Upset, September 2022

NEW ALBUM

OUT 19th AUGUST

SEPTEMBER 2022 Issue 80

RIOT 4. YUNGBLUD 8. THICK 10. LIFE 12. LAURAN HIBBERD 14. SPIELBERGS 16. 2000TREES ABOUT TO BREAK 20. DEAD PONY FEATURES 22. HOT MILK 30. PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH 34. THE CHATS 38. PALE WAVES 42. THE AMAZONS 46. JOE & THE SHITBOYS 48. I PREVAIL 54. NOVA TWINS

Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler

Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Connor Fenton, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Finlay Holden, Jack Press, Jake Hawkes, Kelsey McClure, Linsey Teggert, Martyn Young, Melissa Darragh, Phoebe Di Anglis, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Derek Bremner, Ed Cooke, Em Marcovecchio, Jessica Gurewitz, Jessie Rose, Jonas Persson, Luke Hallett, Luke Henery, Micah E Wood, Sarah Louise Bennett, Tom Pallant P U B L I S H E D F RO M

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

All material copyright (c). All rights reserved.

This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility.

The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.

HELLO.

New bands are exciting. This isn't news to anyone - and in truth, Hot Milk aren't entirely fresh off the block, either. For a while now, they've been exciting us with their raw, in your face energy and sky high potential. Now, we're finally welcoming them to the cover of Upset for the first time, in the wake of an EP that's sure to dial that anticipation up to new heights. Get on the bandwagon now, before it's too late.

S tephen

Editor / @stephenackroyd

Riot.

THIS MONTH >>>

Shutting up the mansplaining morons, THICK are backing down for nobody. p.8

EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK

The Big Story

“Who is YUNGBLUD? I don’t fucking know.”

YUNGBLUD’s back with a new self-titled album, and he's staying true to himself along the way.

Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Tom Pallant.

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Everyone loves home - nobody more so than LIFE, with their new album 'North East Coastal Town'. p.10

With lo-fi rock and slacker pop vibes, Lauran Hibberd is finally here with her debut album. p.12

UNGBLUD SAYS HE ISN’T A PUNK. He isn’t a rock star, either. Hell, at one point, he claims he isn’t even a musician.

What he is, is the subject of his self-titled third record. Rather than a definitive statement, though, YUNGBLUD’s most personal record leaves things deliberately open-ended.

2018’s debut album ‘21st Century Liability’ was a scrappy, snotty record that saw YUNGBLUD desperate for belonging. Follow-up ‘Weird!’ was a celebration of the community that found him.

Released on the back of crossover collaborations with Halsey and Machine Gun Kelly, YUNGBLUD became bigger than Dom Harrison ever expected.

“It entered this realm of beauty but also a realm where everyone had an opinion about YUNGBLUD.” He describes album three as a “reclamation of identity, a personalisation of his story and an explosion of expression. The age of the new kid on the block is over.

Who is YUNGBLUD?” he asks. “I don’t know, you fucking tell me.”

It might sound like a cop-out, but YUNGBLUD has always stood for self-expression. “Whoever you want to be, that’s what YUNGBLUD is,” Dom explains. “That’s what this album truly means.”

Despite another uplifting message of rebellious freedom, ‘YUNGBLUD’ isn’t more of the same. While previous records have tried to be everything all at once, there’s a focus to this third album.

“It breathes,” agrees Dom. “The first two records, I was saying whatever the fuck I felt in the moment, even if I didn’t mean it six months later. It was fucking true, and it was real,” but it was often a knee-jerk reaction to the conversation. “I’d scribble an idea down, record the song on the bus and put it on the album.”

That urgency came from Dom’s insecurity around YUNGBLUD’s Upset 5

“I’M GOING TO FIGHT FOR EQUALITY, FIGHT FOR LOVE AND FIGHT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL” - Y U NG B L U D increasing success. If he didn’t question his lyrics, he couldn’t lose the honesty.

“People would try and put me into so many boxes. When you’re younger, you listen to it. You play into the idea of what people think about you.”

A little older, a little wiser and with time on his hands, ‘YUNGBLUD’ let Dom “bathe in the emotion, sit in the pain and feel the negativity of the world.”

And there was a lot of negativity around.

like that, it’s hypocritical of me to moan. As long as you’re expressing yourself,” he says with a grin.

It wasn’t quite as breezy as that, though. “There’s a lot of death in this record,” says Dom. “I have always thought about, what if I wasn’t here?

What would it be like? When the internet turned on me for a bit, death almost felt like the best career move for me, because people would look past the caricature of YUNGBLUD and actually look into my life and maybe give me a chance.”

“LOOKING BACK ON “Would anyone mind it, YUNGBLUD, I was pink would everyone like it,” he socks and black hearts sings on the stripped back that’s all I had. I started to ‘Die For A Night’ before talk about what was on my adding, “I don’t know what mind, how I felt, and people I’m talking about.” started to connect to it.

“Lil Peep and Mac Miller So I wrote more, because were taken far too soon,” I had so much more to tell he says today. “They were after speaking to all these incredible artists, but they people who felt the same were ridiculed because the way. Then ‘Weird!’ came out, world wasn’t ready for them. and the mainstream started Then they passed away, and to sniff around. People that was an ignition point for misunderstood me, twisted acceptance.” Dom pauses. things that I said, found old “The internet is a rough place videos and blew them up.” to exist as an artist. Fuck He was accused of queer that. Actually, it’s a rough baiting and being an industry place to live as a person, and plant. “Everyone had an it’d be ignorant of me not to idea about it,” Dom says. talk about that.”

“And I saw what people on Dom realised that “the the internet were saying arguments against me were about me. At first, it hurt me, as moronic as they were but then I had a word with when I was 15. I just roll my myself - come on, mate, this eyes at it all now.” is what you’re here to do.

“I didn’t want this to be a You’re here to be the one to rock star album, saying ‘woe take the punches and get is me’, though. This record back up again. That’s what is me as a human being, YUNGBLUD is.” talking about what people “I’ve always said I’m say about me in the street, a vehicle for people’s just as much as they did in expression, so if people don’t school. I wanted to humanise 6 Upset

it. I don’t want to be a rock star because then you’re unobtainable. If you’re a fucking rock star, how can you relate to anyone?” he asks.

Home from a run of European festivals and gearing up for a tour of Australia, today Dom is “the best I have been in a long while because I feel so connected to my audience, and I feel so confident in my art. I’m at a place where I’ve written a couple of cool songs, and I might add them to the album,” even though it’s out in a little over a month.

Dom questioned being so outspoken, but realised that’s who he’s meant to be.

“I’m not going to be Ariana,

Lizzo or Harry – I love them, and I think they’re great, but pop music says something and nothing all at the same time. I’m here to say it as it is, even if I get burned for it.”

“If you talk about politics, there’s going to be division,” he explains. “I’m going to fight for equality, fight for love and fight for the individual - I never said I’d do it politely, though. I never promised that. I’m not going to sit here with a cup of tea and ask people to accept others, then thank them for listening anyway.”■ YUNGBLUD’s self-titled album is out 2nd September. Read the full interview in the September issue of Dork - order your copy at readdork.com.

THE

THICK OF

IT. Shutting up the mansplaining morons, THICK are backing down for nobody.

Words: Lindsay Teggert.

Photo: Jessica Gurewitz.

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► WHEN BROOKLYN PUNK TRIO THICK released their cathartic ripper of a track, ‘Mansplain’, back in February 2020, they had no idea just how intense the reaction would be.

“I must be in a bubble,” laughs guitarist and vocalist Nikki Sisti, “because I just thought it was a funny, relatable song, but holy crap, people ripped us a new one!”

A witty response to men who undermine women, particularly women in music, ‘Mansplain’ is a quickfire blast of riotous punk rock that sees THICK sarcastically kickback with lyrics such as, “Thanks for explaining how to play guitar, if it wasn’t for your help, we wouldn’t get this far.”

“It was interesting to us because while we’re calling out the act of mansplaining, there isn’t anything that’s necessarily sexist or anti-man, but a famous right-wing figure in the UK picked up the song and within the first 24 hours, we had like 1500 negative comments on our YouTube from these men coming to troll us,” adds bassist and vocalist Kate Black.

“They were telling us that our experiences were made up, that women should keep their mouths shut. They started commenting on our appearance, saying our voices are terrible and the song is only three chords - erm, hello, have you ever listened to punk music because that’s what it is?” sighs Kate. “Also, it’s a parody! Even the whole tone of the song is a parody of itself and of a genre.”

THICK’s ethos of facing things head-on and their ability to tackle the negative subjects that exasperate them and still turn them into wildly joyous sounding anthems is what makes them such an irresistible prospect. Their wicked sense of humour helps too.

Initially formed through an advert Nikki placed on Craigslist, it was the interesting title that caught drummer and vocalist Shari Page’s attention.

“I put an ad on Craigslist to find people to join me in a band that would kind of sound like Blink 182 meets Best Coast. Back then, the whole premise was that I just wanted to party and

“REGARDLESS OF WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT IN OUR MUSIC, THERE’S ALWAYS A GLIMMER OF HOPE” - K AT E BL ACK have fun, and I used the title ‘2 Girls 1 Drummer’,” giggles Nikki.

Without going into too much detail, the title was a cheeky nod to a rather controversial ‘adult’ video that broke the internet back in 2007, but it ended up bringing Nikki and Shari together. “We met Kate in the air!” adds Shari. “Kate was always crowd-surfing at our shows, and we knew she played bass, so when we needed a new bassist, we knew she’d be the right fit.”

“That’s how thick was really born,” adds Nikki. “Kate’s amazing at putting stuff together, so she grounded us we were a hot mess before she joined.”

One of the other things that makes THICK so refreshing is that they’re all in their early thirties: of course age shouldn’t matter, but unfortunately it still does, particularly in the music industry and particularly for women.

“I’ve had a lot of negative experiences dealing with age in music; I was embarrassed by my age and used to try and hide it,” recalls Nikki. “But I feel like we’re in an era where we’re reclaiming age, so it’s actually inspiring to meet young girls who are like, ‘You’re 33 and still doing this and kicking ass?!’”

“A lot of positive and negative life experience comes from age,” adds Kate, “especially with the way music is now, you have to stick it out because unless you have a leg up already it’s so hard to get anywhere quickly. There’s no such thing as being discovered overnight anymore; that’s just not a reality. But it’s also been cool as we’re all getting older

together, and a lot of us started playing together when we were younger. Everyone is still doing well because we all stuck with it.”

That common feeling that often comes with getting older, of being behind your peers and not meeting society’s expectations of adulthood, is something that THICK addressed in a brutally honest manner with their debut album ‘Five Years Behind,’ released in 2020 on legendary label Epitaph. With their second release, ‘Happy Now’, the band attempt to move on from these feelings by accepting imperfection and learning to grow from their experiences. “’Five Years Behind’ was kind of the box we contain ourselves in: we’re five years behind all of these expectations, but we’re almost enforcing our own rules and being part of the problem,” sums up Nikki. “’Happy Now’ is the shattering of that box and accepting where we’re at and the pain we’ve gone through.

It’s not about toxic positivity or forced happiness; it’s recognising that we’re trying to learn from these emotions.”

With ‘Happy Now,’ THICK take these feelings and turn them into exhilarating anthems of hope. Lead single ‘Loser’ is the perfect example, as the band reclaim the put-down and cheerfully sing, “I’ll never be a winner, I love when people tell me I should quit.”

“Regardless of what we’re talking about in our music, there’s always a glimmer of hope and a silver lining,” says Kate.

Elsewhere on ‘Happy Now’,

the band get confessional: Nikki describes a lot of the album as being “their LiveJournal,” having been written during the pandemic where they had time to sit down and process past feelings and bad relationships.

For Kate, this resulted in the grungy, 90s-esque ‘Your Garden’, which details a painful relationship that led her to question her self-worth. “While it happened over ten years ago, it’s basically taken me that time to be able to write about it. The tone of the song isn’t painful or depressing, but it feels good to have that out of my body and living in the world.”

For Nikki, catharsis came in the form of ‘I Wish 2016 Never Happened.’ “Whenever I play it live, it feels so good to yell and be angry and have the space for that feeling that I’d had in my body for so long; it’s almost like I’m releasing myself from the blame I put on myself.”

For THICK, these songs truly come to life when played live, something the band are no strangers to, having previously been crowned ‘New York City’s Hardest Working Band’

by Oh My Rockness website.

“Sometimes we’d play every day,” recalls Shari. “We played every little DIY spot and no one cared if you’d played the day before, because it was about community not ticket sales.

At the time, I was opening at a coffee shop, and later on, I’d drink a Red Bull and drink coffee after coffee. The next day, I’d get up and do it all over again. Kate would stay up and go straight to her office! It was a blast.”

