IN OUR BONES
‘’full of absolutely huge songs’’ – UPSET MAGAZINE
OUT MAY 20TH
WEEZER
upsetmagazine.com Editor: Stephen Ackroyd (stephen@ upsetmagazine.com) Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden (viki@upsetmagazine.com) Assistant Editor: Ali Shutler (ali@ upsetmagazine.com) Contributors: Amie Kingswell, Corinne Cumming, Danny Randon, Emma Swann, Emily Pilbeam, Heather McDaid, Jade Esson, James Fox, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jessica Goodman, Jonathan Dadds, Kathryn Black, Kristy Diaz, Lucy Wells, Martyn Young, Ryan De Freitas, Sam Taylor, Sarah Louise Bennett, Steven Loftin All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of Upset. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which Upset holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Upset or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally. P U B L I S H E D F RO M
THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
IN THIS ISSUE RIOT 6 A N DY B LAC K 10 T H E H OT E L I E R 11 I N TO I T. OV E R I T. 12 R E C R E AT I O N S 14 P V R I S 16 P U P
58 ISSUES 60 PIERCE THE VEIL 61 HESITATION WOUNDS 62 NOTHING 63 ARCHITECTS 68 CAR SEAT HEADREST 69 TRACKS OF THE MONTH
ABOUT TO BREAK 18 MOTHER FEATHER
LIVE 70 PVRIS 72 BLACK PEAKS 73 WOLF ALICE 74 WEEZER 75 CHVRCHES
FEATURES 22 WEEZER 30 AGAINST THE CURRENT 34 MODERN BASEBALL 38 LONELY THE BRAVE 42 ISSUES 46 WHITE LUNG 48 NOTHING 52 BABYMETAL RATED 56 AGAINST THE CURRENT
COMING UP 76. ON THE ROAD FESTIVALS 78. 10 YEARS OF SLAM DUNK VS THE INTERNET 62. SLEEPING WITH SIRENS
EDITOR’S NOTE Cards on the
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table, there’s a very real possibility Weezer may be my favourite band of all time. At the very least they make the top five. As far as I’m concerned, every time someone tells me to check out a band because they sound like Rivers and co., they’re treading a very fine line. It’s rare I agree. But being a Weezer fan isn’t easy. Ever since discovering them via a Windows 95 installation CD (seriously, the ‘Buddy Holly’ video was on there), I’ve been onside, defending them at length against the ‘everything since ‘Pinkerton’ is crap’ lobby. Of course, anyone saying that is talking rubbish (‘Maladroit’ is a brilliant album, for a start), but finally with the ‘White’ album we’ve got another unarguably brilliant Weezer record. And they’re on the cover of Upset. x Dreams come true.
S
RIOT
E V E RY T H I N G H A P P E N I N G I N RO C K
PAINT IT BLACK
A N DY B I E RSAC K F O U N D E D B L AC K V E I L B R I D E S W H E N H E WA S J U S T A T E E N A G E R . T E N Y E A R S A N D F O U R A L B U M S L AT E R , H E ’ S G O I N G I T A LO N E - W E L L , S O R T O F. W O R D S : H E AT H E R M C D A I D .
“P
art of the reason I listened to Bruce Springsteen as a kid was not because I thought he was writing about me, but because he wrote about himself and I related to him.”
This is at the core of what Andy Black does. His job is to write honestly, without pandering to the perceived duty to inspire people - that would be disingenuous. The fact many can connect to the work he does is just history repeating itself in a sense; a music fan finding an affinity with someone laying it bare in song. Debut album ’The Shadow Side’, his side-step from Black Veil Brides, is packed with these moments that make you feel ready to take on the world, wrapped up in a dark-pop parcel. Life can throw a lot at you, but you can overcome it; the world can’t keep you down. “I think that when I’m writing, regardless of what I’m writing about, the feeling that I have is essentially [that mantra] at all times. That’s what music represented to me. I came from a town of about 2,000 people with one stop light and I was told that nothing I ever wanted to do, I would succeed in. I was a little chubby kid that no girls ever talked to, I had little chance of becoming an internationally known rock star. Music was my escape and my belief system. Whether I’m trying to or not, I have this inherent feeling that music is uplifting, it makes you feel victorious, and that makes you feel like you can take on the world.” This manifests itself in many ways, and the gear shift from harder rock has allowed him to try something new. “One of the reasons for doing this is that I wanted to be a bit more, not honest, but a little bit more open,” he says. “I feel there is honesty in anything that anyone writes, but to be more open about context and giving people a more insight to how I feel about things. “That just comes from the music. When you’re writing a hard rock song, the kind of passion just rides up
MIRROR IMAGE PVRIS ARE A BAND WITH A V I S I O N . E V E RY S O N G ON ‘WHITE NOISE’ NOW C O M ES W ITH A VI D EO. T H A T D E S I R E T O C R E AT E A N D E X PA N D L O O K S S E T T O G ROW AS THE G ROUP LOOK TO A L BU M T WO. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.
