Deep State - Heavy Lunch

1.    Who are Deep State?

Deep State are a lo-fi, noise-pop, punk, indie-rock band from Athens, Georgia. Heavy Lunch (May’17) is the second single from their second album THOUGHT GARDEN (April’17). 

2. What kind of tune is Heavy Lunch? 

Heavy Lunch veers between basement punk and noise pop while racing along melodically at full-tit. No frills and energetic. 

3. Who do Deep State sound like? 

BRONCHO, The Libertines, and Cloud Nothings.

4. What have the press got to say?

“A high energy rocker that feels akin to the maxed out, lo-fi sprints of WAVVES” – Punk News.

“A deceptively simple, likely centerpiece single” – Best Of New Orleans.  

“Raw, live sound” – Punk Online. 

5. Which bands have inspired Deep State?

Deep State are influenced by Bruce Springsteen, Devo, Fleetwood Mac, State Champion, and Silver Jews.


6. Why should I give Heavy Lunch a listen?

Because you like lo-fi songs that straddle the noise-pop/punk divide. 


7. What are Deep State's best songs?

No Idea Pt. II  is bracing.


8. Any more words? 

Deep State were signed by Chris Watson to Friendship Fever. Chris Watson discovered Dr Dog.

“Sing me a dirge”

The National are an indie rock/post-punk band from Brooklyn, New York (originally Cincinnati, Ohio). They are very popular, their sixth album was Grammy nominated and their last two albums were top five in the U.S. and worldwide. The National sound similar to Interpol, Joy Division, and Wilco. Their influences are Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and The Smiths. The System Only Dreams In Darkness (May'17) is the lead single from their seventh album Sleep Well Beast (Sept'17) and the tune has a bit more bollocks than their usual shtick.

“The system only dreams in darkness,

What are you hiding from me?”

Tunabunny - Incinerate

1.    Who are Tunabunny?

Tunabunny are an eclectic post-punk/pop/rock band from Athens, Georgia. Started in 2008 the band have five albums. Incinerate (May’17) is the lead single from the fifth (double LP) PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland Jr. (June’17). 

2. What kind of tune is Incinerate? 

A low-key indie pop groove with a hypnotic vocal that drives the song. Mellow, yet upbeat, and cool as fuck.

3. Who do they sound like? 

Tunabunny have been compared to Sleater-Kinney, Throwing Muses and Gang Of Four. But none of that is similar to this song.

4. What kind of press is Incinerate getting? 

“The presence of both advance intelligence and childlike abandon” – I M Atlanta.

“If you can’t find yourself falling head over heels for this tune, then I think your speakers are broken” – Austin Town Hall.

“Tunabunny are the most important indie band of this decade” – Broadway World. 

5. Which bands inspired Tunabunny? 

They are influenced by Brian Eno and other things like film and literature.


6. Why should I listen to Incinerate? 

Because you love cute phrasing in your vocals. Because you remember another good indie band from Athens, Georgia.


7. What are Tunabunny's best songs? 

Incinerate is the best. Give I Miss You (You Miss Me Yes) a crack though.


8. Any more words?

Nah.

“Drop a match and there she blows”

Mando Diao are a commercially successful alternative rock/garage rock band from Borlange, Sweden. They sound like Franz Ferdinand and The Kooks. Mando Diao are influenced by The Clash and The Doors. Shake (April'17) is a single from their eighth album Good Times (May’17). Shake is a dance rock song. A funky, frolic with a side of indie rock and disco.

“I need somebody to call me honey,

Girl you’ve got me, won’t you take me home”

Nothing But Thieves - Amsterdam

1.    Who are Nothing But Thieves?

Nothing But Thieves are a popular alternative rock band from Southend-on-Sea, England. Their debut album Nothing But Thieves (2015) was top ten in England and sold over 250, 000 copies. Amsterdam (May’17) is the lead single from Nothing But Thieves' second album Broken Machine (Sept’17). 

2. What kind of tune is Amsterdam?

Amsterdam is a radio-friendly, modern, alternative rock song that puts steel-capped boots on and goes full tit in the chorus (and wrings-dry the drama from the rest). Amsterdam is the best thing Nothing But Thieves have done to date.

3. Who do Nothing But Thieves sound like?

Foals, Civil Twilight, and Muse.

4. What have the mongrels in the press said about Amsterdam? 

“Catchy as all hell” – Rock Documented.

“A step up in the already stellar quality of Nothing But Thieves music” – Wavebyte.

“Combines their softer sound with an aggressive upbeat chorus” – Beyond The StageMagazine. 