Now the band are getting ready to head back out on the road for a headline tour, having recently completed a tour with The Chats and Mean Jeans, as well as joining the line-up of the infamous Flogging Molly ‘Salty Dog Cruise.’ “It was a booze cruise!” laughs Shari.

“It’s basically a moving festival that you’re trapped in and can’t escape,” adds Kate. “Shari partied too hard and passed out one day. Then we partied in the medic wing - I don’t know how they tolerated us!” ■ THICK’s album ‘Happy Now’ is out 19th August.

Upset 9

Riot.

Everything you need to know about...

EAST LIFE’s 'NORTH COASTAL TOWN'

Photo: Luke Hallett.

new album

Everyone loves home nobody more so than LIFE. With their new album 'North East Coastal Town' serving as a love letter to their native Hull, we asked frontman Mez Green to tell us more about it.

Here's everything you need to know.

NORTH EAST COASTAL TOWN IS ANCHORED BY THE CITY OF HULL. As a band, Hull's geography, history and community has always inspired our creativity. The city runs through our DNA. It has shaped us, weathered us, empowered us, embraced us and made us feel accepted. The album is a love letter to Hull and those close to us; thus, for recording purposes, we decided to make the record as authentic and as true to this sentiment

10 Upset

by solely using locally based studios, equipment and gear when recording.

like slacks with a tucked-in t-shirt to counter his process.

THE ALBUM WAS PREDOMINATELY RECORDED DURING A FIVE-DAY RESIDENTIAL AT THE CHAPEL, JUST BELOW THE RIVER HUMBER. However, due to the vintage desk and how long it took us to get the room full of the album's story, the majority of it was recorded within the last two days of our stay. This resulted in long intimate sessions recording and playing live in rounds from dusk till dawn with Whiskey and coffee doing summersaults within our chests.

FATHER JOHN (HE ISN'T A RELIGIOUS FIGURE, HE'S MINE AND MICK'S DAD) CAME TO DROP OFF SUPPLIES TOWARDS THE END OF THE STAY AS WE RAN OUT OF BEER AND CHEDDAR. Dad was only coming for the morning, but 12 hours later, he was still at The Chapel, sat next to our excellent producer Luke Smith telling him stories of old. He sat through the whole process of recording 'Our Love is Growing', a track from the album.

MICK WENT FULL-ON METHOD WHILST RECORDING; it was a residential after all, so every song he performed on, he wore his 'old man' slippers and nightwear. He believes this gave him an edge. I'll let you decide on that one. I tended to wear some suit-

I would like to say we used the pool table and games room and created all sorts of debauchery, but this album is about heart, and so we all just hung out as one big family. ■ LIFE's album 'North East Coastal Town' is out 19th August.

Upset 11

GARAGE SU Words: Sam Taylor.

Photo: Em Marcovecchio.

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EBAND UPERSTAR With lo-fi rock and slacker pop vibes, Lauran Hibberd is finally here with her debut album.

► LAURAN HIBBERD HAS BEEN DROPPING INCREDIBLY FUN AND CHARMING SLACKER-POP BOPS FOR A WHILE NOW, building up a reputation for her uplifting takes on life's ups and downs, working through everything from relationships to mental health.

Fast approaching the release of her debut album 'Garageband Superstar', she takes a break on "the hottest day I have ever experienced living in the UK" to explain what it's all about.

Congrats on reaching your debut album - when did you begin work on it, and what was your headspace like at the time?

Thanks so much! I began working on it officially in the first lockdown, but a lot of the concepts, song titles and the general idea of making an album has been bouncing around in my brain since the day I wrote my first song.

Being in the lockdown gave me so much space and time to write. Although painful at times, I'd never experienced a headspace so concentrated and experimental as it was then.

I wrote over 50 tracks across that space, and it was the only thing that kept me sane.

Did you start completely from scratch, or did you have some songs in mind already?

I always had a bar setter song in mind, so the goal each time I was writing was to top the song before. All killer, no filler, right? The album was written completely from scratch; the more I wrote, the more I had to

choose from, and the better the selection came. I did spend a lot of time fighting with myself over the final tracklist to take into the studio, though.

Did you have any specific goals going into it? Have you achieved them?

Yes, I always wanted a lot of features on this record. I've always loved collaborating with artists, and it doesn't seem to happen too much in the rock world at the moment, so I was set on that. A couple of brave Instagram messages later, and my life was made, haha. My other big goal was I wanted this album to take me to the states in some form, and I believe that is going to happen so ahhh!!!

Obviously, there are a few things I've missed off, like 10 billion streams, a Number 1, and world domination, but there are more albums to come.

Be honest - have you already started thinking about the second one?

YES, almost immediately. As soon as I had finished recording album one, mentally I moved on.

I've switched gears a bit, and I'm really excited for what's to come. I don't think anyone will quite expect what's going to come next from me - but that's the fun bit.

What's your favourite song on the album (and why)?

My favourite is 'Average Joe'.

That song just kind of fell out of me very late in the day, and I have been so attached to it ever since. I love the concept so much, and I'm proud of it lyrically. I also love taking down

the everyday man, so this is just sent a rough mix, and we've another day in the office for been chatting ever since. DJ me. I hope it becomes a lot of Lethal for life. people's favourite album track.

On a scale of 1-10, how Does Jango have a fave? much do you actually enjoy Dogs famously have much running? better music taste than Oh an absolute 1. I'm a terrible humans, right? runner; I have no stamina Jango has been sitting on my and raging IBS. I loved using feet throughout this whole that imagery, though, as a process, and the only time that metaphor for being stuck in the boy wakes up is when Hot Boys same place in my life and how comes on. So what can I say? watching other people move The boy loves a pop song, and on or even move away affected who can be mad at him for that. me. I think it's an important He told me he thinks it's better topic to talk about, considering than Katy Perry… how much our lives are glamorised online, and the line You're dropping the album between reality and Instagram right in the middle of the first gets blurrier each day. full festival season post 'all of that'. How's the reaction to Between you and Wet Leg, new songs going so far? the Isle of Wight is definitely It feels good; a lot of the tracks 'a thing' in music right now. are so bright, loud funny and We need a name for 'the stupid that it only feels right scene'. What are you calling to release it in the summer. it?

It's so good to have been Hell yes! It's so, so good to see, playing new tracks and getting the Isle of Wight is basically people's reactions to all of famous now (and not just for the unreleased tracks. It's like the IOW Festival). On the island, a secret experiment. I love we call people who were born seeing people sing along to I'm and raised here 'caulkheads' so Insecure and Still Running. there's definitely a name in that, surely? Caulk Rock, hhahaha.

Your collab with Limp Bizkit's That's awful.

DJ Lethal on 'Still Running (5k)' was unexpected - how Weezer or Wheatus. You have did that happen? to pick one. Which?

So cool, right? This track was That's brutal. I'm questioning basically screaming for some everything. BUT I do have scratching and who else would Wheatus featuring on be fit to do this job? I am a big 'Garageband Superstar', so I'm Limp Bizkit fan, so to have going Wheatus. Never ask me him on this song was a game again. ■ changer early on. It feels oddly nostalgic, and I knew it would Lauran Hibberd's debut surprise/ confuse people, and album 'Garageband I loved that. I slid into the DMs, Superstar' is out 19th August.

Upset 13

SPIELBERG TRACK BY TRACK

Vestli

Oslo three piece Spielbergs almost wordof-mouth rise is based of music as a way to escape, which makes the fact new album 'Vestli' focuses on feelings of being trapped all the more of a juxtaposition. We asked singer and guitarist Mads Baklien to run us through it.

VESTLI

The songs on 'Vestli' are all more or less about a feeling that there is nowhere else to go, no escape. You are dealing with issues in your mind - regrets, shame, fear, should haves and could haves.

No way out. Maybe you don't like who you are or who you've become. You are stuck with being you. You are dealing with a lot of pressure and noise in

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your everyday life, and all you want to do sometimes is just to leave everything behind and find a quiet place somewhere to start a new life. But you can't. You have commitments and responsibilities. You're going nowhere.

You carry the place you grew up inside you your whole life, for good or bad. 'Vestli' is the name of the suburban borough in the north-eastern part of Oslo where both Mads and Stian grew up. You can leave Vestli but Vestli never leaves you.

THE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

When do you lose control of something? 'The New Year's Resolution' is about the place where you wonder if you just take one more step, there will be no turning back. You will lose everything and everyone

you ever cared for. And then you take that step anyway. And you're OK, you didn't screw up everything after all. So you take another.

WHEN THEY COME FOR ME

Sometimes I feel like I am right on the verge of going crazy. I can go about my days, doing stuff, talking to people, and then a while later, it's like I wake up and look back and think: what was that? And sometimes I feel like one day, inevitably, everything will come crashing down, and I will have to go live at the madhouse or something. This song is about something like that.

unsaid. The other person doesn't want to address it, and you certainly don't want to do it yourself. So you just keep on keeping on, with something poisonous in the air between you at all times.

GO!

I find myself looking back a lot. Looking back in regret, looking back in anger. It leads to nothing. So I've decided to look forward. But the only problem is I don't know where the fuck I'm going. So I just keep doing what I've always done. Going nowhere. On this track, we were lucky to have the excellent Linn Nystadnes from the Norwegian noise wizards Deathcrush join us EVERY LIVING CREATURE with some very cool-sounding A straight-up rocker about spoken word nonsense! when a relationship between two people gets polluted by THERE IS NO WAY OUT something that is always left With this one, we tried making

RGS

a harder and darker type of song. Maybe more in line with the kind of post-hardcore past I come from. My working title for the album was, in fact, 'There Is No Way Out', and this song sort of encapsulates what it is all about, returning to the themes of the record as a whole.

GOODBYE

In the studio with Tord, I spontaneously came up with the piano melody here. It was initially supposed to be a short outro for 'There Is No Way Out'. We sent it to our friend Magnus Moriarty, and he recorded some beautiful violins over it, and then Tord laid down some equally good cello. And we decided to keep it on the album in its entirety.

Actually, on the vinyl, we had to fade it out early to prevent the A side from becoming too

long. But you can hear the whole thing on digital.

ME AND MY FRIENDS

This song is about friendships that are based on drugs.

Maybe you hang out with a crowd of people, thinking you really have things in common and you really care about each other's wellbeing. You take the drugs out of the equation and find that there is nothing left.

BROTHER OF MINE

The main melody and idea of 'Brother of Mine' has been with us in the band for several years. We have tried on many different choruses, bridges, arrangements and whatnot, but it was difficult to pull through. But now we feel like we finally managed to make it work. It has this kind of melancholy eeriness to it that we really like, at the same time

as still being a classic, driving Spielbergs type pop-punk/ emo/rock song.

'Brother of Mine' is a song for my big brother. He is always there for me, and I love him to death.

GET LOST

During the first part of the lockdown, I lived in a temporary flat. I had only brought one guitar with me, and I broke the light E-string as one does. I could not buy new strings because all the guitar shops were closed.

Anyway, it turned out to be a happy accident - this made me start messing around with alternative tunings and stuff, and this song came out of it.

GEORGE MCFLY

I came up with this song on my summer holiday last year. Just wanted to make a feedback-

drenched, uncomplicated and fun pop song, and so we tried to do just that. And I have always loved Crispin Glover's George McFly in the first Back To The Future. He kind of pathetically reminds me of myself.

YOU CAN BE YOURSELF WITH ME

I must've made a sketch on my phone of this song a couple of years ago now, at least. And from those beginnings, we really wanted to make something progressive, always pushing forwards, with only new parts coming one after the other.

With Tord's and Ole's help, I think we managed to make something quite cool with this one. ■ Spielbergs' album 'Vestli' is out 19th August.

Upset 15

2000TREES IS BACK BETTER THAN EVER FOR 2022.

NOVA TWINS

The meteoric rise of Nova Twins means that on only their second visit to Trees, they have the chance to take on the Main Stage - and they conquer it with ease. It's wall-towall hits as they show off their new album 'Supernova'. Commanding the festival's biggest stage, Amy and Georgia barely stop for a moment, and the energy is matched out in the pit, which is bouncing. The pit looks so good, in fact, that Amy gets down to mix it up for 'Undertaker' as the duo throw it back to their debut album. It's a rare departure from the new cuts which make up the body of the set, but this is Nova Twins, after all, and that forward motion is only taking them higher and higher. It continues to be a joy to watch them breeze through these milestones and come to terms with the fact there is really nothing that can stop them.

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Words: Alexander Bradley.

Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett. ► IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS

TURNSTILE

Turnstile have been very loudly blazing a trail through hardcore since the release of 'Glow On', and following a smattering of festival appearances in the last few months, the rumours of the path of destruction Turnstile have left in their wake are proven to be true.