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ore than writing great songs, PVRIS have created a world to accompany them. Dark, brooding and electrifying, the series of music videos that accompanies every track from their debut album is a bold statement from a band who don’t know how to do anything less. As you’d expect though, it’s something they had to fight for.
“We are obviously on a label and you have to work with what they give you,” starts frontwoman Lynn Gunn. “We were initially only confirmed to do three videos with [director Raul] Gonzo but ever since day one, before we even got confirmed to do that first video, we were brainstorming ideas for every video on the record. Eventually we started cheating the system and sending videos to the label saying ‘we filmed this video guys, here you go’.” They needed support, and they got it. “Gonzo is amazing, he can literally make something out of nothing. He was really passionate about what we’re doing and he was kind enough to agree to do every video for every song,” explains Lynn. “We’d just bust them out at every chance we got.
We’re incredibly stoked we got to do all the songs, especially on the first record. We’re really excited for the future and to see what happens. We definitely want to go above, beyond and a little bit better. We want to make it evolve and grow. We have a lot of ideas right now for the next record, but we can’t give away too much,” starts Lynn. Less than four minutes in and she’s already teasing album two - if we didn’t know any better, we’d say PVRIS are very excited about the future. In the end, the band had to do a video for every song on ‘White Noise’ because of “the mirror at the end of the video, and how it shows a scene from the next video. You can’t just end it right there because it’s already telling a story. It’s like reading a book, getting halfway through and then throwing it out,” explains bassist Brian MacDonald. “A very scrambled but kinda cohesive book,” adds Lynn. “We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to follow through with all ten, so we kinda created a story as we went along. With the next record there’s going to be much more of a…”, she starts before interrupting herself. “I don’t want to give too much away, get people’s hopes up and then put some absolute bullshit out.” “It’ll just be Teletubbies dancing around,” laughs Brian. Despite the visual element at play with the creative process, it will never overtake the importance of great songs. “At the end of the day, it’s music first. That’s the focus but to be able to expand on that, create a completely different element to the band and then incorporate that into what we’re doing is really fucking fun and really, it feels great.”
have threaded recurring objects throughout their narrative and it’s something they want to expand on alongside the community-driven teasers, giving fans a glimpse of what comes next. “I think that’s really cool and interactive. It’s something we want to really start to try doing more. Make it more interactive, make people think a little more, drop clues and open up their minds. We kinda did it with ‘White Noise’ but we want to expand on it. It’ll be fun,” they promise.
instead there’s nothing but mutual respect. “The two of them are like, ‘yeah, whatever you want to do. They’re open to ideas and working with what we want to do,” explains Brian. “Their ideas are great too. They don’t mind if we have ideas and vice versa. I don’t think there’s ever been a point where Gonzo has said ‘let’s try this’ and I’ve been like, ‘Fuck no!’ It’s always something that really enhances and complements what we want. We’d come to him with a brief idea and he’ll completely go off with it, bring it to life and make it ten million times better. He can make something out of nothing. With ‘Holy’ we literally had a white wall and that was one of the most fun videos. It feels really good to have a sick creative team working with us. They really help bring everything to life.”
“WE HAVE A LOT OF IDEAS FOR THE NEXT RECORD, BUT WE CAN’T GIVE AWAY TOO MUCH…”
The mirror has become an integral part of PVRIS’ aesthetic. From the front cover of ‘White Noise’ representing the self-reflective nature of the record as well as the distorted view you have of yourself through the video for ‘St Patrick’ where it acts as a portal to go from one thing to another to the closing shot of each video, teasing the next, there’s a constant reminder that there’s a bigger story at play. Lamps, televisions, hairdryers, baseball bats and umbrellas, PVRIS
Between producer Blake Harnage and Gonzo, PVRIS have a creative team behind them that sets them up nicely for the next step. It’s a comforting excitement that means they can really start thinking bigger, “and the fact they’re so stoked on working with us and are passionate about it as much as we are, makes it really fun because they trust us and we trust them.” There are no disputes or petty power struggles,
As for the future, PVRIS aren’t going to kill off their aesthetic and return, a la the 1975, doused in rainbows and tie-dye. “It’s something to be discussed but I think it’ll be expanded upon. The band is very dark and the music is very dark, especially on the next record. I’m not going to give away too much, but it’s very…” Lynn pauses. “There’s a lot of things I’ve been saying where I’m not sure if I should be saying them,” she laughs, before carrying on where she left off. “I think we’ll elaborate on that darkness a lot more but there will be new elements brought in for sure. It’s hard to tell right now but we’re thinking about it.”
