THE NEW ALBUM
THE ROCK RECORD OF THE YEAR OUT ON 19TH MAY 2017
@PAPAROACH
/PAPAROACH
@PAPAROACH
@PAPAROACH
IN THIS ISSUE... upsetmagazine.com Editor: Stephen Ackroyd (stephen@upsetmagazine.com) Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden (viki@upsetmagazine.com) Associate Editor: Ali Shutler (ali@upsetmagazine.com) Writers: Alex Bradley, Alex Lynham, Chris Cope, Danny Randon, Dillon Eastoe, Jake Richardson, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jessica Goodman, Rob Mair, Rosie Ramsden, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Photographers: Corinne Cumming, Ebru Yildiz, Elliot Mcrae, Phil Smithies, Sam Wood, Sarah Louise Bennett Cover Photo: Ebru Yildiz 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. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Upset or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally. P U B L I S H E D F RO M
THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
RIOT!
04 PA R A M O RE 10 I N C U BUS 12 FA L L O U T BOY 16 L ET L I V E . 18 WAV V ES 20 M I L K T E ET H 22 PA PA ROAC H 24 PV RI S 28 L E M U RI A 30 T W E N T Y O N E P I LOTS 32 P L AY L I ST
ABOUT TO BREAK
34 P E A N ESS 35 BU L L ET H E I G H T 36 E M P LOY E D TO S E RV E 37 H I G H E R P OW E R
FEATURES
38 PW R BT T M 46 A L L T I M E LOW 50 G I RL P O O L
RATED
52 L I N K I N PA RK 55 C H AST I T Y B E LT 59 F RE E T H ROW 60 B L I N K -182 61 P U L L E D A PA RT BY H O RS ES 62 W H I L E S H E S L E E PS 63 T H E M E N Z I N G E RS
FESTIVAL GUIDE 2017
64 S L A M D U N K 70 RE A D I N G & L E E DS 72 2000T RE ES 74 D OW N LOA D 77 T H E G RE AT ESCA P E
EDITOR’S NOTE What a month. I’m not kidding, Dear Reader - we must have replotted this magazine more than any other, such is the number of amazing bands coming back this month with surprise announcements. Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Milk Teeth, PVRIS, Of Mice & Men - each and every one has meant we’ve had to change our plans to make sure we’re up to date. Still, one thing that isn’t shifting is our belief in PWR BTTM. We’re giving them their first Upset cover this month, and we couldn’t be more delighted to be doing it. A band that actually feel like they mean something, they’re both brilliant and essential. That and Ebru Yildiz’ photos are nothing short of stunning. Surrounded by a cast of A-list superstars, they don’t just belong. They sparkle.
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THEY’RE BACK! THAT SOUND YOU HEAR - THE LOUD, THUNDERING CLAP OF EXCITEMENT IS A SCENE BEING SHOOK BY THE RETURN OF ONE OF THEIR VERY BEST. PARAMORE ARE BACK, AND EVEN THOUGH THEY VERY NEARLY WEREN’T, THEY SOUND MORE VITAL THAN EVER BEFORE.
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T SEEMS ALMOST QUAINT TO TALK ABOUT 2014 GIVEN EVERYTHING THAT’S HAPPENED SINCE. In a piece like this, that would usually refer to what’s happened within a band, but it’s not just the personal that’s loaded onto the good ship Paramore in the intervening years. Society as a whole seems to have taken as many heavy body blows as the band who still refuse to stay down. Even though three years ago they were running with a different line-up, riding the wave of another record, that character is the same now as today.
S! “OI! GUY R G E T YO U K!” OWN LOO
Because, if you cast your mind back to that summer, it’s the defining moment of that year’s festival season which shows the true character of our heroes. While some may try to frame Paramore by their changing line-up, and the baggage that comes with it, that’s not who they are. They’re that band on the Main Stage of Reading festival, sat in the dark as the power cuts out on their big headlining moment. They’re the ones who refuse to walk off. Who refuse to admit defeat. Who, when anyone else would have (quite literally) frozen, instead pull out one of the most magical memories of a festival storied in legend, leading a mass sing-a-long to ‘The Only Exception’ that sparks with enough emotion to power the whole place up once more. So while, between now and then,
WORDS: STEPHEN ACKROYD.
they may be one member down (c’ya, Jeremy), and another former cohort back in the fold (yay Zac!), that isn’t what should label Paramore as a band. From the highs of Grammy wins and massive tours to the lows of legal disputes and the head spinning dizzyness of properly stepping off the music industry conveyor belt for the first time in a decade - it’s not what happens to a band that tells us who they are. It’s how they react that counts. And Paramore, as you’ve probably noticed by now, are back. Not with a whimper or a sense of contractual obligation, but with an explosion of technicolour joy that didn’t break the internet, but shook it like a bolt of lightning. When, yet again, the ether decided to deal them a difficult hand, they’ve turned those lemons into the sweetest lemonade. That’s why, more than most, we need Paramore.