Dressed in his PE kit, Brendan Yates is ready for a workout. They're all energy, all of the time as they rifle through their set. With guitarist Brady shredding Metallica-style riffs that crash against their springy rhythm section, the Maryland outfit have found a winning formula that can traverse a multitude of taste, styles and influences. Capping off a whirlwind hour with a little 'T.L.C', Brendan takes his mic stand down into the crowd for one final hurrah in amongst the people whose faces they've repeatedly melted.

WITHOUT 2000TREES, and frankly, it's been hell - but this year, the festival has returned to remind everyone what a vital outlet it is for alternative music.

There's something magic about the event; everything feels right in the world when it takes place, so it has been sorely missed.

Of course, there are a few changes here and there. The capacity has been raised, but the stages and tents haven't got any bigger, so sometimes there's an overspill. Also, no more Ferris wheel and dodgems, which no one used that much anyway. There's a quality-over-quantity approach to the food vendors and a new cashless system. There are signs of Trees preserving itself for the future, too, with its new-look Forest Stage. The tiny wooden triangle is gone, and in its place stands a magnificent purposebuilt stage that sits beautifully in the clearing.

One thing Trees absolutely hasn't compromised on is the line-up. Pulled Apart By Horses christen the new Forest Stage with a headline performance on the Wednesday evening for the Early Birds. Then it's pop-punk legends Jimmy Eat World on the Thursday. Thrice play 'Vheissu' in full in a co-headline slot with Turnstile, who are turning heads everywhere they go this summer.

Keeping the co-headline dream alive, it's a British heavyweight head-to-head with You Me At Six and IDLES bringing the festival to the close too. And that's just the headliners! Every day there are standout bands, rising stars and huge names. With many of the acts waiting over two years to play their slot, several albums hadn't even been dreamt of when they were first booked.

Oh, and there's the weather.

It's glorious. Maybe too glorious, looking at the number of burnt foreheads. Regardless, it's great to be back. Let's never be apart again.

Upset 17

'NO ACCIDENT'. With Ffin bouncing around the stage at every available moment, it was never going to be long before he was in with the crowd, and, as they hold him aloft, there's no better symbol for how Delaire The Liar should be regarded. Hold them high.

CREEPER On an afternoon full of bands that could one day headline the festival, Creeper feel destined to do it real soon.

The sunshine of the Main Stage probably isn't the ideal habitat to find these ghouls, but it doesn't deter them as they burst out with 'Suzanne'.

Never far from drama, Hannah Greenwood donned a bloodstained wedding dress for 'Crickets' before quickly returning for the soaring duet of 'Midnight'. The band departed the stage following 'Misery' to leave a vampire onstage to give a stern warning against attending the band's November show at The Roundhouse.

CASSYETTE

"If you've been feeling down, this is your summer," Cassyette declares as 'Sad Girl Summer' continues in full swing. With the crowds spilling over on the Neu Stage, the singer shares another new pop-rock anthem to sit on the growing pile of standout singles like 'Dear Goth', 'Dead Roses' and 'Mayhem' which make up the bulk of the set.

NERVUS

Trusted to help get the party started properly, new tunes like 'Jellyfish' and old favourites 'Nobody Loses All the Time' ensure they got the job done. Their quick-fire set finishing up on 'Where'd You Go', Nervus are gone all too soon but not before singer Em gets the chance to share their thoughts of our soon-to-be departed Prime Minister. The anarchic punk spirit still burns red hot within Nervus, and it was no better way to kick off the day.

HOLDING ABSENCE With only a week's notice, Holding Absence fill in for fellow Welsh rockers No Devotion. A year on from 'The Greatest Mistake of My Life', it's been hard to miss the touring of it as Holding Absence have been here, there and everywhere in that time. It's difficult to imagine they weren't supposed to be at Trees in the first place.

18 Upset

But, it's a testament to how brilliant that album is that whether it's the first or onehundredth time hearing them JIMMY EAT WORLD open into 'Celebration Song', Never underestimate the it still comes with a wave brilliance of Jimmy Eat World. of euphoria. And that wave The Arizonans are veterans carries the set. The Holding in the game. Their work is Absence show is a guaranteed good time, and with new single 'Aching Longing' joining the setlist, there are signs the good times will keep rolling for them.

"I didn't realise there were this DELAIRE THE many losers at the festival," Stefan jokes. With their new LIAR album only a few months old, Standing with rumours of their "unravelling" the world at their are greatly exaggerated as they feet, Delaire look tighter than ever, storming The Liar show through 'Totally Fine', 'Guilt just why they're Trip' and 'Sleep in the Heat' one of the as they skip around all their most exciting albums early on. In fact, new bands around. number 'Robot Writes A Love 'HALLOWEEN' Song' takes on a new life when sends the tent performed live as the chorus line into bedlam. reaches a whole new level when Ffin and Em's the gang vocals include one or vocals are two thousand more people than massive as the the recording. "Everyone told chorus crashes us 2000trees would be wicked, and swallows and thankfully, nobody lied to the crowd like a us," the singer announces with tidal wave. In the still enough time for them to next moment, bust out the big hitters 'Kids', they're bare 'If This Tour Doesn't Kill You…' and exposed and, finally, a frenzied rendition but just as of 'DVP'. devastating for

PUP

seminal. They were amongst the first cries of emo. And they bring all that back with an exemplary performance as they headline the Thursday night. Jim Adkins spoke of how, "we appreciate it so much more now" as they revisit all those growing pains and angst through the lens of experience while playing numbers that are now well over twenty years old. But it isn't a complete nostalgia trip as they show off the best of 2019 album 'Surviving' with '555' getting an acoustic rendition, and they tease what lies ahead with pumped-up new single 'Something Loud'.

As the night slips away, it's soon time for all the big hits.

In a 2000trees crowd, there isn't a single person who doesn't know at least a few of the anthems that begin to roll out. 'Here You Me' shimmers with an extra magic touch of thousands of hearts breaking at once before quickly fixing again for the jubilation of 'Get It Faster'. A couple of songs later, and it's an enormous finale of 'Sweetness' and 'The Middle' and confirmation that 'Bleed American' might just be one of the best rock albums ever made.

KENNYHOOPLA

leap as first imagined. For an awkward, seemingly unscripted encore, Thrice return to throw themselves back even farther playing 'Deadbolt' from 2002's 'The Illusion of Safety' album. With scuzzy guitars blaring and stabby screaming vocals, it feels like the biggest detachment from anything else on the setlist, but it sends the front rows of the crowd into madness.

It's a performance that shifts through all the gears from KennyHoopla over on the Main Stage. From the lo-fi sunshine-drenched 'lost cause' to spinning around in circles screaming "She's gonna cut my head off / But I don't care", it's a reminder that KennyHoopla keeps lighting up every line-up he plays.

ROLO TOMASSI Like playing with an aerosol can and a lighter, Rolo Tomassi's performance flickers between restraint and inferno. They're utterly captivating; don't take your eyes off them for even a second. They show why they're one of the best around: no one does what they do, no one sounds like they do. Opening with 'Drip', it feels like an eternity of Al smashing the life out of his drums before the band burst into life.

That's the beauty of Rolo Tomassi, and the Axiom Stage is lucky to see it.

The whole band wrestle between Heaven and Hell where moments of serenity seem like they could stretch on endlessly, but then, with pinpoint precision, they erupt into a cacophony of noise. A truly special performance, and with tracks from their latest album 'Where Myth Becomes Memory' they've managed to somehow get even better.

KNOCKED LOOSE

IDLES

The Main Stage opened to the sound of anarchic punk, and there aren't many acts that don't mention Boris, so it feels fitting for it to all come full circle as IDLES bring the curtain down. With a clenched fist punching the air, singer Joe Talbot straddles the line between the raw and emotional Englishman leading the charge for revolution and Old Man Yells At Cloud. Regardless, if you're there for a good time, then that's the last band.

The anger is visceral and raw, and every last ounce of energy is spent out in the crowd.

There's pandemonium in the circle pit, which stretches far and wide and swirls like a vortex pulling in innocent crowd surfing revellers.

There's no escape. The set is a full-blown assault. The respites are brief, but in them, the singer speaks of the "privilege" to play alongside so many like-minded bands before launching into another gut-busting onslaught.

Closing out their marathon set with 'Rottweiler', there's absolutely no comfort in knowing the bark is worse than the bite.

BOB VYLAN It's a comically undersized tent for Bob Vylan but in truth, is there a stage big enough for them anymore?

The Neu Stage is packed.

Hell, any more people, you'd have to dodge axes from the throwing lanes across from the tent. With their new album the soundtrack for a summer of discontent, there's no stopping Bobby from climbing scaffolding, mixing it in the crowd and engulfing the tent in purple smoke as mayhem ensued. All the while, the duo don't miss a beat as they take aim at the country with 'Take That', 'GDP' and 'We Live Here'. Even though it's late evening and the shadows

are beginning to stretch out, Bob Vylan continue to be the wake-up call people need.

BOSTON MANOR

A day on from announcing their fourth album, Boston Manor are plotting world domination with 'Datura', and that first step involves crushing the Main Stage at Trees. No room in the setlist for their pop-punk roots, but instead they focus on the driving, white-knuckle power of 'Carbon Mono' and 'You, Me & The Class War', which see the crowd running riot around the sound desk. A live debut to 'Passenger' and back-to-back 'Liquid' and 'Halo' completed a set which proved Boston Manor have everything they need for their plan to come off.

THRICE 17 years on from its release, Thrice revisiting 'Vheissu'

for their headline performance serves to show how far they've come and how much they've changed in that time.

Dustin Kensrue's voice has become increasingly honey-soaked over time, and in their experimentation and progression, they've all become so much better musicians in the seven albums that have followed since. And so, their performance becomes the best realisation yet of such a special album. Rediscovering those post-hardcore roots but still with formative signs of a band looking to break out of their moulding, the signs of how we arrive at modern-day Thrice seem more evident than ever. With time still to play with after running through the album, they underlined the theory that the same fundamentals still exist within the band all those years on from 'Vheissu'.

That scrappy, twisted soul still rages as they launched into 'Black Honey' and the skyward ambition, those vast soundscapes of 'Scavengers' mean the transition from old to new isn't as huge a

The people in the pit for Knocked Loose absolutely take their lives into their own hands. It's sweltering down at the Main Stage, but the Kentucky outfit come in even hotter. With a Hydrashaped triple header from their standout EP 'A Tear in the Fabric of Life' to kick off, they make sure they start on the front foot and never let up. Their ability to whip up a storm is evident once again as a sea of limbs, injuries, and one guy riding on top of a circle pit all happen in response to the pummelling coming from on stage.

YOU ME AT SIX It's definitely too hot to be wearing all black, but You Me At Six have that "too cool" energy like a pack of Reservoir Dogs as they stroll out onto the Main Stage. With an hour to fill, the sun still shining but starting to cool, an energetic crowd ready to finish the festival in style and an arsenal of hits backing them, Josh Franceschi beams as he swaggers out, relishing what's to come. And they duly deliver. In nearly 20 years as a band, they've amassed a wealth of hits in a broad range of styles. They chop and change from the elation of 'Lived A Lie' to a chorus of The Killers 'When You Were Young' at the end of 'Reckless' to the menacing tension of 'Bite My Tongue' and then back to the tenderness of 'Take on the World'. It's a headline performance with something for everyone to enjoy. Finishing off in style, the biggest shout of the weekend comes as the final chorus of 'Underdog' drops and a few thousand people shout at the top of their lungs.

Upset 19

About Break. to

NEW TALENT YOU NEED TO KNOW

20 Upset

D P

DEAD PONY Words: Sam Taylor.

With a sound that calls on everything from post-punk to grunge, Glasgow trio Dead Pony are stepping up post-pandemic with a summer of festivals, and a long-awaited debut EP. Selfproclaimed "guitar hero" Blair Crichton battles through hayfever to introduce his band.

Give us the tl;dr of your time together so far - what have you been up to?

We became Dead Pony in early 2020 and have been releasing massive songs and playing massive gigs ever since. We recently toured with Twin Atlantic and got to play the venues such as The Roundhouse and The Barrowlands (our dream venue). We have also supported Lauran Hibberd, The Maine and The Mysterines, which has been great.

comes when you play a really good gig or get some really nice feedback from a fan. I think the musician lifestyle may be overhyped by people who don't know it.

You're about to release your debut EP, right? How did that come together?

We released three songs in 2020, and then we were having trouble finding studio time to record more stuff due to Covid. By the time we booked ourselves into a studio in 2021, we had loads of material and felt like we wanted to put a project together to let people hear how we were evolving musically.

You're sounding a bit rockier now than on your earlier songs - what prompted that evolution?