Not that the band have much time to stop and collect their thoughts. After their UK tour, they head to Europe and the US for more of the same ahead of a summer of festivals and radio shows. “We don’t get our first break until August and it’s not even 100% that we’ll get that, something might come up,” says Brian. “And then I think we’re supposed to record in September or October. That’ll be nice,” insists Lynn. “We’ve got a cool spot picked out and for me, writing is really relaxing. It’s nice downtime. It’s hanging out with Blake and these guys every day. I’m definitely more excited to do stuff in the future now because I know how much we can pull strings,” she grins as the bold get bolder. P 15
DREAM OVER
PUP’S NEW ALBUM SEES
T H E B A N D G R O W I N G U P, B U T T H AT D O E S N ’ T
MEAN THEY’RE HAPPY A B O U T I T.
ou want to know if I’m still a prick?” snarls Stefan Babcock. “Well I am. And you’re not going to change me,” he adds with a knowing smile. Defiant, accepting but frustrated, ‘Old Wounds’ isn’t the only track from ‘The Dream Is Over’ that sees PUP pissed off. “I don’t want to sound too worldly
HE WHO SMELLED IT, ETC ETC.
because I’m only 28 years old, but my experience thus far is, you don’t stop growing up,” explains frontman Stefan, currently at home, enjoying a rare moment of calm before the album’s release. “I feel like every year of my life, I’ve learned something new about who I am and my relationship with the world. On the first record [2014’s self-titled] a lot of the themes were about confusion, uncertainty and nostalgia about youth. This record, although I’m still confused, I’m less so than I used to be. I’m coming to terms with who I am as a person and being a little pissed off about it but acknowledging that this is just life. There are still ways to enjoy life
WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.
and offer something to the world even if it’s not as you imagined it to be.” That harsh reality is the bloody, beating heart of ‘The Dream is Over’. It’s a record of change, of personal growth and of disappointment in the way life works out, but there’s also resilience. A will to life. Written in stops and starts every time Stefan, bassist Nestor Chumak, drummer Zack Mykula and guitarist Steve Sladkowski had a week or two off from their near-constant time on the road, the band would, “come
home, bang out a few songs, go back out on the road, come home, reexamine the songs we’d done, bang out a few more,” and continue. Going into the record there was the realisation that, “this was the first time any of us were writing music that we knew was going to get heard. No matter what, people are going to hear these songs,” but the band did their best to block that out. They didn’t worry about an audience on their first album, they just “made the songs we wanted to make and tried to make a record that we would be proud of. We succeeded in that and it did well for us, so why change the game plan?” PUP have always been about gut reactions and rolling with the punches. They didn’t expect anything to come from their first album beyond making a record for each other, their friends and maybe playing a show in their hometown of Toronto but something about it connected. “I’m the most surprised person in the world,” offers Stefan. “I guess I was writing about a lot of themes that hit pretty close to home for a lot of people. I was talking about a pretty universal experience for people my age, but I’m not entirely sure. I’m more shocked than anyone else that it went so well for us.” For ‘The Dream is Over’ Stefan looked back
on the past 18 months. “I recognise that we’re all living a not-so-normal life. We have an unusual lifestyle and I appreciate that, I make sure I don’t take it for granted. There was a lot of reflection on what we’ve done, what we’ve accomplished, the good days and the bad days. Like everyone else in their twenties, we also have this uncertainty about the future and a nervousness about that plays into the songs as well.”
“WE DEVOTED OUR ENTIRE BEING TO THIS RECORD.”
