Three bands and a post-Brexit trend in British rock
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The term post-punk applies to such a wide variety of music, it’s like a bucket you can throw almost any rock band from the late 1970s and beyond into. It’s the archetypal lazy classification, with many critics generously using the tag to classify bands that have sprung up in the decades since the emergence of the first post-punk outfits.
These early bands, which emerged in the late 1970s in the UK and US, eschewed minimalist brutality and (often) punk’s lack of sophistication, moving beyond traditional rock to make music. non-traditional rock music, sometimes experimental and arty too.
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So when a new generation of British bands emerged in the post-Brexit era, the knee-jerk reaction of many critics was to label them as post-punk outfits. This may not be wrong in theory, but it fails to capture the spirit, philosophy, and some common themes these new groups share. Let’s look at three of them: Brighton Squid; South London dry cleaning; and Sleaford Mods from Nottingham. All three have released new albums this year; and all three have a lot in common that could mark a new trend in contemporary British music.
Take the squid. Formed in 2016, the quintet released singles and an EP of songs that baffled most critics, mainly because they seemed unclassifiable. This year Squid released their first full album, Light green field, a set of 11 songs of varying lengths (the longest, Narrator, lasts eight and a half minutes; the shortest is the opener, Square resolution, clocked at 40 seconds). Narrator is the best showcase of the band’s style, something they have in common with the other two bands covered in this column. And that’s the singing style, somewhere between speaking and singing.
Narrator opens like a krautrock hymn from the 1970s, somewhere between progressive rock and dance music. But then it quickly turns into a style of speaking. The lyrics, if you pay attention, are extremely egotistical and yet relatable: Losing my flow and my memories are so unnatural / I am my own narrator / Losing my flow and my memories are so unnatural / I am my own narrator. While the musical style keeps changing in unsettling ways (that just might be the appeal of the song), it’s the vocal style, you realize, that is the most distinctive thing about it.
Narrator embodies the music of Squid. There is a lot of screaming, anger and, most importantly, excitement on the album. Yet there is also a sense of grandeur and majesty, rare for the debut album from a new (ish) young band. This is what gives hope for the greatness of this quintet.
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Dry Cleaning is a quartet formed in 2018. And unlike Squid, whose lead singer, Olie Judge, is male, Dry Cleaning has a lead singer, Florence Shaw. They too have their first feature film, New long leg, released this year. At first, Dry Cleaning songs might make you focus almost entirely on Shaw’s vocals (spoken style vocals, rather). Her lyrics are concise and can seem disjointed at times, but when you settle in and focus, they are engaging poetry. In the first album Lady not very intelligent, she sings: If you like a girl, be nice / It’s not rocket science / A squeezed tan foot hopefully in a short boot / A Kerry Bog pony / High fever / Epilator / Epilator / High fever / Epilator⦠Shaw’s vocals are layered over tight guitar riffs, deep basslines and percussion that bring his lyrics, laconically delivered to life. Like their compatriots Squid, Dry Cleaning clearly seems to herald a new wave of British rock.
Sleaford mods are a bit older than Squid and Dry Cleaning. Formed in 2007, they currently have 11 studio albums in their catalog. In addition, they are a duo, unlike Squid, a quintet, and Dry Cleaning, a quartet. An angry duo, to be precise. Vocalist Jason Williamson has a distinctive East Midlands accent and although his singing style is similar to spoken vocals from Squid and Dry Cleaning, the lyrics are more overtly political, pro-working class, frequently slamming the establishment and the upper classes. .
On their last album, Ribs, the Mods are attacking the Conservative government of Boris Johnson for its handling of the covid-19 crisis (We’re all so tired Tory, and beaten up by little minds, they sing in the opener, The new brick). In Shortcuts, they refer to Johnson’s ex-adviser Dominic Cummings predicting the scandal over Johnson (he visited his parents’ farm during lockdown while showing symptoms of covid- 19) could bring down the Prime Minister (It’s short, short, short, short, short / It will mess so badly / But everything will get hard).
Squid, Dry Cleaning and Sleaford Mods are just three of the many leading bands emerging in the UK rock landscape. There are many more who share their spare lyrics, vocal style, and sonic experimentalism. Could this be the start of Britrock’s new post-Brexit wave?
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First Beat is a column on what’s new and groovy in the world of music.
@sanjoynarayan
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