We have always wanted to be a heavy band, and I think now we are allowing ourselves to delve into that more. The other thing is that we don't want to pigeonhole Is being a musician living ourselves to one particular up to the hype so far? sound and style when we are 99% of being a musician is doubting and regretting your interested in writing in other ways. life choices. The other 1%

“99% OF BEING A MUSICIAN IS DOUBTING AND REGRETTING YOUR LIFE CHOICES”

What are you most drawn to writing songs about?

Recently it has been movies.

Pretty much every song we have written recently has a link to a film somehow. The EP was heavily influenced by Mad Max: Fury Road. Some other stuff we have been writing recently has been influenced by the Matrix and Natural Born Killers.

Films allow you to enter into a different world and experience a feeling and an energy that you wouldn't otherwise be aware of. It feels easy to feed off that energy and turn it into a piece of art.

What's the best song you've written so far?

I think our new single 'Zero' is the best song we have ever written. Saying that, there are about five demos we have at the moment that will

definitely take that spot soon.

What other bands are you enjoying at the moment?

Kid Kapichi, Wargasm, Kojey Radical, Lizzie Reid, Ghostbaby.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?

Play lots more gigs, release more music and film some music videos. We are playing a few music festivals in the next few weeks too which we cannot wait for.

Tell us a secret about yourself?

I have 14 fingers and 27 toes; this allows me to shred harder and faster than anyone else in the known universe. ■ Dead Pony's debut EP 'War Boys' is out 23rd September.

Upset 21

22 Upset

A band capable of the moments that make music so exciting, Hot Milk aren't here to compromise or back down.

Words: Jack Press. Photos: Jessie Rose.

Upset 23

E BANG ON A LOT ABOUT MOMENTS IN MUSIC. We all want to witness those points where bands change their fate in a single set. The ones that send shivers down your spine.

Ask anyone who went to Slam Dunk 2022, and they'll tell you they witnessed one. They played just after lunch, yet you'd think they were headlining. Who conducted the coup? Hot Milk.

"They felt really special to us. I don't know what it was about them. There was just something in the air," muses co-vocalist and guitarist Han Mee, stealing some precious time at home on her sofa before flying out to the US, as her partner in crime and fellow co-vocalist Jim Shaw jumps in.

24 Upset

"It was proper electric.

We were blown away by how many people came – they were piling outside the tent.

It was insane!"

Insane is an

understatement. Some bands have to set off fireworks to stand out, but Hot Milk are the fireworks. If stage headliners Neck Deep weren't already on alert, they were standing to attention soon enough. Like Slipknot and Download, it's Hot Milk and Slam Dunk.

"Dell [drummer Harry Deller] has been going since he was a kid, so we always say 'born here, die here'.

It's one of those moments where it's our people, Slam Dunk understand what we're trying to do, and everyone's there for a party."

It's that party-hard mentality that's pushed them to the front of the queue. They've not even got an album written, yet they've skyrocketed to the top by going hell-for-leather night after night. As Jim says, "it's a big party. We just happen to be the hosts."

"I'm like my mum. I'm a host saying, 'come into my house for a little bit, let's have a party and when we're done, have a party bag on the way out'," laughs Han. "It should be a time where everyone goes 'fucking hell that were good fun'. I don't want anyone to feel like they're just watching a band.

It's an event."

Storming stages and

playing sets that make headliners quiver in their boots won't curry any favours, but they're not about to go changing who Hot Milk – completed by bassist Tom Paton – are for anyone.

"We don't pull any punches, we don't treat any show differently to another, we are who we are, and we're not going to hide that," Jim says defiantly.

"I'm not gonna tone it down because it's a festival show," Han adds. "That's not me.

I'm never toned down. I'm either myself, or I'm not.

I can't be anything else. I don't really care. We're there to be judged, so like us or don't like us. We're there to fucking have it, and we know what we want."

It's their all-or-nothing nature that's endeared them to so many so soon. Having only formed four years ago and written most of their songs in a tiny bedroom in Salford, they've become the people's champs. It's "never a 'them and us' thing, it's a together thing," whether they're playing live, promoting their music online, or pushing out records.

"If I see a band, I'm gonna go get involved, and that's what I want for everyone – if they want to, they can, and for anyone who's not got the confidence to, maybe our show's the one they can try it out at," Han says, like reeling off a mission statement.

"I'd love for our shows to be an experimental space for people to try new things. If people wanna come in drag for the first time or jump in their first mosh pit, they can.

Loads of people are coming up to me saying it's their first show ever, which is mad".

When Hot Milk play sets like Slam Dunk or sell-out headline shows across the UK, it's easy to forget they're still growing up themselves.

When the show is said and done, they're still humans coming to terms with being rock's next big thing. But

“IT'S A BIG PARTY. WE JUST HAPPEN TO BE THE HOSTS” - JIM S HAW they're willing to give us their all if we give ours back.

"It's nice, it's surprising, and it makes me cry, but I've always found it quite easy to connect with people.

I've always been a bit of an empath in that situation.

When I meet these people, I give them so much – if I've opened that conduit, it's a two-way street. Once you open yourself to people, people are more willing to open themselves back up."

"There's no façade, there's no front; if you come

and speak to us, you'll realise…" starts Jim, as Han, like a telepathic twin, finishes, "we're just a bunch of dickheads trying to do some cool shit and take over the world."

Taking over the world is a tall task for bands selling out stadiums, let alone some teenage runaways from Salford. And while they're more than up for the fight, they're not immune to the toll it takes.

"We put on such an energetic, in-your-face show

that after the last couple of shows, we're finding we're struggling. We sleep on a really hard mattress, and then we get in a really cramped van, and we drive for 10 hours, then we get out, we bang our heads for an hour and jump around and then get back in the van and our bodies are like 'what are you doing?" Jim shrugs, as Han backs him up.

"It is a high-energy situation, and I don't go to the gym or owt; I'm not very healthy. Suddenly going from sitting down in the van to doing that, when you've done it for two months, by the end you're broken – I've been in bed for two days, my muscles cannot do Upset 25

“I'M NEVER TONED DOWN. I'M EITHER MYSELF, OR I'M NOT” - HA N M E E anymore!"

There's that old saying about burning the candle at both ends. And then there's the Hot Milk approach – burn the candle at both ends, then set everything else alight, too. It's that living life on the edge of battering yourself black and blue, burning yourself out, and breaking down that usher in their next chapter. As their new EP arrives, welcome to the era of 'The King And Queen Of Gasoline'.

"The whole title is about how me and James were living a bit too close to the underworld," Han explains.

"We were living life so dangerously that our lives became a bit flammable. It could've gone up in flames at any moment. And part of me wanted it to; you get so self-destructive and self-sabotaging that you think, 'you know what, fuck it, maybe it should go up in flames'."

When the going gets tough in any walk of life, it's easy to think tipping a jerry can over your world and setting it ablaze will solve everything. But for Hot Milk, it helped them crack the code. Struggling with writer's block, they dubbed themselves the King and Queen of gasoline as if they were superheroes donning capes.

"We're really good at nearly destroying everything. We go out till fucking 10am doing loads of gear and living a little too close to the bone. But the record reflects on where that feeling comes from.

Like, is that from parents or from your peers, or what you deem the world to be? I think we've both felt oppressed

growing up."

It's easy enough to connect the dots between oppression of any kind forcing you into a mould, only for you to break out of it and rebel later down the line.

"Looking at the news, and I'm trying not to, there's something worse every day. That's why it's ended up being a concept record.

We've personified all this frustration into two fictional characters," Jim explains.

The EP might only be six songs long, but they've crafted a multiverse of Hot Milk madness to dive into.

Whether you're following the plot and finding all the easter eggs, or getting caught up in the videos' Bunny Cult bonanza, this is Hot Milk at their most conceptual. Yet some of it might not see the light of day, according to Han. "Making the videos, we wanted to represent the oppression with the Bunny Cult; we wanted to create something that was visual, and we wrote a comic and everything, but labels are pieces of shit, so I don't know if we're able to put it out."

They're ready to rage against any machine they come up against.

"I always feel like you can feel the energy people put into songs, and for us, this feels like frustration and anger. It's a bit of a riot, like fuck you, you told me I couldn't, so watch me do it now."

That anger isn't anything new for Hot Milk. 2021's 'I JUST WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I'M DEAD' EP saw them question their mortality. They spent a lot of time down in the dumps during those sessions, and

they had to come to terms with that record before they could break through to being the King and Queen of gasoline.

"There's a lot of helplessness and hopelessness all the way through that record," Jim sighs, clearly still catching up with the trauma they're left with. "We were constantly like, 'am I good enough? Can I do this? Is it going to be good enough?

Will people like it?' Blah, blah, blah."

Looking back, simply living through it nearly broke the band. We've all had those tears in our ice cream moments, but this was a flood of blood.

"When I think about it, it makes me upset because there were so many times we were sat in my Mini Cooper asking 'what are we doing?

Should we even still be doing this?" Han confesses, getting deep into just how dark their mindsets got. "Me and Jim were in this bedroom in the middle of lockdown going mental in the rain and dark."

Stuck in their bedrooms during a global pandemic has put a taint on that time of their careers. Songs like 'Good Life' and 'Woozy' aren't looked back on with fond memories. They're seen as the songs for Jim that "didn't quite tickle my pickle."

That taint toyed with them for too long. They spent six long months dreaming up the concept of 'The King And Queen Of Gasoline' before a single song snuck out of their pens.

It was like it was happening all over again. They were well and truly back inside their heads.

"I remember myself panicking at one point going, 'fuck, I'm so shit, I can't think of anything, like what am I even writing about? Who am I?' And then it all came very quickly in the last month," Han frets, getting caught up in memories. For Hot Milk, the floodgates opened when they wrote the title track.

Only this time, they weren't

in a bedroom in Salford. They were in a hotel in LA. "It's got a lot of power in that song – it was written on Dave Grohl's guitar and Mark Hoppus' bass in a hotel room in LA, just me and Jim, cause we couldn't bring our own instruments. We feel like we summoned some kind of magical demon, but I came up with it in the shower, and I was yelling it to James in the shower."

"Most of the record happened that way, like when you turned up and just sang the first verse of 'I Fell In Love [With Someone I Shouldn't]', and I was just like, fuck sake, come on upstairs, let's go," Jim laughs looking back. "All these songs started from a small spark and then immediately went up in flames. It wrote itself pretty much."

As an EP, 'The King And Queen Of Gasoline' sends them off into the stratosphere of sound once more. Getting bigger and braver in their bedroom studios, they've made music to pop confetti to on tour.

From creating entire choirs out of a single voice layered over and over and over to dropping in Baker Streetstyle sax solos, they've dug deep.

It's not just musically either. They're baring their souls for all to see in every song. It might be a concept record, but it's as autobiographical as it gets. For example, take the title-track and its generation encapsulating rally cry, "It's all for nothing, and we're no good, an alien since childhood".

"All I know is it's the most truthful song I think we've ever written," enthuses Han, proud of the catharsis poured into every lyric this time round. "I think the alien since childhood thing is something I still feel now.

I've always said I don't feel like I'm a human being, like people misunderstand me because I'm weird, and I'm slightly on the spectrum.

"I've always felt like an Upset 27

alien, and I used to have a lot of escapism when I was a kid by just imagining that the lucid dreaming I was doing was real, and I still do to this day to get by because I prefer the worlds I create in my head a lot more than the real one."

Being alien shouldn't make you feel so at home inside your skin, yet it's a feeling so many of us have experienced time after time.

That's where Hot Milk take their role as the people's band to a new level. It's music for outsiders, made by outsiders.

"If it helps other people who also feel like that, then that is helpful for me as well because it makes me feel like I'm not absolutely strange.

If everyone connects with that, then I'm gonna be okay, and that's great because it'll help me."

Listening to each song is like listening to Han and Jim's diaries. They're voyeuristic voice notes that share their inner sanctums for all to see. On the standout 'Secret To Saying Goodbye', Han poignantly sings, "I'll never be the person I always hoped I'd be".

It's a line that lives on in her never-ending struggle with imposter syndrome.

"I have this idea of the person I wanted to be when I grew up, and it's like trying to get to that point of realising 'is that person who I'm actually going to end up being', or is all this other stuff gonna get in the way.

"At the moment, I'm letting myself down by going down stupid dark rabbit holes. Like all day yesterday, what was I doing?

Just crying for no reason, like I just want to be a happier person, I want to be someone that can give the world what I want, I want to be someone that can be an example to others, but at the moment, I don't know if that's ever going to happen because I'm just not in a good mental state."

Despite their mental states being stapled 28 Upset

together by pure adrenaline some nights, they're not afraid to take aim at others in the music industry. It's a Hot Milk policy: wear your heart on your sleeve and be brutally honest no matter the cost. They sing of being their own martyrs, of killing their idols – and they talk of becoming positive ones themselves.

"We always say we'll meet as many people as possible, and we're honest with them.

I'm not a perfect person, but I don't think anybody should be. I think we're just human.

