Upset, September 2020

** Plus **

M ove m e n ts PV R I S N a r ro w H e a d C o l d Ye a rs T h o u s a n d B e l o w K i d Da d +

l o a d s m o re

Cold Years debut album Paradise Out Now

“Pissed off never sounded so righteous” - Upset

SEPTEMBER 2020 Issue 58

HELLO.

There are legendary bands.

There are critically acclaimed bands. There are exciting bands, and bands who shift a ridiculous number of ‘units’ or sell out huge arenas. There are influential bands - the ones that peers name-check as inspiring their best work - and bands who push the boundaries of their subculture, widening the creative space for all. And then, there’s Deftones.

Because, truth told, this month’s returning cover stars are all of the above and so much more. With a new album imminent, we’re delighted to welcome them back to the magazine. Getting this month’s lead feature together in lockdown may have been a challenge, but for true icons like them, it’s more than worth it.

S tephen

Editor / @stephenackroyd

Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Jamie MacMillan, Jasleen Dhindsa, Linsey Teggert, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin, Tyler Damara Kelly Snappers Al Kalyk, Clemente Ruiz, Frank Delgado, Mark Jaworski, Max Zdunek, NaStacia Ellis, Sarah Louise Bennett, Stuart Gardiner, Tamar Levine, Vee Sanders P U B L I S H E D F RO M

W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L

All material copyright (c). All rights reserved.

RIOT 4. MOVEMENTS 7. CLT DRP 8. OXYMORRONS 12. NARROW HEAD 16. THOUSAND BELOW 18. COLD YEARS ABOUT TO BREAK 20. KID DAD 24. GIRL FRIDAY FEATURES 26. DEFTONES 36. DE’WAYNE 40. BULLY 44. THE FRONT BOTTOMS REVIEWS 48. KNUCKLE PUCK TEENAGE KICKS 50. PVRIS Upset 3

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THIS MONTH IN ROCK

EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK

THE GOOD WILL

OUT 4 Upset

The universe has decided it’s finally Oxymorrons’ time. p.8

Texan band Narrow Head have created one of the heaviest albums of 2020 thus far. p.12

Thousand Below have been using lockdown to record a brand new, stripped back EP. p.16

Three years on from their debut album, and Californian post-hardcore band Movements are back with its Will Yip-produced followup, ‘No Good Left To Give’.

“At its core,” says vocalist Patrick Miranda, “the new record is what we’ve always been, which is emotional, real, and honest music.” Not ones to shy away from tough subjects, it sees them open up about some of life’s many struggles, such as mental health and relationships difficulties. “It’s a little darker,” he adds.

Hi Pat, how’s it going? Have you guys been enjoying summer so far?

So far I’m doing pretty well, all things considered! Been a weird summer for sure, but I’m making the best of it.

Your new album’s really heavy, talking about suicide, loss, fear - are all these narratives drawn directly from your own lives?

Yes. As the sole lyrical writer for this band, every song focuses on an aspect of my life based on personal experiences, thoughts, emotions, etc.

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Riot_ Are you more adept at communicating tricky subjects like mental health now the band’s a few years in, do you think?

Very much so. I never pictured myself or my band becoming activists for mental health awareness, so it was a difficult role to adjust to at first. As time has gone on, if grown much more comfortable speaking on the subject!

Did putting together ‘No Good Left To Give’ uncover any personal revelations for you?

I think every time we write an album, I learn more about myself.

Sometimes I listen back and think, “damn, I forgot I wrote that... This shit is kinda depressing”, and I realise all over again how much I actually pour into the songs we write.

Is there anything on the record that feels more pertinent now we’re in the middle of a pandemic?

Not necessarily! Maybe just the themes of physical intimacy that are explored in this album. It’s pretty hard to connect to others physically when you’re all six feet apart!

Has lockdown impacted its creation at all, or was it all done beforehand? What was the timeline like?

The album itself was finished when lockdown started, but the pandemic has certainly affected the release. We would have been shooting music videos, touring on the album, etc. but since the whole world shut down, we had to push much of our plans back.

What were your main aims for this record when you first started work on it? Did they come to pass?

I think we just went into this record with the goal of making a collection of songs we were more proud of than anything we’ve

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“EVERY SONG FOCUSES ON AN ASPECT OF MY LIFE” PATRICK MIRANDA

written so far. We all feel confident in the fact that we accomplished that goal.

Do you think album three will be darker still? Where will you go from here?

I have no idea! Whenever we finish a new album, it’s so hard for me to even begin to think about the next one because I feel like I don’t have much else to write about in my current state of life. We’ll just have to see what happens over the next couple of years!

Is not being able to tour going to postpone the release of new material, do you think?

Unfortunately, it already has. It is currently August as I write this, and our album still is not out, but should have been out months ago.

What does your day-to-day look like at the moment?

I’ve been travelling and camping during my time in quarantine!

My partner and I decided to take some time to see parts of the country we don’t usually get to see. I’m currently in a rural part of Montana visiting lakes and national forests in order to keep away from large groups of people and just reconnect with nature.

I’ve found this makes being alone feel less lonely!

How about the rest of the year?

Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst! At this point, I really don’t know what is going to happen. Time will tell. P

Movements’ album ‘No Good Left To Give’ is out 18th September.

Everything you need to know about...

CLT DRP’S Brighton feminist electropunk trio CLT DRP let us in on some need-to-know trivia for their debut.

IT WAS RECORDED BY TWO DIFFERENT PRODUCERS. The

first three tracks on the album we recorded were with Toby May at Metway studios. We were sat with the tracks for some time not knowing the best way to go about releasing them, but then we got signed by Small Pond, and before we knew it we were recording the rest of the album with Joe Caple at Small Pond Studios. We feel very privileged to have worked with two such amazing producers for this debut album and feel it gives

new album

Photo: Stuart Gardiner.

‘WITHOUT THE EYES’ the record a vast amount of colour with different room sounds and production methods.

THE NAME OF THE ALBUM IS A CLUE TO HOW YOU PRONOUNCE THE NAME OF THE BAND. Can you tell what it is yet?

ACTUAL BRIGHTON SEAGULLS WERE SAMPLED IN ‘SEESAW’.

Yes as a reference to one of Annie’s lines “seashells sitting on the seashore...” Joe decided to set up ambient mics in the street outside of the studio, which beautifully captured the sound of the Brighton seafront. It strangely sat well in the mix for the breakdown.

BALLOONS BEING POPPED WERE USED AS A SNARE TRIGGER FOR ‘ZOOM 20’. We

also sampled them being rubbed and squeezed, which sounded unsettling at best. These sounds worked well being layered and put back in the mix for the eerie ambient stuff you hear.

NO BASS GUITARS WERE USED ON THIS RECORD. All bass

sounds either come from octave, ring mod pedals, drum machines or synthesizers. P

CLT DRP’s debut album ‘Without The Eyes’ is out 28th August.

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E C I T S JU

R O F L L A nders. ert. Photos: Vee Sa Words: Linsey Tegg

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“We’re made for this moment. We’ve been ready for this moment our whole lives,” states Oxymorrons’ guitarist and vocalist Jafe Paulino. For the New York four-piece, timing is everything.

The universe has decided that it’s finally their time.

It wasn’t until June this year that the hip-hop/rock group saw a real upswing in their trajectory, with the announcement that they had signed to 333 Wreckords, the collective of former letlive. and current FEVER333 frontman Jason Aalon Butler. There was also the release of their first single under 333 Wrecks, the rip-roaring rallying cry ‘Justice’, marking the culmination of a long journey marred by being misunderstood.

“Oxymorrons started as an idea between my brother Kami and myself,” explains vocalist Demi Bellevue. “From day one, Oxymorrons was a hip-hop/rock hybrid, we never wanted to stay in any one genre, and those were the two genres that spoke to us.

Different people joined and left until we morphed into the fourpiece you see now.”

“We’ve always been too rock for hip-hop, and too hip-hop for rock,” adds Jafe. “Everyone is always trying to box us in when we’re trying to create this borderless world of music. Oxymorrons has been around a long time, but it’s taken a long time for people to come around.”

Oxymorrons are firm believers that everything will happen when it’s meant to happen. It’s an incredibly refreshing philosophy in a world where self-entitlement is rife. Instead of becoming jaded, the band have focused 9 UPSETMAGAZINE. COM Upset

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Riot_ their energies into more positive channels.

“It’s maybe for a good reason that this is happening now we’re older, more mature,” muses Jafe.

“It’s the universe’s time anyway, that’s the time we operate on,” adds Demi. “No matter how important your message is, if it’s not ready to be received, it won’t be.”

When it came to working with like-minded souls along their path, it genuinely seems like the stars aligned when the band connected with Jason Butler and 333 Wreckords, with Jason becoming something of a mentor to them.

“Our relationship with Jason and the Wrecks Crew is perfect because he has lived experience in everything that we are; we are one and the same,” says Demi. “I have a lot of love and appreciation for Jason because assisting and propelling a black rock band in today’s scene comes with a lot of fight and push back. It’s not that we haven’t had people that love and support us, it’s just that this mountain is not for the meek.”

“We cannot be subpar. There are luxuries that white bands have that we don’t have; we don’t have the luxury of saying ‘hey, this is ok’ – it has to be outstanding.

Because technically they want to say we don’t belong in a space that our ancestors created.”

“The essence of hip-hop and essence of rock both come from a rebellious place, the energies are identical, just the execution is a little different. Hip-hop was birthed in the absence of instrumentation, not because we didn’t want it. It’s not that black people don’t want to play instruments, historically we have, look at Chuck Berry, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Jimi Hendrix – the list can go on. It’s just the access to it is always cut, and then we have to figure it out, flip it, and turn water into wine every single time.”

Initially, Oxymorrons didn’t plan on releasing ‘Justice’ in June.