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HE FACTS, THEN. At the point you’re reading this, Paramore’s new album will be with you - less than a month after it was finally announced. It’s called ‘After Laughter’ - a name referring to that point when the joke is over, and a person’s true expression shows through. It’s a fitting title given the crucible of emotion from which it was created. Powering down from a 5
PRETTY
ODD FALL OUT BOY ARE BACK WITH A NEW ALBUM THAT SOUNDS... PURPLE?! WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.
URPRISE RETURNS? OF COURSE FALL OUT BOY WERE GOING TO GET INVOLVED. EIGHT MONTHS ON FROM TELLING US THEY HAD NOTHING ON THE BOOKS, PETE, PATRICK, ANDY AND JOE ARE BACK... With Patrick first showing Pete the idea for comeback track ‘Young & Menace’ while they were in Glasgow last summer, and with it being released at the earliest possible moment, FOB are once again hurtling forward. To hell with the risks.
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“It’s like the moon or the Titanic,” starts Pete Wentz. “At some point we’ll be in our dinner jackets saying it was an honour to play with each other, but we did ‘Save Rock and Roll’, and then we looked at a guy like Drake who puts out a prolific amount of music and we asked, ‘Can we do this thing back to back?’ So that’s what we did with ‘American Beauty/American Psycho’ and ‘Save Rock and Roll’.
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“Essentially those two albums were one long record cycle. They weren’t even that drastically different and with this one we said, ‘Hey, we could do another one that’s right down the barrel and it seems like it’s working and it would probably work again, or we could take a left turn’.” We all know which direction they took. “If you think about something like ‘Green Light’ from Lorde, that’s a left turn. That’s a weird song. It’s a great song, and you can tell it’s authentically her. That’s how we gauge it; it’s got to be something that we like. At the same time, we had a more
drastic version of the song, but we knew it was too far, so we reeled it in a little bit.” They know ‘Young & Menace’ is going to cause divisions within the FOB faithful, but the idea of conflict is present throughout. From the opening lament that seems close to surrender (“It feels like we’ve been going too fast for too long sometimes”) to all that reckless carnage, our first taste of ‘M A N I A’ is a song that tries to accept and embrace. “It’s how I felt growing up. I just felt like I didn’t fit in almost anywhere, y’know? But once you are okay with that, you’re not trying to bend yourself to something. Then I found punk rock. I found this community of like-minded people who also felt like that.” It’s never that simple though; the story doesn’t end there. The conflict rages. “We all go through these moments where you feel great, or you feel vulnerable, and it’s all wrapped up into one. The idea is that we’re all sides of that. ‘I’m just here to become the best yet; I’m just here for the psych assessment’, those lines conflict with each other. We all go through that. We could have gone down the Britney Spears rabbit hole (the track echoes her ‘Oops, I Did It Again’) because she was a great mirror to hold up. Britney Spears was all of us. She was America’s sweetheart who you watched go through a rough time, and we all go through rough times. I think hers was just done out in the open which is tough. I’ve felt like that before, and I think that the song epitomises that.” As much as Pete celebrates the community that is drawn to Fall Out Boy, the band never make it easy for them. “We think about that
“ LO L”
“WE WERE LIKE, IF WE EVER COME UP WITH THE ONE THAT
FEELS PURPLE WE SHOULD DO IT.”
“ LO L”
“ LO L” “S ’ N OT T H AT FUNNY”
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“WE DON’T WANT TO STAGNATE.”
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PAPA ROACH ARE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH. STILL GOING STRONG AFTER OVER TWENTY YEARS TOGETHER, THEIR NEW ALBUM SEES THEM PULLING A FEW NEW TRICKS OUT OF THEIR WELL-WORN BAG.