"The bottom line is, all we can be is nice, and that's what we try. It's very disappointing when you meet someone that's your idol, or you've looked up to, and they're fucking dicks.

We've been on the receiving end of that, so we never want to put that feeling on anyone else."

Whether in a song, on stage, or somewhere in a venue car park, Hot Milk are willing to right the wrongs of their idols to create a better space for their fans to grow.

"If through my mistakes in life, I can be some kind of guide, that's my aim. I see our fans as my little brothers and sisters. I'm not perfect, but this is what I would do, so do as I say, not as I do, because I'm not a perfect individual.

If I can be something that someone looks up to for something good that I've done, then the job's done."

If 'The King And Queen Of Gasoline' does anything for Hot Milk moving forward, it's opening that door between them and their fans even wider than before. It's the warm hug you long for when you're far away from home.

But they're not about to be walked over, either.

"We've always said the more, the merrier. We've got an open door. That's what has got us to a place we're at.

We've not made any enemies of anybody because we've always been as open with them as we would want them to be.

"But when a dickhead

“WE'RE JUST A BUNCH OF DICKHEADS TRYING TO DO SOME COOL SHIT AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD” - HAN MEE comes along, I do punch 'em in the face, so it's not like I'm a pushover. I got in a fucking fight four days ago. When it comes to blows, I'll fucking stick up for myself, but ultimately it's never me that really causes those fights – I've got a strong moral compass."

Han's strong moral compass has kept Hot Milk in the headlines, not just because of the music. It's her spirit that permeates all they do as a band, and it's seen all over their social media, too. Whether they're talking about their own music or weighing in on subjects like Roe Vs Wade, they're not afraid to use their platform when they feel it's needed – even if they've got their fair share of backlash for it.

"I don't give a crap what religion you are. What I care about is the fucking US trying to flex their muscles aboard. That's what I care about, because I am antiAmerican, and a lot of my degree and master's was in American politics.

"I have strong opinions on stuff, but I think it's important to know when to shut your mouth as well, especially being in a band that sings about heartbreak.

It's not like I'm in Rise Against, is it? Knowing when to speak is just as important as when not to speak, because sometimes it's none of my business because I can't speak on behalf of a group of people."

The older they get, the more they learn about the

way of the world and what works for them. They're beginning to realise that just because they can doesn't mean they always should, but that they do have a responsibility to speak wisely when it's right.

"You've got to know when your voice is required and when to let other people have a voice," Jim chips in.

"Just because you're there doesn't mean you've got to have a fucking twopenny on everything."

"I think that can make opinions too over-watered and lets some important voices dwindle a little. I would rather use my voice when I 100% know this is important and it needs to be said rather than putting my two pence in on absolutely everything."

While they're willing to raise their fists and fight for what's right, at the end of the day, Hot Milk are here to have a good time. They're here for those Slam Dunk moments. They're here to make people feel like they're part of a family. And they're here to be the King and Queen of gasoline no matter what.

"We just want to play songs that make people cry, make people love, make people rage, and make people party – we want a diversification of tunes that are fucking good songs that mean something. If we do that, then it's job done; see you later." ■ Hot Milk's EP 'The King And Queen Of Gasoline' is out now.

Upset 29

PU

30 Upset

LLI Finding themselves in the centre of a musical world of their own making, Pianos Become The Teeth's new album 'Drift' is nothing short of remarkable.

Words: Rob Mair. Photos: Micah E Wood.

NG

GTEETH

Upset 31

E ARE NOT WHO WE USED TO BE," muses Pianos Become The Teeth's Kyle Durfey, midway through 'Mouth', one of the many outstanding cuts from the Baltimore quintet's stellar new effort, 'Drift' It's an apt and telling thought about growing older and the changing nature of relationships, but it can equally be applied to Pianos Become The Teeth's development and evolution.

No longer the poster boys for screamy hardcore, the group is now standing alone in a genre of their own making. Not quite posthardcore, not quite post- or indie-rock, they've instead coalesced these ideas into something entirely new.

'Drift' is the culmination of this journey, which started with 2014's landmark 'Keep You' and continued with 2018's equally outstanding 'Wait For Love'. As great as these records are, however, it's not a stretch to say that on 'Drift', they have fully realised their ambition.

While the intensity and beauty have always been there, they have never sounded so rich, both sonically and thematically.

Pianos Become The Teeth may be the same entity, but there's no question that the people behind the scenes are increasingly bold and confident in the steps they're taking. But, as they rightly attest, they are not who they used to be.

"I will always consider my band to be a punk band," considers guitarist Mike York as we chat during a break from his day job building guitar amps. "But now we're not screaming at you. We're just a punk band that makes different music.

"I think, with this record, it's so raw. It's very emotive, and there's compassion in it.

There's depth to the lyrics.

People get turned onto hardcore bands because 32 Upset

they want something honest – and how could anything be more honest than when someone's screaming in your face? But we've done that. We never felt like we needed to write another 'Old Pride'. We want to go where the creativity takes us, so I think it would feel contrived if we did.

"And with 'Drift', I know this is the record where, when I'm 60 years old, I can say that I'm proud of what we did."

Mike's absolutely right to take pride in 'Drift' too, as it's a sonic, aesthetic and emotional triumph. But Pianos Become The Teeth (completed by guitarist Chad McDonald, bassist Zac Sewell and drummer David Haik) also know they've had to work harder than ever to make it a reality.

An entire album's worth of material was written before being junked, as the rough cuts didn't work with the band's ambition of what they were striving to achieve. Meanwhile, the recording process saw the group get more ambitious than ever before, including using different recording spaces – including Mike's uncle's remote cabin and Kyle's family's retreat in West Virginia.

These experiences not only helped shape the sound but also the concept, resulting in an album that reflects the feeling of a long night. It starts with Durfey calling the lights to be turned off on opener 'Out Of Sight' and concludes with the dazzlingly beautiful 'Pair', which breaks through the mist like dawn sunshine.

Consequently, it means that 'Drift' is deliberately designed to be listened to front-to-back in its entirety.

The moon doesn't get to skip a phase, and neither should you, being the message from the band.

"We've never been a band that you can soundbite," laughs Mike. "I think our records are at their best when they're presented as

a package and are listened to in the context of that package. Each record has an anchor point or a big idea, and there's always something Kyle is trying to get across lyrically, or we're trying to get across musically.

"We're not good at

condensing things down for singles, and I don't think anybody will be chunking our music up for TikTok. We're not really in that realm.

But we like building things.

'Drift' is like a giant art project, and we're presenting something as a whole, rather than a collection of songs

“I DON'T THINK ANYBODY WILL BE CHUNKING OUR MUSIC UP FOR TIKTOK” - MI KE YORK

assembled for a record."

Unsurprisingly, such a commitment to the bigger picture meant Pianos Become The Teeth faced challenges when choosing singles for 'Drift', with the camp split between hitting them with the "weirdest shit off the record" and

tracks which represented the record as a whole. "That was so hard," laughs Mike. In the end, the band reached a happy medium, dropping the propulsive 'Genevieve' and darkly moody 'Skiv' before this interview, the former being a crunchy posthardcore number, the latter a

moody slow burn.

Equally challenging – and arguably more important for a band which constantly thrills on stage – they now need to find a way to translate such a sonically ambitious record to the live show. Mike acknowledges that they have to think about much of this "retroactively", but it also means the songs on 'Drift' will no doubt sound far different – and considerably more punchy – once they've worked things out.

Indeed, one of the most striking aspects of 'Drift' is the uniformity of its sound, with the songs living up to the album title as they drift and collide into each other.

There's a dark, atmospheric quality which recalls Elliott's genre-defining 'False Cathedrals' or 'Song In The Air'. And, like Chris Higdon's stunning vocal takes on those landmark emo records, Durfey has never sounded better, with his voice acting like a guiding light through the fog.

It's not the only such light to be found on the album, either. Subtle strings and horns fill out the sound but never feel out of place. Instead, they're often revelatory, making an already rich album sound decadent. Of course, the challenge for the band is how you make something so bold, progressive and atmospheric while still retaining the punk edge.

"This is the first time on a record where we realised a lot of those big things," considers Mike. "We wanted to have a horn section or a string section in certain

places, and we wanted to use electronics to do some of the weirder stuff. And I think this is really the first time where we've had the opportunity to figure that stuff out."

"There's this juxtaposition going on, too," he continues.

"On 'Skiv', there's a real murkiness to the sound, but there's also this really dry brightness to Kyle's vocals.

It almost sounds like he's whispering in your ear. He sounds so close it's intense.

"We put a lot of thought and time into moments like that, and I hope people will be fine with it, and they won't be overlooked."

The truth is, there's so much going on throughout 'Drift' that it's impossible to grasp the nuance, beauty and intensity on just a single listen. Instead, it's a real time sink of an album that actively rewards investment.

Pianos Become The Teeth might have set out with lofty aims, but it's remarkable to think that the end result might even have exceeded their ambition.

Mike compares it to working on a giant mural, where it's easy to get lost in the minute detail of a single moment, but you can only appreciate the scale of the project once you take a few steps back. Care and attention have been paid to every single second of 'Drift', with the band labouring to get the desired results.

They may no longer be screaming, but what's more punk than ploughing blood, sweat and tears into something you love? ■ Pianos Become The Teeth's album 'Drift' is out 26th August.

Upset 33

“THE PEOPL GET IT, TH

34 Upset

LE WHO THEY GET IT” Since their viral single 'Smoko' blasted onto the scene in 2017, Queensland three-piece The Chats have developed exponentially, releasing their debut full-length in 2020, days before the numerous Covid lockdowns. Two years later, with a slightly different line-up after the departure of guitarist Josh Price, lead singer and bassist Eamon Sandwith details the making of their new album, 'GET FUCKED'.

Words: Connor Fenton.

Photos: Luke Henery.

Upset 35

T WAS GOOD; we spent a few days [in Southport], writing songs at our mate's bar," The Chats' frontman Eamon Sandwidth starts, detailing the creation of 'GET FUCKED', which saw the band trying out a new place to form their new record. "It was a cool experience to write somewhere else, but yeah… it's a total shit hole." The new location helped inspire the most prominent feature of The Chats' output in this album - the brashness. "It was cool; it was like we were in our zone, almost."

For an album that brims with such insatiable electricity, it's hard to believe that the bulk of the writing was done with a simple trip to the pub, but it's an approach that sees the band in their element.

"We're not crazy songwriters or anything; we just get together and have a bash on the guitar or whatever and see what works. If you can think of a funny idea for a song then that definitely helps, but it's kinda just whatever works."

Comedy is abundant throughout the record, with almost every character on the album mocked or exaggerated into the absurd. "'Ticket Inspector' I wrote after I got done for not paying for a train, and I thought, well, that's just bullshit," Eamon casually recalls of his inspiration for a song that paints a scornful caricature of the public transport scourge. Lyrically, it pulls no punches; "Suck it up; you get what you're given. It's dishonest work, but it makes me a living."

The Chats have harnessed an innate ability to make intoxicatingly punked-out songs from even the smallest spark.

Even the album's hectic opener '6L GTR' is named after a set of vanity licence plates that the band spotted on a car while loading gear at Brisbane Airport. The 36 Upset

band found it hilarious. "We were like, 'When he's fangin' it in his car, what's in his head? What does he do?'"

Although the band's sense of humour stands at the forefront of their music, there's no mistaking them for a comedy act.

They touch on the mostly unmentioned issue of racism within Sydney's surfer community in the late-90s with 'Emperor of the Beach', a song that harnesses all of the incorrigible character of The Chats while showing clear disdain for intolerance.

"The people who get it, they get it," Eamon explains.

"I don't think we're a joke

band, but we're a band that tells jokes."

The band have grown to trust heavily on their instincts, making music with a shoot-from-the-hip stance that never seems to miss.

Even in the studio, they took a remarkably lax approach.

"It was maybe eight days or something, but we were real fucking lazy." Eamon shakes his head, half proud, half embarrassed. "We would start at ten, then go have lunch at the pub from twelve until two, then we'd go 'Fuck, we should probably go back and start recording some shit'. Then we'd go, 'Yeah, that's good enough', and call

it a day at three or four."

'GET FUCKED' was certainly not built in a day, but it wasn't thrown together either. Despite the band's slouched ethic, their music has never been tighter, with every riff and every rhythm more precise than on their previous record. There's an obvious development in this album that can come only through playing for so long together and having the confidence to not overwork the music.

Eamon laughs as he says, "We're not in there meticulously, selecting each part and going 'We could do that better!' We're just like,

“IT WAS COOL; IT WAS LIKE WE WERE IN OUR ZONE”

- E AMO N SA NDW I T H

'Oh, sounds like the song, so that's good enough!'"

