** Plus **
M ove m e n ts PV R I S N a r ro w H e a d C o l d Ye a rs T h o u s a n d B e l o w K i d Da d +
l o a d s m o re
Cold Years debut album Paradise Out Now
“Pissed off never sounded so righteous” - Upset
SEPTEMBER 2020 Issue 58
HELLO.
There are legendary bands. There are critically acclaimed bands. There are exciting bands, and bands who shift a ridiculous number of ‘units’ or sell out huge arenas. There are influential bands - the ones that peers name-check as inspiring their best work - and bands who push the boundaries of their subculture, widening the creative space for all. And then, there’s Deftones. Because, truth told, this month’s returning cover stars are all of the above and so much more. With a new album imminent, we’re delighted to welcome them back to the magazine. Getting this month’s lead feature together in lockdown may have been a challenge, but for true icons like them, it’s more than worth it.
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Jamie MacMillan, Jasleen Dhindsa, Linsey Teggert, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin, Tyler Damara Kelly Snappers Al Kalyk, Clemente Ruiz, Frank Delgado, Mark Jaworski, Max Zdunek, NaStacia Ellis, Sarah Louise Bennett, Stuart Gardiner, Tamar Levine, Vee Sanders P U B L I S H E D F RO M
W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L
All material copyright (c). All rights reserved.
RIOT 4. MOVEMENTS 7. CLT DRP 8. OXYMORRONS 12. NARROW HEAD 16. THOUSAND BELOW 18. COLD YEARS ABOUT TO BREAK 20. KID DAD 24. GIRL FRIDAY FEATURES 26. DEFTONES 36. DE’WAYNE 40. BULLY 44. THE FRONT BOTTOMS REVIEWS 48. KNUCKLE PUCK TEENAGE KICKS 50. PVRIS Upset 3
Riot_
THIS MONTH IN ROCK
EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK
THE GOOD WILL
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The universe has decided it’s finally Oxymorrons’ time. p.8
Texan band Narrow Head have created one of the heaviest albums of 2020 thus far. p.12
Thousand Below have been using lockdown to record a brand new, stripped back EP. p.16
Three years on from their debut album, and Californian post-hardcore band Movements are back with its Will Yip-produced followup, ‘No Good Left To Give’. “At its core,” says vocalist Patrick Miranda, “the new record is what we’ve always been, which is emotional, real, and honest music.” Not ones to shy away from tough subjects, it sees them open up about some of life’s many struggles, such as mental health and relationships difficulties. “It’s a little darker,” he adds.
Hi Pat, how’s it going? Have you guys been enjoying summer so far? So far I’m doing pretty well, all things considered! Been a weird summer for sure, but I’m making the best of it.
Your new album’s really heavy, talking about suicide, loss, fear - are all these narratives drawn directly from your own lives?
Yes. As the sole lyrical writer for this band, every song focuses on an aspect of my life based on personal experiences, thoughts, emotions, etc.
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Riot_
E C I T S JU
R O F L L A nders. ert. Photos: Vee Sa Words: Linsey Tegg
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“We’re made for this moment. We’ve been ready for this moment our whole lives,” states Oxymorrons’ guitarist and vocalist Jafe Paulino. For the New York four-piece, timing is everything. The universe has decided that it’s finally their time. It wasn’t until June this year that the hip-hop/rock group saw a real upswing in their trajectory, with the announcement that they had signed to 333 Wreckords, the collective of former letlive. and current FEVER333 frontman Jason Aalon Butler. There was also the release of their first single under 333 Wrecks, the rip-roaring rallying cry ‘Justice’, marking the culmination of a long journey marred by being misunderstood. “Oxymorrons started as an idea between my brother Kami and myself,” explains vocalist Demi Bellevue. “From day one, Oxymorrons was a hip-hop/rock hybrid, we never wanted to stay in any one genre, and those were the two genres that spoke to us. Different people joined and left until we morphed into the fourpiece you see now.” “We’ve always been too rock for hip-hop, and too hip-hop for rock,” adds Jafe. “Everyone is always trying to box us in when we’re trying to create this borderless world of music. Oxymorrons has been around a long time, but it’s taken a long time for people to come around.” Oxymorrons are firm believers that everything will happen when it’s meant to happen. It’s an incredibly refreshing philosophy in a world where self-entitlement is rife. Instead of becoming jaded, the band have focused 9 UPSETMAGAZINE. COM Upset
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Riot_ Photos: NaStacia Ellis.
Texan band Narrow Head have created one of the heaviest albums of 2020 thus far, not because ‘12th House Rock’ is a towering inferno of insurmountable riffs - it’s actually pretty melodic and contemplative - but because it sees them delve into themes of selfloathing, desolation, self-medication, the loss of loved ones and more. There’s a lot going on here, and at a time when pretty much everyone’s mental health is suffering, it feels as though many will relate. The band’s Carson Wilcox tells us more. Hi Carson, how are you doing? Are you busy at the moment?
Not busy at all at the moment. Texas isn’t technically on lockdown anymore, but with the virus spreading as aggressively as it is in our state right now our day to day lives have been pretty quiet the past couple months and weeks especially.
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F U
HO
L L
OUSE
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WANT A NEW BAND CRUSH? CHECK OUT THIS LOT! >>>
THE BEST NEW BANDS. THE HOTTEST NEW MUSIC.
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TOKKY HORROR The new project from Queen Zee’s Zee Davine, Tokky Horror has arrived with debut single ‘Girlracer’, and a bunch of tour dates.
