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 Thorp, Danny Randon, Dillon Eastoe, Eleanor Langford, Harley Cassidy, Heather McDaid, Jessica Goodman, Joe Henderson, Lauren Donaldson, Liam Konemann, Martyn Young, Nariece Sanderson, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Photographers: Corinne Cumming, Ryan Johnston, Sarah Louise Bennett Cover Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of 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.
IN THIS ISSUE... RIOT!
36 T H E M OV I E L I F E 38 S LØT FAC E 40 S L E E P I N G W I T H S I RE N S 44 S E AWAY 46 A RCA N E RO OTS 50 L I G H TS 52 M ETZ 54 T H E B RO N X 58 T H E WO RL D I S A B E AU T I F U L P L AC E …
ABOUT TO BREAK
60 B R A N D N E W 61 H OT WAT E R M US I C 62 E N T E R S H I K A RI 63 S LØT FAC E 64 A RCA N E RO OTS 66 WO L F A L I C E 67 F R A N K I E RO 68 RE A D I N G & L E E DS
4 M A RM OZ ETS 8 S L I P K N OT 10 C O U N T E RPA RTS 12 SC RE A M F EST 14 F R A N K I E RO 16 FO U R Y E A R ST RO N G 17 T I G E RC U B 18 Q U E E N S O F T H E STO N E AG E 20 C I RCA S U RV I V E 22 P L AY L I ST
P U B L I S H E D F RO M
24 LOST I N ST E REO + F I RE BA L L C O M P ET I T I O N W I N N E RS
W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
28 E N T E R S H I K A RI
THE BUNKER
FEATURES
RATED
EDITOR’S NOTE Most bands do what you’d expect. Each album is sort of like the last one, more or less. They’ll talk about evolution when trying to shift copies, but it’s rarely revolution. That’s not something you could level at Enter Shikari, who take this month’s cover. With their new album ‘The Spark’ they’re pushing boundaries on all horizons - the kind of endeavour that’s exciting no matter what. They’re not the only band taking that route this issue either. If you don’t check out that new Arcane Roots album, you’re daft. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
E V E RY T H I N G H A P P E N I N G I N RO C K
E V E RY T H I N G H A P P E N I N G I N RO C K
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MARMOZETS
P RESS
P L AY TO
STA RT
MARMOZETS ARE BACK! OVER THE SUMMER THEY SMASHED THE UK WITH A HANDFUL OF LIVE DATES, A SLOT AT READING & LEEDS PLUS NEW TRACK ‘PLAY’ - AND IT’S ONLY JUST THE BEGINNING. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.
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armozets are excited. You can hear it across comeback juggernaut ‘Play’, you can see it as the band thundered back into the live arena a few weeks ago and, well, Becca keeps telling us. She’s waiting for the boys to pick her up on the way to band practice and despite the tour being less than a week away, if she had her own way, they’d play a show right now. “I’m just impatient,” she shrugs.
was shit, but I’m a trooper. I’m a fighter,” she promises. “There was a lot to cope with, but you’ve just to get on with it.” And so they did. The album is completely done, and now Marmozets are back, they’re not going away anytime soon. “Have you heard it?” Becca asks a few days before ‘Play’ drops. “You like it?” she asks, genuinely curious but it feels like she already knows we do. “Good,” she grins.
we knew we weren’t getting what we wanted out into the songs.” ‘Play’ doesn’t sound like the Marmozets of old, all sugar coated smiles and hyperactive dance, but there’s a familiar snarl to the attack. A bratty need for more that’s driven them this far. A month before the band released their debut ‘The Weird & Wonderful Marmozets’, they played two sets at Reading & Leeds. One in the vast expanse of the NME / BBC Radio 1 Stage, one in the sweatbox confines of The Pit. ‘Play’ takes those two sides of Marmozets’ game and hits the button. “That’s why we keep writing. All our songs always sound like us, but we just want the best ones. If you’re not going to give people the best songs, what’s the point? I always figure a way to get everything out, especially in our music.
