“Silk For The Starving” Comes out June 18th on Speedy Wunderground Pre Order Here
The Lounge Society are: Cameron Davey (vocals/bass), Herbie May (guitar), Hani Paskin-Hussain (guitar) and Archie Dewis (drums).
After what seems like an endless flood of underwhelming debut releases incubated in lockdown come The Lounge Society comprehensively bucking the trend with their hugely impressive 4 track debut EP “Silk for the starving”. Hailing from West Yorkshire’s sun starved Pennine valleys and signed to the seminal Speedy Wunderland conglomerate The Lounge Society are four young lads who started on their journey as young devotees of one of the finest independent music venues in the UK “The Hebden Bridge Trades Club” and it shows. With an early exposure to so many formative influences it is of no surprise that The Lounge Society defy categorisation and they are savvy enough to want to keep it that way. Being true to themselves what they have become is a massively intriguing outfit and it is absolutely no surprise that they have been tipped by NME as “ones to watch” this year. Rightly so.
So “Silk for the starving” comprises of just four tracks totalling a mere 12 mins in length and yet spinning the record you’d think it was even less than that such is the perfectly curated running order and pace of the work. I actually found myself needing to listen to it on repeat and that doesn’t happen often I can tell you. Opening up “Silk for the starving” side 1 gives us a stripped back post punk funk workout “Burn the Heather” with hints of the New York sounds of LCD soundsystem, Talking Heads et al to whet the appetite neatly followed by “Television” which further ratchets up the tempo. With brilliant jangly guitar phrasing throughout let’s make no bones about it: these are great songs that really nail down the essence of contemporary youth political concerns adding even more relevance to their inescapable appeal.
And so primed from side 1 and barely pausing for breath we drop the needle on side 2 and immediately realise just how good this slab of wax is gonna be. “Cain’s Heresy” is absolutely phenomenal. My only criticism being that it is far too short. A neo-psychedelic workout incorporating a near perfect tempo change and brilliant production and guitar work reminiscent of the mighty 13th Floor Elevators “Cain’s Heresy” is the current single lifted from ”Silk for the Starving” and propels this release to the next level. Concluding affairs “Valley Bottom Fever” taps out at a blistering pace with an expert dissonance that absolutely nails down “Silk for the Starving” as a masterpiece
This work is special and what makes it so special is the sharply creative synergy and chemistry between The Lounge Society and Speedy Wunderland. This symbiosis is nothing short of profound and marks it as one of the very best debut releases I’ve heard in a very long while. For real. On the evidence at hand the future looks very bright for these young Yorkshire lads and we can expect to see them up and down the land anytime soon with a packed diary of live shows awaiting the green light (pandemic notwithstanding) and then…..well…. the sky’s the limit?.
10/10
REVIEW BY VON GOLOKA
TRACK LISTING FOR SILK FOR THE STARVING.
Burn The Heather
Television
Cain’s Heresy
Valley Bottom Fever
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My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago and married my childhood sweetheart and life is good.
