes to do something properly,” explains Jake. “In the end, it didn’t feel like very much time and that really informed the sound of it. The record sounds really intense and frantic in places.” But it is always brought back together under the band’s tightly wound chemistry. “We probably take for granted just how easy it feels,” says Nicola. “It’s not something we have to consider much. I was listening to the album the other day and thinking how good all Dean’s parts sound and I never really noticed before, because it all comes so naturally when we’re writing them. We’re all

very much on a musical wavelength.” There’s not a moment of weakness on Doe’s debut album, but it’s ‘Last Ditch’ that makes all the pieces fall firmly into place. Cries of “Maybe this will all just work itself out,” come with an optimistic desire for change,at the same time aware that something needs to. It spins a yarn which is threaded throughout the record, without tying anything else down. “We had a full album and then we dropped one of the songs,” admits Nicola. “I had this idea for a song in my head and we wrote it in a matter of days, that’s where ‘Last Ditch’ came from. It was the last song written for the album. “Quite often I agonise over lyrics. I feel like with music it comes quite naturally, but I’m always writing right up to the last minute. On the album, almost half the lyrics were written ten minutes before we were recording them, but with ‘Last Ditch’ it was the complete opposite. They just came out and sometimes, that’s where the best lyrics come from, because they’re just completely honest and you don’t have time to over think them.”

to get the lyrics in line with that. It’s not very intelligent or interesting but it was accidental and it turns out, with how we made the album flow, it all fits together in some kind of narrative. There’s a nice balance of affronting lyrics, some of the songs feel empowering, but towards the latter half of the album there’s some more self-doubt.” It’s never confused though. ‘Some Things Last Longer Than You’ is a gorgeous, interesting and self-aware blast of high-energy and high emotion. Among the poetry and the bonerattling chemistry lies a simple truth: “When I hear the record back, I think if I was to hear those songs for the first time, I’d feel powerful.” P Doe’s album ‘Some Things Last Longer Than You’ is out now.

There was no grand message the band wanted to convey on their debut, instead they took the feelings from the song and then Nicola would ask what mood they inspired. “It’s taking in the music and trying

“IT’S THE MOST DOE THAT DOE HAS EVER FELT.”

G ENDURIN HE MOST ONE OF T N I S E C VO I O R TA N T AND IMP APE WITH ‘SH K C A B S PUNK I U P, N E T S I L . TH ME’ SHIFT WI IT’S , ! E M T S AIN W I T H AG IDE. L OF A R ONE HEL A L W AY S . R E L ALI SHUT WORDS:

g n I s i l A “re EveRyTh iN

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he story of Against Me! is one of struggle and constant rebellion. Front person Laura Jane Grace has been leading the band through the fire for close to two decades and she’s got the scars to prove it. Years in the making, fraught with confusion and battling to simply exist, 2012’s ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ was the sound of a band on the very edge of oblivion. It’s an album fighting back. The story of Against Me! is one of struggle and constant rebellion, but this isn’t that story. This is what happens next. “I had to destroy my life. I had to come out as transgender after years of being in the closet, then have everything fall apart, have a suicidal nervous breakdown and go on tour. That’s how you make art,” explains Laura. “You fuck up your life and then you write about it.” The soundtrack to this new tale comes in the form of ‘Shape Shift With Me’. It might be fiery and drenched in decay but it’s the Against Me! record with the most unburdened positivity. “I wanted to make people get up and want to do something. I wanted to make them say, ‘Yeah, let’s go. Let’s have some fun. Let’s have an adventure’.” Making Against Me!’s seventh album felt like “the closing of a chapter and the beginning of a new one,” starts Laura. “Although I feel like that chapter’s already closed and we’ve started another new one. But that’s how chapters work, right? We’ve read through that one.” As much as this record marks a new start for the band and they’re eager to read on, there’s a continuation from what came before. “Some of the songs were what I was working on immediately after finishing the last record in the period of the time before the band really got going.” Against Me! lost two members around the creation of ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ which probably contributed to it “almost feeling like the end of the band in a lot of ways. We didn’t even feel like there was going to

be touring for that record. I was just hopeful that the record would be released.” Like they always do though, Against Me! endured. Atom Willard and Inge Johansson joined the long-standing partnership of James Bowman and Laura. “As we started going with the band, touring on the record, and as each show was happening, it just kept getting better and better. I felt really inspired by that and just started writing songs.” ‘Shape Shift With Me’ just happened. Before the new-look band really started working together on anything new, they had two days off in a row from tour and wanted to go to a studio just to see what would happen. They ended up at Ardent Studios, which is where ‘Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy’ was recorded. “It’s a beautiful studio with beautiful rooms and in the middle, there’s this courtyard which was really peaceful and tranquil. I sat down while everything was being set up and wrote a song. It came quickly and was fun to write. We recorded the song straight away and that experience, that’s the template we wanted.” The song may not have made the cut but from there on out, the band set about capturing what was happening as it happened. The idea that “it all has to feel that easy,” became crucial. “I don’t want it to feel like I’m slaving away on some big process.” While this was all going on, Laura Jane Grace was also finishing her memoir ‘Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout’. “The book was all about looking back and being reflective, this album had to be immediate and in the moment. This is what I feel right now, this is the idea right now, let’s go ahead and capture that. There weren’t many roadblocks when it came down to it.” ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ was plagued with the sort of bad luck that saw a tree come crashing through the roof of Against Me!’s studio, destroying it. This time around though, the band “got lucky with a lot of things.” With the group scattered, Atom in LA, James in Florida, Inge in Sweden and Laura now in Chicago, they needed a new base camp. Turns out Marc

Hudson, the band’s front of house engineer and tour manager also has a studio in Michigan. That’ll do. “We’d just be practicing in between tours and we’d just say, ‘Why don’t we just go ahead and record something. I’ve got a song idea, let’s go ahead work on it’. Everyone’s there and everyone’s going to participate and it just continued.” Because of how it was created, ‘Shape Shift With Me’ feels open. Despite the band carrying over the energy from their ever-improving, always brilliant, live show, making this album “definitely felt like a parallel universe. The studio is in the middle of nowhere, just in the woods. And it has windows, which is nice and means you don’t feel trapped in this box. In the winter, there’d be snow all around and we’d be looking out the windows and seeing the bleakness of snow covered fields. That’s the total opposite of being at a show that’s crowded with people or being crammed onto a tour bus. It had an influence on the record.” Against Me! has always been a reflection of Laura’s life. “I don’t write fiction,” is the long and short of it. ‘Shape Shift With Me’ is a record bristling with the desire to find intimacy set against a backdrop of a world that seems intent on tearing itself apart. “It is a record about falling in and out of love in a lot of ways, trying to figure out what that means as a trans person dating, examining gender and power roles and power dynamics in relationships and what influence gender has on emotion. What influence testosterone has on emotion versus oestrogen on emotion, but it’s definitely set against a crazy world too.” Starting with ‘Pro Vision L3’, a song named after airport body scanners, and finishing with a song about driving home from tour, the whole record is a trip. “We were trying to make sure every emotion was covered. You start out in the airport, you’re going through the body scanner, you’ve got foreign language coming into your ear and you’re a little disorientated. Then you’re off. Romance, lust and falling in love, there’s the good, positive emotions, and then there’s the

“TAKE

MY HAND AnD

CoMe iNto The Unknown”

fallout at the end. The hate, the heartbreak and the confusion.” ’12:03’ like the song says, is about it being “12:03pm on a Sunday morning. I was sat in a high-rise apartment building in Seattle, waiting on this girl to call me, learning to roll cone joints better and everything that day was going to have a pineapple back, I don’t know if you’ve ever done a shot of whiskey followed by a pineapple juice but it’s delicious. ‘Norse Truth’ is the cold truth, it’s about the vitriol of a relationship.” As for ‘Suicide Bomber’, “obviously there’s so much terrible, heartbreaking tragedy in this world today. There are more and more incidents of it and the idea that being scared, the phrase itself ‘suicide bomber’ is obviously meant to be shocking. Headlines like those are how people are controlled, but what if you think about it from all perspectives of loss. If someone is a victim of an attack, obviously there’s the terrible loss of whoever’s family and friend that is, but I also ended up thinking about the perspective of the parents of somebody who would do that. Being a parent myself, the idea of what if you had a kid that grew up to do this terrible, unspeakable thing. How would you then have to process your love for your child? The song is also coming from the perspective of loving someone, even though they’re a monster. Where does love end?” After the last record came out, Laura heard grumblings from people bemoaning, “Oh, is every record going to be trans this and trans that?” There were also people being positive with the same expectations. It’s led to an attitude, she says, of “fuck you guys, I just want to write about love. I want to write dumb love songs.” “I wasn’t even being that reactionary with it because that’s what was happening to me,” she continues. “I hadn’t ever had that chance to write in that way. Coming from the punk rock world, you’ve got to write about politics or anarchy and social issues, which is all good and all relevant. Obviously we’ve got loads of songs that are about that and I care about social justice, I care about those issues but at the same time, I don’t like feeling constrained as a writer. I don’t like feeling, ‘you can’t do that’. Anytime it ever feels like there’s a wall or a block or someone’s telling me you can’t do that - fuck you, I’m going to do it.