“ I A L M O S T F E LT L I K E MY LIFE HAD BEEN TA K E N AWAY . ” BECCA MACINTYRE
It’s been two years since the band played a show. Following triumphant sets at Reading & Leeds 2015, the band cancelled a series of US dates due to an injury Becca picked up and despite the band promising that “a new album will be recorded very, very soon,” that’s all we heard for a long while. In that time, there was a moment where Becca thought maybe they’d never return. “When I had my knee operation, I had one done straight after the other, and I was bed bound. As someone who is just go, go, go all the time, to be literally sat on the sofa for a few months, I almost felt like my life had been taken away. I had to learn to walk again. It was pretty insane, and it
“We’re all in a really good place, so we’re ready to get back on the road. A lot has happened, but we’re good now. We’re all ready to rock and roll and excited for people to see what we’ve been working on. We’ve all had to deal with our own shit,” but there’s no time to dwell. “We wrote an amazing album. We already had shit loads of material; it was just getting all our shit together and getting the best out of everyone. We actually wrote three albums’ worth but kept pressing because
“’Play’ comes from being on the road and in relationships. I’m not saying it’s the best one on the album or anything like that, but it’s one we’re really happy with.” That said, “We’re happy with all of them. We want to display this album properly, like a photo album almost and ‘Play’ is the first one because it’s the energetic, in your face song. That’s what we’re notoriously known for so we’re just keeping that vibe going.” Carefree and joyous, Marmozets’ 5
S PA C E WITH SOME BANDS, YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO GET WITH EACH NEW ALBUM. NOT WITH ENTER SHIKARI, THOUGH. WELCOME TO THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF ‘THE SPARK’. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
ODDITY 28
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ENTER SHIKARI.
n the back of ‘The Spark’, there’s a message. Six words that sum up everything you need to know about Enter Shikari. “Does this mean anything to you?” For over a decade, the band have been hoping for a yes. Battling for a connection. Earnest, honest but never over-eager, Rou Reynolds, Rob Rolfe, Rory Clewlow and Chris Batten have always asked that question in their own, unique way. Aggressive and full-throttled, the band have never settled for a style. Refusing to stick to one idea or follow the same direction to closely, everything is in a constant state of flux. That grounding thread of togetherness the only thing holding the ship together. Different is what they do but even still, ‘The Spark’ pushes things like never before. “This feels like more of a new era than just another new album,” starts Rou. “We feel very revitalised, fresh and confidence has never been this high.” And it shows. “We just wanted to be a bit bolder with the music. As a songwriter, I wanted to say that I can write as good a tune as anyone in the eras that have defined or influenced our sound.” Stepping up to wear the crown, “We’re now playing with the big boys.” After years of merry surprise about how far they’d come, refusing to look too far to an uncertain future, and taking every day as it came, the band found themselves on a massive arena tour. It was the tipping point. At London’s Ally Pally, Rou declared that this was all “a hobby that got well out of hand,” but there’s ambition to the band. A sense that this is something more than just a laugh. “Doing that arena tour made us think about the possibilities. Seeing that many people and seeing how it brought people together, it inspired us to do something bigger,” explains Chris. ‘The Spark’ is a risk because it sees the band hoping for more. “There’s an amazing quote from probably my favourite philosopher Bertrand Russell, who says, and I’m going to murder this, ‘One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important’. I’ve probably taken that far too seriously for most of our lives. Before, I’ve just thought that we play music and that’s cool. It’s just amazing to be here, and I guess we’re just carry on doing this.” Now, thoughts have changed. The runaways are setting the pace. “I don’t 29
think our music is important, but it has its role to play. It’s earnt its place in the world. “Before we were quite content being the alternative, slightly wacky, out there, all over the place band. Trying to be the craziest. Trying to be the most extreme in every sense.” They wanted every piece of the cobbled together genres to feel authentic, to be loud, proud and obvious. “I always wanted to be the most of everything, and that’s changed. Now it’s about the songs and the connection. Before I never had the confidence to do that. I thought we had our place.” Sure, “It was still very much our own place, we never felt at ease on any bill, and we’ve always felt a bit out of place with other bands, but now we’re ready to not just be something in the alternative world. We’ve got enough to say, and we’ve experienced enough to earn a