The Difference
With three young, upcoming Liverpool bands to feast your ears upon, Getintothis’ Mark Rowley has the lowdown on why you should give them a listen.
Monks, Shards and The Difference made up the lineup for the recent Capeesh-promoted, Kick.Out #2 event at Sound Basement in Duke Street, Liverpool.
The night (supported by a superb DJ set from Cosmic Shepherd) was completely sold out in advance, with each band putting in a stellar performance to showcase its respective talents.
Monks
Monks
Making major waves on the Liverpool music scene (including securing a prestigious slot at this year’s Liverpool Sound City Festival) is Monks.
The band fronted by singer-guitarist and chief song-writer, George Pomford, hail from various Merseyside outposts such as Sefton, Ellesmere Port and Wavertree.
Having met via mutual friends and through college, the remaining band members are Nathan Johnson (guitarist), Kali Diston-Jones (drums), Joe Fay (trumpet, synthesizers) and Liam Daly (bass guitar, sampler). Starting out as recently as September 2017, Monks fuse various influences, such as psych rock, jazz, and dream-pop to create their own unique sound.
SPILT and The Bohos sign to Anvil Records and announce Liverpool dates
Joe Fay’s trumpeting (from an orchestral background), brings a distinct flavour to their sound; whilst Nathan Johnson’s guitar work, replete with reverb-infused riffs and Kali Diston-Jones complex drum fills all add perfectly to forge Monks’ sound. Pomford’s song-writing contains different time signatures, and samples sentences from old news interviews, bringing a creative twist to some of their songs.
In recent weeks, Monks have played two headline shows and also supported Paris Youth Foundation and Clay. The band is in the process of recording its first single at Elevator Studios, with expected release sometime in March 2018. As well as Sound City, Monks have further support slots coming up, including a gig at Studio 2, supporting The Bohos on April 7.
Shards
Shards
Shards is another four-piece band from Merseyside, made up of Alex McKenzie (singer-guitarist), Paddy Gullidge (lead guitar) Dan Jones (bassist) and Cain Garcia (Drums). McKenzie and Jones were mates from school, sharing their musical interests together there. They first met Gullidge through the internet, around two years ago, adding Garcia to the band’s lineup around one year ago.
Shards has a particularly mesmerising dream-pop sound and a live performance effortlessly fills a room, all bright and beautifully jangling guitars! Alex McKenzie’s vocals are reminiscent of Buzzcocks’ Pete Shelley, whilst their influences include Radiohead, The Smiths and Mac DeMarco.
To date Shards have released one studio song Changes, with their newest song’ Reflections due out next month on Spotify. Supporting bands such as The Bohos, Redfaces and Theme Park, their next gig is at Studio 2 on March 3, with Marmalade, SPILT and Samurai Kip.
The Difference
The Difference
Hailing from Wavertree in Liverpool, The Difference know each other from school and formed in April 2017. The four-piece consists of Kieran McCarthy (vocals and guitar), Matty Campbell (lead guitar), Lewis Grivosti (bass) and Jack Cleary (drums).
For a set of lads aged 16/17 that have played less than a handful of gigs to date, their live set is an impressively tight affair that draws its inspiration from bands like The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and The Stone Roses.
Cambell’s sonic guitar hooks complement the vocals of charismatic, confident front man, McCarthy, whilst the rhythm section of Grivosti and Cleary maintain a propulsive beat that provides the backbone to their sound. In rehearsals, the latter two often break into playing Royal Blood covers during discussions about the finer details of song structures by the other two.
Their first single, Suppose (released in October 2017 and produced by Andy Fernihough at Crash Studios) was played on BBC Radio Merseyside as part of BBC Introducing. It has achieved over 2000 Streams on Spotify, with a growing audience. The Difference are through to the next round of Liverpool Rocks! Battle Of The Bands at the East Village Arts Centre on March 3.
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