Worrying about the future fed the band’s desire to look back. “I felt like I airquotes ‘grew up’ when I was twenty and decided what I was going to do with my life,” starts Stefan. “I’ve revised that opinion since. I feel like the process of growing up becomes you figuring out which expectations you had for your life are real and which are bullshit. It was realising the true nature of your life. There’s a lot of disillusionment on this record. Kids are told they can do anything they want to do if they set their mind to it, they have all these lofty ambitions but eventually you hit an age where those things just aren’t going to happen. Maybe they’ll happen someway, but not in the way that you had hoped they’d happen.” There’s a brutal
realism to ‘The Dream Is Over’. The idea that “you just have to learn to be adaptable with your dreams” is present throughout, but there’s still a raging hope. “You realise that things aren’t going to turn out like you anticipated but you can still find ways to be happy and do the things you love. That’s part of the challenge of growing up. The real challenge is accepting your situation, accepting your skill set and just trying to make the best of what you have and have a good time doing it. That’s where I’m at with my life. I always have dreams, they’ve just shifted over the years.” “I’m confident in what PUP is,” he reasons. “I mean, all the four of us can do is our best. I can’t control whether people connect with the record or not. All I can say is the four of us have made the best record that we could have, and we’re proud of it. Hopefully it’ll connect with people so we can keep living this weirdo life. A lot of people have said they’ve connected with specific songs or specific lyrics and they’ve realised they’re less alone than they thought they were. I think it’s done the same thing for me. I really put myself out there with our songs and when I see that they’ve connected with people and there’s some sort of shared experience there, it feels really good. It makes me feel a little less pissed off.” P PUP’s album ‘The Dream Is Over’ is out 27th May.
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kingsoft
theworld EV E RY T H I N G W I L L B E A L R I G H T I N T H E E N D, T H EY SA I D. B U T W I T H T H E I R W H I T E A L B U M , W E E Z E R U N D E R E S T I M AT E D . N O W T H E Y ’ R E BAC K O N TO P O F T H E WO R L D. WO R DS : ST E P H E N AC K ROY D.
I N T E RV I E W : A L I S H U T L E R .
P H O T O S : E M M A S WA N N .
T
he truth is, if you had a pound for every time you were told a band sound like Weezer, you’d be both very rich indeed, and still have only really heard one band that actually sound like Weezer. They’re unique. Not only is their sonic delivery harder to ape than many believe - it’s not just being able to plonk any harmony over a guitar part, y’know - but no other band has to face the same hundred foot wall of extreme opinions. Face it, everyone has something to say about Weezer, and those thoughts, they’re not subtle. They’re caricatures of an original notion, bloated and grotesque from countless repetitions, dragged forth at every turn. Those still in nappies when ‘Pinkerton’ dropped are quick off the draw to proclaim it the last good thing the band did. More than a few may not have even listened to it; not properly, at any rate. It’s just one of those echo chamber cries that bounce around the internet. It’s also, crucially, a load of old bollocks. The truth is, every Weezer album between then and now contains at least one great song. Yes, even ‘Raditude’. In fact, they mostly pack a few. ‘Green’, ‘Maladroit’, ‘Everything Will Be Alright In The End’ - they’re genuinely good albums. But hey, never let that get in the way of a snappy tweet. And in that, the truth comes out. Weezer fans [yep, massively guilty - Ed] are defensive. They’ll fight you for the honour of their heroes, all the time praying that eventually they’ll drop that record that will prove them right; that the glory days aren’t over, that the California Kids are still capable of being the best of the best. And then, out of seemingly nowhere, came the ‘White’ album...
“W
e currently have 72 on Metacritic, I think the last album was maybe 74 but,” Rivers Cuomo looks up from his phone. “Oh, 73. 73 based on 23 critics and as far as the user ratings go, which is just fans, not critics... yeah, it has 8.6.” The rest of the band may claim to not pay that much attention to reviews, but it’s clear their frontman does. Last night, they played a storming show at London’s Brixton Academy. They don’t make it onto UK shores that often (“Reading & Leeds was the last time we were here. I remember thinking ‘wow, these shows went over really well. I’m sure they’ll ask us back next year.”), but when they do the reaction is rarely anything but euphoric.
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“It’s cool to see people singing lyrics that aren’t a single,” enthuses drummer Pat Wilson. “I remember that happening on ‘Pinkerton’ and that was my first clue that something unusual was going on, ‘cos people knew the words right away.” And there it is - the long ball, dropping over the shoulder, waiting to hit the back of the net. The nuances may change depending on who you’re talking to, but Weezer’s latest album is - in some people’s eyes at least - being proclaimed their best since that one. Others still hold a soft spot for its two successors too, but whatever way you approach it, it’s most definitely a turning of the tide. “I saw a really good debate between these two guys this morning about the ‘White’ album and how it fares compared to older material,” recalls guitarist Brian Bell. “Even the guys’ criticisms of the band over the years, they both really loved Weezer. Not every single album is particularly going to be your cup of tea, but we’re still growing and changing and trying new things and at the same time maintaining what’s great about Weezer right now. I think we’ve got a couple good albums in a row here.”