“I wanted to write a record about romance. It’s wider than that but there is a lot of that. When it comes to a sexual identity for transgender people, they’re generally fetishised. It’s like something out of porn. Saying I am transgender and I would like to be recognised for equal rights, that extends to being able to express sexuality or being able to say I deserve love too. If it’s sex between two consenting adults, then it’s fine. That’s part of culture for everyone else. Every fucking song on the radio is about a guy or a girl singing about a broken heart or about falling love. To be accepted into society, transgender people should be able to participate in that to and present their perspectives on it.” As Laura continues to bare all, her life an open book (from November, literally), the sense of being real is a question raised throughout ‘Shape Shift With Me’. “I want to be more real than all of the others, I want to be more than all the rest,” sings ‘Delicate, Petite & Other Things I Will Never Be’, while ‘Norse Truth’ snarls “I wanted you to be more real than all of the others. I wanted our love to be more real than all of the rest.” It’s a line that Laura’s had since writing ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ and it comes from asking questions. “What is realness? And, what is real when it comes to love? I got deep into a rabbit hole of wondering what it really means to love someone. I’ve been estranged from my wife for three years now, this is my second marriage and going through a divorce you wonder, after a period of time, am I just not capable of love and what does that really mean? What does love even mean? “Examining that with a transgender lens where I’m starting to date, be intimate or romantic with someone in a situation where I’m transitioning gender, how do they view me? The things that they say to me, the things that have been said to me before by other people, or I’ve said but I’ve said from a different gender perspective, those moments are really oddly disorientating. You recognise you’re in a position that you were in previously, but last time you were in this position you was presenting as male, now you’re out as trans. How does that influence things? It fucked my head up. I couldn’t stop thinking about those things and that’s what I wanted to write about, exploring that idea and figure out what it means. What

does it mean when you say you love someone? Is it just primal? Is it just the need to fuck, to procreate, and to make more people. Is that it, is that the depth of love? Is that the depth of attraction or the depth of needing intimacy? A little push, a little screw, is that all it means?” ‘Shape Shift With Me’ isn’t an overtly political album but we’re at the point where being yourself is a political act. “I truly believe that. There is diverseness to it. Even if a trans person did a fucking hand soap commercial on television, then it would be subversive ‘cos they’re a trans person. You’re subverting the mainstream. I think in this day and age, it is a revolutionary act to just be yourself, to just not give a fuck.” Whatever shade ‘Shape Shift With Me’ paints and whatever’s asked of it, that flickering of positivity is always present. “I guess it was because I had a lot of unburdened positivity. It was almost a desperate, maniac positivity. When you’re pushed to a point of desperation you realise ‘OK, if I’m going to survive, this is just the way it is so I might as well be happy.’ Realising everything’s fucked is great. Wanting to be open and having no choice, that’s how I’m going to have to survive. I’m going to have to go out there and meet the world with a really open mind and a good attitude because that’s what I’m hoping people meet me with. It’s just approaching life from a different mentality, a different way of looking at things and a different way of carrying yourself in the world, y’know?” As ‘All This (And More)’ suggests, Against Me! will carry on. It’s something Laura makes abundantly clear. “As long as I’m alive, I’m sure I will,” she says, of having plenty more stories to tell. ‘Shape Shift With Me’ is the perfect time to listen up and join in. The invitation is there in the title, capturing that “unpredictable way of feeling still in flux. You don’t know what you’re changing into, just that you are actively changing into something. It’s about daring someone to come along, continue to love me, shape shift with me. Take my hand and come into the unknown. Let’s see where this takes us. Let’s go on a ride.” P Against Me!’s album ‘Shape Shift With Me’ is out 16th September.

ou know that stream of great British bands that have been coming through recently, all personality, poise and knowing exactly what they are? Boston Manor are next in line. They might not sound like your Moose Bloods, your Creepers or your Milk Teeths, but they’re part of that world. Unashamedly their own band, they’ve got something to say. It’s taken a while to figure it out but with ‘Be Nothing’, Boston Manor have it all. “We’ve written one of our favourite albums,” beams guitarist Ash Wilson. “Obviously we’d never say that anywhere else,” adds vocalist Henry Cox, with a grin. “’What’s your favourite album?’ ‘Ours.’” After a handful of EPs, Boston Manor have locked in on what they want. Now, they’re excited to show it off. “It sounds arrogant but even if no one else likes it, I’d still be so happy with that record. No other opinion is going to dilute our own feelings about it. We’re all super happy with it.” With their demo and a debut EP ‘Driftwood’ seeing the band tagged as one thing, 2015’s ‘Saudade’ saw them as another. “We often get pigeon-holed into the pop punk scene but we’ve never considered ourselves to be part of that world,” offers Ash. That last EP was the first step towards Boston Manor being what they wanted. ‘Be Nothing’ is them finding their pace. They weren’t intentionally trying to outrun anything, instead they were focusing on the horizon. “We spent a long time writing this record. The record label asked us for a bunch of rough demos and instead we sent them ten finished songs. We put forty songs worth of ideas into those ten songs.” And after writing “a hell of a lot of songs with only one really good bit,” the band - Henry, Ash, guitarist Mike Cunniff, bassist Dan Cunniff and drummer Jordan Pugh - figured, “let’s just take the best bit of these songs and see if we can steer them into the songs we want them to be.” Working on songs to death and allowing each other the space to twist, bend and dissect each other’s contributions, the band have an album that’s cohesive and comfortable. “It was stressful at times because you’ll be really happy with a bit and someone will think they

can make it better. And they do,” grins Ash, with Henry adding: “We all trust each other a lot and have faith. I’m glad there’s a lot of stuff people said we needed to change because if I’d had it my way, it wouldn’t be how it is now. It’s about that group work.” Using ‘Saudade’ as a blueprint, the band’s debut sees them expand. “I guess we wanted to mature the vibe,” continues Henry, before admitting that he hates both those terms. “We wanted to make it more concentrated and we were able to trim the fat. There’s a song called ‘Broken Glass’ which is very different to anything we’ve done before. It felt like we pushed the boat out on that one and I remember feeling super stoked. From there it was like, how else can we push ourselves?” With plenty of new-found space to play with, ‘Be Nothing’ makes every inch count. “Thematically we bounced around for a while but the album has a common theme of guilt that runs through it,” explains Henry. “It is an album about guilt and the emotional burdens that we put on ourselves unnecessarily.” The title is “a bit nihilistic,” he says, “but it’s like releasing yourself from those burdens, as dramatic as that sounds. If you’ve ever had any grief, regret or guilt, there’s a profound freedom in letting go. Those emotions only hold themselves in you and you choosing to feel that way. It’s about the idea of releasing them, realising that you can’t change them and it doesn’t matter anymore. Whether that’s a positive or a negative thing, that’s up to you.” With songs about Henry’s own ghosts - “I have a guilt problem and I had an anxiety problem as well when I was a kid, I always used to have this weird complex where I couldn’t let stuff go” - as well as tracks that tackle other echoes from the past, ‘Be Nothing’ is well-rounded but with plenty of edge. “‘Lead Feet’ is about this kid I used to know at school. I hadn’t seen or spoken to him in a decade and I got a phone call from him a year and a half ago, completely out of the blue. His life has taken this totally different trajectory to mine. We were in the same class and we were into similar stuff, living the same area but he’s been to prison, had this drug problem and done all this mad stuff. We were talking for an hour and I never heard from him again. I got his number, gave him a text, asked to meet him for a drink but haven’t heard anything from him since. He was