I
WORDS: STEVEN LOFTIN.
t’s quite possible that every human born pre-1990 has at some point heard the lone voice of Papa Roach singer Jacoby Shaddix declaring, “Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort!” It’s a cultural phenomenon of its own volition that has seen the band propelled into the mainstream consciousness, where they have been for the seventeen years since its release. During that time, members have come and gone; their sound has moved from the nu-metal that pretty much soundtracked the early noughties, but now they find themselves looking back to those younger days for their future. Understanding where a band like Papa Roach goes after the success of ‘Infest’ in 2000 is a hard thing to realise. Having survived the halcyon days of nu-metal, the band have been toeing the line between surviving and creating. After the genre’s surge had petered out and the world turned to its next new favourite thing, Papa Roach never left the realm of rock but saw the ‘nu’ element dissolve away. That is, until now. “We don’t want to be too ‘old school’ because we don’t want to stagnate,” guitarist Jerry Horton says, reflecting on the band in 2017. “At the same time, we understand a lot of people fell in love with a certain sound we had. It does weigh in, but not at the expense of our need to create something new for ourselves.” ‘Crooked Teeth’, the band’s tenth release harks back to those early noughties days, with Jacoby mostly trading snarling vocals for agitated rapping. That’s right, the nu-metal sound of yesteryear is making a massive comeback, and it sounds just as good as you remember it. Teaming up with a couple of producers who are fairly new to the game, Papa Roach have fully sought out the aggression that is synonymous with their name and sound. “There were many factors involved in that dichotomy. The producers we chose are younger guys who produce many different genres, so their knowledge of the application of sound is a bit less constrained than that of a rock producer.” It’s not necessarily what you’d expect to hear from a band who once declared they “don’t give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding”, but there is a payoff. What they have is that fire along with a confidence that can only be found with a change of mindset, or, as Jerry puts it: “It was also our drive to return to our musical innocence and sense of adventure.”
Alongside producers Nicholas “RAS” Furlong and Colin Brittain, they also worked with a name who has credits with the likes of Jason Derulo, Zedd and album vocal contributor Skylar Gary. “Jason [Evigan] was the first call we made,” says Jerry. “We had done some touring with After Midnight Project, the band of which Jason was the singer. We became good friends during that time, and after their band had broken up, he became a successful pop producer.” The resulting single, ‘Born For Greatness’ has not only been well received, but it feels that this is a break Linkin Park could’ve made in their pop quest; it’s a track that has the dark of Papa Roach with the rollercoaster builds and drops of EDM with a pop edge. While these new elements may seem surprising, especially next to the sound of old, the band still look to their peers for inspiration, and Papa Roach have never been shy about sharing theirs - as Jerry explains. “We have always looked up to bands who evolve their sound. Faith No More is one of the most complete examples I can give. That’s what we try to do. Of course, there’s a fine line we’ve had to walk between evolving and retaining our identity, but I think we’ve done a fairly good job of it.” Across the album’s surprisingly brief thirtyfour minutes, there’s subject matter from love to drug dependency and just being fucking great. Jerry chooses hard hitting ‘None of the Above’ as his choice cut. “It’s one of the most adventurous songs on the record, it has hooks all over the place, and there’s this crazy dynamic loop that happens, where each part sounds heavier than the next.” Not only does ‘Crooked Teeth’ show the band embracing who they were all along, but it also sees them discovering their inevitable maturity - discarding the need for that hardhitting lifestyle that’s synonymous with what they do. Over the last seventeen years, the band have been everywhere, from touring with Eminem to Marilyn Manson. So where are Papa Roach off to next? They’re heading out on an EU/ UK tour soon, for which they’ve enlisted the help of the internet and mailing lists to decide upon their plotting. But that’s not all; Jerry confidently reveals they’re thinking even further ahead. “Funny you ask, because we already have half of the next record done. Who knows, we might road-test some of the new stuff here and there...” P Papa Roach’s album ‘Crooked Teeth’ is out 19th May. 23
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THERE’S NO OTHER WAY
AS TWENTY ONE PILOTS WIND UP THEIR BREAKTHROUGH ALBUM ‘BLURRYFACE’, IT’S IMPORTANT TO LOOK BACK AND APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THE DUO HAVE ACHIEVED, AND WHAT MAKES THEM SPECIAL.