P
art of the reason ‘White’ works so well is it feels to have a theme. In fact, according to the band, that’s down to their new management. “We tried something new,” Brian admits, “which was trust somebody. They were the ones that suggested the Bach theme. Thought about it, like really heavy thinkers.” “It got us to focus and it got us to write a bunch of songs with that in mind and that made it a thematic record. A cohesive record.” But while the band may have been thinking of classical composers, it’s another of their influences that rings loudest. The ‘White’ album is definitely a West Coast record - Californian sun, sea and surf - and under those conditions there’s only one band that comes to mind. ”I think in our first bio we put words not to describe Weezer,” Brian explains. “One of them was ‘fun’. Of course the press picked them up and used those words for everything. It’s all they used. How do you describe a sound? It’s really hard. We said Beach Boys with Marshall stacks. We always had that sound in mind. Now in 2016, as evolved musicians, we can start to sorta tap into that ‘Pet Sounds’. ..” “They were a big influence on me in my most formative years as a songwriter,” Rivers expands. “I remember when I was 21 or 22, right when Weezer got together. I went to the local used record shop in Santa Monica with the intention of buying a classic album that was going to be a huge influence
“A S A N A R T I S T Y O U WA N T T O T R Y C R A Z Y NEW THINGS.” - RIVERS CUOMO
YO U N G + RELENTLESS D R E A M I N G B I G A N D W O R K I N G AT I T E V E R Y D AY , A G A I N S T T H E C U R R E N T H AV E A L W AY S B E L I E V E D I N T H E M S E LV E S . T H E I R D E B U T A L B U M ‘ I N O U R BO N E S ’ W I L L M A K E YO U A B E L I EV E R AS W E L L . WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. 30 upsetmagazine.com
“I
always forget we only put our first EP out two years ago. What we’ve done since then is crazy,” starts drummer Will Ferri. Following on the heels of ‘Infinity’’s release came the ‘Gravity’ EP and now, written amidst a couple of world tours and constant levelling up, Against The Current are set to drop their debut album. Confident, heartfelt and bubbling with excitable charm, it captures the trio looking skywards. It’s been a wild ride so far and ‘In Our Bones’ is only going to turn up the crazy. What began in third grade with Will linking up with guitarist Dan Gow was cemented in the summer of 2011 when, after a rotating cast of others, they met vocalist Chrissy Costanza via mutual friends. “It was always just like pulling teeth before. It was Dan and I doing everything and it shouldn’t be like that. It felt like we were forcing other people to be a part of it and it was just unnatural.” That changed with Chrissy. “She’s just an amazing lyricist and that’s great. Say what you want to say and mean it rather than me force-feeding shitty lyrics to some kid singing in our band,” continues Will. “It felt great. It felt like everyone was doing something and not just filling in space. That was really important.” “I was pretty awkward because I’d never been in a band before and I didn’t know these guys,” adds Chrissy. “They had their way of doings things set up already,” but it was a perfect fit. “I guess it worked because it’s just kept going.” Working around school, Against The Current hit the ground running. “We did the most we possibly could with what we were given but we always wanted to do more.” They played a handful of local shows and battle of the bands “to get our bearings. I remember we had to write a song the night before our first gig because we only had three songs and it was too short,” laughs Will in disbelief. From there, Against The Current went online. Reacting to the world around them, the band could tap into an international scene and throw the doors open to anyone who wanted in. After that, they “went back at it for real. We got most of the awkward stage out before anyone knew anything, before we put out any music.” “I think it worked out well because when we actually did start doing things, we were finally ready for it,” explains Chrissy. Against The Current are confident but never cocky. They carry a blue-sky dreaming with them, which is grounded in the reality of hard work. When Chrissy says backstage at the O2 Arena, “I have the mentality that if you say you’re going to do it, then you will do it. People say ‘Do you hope that one day you’re headlining
MODERN BASEBALL S AV E D M Y L I F E T H E I M P A C T O F M U S I C C A N O F T E N F E E L O V E R S TAT E D ; B U T F O R M O D E R N B A S E B A L L , T H E I R N E W R E C O R D A N D T I G H T- K N I T G R O U P O F F R I E N D S H A S H E L P E D T H E M B AT T L E T H R O U G H S O M E R E A L LY D A R K T I M E S .
