headboy - Tapeworms - PACKS - Black Nail Cabaret
Fast-rising London trio headboy reveal details of their debut EP and release its lead single "Cement". The band's upcoming debut EP 'Was It What You Thought' will be released on the 9th June via Blitzcat Records and follows a flurry of exhilarating sold-out headline shows in the capital, support slots with Porridge Radio, Goat Girl, DEADLETTER, Heartworms and THUS LOVE, along with their three 2022 standalone singles "Televised", "Toothrot" and "Alligator".
Consisting of guitarist/bassist and vocalist Mars West (they/them), bassist/guitarist vocalist Jess Collins (she/they) and drummer Oli Birbeck (they/them), headboy have already established themselves as a beguiling force to be reckoned with on the live stage, cultivating a devoted following in London and further afield.
The trio's much-anticipated debut EP 'Was It What You Thought' tracks a period of political turbulence; rediscovering and reflecting on the importance of friendship and loyalty, ending with a heartfelt treatise on loss and vulnerability. Ultimately a study into the often cyclical, yet always unpredictable nature of life itself, newly released single "Cement" specifically zeros in on that significance of friendship, amidst a backdrop of bright, intricate indie-rock.
Speaking more on the lyrical inspiration behind new single "Cement", the band said: "In the heat of a turbulent summer, misrule reigned. Cement is about taking stock and refuge in the comfort of your friends and the people around you; and the rediscovery of friendship. It includes advice from Mars’ grandfather ‘don’t count the days it slows them down’ - a warning against wishing away life."
"Cement" lyricist Mars West went on to say: "When things are difficult I often find myself thinking 'how long before this will end?' Then I think about my grandfather's warning - 'don't count the days it slows them down'. Sometimes you have to absorb yourself in whatever chapter of life you are in, instead of spending all your time wishing for the next one. Cement is very much about that."
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Arriving right in time for Spring, known as the season of rebirth, “IRL” is a melting pot of sparkling sounds that blend digital string sections with warped sample solos.
Following on from their debut album ‘Funtastic’, released in 2020, the new track sees Tapeworms build their own innovative bridge between sugary synth-pop and contorted indie. Pushing their sound in new and exciting directions, “IRL” brings a steady tempo and lush production that connotes images of surrealistic dreamlands.
The acronym for ‘In Real LIfe’, a phrase born on social media to distinguish ‘virtual life’ from ‘real life’, ‘IRL’ was heavily inspired by Japanese light novel ‘Haruhi Suzumiya’. Blending ethereal vocals with wonky pop beats, the track explores the relationship between dreams and real life and phantasm and reality.
Accompanied by an official video and dazzling new imagery inspired by livecam websites and early lifecasting macro-stars such as Jennicam, “IRL”’s accompanying visuals play with a variety of narratives and captures the band living out their day-to-day lives. A promising new addition to the Tapeworms catalogue, “IRL” is set to open a new chapter for the band — one full of never-ending pop exploration.
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In a little under two weeks, PACKS will be releasing their sophomore LP Crispy Crunchy Nothing on Fire Talk Records. The follow up to their acclaimed 2021 debut Take The Cake, which earned accolades from outlets like The FADER, Stereogum, NYLON, Paste, BrooklynVegan, NME, Gorilla vs Bear and Bandcamp, who called the LP "the sound of classic indie rock as delivered by a promising new voice," the album has seen the release of two singles "Brown Eyes" and "4th of July", earning best of the week nods from outlets like Uproxx, Consequence and Alt Press who called it "a delight".
PACKS' new LP sharpens the laid back appeal of the band's debut, displaying a newfound flair in its arrangement and production that heightens the subtle strangeness of leader Madeline Link's songwriting. A collection of bright, imaginative vignettes of loneliness, yearning and confusion, under-pinned by Link’s distinct sense of humour, and her writing has found a new emotional register, which is exemplified by the album's final single "EC", which is out now.
The writing of the album was tied up in Link processing the death of her aunt, who was killed in a hit and run incident in Seattle near the start of the pandemic. While "EC" was not written directly about that loss, it addresses the way that grief can strike in unexpected ways and with surprising weight, and has an emotional rawness that's only been hinted at in Link's songwriting to this prior to this album.
"The unexpected death of a coworker I had never met struck me like a brick wall," Link explains. "I had been in charge of packing up all of his electronic hardware and shipping it to him just months before. As I found myself preparing shipping labels for his mother to place on the boxes to send back, a lasting sadness set in."
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Black Nail Cabaret unveil the lyric video 'Sister Sister' as the first single taken from the forthcoming experimental album "Woodlands Memoirs". Under the banner Black Nail Cabaret and Friends, the Hungarian duo and three closely befriended musicians have created a one-off rather analogue and organic project that is different from their usual avant-garde synth pop style by transforming their own songs into thrilling cover versions. Please see below for more information on this album.
The release date has been scheduled to May 26, 2023. Black Nail Cabaret comment: "For us, 'Sister Sister' has long been a favourite from the 'Dichromat' album", singer Emèse Árvai-Illes remarks.
"The original track has a cold wave vibe that we now somewhat unintentionally turned into a sonic entity that rather resembles a 'Twin Peaks' score. It is a beautiful representation of what we have aimed to accomplish by covering our own songs."
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