Having written and recorded the

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“WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN TOO ROCK FOR HIP-HOP, AND TOO HIP-HOP FOR ROCK” JAFE PAULINO

track during sessions in LA with Jason and the Wrecks Crew at the beginning of the year, they were still figuring out which songs would be released first. “Then Ahmaud Arbery was murdered while jogging in Georgia, and we were like, ‘Damn, we need to say something about this’,” says Jafe.

“After George Floyd, we knew we had to just put this song out and align it with the people,” continues Jafe. “We were a bit torn because we weren’t sure it was appropriate to put something out there and ask people to listen to our shit while everyone is taking to the streets, but then we remembered the importance of art activism itself and that all movements have soundtracks to them.”

With ‘Justice’, Oxymorrons have fully realised the sound they want to create. Listening to the band’s

back catalogue, it’s obvious they have something special, but with ‘Justice’ it really feels like things have fallen into place. Not only does it share a vital socio-political message, but it absolutely shreds.

Though further recording sessions for their upcoming release have been postponed, Demi and Jafe are confident that the project will be a true representation of who they are.

“What you hear in ‘Justice’ is us figuring it out and working with the right people. ‘Justice’ is one of the best representations of what it feels like to come to an Oxymorrons show,” says Demi.

“It’s easier now that we understand our musicianship and have found ourselves in the right rooms with the right people.”

“The LA sessions at the beginning of the year were the first time the four of us have sat down and written from scratch together with no previous ideas or producers trying to give us songs - it’s just us,” adds Jafe. “It’s not going to sound like a RATM record where it’s all similar Morello riffs and politically charged lyrics.

We’re multi-faceted, and our music will always show that. Now we’ve really found the right formula for the four of us, and we love the product.” P

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25.09.20

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Riot_ Photos: NaStacia Ellis.

Texan band Narrow Head have created one of the heaviest albums of 2020 thus far, not because ‘12th House Rock’ is a towering inferno of insurmountable riffs - it’s actually pretty melodic and contemplative - but because it sees them delve into themes of selfloathing, desolation, self-medication, the loss of loved ones and more.

There’s a lot going on here, and at a time when pretty much everyone’s mental health is suffering, it feels as though many will relate. The band’s Carson Wilcox tells us more.

Hi Carson, how are you doing?

Are you busy at the moment?

Not busy at all at the moment.

Texas isn’t technically on lockdown anymore, but with the virus spreading as aggressively as it is in our state right now our day to day lives have been pretty quiet the past couple months and weeks especially.

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F U

HO

L L

OUSE

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Riot_ How are you finding planning an album release during a pandemic?

It’s definitely a bit strange! We’ve had the timeline laid out with [record labels] Run For Cover and Holy Roar for a couple months now so for the most part, COVID hasn’t changed the game-plan drastically.

We had to delay the video shoot and alter some of the locations for ‘Stuttering Stanley’ a bit to make sure everyone was COVID-free, and we could film in open outdoor areas.

Have you come up against any other unexpected challenges in getting the record together and out?

Since the record was finished in 2019, the global state of affairs right now hasn’t really affected the record much, other than our ability to tour in support of it. But for reasons beyond that, I would say it was a bit difficult to get the record finished!

We initially tracked about half of the record at our bass player’s house and then scrapped those demos to track at a proper studio, which set us back a couple of months initially.

That got compounded by trying to finish the record around the studio availability and touring we were doing at the time. All in all, we’re all super stoked on the end product, and glad about the time we spent on it, but it definitely took way longer than we initially expected.

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‘12th House Rock’ tackles some really heavy topics, what is it about writing about your struggles that appeals to you?

I think all art and music comes from a place of needing some sort of emotional or psychological release.

Jacob [Duarte] writes all of the lyrics, most of which are pretty personal, but I also think some of them use exaggerated personal experiences to tell more universal stories or just fit the mood of the track.

I don’t know if heavy lyrical content “appeals” to us as much as it’s just what came out of the time Jacob and I were writing these songs.

Were there any subjects you were hesitant to write about because they were too personal or raw?

We don’t necessarily go into the lyric-writing process aiming to write about anything in particular, and by that logic, I’d also say that nothing is explicitly off-limits. This record pretty plainly discusses drug abuse, self-loathing, family tragedy and more. It’s never approached in an awkwardly confessional way (a la mid-2000s emo bands), but I think the raw lyrics only serve to complement the music.

Feeling down to the point of not taking care of yourself is a really relatable issue, how do you deal with those periods?

I think anxiety/

“EVERY PERSON OWES IT TO THEMSELVES TO DETACH FROM THE INTERNET FROM TIME TO TIME”

our art to others’ art, compare our “success” in life to others. It’s a bit trite, but I think every person owes it to themselves to detach from the internet from time to time and just ground yourself in something tangible.

Ride a bike or shoot a basketball or something, haha.

depressive tendencies and all forms of selfdoubt are (sadly) pretty common amongst people today, largely due to social media and the insane degree to which we are all programmed to compare ourselves to other people, compare

There seems to have been a surge in talking about mental health through music lately, is there anyone you feel is doing it especially well?

CARSON WILCOX

I honestly try to avoid any video that’s just a celebrity talking directly into their selfie cam, but

Hayley from Paramore is cool and pretty transparent about her mental health, so let’s say her.

What music helped you through difficult times while you were growing up?

90s emo music.

Jawbreaker, Hot Water Music, Superchunk etc. Jacob’s dad and uncle played together in an emo band, so he was hip to that stuff at a young age. When we met as teens, there was already a good amount of overlap in our musical interests, but he definitely put me onto some records

that changed my perspective.

What’s next for you guys? Do you have the next few months planned out?

Well, the record comes out soon, so we’re really just excitedly waiting for that. Typically we’d be gearing up for some touring, so in lieu of that, we’re thinking of maybe filming some other sessions. Writing a lot of new material.

Just trying to stay busy as best we can! P

Narrow Head’s album ‘12th House Rock’ is out 28th August.

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LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE

LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE LET GO OF YOUR LOVE

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If there’s been one upside to the past few months of turmoil and learning to live with new rules, it’s that many bands have gone out of their way to create in new and inventive ways. For posthardcore bunch Thousand Below, that means an EP featuring stripped-down versions of songs from 2019 album ‘Gone In Your Wake’, plus a brand new track to boot. Josh Billimoria (bass) tells us more.

“THIS WAS A TOTALLY NEW EXPERIENCE FOR US”

Hi JB, what does a typical day look like for you at the moment?

Did you go through many different iterations of the songs before you hit on these particular versions?

Right now we don’t have much going on at all. Lockdown has been a pretty big bummer as we had a bunch of great tours planned that have now all been either postponed or cancelled.

A typical day for me is usually wasting a bunch of time on Twitter and Reddit in the morning, trying to work on a new song in the afternoon, and then watching a bunch of Naruto until I get tired enough to fall asleep. I was really productive and exercising all the time when lockdown first started, but the longer it goes on the worse I get.

What first sparked the idea for ‘let go of your love’?

We had originally talked about doing some acoustic songs at the end of last year. Josh and I wrote about six original acoustic ideas, but they never really went any farther than that. I rewrote one of the songs when lockdown started, and it became the titletrack ‘Let Go Of Your Love’. I had also gotten more into messing around with programming and electronic sounds, and that took up most of my time in the first month of quarantine. I made the remixed piano version of “Lost Between” and sent it to the guys.

Everyone was into the idea, but we also wanted to do a couple that were just straight acoustic guitar,

JOSH BILLIMORIA

which ended up being ‘Alone’ and ‘171xo’. The last song I did for the EP was ‘Chemical’, and I took more of a dance remix approach to that one. We also got our good friend Sumner from the band Dead Lakes to feature on the song, and he wrote a whole new bridge to put a different spin on it.

Josh originally tried writing the ‘171’ acoustic version but wasn’t having much luck getting it to where we wanted. I did my own version in a completely different way which came out how we had heard it in our heads when we decided it should be one of the songs. I also had a pretty hard time with ‘Chemical’ at first.

Originally it was more of a slow piano thing like lost between.

Eventually, I made it more active and upbeat, and it came together pretty quickly once I changed directions.

Has stripping them back caused you to look at any of the tracks a little differently than before?

When I was rewriting the songs, I went through all the individual stem tracks and found a bunch of little layers that I had completely forgotten were there.

It’s interesting listening to the original versions of songs and being able to hear all these layers now that I’m aware of them again.

The guest feature Sumner added to ‘Chemical’ really changed the song; we all love it way more now.

Were there any tracks you made for this that ended up on the cutting room floor?

After we decided we wanted to do

five songs and Rise was on board, we had a pretty short time frame to get it turned in so we could have Kris Crummett mix and master.

If there had been more time, I would’ve tried a few other tracks, but I’m happy with what ended up on the EP. I had thought about trying an acoustic version of ‘No Place Like You’ from our first record. I couldn’t come up with an idea I was happy with in the end though so we kept the EP as all songs from ‘Gone In Your Wake’.

I also thought it would be funny to do a super heavy deathcore version of ‘Edge Of Your Bed’ since that was already an acoustic song, but that definitely wouldn’t have fit the vibe of the EP.

Do you guys usually work remotely, or was this a new experience for you?

This was a totally new experience for us. In the past, Josh and I would get together and work on the songs collaboratively and then go record at a studio with a producer once we had the songs finished. Since we weren’t able to get together in lockdown, I sent out my rough versions of the songs to Josh, and he decided they were good as is. He is much better at guitar, so he recorded all of the acoustic parts with our friend Tyler Ruehl. We sent all the finished instrumentals over to James, and he recorded the vocals at his house. Josh did some lead singing for the first time on the bridge of ‘171xo’. I also recorded some harmony vocals once James was done with all his parts. This is the first release where all three of us sing on it, which I think we will continue to experiment with in the future.

What’s next for you lot?

We’ve been writing a ton for our third record and already have a bunch of songs we’re really stoked on. Other than that, hopefully, we can get back to touring as soon as possible! P

Thousand Below’s new EP ‘let go of your love’ is out now.