I
t’s been two years since Twenty One Pilots released ‘Blurryface’ and they’re ending the chapter the same way they started it. Live. With a handful of increasingly bigger shows in their native Columbus’ booked in for June, Tyler and Josh are set to bring the curtain down on their most impactful album to date. It’s strange to think that when the band released ‘Blurryface’, their headline show
WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.
at London’s Brixton Academy looked like a stretch. A fingers-crossed, let’s hope for the best, leap of faith. It’s a trial by fire that many bands take. For most, it represents a pinnacle. For Twenty One Pilots, it was a footnote in their ascension. Since then, the band have broken out in every way imaginable. There’ve been festival performances that have stolen weekends worth of excitement, TV appearances that have forced reactions and they’ve even made a dent in Hollywood, with ‘Heathens’ the
best thing to come out of Suicide Squad. They’ve won an actual Grammy, become genuine arena sensations all around the world, and even your mum has probably heard ‘Stressed Out’. Years from now, ‘Blurryface’ will be one of those albums: talked about with reverence, held with a gloved hand and seen as a launch pad for a generational change. Right now though, in the shadow of its overwhelming reach, Twenty One Pilots are more touchable. Their music, human. To this day, it
“ W I T H ‘ B LU RRY FAC E ’ C O M I N G TO A N E N D, I T ’S T I M E TO STA RT G ET T I N G E XC I T E D A BO U T
THE THE FUTURE OF THE FUTURE FUTUREOF OF TWENTY ONE PILOTS.” TWENTY TWENTY ONE ONE PILOTS.” PILOTS.” causes division, debate and scorn. But that’s just a testament to its brilliance. “To not be a fork in the road with your art is wasting your power of creating art in the first place,” Tyler explained in the week leading up to ‘Blurryface’’s release. “We’re fine with polarising people when they hear us.” The record may deal with struggle and finding the power to push back, but Twenty One Pilots weren’t out looking for a scrap. It’s all about the attitude of ignoring the way the world spins and going your own way. Everything about ‘Blurryface’ was a risk but it’s seen the band flourish. “I don’t think Josh and I ever set out to be rebellious,” Tyler explained backstage of the Boston Music Room in London. “We just want people to get the music however they can so they can come to a show and experience that music with us. That’s really where it all comes together and makes sense. Face to face.” We are all united knowing we have no idea where the pair go next. Tyler and Josh have gone so far beyond walls that there are simply no more doors left to open. Bands evolve and grow, it’s the natural order nowadays, but Twenty One Pilots do more than just follow the tide. No one was really predicting TOP to crossover, impact and grow the way they have done. Sure, they just want to play shows and connect with people, but that doesn’t limit them. They’re believers, and they’re dreamers. “One of the reasons I was so excited about playing music with Josh is because one of the first times we ever hung out, we talked about our dreams. It’s a very naked feeling talking about what your dreams are, but it’s safe to say we’re big fans of not putting a ceiling on them. Whatever you could imagine is probably what we’re going for.” With ‘Blurryface’ coming to an end, it’s time to start getting excited about the future of Twenty One Pilots. Sure, we don’t know what they’ve got in store, but it’s going to be bigger, because the band don’t know any other way. It’s going to be entirely new, because the band don’t know any other way. It’s going to mean something, because the band don’t know any other way. P
NEED TO KNOW
THE BEST
MOMENTS OF
BLURRYFACE
TRY NOT TO FREAK OUT
Sløtface have revealed that they will release their debut album ‘Try Not To Freak Out’ on 15th September via Propeller Recordings.
WONDER TOUR
STICKING TO THEIR EARLY DAYS PROMISE AND COLLECTING A GRAMMY IN THEIR UNDERWEAR.
The Wonder Years are going to play two new headline shows in Kingston and Nottingham this summer, on 7th and 9th July. The dates bookend their appearance at 2000trees Festival on 8th July.
COME ALONG
The Flatliners have confirmed details of a headline tour, in support of new album ‘Inviting Light’. The dates – which follow on from their support tour with The Menzingers – kick off on 12th October at The Hope in Brighton. THEIR COLLAB WITH MUTEMATH.
HEY, GUYS
Hey Violet - who’ve not long finished up a few UK dates have revealed that their new album is called ‘From The Outside’ and will land on 16th June.
STORMY WEATHER
THE #TOPDEBATE. MAKING POLITICS FUN. REMEMBER WHEN POLITICS WAS FUN?