place in the wider consciousness I want to make it as big and best as I can, I suppose.” Following a trio of jarring standalone singles, the grime-dabbling ‘Supercharge’ and the aggressive, everything goes twirl of ‘Hoodwinker’ and ‘Redshift’, Enter Shikari “honed their senses,” and set to work on ‘The Spark’. From the dreamlike opening of the title track, all clear skies and crunch of dirt beneath heels into the straight arrow flight of ‘The Sights’, Shikari soar. “For the first time, I had a clear idea of the sound of this album. There was an atmosphere that I wanted it to be, and that’s never really happened before.” Music flowed out of Rou “like a projectile vomiting drunk. I’m just there with a bucket,” demos were shown to the rest of the band, “and it all became very clear that this was the right way forward.” The band didn’t have a vision for how the record would flow or dance, but there was a feeling they wanted to capture. More melody was top of the list of demands. Simplicity was king. “Typically Shikari songs are five songs in one,” because the band feel bored or held back by the single direction travel of genre. “We’ve always had diverse sounds, so we’ve been able to satisfy our urge to do lots of things. This is the first time where an album has a focused sound. It’s still diverse, but it has that simplicity to it now, that clarity.” There’s a space to ‘The Spark’ that Enter Shikari have always stayed well away from in the past. That decision to open things up and allow the songs to breath came about very early, a reaction to what had come before. “’The Mindsweep’ was so layered. It was very thick with a lot going on, and we were talking about 30
“I COULDN’T P O S S I B LY B E T H AT MEDIOCRE, DA RL I N G ” trying to focus on one guitar playing one riff instead of this mesh of loads of everything.” Stepping back and deciding less is more goes against everything Shikari have ever done. “It’s always tempting to throw more things in,” starts Chris. “But we went into the record being focused on what we wanted. With that in the back of our minds, it made it a lot easier. If we hadn’t known what we were trying to achieve, a lot more would have been thrown in, and we would have just seen where it took us but knowing what we wanted to achieve, it was a far easier process.” Enter Shikari have always been a politically engaged band. With even the most reluctant of groups now inspired and outraged by the way of the world, you’d think Rou would be spoilt for choice for what to scrawl across their placards but he, “was just stumped for ages. There was so much going on in my life but also so much politically that I didn’t know where to start. Every thing that happened, not just Brexit and Trump but other things as well, there’d be someone tweeting me saying, ‘Oh, at least we know there’s a Shikari album out of this’. Bloody hell, pressure. It wasn’t until I found a lot of parallels between the personal stuff and the more global stuff that I realised ‘Okay, I’ve got a path I can tread now and write about’. It was difficult at first.” Rather than fists up, fighting the system and screaming fuck you I won’t do what you tell me, ‘The Spark’ is smarter. “It’s always been important to us to be a little more positive than that,” offers Chris. “It’s never felt right to be just doom and gloom about it all.” Instead, ‘The Spark’ sees Rou and the rest of Shikari at their most intimate. The
music might be opening up into new space, but lyrically, it turns inwards to make sense of what surrounds them. “Honesty was the big thing that kept coming back for me. It sounds wanky, but I was influenced by a lot of people like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who I name drop in one of the songs. He was a philosopher, and one of his things was about just laying your soul bare and speaking about everything from the mundane little things to the big emotions. I have this desire to connect and to make sure people knew, ‘Oh I feel that way too. Oh, I’m not weird anymore’. I wanted to embrace vulnerability, lay my lyrics bare and not try and be this constantly cool pop star who’s got it down and is always cool, calm and everything is fine. It’s not lifelike, is it? I don’t think anyone wants that from musicians.” Their music has always come from the heart, the soul and the gut but ‘The Spark’ digs deeper. It doesn’t hold anything back. “The last few years I had a lot more to write about. Before I was absolutely compelled to write about politics, social issues and unity, and I still do. I have that feeling, but I had a bit more confidence to open myself up, which I’ve never had before. I’ve always just figured I’ll write about my life another time and now that another time has come.” That confidence in dropping his guard and letting others in comes from experience. “We’ve been doing this a long time, and people obviously care about what we do and are interested in what we have to say.” “I might be wrong in saying this,” starts Chris, “but I’ve noticed, since you’ve started having more anxiety issues,
ENTER SHIKARI.
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SLEEPING WITH SIRENS.