T
W O R D S : R YA N D E F R E I TA S . P H O T O S : C O R I N N E C U M M I N G .
he six or so months at the end of 2015 weren’t easy for Philadelphiabased four-piece Modern Baseball; what wasn’t clear at the start of the year however, was just how dark things had become in the lead up to new record, ‘Holy Ghost’. Before knowing details, it’s crucial to understand how the Modern Baseball dynamic works. Songwriting duties are split between vocalists Jake Ewald and Brendan Lukens, who both bring songs to the table that they’ve worked on separately and so are, inevitably, coloured by their own separate experiences. That’s why the things the band – those two members specifically – went through are so vital to this record. ‘Holy Ghost’, from its title to its alarmingly frank lyrical admissions, is the direct product of those struggles. Or, as Brendan puts it, “For the first time ever, it’s not just about girls.” Speaking about the album in the downstairs of a pub in Camden the night before their biggest UK show yet at the sold-out Electric Ballroom, spirits
are understandably high. However, that doesn’t prevent Jake and Brendan being every bit as forthcoming in talking about their struggles in person as they are on the album. “I wrote my half of the record mostly about my grandfather dying,” Jake explains. “My family kinda fell apart in the aftermath of that. I would get halfway through writing a normal song about going to school or riding my bike or something, and I’d realise that in the second verse I ended up writing about my grandfather. I realised that the reason it kept coming up was that I never really processed it. When it happened I didn’t really talk to anyone about it. But then as time went on and I was writing songs, I was forced to think about it and the fact that when he left, everything fell apart.” “That’s where the religious imagery comes in too, because there’s so much religion in my family. My mom’s a minister, my grandfather that died was a minister, my other grandfather’s a minister, and my sister is studying to be in the ministry. It seemed like the whole time my grandfather was sick and when he passed away, all this holiness was actually a substitute for dealing with the problems in my family. So it’s about
religion as being this thing that I don’t see as a good thing or a bad thing, but something that can cloud a situation.” As Jake speaks, his band – completed by bassist Ian Farmer and drummer Sean Huber – are transfixed on his words, offering him reassuring smiles and sympathetic nods as he speaks. Fifteen minutes ago the band were uproarious with laughter, unanimous in the joy found in each other’s company and now they’re just as united in a far more sombre moment. It’s a simple stream of gestures, but it speaks volumes for the strength of the unity within the band. It’s that unity in fact, from the four people sat around this table, as well the MoBo family’s more peripheral figures, which helped to avert the most tragic of circumstances. In the recently released ‘Tripping In The Dark’ documentary (which takes its name from lyrics on ‘Holy Ghost’’s title track), it was revealed that at a particularly low point in August last year, Brendan made his way onto the roof of his house with thoughts to end his life. Thankfully, he found himself back downstairs after a “really stupid, really basic” text from Jake and a phone call to Cam Boucher of Sorority Noise – the band that not only
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M AT T E R OF FACT
LEAR. E P E R F E C T LY C T H E B R AV E A R LY E N O L , O W T AT T E R S . WITH ALBUM EV E RY T H I N G M N LOFTIN. WORDS: STEVE
E D MA
IGNORE T H E H AT E R S, ISSUES J U S T WA AREN’T S N T TO G R ELLING O O W , S AY S UT - THE VO CA L I S Y T TYLER CA RTE R. WORDS: H E AT H E R M C DA I D.
TO
LAST
THERE’S
G N I H N OT LEFT
TO
LOSE
I F YO U T H I N K YO U ’ V E HAD A COUPLE OF BA D YEARS, WA I T U N T I L Y O U H E A R N OT H I N G ’ S S TO RY. WORDS: JESS GOODM AN.
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I
t seems as though Nothing have always had a shadow looming over them. It echoes through their music, and it hangs heavily in the title of their latest album. But for all the turmoil they’ve faced, the Philadelphia outfit stand steadfast. ‘Tired Of Tomorrow’ may be seeped in strife and confusion, but much like the band, it bears its scars with no apology. “There’s seemed to be a cloud following over the band’s head, or my head, even, forever,” frontman Domenic Palermo mulls. “As far as the band goes, it’s always kind of had this vibe to it where anything that can go wrong will in fact go wrong, without a doubt. But we just take it in our stride.” With chaos surrounding them, the group turn to creativity, finding and forging resilience.