Katie Crutchfield has announced details of her fourth Waxahatchee album: billed as her “most honest album to date”, ‘Out In The Storm’ is due on 14th July. She’ll tour the UK this September, with dates that follow her set at End of the Road. 31
rs e y a Pl THERE ARE A MILLION REASONS PWR BTTM ARE IMPORTANT, BUT ON LISTENING TO THEIR NEW ALBUM ‘PAGEANT’ THERE’S ONE THAT COUNTS ABOVE ALL OTHERS. THEY FUCKING RULE. WORDS: JESSICA GOODMAN. PHOTOS: EBRU YILDIZ.
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his was never intended to be a professional band,” Ben Hopkins marvels. “It’s so surreal to me that sometimes I forget that is what we do. Then I’m like, ‘Oh shit, we’re in a place I’ve never been before, and 200 people are coming to see us play.’ A lot of them are queer and super cool, and I’m super down to be friends with them. It’s SICK!” A lot has changed since PWR BTTM recorded their debut album back in 2015. ‘Ugly Cherries’ introduced the world to a band wearing their character on their sleeves with pride. Singing of insecurities and empowerment, with a nudge, a wink, and a playful sense of humour, through their music the duo offer an escape from the pressures of the day-to-day. In doing so they cultivate a space where listeners can feel free to be whoever and however they want to be – and they do so with such a sense of freewheeling enthusiasm the world had to stand up and take notice. “The response was something like we could never have anticipated,” Ben says, in awe. “It was something we made in a house in upstate New York for what we really thought was just going to be the DIY circle of our scene. It’s carried us to this whole different place.” Voicing aspirations with whimsy and approaching introspection with an endearing openness, the album continues to be a source of comfort and celebration for fans around the world. “People still message us about it a lot,” they enthuse. “When I hear it, it sounds like something we made a long time ago. It still sounds great, and I still love it, but it sounds like a very old thing now.” Commenting on how “everything’s so different now, it’s surreal,” PWR BTTM have certainly come a long way in the two years since their debut. Now selling out venues thousands of miles from their home, with festival appearances ahead of them and a brand new record in tow, the excitement surrounding the duo has hit fever pitch. As they warm up for a headline show on a sold out tour, it’s instantly evident why that’s the case. Fans clad in glitter makeup, feather boas, homemade t-shirts adorned with the band’s lyrics, and all matter of finery line up on the stairs, queuing for the chance to be front and centre when the group perform. Together the duo have inspired an adoration that can’t be forced or faked, a mutual 40
appreciation that they invite their audiences to revel in every time they take to a stage to play. It’s something the band are determined to live up to in everything they create. “It’s tempting to try to do the same thing that people liked before because that’s safe, it’s not so risky and scary,” Liv Bruce comments of their writing. “But ‘Ugly Cherries’ wasn’t safe. ‘Ugly Cherries’ was risky and scary to do at the time. We had to figure out what felt that way now.” Stepping out of their comfort zone to write some of their most direct and personal songs to date, PWR BTTM’s latest album is the sound of a band finding a sense of satisfaction in their own skin. “There’s a line in Kinky Boots: ‘Sex shouldn’t be comfy!’” Liv exclaims, giggling. “That’s kind of how I felt. That kind of sums up the process of making new art, I think. It shouldn’t be comfy and easy. Or if it is that...” they trail off.
