Bad For Lazarus
Pitted as the South’s most bombastic and vicious live act, it’s a bold outfit that tries matching Bad For Lazarus’s attitudinal and aural sucker punch.
But where this description may drum up misplaced images of on-stage bat death, parental genuflection and whoozy audio tirades, think again: emerging five-piece BFL are tacitly rescuing dispirited music lovers from a mire of one-dimensional pop vomit, half-baked rock cut outs and emo-goth have-a-goes that all too readily litter the floor of the UK’s music scene.
Nothing short of a super group, BFL casually boast ex-members of Nine Inch Nails, The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and UNKLE. Armed with these credentials, the boys - frontman Rich Fownes; bassist/guitarist/vox Dominic Knight; guitarist/vox Richie Correia; drummer Ross Crick; and keys/guitarist/other noises Liam Dowling - cook up an alchemical audio storm, merging genres from the classic sound of Motown artists through to the gooey phlegm of punk. In their own words; "We like Motown and we like Richard Hell. So we sound like Motown Hell."
Throw in a splatter of psychobilly spook, unidentifiable piratical Victoriana and a spinal column of driven grunk, and there you have it: fuzzy but coherent, clean cut but generally irreverent, loud and mouthy but entirely melodic and accessible, Bad For Lazarus are 2012’s blister-inflicting hot rocks, bursting with ooh-ooh-rah onto stages, tour circuits and festivals.
Having already torn up their hometown of Brighton with their teeth, Bad For Lazarus continue to gawp-induce the remainder of the UK with a stream of appearances.
Along the way, they’ve effortlessly attracted the attention of several industry heavy hitters including Craig Charles, Harvey Goldsmith, Nick Cave, Michael Chugg and Chris Goss and played with hip bands such as Eighties Matchbox, Hawk Eyes, Liars, The James Cleaver Quintet, Exit_International, Winnebago Deal, Black Moth, and Baby Godzilla
12th November heralds the release of the band’s debut single, ‘My Muddle’, rounding off a season of festival appearances among a sizeable register of regular - (well, kind of) – gigs.
Front man Fownes says of the single, "The song was written musically to be a pretty perfect slice of the different genres we like to embrace. Big beat drums. Motown / soul vocals. Dark rock guitars.
"Lyrically we always write about whats around us but our usual stipulation is that it must have a sense of humour. I abhor self-loathing and introspection in the lyrics of heavy music. Get over yourself, how much more subject matter exists outside of the petty indulgence of your average, commercially-approved "difficult emotions".
Be warned, though; the single’s a standalone teaser, set for staking out the band’s place in otherwise unchartered territory ahead of the launch of their album, ‘Life’s A Carnival, Bang, Bang, Bang’.
Featuring guest vocals from Leila Moss of The Duke Spirit and produced by Toydrum and mixed by Kosheen, ‘Life’s A Carnival’ isn’t far off musical arson. So cover up your smoke alarms and prepare; inhalation could cause irreversible addiction.
To coincide with the release of 'My Muddle' Bad for Lazarus play a series of dates:
November
2nd Newcastle - Dog and Parrot, Candy Vortex
6th London - Black Heart, Camden
14th Nottingham - The Maze
22nd Glasgow - Nice N' Sleazy
23rd Edinburgh - Banshee Labyrinth
24th York - Stereo
December
15th Wolverhampton - Royal London