OF SLEEPING WITH SIRENS ARE BROACHING A NEW CHAPTER - ONE THAT SEES THEM EMBRACE ADULTHOOD. WORDS: HEATHER MCDAID.
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“ T H I S I S
U S ” .
ARCANE ROOTS HAVE MADE A GIANT LEAP AWAY FROM THEIR ROCK OF OLD. “I WANT PEOPLE TO NOT LIKE THIS RECORD,” SAYS ANDREW GROVES. WELL, HE’S GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.
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A RCA N E RO OTS
y now, you probably know what to expect from Arcane Roots. Big, bold, arena rock with a love of riffs, rock moves and over the top shapes, yeah? That want to lead a crowd has always been their goal, from the choppy off-kilter riot of ‘Left Fire’ to the pristine follow me of ‘Heaven & Earth’. The band promised a change this time last summer, telling us their new record was “absolutely different,” and, “even more left-field.” We’ve all heard that one before though. ‘Melancholia Hymns’ isn’t just course correction though. It’s not a new colour on the existing canvas or the same destination achieved via different roads. Having finished 2013 debut ‘Blood & Chemistry’, the band were left asking, “Is that all we are?” The world that Arcane Roots have been slowly crafting over the last ten years is still present on their second full-length, but everything you think you know about the band only makes up one little corner of this mighty new universe. Different isn’t just a mask; it’s pumping through its majestic veins. “My biggest fear was that it would sound like ‘Arcane Roots Find A Synthesiser’,” admits Andrew Groves. “’Rock Band Finds Drum Machine’,” he shudders. He’s standing backstage at Reading Festival, the same spot as last year’s promise of change. In the days, weeks and months since he and his band, Jack Wrench and Adam Burton, have been locked away, shedding skin and growing new limbs. “It’s been a metamorphosis,” he grins. This record is so much more than their attempt at an electronica album. “We were just trying to be self-aware as much as possible,” he continues.”When we’ve done records before, and people say it’s felt different, I’ve always doubted it. ‘Hmm, really? ‘cos it’s still the same’. ‘Heaven & Earth’ is very much the record we always wanted to make with the last two before it. That’s where we were aiming for, and as soon as we hit it, ‘Cool, I’m satisfied’. I don’t feel like we need to make any more points with that. It’s been done.” Rather than continuing to try and force the expected path to the big venues and big noise that continues to draw comparisons with the likes of Muse and Biffy Clyro, Arcane Roots decided to go their own way. “We were so lucky to share stages with those kinds of bands, but after the initial daydream of what I would do to be in that position and have that production, crew and access to stuff that we’ve only dreamt of, [our outlook shifted]. We’re getting older, and we’re not heartthrobs. We never will be. We’re not that kind of band; we never will be that kind of band.” That single-minded desire for big venues and big crowds started feeling hollow. Arcane Roots wanted something more fulfilling. “I feel like this is us,” he starts, comfortable in their musical skin. “We’re that band who are there when you want a bit more. When you want something else. We’ve got a promise and a morality, and that’s really our band. We promise you; you’ll be surprised. We promise you; you’ll be challenged. This record was about understanding our place as a band. I wanted it to be something I liked. I like rock music, I love playing guitar and those big riffs and when I play that with the other guys, it’s really fun. It makes me smile every time we play, and that’s always going to be there. I love the energy of that, but my own interests were way more electronic and took in scores, soundtracks and classical music. I wanted to make something that was worthy, if I could.” The result is ‘Melancholia Hymns’. Ten tracks of shimmering beauty, subtle confrontation and lush escape. It flits and dances with a powerful sense of purpose, yet sways with an effortless 47
C H O OSE YOU R
OW N
AG E N DA PERSONAL DEMONS AND POLITICS BE DAMNED THE BRONX ARE FIGHTING BACK AGAINST A FUCKED UP WORLD. WORDS: LIAM KONEMANN.
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THE BRONX
don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing, but we’re not really ‘planners’,” says the Bronx’s guitarist Joby Ford. “Being in two bands I think has its plusses and minuses, but probably one of the plusses is being able to step away from something for a little bit and focus on a completely different style.”
