Guys, you know I love Leeds, but Manchester has been doing good lately. This time I was invited to Gullivers to record. One thing about Manchester is there’s so many venues and they’re all smattered with original features on the walls and lighting Santiago bar could only dream of (no shade). I pull up on a side street no motorist could pass and do a big wave in the direction of Dylan and co of Juliet. After parking up at a car park (god help me) I walk into this stunning tall ballroom, all the control over the lights, as Dylan does sound here a decent bit. We all set up on the stage, low lights everywhere but the stage, green curtains, almost antiquated.

Dylan, laid back in all regards until he sits forward on his drum stool. Powerful playing, a shallow snare that cracked and fractured across the hall. I set up in the usual way, snare, overhead and room, but it wasn’t giving that boom that we were after. So we rearranged. One on kick and then the Glynn johns. The bass drum is fat, like the 4-track struggled to contain it. There’s a bit where Dylan underpins an entire section with just kick - gnarly.

When you’ve got three guys in a band, the bass player naturally becomes another guitarist. Jake did exactly that - big stack, chord hands. You hear it especially at the end. Fuzzy as fuuuuck. Euan then got sat down to perfect this dark and brooding riff (we know a little about brooding over here at Contact Buzz). Classic shoegaze move of having a chorus that just resembles static, but I managed to move some things around and brought the notation out of the noise. No time was wasted, straight onto vocals - I don’t even think we had a break. How fucking good are those vocals? Euan floored me. Made me think of Paul Westerberg, just the power in the higher register of a metal singer, but twice as cool.

I could talk at length about the individual qualities of this song, but the dynamism of the trio is just huge. A shy group by some measure, but the loudest guys in the vicinity when it comes to their performance. The choruses are huge, the soundscape is massive. I don’t know if anyone noticed, but I think Manchester might have some musical prowess. Don’t tell anyone I told you.

P.S. - Just seen these guys are breaking up. Don’t talk to me right now.

For Fans of: Boris, Hum and Title Fight.