natural embodiment of who the band have grown to be. So natural, in fact, that when the group entered the studio, they ended up doing so with around thirty songs. “We were like, ‘Are we about to make a fucking double record?!’” Ben exclaims. “We were convinced it was going to be a double album,” Liv affirms. “We were so anxious about it that we really wanted to have a lot going in,” they explain. Cutting thirty songs down into thirty minutes might sound like quite the undertaking, but it turned out to be something that came about naturally as each one began to take on their full shape. “It ended up being a really good way to do it because we could cut something that wasn’t working and not worry about it,” Liv portrays. “Whenever we cut things or abandon things little pieces of that thing come back,” Ben expands. “It was really weird. But it fucking worked out.” The result is an album that conveys PWR
“THE THEME OF THE RECORD IS AAAAARGH!” “...Then you’re probably making an end table,” Ben summarises. “Making an end table is probably really hard,” Liv counters. Launching into a debate of what is easy to make - “Friendship?” “NO!” “An omelette?” “No, it’s not!” “A burp?” - with every passing moment, it’s more and more apparent that PWR BTTM are absolutely ridiculous – and that’s part of their draw. “That’s when you’re making toast,” Ben finally concludes. “Though good toast can be hard to come by…” Striving to create something new is easier said than done. “It was very easy for us when we started writing to be all, ‘Okay, this song is going to be the ‘Dairy Queen’, and this song is going to be the ‘Ugly Cherries’…” Ben recalls. “When we realised that’s what we were trying to do we put full breaks on that. We were like, ‘We should just try to work organically and see what it is.’” Forsaking what they knew to tap into the energy and emotions surrounding them in the moment, the songs on ‘Pageant’ are a
BTTM’s personality in all of its humour, elation, and vulnerability, a very real portrayal of life when you’re queer and out of your teens in a world that seems to be spiralling into chaos. “I feel like ‘Pageant’ is the most concise thing we’ve ever made,” Ben describes. “It has everything that I’m interested in musically right now on it, that I produce as an artist and that Liv produces as an artist, and that we produce together. It feels like further along.” With bolder instrumentation and more intricate song structures, if ‘Ugly Cherries’ was the sound of the band finding their voice, ‘Pageant’ sees that voice surpass the struggles of coming of age. “And who knows what we’ll do next,” they tease. Released the same day as Harry Styles’ solo debut - “Or as I like to call him, Niall Horan’s old bandmate,” Liv grins. “I’m a Nialler.” “You’re a nihilist,” Ben counters. “Oh my god! I’m a nihilist,” Liv laughs. “I love that.” - ‘Pageant’ is the result of
a year spent mostly on the road. It’s an album that showcases the duo at their most open, and in doing so offer listeners a space to give in to their emotions too. “We spent a lot of time in a tour van cooking over our thoughts in the past year,” Ben states. “I think this record is much more self-reflective than the last one. We’ve had much more time to just think about shit.” Describing their time spent travelling on tour as being “kind of like a six hour time out,” the pair had the chance to take stock of where they were and where they were headed. “I’ve definitely grown and learned the most from being at home and seeing the
FRIEND ZONE It's not just through their shows that PWR BTTM forge a sense of community. With the help of Kiley Lotz (a.k.a Petal), Christiane Hopkins, Cameron West, and "intrepid recording engineer" Chris Daly, ‘Pageant' is a community in and of itself. "My mom is one of my best friends, we're super close," Ben enthuses. "She was a professional singer for a long time, but then when I came around, she stopped doing it. My whole life I've felt so guilty about it." Musing on the "fucking impossible" nature of classical singing, Christiane is as much an influence as she is a part of the record. "If I want to do some epic shit, I'm going to try to do that with my mom," they assert. "She's a bad motherfucker." "Kiley's like my soul sister," Ben continues, reminiscing of a US tour the two acts did together. "She is such a singer. She was like 'yeah, I know how to sing a harmony to that song.' I was like 'I don't know if there is a harmony to that song.' She's like 'try it.' She's one of the best musicians I know." And it's not just vocals friends contribute to the album. "My friend from college, Cameron, is the one who helped me orchestrate the whole thing," Ben recalls. "Liv and I and him, we all sat down and did this orchestration. I just felt like there was nothing too big. It couldn't possibly be bigger."
LAST WHEN THEY LAST SIGNED TO A MAJOR LABEL, THINGS DIDN’T GO TO PLAN FOR POP-ROCKERS ALL TIME LOW. FRONTMAN ALEX GASKARTH REVEALS WHY THIS TIME, ARMED WITH THEIR CONCEPT-DRIVEN NEW ALBUM ‘LAST YOUNG RENEGADE’, THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT. WORDS: JAKE RICHARDSON
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“I
t was probably the wrong time to sign to a major label.” All Time Low frontman Alex Gaskarth is thinking back to his band’s decision to join Interscope in 2009. “We didn’t know any better; we were young, and it was the first time we were going through that kind of thing. It seemed to make sense at the time, but we, unfortunately, got wrapped-up in that shitstorm of signing and then having your entire team leave. So we went through that whole hellfire that was going on with a lot of major labels back then.” All Time Low’s fourth studio album, ‘Dirty Work,’ was the result of said shitstorm, and it’s fair to say that the vibe surrounding the record was less Dirty Work and more Bloody Hard Work. Critical reaction to the Baltimore quartet’s major label debut was disappointingly mixed, particularly within the rock and pop-punk scene, and Alex was outspoken at the time about his frustrations with Interscope. Fastforward to the present-day, and the poprock heartthrob now says things in the All Time Low camp are “better than ever,” something which he partly attributes to the benefits of being signed to the band’s new label, Fueled By Ramen. “One of the first things we noticed this time was that it was a much more stable environment,” Alex explains. “The position we’re in is amazing because we signed with Fueled By Ramen, which is in the Atlantic/Warner system, but it still has very much an indie label feel. That’s always been the best scenario for us, having been with Hopeless Records for so long; having that dedicated, smaller, tight-knit team that really believes in the project. It’s cool to have the backing of a major but with the attention to detail and family feel of an indie; it’s the best of both worlds. Fueled By Ramen is actually the first label we showcased for when we were still in high school! It’s always been a label that we’ve liked and admired. But what it really came down to was that they were all about us and what we wanted, they didn’t want to change anything, and they didn’t want to force anything on us. They just said, ‘We want to sit down and talk about what you guys want to do’. They heard us out and were fully on board with our plan.” All Time Low’s new album, ‘Last Young Renegade,’ certainly doesn’t have the feel of something born out of a manufactured, inorganic or interfering creative process. The band’s seventh studio album sees Alex, guitarist 47
P L AY I N G I T S A F E I S B O R I N G . L I N K I N P A R K A R E G O I N G P O P .