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COLD YEARS

ARTIST GUIDE

REVEAL ALL ABOUT THEIR NEW ALBUM ‘PARADISE’ record that kind of brings this 31 It’s a little ironic theory of foreshadowing to the This is one of my favourite that Cold Years’ table. It’s about cutting a better songs on the record. I remember life for yourself and just living watching my sister get married debut tackles every single second of it like it’s and just feeling so happy for your last. Push everything as themes of wanting her. Her whole life was coming hard as you can and live the way together, and mine was in the to get away from you want to live. It’s like four trash. It’s all about the bond we chords, and it’s just such a simple home at a point grew as siblings and the support message. Don’t give a fuck and she gave me through all of the where we’re all just be happy. hardships I went through. Family being advised to is so important, and I took it NIGHT LIKE THIS stay indoors, innit. for granted for so long. The I was terrible at dating! I am so arrangement is super theatrical awkward when I meet new people, Frontman Ross and builds and then explodes. It and I messed a lot of relationships hits me in the chest every single Gordon talks us when I was younger, and this time. is like, “I don’t wanna go meet through ‘Paradise’, someone new and then screw LIFE WITH A VIEW that up too.” I guess it’s like a track by track.

This song is the first song on the

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resentment of myself and all the

what the real world is like instead of being in this bubble all the time.

BREATHE

The first song we wrote for the record. At the time we already had an album written then came back from touring, wrote this, and scrapped everything and started again. It’s about having a reason to live, and falling back in love with life again. So many exciting things were happening for our band at the time, and it was like a fresh start.

THE WAITS

This is an old song from our first record which we reworked. We’d started playing it live in this format, and I think it just deserved another chance.

It’s almost like this poppy Lewis Capaldi thing now, with this huge ending. It literally drains me live because the vocals are so pushed.

But it’s like a massive release to play.

BURN THE HOUSE DOWN

flaws I had/have, but then you’re like, well these flaws are mine, and I don’t care and if you don’t like them then goodbye. I went through a divorce and a really stupid relationship between this record and the last, and this a kind of screw you to that.

NORTHERN BLUES

A song that just really pulls on how miserable being in Aberdeen is when you’re sad. It’s such a small town, and all your mistakes will follow you everywhere. I hate that about this place. I really hate it.

I do, however, love it too because it’s where I grew up. I’ve never left here. That song pulls on that where I’m now like, nah, I’m done being scared. I want out. I want to go see

One of two politically motivated tracks on the record. Our generation is fucked. It’s overdrawn, we will never be debtfree, we will never own anything, the generation before conditioned us to want those things we will never have. It’s a hard track. And it’s super tough live because it’s so fast and powerful. It’s just pure fucking punk rock.

ELECTRICITY

Hello foreshadowing. Always wanted someone I couldn’t get enough of, never had it. It’s about connecting with someone on a level you can’t even describe and just being completely alive. It’s probably the most explicit thing I’ve ever put to paper in terms of honesty. It’s dirty, it’s raw, and it’s just this bolt of energy.

TOO FAR GONE

Song of reflection. I spent a lot of time last year partying too hard to cope with how crap my life had become. It was a way out for me.

And I was like, maybe it’s too late for me to change or to progress on life. This song was half-written when we came to the studio, and it ended up being what it is. Pulls a lot on Americana, and is really gonna be one of my favourite songs to play live.

HOLD ON

This song is really about watching all my friends screw it up, and being there for them through it all like they’ve been there for me. I have the most incredible friends, and we’ve been there for each other through thick and thin.

Everyone has a point in their life where they are holding on by the skin of their teeth with no idea what they are doing.

DROPOUT

A song about how everyone gives up on their dreams far too easily: I’ve been guilty of this in the past.

If you get to a point where you’re given the opportunity to pursue them just fucking go for it. Don’t listen to negative people, don’t listen to people who can’t stomach it or support you, cut them off.

They aren’t worth it.

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The second political track off this record. It’s so angry. It’s a fuck you to anyone who voted for Brexit, anyone who is intolerant, racist, homophobic, xenophobic or votes for the Tory party, in general, to be honest. Put them all in the North Sea on a boat and sink it.

HUNTER

A couple years back I lost my dog.

I had to put him down for medical reasons, and it was one of the hardest things I had to do. At the time I lived alone in a house in the middle of nowhere cut off from everything and everyone, and I just saw him everywhere. This was so hard to record, but it was vital for me in terms of healing from it. P

Cold Years’ debut album ‘Paradise’ is out 4th September.

Upset 19

WANT A NEW BAND CRUSH? CHECK OUT THIS LOT! >>>

THE BEST NEW BANDS. THE HOTTEST NEW MUSIC.

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TOKKY HORROR The new project from Queen Zee’s Zee Davine, Tokky Horror has arrived with debut single ‘Girlracer’, and a bunch of tour dates.

CHLOE MORIONDO Breaking out from her YouTuber start, Chloe Moriondo’s new single ‘I Want To Be With You’ is a very Avril-y corker.

SUPERLOVE Having shared stages with the likes of Dream State and Stand Atlantic, Bristol noise-poppers Superlove have just inked a new deal with Rude Records.

Photo: Max Zdunek.

KID DAD Hi Marius - who are you all, German band Kid where did you meet?

Dad’s debut album is We are four students who full of huge indie-rock met each other in high singles. Packed with school. Back then I had a anthemic, unapologetic pop-punk band which kinda hooks ready to blast transformed into what’s now any lingering lockdown Kid Dad by old members cobwebs well and truly leaving and new members joining the group. Michael, away, in tracks like who is our drummer, ‘Limbo’ and longtime and Joshi, who’s our lead favourite ‘Happy’ they guitarist, started studying capture a messy and popular music and media, exactly like I did, with the youthful enthusiasm dream of forming a band that’s completely and getting heard someday. addictive. It all very Max, our bassist and backing coming-of-age - figuring vocalist who also plays out how you feel, what synthesizers, studied special the future holds; what education at the same uni as we three did. After we all adventures to head out on next. A world of crossed paths, we started songs and playing possibilities lies ahead. writing shows together, and that’s Marius Vieth (vocals/ how we got here, haha! guitar) introduces his What’s your hometown band.

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“WRITING IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN TELL HOW I REALLY FEEL” MARIUS VIETH

Paderborn like, are there many opportunities for up-and-coming bands there?

Paderborn is sweet and beautiful, but that comes from someone who grew up here. For me personally, it was always hard to find a way to play shows and get live experiences here, but the local scene(s) here has grown pretty decently since you can study popular music and media here. Many talented and hungry musicians moved to Paderborn, which led to a colourful scene and more shows - I love it, and I wish it would have been that easy to get heard back in 2012! The city is living and growing!

Do you get to travel outside of Germany much? Y’know, when there isn’t a pandemic on.

We used to tour all around Europe and still want to play in the States, Asia and everywhere possible, but as you said COVID-19 pulled the break on that for now. We hope pandemics and wars don’t stop ongoing globalization and we will be able to play places we always have dreamed of playing. At the same time, we are fully aware that to achieve this, we all have to work hard and be patient

Has lockdown mucked up many of your plans?

Yes and no. We had many plans that we still have, but we were more like right in the middle of planning and booking shows when the pandemic hit us.

Luckily, we have the chance to stay in very close contact with our partners who always want the best for us, and we were able

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to make really great alternative plans, so you can look forward to a lot of things happening in the near future. So everything will be as cool as possible!

What’s the most exciting thing you’ve done with Kid Dad so far?

Completing your debut album must be up there?

It is! Not just that we are a group of friends making our own music - we also have the opportunity of releasing something that sums

up this crazy chapter of our lives.

Nothing really can compare to this (until now, haha)!

Tell us about the record - how did you curate the tracklisting?

Is it a mix of old and new songs?

It’s not really old and new. It’s more like recorded early and recorded later. We all wrote the songs between 2017 and 2019 and some of the songs written in 2017 were recorded in 2019, while some written in 2018 were

with. Joshi [Meinert, guitar] for example, is crazy for indie, atmospheric krautrock and stuff like that while Michael [Reihle, drums] loves EDM and K-Pop. Max [Alexander Zdunek (bass/ backing vocals] and I grew up in the pop-punk/emo scene, and when he listens to Lil Peep, German rap and Incubus, I lean back to Radiohead, Mac Miller, The 1975 and even John Coltrane. So, all in all, there may be no genre all of us hate, and no band all of us love equally, but that’s the perfect foundation for a band that wants to create and not copy I guess, haha!

Do you have a favourite song on the album?

Yes, I do, it’s called ‘Window’. I mean, I really, really love them all, we all do, but ‘Window’ feels special to me. It’s not a single, so you have to wait until the album drops!

What do you most enjoy writing about, are there any topics you find yourselves returning to?

Interesting question, cause that’s exactly what is happening.

I preserve a feeling in a song, hidden in the lyrics, a riff, a beat or only the tempo, and I feel it onstage. This is why live performances are so intense for me. It looks like I’m playing a song, but I’m re-feeling an emotion - that’s tough but beautiful. Writing is the only way I can tell how I really feel, you know? recorded just a few weeks after the writing process was finished.

We recorded in more than 5 different studios, and it gave every song the room we thought it needed (without busting the bank), so it was very exciting to hear these songs successively and completely finished and then find a tracklist for it.

We’re talking about weeks of “finding” here because we can be complicated sometimes and we tend to overthink things.

But we are all very happy with this list and beyond thankful for everyone involved in the process.

It feels like there’s a vast range of influences here, where do you look for inspiration? Do you have varied tastes in music?

Yes, we are veeeery different, especially when it comes to music, art and styles, but somehow we always find a golden middle everyone is happy

What’s next for you guys?

After releasing ‘In A Box’ we will play as many shows as we can in times like these and try to focus on creating videos, music and gaining attention to our campaign against domestic violence to support kids in need.

We will try to stay healthy in every way and work until we drop dead. P

Kid Dad’s debut album ‘In A Box’ is out now.