The Bronx are back. For the last four years, the band’s minds have been elsewhere, making an album and touring under the guise of their Charro-outfitted alter egos Mariachi El Bronx. They put a shift in crafting tunes around rhythmic guitars and bright horn sections, not particularly troubled by thoughts of when they’d change gears again. Mariachi El Bronx was made to help them ward off creative stalls and keep things running smoothly, and after ‘Bronx IV’ their second project did just that. Then, sometime last year, the balance began to shift. Now, The Bronx are ready to step back into the hardcore ring and do some damage. “You get a lot of energy from going back from one band to the other. After spending a ton of time with El Bronx and doing a bunch of shows and writing a bunch of music it always feels good to go back to Bronx and make a badass record, and let out some aggression,” notes vocalist Matt Caughthran. “They definitely feed each other that way.” The lighter, more optimistic project fuels the fire of the Bronx’s rage, and after their time away they had plenty of furious energy in reserve. This time, though, the record felt a little different. While their new album ‘V’ is as sharp as ever, it’s also a swirling mass of lyrical themes and sonic influences that can be difficult to pick apart - even to the band themselves. Since Joby is a graphic designer by trade, the band have always done their album art in-house, and each cover is more or less an exact match to what he hears on the record. So when it came time to design his latest piece, Joby realised things had shifted. “I’m more of a graphic guy than a fine artist, but this album I broke out my art supplies, which I haven’t done for a long time. The sounds on this record, I didn’t want to do a graphic thing, and so I used alcohol inks – it’s just pigment mixed with alcohol, so it evaporates fast and kind of blends,” he explains. “The songs and the process conjure up this idea in my head, and I didn’t want super clean lines.” In the Bronx’s own thousand-word picture, ‘V’ isn’t exactly clear cut. But then, neither is anything else these days. “I guess that’s our lives; things are bleeding into each other now. Everything is smearing into everything.” Joby considers. “It’s just constant. I kind of stopped looking at the internet. Every time I pop 55
RATED BRAND NEW SCIENCE FICTION
TH E O F F I C I A L VE RD I CT
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rand New didn’t always want to be heretics. But then life happened. For a while, they just wanted to survive high school, frustrated and blaming others for the struggles. That small town bubble didn’t last for long though and by the time ‘Deja…’ rolled around, they’d seen more of the world, turned inwards, feared loss and started asking questions about self. The wonder fell on ‘Devil and God…’ as they took a step back, looked towards the sky and asked why, trying to figure out right, wrong and truth while ‘Daisy’ just wanted them to burn it all down, their hope fading fast and the ground disappearing beneath their feet. The past sixteen years have taken their toll on Brand New. The pieces of heart and soul shared on each release were never returned, and the big questions
remain unanswered. People have found solace in the band’s struggle, looking towards them for comfort and community, but sometimes not feeling alone isn’t enough when you look towards heaven and are met with an eternal nothing. After four albums looking up for a truth, Brand New turned to ‘Science Fiction’. From the fuzzy opening reel that sees dreams picked apart for meaning under a microscope, the band stop looking for a reason and start enjoying what they can touch, grasp and lean on. It instantly feels more grounded. As they push back, “don’t cut me up and tell me that it’s okay,” there’s peace to be found. A repeated message that they just don’t care anymore. Not because they’ve given up, but because there’s nothing to be gained in life by finding a purpose to it all. In a way, it sees the band come full
circle and find themselves at home. Just this time around, there’s no frustration, no blaming others and the walls are their own design. The door is left open. “We’re not separate,” promises ‘451’. “Here’s a comforting thought,” offers ‘Same Logic/Teeth’. Littered throughout the record are ropes to pull yourself up. “If it’s breaking your heart, if nothing is fun. Don’t lose hope, my son,” insists Jesse, hand outstretched and hope intact. Eternity is a lie and hell is digital but who cares. Brand New have translated all of their dreams into reality, without worrying about the why. Somehow they’ve found themselves back on earth, full of love. It’s never going to stop, and that’s okay. The whole of ‘Science Fiction’ rages with life. Grabbing all it can, while it can, it dances regardless of where the sun sits in the sky. It takes a deep breath, looks around at what’s around them and smiles. We know we can’t, but that doesn’t stop the lurching ‘Out Of Mana’ declare that we all “hope we can do this forever.” After all, what’s life without a little hope? Ali Shutler