"The work ethic was just terrible, but because we had allocated ourselves like a week to do it - which was more time than we needed, we were just trying to be safe - we were like, 'Ah, we've still got like four days, let's just go home'." The result is a phenomenally kinetic sound, played fluidly and naturally like an insane live set. "I don't wanna make a record that sounds flawless and perfect, and then when people come sees us live, they're like, 'Wait, this sounds way better on the record.'"

After the release of 'High Risk Behaviour', the band parted ways with original guitarist Pricey in the middle of the Covid lockdown, leaving them somewhat unsure on how best to carry on. "I didn't really know what was gonna happen," Eamon remembers.

"At the time, it was like, 'I don't know what the point of this is, I don't know if live music is ever coming back to the point that it was at'."

Thankfully, their good pal Josh Hardy, of neighbouring band The Unknowns, stepped up to the plate.

"He kinda saved the band, in a way."

With Josh on board, Eamon found himself with a sounding board that helped keep the new record fresh. "It's just good to have someone else's opinion. If you trust your own opinion too much, then you can get too weird or whatever." He tells us, "It's good having someone else there like, 'Actually, that sounds a bit shit, what if we did this instead?' And you're like, 'Fuck! That's way better than what I was doing'."

With new life breathed into the band, 'GET FUCKED' is a rich, grotty tapestry of the smaller slices of life - even down to the rising cost of living and people's attitude to retail staff in 'The Price of Smokes', a recollection of angry customers from Eamon's days as a Coles employee. There is no concept too pedestrian for The Chats to prestidigitate into a golden track that breathes grimy punk and encourages mosh pit behaviour.

The future is absurdly bright for The Chats, with a gargantuan summer touring Australia with Mean Jeans and a winter of supporting Guns N' Roses. It's clear to see that 'GET FUCKED' is only the beginning of their mammoth impact on grotty punk rock. ■ The Chats' album 'GET FUCKED' is out 19th August.

Upset 37

UNW ANT ED

For their third album, Pale Waves have gone fully pop-punk. Spoiler alert: it works.

Words: Martyn Young. Photos: Derek Bremner.

38 Upset

I

T'S TAKEN FIVE YEARS,, but on their third album 'Unwanted' Pale Waves have completed their transformation from 80s pop banger merchants to full-on rock monsters.

It's been quite a journey for a special band blossoming into a thrilling and gloriously comfortable new skin. "We've all developed as a band, as people and as artists," begins singer Heather BaronGracie. "The first album was very 80s synth pop, and then we moved onto a second album that was a bit more 2000s/90s and then with this third album, we've gone for a full-on alternative rock

album. We're just getting more and more confident as players with our instruments, and that's really shining through with the music that we're writing."

You can piece together some of the DNA that makes up the darker, heavier hues of their third album from different periods in the band's history as their creative core of Heather and drummer Ciara Dolan reminisce about their formative stages. "We started quite acoustically and wanted to just be really emo, not emo in the way we are now but like Daughter and Lucy Rose. Benjamin Francis Leftwich was always

someone I listened to when I was young," says Ciara.

Things began to get real, though, when Heather alighted on a revelation: her first electric guitar. "From eBay!" she cries. "£50. It wasn't any brand either. It had no brand." Following this landmark moment, the duo of Heather and Ciara started to think more expansively about their music. "I started learning pedals and modulation on the guitar," says Ciara. "I've always loved 80s music. I think something happened in the 80s to technology that really starts this huge creation of cool music. The Cure have always been a massive inspiration

of mine, so we emulated that through the music. We found our sound doing a cover of Fleetwood Mac 'The Chain'."

"I was just talking about this cover with my girlfriend Kelsey yesterday," adds Heather. "It came on in the car, and we were like, 'We've covered this!"

"We were a lot more upbeat than we originally thought we would be because we wanted people to dance," she says.

"And cry!" shouts Ciara.

"We wanted them to cry and then dance, then cry. Happy/ sad is such an interesting combination to listen to by really making you feel everything."

Upset 39

Now, more than five years later, Pale Waves have hit on the perfect combination to really make you feel everything. 'Unwanted' is a ferocious reaction to a period of despondency and isolation. "We felt like we had to abandon playing live for so long due to the pandemic and we were so not used to that as a band," explains Heather. "We're a band that tours heavily and has for the past five years. When we were unable to do that, we felt really disconnected. We knew that we wanted to make an album that reflected well live and would be the most fun to play live. That's why we went a bit more alternative and 40 Upset

heavier in general. We met the producer Zakk Cervini, a good friend of ours now, who lives and breathes that. It was a match made in heaven."

The change in scale and scope is bracing from the first note of the record. "On the first album, it's very balanced between a lot of synths and a lot of really picky chorusy guitars, and on the second album, there's a lot of acoustic guitars and a few electric guitars," says Heather. "On the third album, everything is electric guitar.

Every instrument is amped up to volume 10. The drums are just insane. It hits so hard. It's a lot more bold and unapologetic."

The album finds the band exploring different aspects of their psyche and Heather delving deeper into her emotions with her songwriting. "We touched upon subjects we've not really spoken about before, a lot of darker subjects," she reflects. "Jealousy, anger, deception. Everything on the darker side of things.

That's because we've been through a lot, but sometimes when you're going through something, it's hard to put it into an art form, and it's hard to speak about it, but because we've moved through a lot of those emotions we wanted to write about it now. It was the perfect time. It's a very angry record. It's important in this day and age to allow women to be angry and accept that rather than just label them a crazy bitch. I wanted us to own that. It's ok to be angry."

There are still plenty of moments of levity when the sun peeks through the clouds, though. "There are a few moments of happiness and joy on the album even though the music overall is quite heavy and tense, but a song like 'Reasons To Live' is positive."

For Heather, the album represents a significant development in her songwriting. A process that she hasn't always found easy. "It's a journey. I really struggled with the first album and knowing what to give away and what to keep to myself," she admits. "I'm not an oversharer. I don't enjoy oversharing, but with music, you have to. You're forced to, in a way. That just comes with confidence.

We've all had those years to grow up and become a lot more confident. This album represents us and who we are right now."

'Unwanted' captures a moment. A moment for the band but also a pop cultural moment as its heavy, hook-filled pop-punk sound chimes with a new generation discovering this music and leading it

into a new era. "We have a really strong shared love for alternative pop-punk," says Heather. "This solidified it even more. We've always spoken about this kind of music. Actually, making a record that is more alternative and heavier than anything we've done before made us want to make more music like it because it's so fun to play."

There's a palpable feeling of excitement as a diverse cross-section of new artists fall in love and interpret the music with their own take, and Pale Waves are at the heart of it. "Guitar music is definitely coming back for sure," enthuses Heather. "You turn on the radio now, and it's not just the same pop song with the same synth base. Everything comes back around."

"It's taking the world by storm," continues Ciara excitedly. "People are loving pop-punk. It's like when we were kids again. The power of gen z kids who are just loving it. Music was pretty dead for a while. The guitar music right now as a certain sound is going to go back into different kinds of guitar music, not just pop-punk.

People are ready to hear real instruments again and hear a real band. There are so many artificial things in the world now because of computers, so people want to hear raw stuff to bring humanity to music. That's why guitar music has come back so strong because there have been a lot of years without it."

The beauty of Pale Waves is that no matter how explicitly and brilliantly they lean into the heavier sound, it's always pulled off with an inherent Pale Waveyness that makes it distinctly them despite the bracing step forward in sound. "We love to shock people, and I think this album is definitely going to do that," says Heather.

"As long as we keep the core aspects of Pale Waves, and that's us and our catchy big choruses, people will just

“IT'S IMPORTANT TO ALLOW WOMEN TO BE ANGRY AND ACCEPT THAT RATHER THAN JUST LABEL THEM A CRAZY BITCH. I WANTED US TO OWN THAT” - H E ATH E R B A RON- G R AC I E have to adapt with us.

"As we develop as people and artists, we're not going to write the same record again and again. That just gets boring. We want to explore different avenues and different worlds. This kind of music has been a shared love of ours for as long as I can remember, so it's fun that we get to have that record now."

It's hard to overstate in today's climate how much of an achievement it is for Pale Waves to be thriving and growing five years in and sounding more vital than ever. It has been a journey accompanied by their devoted fans who are part of the world they have created. "We have a very committed fanbase," says Heather proudly. "They're hardcore in the best way.

That's what drives us.

Sometimes I feel like the lifestyle of being a musician gets very glamorised, and unless you're at a certain point, you're still grafting.

Even us now, we're still grafting and doing shit that maybe other people wouldn't do. It's extremely exhausting, and it makes it worth it when you play your own show, and people turn up, and you hear their stories. You think, oh, ok, this is why we do it."

The actual process of making the album was the most enjoyable and organic of their career so far. Still grafting but having fun doing

it. A big part of the easygoing recording vibe was the infectious enthusiasm of producer Zakk who has worked with a who's who of punk and rock legends from blink-182 to Bring Me The Horizon to All Time Low, the latter who inadvertently ended up sparking the idea that set the collaboration in motion. "We met Zak because I got asked to

do a vocal on an All Time Low track," says Heather.

"I laid down the vocals, and instantly I knew that this was the guy who needed to do our third record. Ciara and the band then came in and met him. He's so talented and so positive. Usually, I dread recording because I find it so stressful, but with him, it was actually the first time that I felt like I could really relax and enjoy it. He really understood what we were going for. A lot of what you hear on the record is done in the moment. 80% of the vocals were done on the day that we wrote the track.

When you write a track, and you're in love with it, then you try and record it three months later, then you just lose that magic. You can hear that in the sound. It's all very exciting."

Despite sounding like a ton of your all-time punkrock faves, there wasn't one distinct influence or inspiration for the album other than a desire to make

things loud, aggressive and fun. Maybe there was one influence right in the back of their heads, though. "We were channelling a lot of Paramore," laughs Heather, before clarifying. "We didn't even reference one artist or song in the whole entire process. We just went in, and we were all in this certain world, and that allowed us to make the record in the most natural way possible."

So, having ramped up their sound to its heaviest and most thrilling levels, where can Pale Waves go next? Is this the ultimate Pale Waves experience? "You can always keep pushing boundaries," says Heather excitedly. "We're on the right path. We're going to continue to heavily play our instruments, but I'm not sure which direction we're going to take it in next, but it's probably going to be even more hardcore and brutal."

■ Pale Waves' album 'Unwanted' is out 12th August.

Upset 41

HEAVEN

42 Upset

Think you know what to expect from The Amazons? Think again.

Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: Ed Cooke.

SENT. Upset 43

ANDEMIC TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS have separated many from their loved ones over the past few years. For The Amazons' frontman Matt Thomson, it meant he had to go to great lengths to reunite with his partner, stopping off in Mexico for a couple of weeks and then making his way up to the US. "It was a nice loophole - it was also legal!" he stresses, laughing.

It's this time that inspired the Berkshire band's third outing, 'How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me?', and found them channelling their inner-Romeos.

It's certainly a decided departure from the darker riff-heavy world of their second album, 'Future Dust'.

So, is this the death of the riff, then?!

A moment of silence falls upon the pub's table as Matt and bassist Elliot Briggs smile. It turns out, maybe it is. "There's always a route back," Matt considers, "but you have to rely on your instinct." Fear not; there's still a shadow of the tastyriff toting hard-rocking Amazons on 'Ready For Something', but, for the moment, it's time to lighten the mood.

Recalling 'Fuzzy Tree' from that second album, Matt remembers saying, "'This is the heaviest we'll ever go'. Like, I'm glad we've done it, but we'll never go there again. I don't want to go there again because it's boring and not reflective music I listen to." After a quick skim through their Spotifys, it turns out they're more in the realms of HAIM and Phoebe Bridgers et al; 44 Upset

unabashed music, delivering emotions on all fronts while keeping things cool, calm and collected.

Their second album was what Matt also refers to as "basically being our idea of a rock star." Toting custom leather jackets, and slickedback hair, that era was all about embracing their inner rock 'n' roller while "paying homage to our heroes and stuff." But all this rocking and rolling took a toll on the band. "I felt, by the end of touring in 'Future Dust', we were coming offstage while it was fun - we weren't necessarily fulfilled with the songs," reveals Matt. "So I think we always wanted to just move slightly lighter.

That doesn't mean like whimsical, or frivolous, it means just actually making music that's more positive or hopeful."

The manifest for evolving into this new chapter came from a time Matt was kipping over at Maggie Rogers' house in the US. From this little sojourn not only came some co-writing on 'Say It Again', but also a little lightbulb moment while digging through piles of clothes Maggie had been gifted. "She'd got these huge leather boots that were silver with red stars," Matt remembers. "And I was like, you've got to wear them; these are incredible.

And she was like, 'I don't know, they are amazing, but they're someone else's rock star'."