Upset 23

GIRL FRIDAY

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Photo: Al Kalyk.

Los Angeles four-piece Girl Friday are hands-down the coolest bunch in this here issue of Upset. (Sorry, everyone else.) Having spent 2019 on the road with the likes of The Beths and Marika Hackman, their new album ‘Androgynous Mary’ is a charming and relatable tribute to friendship and finding your place in the world. It deals with a lot of personal and difficult themes, but in a way that oozes camaraderie and fun. Libby Hsieh (bass/vocals), Vera Ellen (guitar/vocals), Sierra Scott (guitar/vocals) and Virginia Pettis (drums/vocals) fill us in.

Hi you lot, how’s it going? What are you up to at the mo?

Libby: Hi hello hola bonjour. I just finished a ‘zine I’ve been working on for a while now... whistle while you work, you know? All in a hard day’s work.

Virginia: Oh hey, you know it’s going. I’m just watching a livestream of the new illuminati hotties album, which is absolute fire.

Sierra: I’m pretty thrilled at the moment because I just got a new inhaler. Absolutely, tearing it up out here.

Vera: I like getting froggy.

How long have you lot been together?

Libby: I want to say three years now? So, I guess in the music world, we’re toddlers who have barely learned to talk. Doesn’t stop us from screaming I guess…

Sierra: We started to write this album in 1977, so this is a big year for us.

What’ve been the highlights of your time together so far?

Virginia: Recording this album is definitely the thing I’m proudest of so far.

Sierra: I am pleased to report that touring is even more magical than I’d always dreamed it would be, blood, sweat, and tears included.

communicate those thoughts to other people. That translation is what takes the most work.

What inspires you, both musically and in life?

Libby: ‘What We Do It For!’ or ‘This is Not The Indie Rock’.

Those songs specifically have us singing the same melody in a unified voice that I feel really embody a certain universality.

These songs have such a particular feeling of collective cognisance in them.

Virginia: Oof, I truly love every song on this record, but probably ‘Eaten Thing’ and ‘Public Bodies’.

They’re both a wild ride, and I’m so excited to bring them to a live audience.

Sierra: ‘Clotting’ is a special baby for me. It’s that catharsis of vomiting up everything you hate about yourself and realising that you’re learning how to heal in the process.

Vera: Probably ‘Eaten Thing’ and ‘Favorite Friend’.

Libby: Nothing, I am dead inside.

Virginia: Fast songs in 7/4.

Sierra: Rickie Vasquez from My So-Called Life.

Vera: Bidz of Sonic Youth live, and Adam Sandler look-alikes.

How do you approach songwriting? Do songs find you, or do you usually have to find them?

Libby: They pop out like a baby out of a mother in labour.

Sometimes that labour is really long, painful, and bloody. Other times, it’s quick, and you come out glowing with a full face of makeup.

Sierra: And sometimes you feel a spectral hand atop yours, guiding you along in the process.

It feels like you are really adept at communicating complex emotions, is that something you’ve had to learn how to do, or does it come naturally?

Libby: It is absolutely something that is learned - and learned the hard way, too. Up to a certain point, generalising a feeling as “bad” just doesn’t work anymore.

It’s also sometimes scary to figure that out too. Sometimes when you identify what certain feelings are and where they come from, it has the ability to rip apart your perception of different aspects of your life. But it’s so healing too. It feels refreshing and regenerative when you’ve finished processing through it. Communicating those things are a different story, but alas, we all gotta learn at our own speed.

Sierra: That’s very kind of you!

It’s a bit of both I think. On one hand, it’s pretty natural for me to indulge in emotional situations that feel sort of horrible or shameful. But on the other hand, that shame often comes to the forefront when the time comes to

Do you have a favourite song on ‘Androgynous Mary’?

Who is Androgynous Mary?

Libby: I ask myself this question every time I wake up in the morning Virginia: Androgynous Mary is the patron saint of queer confidence. They eat the gender binary for breakfast along with waffles, polenta scramble, and a heaping helping of spinach.

Did you hit upon any unexpected challenges when making the record?

Libby: We put off writing like a fourth of the album up until the very very last moment lol.

What’s next for you lot?

Virginia: Pancakes, anyone?

Sierra: Someday, the children of Girl Friday will be in the same room and birth Mary’s younger sibling. Until that day, my sister and I are going to continue ingesting every available version of Pride and Prejudice.

Vera: Monster Ma$h. P

Girl Friday’s debut album ‘Androgynous Mary’ is out now.

Upset 25

Great 26 Upset

expec

Deftones are back with a career-defining album. In ‘Ohms’, they encapsulate all 30-something years that the band have been around, with songs that push and pull their singular sound in every direction.

The melodic, measured tones explored in its predecessor ‘Gore’ are present but so too is the visceral power of the band’s early work, that made tracks like ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ become a neck vein popping anthem that has stood the test of time. But, more so with ‘Ohms’, those extremes turn in an instant as, while the spark of the song flickers alight, you can’t be sure if what Deftones are going to throw is water or gasoline.

The album also comes in the same year the band are celebrating the seminal ‘White Pony’; a game-changing album which transformed them

ctations.

Words: Alexander Bradley. Photos: Clemente Ruiz, Frank Delgado.

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from Sacramento nu-metal up-and-comers into a band without limitations, defiant of classification and at the forefront of experimentation.

But ‘Ohms’ might just be their magnum opus. It’s the accumulation of all the parts that have made Deftones so mesmerising over the course of their eight previous records into one balanced album that easily stands shoulder to shoulder with their very best work.

To make such an album happen, the band needed to unpack the shortcomings of ‘Gore’; especially in how that album came together. A lot was made of the fact guitarist Stephen Carpenter wasn’t as “on board” with the album, the creative tensions between himself and singer Chino Moreno and the logistical restraints of the singer living in Oregon while the rest of the band lived across California and recording happened in LA. The result was an album that lacked a certain identity; it wasn’t the wide-eyed optimism of ‘Diamond Eyes’ or the anger that fuelled ‘Around The Fur’ but instead something comfortably in the middle rather than on the extremes where Deftones usually thrive.

Frank Delgado - the bringer of various synth arrangements and textures to ‘Ohms’, particularly in linking the majestic finale of ‘Pompeji’ into the brooding opening of ‘This Link Is Dead’ - is still where it all started for Deftones, in Sacramento, California. “I think we knew we wanted to make it stress-free,” he starts, explaining how they wanted to approach this project.

“We ended up finding a system where we could get together for a couple of weeks, jam, record what we did then disband and come back a month later and do it all over again. We kind of did that in chunks over a couple of years.”

Chino, eight hours away in Oregon, adds that the first few sessions were about getting

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“I’M NOT INTERESTED IN POLITICS ONE BIT, NOT ONE BIT. IT REALLY IS ONE OF THE MOST ANNOYING, UGLY THINGS THAT EXISTS” CHINO MORENO

back to basics, with just himself, Stephen and drummer Abe Cunningham returning to their old rehearsal space in Sacramento. The space, which they bought in 1994, hadn’t been visited since bassist Chi Cheng’s accident in 2008 (which resulted in his death five years later) when the band were working on the now-abandoned ‘Eros’ project.

“It was definitely a trip when we first went in there,” Chino remembers.

“I think Abe and Frank are the only ones that ever cruise in there, so when we decided we were gonna go back there and work we walked in, and it was literally the same exactly that it was when we were doing the ‘Eros’ record. So, like all Chi’s gear was still set up, all his pictures and all his whole wall, he decorated his whole little side of the wall, and everything was decorated. The dry erase board was up and the song titles that we were working on of some ‘Eros’ stuff, so it was kind of like a time capsule.

“It was a trip, and it definitely was heavy, it was a lot of that feeling [of nostalgia], but then we all decided that you know what?

We wanna utilise this spot again, let’s puts some elbow grease into it. So, we took everything out of there. We took everything out of the studio and then cleaned it, and I had this vocal booth there - it had two closets in it,

and I hadn’t been in there either - back when we were doing that shit [in there] I was fucking out of my mind. I was going through the closets and going through all my old shit, and I had so much junk and the crazy shit I used to collect, just weird shit, literally it was like a purge. I threw away stuff, and I didn’t even think twice about it, old clothes, just stuff that was that part of my life and it was sort of like this thing lifted off [me].”

Getting back into the space they used from ‘Around The Fur’ up until Chi’s accident with a fresh perspective (not to mention also a decade sober for the singer), seemed to breathe new life into the band.

From Sacramento, they began to experiment with what ‘Ohms’ should be, and following a few trips from Oregon, the sessions moved south to LA, but still managed to find a better work / home balance for all five members of the band.

As it came to taking the songs into the studio, only Terry Date could bring that classic Deftones sound to turn ‘Ohms’ into another masterpiece.

Frank credits the producer as “he kinda helped create what people’s perception of our sound is” nodding to the sonic shift between the rough around the edges feel of their debut album ‘Adrenaline’ to the acclaimed ‘White Pony’.

But for Chino, having Terry at the helm for this record was about pushing the band further.

“He brings a level of comfort, which sounds like maybe it would not be a good thing because I think, sometimes, when you get too comfortable, you don’t challenge yourself. But I think, beyond that, he actually, because we have such a close relationship with him, he makes us challenge ourselves in a way.

I know that I can’t do anything that I’ve done before just for the sake of doing it because he already knows, he was there, he

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made some of these great records with us. So, I’m able to try things in front of him that I maybe wouldn’t try if I was working with someone new,” he begins.

Noting that the differences might be subtle, Chino continues explaining how Terry’s presence in the studio guarantees the band aren’t just phoning it in or close to retreading old ground. He adds, “In a working environment, I feel really comfortable to experiment, and I think that’s important.