5. Which bands influenced Nothing But Thieves?

Some of their influences are Led Zeppelin, Jeff Buckley, Foo Fighters, Radiohead, and Kings of Leon. 

6. Why should I give Amsterdam a shufty?

Because Nothing But Thieves are one of England's best rock bands at the minute.

7. What are Nothing But Thieves best songs? 

Excuse Me is killer. Wake Up Call and If I Get High strengthen the bands credentials.

8. Any more words? 

Broken Machine is produced by Tim Crossey (Twenty One Pilots, Foals, Arctic Monkeys). 

“So I hit my head against the wall,

Over and over and over and over and over again, and again, and again,

Cause I don’t wanna be like them”

Brick + Mortar are an electronic/indie rock band from Toms River, New Jersey. One Little Pill (April'17) is a single from the E.P. Dropped Again (May'17). Brick + Mortar are similar to River City Extension and Walk The Moon. Some of Brick + Mortar's influences are Animal Collective, The Doors, and Pink Floyd. One Little Pill is a sweet electronic rock song with a big guitar and all-in chorus; and finds the band in stellar form.

“One Little Pill,

To take me straight from sad to happy”

Bad Pop - Same House

1.    Who are Bad Pop?

Bad Pop are an indie rock band from Vancouver, Canada. They used to be known as Hot Panda. They have recorded three albums. Same House is a double A side with Masculism (April’17). 

2. What kind of tune is Same House? 

A playful, wistful and original indie art rock song. 

3. Who do Bad Pop sound like?

Los Camposinos!, The New Pornographers, and Air Traffic Controller. 

4. What is the word from the cut and paste jackals? 

“Intoxicates the mind as assuredly as smoking a crack pipe” – Emerging Indie Bands.

“Stomping alt-pop anthem” – Killing Moon.

“Bad Pop revel incandescently on ‘Same House’” – The Line Of Best Fit.

5. Which bands influenced Bad Pop? 

Bad Pop are influenced by Iggy Pop, Talking Heads, The Strokes, The New Pornographers and Supergrass. 


6. Why should I give Same House a listen?

Because it's as indie as fuck. Because it's an infectious tune. Because your friends haven't.


7. What are Bad Pop's best songs?

Bad Pop is a song so good they renamed their band after it. 


8. Any more words?

No. 

“It’s easy just to not commit or give a shit,

To anybody”

Los Camposinos! are an indie pop rock band from Cardiff, Wales. They have been playing together since 2006 and have recorded six albums. Los Campesinos! are sound like Japandroids meets Belle & Sebastian. They are influenced by bands like Modest Mouse, Broken Social Scene, and The Magnetic Fields. 5 Flucloxacillin is the second single from their sixth album Sick Scenes (2017). Some of the frustrations the band have experienced in the last four years come through in the music and add a vital desperation to the a song with a sunny indie pop exterior. 

“Doctor said, "Don't drink on antibiotics"

Reply, "It doesn't matter, hangover's always chronic anyway"

She Drew The Gun - No Hole

1. Who are She Drew The Gun?

She Drew The Gun are a psych-rock/pop band from Wirral, Liverpool, England. No Hole In My Head (Feb’17) is a cover and an album track from their debut album Memories Of Another Future (March’17). 

2. What kind of tune is No Hole? 

A poignant folk song with garage rock guitar. Rips shit up.

3. Who do She Drew The Gun sound like? 

St Vincent, Findlay, and The Big Moon. 

4. What have the press said about No Hole? 

“The guitars on this cover are sublime” – We Close Tonight.

“A titanic piece of fuzzed out indie bedlam” – Clash.

“Puts her own frustration and seductive stamp on the rendition” – The Fountain.

5. Which bands have influenced She Drew The Gun?

Some of their influences are John Lennon, Malvina Reynolds, The Las, Father John Misty, and Kate Tempest. 


6. Why should I give No Hole a listen? 

Because it reinvigorates a folk song with some cranking guitar and because the protest message has lost none of it's potency. 


7. What are She Drew The Gun's best songs? 

No Hole is top of the pile but Pit Pony is sound too.


8. Any more words?

The album Memories Of Another Future is produced by James Skelly from The Coral.

Who Drew The Gun won Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent contest in 2016. 

“Everybody thinks my heads full of nothin,’

Try to put this special stuff in,

Fill the space with candy wrappers”

FOX are a indie rock band from Luxembourg, with a classic rock sound. They have been playing together since 2013. FOX have recorded one album. The band are influenced by classic rock from the 60's and 70's and sound like Thin Lizzy or Dragon. Cool Cat is a track from their debut album FOX (2015). Cool Cat has a classic rock riff and struts into the room full of fucking swagger.

“Ohhh you better not start it with Charlie”