CASSELS
EPITHET
Big Scary Monsters
eeee A collaboration that’s been more than a decade in the making, Cassels have finally come to fruition on what is technically their first full-length release. As the opening indie-punk twang of ‘Coup’ segues into its furious counterpart ‘Let’, guitarist/singer/older brother Jim throws in more than his two cents on the polarising matter of Brexit: “The decision has come through to reduce our flag to white, and replace the red and blue with a bulldog fucking a lion.” This is, of course, just one of many good-humoured but scarily on-point diatribes from Jim, who reaches his vitriolic peak on ‘Where Baseball Was Invented’; a furious ode to Chipping Norton and its Tory contingent. Delivered not so much with a tongue in cheek, but with a tongue stuck firmly out while its owner defiantly flicks the Vs, ‘Epithet’ grows more visceral and vital with every burst of scathing honesty. Danny Randon
CHELSEA WOLFE
HISS SPUN
Sargent House
eee California’s gothic folk rocker, Chelsea Wolfe, is trying to make sense of a crazy world with her sixth record, ‘Hiss Spun’. But rather than deliver a stateof-the-nation address, Wolfe has turned inwards and explored her demons in an attempt to reign in the chaos around her. Gone is the folk twang of her early recordings, replaced instead by a haunting, ethereal delivery. Like a distant fluorescent lamp, flickering in the corner of a dark, empty warehouse, it’s unnerving but intriguing all the same. Speaking ahead of ‘Hiss Spun’’s release, Wolfe proclaims: “You’re just
HOT WATER MUSIC
LIGHT IT UP
Rise Records
eeee After an extended hiatus from recording, ‘Light It Up’ marks Florida punks Hot Water Music’s second studio release since reconvening and their first selfproduced since their 1993 debut. In the interim, vocalist Chuck Ragan found recognition as the leader of the Revival
A SHORT Q&A WITH...
HOT HOT WATER WATER MUSIC MUSIC
HOT WATER MUSIC ARE BACK WITH AN ALBUM THAT SEES THEM GO BACK TO BASICS.
Hey Jason, have you had a good summer so far? What’ve you guys been up to? Yeah, it’s been a good summer. We all have pretty busy lives outside of the band - families, day jobs, other bands - so we’ve been doing our own respective things while still making plans for HWM. It’s a balancing act that we very narrowly succeed at. It’s been a little while since your last album, 2012’s ‘Exister’. We’ve been trying for about three years to get this record scheduled, written, and recorded, haha. Like I was saying, when you add in families, jobs, and then throw a five-hour flight to have us all in the same room, it’s not easy to get things moving. Also, we’re in our 40s now, so we move slower. How did you find self-producing
Tour, a revolving cast of punk and hardcore singers stripping their songs down alongside Ragan’s fiddle and double bass player. If acoustic clap-along satisfied Ragan’s creative itch in the time away from his bandmates, when all four men are back in the same room the acoustics are tucked away, and Hot Water Music come out firing on all cylinders. This is Hot Water Music as they hear themselves, and 25 years into their career they sound as vital as ever. Dillon Eastoe
‘Light It Up’, and what was your favourite thing about doing it yourselves? The main thought behind selfproducing was to - as derivative and cheesy as it sounds - get back to basics a little. To just write the songs, record them, and put them out without over-thinking everything. ’Fuel for the Hate Game’ is the last time we self-produced, so we were pretty excited to see what we could make happen on our own 20 years later. Our FOH engineer - Ryan Williams - owns Black Bear Studio in Gainesville. He’s heard us more than anyone else for the past ten years, so it was a super comfortable environment to record in. Do you approach writing songs in the same way you always have, or is that something that has evolved over time? We finally caught up with technology, and all four of us have home recording capabilities (we have a luddite). It’s evolved over time. We used to write five days a week when we all lived in the same town and did the band full-time, and now we exchange demo ideas over email and edit them down and then get together for a few days to finalise things as a band. There are pros and cons to both. I think working over email allows everyone to have more time to process everyone else’s ideas, but you do lose out on some of the spontaneity. Do you have big plans for the rest of the year? One weekend at a time, we will play some shows. P
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RATED
READING 2017 WO R D S : A L I S H U T L E R , J E SS I CA G O O D M A N , ST E P H E N AC K ROY D, ST E V E N LO F T I N . P H O T O S : C O R I N N E C U M M I N G , R YA N J O H N S T O N , S A R A H L O U I S E B E N N E T T .