“Even when I’m at home, I have a little studio downstairs in my house, but it’s basically just in the basement so like if someone’s upstairs they can hear me down there. It’s not soundproof so if I’m working on something I’m very reluctant to sing out loud or try an idea because I have this thing where I’m a little bit nervous about people hearing me try something or be like, ‘what’s he doing down there?’ I don’t know why, I mean it’s my job, I shouldn’t be nervous of that, my wife’s not gonna make fun of me, but I’m a little self-conscious.

But, it’s weird, in front of Terry, the relationship that we have, I don’t mind trying shit, and I feel very comfortable in that way. I’ll just try something, and even if it’s terrible I know that he’s not gonna judge me, but he will definitely say ‘Hey man, let’s go grab a beer somewhere’, because he knows my potential I guess. He is very patient, and he’s awesome. He’s like that, not just with me, but with everybody in the band, with Stephen, with Abe, everyone.”

With the regular breaks while working on the album, the clean slate and Terry’s calming presence in the studio, Chino insists there were fewer arguments this time around. Not none, but fewer.

“We do get in arguments a lot,” he admits. “But what’s even worse than that is when we’re not even arguing, but we’re just not communicating. Because at

30 Upset

least if you’re arguing you have a strong opinion that you’re trying to get across and, the other person’s opinion might be different than yours, but it’s also a strong opinion, so those things usually end up building. Those are building blocks, and you’re obviously fighting or arguing or pushing your part, not because you want your part to win, but because you believe in something enough to where you want to put up a reason why.

“If I look back, the worst times of us as a band have been, not when we’re arguing, but when we’re not arguing, when we’re not confrontational. If any one of us is not engaged enough, the record or what we’re working on is not gonna be up to its potential, because everybody’s not fully engaged.”

Both Chino and Frank are quick to clarify that stories of the rifts within the band have been blown out of proportion down the years with Frank conceding that “it makes for a good story”.

Usually, the story of conflict stems from the romantic idea of the opposing forces that drive the Deftones dynamic, with Chino’s new-wave influences and Stephen’s being the “metal guy” becoming something of a tugof-war, in which the victor gets the bigger share of influence on a record. But, in truth, it’s those opposing forces that have made Deftones such a unique force.

If the stories were true, then ‘Ohms’ would be the album in which nobody lost the argument.

That’s not to say that this is an album of compromise, rather it’s ten tracks packed with dynamism, light and dark, loud and quiet, screams and whispers and something altogether vintage Deftones.

Regardless of any arguments between the band, it cannot be denied that Deftones are always at their best when Chino is pissed off, and ‘Ohms’ finds him back at his most angry.

Chino’s wrath leads the

album right out of the gate as he spews, “I reject both sides of what I’m being told / I’ve seen right through now I watch how wild it gets” in one of the most politically-driven statements he has ever made (or will ever make, he assures).

“I’m not interested in politics one bit, not one bit. It really is one of the most annoying, ugly things that exists and that’s basically the most blanket statement that I can give. In that moment, that’s what was annoying me, and it just came out in that sentence,” he explains.

From there the album is rife with flashes of rage, from the exasperated screams of “Jesus

“EXPECTATIONS ANNOY THE FUCK OUT OF ME” CHINO MORENO Christ” in ‘Pompeji’ or his headon collision with expectations in ‘This Link Is Dead’.

“I try to not live with too much expectation because I just think it’s an ugly trait, why does everybody expect that things should be this way? Just expectations annoy the fuck out of me, I try to not live with expectations because for one, you’re gonna let yourself down or

your gonna be let down if you’re just holding onto expectations of what things should be, this way or should be that way.

“So, to live with expectation is just not healthy. It drives me fucking nuts sometimes because motherfuckers want to impose... they wanna tell me what the fuck I should be thinking or feeling, and that’s driven me crazy since I was a kid. I still hold onto a little

bit of that, and I think I released a little bit of my frustration on that tune.”

Anger has always bubbled under the surface of the skin for the singer, and it is something he has tried to address in recent years through therapy. He admits, “as a kid I always felt like the world’s against me,” but now at 47 years old, he recognises that he has learned to channel his frustrations better.

“I guess, like a thorn in my side, I try to work through some shit but sometimes music and saying and screaming things is fucking helping and it’s better to do it on the record than walk around the house just going into punch fits,”

Upset 31

“WHAT PEOPLE GET OUT OF WHAT I WRITE IS USUALLY NOT CORRECT, BUT I DON’T MIND” CHINO MORENO

he reasons.

But, for Chino that presents a dichotomy between what he feels and what he says in his songwriting. Beyond just the sonic dynamic Deftones have etched out for themselves, is the ambiguity that Chino has become famed for in his songwriting. Whether it’s soothing dreamily or screaming wildly, the singer hasn’t given too much of himself away in his lyrics.

And ‘Ohms’ is no different, with a lot of heavy references to the relationships of varying philosophical ideologies on religion, science and geometry.

Song titles alone, like ‘Urantia’, reference the meaning of life, while ‘Radiant City’ is a theory based on the geometric designs for a utopia, opener ‘Genesis’ and closer ‘Ohms’ come with their own religious imagery too.

By creating those wormholes in a search for meaning within the album, Chino achieves what he set out to do; distraction from himself and what he is actually feeling.

He explains the thinking behind his songwriting as, “It’s still sort of me running from being too blatant on what I’m saying, to colour it a little bit.

I do feel like with these lyrics that I actually got a bit more introverted in them, I pulled things from my personal things that I was going through day in day out, and very human things.

“But I’ve always had an issue with just going on and just saying exactly what I’m thinking. So, I

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Upset 33

try to just colour it and make it a little more artistic and throw a mood out there and hide behind words in a way.

“It’s definitely a lot different.

Like, ‘White Pony’, which had really nothing to do with my personal life, it’s just me singing about things that were made up, which was kind of fun for that record, it worked for that. But with this record, it’s probably the exact opposite of that. I just let the things that were on my mind just come out and then spent a lot of time after that figuring out more clever ways of saying certain things, so everything was just not so... obvious” By “skirting the issue” in

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his songwriting, the puzzle of what ‘Ohms’ might reference is interesting and one he is sure fans will sink their teeth into over the coming years. “What people get out of what I write is usually not correct, but I don’t mind that either, I kind of like giving people that,” he suggests; seeming to enjoy the veil behind which he can hide while people try to figure him out.

The deep mystery of the songwriting and the philosophical themes at play throughout ‘Ohms’ only aid it in becoming the most robust and well-rounded Deftones album to date. And, in the same year that the band are celebrating 20 years

of ‘White Pony’, the debate of how their new music compares will only be natural.

The success of ‘White Pony’ was partially down to the timing of its release. Back in 2000, it was Slipknot, Papa Roach, Korn and Limp Bizkit who reigned supreme as the nu-metal wave was at its highest and Deftones came in with something completely different. ‘White Pony’ forged a new path for Deftones, away from classification of any genre thanks to tracks like the capricious ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’, Maynard James Keenan’s collaboration on the brooding ‘Passenger’ and the sultry ‘Knife Party’ as the band experimented

“WHEN ‘WHITE PONY’ CAME OUT, LET’S NOT GET IT TWISTED, MOTHERFUCKERS DID NOT LIKE IT” CHINO MORENO

with elements of industrial rock, trip-hop, and dream pop into their style of alternative metal.

The chance the band took on ‘White Pony’ opened the door on how Deftones would spend the next 20 years. And, in that time, the album has become lauded almost universally for its experimentation and risks. But, having lived with the album for all that time, Chino remembers

more, the challenges they faced with ‘White Pony’.

“It created a lot of good and a lot of bad for us,” Chino reflects.

“As rad as it was, in the climate that music was at when we made that record, was not a good place for that record. When it came out, let’s not get it twisted, motherfuckers did not like it. A lot of people didn’t like it, a lot of our fans didn’t like it, they wanted to

hear fucking Papa Roach shit, that was what was poppin’ at the time, they wanted to hear Limp Bizkit type of shit, so they didn’t like it.

But it was a slow grower.

“The bad part was that I think we got maybe a little too ahead of ourselves after that and thought, ‘okay, well we just did exactly what we wanted and now look, and now people love it. So, we can do whatever the fuck we want and we can dive into this self-indulgence full-on’, thinking that people are just gonna like it and get it. We learned the hard way that’s not always the case, sometimes that doesn’t always work. It was blessed and cursed at the same time, but in retrospect, yeah, fuck it, I’ve got to be proud of the fact that we took a chance and did something a little left of centre and we just happened to be in a good place, all of us, and communicating on some weird shit.”

Similarly, Frank, who became a full member for ‘White Pony’, acknowledges that the album signifies a turning point for the band but, in his opinion, it isn’t their best work. “I think we’ve overshadowed ‘White Pony’, just on our own records, long ago. It is a great record, but for me, I think ‘Diamond Eyes’ blows it away.

“I think it was just timing and what was happening. If anything this shows you can listen to ‘White Pony’ and be like, ‘oh shit, I see it now, I see why the band is making songs like this or a record like this because here it is, here’s where they figured out there are no rules’.”

To celebrate its 20 years, the band will release ‘Black Stallion’, a re-imagined and remixed version of the album later in the year. But, in truth, the greatest compliment to that record is in ‘Ohms’ as it’s the culmination of decades of working out exactly what is possible when the possibilities are endless. P

Deftones’ new album ‘Ohms’ is out 25th September.

Upset 35

WORLD

DE’WAYNE’S

Words: Steven Loftin.

Uprooting yourself to follow a dream is no easy feat; leaving everything behind in the hopes of the idea in your mind will sprout and take you on a journey is a risky move. It was one that De’Wayne Jackson made years ago when he moved to LA “with a homie… [but] he dipped out after like 10 months.”

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Finding himself all alone, only the dream for company, while he “hustled, and worked shitty ass jobs, and made shitty ass songs”, the heftiness of the situation was always there, like an unwanted roommate, but now it’s all paid off.