“Everything that we do reflects on what we’re going through,” he conveys. “We take a blank canvas and look at everything going on in our lives and use that to write the music itself.” More than just an outlet for inspiration, Nothing use their music as a way of dealing with the world that surrounds them. “That’s why people back it so hard. They know it’s coming from a legitimate source.” The record has been in the works since debut album ‘Guilty Of Everything’ hit shelves in 2014. But it wasn’t until after a postconcert attack brought everything to an abrupt halt that the band ventured into the studio. “Someone tried to rob me after we played. And I didn’t comply,” Domenic cautiously explains of the incident. “So five guys beat me up pretty bad. There was no one around, so it kind of went on for an absurdly long time.” Rescued by his tour mates and rushed to hospital, the injuries he sustained not only kept the band off the road, but left them miles away from home. “I had a fractured skull, a fractured orbital, couple of fractured parts of my lower back, nineteen staples…” he lists. “And I had a swollen brain, so I couldn’t really fly home for a few weeks.” Prevented from performing, the group continued to compile the songs that would form the foundation for their second album. “I went out to Big Sur, ate a ton of pain medicine, and started to write,” Domenic shrugs. “I was hanging out on the beach, walking around the woods, and just being high, trying to get my life back together.” Diving straight into recording after six weeks of touring, emotions continued to run high. “I don’t care who you’re around for that long: it could be your mother - though your mother might be worse than anybody,” he chuckles, “but you’re going to start getting irritated by them.” Having “rewrote everything from top to bottom”, the group found strength in their creativity, and the end result is a snapshot inside the lives and minds of the shoegaze punks with the world raging around them. “The songs that we did keep from previously began to take a whole new shape and meaning. It’s a more blatantly honest version of itself,” Domenic interprets of the record. “We went through so much shit together it felt quite inspired,” he reflects, “but we also felt like we were waiting on death row. It had a very grim vibe to it. Not just mentally, but also physically from the pain that I was dealing with. Everyone’s morale was in a hazy place, so it started to come through when we were doing the record. Everything changed after that.” Everything was about to change. Having signed with Collect 49
DEATH TO FALSE T H E D E B AT E I S O V E R . W I T H ‘ M E TA L R E S I S TA N C E ’ I T ’ S C L E A R T H AT B A B Y M E TA L A R E H E R E T O S TAY . T H E Y ’ R E N OT D O N E B R E A K I N G D O W N B A R R I E R S Y E T, E I T H E R . WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.
THERE ARE T WO STO RI ES ABOUT WHERE B A B Y M E TA L CA M E F RO M ... One is that producer Key Kobayashi formed the band around Suzuka Nakamoto in 2010 alongside Yui Mizuno and Moa Kikuchi to blend sugar-coated pop with the weight of metal after realising that metal, as a genre, was only getting older. The trio was a subgroup of Japanese idol band Sakura Gakuin for a while until Suzuka ‘graduated’ at the age of fifteen and Babymetal branched out alone.
“ARE YOU SURE IT’S A FOX? IT KIND OF LOOKS MORE LIKE A DOG.”
The other story is that many years ago The Fox God blessed three girls with the potential to become heavy metal guardians. Each of the girls, Su-Metal, Yuimetal and Moametal, has their own power to help them achieve this while Kobayashi acts as The Fox God’s messenger. A Power Rangers ‘teenagers with attitude’ sorta deal.
Whichever one you choose to believe, it’s clear that babymetal are here for a reason. Heck, both stories could be true. What started off as a song you’d share because you couldn’t quite believe what you were hearing quickly developed into something more. There were festival appearances, headline shows and a hyperactive debut album. Curiosity and questions slowly grew into excitement about where they’d go next. Two years on from ‘Babymetal’, the band released ‘Metal Resistance’ and it justified all that talk. Charting on both sides of the Atlantic as well as at home, the band also pulled off a confident headline slot at London’s Wembley Arena to kickstart a world tour that would eventually wind up at the 55,000 capacity Tokyo Dome. More than that though, ‘Metal Resistance’ is a great album. Debates about authenticity don’t mean much when a band is fully committed to entertainment and inspiring a good time. Call them what you like but Babymetal are here to stay, and it’s not their origins that are the big talking point anymore. 53
RATED AGAINST THE CURRENT IN OUR BONES
Fueled By Ramen/Atlantic
eeeee BIG. VERY, VERY BIG. Against The Current know their way around a great song. From the soaring introduction of ‘Infinity’ (from their debut EP of the same name) to covers of Taylor Swift, Adele and Paramore, the band have a history of surrounding themselves with big ol’ anthems. ‘In Our Bones’ sees them go massive. From the relentless bounce of ‘Running With The Wild Things’ through the Top of The Pops shimmer of ‘In Our Bones’ until the reflective sway of ‘Demons’, Against The Current’s debut album is full of absolutely huge songs. Chart-bothering, arenadominating but never losing themselves in the scope of the record, the band are twelve for twelve but every hit is different. There’s always been an element of cherrypicking to Against The Current but on ‘In Our Bones’, they full embrace that fanciful magpie attitude. There’s a little bit of everything to the record but every outsider element has been taken in and made theirs. And despite the dynamic mix of influence, 56 upsetmagazine.com
POP OT IS N TY IR A D D! R WO ATC’s voice shines through. ‘In Our Bones’ isn’t just a collection of great hits though. Every song has something to say. There’s the indulgent grin of ‘Forget Me Now’, the selfempowering cry of ‘Brighter’ and the conflicted inner struggle of ‘Demons’, all of which tackle a different side of the twelve-sided die. Tied together with conviction, Against The Current aren’t afraid to take anything on.