telling me where it all went wrong and all the things he felt guilty about. It’s a theme that just kept cropping up.” Despite Henry wishing he could be one of those people that offers a positive message at the end of their songs, ‘Be Nothing’ isn’t an album of solutions. It’s a record to find solace in. “The past few years have been really weird for me and it’s a summary of that. I did a lot of reflecting while I was making this record. It’s made me more conscious and aware of the things I have and don’t have. I don’t think I want to make another record that’s exactly like this again, I don’t think any of us do, but when I next write lyrics, I’ll be in a different place. Boston Manor is the first proper band I’ve been in, and

they’re all my best friends. They’re all really good at what they do. They’re all much better at what they do than I am at what I do, it’s why it’s worked so far really.” With a voice that’s slowly become louder as they’ve have progressed, the band are now running with their idea of Boston Manor. “It took us a while to ‘find our sound’,” explains Ash, air quotes at the ready. “We’ve worked out what band we want to be and we know what we are now. The record represents that. I want people to take from it what they want to put into it. It’s a pretty honest record and it’s interesting. I like to think there’s a couple of songs on there that people wouldn’t have expected us to write,

if that’s the case then I think that’s really cool. We’re not writing acid jazz but there are a few songs that people might not have been expecting. Again, this is like the most overused phrase ever, but it’s a progression from the EP. You can tell it’s been written a year on from that, but it’s not worlds apart.” “It’s taken a while but now we’re all sat on the same wavelength. It’s nice to have everyone with the same vision, instead of five different versions where everyone wants to do it their own way. You want an album that’s unified, with the same theme and where every song shares a similar motif.” And Boston Manor have what they wanted. ‘Be Nothing’ is a fiercely cohesive body of work but there’s plenty going on.

Every track is littered with playful little nuances and flourishes of inspiration that make each song special. “This is ground zero really, it’s the beginning of what we build off. I want us to be judged off of this album alone and not the stuff that’s come before it, as much as I love it. Positive or negative, I’m looking forward to what people have to say. This is the first thing that we’ve put out as a band who have finally worked out what they are.” Welcome to their house. P Boston Manor’s album ‘Be Nothing’ is out 30th September.

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each Slang’s rise from forgotten punk rock alsorans to one of the most exciting new bands of the last few years has been one of rock’s most heartening success stories. It also prompts new challenges and possibilities for band leader James Alex though, a man for whom the rock’n’roll flame burns bright and who is prepared to carry it until the bitter end. James had been building up to the release of Beach Slang’s 2013 debut ‘The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us’ all his life, distilling almost twenty years of formative rock’n’roll experience, emotions, feelings and stories into one blast of a debut album. Now, though he had to find inspiration from elsewhere as the breakneck rise of Beach Slang accelerated ahead of their forthcoming second album ‘A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings’. “This was a unique one for me,” he begins, “given how much we’d been touring. I was presented with the challenge of writing on the road. It’s the first time we ever did it. To be honest, I didn’t know if I could. It worked out great though. I tried to tap into that whole Jack Kerouac, poet troubadour thing. I think something cool came out of it. There’s something invigorating about writing when you’re in a different city every day meeting different people, getting that energy of the live show every night. It just surrounded me with interesting things to write about.” The lack of deliberation time or ability to prepare beforehand gives the record a sharpened directness that stems from sudden bursts of inspiration. “As we’re travelling around places, we’re inspired by a person or surroundings or something in motion,” says James. “It was a case of, let me grab the guitar. It was those nice moments of inspiration punching you in the gut. I was able to translate that immediately.” The album title itself stands as a manifesto for Beach Slang and everything they represent. No longer just writing about his own friends and experiences, James was now writing about a wider audience, people who’ve fallen in love with his songs and his

band. The devotion he encountered as he careered across the globe playing shows spilled out into the songs on the album. “With this record all these songs were about people I met touring on the first record. There was a beautiful awakening that came from that. Seeing myself through their eyes. Being younger again, finding your voice and self-discovery. That’s where the title just felt right. It’s tapping into the things that are going to light you up for the rest of your life.” For James there was none of the standard music industry pressure that comes with following up a well-received debut. Instead, he felt a different kind of responsibility toward the audience that now held the band so close to their hearts. “The letters I get or the conversations people have with me at shows are so raw, honest and vulnerable,” he explains. “If these songs I’m writing are eliciting that kind of response and people have the courage to rip themselves that wide open then I never want to let them down.” The communal relationship between the band and their fans is amplified on the album as James directly addresses them on the call to arms of ‘Young Hearts’. Beach Slang exist for “the nothing kids, the restless and the forgotten.” The Beach Slang shows that have informed the making of the album are truly transcendent occasions - not only for the audience but for the band as well. “At our shows I say this isn’t our show, it’s ‘our’ show,” asserts James. “If Beach Slang is a clubhouse or a church the neon sign on the front says all are welcome here. I mean that. I love the people who connect with this band because there is no signature definer to it. It’s all over the place.” One of the beautiful things about Beach Slang’s early EPs and debut was that they instantly sounded like them. Their music sounded relatable, heartfelt and searingly honest and it rocked. It rocked really fucking hard. This time around, it’s even more direct and sharply honed with James mining a few different cherished influences. “I started to borrow from my love of shoegaze, Britpop and that kind of stuff,” says James. “I’ve loved those bands for forever. I think now I’m able to spread out a little more. Now we’re on LP2, if I just stay in that wheelhouse things will get boring and stale. Here are all these records

I love so now it felt right to move into those sounds. I’ve always adored those bands like Ash, Supergrass and Chapterhouse but now I’m finally able to tap in and find out how it is they do that. I can pull from that in a way that respects what they did and not just some dumb imitation.” There’s no doubting that Beach Slang are an intense group, and music really matters to them. James frequently invokes spiritual imagery when talking about the band and the magical power of rock’n’roll: “When I write songs it feels like a baptism, but when we play live it’s an exorcism. Just bleeding it out and cleansing ourselves.” That intensity means Beach Slang constantly live on the edge. They are not rehearsed, polished or refined. Sometimes this spills over, as on the night in Salt Lake City earlier this year when they had an on stage argument that led to people speculating that it might signal the end for the band, something that James is quick to scotch. “It was wildly blown out of proportion,” he says. “It’s nothing different than a lot of bands go through. We had our little eruption on stage. We just had a bad day and a little wobble. We thought we were The Kinks for 40 minutes and we fought on stage. We internally healed so quickly.” It’s an experience the singer is quick to turn into a positive. “If there’s one word I would drape this band in happily it would be ‘honest’. Honesty is not just the good and the beautiful stuff; it’s also the hard and the bruised stuff. That was a night of tough stuff. I believe that it’s okay to show those kinds of vulnerabilities.” “Rock’n’roll is a haven for emotional, erratic, misunderstood folk,” he adds. “We’re human beings and allowed to have vulnerabilities and collapse. We get back up from that collapse and fix it. We become better for it. Things feel incredible now.” It’s like James sings on the opening line of the album: “Play it loud, play it fast, play something that will always last.” That’s Beach Slang’s rallying cry, and they’re going to sing it louder, prouder and more chaotically than ever. P Beach Slang’s album ‘A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings’ is out 23rd September.

Sunday Service T H I N K Y O U K N O W TA K I N G

B A C K S U N D AY ? T H I N K A G A I N . W O R D S : H E AT H E R M C D A I D .

here comes a point on the road as a band where there are a two options: to your left, you have all your past records and influences to take from; to your right, you can roll the die and see where it goes. For Taking Back Sunday it was their seventh album that brought them to this crossroads: ‘Tidal Wave’ is their something new. The title track is a dose of pitch perfect Americana: great on one hand, surprising on another – this is a new Taking Back Sunday, and one that would take some adjusting to. “I guess for anybody who makes any kind of art, releasing it out into the world is always met with a lot of mixed emotions,” explains frontman Adam Lazzara. “You’re taking this thing and being like, ‘Hey, here’s this thing we made, I put all of myself into it and I hope you like this part of us’, and then we were really pleased, the response was really great. “Another thing I think is really cool is that we released that song first and there’s no other song on the record that sounds like that. Hopefully for people, it’ll be exciting and something to look forward to, for everyone to hear the different dynamics on the record.”

after it was written, we would sit back and listen to it and think, ‘If this is our typical approach, then how can we change it? How can we get it more in line with the things we are listening to or like the things that excite us outside of what people expect from the band?’ That was a lot of the moving force behind these new songs.” “We wanted to make sure it wasn’t what people had come to expect,” Adam continues. “I think we were drawing from all of our influences over the years because as you grow, your musical tastes also grow. We were going from things we had been listening to for years, be it The Ramones or The Clash - which is very obvious from the track that we put out - and then anything from like that down to Steppenwolf or Joe Cocker

When you leap into the unknown, a solid launching point is important; Taking Back Sunday have been around for many years, but it’s only now that they’ve hit three albums together with the same line-up. “It’s a funny thing to think we have been a band this long and to only now have made three consecutive records with the same line-up...” he muses. “But that helped a lot in terms of how comfortable everyone was with trying new things. It helped with each of us pushing one another to go as far as we could.” The intention is clear: Taking Back Sunday are doing it for themselves as much as anyone. Their tastes, their talents and ambitions, it’s all on the table and being embraced to their max. “If I’m driving in the car, this is more in line with what I would put on to listen to. I think we were writing and playing for each other first and that just really made for a really strong finished product.”