Back in March, he signed to Hopeless Records after a stint supporting Waterparks on their UK tour, and many more support slots before that, even including a collaboration with previous Upset cover stars Chase Atlantic (‘Adios’). With the release of ‘National Anthem’ comes a new tide for De’Wayne, one that’s full of opportunity for this renegade

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mind to explore and indulge himself in.

Making this victory all the sweeter is just what De’Wayne had to leave behind when he made his big life choice. “I come from a big family… there are eight of us siblings, and then I got my mom, my dad, my stepdad stepmother… and I left everything thinking I could do it,” he says. “Being insane enough to believe in yourself, it was very heavy, man, but that’s why [with] these wins that we’re starting to get, I can look at it and be thankful, and be like, ‘Yo, I’m never stopping’.”

Repeatedly tripping over his words to try and put a voice to his journey and story, with all the blood, sweat and tears alongside to prove it De’Wayne’s excitement is palpable in his voice. Even from halfway across the world, the proof is there - this is someone who truly believes in what they’re doing.

Everything started for De’Wayne ‘the artist’ back when he was 14/15 in Texas, when, as he puts it “making music wasn’t cool.” In the days before social media being the fairly useful tool it is now for burgeoning acts he would pass CDs out, and finally found himself supporting some “pretty good acts” after pestering some promoters for slots.

“I was just getting in front of people and performing my ass off,” he shrugs. “I have the same energy today, but it was a little bit wilder. I did a lot of shows throughout high school. The music wasn’t there, but I could rock a crowd for some reason, and people took to that. It gave me a lot of confidence.”

Initially rapping “about how [my] dad would upset me or I want him to be a better father, or you know my girlfriend was manipulating me,” to the newer life experiences after his move to LA, De’Wayne has always strived to keep both the personal and relatable in a happy union.

“When I came here and started

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to actually gain life experiences, it was like now I have something to talk about other than high school blues,” he laughs. “Being a fucking emo, you know, being so emotional, helped me tell these personal stories.”

De’Wayne’s live show is certainly where these stories come to life amidst a flurry of bodies and sparkling outfits.

Unhinged to a degree, the fact this is the way he’s always performed, even when the rooms were empty, or people were staring into their cups, is just why he felt the confidence in shaking his life up in such a dramatic fashion.

“I remember at 18, I opened up for this guy, and the merch lady told me ‘You could do something with this. I’m in LA, you should come’, and that was it,” he mentions. “Those years of people not caring helped me hone in on how I want to perform, how I wanted to get like a reaction out of people and get a reaction out of myself. With performances, you can give it the whole thing. You can dress up in glitter, in a dress, in a gown, in a suit and then go the fuck off. It’s fucking art, it’s tight!”

The musical beginnings of De’Wayne the artist lie in his parents and their love of R&B, soul, “or completely gospel music”, really whatever they were listening too, while it’s his dad who showed him “a lot of great Houston rap”, which helped him put those feelings he felt into words. The alternative side of things - those Marilyn Manson, ‘Fight Song’-esque drums, the palpable energy of a guitar bleeding through your speakers - didn’t manifest till De’Wayne touched down in old LA. “I was chillin’ and got a rock album recommendation, and I heard those guitars and those lyrics and the hooks - I was literally hooked,” he says. “I was like, ‘This is how I feel having $12, a week for food living in a studio apartment in Hollywood at 19’. I’m

“THOSE YEARS OF PEOPLE NOT CARING HELPED ME HONE IN ON HOW I WANT TO PERFORM” DE’WAYNE

a little angry, I’m a little pissed off about coming from a place that’s nothing like this and thinking I can figure it out. Being stupid enough to think that you can do it and the alternative music and that energy just gave me that. I feel like, you know, like a… like a black punk!”

He goes to mention the likes of Arcade Fire, Radiohead and then Nirvana as very introductory alternative artists; with little in common than their own ideas, De’Wayne’s “alternative college” as he puts it, is all based around that palpable feeling - that fire.

“I feel more like a sponge than an artist,” he exclaims. “I search for things that make me feel something. I’m finally getting to a point to where, after all these years of being so lost and not knowing who De’wayne is, and what the music that he wants to make, a light bulb came in my head, understanding what I want to do and what I want to say.”

For artists like De’Wayne, it simply is all about energy - but that doesn’t remove the human side of the process, be it making that call to move across the country, or just admitting that “I’m scared as fuck before I go on stage.”

“I think the kids will look at me and be like, ‘What the hell? Of course not’,” he continues. “But it’s the scariest thing to me, but also it feels so natural. I know that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”

It’s even scarier going through these motions when nobody knows who you are, but as long as you anchor to the idea, the energy you’re harnessing, the rest will fall into place. “Nobody knew who the fuck I was, but I was performing this certain way that they hadn’t seen you know, like a black dude in rock music,” he says of his experience, even up to the

most recent Waterparks support slot. “Or whatever this shit is, [this] underground thing. They hadn’t seen that so I kind of got confidence from these people not knowing who I was, messing with me and my energy.”

So, where does that energy come from, then?

“I don’t know the formula of it, I just know it is this complete freedom, being on a stage,” he chuckles. “Your managers can’t tell you what to do, the label can’t tell you what to do, you’re just going off. I don’t know what makes me, but I love it. You get up there,

and you can be free. I’ll jam Bowie, or Kanye put on my ‘fit, and just be in the mirror. I get so amped up before a show it’s kind of insane.”

Being the kind of person who grew up cutting his teeth on stage, laying things down in the studio took a bit longer for De’Wayne to master, but with the experience of his support slots giving him the confidence he knew how to carve his space. “Not that there’s a formula!” he assures, grinning.

“But I understood better that this is what people jump too, this is what people go crazy to, and if I can keep my same message with that, but still make them dance and make ‘em feel, and make ‘em cry, you know, then maybe we can do something.”

Truthfully, the idea of De’Wayne is all about living your best life.

The restrictions of growing up in Houston meant that his move to LA did more than just follow a dream, it opened more doors of self-expression and greater understanding that there is more to the world than whatever your parents say.

“It inspires me now, but when I was growing up in it, I didn’t have the words or the life experience to understand why my parents are showing me that this is the only way,” De’Wayne admits. “I saw things one way before I came to LA. I understood that this is how my dad was, and my mom, you know cut my hair this way.

When I came [to LA] I was fully understanding that I can do whatever I want after a few years of really searching.

“It motivates me now. I went and got a manicure the other day and, and I feel great about it. I love it, there’s no rules, bro!” he exclaims. “That’s what it comes down to. Last year I would be ashamed about it with my parents because I was like, I know they’re judging me. But at the end last year I saw ‘em, and I was completely myself, and that part is liberating, beautiful… I don’t give a fuck, now!” P

Upset 39

40 Upset

Words: Tyler Damara Kelly.

“I’m not ashamed, and I don’t regret it,” bellows Alicia Bognanno towards the end of ‘SUGAREGG’.

It’s been a tumultuous five years in the world of Bully and the album as a whole is an unabashed declaration of selfawareness and selfreckoning.

Where their debut album ‘Feels Like’ saw Alicia outwardly walking through the self-deprecation, guilt and anxieties of dealing with her own existence – (“I’m trying to hide from my mind” – ‘Trying’), its follow up, ‘Losing’, was more outwardly observant and discordant, almost revelling in the mundanities of life (“Cut my hair; I feel the same. Masturbate; I feel the same” – ‘Feel the Same’).

The fact that Alicia thinks the lyric: “dissociation with every tradition” is the best summation of ‘SUGAREGG’ seems completely fitting for its anarchist assault on the senses.

While the album is as true to form as any Bully album has ever been, its circumstances couldn’t be more different to the ways that Alicia has created music previously – normally taking the reins of all elements of production, and with Clayton Parker and Reece Lazarus by her side. “I figured it was kind of time for a fresh start and things just got a little bit stale,” she says. “When you tour together for five years, you kind of hit a point where everybody’s a little bit older, and it’s either what you want to do, or it’s not what you want to do, and it’s kind of a vicious cycle to try and get out of.”

With Reece deciding to go off to grad school, and Alicia naturally parting ways with Clayton, it made complete sense to continue Bully on her own, solely relying on other musicians for touring purposes. Adding that she had written everything on her own anyway, it was an easy, “fucking

Upset 41

awesome” decision to make. “[The fewer people] you have over your shoulder who you’re paranoid are gonna think something you’re doing is stupid, is just gonna enable you to be more creative and feel less insecure about what you’re doing. You’re like, cool – I’m gonna do whatever the fuck I want.”

By allowing John Congleton and Graham Walsh to step in and aid in the elements of mixing and production, it meant that Alicia was able to focus more on fully developing the songs. “I honestly feel like I was sacrificing a little bit of my engineering [skills] and a little bit of the music/creative side because I was trying to balance both,” she begins. “I just didn’t want to do it anymore. I wanted help, and I didn’t want to have to deal with everybody feeling like since I mixed it, not only do they have to pick apart the music, but they also feel like they can critique the mix.”

As such, ‘SUGAREGG’ is seamless from start to finish with Alicia’s acerbic wit and tonguein-cheek lyricism at play, as well as more of a polished musicality that resides within a soundscape that is as relentless and chaotic as you’d ever expect from a Bully album. As a methodical player who self-confessedly has no experience in theory or any classical knowledge on her chosen instruments, Alicia thrives on studying different chords, “making shit up” and going off of what she thinks sounds cool.

She notes that it’s funny when Bully fans – who she thinks of as her friends who she’s had conversations “more meaningful than any other conversations I’ve ever had in my life” – ask for chords, because “half the chords on the Bully’s records, I don’t even think are real chords.”

“When I’m tired of writing on guitar, and I feel like I’ve exhausted things and I need a break, then I pick up a bass, and I try writing with that because it’s really different to me,” Alicia says

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on writing in a way that gives you a sense of discovering something more interesting, as opposed to being really analytical and picking things apart. It’s more of creating a happy accident that might potentially turns into one of the greatest songs you’ve ever written.