Sick of being someone else's version, The Amazons' take on rock star now is more relaxed. They're all about embracing feelings rather than obtuse ideas and thoughts. It also didn't help that comments on videos from the 'Future Dust' era came from the 'real rock is back' brigade.

Shuddering, Matt quickly adds, "It just screams red flags - get the fuck out! So hopefully, people will listen to our new record and say, that's not very real rock.

That would be a fantastic

accolade."

The process for 'How Will I Know...' was, as with most bands nowadays, a remote affair with ideas swirling around Dropbox folders before finally emerging as this third iteration of The Amazons. "This was a change of direction for us," Elliot recalls fondly. "It made us grow as musicians.

I just thought that was more of a bonding thing, more personal."

Even recent touring buddy Royal Blood's Mike Kerr found himself becoming a sounding board for some of 'How Will I Know...' while Matt, for all his travels, was living down in Brighton. After showing him a few bits of the album, including 'Northern Star', which Mike reckons "is like every Amazons song once you strip everything down", it allowed them to dig deeper. "He was like, all your songs are kind of like this, but they've got riffs on."

The opener 'How Will I Know?' was one of the first penned, long before the pandemic came into play, inevitably pointing The Amazons to a tunnel of love. But continuing down this path into a euphoric compilation of feelings was soon the only way forward.

"I reject the narrative that a band gets it right on their first record, and that they can't get better," Matt says. "It's BS, man. I think the best bands grow and have different phases and come up with their best work later on. Like that seems to be a trajectory that's weirdly lost." On that point, where do The Amazons see themselves fitting these days, given the metamorphosis the world's undertaken since their last album?

"Funnily enough, actually, I'm not sure," Matt says after he and Elliot ponder together for a moment. "It's hard to say; I think if we dwelled on it very much, it wouldn't be a good idea."

Elaborating further,

he explains: "We're still growing and finding our feet musically. I personally think we might have felt a little bit rudderless the last couple of records and were just trying things out. And that's okay, but I think this is the time where we actually found a destination, and the next few records that we put out will be a direct continuation of this one."

While music and love are two notions which have essentially coexisted since

the dawn of ears and a way to bash a rock on a cave in the hopes of piquing a love interest's attention, entering the arena of 'rock band does love' is quite a big task, is it not?

"It's enjoyable because it's so important to all of us," says Matt. "We all care about someone, whether it's your mum, your dad, boyfriend, girlfriend, brother, sister, whoever it is," Elliot adds. "So it's individually close to us, and

I feel like we can all find meaning here. Even though it's Matt who's written about it, I find my own reason to enjoy a song like 'Northern Star', which is basically a balls-to-the-wall love song."

It's hard not to get swept up in the emotion of a song pouring its heart out to a rambunctiously melodious track, and 'How Will I Know...' does its best to wholeheartedly embrace this while serving something on a personal level. Though

the album was indeed written from the experience of being in a long-distance relationship during a global pandemic, the album's beacon 'Northern Star' takes this a step further into the life of Matt.

Admitting it was written for his girlfriend's birthday to go alongside a home video compiled throughout their relationship, it was after she implored him to share it with the band that it found a home. "That's

“I REJECT THE NARRATIVE THAT A BAND GETS IT RIGHT ON THEIR FIRST RECORD, AND THAT THEY CAN'T GET BETTER” - MAT T T HOMS ON

our take on it just to be authentically ourselves," Matt adds. "And hopefully, people will resonate with it because that's one of those songs you want to share with everyone."

There's also a lesson learned from 'Future Dust' that's integral to this third outing of The Amazons.

While the rock'n'roll dream was fun for a bit, Matt admits, "there were times the 'Future Dust' stuff wasn't that inclusive of the crowd. We were kind of going on these long solos, and it was a little bit 'stand and watch' while we were strutting with leather boots on stage and slicked back hair. Which was kind of cool," he recalls smirking, "but then after a while, it gets boring when you're doing like a nine-minute version of 'Georgia' or 'Black Magic'.

The songs they were really vibing off were with the first album where you would take your monitor out just to hear the crowd bellow back to you."

So in a firework-worthy culmination of feelings, motives and newfound direction - and a shed load of singalong choruses to boot - The Amazons are ready to embark on their new journey with what they readily admit is the purest iteration of the band to date. "Without a doubt, it's the best and the purest," exclaims Matt.

"Best will be subjective because I know that fans in the audience will have different experiences wrapped around our first record or second because I do too, but in terms of a band just getting better and finding their songwriting and what they want to say."

He ends, "It's probably the first time I've had a consistent subject. It's probably the most dynamic of albums. We worked with great people. It just ticks every box." ■ The Amazons' album 'How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me?' is out 9th September.

Upset 45

“EVERYBODY EVERYBODY A Words: Jake Hawkes. Photos: Jonas Persson.

46 Upset

LOVES Y AND WE'RE ALL FRIENDS” Faroese bisexual vegan punk band Joe & The Shitboys are exactly the kind of nonsense we enjoy.

The Faroe Islands, where the sun barely sets for the whole summer and puffins flap around the hilltops, is also exactly the kind of place we enjoy. To marry these two enjoyable things, we went to the Faroe Islands' very own G! Festival to chat to Joe and Ziggy from the band about the unique music scene in the North Atlantic.

Here's what they had to say about the festival, making music, and…bowling.

We're here at G! Festival, what's it like?

Joe: It's at this tiny village on the beach, and there are mountains all around us.

The vibe is just so amazing because we live in the Faroe Islands, and our whole shtick is that we come from an incredibly conservative place. Here at the festival, though, it feels like people are more themselves. You see people walking around in very colourful clothing, and everybody's loving it.

This is a place where I once got called a hipster for knowing it was Disturbed who did 'Down With the Sickness'! But G! Festival had all this weird music, and nobody questions it, it's

so cool.

A lot of the bands here seem to share members, why do you think that is?

Joe: I feel like people here are just really creative, and they want to do music. It can be punk, rap, it doesn't matter. Also, everybody loves everybody, and we're all friends, so all the people who come on stage with, we hang out all the time.

Why do you think the Faroes are such a creative place?

Joe: *laughs* What else are we supposed to do!

Ziggy: It's definitely the boredom of being in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. But also interestingly enough there is a very long tradition of music here, going back about 1000 years. We have the chain dance, which is the national dance where we tell all these sagas and sing while you dance.

Then 100 years ago, instruments finally came to the islands. There are no trees here, so you have to get your instruments from somewhere else.

Joe: Think about that. 100 years ago, it was 1922.

Jazz had been invented by the point we got our first instruments.

Does all that creativity translate to a lot of music being released?

Joe: I wish people would release more music, but there is a shit-tonne coming

out all the time. I work at Tutl, the record store here, and they release multiple tracks every week.

Sometimes there's an album coming out almost once a week, too. There's a joke in the record store that tourists always come in and ask for the Faroese section of the store, but we literally only sell Faroese music.

What do you think it is that stops all that music being known internationally?

Joe: If you want to make music into a career, it's a gamble everywhere, but here the odds are way slimmer than somewhere like the UK. It's also quite expensive, although there have been some programmes to get people out of the Faroes, which is great.

Ziggy: There's a huge geographical component to how difficult it is to get out of here. We've grown up completely outside of the music industry. There's no real industry here, no managers, no bookers, only one record label. It's just you, and you're cut off from everything, so you have to do it for yourself. I mean, you don't name your band Joe & The Shitboys if you're expecting it to go anywhere!

Joe: What's really beautiful about Joe & The Shitboys is that I was actually about to quit music before we started it. I was in another band and had put a lot into it, but it didn't go anywhere because not everybody put

the same in. It was a burden, just really hard mentally. I was just like, 'fuck music, I'm done with it. Then Ziggy wrote to me and said, 'do you wanna do a shit punk band? We're gonna be called Joe & The Shitboys, and you're gonna be Joe – just one 7" single.

Ziggy: We thought two people would buy a copy, and that'd be it, and now we've sold out the full run of both albums and the repress.

Finally, for the most important question of all – how do you feel about bowling?

Joe: I hate bowling. People always say how cool it is, and the fun is hanging out and drinking a beer and talking. But why don't you just do that without the sucky part, which is the bowling itself?

Ziggy: I like bowling; Joe just sucks at it Joe: Crazy golf is good, and I suck at that, so being bad at bowling isn't why I hate it.

Ziggy: Yeah, crazy golf is great. We can't play it here because there's only one course and it's at the airport where it's always windy.

There was another one, but it blew away in a storm.

There's a third one, but it's at the jail, so unless we start misbehaving more than we already are, we won't get the chance to play. So at the moment, it's a touring-only sport. Crazy golf is the best part of touring. Although the bowling is good as well. ■ Upset 47

POWE 48 Upset

ER UP. I Prevail are letting go of fear, confronting expectations head-on, and aiming to push rock as far as it will go.

Words: Steven Loftin.

Upset 49

ITH GREAT POWER, comes great responsibility - at least according to the Spiderman comics. In the real world, while this certainly rings true, sometimes you need to forgo responsibility to see where that power can take you.

In the world of US metalcore five-piece I Prevail, theirs has been slowly developing since starting up in 2013. Following a breakthrough Taylor Swift cover, clean vocalist Brian Burkheiser mentions that he's gone "from being the dude taking pizzas out of the oven at Domino's, to getting the text that 'Blank Space' is blowing up, to getting signed, to basically going on the road each night."

As each turn presented itself, it wasn't long before they sailed through a debut album, 2016's 'Lifelines', while swiftly building up a rock-solid fanbase. Soon they were on album number two, but this was to be far from a gentle journey.

2019's 'Trauma' was built out of events the band experienced, from harsh singer Eric Vanlerberghe losing a friend to suicide, to Brian almost giving up the band due to major vocal injuries. "I felt like a ghost, just watching my band out there without me," he recalls.

"That was a really dark time, and I was ready to leave."

Divulging further, Brian explains how sharing 'Trauma''s trials and tribulations was on the understanding that fans would see, "Hey, we're just like everybody else. We go through struggles, and we deal with hard things. We wanted to share that with our fans to allow them to be able to come up with their trauma as well." It's on the outskirts of these feelings that their third outing, 'True Power', began to take shape.

After letting loose the release valve of these 50 Upset

traumatic issues, they found freedom forming. The confidence that manifested allowed I Prevail to step forward with what Brian calls, "the rawest, organic version you will ever find of this band." True Power indeed is a melting pot of sounds, darting between searing aggression ('Body Bag') and soft hurt ('Doomed') amidst flourishes of genres across the board, including moments of hip-hop vocal delivery.

"We've never really done anything like this before," he explains. "We had our [debut] EP we put out when we were super, super young, and just starting. And then 'Lifelines' was our first record being on a record label and going through all the craziness of that. [Whereas] 'Trauma' was the first record I felt like we were able to take ourselves and really just be that core, small group and put it together."

While the essence of 'True Power' lies in the grander meaning of, as Brian puts it, "just looking at your darkest fear and being able to overcome it," following 'Trauma' also means they're chasing a different kind of power – success.

You see, their second album also led to them being nominated for two Grammys.

By all accounts, a brilliant achievement that few bands can boast of, the reality was a bit less glamorous than you'd imagine. "Bring Me The Horizon was also nominated, and we were sitting next to them," Brian remembers.

"And both of us were way in the back - and this was at the 2pm early show, keep in mind, this wasn't at the main show - so we were both looking at each other being like, as cool as this is, it's just kind of weird. I think both bands looked at it like, all right, we've got a mission to try to continue progressing the genre forward."

Bands such as Bring Me are indeed doing their best to infiltrate the mainstream with collaborations with

the likes of Ed Sheeran and Sigrid, but Brian doesn't quite see this approach on the I Prevail agenda just yet. However, on the pop mainstream dipping its hand into the rock bucket and pulling out bits and pieces they see fit, he admits, "I was a little disappointed when Machine Gun Kelly went and started calling out Slipknot.

Maybe he hasn't done it the way that I would have liked to see him do it, but I do think at the end of the day, it's not a bad thing."

It's all about mutual respect in Brian's eyes. It's why the few collaborations they have done are with artists they see as admiring their genre, including EDM artist Illenium. "It wasn't something he was just looking at like, 'Alright, how

do I get myself bigger real quick?', or 'How do I get more numbers?'," Brian says.

"I watched the Ed Sheeran thing that he did with Bring Me, and I could tell that he was super into it and wanted to do it. It felt a lot more organic than, and again, MGK is more of a singular thing for me because sometimes I get a little frustrated when I see how he embraces the rock and metal side of things.

"It feels like it's becoming cool again to put on a guitar and be able to scream a little bit," he continues. "We're here to progress this bar, and I do think those acts can really benefit whether it's collabing with rock artists, whether it's taking rock artists on tour; things like that will be beneficial for both sides."