TH E O F F I C I A L VE RD I CT
Yonaka are born from dark rooms, grimy pubs and the want for something more. Their hypnotic blend of digital nightmares and electrified euphoria has been slowly gathering over the past few months and today; it’s unleashed. The edges have been polished, sharpened to a glistening point as the band come into a fierce focus. ‘Bubblegum’ pops and whizzes, deceptively sour and leaving a lasting taste as the tent cries out for more. ‘Ignorance’ dissolves, changing shape and direction but never losing its need for attention while ‘Wouldn’t Wanna Be Ya’ is dripping in attitude from a band who’ve tasted the spotlight, and want more.
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Mallory Knox belong on the biggest of stages. It’s not just because their songs swell, bloom and burst. It’s not because they’ve done their time. Mallory Knox belong on the biggest of stages because it’s where they look most at home. The band beam when they’ve got something to command, the likes of ‘Lighthouse’ and ‘Shout At The Moon’ tremble with a grander purpose and the more space the band have to play with, the more fun it all becomes. Rather than simple polish though, Mallory Knox take to the Main Stage carried with a sense of freedom. It might be the sunshine; it might be new song ‘Sugar’, flecked with Whatever it is about today though, Mallory Knox look utterly at home and totally in command. Air raid sirens signal the beginning of Palisades’ set. Unfortunately for the New Jersey band, it’s one of the loudest sounds that will happen. Technical issues mean that much of their setup isn’t getting the serious speaker treatment, and instead, they
sound like a band in a garage – which weirdly suits them and their hardcore standings. Technical issues aside, the draw they have is undeniable. Circle pits and dancing are still prevalent even when you feel they should struggle. Palisades completely dominate their crowd, and it’s a mutual love and admiration that helps them have one hell of a time. Londoners Puppy are here to do what they do best: rock out, pure and simple. An eager crowd gives them a warm welcome that easily shows the many steps forward the band have made - from vital releases to signing with Spinefarm Records. There’s little effort required on their part; the crowd is with them. Today’s sunny Reading show is just another small step in their bigger story; one that will keep them moving on up. A band who have a serious amount of hype at the moment, Counterfeit pack out the Pit Stage. Frontman Jamie
Campbell Bower is the last to take to the stage, receiving the loudest reaction of all. Visibly pumped for the show, Jamie immediately has the crowd in the palm of his hand. Screaming out “Give ‘em fucking hell, boys” after their first track, the atmosphere takes on a palpable force that’s inescapable. Counterfeit are every part the rock band. They have the charismatic frontman, an arsenal of tunes that can dominate any space and most of all an audience that laps up every moment. Reading doesn’t know what hit it. God Damn are punk to the core, but the trio aren’t afraid to get a little experimental. Throughout their set, they unashamedly prove why their world works. The abrasiveness of the guitars coupled with the occasionally striking electronica makes for one hell of a sound. Keeping the momentum alive, God Damn use every ounce of energy to propel themselves forward. God Damn are a sight to behold, and the Pit Stage
PVRIS ‘All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell’ has been out for a little over twenty-four hours but it’s already changed everything for PVRIS. ‘White Noise’ dealt in black and white fire; album two sees the colour reign. The walls have been taken down, the rules scrapped, their universe widened. From the opening firework of ‘You And I’, starting small but soon reaching far, wide and deep, there’s a brightness to the way PVRIS dance about the stage. ‘Fire’ is lifted with additional grins, guitar wails and a love for the new. ‘Half’ is already being rolled around, Lynn jumping behind a drum kit to add more drama to their marvellous cinema. There are cracks in the polish. A murk under the shine. Joy throughout. The band might have a love of the darkness, exploring fears and the unknown, but what’s scary about this performance is that we’re still only seeing glimpses of just what this album could do. 69