TH E O F F I C I A L VE RD I CT
LINKIN PARK
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L
ONE MORE LIGHT
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eave your expectations at the door. We know Linkin Park have gone pop with ‘One More Light’ but there’s really no need to brace yourself. The usual trappings of a move like this are nowhere to be found. Yes, the record snaps, crackles and pops but there’s so much more to it than a new sound. From the bubbly and buoyant album opener ‘Nobody Can Save Me’, Linkin
Park get straight to the point. Album number seven sees them as confused and frustrated as ever, still beating themselves up over things out of their control, but there’s an acceptance to it. Across the record, Linkin Park are bright with the realisation that the world isn’t going to change, so maybe they need to. It’s a new outlook on an old enemy. ‘Battle Symphony’ is a heads held high refusal to give in, ‘Heavy’ is sage in its simplicity and ‘Good Goodbye’ allows the band to indulge in some rare self-celebration. Mike’s, “I’ve been here killing it longer than you’ve been alive, you idiot,” a grinning sideswipe
at everyone telling him what his band should be doing. And he’s got a point. There’s not a moment of ‘One More Light’ that feels forced. At no point do Linkin Park feel like they don’t belong or they’ve overstepped their reach. There’s authenticity to every glimmering rise, a reason behind every decision. Excitement is king throughout. There’s no token heavy song, pandering to a certain group or a softening of the jubilant blows this time around. Linkin Park know this record is going to cause division and they let it go. It’s wickedly smart and quietly confident. Seventeen years after their debut, the band have redefined themselves and have done so with honesty and class. And as different as it is, there are familiar patterns in the new colours.
BLACK LIPS
SATAN’S GRAFFITI OR GOD’S ART?
Vice Records
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Strap yourselves in because careering back to life with their eighth studio album; Black Lips are as unhinged as ever. The best part about both this release and Black Lips is the fact they’ve consistently stuck true to being whatever the fuck they want to be, even if the production duties have jumped around some big names (Mark Ronson, anyone?). With Sean Lennon at the helm this time, the madness is welcomed like an old friend. You can hear their influences breaking through across the board, ’Got Me All Alone’ could quite easily be a cut from early The Stooges. There are approachable moments, most obviously current singles ‘Can’t Hold On’ and ‘Squatting In Heaven’, the latter of which opts for a driving rhythm while the song cycles around the title and the former uses swirling guitars to create a whirlpool which is bordered by a classic dash of Black Lips horns. Some might say eighteen tracks is excessive, and true it does wane occasionally, but in reality, you can’t just wander down the rabbit hole - you have to leap head first. For a band on their eighth album, to create anything career defining will be a tough task, Black Lips haven’t done that this time, but what they have done instead is created a world in which all possibilities are endless. Steven Loftin
COURAGE MY LOVE
SYNESTHESIA
Warner Music ‘Talking To Myself’ wrestles with the idea of escape, ‘Invisible’ blends the ominous with the hopeful and ‘Halfway Right’ sees the band taking a moment to reflect on the reckless. It gives the closing one-two an amplified gravity. The album’s title track is caring, giving Linkin Park’s age-old community a direct connection before ‘Sharp Edges’ comes fizzing with the realisation that the journey is more important than the destination. The pain matters. This band have made a history on hurtling forward but ‘One More Light’ is calm, collected and toys with the space this gifts them. It’s a record that needed to be made. There’s a newfound energy and an overwhelming vibrancy to the