The reality of the situation for I Prevail is they just want their beloved genre to have its day again. Harking back to the early 00s when bands like Linkin Park ruled the airwaves with thundering songs that dealt with depression and suicide, Brian readily admits that "at the end of the day, we do want to be one of those bands that can bring rock back into a mainstream."

Being in a band, however - and a metalcore one at that - means that there are certain expectations levied against you. Balancing these mainstream ambitions while

being true to themselves, "You almost have to fight yourself at times," reckons Brian. "Because obviously, you could say like, 'Oh, it's a lot easier to get with pop fans or hip-hop fans, so let's lean in that direction'."

He admits they "definitely try to find a mixture of things that will appease both sides," though. A case in point is 'Closure'; traversing the space between pop and rock, it's one of 'True Power''s entry points for non-familiar onlookers, boasting a singalong chorus that pertains to a true story of Brian's. "I had my best friend

“YOU HAVE TO LET GO OF FEAR”

and my ex-girlfriend cheat on me at my apartment," he reveals. "The whole thing around that song was basically I drove her home and said 'get out the car' like, this shit's done."

For all the success, ambition, and direction I Prevail have behind them, the most remarkable achievement is the sheer growth they've undertaken since being part-timers working at fast food restaurants. Even Brian admits that being incredibly shy, particularly in school, means that if you were to ask anyone else, they'd have laughed at the idea of him fronting an aggro-touting metalcore band putting it all on the line.

"I was the kid in high school who was so scared to

go to a party or ask the girl on a date," he remembers. "[But] I feel like, as the mantra for what true power is, you have to let go of fear.

You have to let go of things that may prevent you from going out and doing those things in life that truly can fulfil everything you want.

"I was in a previous band way before this, and it was the hardest decision in my life to leave it and say I'm going to start a new thing, but I knew at the end of the day if I wanted to make this a career and make this a living I needed to do it."

Ending, he says proudly, "It was something I had to do, and I think that was true power, being able to make that decision." ■ I Prevail's album 'True Power' is out 19th August.

- B RIAN BU R K HE I S E R

Upset 51

Rated.

The Amazons

THE OFFICIAL VERDICT ON EVERYTHING

How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me? ★★★★

‘How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me?’ marks a new chapter for Reading royalty The Amazons. Selfdescribed as easily their most joyous album yet, it's a significant change to previous, gloomier releases - this record is pure, distilled happiness. Many of the songs take inspiration from Matt Thomson’s post-lockdown reunion with his long-distance girlfriend, lending itself to some achingly romantic tracks. It's proof there's no reward without risk.

Kelsey McClure

Pianos Become The Teeth

Drift ★★★★★

PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH’S JOURNEY has been anything but straightforward, although their evolution following their split EP with Touché Amoré has been nothing short of spectacular. ‘Drift’, the group’s fifth full-length, is the culmination of this voyage of discovery.

But, while the story of Pianos Become The Teeth could be

52 Upset

seen as an odyssey, ‘Drift’ is also a journey designed to be enjoyed from beginning to end. It’s a monumental, monolithic slab of bruising and taut post-hardcore that needs to be appreciated in the round rather than as chunked-up soundbites.

Tracks sometimes – appropriately – drift into one another (the relationship between ‘Easy’ and ‘The Days’ is so serene it’s divine), and sometimes they collide like tectonic plates (the transition between ‘Skiv’ and ‘Hate Chase’ is so powerful it could blow speakers). In a fast-moving digital world, it makes for a bold stylistic choice, but it also handsomely rewards investment and repeated listens as it ebbs and flows along its serpentine journey. Part of this is down to the deliberate and considered approach of Pianos Become The Teeth; nothing feels out of place, and every second of music adds to the whole picture, while there’s a depth and richness to the sound that is all-consuming.

Unsurprisingly, the Baltimore group have gone all out to create something musically dense and

layered. Having relocated to a cabin in the woods to record ‘Drift’, the environment serves as an extra instrument, further embellished by strings and horns at appropriate points.

This is especially true on closing number ‘Pair’, which is perhaps the brightest moment on the record. Nevertheless, these accoutrements serve as beacons, breaking through the foggy, almost oppressive intensity which permeates the album..

And it’s this tension between intensity and clarity which lives at the centre of ‘Drift’. Like the recently-reunited Elliott, Pianos Become The Teeth have found the perfect line between post-hardcore, indie-rock and post-rock, marrying drama, accessibility and nuance. It’s not hard to see Elliott’s landmark ‘Song In The Air’ as the spiritual forebear to ‘Drift’, considering it’s also a record tied together by a unified sound, aesthetic and delivery. Such an approach might be bold, but for Pianos Become The Teeth it has resulted in their finest album to date. Rob Mair

The Chats

GET FUCKED ★★★★

“I’ve got an urge to punch a cunt in the head.” sings bassist and lead vocalist Eamon Sandwith. If the album title wasn’t clear enough, The Chats are firing on every available cylinder on their second full length, ‘GET FUCKED’. Two years and countless lockdowns on from their blazing debut, the Australian three-piece has packed more of their crooked humour and jagged wit into 13 contagious tracks while tightening their sound. There’s no subject safe from pastiche and ridicule in this album, with inspiration found from as simple a spark as a sprinting pedestrian in ‘Southport Superman’, or a battered cash machine in ‘Paid Late’. It’s easy to imagine The Chats marching through city streets, poking fun at things they see and plotting their next tune.

Strap in, enjoy the ride

and GET FUCKED. Connor Fenton

I Prevail

True Power ★★★★

With a pair of GRAMMYs under their belt, I Prevail certainly have nothing to prove. A band of gigantic proportions, they're a rattling, rolling battle bus of a band, but not one who can't get reflective either. Previous full-length 'Trauma' showed that, and latest 'True Power' channels it. 'There's Fear In Letting Go' crunches with gut punches, growling assertions and melodic flair, while 'Visceral' fits its given name, belting through like an animal unchained.

Using a self-admitted 'no rules' mentality to their songwriting, it isn't freewheeling to the point it ever loses track of what it is, but it's also not stuck so tightly within a box it fails to thrill.. Dan Harrison

Lauran Hibberd

Garageband Superstar ★★★★ Lauran Hibberd’s new record is a catalogue of adrenaline-fuelled hits.

‘Still Running’ projects her quarter-life crisis, while the hilariously honest and confident ‘Hot Boys’ sees her shamelessly list off all the “hot boys” she encounters in her day to day life. This debut resets the narrative on slacker pop; brimming with charisma and satirefuelled anthems, it comes as no surprise when she declares on the title-track that she was recognised by "a couple strangers on the Megabus." With ‘Garageband Superstar’, there will be plenty more of that. Phoebe De Angelis

LIFE

North East Coastal Town ★★★★ Back with their third album ‘North East Coastal Towns’, LIFE explore their metaphorical boundaries while remaining firmly in their beloved hometown of Hull. Packed full of catchy hooks and social commentary, it sees them experiment with their sound. From the stunning Bright Eyes-esque ‘Duck Egg Blue’ to the anthemic ‘Incomplete’, the album explores their range while being as intense and passionate as ever.

The infectious attitude and snappy melodies in tracks like ‘Big Moon Lake’ and ‘Almost Home’ are the perfect recipe for a crowd-pleasing banger, too. Melissa Darragh

and Mom Jeans buried within The Losing Score’s perky sound. Yet it’s also backed up with a certain British sensibility about the anxieties of life, all refracted through Brodie Normandin’s wry vocals. In marrying the two, The Losing Score might have just struck gold. Lead single ‘Peachy Keen, Avril Lavigne’ is a three-minute riot of pop-punk hooks, backed by passionate lyrics about self-acceptance, while ‘Brand New Person’ switches from being a mid-tempo stomp to guitar hero shredder with gleeful recklessness, all while ruminating on ideas of personal growth. With ‘Learn To Let This Go’, The Losing Score have delivered a more than promising debut, marrying lyrical weight, devilish hooks and just enough stardust to point to a bright future. Rob Mair

Pale Waves

The Losing Score

Learn To Let This Go ★★★★ There’s a touch of Prince Daddy and the Hyena

Unwanted ★★★★

Pale Waves have been on a journey. At the start, they were all dry ice and 80s goth pop. Then came the big, bold, 00s radio alt-rock bangers. For their third album, 'Unwanted',

they've not-so-subtly shifted again. This time, they're going fully pop punk. From the heddy charge of 'Jealousy' to the heartstring tugging 'Without You', its an artform Heather and co understand, because they were born of it. But what it never is is a pastiche or poor facsimilie. It's still Pale Waves - just Pale Waves in their brightest, most bombastic form yet.

Dan Harrison

wall of sound is never to the detriment of the songs, which remain accessible throughout.

But Spielbergs are no one-trick ponies, and the second half of the album finds the group dropping the intensity – albeit only by a notch – with equally satisfying results.

Even at the best part of 45 minutes long, there’s little filler to be found throughout, but instead, just a keen focus on putting the ‘rock’ into indie-rock. The results are always thrilling – and often spectacularly so.

Rob Mair

Spielbergs

Vestli ★★★★

Spielbergs might have called their debut EP ‘Distant Star’, but they remain the brightest light in Norway’s burgeoning and furtive indie-rock/ emo scene. ‘Vestli’ – named after a suburb of Oslo – builds upon full-length ‘This Is Not The End’ in every way, marrying relentless riffs and propulsive drumming with infectious melodies and giant hooks. Opener ‘The New Year’s Resolution’ sets the scene perfectly, with vocalist Mads Baklien fighting to keep pace with the runaway drums and guitar. It’s frenetic stuff, but remarkably this

Thick

Happy Now ★★★★ With 'Loser', the lead single from Brooklyn trio THICK's new album 'Happy Now', the band want everyone to know it's okay to mess up.

Quite the reach, given the fact there's nothing shoddy or ropey about the record it's from.

The follow up to 2020's '5 Years Behind', it's a record that bubbles with sharp, explosive energy in a way that's impossible to resist. Happy is an understatement. Dan Harrison

Upset 53

NOVA TWINS EVERYONE HAS THOSE FORMATIVE BANDS AND TRACKS THAT FIRST GOT THEM INTO MUSIC AND HELPED SHAPE THEIR VERY BEING. THIS MONTH, AMY LOVE AND GEORGIA SOUTH OF NOVA TWINS TAKE US THROUGH SOME OF THE SONGS THAT MEANT THE MOST TO THEM DURING THEIR TEENAGE YEARS. rock as a teenager. I loved how unhinged and flamboyant they all were. New York Dolls had great live energy, and I would blast songs like 'Personality Crisis' and 'Jet Boy', shouting from the top of my lungs. I knew from then on that I wanted to be a part of a noisy band.

N*E*R*D Antimatter

Georgia: I loved the album 'Seeing Sounds' growing up, I had it on repeat! When I first heard 'Antimatter', the bassline was so fat and gnarly, I loved the tones, and it was so inspiring how it worked in relation to the track!

TONI BRAXTON

Talking in His Sleep Amy: My Mum used to play her album 'Secrets' on repeat! I remember hearing her low voice and being impressed with the impact it had on her music; I used to try and copy it when I was a kid. It definitely encouraged the low, sultry tones in my voice.

BETTY DAVIS Nasty Girl

Amy: I remember

someone showing me her record 'Nasty Girl'.

The way she let go of control in her voice but still demanded power was incredible. That song taught me how to push myself to the edge and to strive for passion and raw energy rather than perfection all of the time.

KATE BUSH Cloud Busting

Amy: I love vocalists who play with a lot of characters in their voice and use it like a guitarist

with a load of fx pedals would. It's something I have always done and enjoyed. You can do so much with your voice, and artists like Kate Bush really allowed me to experiment with my falsetto. She captured a whole mood and soundscape that teleported you into her world.

NEW YORK DOLLS

Personality Crisis Amy: They were my introduction to glam

DESTINY'S CHILD

Lose My Breath

Georgia: Whenever you hear the drum beat in this song, you can't help but scrunch your face and groove. The layered drums and detail of all the snare rolls sound so delicious!! I love layering drums and making beats on logic, so this is deffo one of the tunes that sparked this for me.

There are not a lot of other instruments in this song; it's purely driven by the drums. Blew my

mind when I first heard it.

FAR EAST MOVEMENT Like A G6

Georgia: I was 13 when this came out, and I remember being obsessed with the synthy bassline and how it was driving the track with the sassy vocals on top. I would listen to it over and over again to listen to how each element in the song worked; it was defo inspiring to 13-yearold me!

MARIAH CAREY

Emotions (MTV Unplugged 1992 version)

Georgia: When I was really young, I had a Walkman with her MTV live show on CD; I'd play it on loop for hours on long car rides. It's packed with so much soul and infectious energy; the band and her vocals are insane. I would try and do her high whistles at home but end up annoying everyone as it sounded like I was just screaming, haha.

Nova Twins' album 'Supernova' is out now.

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