“We wanted to make sure it wasn’t what people had come to expect.”

He’s absolutely right. ‘Tidal Wave’ isn’t like the other songs on the album. They’re a mix of influences and styles that are a step away from the band’s usual territory, but the more you listen, the more you see Taking Back Sunday peeking through. But why now? “For us, going into the writing process, we actually had mini conversations about that very same thing - we know of bands and different artists that by the time they get to their seventh record, they are pretty much set in what they do, the kind of songs they write and how they approach it. “We had that on our minds, so any part or any song that we came up with,

or Pearl Jam or even different kinds of hip-hop. “Rather than looking back at our own records and saying, ‘Well people like when we do this, let’s do that’, we wanted to make sure we were playing to our own full potential and acknowledging a lot of those influences that we had was the best place to start. “If someone was to ask me what’s the best way to track the evolution of Taking Back Sunday as a band, I think the song ‘You Can’t Look Back’ is a great example - because there’s elements of the band that we have been in it but there’s also a lot of new ground that we haven’t really covered yet on it.”

It’s been a long road here with chops and changes in line-up aplenty. But they persevered. Taking Back Sunday have made it through from the noughties unscathed as a band. Why do they think they’ve stood so strongly in a scene where many around them fell to the wayside?

“Well we’re all very stubborn!” he laughs. “That helps. We also don’t really know how to do much else. I think that at the end of the day with all that – I think that we, each one of us, still has a whole lot more that we want to accomplish with music and there hasn’t come a point to where we thought, ‘Oh, we’re just done now.’ That’s what that I think has kept us going over the years.” And it’s what will keep them going from here. There’s a fire under Taking Back Sunday – they’re pushing themselves to be the band they’d like themselves. They’ve got a lot to say, but as a final parting thought for their followers, it’s a simple one: “Well, as far as for people who are fans of our band, I’d like to say thank you and I hope that when they hear the new record they’re as happy with it as I am.” P Taking Back Sunday’s album ‘Tidal Wave’ is out 16th September.

very Time I Die have got nothing to prove. Sort of. They’re one of the most consistent bands around. Staggeringly consistent. But they know that as they continue, people start to expect an end on the horizon. It’s not a mark on the band, more the natural lifespan of people thriving in music before throwing in the towel. ‘Low Teens’ was just a next step for ETID in one sense, but there was also a gut-felt determination to show that they’re going nowhere. “I hate to say that we had something to prove because you don’t want to go in with only looking to appease other people,” explains Keith Buckley on tackling the latest instalment, “but you know, we’re aware that it’s our eighth record. I think we just wanted to prove that we are as relevant as we’ve ever been, if not more so now – that we can still do it, even in our later years.” Warped Tour this summer saw them bring their new songs to life in the anarchic way only they could, a particularly interesting testing ground.

“We’ve actually been switching them out, ‘The Coin Has A Say’ hasn’t been in the set list for a little bit – this is all total shinfo but it requires a guitar change and a different tuning that we just don’t have time to do in our short Warped Tour set. It was going down really well but we just made ‘Glitches’ a permanent staple in the setlist and it’s

outside, these kids have been here all day, you know, and you’re playing new stuff. It’s a different kind of barometer you use on Warped Tour to gauge this kind of stuff, if people are into it. If you draw a crowd and people stick around for the whole set, that’s a really good indication that you’re doing something right. It might not be the craziest set you’ve ever played but with the factors involved it’s a huge blessing that people are even standing there watching you.”

“We can still do it, even in our later years.”

People most definitely were standing and watching. And the snatches of ‘Low Teens’ that have been caught by the world at large so far have been revving up the excitement for another brick-solid addition to their world. “Oh god, I can’t wait!” says Keith, on others being able to hear the whole album. “We recorded it so many months ago and now we’re just sitting on it. By the time it comes out it’s going to be old new stuff - it’ll be an interesting moment of time. People will be excited for a new record, but it won’t be new to us, but it will give another life to it that we haven’t seen yet. It’s a really hard secret to keep but we’re trying our best.”

been going great. They’re loving it. “I totally understand that people won’t stand and watch sometimes,” he continues, on the new song phenomenon. “You’ve got to be honest with yourself - it’s a hundred degrees

Despite being so many albums in, producer Will Putney took them back

Every One’s y b a B , r e n n i AW E A R LY AFTER N YEARS TWENTY , E V E RY R E H TO G ET RE STILL A E I D I TIME HE MOST ONE OF T NDS IN V I TA L B A RE. C HARD O WORDS: H E AT H E R

to basics where they were learning to work with songs in ways they never had before. “Even though we came in with the songs written, he kind of went right back to the beginning and undid and reformatted a lot of the stuff. No producer had ever done this with us before. Normally they come in and see what we’ve written and then they take that and add some finishing touches to it. But Will really stripped it down to the bone and then rebuilt it with us, which was a great experience. “Also once we got into the studio I actually had my own little part, like lab, to like write and try recording it, demo and see how it sounded, which I’ve never had before. Once I was able to start tracking the vocals I was at a level of confidence I wasn’t at with any of the other records before.” The content of the songs themselves were far more personal to Keith than the rest of the creation process, with his wife facing a life-threatening pregnancy complication. He left the band’s North American tour to be with her, updating fans with a photo with his wife and newborn daughter, both doing fine, soon after saying: “This is what it looks like when love prevails. My heart is new again.” “I mean, there was so much going on

M C DA I D.

in my personal life at the time with my wife and my daughter being born and pretty unexpected circumstances that surrounded it,” he begins, “I didn’t really know what I was going to write about for a few weeks leading up to the record and then that happened. I could have written ten albums about it and everything I was going through with that. I feel that’s an overarching theme of the record – it’s kind of uncertainty, there was a lot of anger and confusion when I was writing it that can apply to any song on the record.” While you’d think hitting the eighth album would be enough to satisfy the creative itch for the moment, 2015 saw Keith release his debut novel ‘Scale’ - the memoirs of Ray Goldman, a fictional musician ‘who will outdrink you, out-party you and, unfortunately for him, probably outlive you’. “It was very different,” he notes. “I didn’t have anybody else to rely on to tell me to stop writing. Writing a book was definitely honing in on what was important to the story, just trying to chew a lot of fat. The first draft of the book was probably three times as long, so learning how to check yourself and edit, and take out the stuff that’s not important. I was just in service of the book when writing it, but when writing music it’s kind of my own.

“Having written the book changed how I wrote the lyrics for ‘Low Teens’, definitely,” he adds. “I was able to avoid so much opulence as far as like stripping down the words and getting to the heart of what’s important. I think it was like a eureka moment when I was writing lyrics – like oh my god, I can’t believe I used to write lyrics with such flowery language. It’s just so unnecessary. I think this record’s lyrics are little more to the point and a little more personal – actually a lot more to the point and a lot more personal. “I loved the process and I miss writing a book, when it was done it was kind of heartbreaking, like saying goodbye to something and putting it out into the world, like sending your kid off to school.” Well, now ‘Low Teens’ is about to join his and the band’s other work on the school run, so what next? “Just constant touring. I feel like this album’s going to do really good things for us. I know people keep thinking that we’re getting too old to tour and will want to dial it back or tone it down but we’re more ready to go than ever - so expect us.” P Every Time I Die’s album ‘Low Teens’ is out 23rd September.

All Guns Blazing T H E PA S T F E W Y E A R S

H AV E N ’ T B E E N T H E E A S I E S T F O R YO U N G G U N S , B U T W I T H NEW ALBUM ‘ECHOES’ THEY COME OUT SWING ING. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.