With vocals that feel incredibly raw, almost shaky and strained as she denudes her anxieties and struggles with mental health; ‘Let You’ is one of the aforementioned songs that Alicia wrote on bass, as well as ‘Hours and Hours’ and ‘Where to Start’ – each one a darker insight into her exploration of treatment for Bipolar II disorder. Conflicts of the mind is something that has been addressed throughout Bully’s songs and ‘Let You’ specifically

looks at how it can be difficult to connect to someone when you’re in the darkest caverns of yourself.

While she’s open about her struggles in her lyrics, there’s a slight hesitance in getting too detailed about the specifics of a song, because she believes that the art of being a musician is allowing people the space to connect to the music in their own specific way, and to attach their own meaning to what they’re listening to. “I feel like giving away too much could potentially diminish that connection,” she says.

‘Prism’ and ‘Come Down’ were written in a period of time where Alicia was still trying to find the right medication for her disorder and those are the kind of songs that she goes back to when trying

“I WAS ABLE TO FIND MY CONFIDENCE, BE OKAY WITH MYSELF, AND CREATE THE ART THAT I WANTED TO CREATE” ALICIA BOGNANNO

to see the progress that she’s made over the past five years, despite still struggling with her mind. “I know the heaviness that went into those songs, but [then] I listen to ‘Where to Start’ and ‘Let You’, and I can see how much I’ve grown,” she begins. “I can even take some of those dark points and almost make it into humour. For me, personally, I’m not saying there’s anything funny about it, but to look back and be able to make light of it sometimes within myself is cool. It helps – it’s therapeutic, in a way.”

At the height of coming to terms with her bipolarity, Alicia often found it debilitating. She describes it as though her body “was in a knot” and she was starting to say no to things because she was concerned that she was going to

be attacked. Opening up about it all, she says: “I just remember being so confused. I didn’t feel like I ever knew whether or not I was in a rational state of mind, if my brain was a little bit heightened at the time, or if it was really low.

And because of that, my selfconfidence plummeted because I felt like I had to kind of go off of what other people thought was rational and wasn’t irrational and I always felt like I had to run every situation by everybody to kind of gauge where I was at.”

With ‘Come Down’ being as close to a ballad as Bully have ever touched upon, it’s all the more revealing knowing the context of it being written at the height of her laborious efforts to unravel the layers of herself. “I’m changing into a person I don’t know,” she laments amongst a backdrop of languid guitar and honeyed, melodious drums. ‘Prism’ is also a peek behind the curtain, with its instrumentation falling into the realms of sludge and shoegaze; reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine and Swervedriver.

The most significant thing that came out of finding the right treatment for herself was regaining the freedom to create without boundaries. “I was able to find my confidence, be okay with myself, and create the art that I wanted to create and not have all those voices in my head kind of shutting it down before I even give it a chance.”

While the crux of her bipolarity is a big focus of the album, Alicia also touches on the policing of her body amidst the archaic notion that a woman’s sole purpose is

to be the giver of life. ‘Every Tradition’ is a defiant nonconformist retort to those who shame and give snarky remarks to those who do not agree with this notion. Speaking to the origins of the song, Alicia says: “To be totally honest, I’m scared shitless of giving birth. I don’t think people give enough credit to women who carry babies. They kind of think that because they can, it’s their responsibility, and they don’t really read into how dangerous it is and how like much of their bodies they’re giving away.” In an ideal world, she wishes that there were more conversations and the shifting of a mindset to one that sees “women as human beings instead of just a gender or their body – as individuals.”

The arrival of ‘SUGAREGG’ coincides with Alicia being more open about a multitude of aspects of her personal life, more than ever. This is the first time she’s ever mentioned her experiences in dealing with bipolarity, simply because she’s finally okay with discussing it. “I think being okay with talking about it shows the growth that I’ve had internally, but it’s not like it’s not as heavy; now I have such a better grasp on it, that I can talk about it,” she says. ‘SUGAREGG’ serves as the encapsulation of an artist coming out into the world as a brand new, self-assured version of themselves and being completely unapologetic and safe in the knowledge that they’re staying true to themselves and those who are interested in their journey. P Bully’s album

‘SUGAREGG’ is out now.

Upset 43

In s s e n sick

orski.

Words: Dillon Eastoe. Photos: Mark Jaw

44 Upset

and in flames

In an alternate universe, The Front Bottoms are melting faces onstage in Canada with emo heroes Jimmy Eat World at the time of writing. As it is, they’re home in Jersey keeping themselves and their fans entertained with weekly Twitch streams as the consequences of the pandemic continue to stretch out ahead of us. With a new album, the aptly titled ‘In Sickness & In Flames’, set to drop imminently, Brian Sella and Mat Uychich pick up the phone talk us through the record, life during lockdown, and being one of the first bands back out onstage.

With lyrics referencing masks, viruses and illness, it’s spooky to think the lid had been shut on ‘In Sickness & In Flames’ months before the music biz went into total shutdown. Brian’s hospital ved stay to have his appendix remo ient may have provided some presc inspiration, but as ever Sella’s able lyrics are captivating and relat r because they’re personal, rathe than making grand statements.

Lead-off single ‘Camouflage’, released quietly last fall, is a as culmination of the duo’s grow th back g enin hark e whil s cian musi to the rough and ready feel of their early records.

“This went through a few

Upset 45

“YOU GOTTA BE SAFE AND SMART AND SHIT” BRIAN SELLA

processes of making it, starting with a really intense demoing process, which we’ve never really done before. The process of creating the songs was basically creating the demos, so that was a long process,” Brian explains of the extensive gap between albums.

That method of putting a lid on the songs before heading in to hit record results in a collection of tunes with all the fat cut. “When we finally got into a real studio we would just sit and learn the songs again, and jam them live and it would give a new boost of energy to them. Then, would go on to track and complete the song,” drummer Mat explains.

Brian adds that producer Mike Sapone was on board with capturing that ramshackle energy that was so endearing at band’s outset. “We definitely looked at our catalogue at some of the old songs, and he was very into reaching that vibe again.”

Standout track ‘Montgomery Forever’ is a firecracker of rapidfire verses, screeching guitars and a belting chorus, and exemplifies The Front Bottoms’ gift for selfreference that provides a thread through their discography.

Inspired by the demolition of the Montgomery Gardens public housing complex in their native Jersey City, the band went down to catch the moment first-hand.

“It’s pretty intense to see such an enormous structure with a lot of history just in a second just disappear.”

With album releases so usually accompanied by radio sessions, promo performances and prompt touring, Sella has come to peace

46 Upset

with the oddities of throwing a record into the world amid a pandemic. “It kind of feels like all of this was leading up to a certain point, not tension, but a lot of anxiety once you’ve finished it.

And then we went into a lockdown, and you can just be proud of it for the art of it, and let go of all that emotion.”

Despite having a gap in their schedule where touring collapsed, Brian hasn’t found himself writing any more than usual, preferring to let the new album live and breathe before worrying about its follow up. “It’s nice to have a separation of time [between projects], so it doesn’t feel like the same time, and then we can make the next group of music feel like a different

thing rather than like more of this same thing. It’s nice to give a little bit of time to reflect on it a bit and start again,” Mat concurs.

“It’s so hard to say what the future holds honestly, cuz we bailed on all of our shows. That was the scenario,” Sella admits of their plans going forwards. “We’re just doing one show at a time, that’s kind of our thing. The band is such a part of our lives, and our lives are such a part of the band.”

Without in-person performances to occupy their minds, Brian and Mat quickly set about making their mark on the livestream scene, treating fans to songs from across their repertoire interspersed with surreal interludes and adventures.

“It’s a creative process that goes on between me [Brian] and Mat, that’s the release that’s been getting us through these weird times, dedicating artistic energy to ideas we really enjoyed doing. That’s the best part of it. Me and Mat we’re in a band because we get to do creative stuff like that.”

Having gradually been able to reconvene with their cadre of backing musicians and creative team to record streams and sessions, Brian feels the worst part of the lockdown has been the sudden cloud of uncertainty cast over any plans, something being felt the world over. “You have this plan, your life is going to go a certain way and then, nope! So you make the best of it, you feel very

lucky for the fact that you can even still play music and you will get together and jam... But, you know, this isn’t what I was expecting.

There’s a bit of shock and a bit of anger; I want to be over in the UK rocking with my mates! But you gotta be safe and smart and shit.

That’s the hardest part, this wasn’t what was supposed to happen.

But... it’s okay.”

By the end of August, and with any luck, The Front Bottoms will be one of the first rock bands in the United States playing to live audiences, with a brace of drive-in shows booked in Philadelphia and New Jersey. With events continuing to mutate on a daily basis, Brian is cautious but optimistic. “It’s important to have people be able

to safely come together, feel that connection to the art. It feels like it could be an extremely positive thing. But obviously, safety is our main concern, and we’re going to keep it cool.”

“What I would get the vibe of is like, one time somebody said to me that they were with their friends and they went, and they parked in the parking lot and just listened to the whatever album was out at the time. And they just chilled and listened to the album from start to finish. Very cool vibe and cool energy, just as intense as like moshpits and stuff, but in just in a different direction. We’re just figuring it out. Obviously, we’re going to rock and roll, show up and do our job.”

Mat and Brian sound aghast when we tell them about a recent government pilot show in the UK, performed by tour-mate Frank Turner, which came with strict rules for the seated audience.

“What do you mean no one was allowed to sing along that’s crazy!”

Brian exclaims. “That’s wild, what the hell’s that? That’s some dystopian universe bullshit.”

Plans for a UK edition of The Front Bottoms’ annual ‘Champagne Jam’ Thanksgiving bash, which has featured Mannequin Pussy, The World is a Beautiful Place and Manchester Orchestra in the past, has understandably and unavoidably been put on ice for 2020, but Mat is optimistic about returning to play his ‘dream show’ next year.