The most surprising thing about ‘In Our Bones’ is how intricate it all is. We were expecting big and catchy but the delicacy in which the songs snake their way around your heart and throat is something new. And it’s a look that suits Against The Current. Balancing selfcontrol with self-belief and amplifying it with a defiant, this-is-who-we-are attitude, Against The Current might not fit in a box but that’s fine. ‘In Our Bones’ goes bigger than all of that. Ali Shutler
BAND OF SKULLS
MOTHER FEATHER
BMG Recordings
Metal Blade Records
BY DEFAULT
MOTHER FEATHER
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Brimming with immediate ferociousness, the return of Band of Skulls is not to be ignored. Flowing between aggressive blues - of the kind Jack White would tip his hat to - through to fully-formed powerpop, it’s impossible not to be hooked straight away, as opener ‘Black Magic’ kicks in. The filthier the album gets, the more alluring it becomes. ‘Killer’ starts with a stalking guitar line that suddenly rears up into an almost shrieking state. Singer and guitarist Russell Marsden has an air of sleaze twinned with danger in his voice and lyricism, but it’s when Emma Richardson’s vocals enter the mix that there’s another dimension added. If Band of Skulls continue on this trajectory there’s no stopping them. Steven Loftin
While Mother Feather are in your face, their debut album is composed of exuberant and uplifting good vibes. Comprising the band’s pair of EPs alongside two other new songs, their selftitled debut is a pure head-banging affair with staggered riffs and attitude fuelled, emancipatory lyrics. They’re not afraid to show their softer side either. ‘Mirror’ has twinges of country pop with a killer hook and wavering riffs, ‘Beach House’ is a bonafide summer indie power pop track and ‘They Torn Down The SK8 Park’ brings the album back to fuzz territory. Ending with the massive ‘Egyptology’, a track about a hedonistic after party, Mother Feather have produced an record that’s well worth the 7 year wait. Rock hasn’t been this unapologetic and self-assured in years. Jasleen Dhindsa
G! NIN WA R G H T Y N AU S ! BIT
THE HOTELIER GOODNESS
Tiny Engines
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Opening with a spoken word piece, it’s clear from the very start that The Hotelier are up to something a bit different on ‘Goodness’. Given the praise heaped upon the band when they released 2013’s ‘Home, Like Noplace Is There’, that’s something of a surprise. Where its predecessor was a tsunami of intensity, ‘Goodness’ is more akin to the flow of a river - a much more constant, graceful record to drift along with. Rather than pummelling the listener either with heavy, screamed sections or the sheer weight of the subject matter, the challenge of ‘Goodness’ and its total lack of that heaviness, is that it has to find new ways to be brilliant. In its sheer scope and mindfulness, it does. Vocalist Christian Holden’s lyrics take a conceptual and explorative turn as they work around the themes of love and discovery - a stark contrast, it’s worth noting, to the previous album’s fixation on rage and loss. Whether singing of an elderly woman’s “88 remembered loves” on ‘Piano Player’ or the abstract, fragmented imagery of ‘Opening Mail For My Grandmother’, Christian relays every line with a knowing ‘there’s more to this’ nod. Instrumentally there’s a flexing of creative muscle, too. In a band, the notes you don’t play are every bit as vital as those you do. It’s halfway into second track, ‘Goodness Pt. 2’ before you ever hear vocals, drums, bass and guitars being played in unison – but it doesn’t take long to notice that the purposefulness of this approach actually adds more to their sound than it takes away. ‘Goodness’ isn’t just great; it’s also brave. Nothing would’ve been easier for The Hotelier than to come back, force some screams, tell some sad stories and accept their position as the ‘emotional rollercoaster’ band. Instead they’ve proven that there’s more to their game, delivering an album that doesn’t just expand on the identity they’d previously built, but that elevates them to a whole new plain entirely. Ryan De Freitas
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