“Our backs were against the wall... “

he last album was a difficult campaign for us,” starts Gustav Wood. “There’s no use beating around the bush or trying to deny what it was.” Following the success of 2012’s ‘Bones’, Young Guns set about doing something different for ‘Ones & Zeros’. The result was lush and spacious but frustrating to achieve. Sitting on the songs as they followed their sudden explosion in America, the bulk of the tracks were already a year or two old before the band went into a San Francisco studio with super-producer Dan The Automator. They were older still when the band returned home as the chemistry wasn’t working. Following another, more successful recording process ‘Ones & Zeros’ was then mixed twice and recorded with someone else. All of this was happening against the backdrop of the band’s first major label deal with Virgin. Talk about hard work. It’s really no surprise then that Young Guns went into ‘Echoes’ wanting something different. Something more but in the same breath, something less. “In every way this record is the antithesis of the last one,” says Gus. From the opening of ‘Bulletproof’, you can hear that desire. There’s belief and brute-force to every moment as the

band cut the horizon-dancing broad strokes that dominated ‘Ones & Zeros’ with a gnarled grit. The band still want the world, they’ve just seen its true colours.

validating but there’s a lot left for us to do here. We’ve only just scratched the surface so all of those big, grand questions didn’t take very long to answer.”

“Being in a band is a very demanding thing to do,” explains Gus. He’s matter of fact, not deflated or jaded. “It requires so much work and so much effort and often, not a lot of return. But it depends what you measure as a return,” he offers. “It’s a very destructive thing, playing music. The pursuit of music is a very selfish thing to do. It fractures and it damages all of your relationships outside of that; your family, your girlfriends, your boyfriends or whatever.” Though he still considers Young Guns a relatively new band (their first song was released in early 2009) the band still had to ask themselves some questions ahead of ‘Echoes’ following the departure of their drummer Ben Jolliffe.

Putting those rediscoveries to tape, ‘Echoes’ is a record that sees Young Guns pick themselves back up, brush themselves down and stand tall. There’s defiance to every deliberate movement. “We wanted it to be urgent and instant. Funnily enough, for the first time, the record has an overriding theme but it was totally not designed to be that way. It wasn’t done on purpose.” Written in eight weeks, recorded in five, that intense, cohesive process led to a single-minded record.

“It felt like we had a choice to make. Inevitably there was a degree of introspection and reflection. You’re asking if the fight’s still here. Are we still hungry? Do we still feel like we’ve got more to achieve?” The band found the answers quickly and simply: yes. “We still do feel like we’re just getting started. It felt like we had unfinished business. We’ve had a couple of moments in our career where we feel like we’ve proved to ourselves and to everyone else that we can achieve a lot. Some of those things are so

“The whole album, in one way or another, is a reflection of where the band was at the time and where I was as a person. I had come out of a pretty substantial and serious long-term relationship and we had just parted ways with our major label, which had been a disastrous relationship. We’d also just parted ways with our drummer and that’s a significant thing because our whole band is built around the fact we’re all friends, we’ve been friends for 10-11 years and our band is a product of that.” Inescapably, the whole album became about those things but it never wallows or courts with self pity. Instead, it champions “the idea of not being trapped in your head or in the

past and instead, focuses on putting your best foot forward and looking ahead to the future. We felt, to some extent, our backs were against the wall and we wanted to come out swinging. That’s why the record has a lot of attitude and that defiance reflects our mood. That’s how we felt. We were hungry, pissed off and we had a degree of self-confidence which was empowering.” As always with Young Guns, ‘Echoes’ is different to everything else they’ve put their name to. The band refuse to retrace their steps because “we always want each record to stand apart from the one that came before and to offer something a little different. We’ve always had maybe a naïve belief in the idea that if we write the best songs we can, all the other things will take hopefully care of themselves.” While ‘Ones & Zeros’ looked outwards (“We’re never going to be The Mars Volta but for us, we considered that a more experimental record.”), ‘Echoes’ is very personal. “In the past I felt like I’d given so much of myself away that there wasn’t that much left for myself. There’s a song on ‘Ones & Zeros’ called ‘Die On Time’ which is speaking about that and is one of the only really personal moments on the record, but I felt it was appropriate again on ‘Echoes’ to do the opposite, to talk about my life and what was going on because that was the only thing I could think about. It was all I could focus on.”

“All I can ever do is write about how I feel about something,” he continues. “You try and do anything else and you end up not doing a very good job.” The album’s title track sees Gus talking about a point in time where he was struggling to move forward. “I was spending a lot of time in my own head, thinking about the end of all these relationships and trying to find a way to not relive these moments in time I came back with this idea of those memories, feelings and conversations being echoes I was having trouble letting go of. I kept hearing them in everything I did and everything I saw.” That desire to put the past to bed and move forward is the basis for the whole record, so naming the album after that song felt appropriate. That’s not to say Young Guns are anywhere close to being done. ‘Echoes’ gave Gus “a real and deep sense of self belief. At the end of the last album, we did feel burnt out and exhausted. Being in a band is pushing water uphill a lot of the time, it’s a difficult thing to do but it’s a thing you do because it makes you feel connected to the rest of the world. I am very grateful for this album because it’s rekindled my love for it, my passion for it and I realised how lucky I am. I’m so grateful to be sitting here, on an off day from the Warped Tour, which is a tour I fantasised about since I was 16 years old. This whole year for me has been about reconnecting with the music and the kid that I once was, I feel like

this is where I belong. This recording process helped me figure out who I am. I’m excited again and it feels like we’re starting again. It feels like there’s nothing we can’t do.” So excited by where the band now find themselves, Gus wants to go and write another record straight away. “When you feel as hungry and driven as we do, it really does feel like there are so many places you can go. You just have to work hard and believe in it. I believe in this.” There’s an air of limitless potential surrounding Young Guns and ‘Echoes’: “I’ve managed to make a series of catastrophic mistakes and bad decisions in my life that somehow ended up with me stumbling into the only thing that makes me feel like I’m actually here for a reason. I want to continue doing that and I want to push it. I want to continue to live in this world, this life that I’ve been lucky enough to wander into. I want to work hard and I want people to pay attention because I feel like we have something to say and something to offer. It’s not about if we can play Wembley Stadium or sell this many records, it’s about feeling like I’ve got a purpose, and I do when I’m in this band with my friends.” P Young Guns’ album ‘Echoes’ is out 16th September.

We wanted to come out swinging.”

RATED TWIN ATLANTIC GLA

Red Bull Records

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he homage to Twin Atlantic’s hometown doesn’t muck around. At all. Seconds into snarling opener ‘Gold Elephant Cherry Alligator’, the foursome are cutting ties from their hunt for the perfect songs on ‘Great Divide’ and going wherever the hell the journey takes them. This began as a toss-up between two sets of rough recordings: ones that sounded like Twin, or ones that sound like a new, interesting thing. They opted for the latter, and they’ve ended up with one hell of a result. ‘No Sleep’ is a headbanger about, well, 40 upsetmagazine.com

not getting any sleep (and an added cause of this phenomenon if played at the right time), while ‘Overthinking’ equally hits the nail on the head content-wise. ‘You Are the Devil’ is sharp, ‘Whispers’ is a soaring epic, and the swagger of ‘I Am Alive’ is going to be a welcome addition to their sweaty sets. ‘Mother Tongue’ strips it back to say farewell with a look at home and identity: the unsurprising case study? Glasgow. It seems odd to say a band could and perhaps should need to be reinvigorated after the astronomic heights of ‘Great

Divide’, but that album got them so wrapped up in doing it ‘right’ that something needed to be shaken up for them to go forward at full speed. Hit reset. Scrap preconceived notions. Start from scratch. When they shifted their focus from being perfect, Twin Atlantic instead found a way to strip the polish but make something far, far better. It’s a belter of a rock record – fun and full of surprises. With edges ragged, it’s an era of the band that cuts the crap and simply has a good time. Heather McDaid

Q+A

CASEY

and we’re proud of that.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ‘LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH’? It’s definitely a record that we’re all very proud of, it’s something that we dedicated a lot of our time and energy into producing, and I think the finished product portrays that well. As best as I try to avoid the cliché, some of the songs on the record are heavier than we’ve ever gone, and then at the other end some are lighter than we’ve ever gone. As an introductory record, it feels like a decisive display of our musical diversity.

