A new year and two new Yorkshire bands who you will be hearing massive amounts about in the next year. Expect both to feature in end of year list and all awards.
Leeds outfit Yard Act have released their feverishly anticipated debut album The Overload. Spanning 11 entirely new tracks, The Overload is a record which rages with Yard Act’s inimitable wit, musical dexterity and tasteful curation. Littered with Yard Act’s signature dark humour and knowing cynicism, The Overload pokes fun at society without ever punching down from a place of superiority. “Lyrically, I think it’s a record about the things that we all do – we’re all so wired into the system of day to day that we don’t really stop and think about the constructs that define us,” says vocalist James Smith. “But also beyond that, it’s kind of exciting, because there’s still so much we don’t understand; how a hive mindset is forged, how information spreads, how we agree and presume things without thinking. Some people think more than others, but a lot of this sloganeering – ‘I’m on the left, I’m not wrong’ – doesn’t achieve anything. Gammons, Karens, Snowflakes, whatever – I find it all so boring. I’m just not into that.”
Speaking about the first taste of their long awaited album, James said: “‘The Overload’ serves as an overture to the album. It’s written from the perspective of someone sitting in a pub overhearing snippets of all these different conversations from different characters and acting as a vessel, a medium even, for their own thoughts and opinions. That cut and paste approach means it’s hard to decipher where one person’s musings end and another’s statement begins, and that feels like a fairer representation of why human existence is at the point it is right now. Society doesn’t prevail because of the absolute, it struggles on in spite of it. It’s our ability to compromise which helps us to coexist.”
Spearheaded by James Smith (vocals) and Ryan Needham (bass), the now four-piece, completed by Sam Shjipstone (guitar) and Jay Russell (drums), have built a sound that speaks inherently to their birthplace of Leeds, West Yorkshire, and yet ties together observations from all walks of modern British life – the small-town bloke in the local pub, the anti-capitalist stuck at a desk job, the tired activist in all of us torn between easy complicity and the desire to fight. Whatever you need to do to see them live, do it. They are in Leeds 26th February at Brudenell Social Club and The Irish Centre 20th May
Bolton-upon-Dearne’s The Sherlocks were certainly a slow-burn overnight sensation. Ascending swiftly from stints in working men’s clubs to rammed, buzzing and riotous gigs on the nearby Sheffield scene, they were embraced as the city’s next big guitar stars, set to launch the next wave of Sheffield alt-rock.
Which they did: and as they stepped onto the NME/Radio 1 Stage at the Leeds leg of Reading & Leeds 2017, they announced to a rammed tent that their debut album Live For The Moment had, that very day, entered the UK albums chart at Number Six. The band are soon set to release their anticipated forthcoming album, World I Understand. As well as this, the four-piece are currently touring the UK as part of their ‘Keep Our Independent Venues Alive’ tour – a run of shows across the UK’s most cherished independent venues to help support these spaces during their most challenging times. We can’t wait to get back out on tour with this new record”, says Kiaran Crook. “It is without a doubt our strongest one yet, and one that’s ready-made for the live performances. It’s gonna’ be an absolute monster of a tour and we look forward to seeing you all at the front soon!” Catch them in York and Leeds in May.
It would be remiss not to end this month’s column without mentioning the passing of Meatloaf. Music, at it’s very best and most innovative, does change lives. When Bat Out Of Hell was released on 21st October 1977 and given as a late birthday gift it changed my life for sure. I have never met anyone who didn’t like the record. Larger than life he will be sadly missed but he has left us a musical legacy that will influence music forever.