“We like to follow the rules,” Brian says of getting back to full capacity, full energy shows (punk music has come a long way). “We understand the importance of that, you know, so fortunately, I feel so fucking lucky. So lucky that we’re getting into play these drive-through shows like, that’s historic for me. Nobody in the whole freaking world except Frank Turner and The Front Bottoms get to play a show for people. It’s totally amazing.” P The Front Bottoms’

album ‘In Sickness & In Flames’ is out now.

Upset 47

Rated_ THE OFFICIAL VERDICT ON EVERYTHING

BULLY SUGAREGG

eeeee

With Alicia Bognanno now taking centre stage, there may be different hues to Bully’s third album, but all the ingredients that made them such a cherished part of the scuzzy, fuzzy alt-rock universe remain firmly in place. An album of self reflection and, at times, self acceptance. From the rattling ‘Where To Start’ to the confessional ‘Hours and Hours’, Bognanno remains a talent to shout about from the tallest vantage points. P

Dan Harrison

CLT DRP

WITHOUT THE EYES

KNUCKLE PUCK 20/20

eeeee

T

he last thing you’d associate with an album titled ‘20/20’ being released this year is the positive and hopeful message Knuckle Puck are spreading in their third album.

“I can finally see clearly / as if my vision’s 20/20,” cries singer Joe Taylor for the album’s introduction as the band shake off all the uncertainty in their quest for identity which told the story of their sophomore album ‘Shapeshifter’.

Miles away from their second offering, this album brims with optimism and confidence

48 Upset

thanks to the saccharine sweet bop ‘Earthquake’ and Mayday Parade’s Derek Sanders’ appearance on the euphoric selfhelp jam ‘Breathe’.

If ‘20/20’ was the end of a trilogy for Knuckle Puck, then this would be their coming of age moment. There are flashes of the urgent, white-hot energy of their debut in ‘What Took You So Long?’ blended with more spacious, blissed-out, moments like in lush sounding ‘Tune You Out’ and ‘Green Eyes (Polarized)’. By combining those approaches, ‘20/20’ flows mercurially from moments of pop-punk goodness into sombre moments of reflection and in turn lends its self to a more robust, full-bodied, album then Knuckle Puck have ever made before.

Unlike its predecessors, ‘20/20’ is less of a snapshot of the band’s feelings and more of a retrospective look at their life and an embrace of the here and now. The result is a mature and confident third record that keeps Knuckle Puck forging their own way path at the top of the pop-punk scene. P

Alexander Bradley

eeeee

Sounding like a computer getting into a drunken bar fight with a dinosaur, all powered by the phenomenal voice of Annie Dorrett, CLT DRP have been a huge part of the Brighton scene for the last few years. On their debut ‘Without The Eyes’, they pull off the nearimpossible in capturing that fierce live intensity onto record, no mean feat for a band who seem to delight in pulling themselves in multiple directions at once. The sound of chaos harnessed, where they go from here is, truly and thrillingly, anywhere they damn please. P

Jamie MacMillan

COLD YEARS PARADISE

eeeee

A record threaded with the injustice of a generation left behind, Cold Years’ message only rings louder as time moves on. Raw with passion and grit, ‘Paradise’ might be an ironic title, but it’s also an album that finds catharsis in an honest truth.

Disaffected with society’s direction of travel, watching opportunity slip out of view, it’s packed with campfire songs for the burning embers of long broken promises. As opener ‘31’ cries loud; “fuck it all”. Pissed off never sounded so righteous. P Stephen

Ackroyd

GIRL FRIDAY

ANDROGYNOUS MARY

eeeee

Laced in misfit spirit and a gothic mood, jagged production value adds a spike of grit to tracks that are all completely unique, but fit together like a worn jigsaw.

Through unconventional song structures, retro post-punk sentiment and celestial harmonies, Girl Friday amplify their poetic lyricism derived straight from the side-lines and intersections of their microcosm.

Harnessing a similar defiant charisma that Hole’s ‘Live Through This’ and Elastica’s self-titled possess, ‘Androgynous Mary’ is a record that feels completely authentic, and is one that sees the group address issues buried deep within their minds and souls, finding solace together in the process. P Jasleen Dhindsa

GIRLS IN SYNTHESIS NOW HERE’S AN ECHO FROM YOUR FUTURE

eeeee

Opening with a roar of confrontational guitars, the debut from cult London trio Girls In Synthesis kicks your front door in with the noise of a thousand storms and then proceeds to stampede through your home with the pent-up rage of a generation that has been ignored and unheard. Stark, uncompromising, punishing. And then it builds from there. Anyone familiar with GiS’ explosive live shows, where two thirds of the band play in the middle of the crowd, will know what to expect. Like their gigs, this is a visceral, intense, disorientating listen; a record to rail against the worlds injustices. P Jamie

MacMillan

KID DAD IN A BOX

eeeee

When we think of the German music scene, we might not always be entirely fair. Often, it’s less ultra-hip Berlin, and more David Hasslehoff’s hairy chest and the long, pyro-cast shadow of the mighty Rammstein.

Kid Dad are neither of these things.

Instead, their sometimes anxious, sometimes euphoric brand of guitar rock isn’t scared of melody or an epic chorus. Emotive and emotional, this is one box that, once open, you’ll struggle to get back shut. P Dam Harrison

L.A. WITCH PLAY WITH FIRE

eeeee

On L.A Witch’s second album ‘Play With Fire’, the band provide the soundtrack to enchanting barren deserts, painting images of misadventures in the sweltering heat of their namesake capital. While the sounds may feel nostalgic, and make you yearn for a mysterious land far away, the attitude and lyricism remain contemporary, delivered with a cool sophistication. Driving basslines and moments of distorted guitars and woozy garage rock make ‘Play With Fire’ an inviting listen, and you’ll want to be part of their misfit gang of old souls in no time. P

Jasleen Dhindsa

NECK DEEP

ALL DISTORTIONS ARE INTENTIONAL

eeeee

Based around the story of hopeless loner Jett and his developing, soon all-encompassing romantic infatuation with a girl (there’s always a girl, right?), Alice, there’s a structure to Neck Deep’s new record beyond the usual salted sugar spin.

Produced by Matt Squire previously famed for work with Panic! At The Disco, Avril Lavigne, One Direction and Ariana Grande (!!) - ‘All Distortions...’ has more than just a shot of pop in its rocks. Edges smoothed, ambition for something with a wider palette realised, it never severs ties with what came before, but - for a band who needed to find a way to move forwards and leave the past behind - it certainly tugs on the chord. P Dan Harrison

THE FRONT BOTTOMS

IN SICKNESS & IN FLAMES

eeeee

With their new album, New Jersey favourites The Front Bottoms deliver a confusing collection smattered with moments of brilliance. While at its high-points, the record finds a sweet spot between the endearing racket of their early output and the polish that characterised predecessor ‘Going Grey’, across the board, this is surely their least immediate, infectious release to date. At times muddled, at times inspired; this is a band in transition. P Dillon Eastoe

WACO

HOPE RITUALS

eeeee

WACO’s second album arrives as a beacon of light after the tragic passing of their bassist Chris Cowley in 2018.

Aptly titled ‘Hope Rituals’, it’s exactly that; eleven eclectic songs of optimism and honesty. Across pop-punk ragers, the funk-tinged and ghoulish, fuzzy punk, and bonkers hardcore, there are tender moments, too, ‘Watch The Skies’ soars beautifully, laced with harmonies and emotional riffs, and ‘Great White Wall of Vodoo’ is a call-to-action wrapped tightly in post-hardcore. ‘Hope Rituals’ searches for the silver linings on the darkest cloud. P Jasleen

Dhindsa

Upset 49

EVERYONE HAS THOSE FORMATIVE BANDS AND TRACKS THAT FIRST GOT THEM INTO MUSIC AND HELPED SHAPE THEIR VERY BEING. THIS MONTH, PVRIS’ LYNN GUNN TAKES US THROUGH SOME THE SONGS THAT MEANT THE MOST TO HER DURING HER TEENAGE YEARS.

WITH... LYNN GUNN, PVRIS LYKKE LI I Follow Rivers

I forget how I discovered Lykke Li but her first two albums were on repeat for me as a teen. I took pottery my last two years of high school and would always play this while I was sculpting.

THE WEEKND The Morning

The Weeknd is one of my favourite artists of all time... I’ve been a fan since his early days, and he has been a big inspiration for me as an artist. ‘The Morning’ was the first song I’d heard of The Weeknd, and I was immediately obsessed. Been a huge fan since.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND Run

I’d blast this every day on the bus home from softball practice. This album and song especially was my springtime soundtrack my senior year. I remember it made me so excited to be in warm weather.

DAUGHTER Youth

A boy I had a crush on in high school made me a mix CD my senior year of high school. This song was on it; it was the first time I’d ever heard Daughter or music like them. Since then it’s been a big influence on some of PVRIS’s music/ guitar tones.

MOVING MOUNTAINS Full Circle

This whole album was one of my favourites as a teen, but this song in particular really spoke to me.

I remember discovering Moving Mountains the spring of my junior year of high school; I have a really vivid memory of playing this album in my room at night with the windows open... with this playing, it was magic!

50 Upset

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE Rabbit Heart

One of my classmates gave me a book of burned CDs in class one day. One of the albums was ‘Lungs’.

When I got home, I remember playing each of the CDs while I was doing my homework, when I played ‘Lungs’ I had to stop everything I was doing and just be immersed. I’d never heard anything like it, ‘Rabbit Heart’ was one of my favourites.

EMERY Studying Politics

I was SO excited to buy this song on iTunes when I found it. I was obsessed with pre-game playlists

when I played ice hockey as a teen, this was on heavy rotation. It always got me so pumped; it was so catchy.

ALEXISONFIRE This Could Be Anywhere In The World

I remember seeing the video for this on Fuse or MYV on a Friday afternoon before a high school football game. I remember downloading it and playing it in my headphones whenever I could while I was at the game, that’s how excited I was about the song, haha. P

PVRIS’ album ‘Use Me’ is out 28th August.

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