YOU HAD A LINE UP CHANGE EARLIER THIS YEAR: HOW HAS THAT IMPACTED UPON THE BAND? Yeah, Scott decided to step down as bassist and Adam joined the band on a permanent basis. To be honest Scott had said for a long time that he was unable to commit to anything full time or long term, and we were just riding it out to a point where he made the decision on his own terms. Fortunately, there had been quite a few shows previously that Scott was unable to do and Adam had filled in for, so it was a very natural switch out for us. We definitely gel very well with Adam, we’ve all known him for years through previous bands, so it didn’t have any huge immediate impact on the band. I think moving in to the next record it will play a much bigger part, because Adam has already started bringing a new dynamic to the writing process. It’s exciting.

AND WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO SELF-PRODUCE? Madness apparently. Everyone in the band has always had a very heavy personal investment in what we do and the way we do it, so we felt that the only natural way to go into creating an album would be to do it ourselves. I’m not sure if we’ll take the same route next time. It was a huge learning curve, not only about the level of our ability but also the way we work together as a group, and I do think we need that outside perspective to change our opinions slightly sometimes, but on this occasion it definitely made the album what it is,

HOW DID YOU TEAM UP WITH HASSLE RECORDS? We were actually introduced to them through the studio that we recorded the album drums at, Monnow Valley in Monmouthshire. The owner of the studio, Jo, is good friends with Wez from Hassle, so she decided to set us up with a meeting. We were always very sceptical about label involvement, myself especially, so we were definitely looking for a very specific fit for the band. After a few meetings with the label though, we really felt that they shared the ethos and outlook we had for the band, and it all went smoothly from there.

S O U T H WA L E S N E W C O M E R S CAS EY RE L E AS E T H E I R AMBITIOUS DEBUT ALBUM T H I S M O N T H : VO CA L I ST TO M W E AV E R C O N S I D E R S H O W T H E Y G OT T H I S FA R .

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST THING YOU’VE ACHIEVED DURING YOUR SHORT TIME TOGETHER? It’s difficult to say. I think we have a fairly warped perception of “success” because it’s never something we’ve measured ourselves on. The third show we ever played, at Underground in Cologne, was the first time I’d heard anyone audibly singing along to our songs, that was huge for me. Gaining the trust and investment of people like Hassle and Avocado was incredible, and seeing people online comparing us to our peers is unbelievable too. I think the fan interaction we’ve experienced has been the best thing though, the level of support and encouragement we’ve received in such a short space of time is like nothing any of us have ever experienced. ALBUM RELEASE ASIDE, WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE YEAR? The Being As An Ocean tour at the end of the year with Capsize and Burning Down Alaska is going to be amazing. We’re already good friends with all those guys so it’s going to be a really fun tour. Our headline shows around album release are going to be cool too. It’ll be strange headlining, but we’re looking forward to it. Aside from all that, we’re working on some pretty ambitious plans for next year, so seeing how all that comes together is really exciting. P

CASEY

LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH

Hassle Records

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South Wales crew Casey have a certain something about them. Many bands go to extremes - brutal and in your face, or deep and meaningful. This lot aren’t for sticking to a single path, though: they’re punching hard and deep in all senses. Lead track ‘Ceremony’ shows it well. By vocalist Tom Weaver’s own admission, it’s about “realising an extensive period of emotional oppression and manipulation has been suffered under the guise of a sincere relationship”. No dumb shuffle here. It marks out a stunning debut with real heart and soul. ‘Love Is Not Enough’ is a crushing emotional whirlwind capable of levelling the field. Stephen Ackroyd

AGAINST ME!

SHAPE SHIFT WITH ME

Xtra Mile

eeeee After 2014’s ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’, it’s bizarre to believe that Against Me!’s future was ever a matter of uncertainty. Laura Jane Grace and co.’s ongoing metamorphosis has not only propelled them back to their status as one of punk rock’s most beloved bands, but it’s also allowed for an album as expansive and extravagant as ‘Shape Shift With Me’. As charismatic as it is cathartic, the album’s saga of reinvention is as unpredictable as the cruel world that it will shake the foundations of. Taking a boot to more doors than any of their previous works, it’s a sign that Against Me! are no longer one of punk rock’s most beloved bands. They’re one of punk rock’s most vital. Danny Randon

PIXIES

HEAD CARRIER

Pixiesmusic / PIAS

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How much should you continue to expect from a band who have already influenced a generation of musicians, survived near fatal splits and fulfilled their potential some 15 years ago? Unsurprisingly, those hoping to find another ‘Where Is My Mind?’ buried somewhere in the track listing will inevitably be disappointed. ‘Head Carrier’ is at its best when it’s loose and unpredictable, like on lead single ‘Um Chagga Lagga’. It’s bizarre, funny and infectious. Unfortunately moments like this are few and far between. The widescreen rock of songs like ‘Classic Masher’ and ‘Bel Espirit’ sound ready-made for arenas but leave little else in their wake. What ‘Head Carrier’ is then is a solid continuation of the Pixies’ revival. It’s no game-changer but then that probably comes as no surprise from a band who changed the game nearly two decades ago. Alex Thorp

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MERCHANDISE GIRAFFE A CORPSE WIRED FOR TONGUE SOUND ORCHESTRA eeee 4AD

BROKEN LINES

Party Smasher Inc / Cooking Vinyl

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Most musicians will tell you the supergroup tag, slapped with all its slimy, egoistical connotations, is a bit of a dirty word. Mastodon, however, haven’t exactly shied away from the term over the last few years. The latest concoction, Giraffe Tongue Orchestra, melds the minds of axeman Brent Hinds, Alice In Chains vocalist William DuVall and The Dillinger Escape Plan dynamo Ben Weinman. Thomas Pridgen of The Mars Volta and Pete Griffin of Dethklok, meanwhile, offer the foundation. If it’s not super by name, then at least the music damn well is. The album is big in many ways - not just in its all-star cast, but in its enveloping, infectious sound. Even if you don’t dig these guys’ more familiar groups, you’re probably going to love Giraffe Tongue Orchestra. Chris Cope

A decade into their career Merchandise are still finding themselves through possibilities untrodden. The Tampa outfit’s new album embodies this vitality from its title right through its very core. ‘A Corpse Wired For Sound’ is the sound of a band discovering their purpose anew. Stripped back to the bare elements of their core three-piece, void of location (recorded between Tampa, Italy, New York, and Berlin), the record strings together the groups defining elements and makes them universal. “Won’t you be here? I have so much more to give to you,” the band express on the album’s closing number. It’s less a statement of intent, and more a wide-eyed proclamation. Embracing the world at their feet Merchandise have tapped into a sea of potential, and are plain sailing to brand new heights. Jess Goodman

DEAP VALLY FEMEJISM

Cooking Vinyl

eeee With the release of ‘Sistrionix’ in 2013, Deap Vally breathed fire into an already established rock’n’roll template. Three years on, and there’s no shirking how much the duo have grown. ‘Femejism’ embodies all the ferocity and free-wheeling spirit of their debut, expanding their pallet to new frontiers. Rawer, more savage, more tightly honed, the outfit’s second record is both disarming and driving, packing a punch as strong as dynamite. Sitting at the album’s midpoint ‘Critic’ is a true stand out, departing from the duo’s usual loud and anarchic setup to offer a lingering sentiment of self-affirmation: “everyone is a fucking critic,” so you might as well do what you bloody well like. Pissed off and turned up to eleven, Deap Vally are screaming at the world and compelling it to listen. Releasing a collection of songs such as this, it’s high time everyone was paying attention. Jess Goodman

KING 810

LA PETITE MORT OR A CONVERSATION WITH GOD

Roadrunner

e King 810 are apparently, a very easy band to misinterpret. But ‘La Petite Mort...’’s message is very clear. Musically it’s not horrendous: there are some glimmers of hope with the strings on ‘Black Swan’, and the creepy child backing vocals on ‘War Time x Trick Trick’ offer a sense of theatricality - but the adverse aspects are too brazen to ignore. It’s not because messages may be lost in translation from across the pond – we’re all aware of the socio political issues that affect not just the US, but countries across the globe. It’s not about a lack of empathy or understanding. It’s about the choice to romanticise such issues in a way that’s lyrically unintelligent and unoriginal – which is the gigantic difference between these guys, and the band that so clearly influences the whole thing: Slipknot. Jasleen Dhindsa