CHLOE MORIONDO Breaking out from her YouTuber start, Chloe Moriondo’s new single ‘I Want To Be With You’ is a very Avril-y corker.
SUPERLOVE Having shared stages with the likes of Dream State and Stand Atlantic, Bristol noise-poppers Superlove have just inked a new deal with Rude Records.
Photo: Max Zdunek.
KID DAD Hi Marius - who are you all, German band Kid where did you meet? Dad’s debut album is We are four students who full of huge indie-rock met each other in high singles. Packed with school. Back then I had a anthemic, unapologetic pop-punk band which kinda hooks ready to blast transformed into what’s now any lingering lockdown Kid Dad by old members cobwebs well and truly leaving and new members joining the group. Michael, away, in tracks like who is our drummer, ‘Limbo’ and longtime and Joshi, who’s our lead favourite ‘Happy’ they guitarist, started studying capture a messy and popular music and media, exactly like I did, with the youthful enthusiasm dream of forming a band that’s completely and getting heard someday. addictive. It all very Max, our bassist and backing coming-of-age - figuring vocalist who also plays out how you feel, what synthesizers, studied special the future holds; what education at the same uni as we three did. After we all adventures to head out on next. A world of crossed paths, we started songs and playing possibilities lies ahead. writing shows together, and that’s Marius Vieth (vocals/ how we got here, haha! guitar) introduces his What’s your hometown band.
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Deftones are back with a career-defining album. In ‘Ohms’, they encapsulate all 30-something years that the band have been around, with songs that push and pull their singular sound in every direction.
The melodic, measured tones explored in its predecessor ‘Gore’ are present but so too is the visceral power of the band’s early work, that made tracks like ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ become a neck vein popping anthem that has stood the test of time. But, more so with ‘Ohms’, those extremes turn in an instant as, while the spark of the song flickers alight, you can’t be sure if what Deftones are going to throw is water or gasoline. The album also comes in the same year the band are celebrating the seminal ‘White Pony’; a game-changing album which transformed them
ctations. Words: Alexander Bradley. Photos: Clemente Ruiz, Frank Delgado.
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WORLD
DE’WAYNE’S
Words: Steven Loftin.
Uprooting yourself to follow a dream is no easy feat; leaving everything behind in the hopes of the idea in your mind will sprout and take you on a journey is a risky move. It was one that De’Wayne Jackson made years ago when he moved to LA “with a homie… [but] he dipped out after like 10 months.”
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Finding himself all alone, only the dream for company, while he “hustled, and worked shitty ass jobs, and made shitty ass songs”, the heftiness of the situation was always there, like an unwanted roommate, but now it’s all paid off. Back in March, he signed to Hopeless Records after a stint supporting Waterparks on their UK tour, and many more support slots before that, even including a collaboration with previous Upset cover stars Chase Atlantic (‘Adios’). With the release of ‘National Anthem’ comes a new tide for De’Wayne, one that’s full of opportunity for this renegade
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Words: Tyler Damara Kelly.
“I’m not ashamed, and I don’t regret it,” bellows Alicia Bognanno towards the end of ‘SUGAREGG’. It’s been a tumultuous five years in the world of Bully and the album as a whole is an unabashed declaration of selfawareness and selfreckoning. Where their debut album ‘Feels Like’ saw Alicia outwardly walking through the self-deprecation, guilt and anxieties of dealing with her own existence – (“I’m trying to hide from my mind” – ‘Trying’), its follow up, ‘Losing’, was more outwardly observant and discordant, almost revelling in the mundanities of life (“Cut my hair; I feel the same. Masturbate; I feel the same” – ‘Feel the Same’). The fact that Alicia thinks the lyric: “dissociation with every tradition” is the best summation of ‘SUGAREGG’ seems completely fitting for its anarchist assault on the senses. While the album is as true to form as any Bully album has ever been, its circumstances couldn’t be more different to the ways that Alicia has created music previously – normally taking the reins of all elements of production, and with Clayton Parker and Reece Lazarus by her side. “I figured it was kind of time for a fresh start and things just got a little bit stale,” she says. “When you tour together for five years, you kind of hit a point where everybody’s a little bit older, and it’s either what you want to do, or it’s not what you want to do, and it’s kind of a vicious cycle to try and get out of.” With Reece deciding to go off to grad school, and Alicia naturally parting ways with Clayton, it made complete sense to continue Bully on her own, solely relying on other musicians for touring purposes. Adding that she had written everything on her own anyway, it was an easy, “fucking
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In s s e n sick
orski. Words: Dillon Eastoe. Photos: Mark Jaw
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and in flames
In an alternate universe, The Front Bottoms are melting faces onstage in Canada with emo heroes Jimmy Eat World at the time of writing. As it is, they’re home in Jersey keeping themselves and their fans entertained with weekly Twitch streams as the consequences of the pandemic continue to stretch out ahead of us. With a new album, the aptly titled ‘In Sickness & In Flames’, set to drop imminently, Brian Sella and Mat Uychich pick up the phone talk us through the record, life during lockdown, and being one of the first bands back out onstage. With lyrics referencing masks, viruses and illness, it’s spooky to think the lid had been shut on ‘In Sickness & In Flames’ months before the music biz went into total shutdown. Brian’s hospital ved stay to have his appendix remo ient may have provided some presc inspiration, but as ever Sella’s able lyrics are captivating and relat r because they’re personal, rathe than making grand statements. Lead-off single ‘Camouflage’, released quietly last fall, is a as culmination of the duo’s grow th back g enin hark e whil s cian musi to the rough and ready feel of their early records. “This went through a few
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