whole glittering affair. At times it’s surprising, throughout it’s entertaining and what’s more, it somehow still feels like Linkin Park. This is the band who have built their entire musical image on conflict, contrast and then somehow marrying those two opposing ideas. The expectations have altered and the rules have changed, of course Linkin Park were going to shape shift accordingly. They’ve always been much more than a nu-metal band fuelled by teenage angst. They’ve never come close to being a parody, instead following the paths of undiscovered and enjoyable. ‘One More Light’ is just the next step. Love it or hate it, that’s not really the point. It’s never boring and that’s what drives them forward. Ali Shutler
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‘Synesthesia’ is the debut record from Toronto’s Courage My Love. Pulsating with synths and power chords, the record endeeringly feels like it never left 2007. Filled with anthemic choruses and hooks to last a lifetime, while every track is fuelled by these blatant and perfect pop formulas, hints of darkness creep in from industrial influences. For instance, ‘Love Hurts’, which is a huge track, is a powerhouse dominated by trance synths and vocals that burn. The whole album is reminiscent of this darkened electropop that dominated the 00s, but Courage My Love offer something with a thoroughly sharpened edge and vision. Dubstep even awakes from its slumber on ‘Drowning’, confirming even further that this album is one hell of a nostalgia trip. Courage My Love show off their 53
FESTIVAL GUIDE ‘17
YO U R E SS E N T I A L S U M M E R G U I D E
SUMMER IS ON ITS WAY, WHICH MEANS FESTIVAL SEASON HAS ARRIVED. HERE’S THE LOWDOWN ON THE BEST EVENTS OF 2017.
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WATERPARKS So you’re at Slam Dunk this year - you’ve played before, haven’t you? What was it like last time? Who did you see? Awsten: Yeah! Last time we played Slam Dunk was actually the first time we had left the country ever in general, Geoff and I were scrambling to get passports so we could actually make it. The first day was spooky as hell because all our gear was malfunctioning, but we just went into punk mode and tried to go hard. The second day was outside and I played Silver blindfolded. The third day was the tightest because there were a few pits and we were super surprised because we’d never been there before but people were way into it. I watched The Starting Line, Four Year Strong and Panic! At The Disco because duh. Is there anyone playing this year you’re especially keen to catch? I wanna watch Bowling For Soup because they got some serious hits. What can you tell us about your set? It’ll probably be during someone cooler than us so that SUCKS, but it’s gonna be tight. We’re gonna do some stuff we’ve never done that people have been asking for since the album came out BUT NOT BECAUSE YOU WANT US TO
BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE FREE WILL AND ARE STRONG INDEPENDENT BOYS.
What would you say to convince any music fans not yet attending that they should pick up a ticket? Since I’m rich and can afford to do this, I’m unleashing a squad of wild bears into the suburbs of your hometowns and animal control won’t be able to do shit for at least like ten hours so you’d better come out to Slam Dunk for your own safety. If that didn’t convince you, I hope you get eaten by the squad of wild bears I sent to your house. This year is Slam Dunk’s tenth anniversary - if you were celebrating ten years as a band, what would you do to mark the occasion? We’d do a desperate 10-yearanniversary tour, duh HAHAHHAHAHA. What else are you guys up to this year? We did our first headlining tour this year and immediately left to tour with All Time Low in the UK and Europe. We’re also touring with them in the States after Slam Dunk. There’s other stuff too, but it’s illegal for me to talk about it right now so shhhhhh. P
27TH - 29TH MAY Location: Leeds (Slam Dunk North), Birmingham (Slam Dunk Midlands) & Hatfield (Slam Dunk South) Line-up: Enter Shikari (‘Take To The Skies’ ten year celebration), Don broco, Deaf Havana, Beartooth, We Are The Ocean, Crossfaith, Bowling For Soup, We The Kings, The Maine, The Movielife, Against Me!, Less Than Jake, Tonight Alive, Set It Off, Milk Teeth, Citizen, Turnover, Sorority Noise, Puppy, Black Foxxes, Boston Manor, Decade, Waterparks, Madina Lake, Memphis May Fire, I Prevail, Counterfeit, WSTR, Trophy Eyes, SHVPES, Fenix TX, Reel Big Fish, We The Kings slamdunkmusic.com
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