OF MICE & MEN COLD WORLD

Rise Records

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Of Mice & Men’s fourth studio album is goose-bump-inducing just seconds into its first track ‘Game of War’. Modest and mystical, it’s an almost ethereal art piece that kicks off this colossal album. Guitars on ‘The Lie’ yearn and Austin’s voice is as ferocious as ever; but ‘Like A Ghost’ is where things get really weird, snippets of System of A Down

YELLOWCARD YELLOWCARD

Hopeless Records

eee Yellowcard have come a long way since their bratty pop punk days of yesteryear, shouting about existential break-downs and nagging mothers back on their 1997 debut ‘Midget Tossing’. ‘Yellowcard’ is their tenth and final record, making it a closing chapter on a band that have grown and developed into one of the more emotive, candid offerings in an undeniably over-saturated genre. Recorded in frontman Ryan Key’s home studio, there’s a relaxed essence that runs throughout; a band who are comfortable in what they have to say. Long-term fans will no doubt relish in the typical Yellowcard flairs – those lead violin parts are particularly charming – but ‘Yellowcard’ won’t bring aboard any latecomers. It’s an album for the fans that have followed them throughout their extensive career and after ten years, that’s all that really matters. Sammy Maine

unconventionality, and a blinding Korn creepiness. The record’s two instrumentals are imperative - it was made to be listened to from start to finish; the sheer genius of the eerie ‘-‘ creeps into latest single ‘Pain’. On the last track ‘Transfigured’ Austin sings: “I’m finally okay with who I am today”, and on any other record it would be a sickly cliché, but it’s clear to see Of Mice & Men have never been better. ‘Cold World’ is undeniably a gamechanger, and one of the most exciting records metal has heard in a long time. Jasleen Dhindsa

EVERY TIME I DIE LOW TEENS

Epitaph

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‘Low Teens’ is intense beyond belief. It sees the Buffalo mob build on the brilliance of its predecessor, ‘From Parts Unknown’ and step up onto a whole new pedestal. It’s still a riff storm. Every song, all the

BIG JESUS ONEIRIC

Mascot Label Group / Mascot Records

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You’re not going to get very far with Big Jesus without getting some comparisons thrown your way. It’s not just lazy scribbling to compare the band to the likes of Silversun Pickups - it’s that indefinable quality to their sound that shines through. Lead track ‘SP’ shows it best - indie rock at its finest, they’re a band capable of delivering in their own name too. Stephen Ackroyd

NOTS COSMETIC

Heavenly

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2014’s debut ‘We Are Nots’ marked out a band with serious promise. Its follow up, ‘Cosmetic’, only drives that point home further. With their garage punk template refined, there’s the odd twist thrown into the mix - a touch of casual experimentation to their more direct tendencies. Finishing with the seven minute sprawl of ‘Entertain Me’, the new tricks are often the most thrilling of all. Stephen Ackroyd

KNOCKED LOOSE LAUGH TRACKS

Pure Noise

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Knocked Loose’s debut release is, it’s safe to say, pretty well anticipated. Tense,

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time. Take the monstrous opening track, ‘Fear and Trembling’; it’s like Queens Of The Stone Age operating a hardcore powered steamroller. Then there’s the bluesy drawl that Keith’s melodic vocals characterise on a track like ‘Two Summers’. This is Every Time I Die firing on all cylinders. It’s exhausting. It’s long. It’s masochistic and it’s brilliant. All of this before you even mention the cameo from Panic! At The Disco’s, Brendon Urie. Jack Glasscock

claustrophobic hardcore at its most tightly coiled, the vaguely comedic title betrays a record that goes straight for the throat. As the rasping ‘Deadringer’ proves, this is one record that won’t need a second shot to loosen the senses. David McDonald

HALFNOISE SUDDEN FEELING

Congrats! Records

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Let’s be fair, Halfnoise probably comes second on the list of Zac Farro’s anticipated musical output at the moment. Though the drummer may be back working with Paramore in the studio, it’s an instinct which betrays a genuinely interesting project from a musician with talents beyond the expected. As the title track proves, Farro is capable of dreamy, smart psych-pop of the very highest order. A genuine gem worth its own moment in the sun. Stephen Ackroyd

DOWSING / RATBOYS SPLIT EP

Topshelf Records

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It’s pretty easy for Dowsing and Ratboys to join forces. Not only do they both hail from the same city (Chicago), but they share a band member too. That’s not all they share though. Falling on either side of the power pop divide - Dowsing more punk, Ratboys a touch towards indie - they’re a fearsomely awesome combination too. David McDonald

BEACH SLANG

A LOUD BASH OF TEENAGE FEELINGS

Big Scary Monsters

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Philadelphia’s Beach Slang, particularly vocalist and guitarist James Alex, have embraced and documented their admiration of The Replacements, and the influence they’ve had on the band. In the way that a previous generation of teenagers will have grown up with them, there’s a sense that ‘A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings’ has the same ambition, carrying the legacy of their heroes. This is the sound of sixth form common rooms discovering music to believe in, of first punk shows at the local youth club. With the familiar, distorted vocals in ‘Future Mixtape For The Art Kids’ and the jarring ‘Atom Bomb’; the life-affirming nature of the record peaks with the carefree, anthemic ‘Punks In A Disco Bar’. It’s a great thematic progression from 2015’s debut ‘The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us’, breaking down the dynamic between band and fan in favour of community, revisiting youthful excitement and rebellion. The dreamlike adolescence of ‘The Perfect High’ with its more-than-alittle Smiths’ influenced guitar line winds the record down to ‘Warpaint’ - a low-key but powerful call to the outsiders, an encouragement to the kids who don’t belong, asserting “Don’t be afraid to want to be alive”. Call it the restorative power of punk rock, or the emotive and relatable lyrics, but there’s something about Beach Slang that resonates so deeply. True to the band’s own words, ‘A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings’ will punch you straight in the heart. Kristy Diaz

YOUNG GUNS ECHOES

Wind Up Records

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After ‘Ones and Zeros’, Young Guns hurtled back to the studio, and return with ‘Echoes’ merely a year later. So what’s changed? Quite a bit, actually. Their sound has veered away from the arenaseeking choruses of their last endeavour. What we are facing now is something exciting, dark and driven. With thundering rhythm and punchy vocals, ‘Echoes’ is sassy and built for the stage. Gustav Wood’s rich tones bring passion and hooks to every song. ‘Echoes’ is a little different, a little more personal and kick-starting a new chapter of Young Guns’ evolution as part of Brit rock’s finest. And what a mighty chapter it is. Nariece Sanderson

DOE

SOME THINGS LAST LONGER THAN YOU

THE TUTS UPDATE YOUR BRAIN

Self-released

Specialist Subject

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Doe have always known how to craft a banger; sifting through their variety of EPs over the years, it’s hard to find a song that won’t be stuck in your head for days. This, their first full-length, shows a band who have learned to write a narrative, maturing an output that could easily stand alongside bands that have been going for decades. Produced by Hookworms’ MJ, it’s the scathing, brutal lyricism that immediately stands out, with tracks ‘Anywhere’, ‘Monopoly’ and lead single ‘Sincere’ pointing fingers at fakery. Nicola’s vocals on ‘Corine’ are straight-up breathtaking, while ‘Last Ditch’ is Doe at their dream-pop best, and ‘Before Her’ shows off their abilities as masters of slacker-pop; there is truly a catchy chorus at every turn. This is an album that proves Doe are finally the band they were always meant to be. Sammy Maine

The Tuts have already amassed a cult following well before the release of their debut record, with an unremitting DIY ethos that’s at the core of their ‘-ism driven pop punk. ‘Update Your Brain’ is a socio-political album, but it’s not explicit about it. The songs’ premise of everyday life-isms are so relatable and exhibited as pure pop archetypes, that you don’t even realise it. They’re blinding pop gems, but punk at heart. The Tuts’ melodic poppy punk is akin to Muncie Girls and Martha; a breath of fresh air when fused with influences of ska and surf that show the trio aren’t here to fit into any sort of niche. The Tuts have a knack for writing killer hooks, but most importantly lyrics that are snappy enough to make you remember them, and relevant enough to tap into your conscious, and well, update your brain. Jasleen Dhindsa

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PREOCCUPATIONS PREOCCUPATIONS

JAGJAGUWAR

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If you knew this band a year ago you’d probably be aware of two things: how killer their album was, and the controversial reception of their previous name, Viet Cong. The inevitable eventually happened, the name change even announced before the new name, but now they’re rebranded, with a generally more mature approach to their sound on another self-titled LP. If their last record was a collection of very-well connected bangers, here we’ve got a much more intertwined, fluid composition that (literally) flows trackto-track. Where Viet Cong was fierier post-punk catharsis, Preoccupations offers more emotional nostalgia with 80s echoes, and a sometimes creeping mood thrown in means you could knock most of this record behind Stranger Things and it would work brilliantly. Bar an oddly abrupt fade-out ending one track, there’s barely a moment not worth your time. James Fox

TRACKS OF THE MONTH LOWER THAN ATLANTIS WORK FOR IT “This is your wake up call,” starts Mike Duce. One thing’s for sure, Lower Than Atlantis won’t need one. As their golden period of mainstream dominance continues, they’re a band who have found the cheat code to the airwaves and aren’t afraid to hammer it in. Big and daring, the four piece have found their stride and aren’t afraid to be step it out. Ballsy enough to drop a finger clicking pause before the final assault, expect that new album to be anything but hard work. JIMMY EAT WORLD - SURE AND CERTAIN Few constants in rock music are as reasurring as the uniquely identifiable tones of Jim Adkins. With Jimmy Eat World back on the trail for a new record, the first cut is no less than could be expected, that trademark sparkle shining as bright as ever before.

TAKING BACK SUNDAY TIDAL WAVE

Hopeless Records

GOD DAMN EVERYTHING EVER

One Little Indian

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God Damn’s second full-length is as incendiary as anything that’s come before. Building on the explosiveness of debut ‘Vulture’, ‘Everything Ever’ is immediate and spikey in equal measures. Pleasingly rough but brilliantly present, it’s a siren alerting to something genuinely exciting - a band finding form at just the right time. Stephen Ackroyd

THE WYTCHES ALL YOUR HAPPY LIFE

Heavenly Recordings

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The Wytches first album was packed with promise. Their second, ‘All Your Happy Life’, is where they deliver. Uncompromising in it’s ragged ideals, it still finds a way to round the right edges to develop into something both interesting and immediate. From the building ‘Ghost House’ to the stand out lead track ‘C Side’, this is The Wytches’ most potent spell yet. Stephen Ackroyd

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Surprise. That’s one word for when the title-track of Taking Back Sunday’s new album dropped with a dose of Americana. It was good, but it wasn’t what anyone saw coming. That’s emblematic of ‘Tidal Wave’: expect the unexpected. There’s a marked change for album seven; the choice to take a leap into something new or stay on the same path, and they chose to evolve. Adam Lazzara himself notes that the best thing about the first single is that it sounds like no other song on the album. And he’s right. ‘Tidal Wave’ is a big mix of songs and sounds you may recognise, but not necessarily from the same people. ‘Death Wolf’ cranks a little more attitude with their penchant for a big chorus, where ‘Homecoming’ is a glorious acoustic with their Southern drawl and ‘Call Come Running’ is the level of infectious that it jams itself in your head and refuses to move. At all. ‘Tidal Wave’ is full of pleasant surprises. Heather McDaid

TOUCHE AMORE STAGE FOUR

Epitaph

eeee Touché Amoré have been at the front of a wave that for many has passed. It’s fitting, then, that their sound has moved on, but they’re still leading the way. ‘Stage Four’ puts distance between the straight-up aggression of earlier records, adopting a more considered, reflective tone while losing none of the emotional intensity. The title references not only the band’s fourth album but the illness and passing of singer Jeremy Bolm’s mother in 2014, sitting at the forefront. ‘Flowers and You’ opens with a lush guitar tone; heavier songs, such as ‘New Halloween’ and ‘Palm Dreams’ are interspersed with melody and intricacy. Vocals are sung as well as screamed, with ‘Displacement’ moving confidently across those elements. Closing track, ‘Skyscraper’, features the last voice mail message left to Jeremy by his mother; highlighting the weight of loss, the significance in the everyday. It’s a difficult conclusion to any record but marks a poignant and lasting tribute. Kristy Diaz

LIVE T H E D O M E , T U F N E L L PA R K , L O N D O N

THE WONDER YEARS Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

OTH E R C O M M ITM E NTS P UT A H O L D O N TH E I R B I G PL A N S BUT TO N I G HT SE ES THE BAND BIGGER AND GRANDER THAN EVER BEFORE.

onight is a family affair. It’s the first date of a whistle-stop UK tour for The Wonder Years, who have had to push back bigger plans until early next year due to a pair of marriages and other looming commitments. A surprise set from Trash Boat (AKA Barracuda Deathwish) kicks things off, with the band leaning heavily on their shiny, Dan Campbell-produced new album. Clarity’s Adam Parslow is an old friend, their adventures inspiring part of ‘Hostels and Brothels’ while Laura Stevenson’s history is also intertwined with The Wonder Years. Her bare-bones honesty is front and centre, even when half of the headline band join her on stage (a favour she later returns). It’s a show full of friends, bonded together by music. From the opening swell of ‘Brothers &’ ‘Cardinals’, those connections electrify the room, bringing everyone in. The nineteen-song set takes time to indulge the past, ensuring nobody is left out, but is furiously forward-facing at the same time. The Wonder Years have spent the past decade learning how to balance sincerity with big moments and tonight – from the bounce of ‘There, There’ through the fire of ‘The Bluest Things On Earth’ until the arms aloft purge of ‘Came Out Swinging’ – it’s bigger and grander than anything we’ve seen yet. Dan Campbell leads the charge, all uncontrolled enthusiasm and full-bodied passion, but he shares the spotlight with every member of the room. There’s a speech denouncing Trump (“I want to assure you that the freethinking people of the United States aren’t represented by that bright orange pumpkin mother fucker.”) which builds in pointed assurance. A security guard makes it on stage for guest vocals while TWY’s tour manager spends the whole gig making sure the constant ebb of crowdsurfers-come-stagedivers land safely. The band’s ‘everyone is welcome, everyone is safe’ messages in full-effect from every angle. Their visit might be fleeting but it’s resoundingly affirming. The Wonder Years promise to return for bigger things in February, and why would you doubt them? “We wanted every single one of you to walk out of here thinking this is the best fucking show you’ve ever been to,” declares Dan. As with everything they do, it’s hard not to find truth in their words. It’s bands like The Wonder Years that represent us. P

Twin Atlantic VS

THE INTERNET

YO U G U Y S S U G G E S T E D S O M E Q U E S T I O N S F O R U S TO A S K O N TW I T T E R. W E A S K E D T H E M. H E R E A R E T H E A N S W E R S.

IF YOU WEREN’T IN A BAND WHAT WOULD YOUR JOBS BE? Ross McNae: Beekeeper - not for the honey. Something to do with coffee. WHERE ARE YOUR FAVOURITE PLACES IN GLASGOW THAT AREN’T GIG VENUES? Ross: I love Queens Park, The Allison Arms, Cafe Strange Brew, and the South Side’s atmosphere.

WHAT IS THE THING YOU MISS MOST WHEN YOU ARE ON TOUR? Ross: My wife and daughter. HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT COLLABORATING WITH AN OTHER BAND OR SINGER? Ross: All the time, yes. I’d love to make a song with a singer songwriter like my friend Benjamin Francis Leftwich, or an electronic artist like Kaytranada or

Gold Panda. WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE BANDS AT THE MOMENT? ANY SONG RECOMMENDATIONS FOR US? Ross: Blood Orange, Weaves, Frank Ocean: Blood Orange - ‘Augustine’ Weaves - ‘Tick’ Frank Ocean - ‘Solo’ WHERE DID YOU FIND INSPIRATION FOR THESE NEW SOUNDS?

Ross: For the first time in years we had some time off, so living amongst friends, loved ones, and the city we love and call home. WHERE DOES SAM BUY HIS RIPPED JEANS FROM, THAT’S THE REAL QUESTION? Ross: Levi’s - always and forever. HOW COME YOU’RE STILL SO AWESOME? Ross: I don’t know what this even means? P

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HAPPY DIVING

Electric Soul Unity

NO JOY Drool Sucker

RATBOYS / DOWSING Split

FIELD MOUSE Episodic

7” / CASSETTE / DIGITAL - OUT NOW

7” / DIGITAL - SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

CD / LP / CASSETTE / DIGITAL - AUGUST 5, 2016

CD / LP / CASSETTE / DIGITAL - OUT NOW

New 2016 releases coming from Special Explosion, Mouse On the Keys, LITE, Bellows, Del Paxton, Enemies, Eerie Summer, Artie Tea & more.

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