Bristol Rough Trade – In store signing and Performance – Saturday 12th March 2022
I can’t ever remember being this excited for a full album to drop..
Having had the chance to preview the whole album this week, hasn’t helped. If anything it’s made things worse, the anticipation of getting my hands on my own copy is killing me.
The Mysterines, debut album, “Reeling” (how the hell this is a debut album, will end up being one of the great mysteries of the universe) drops THIS FRIDAY – March 11th. And Bristol gets to see them the very next day as we are the very first stop post release on their In-Store signing and performance mini tour, before they hit the road for a full UK tour later this month.
Already selected as BBC RADIO 1’S FUTURE ARTIST FOR JANUARY 2022, the scouse four piece are racking up some incredible reviews…
“This Liverpool gang want it all – and they’re probably going to get it” NME
“Un-fuck-with-able attitude of Godzilla smashing down the street with a tequila in hand” DIY
“The band alchemise fuzztoned garage rock into something that feels fresh, electrifying and vital” MOJO
“This is without a doubt the best The Mysterines have ever sounded” Jack Saunders
The Mysterines are a true force to be reckoned within UK rock. Barely out of their teens, they completely sold out both their 2020 and 2021 headline tours, were selected as one of Amazon Music UK’s Ones To Watch 2022, have supported Royal Blood, The Amazons and Sea Girls on tour, as well as headlined the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading and Leeds. Their fans include Steve Lamacq, Jack Saunders, Clara Amfo, Dan P Carter and Huw Stephens, alongside tastemakers NME, Independent, Metro, MOJO, DIY, Dork, Upset, CLASH and Gigwise.
This album has been truly worth the wait, not a single filler track amongst the set of 13 songs spanning 43 minutes and 29 seconds.
Made under the watchful eye of acclaimed producer Catherine Marks (Wolf Alice, The Big Moon, PJ Harvey) over three weeks in between lockdowns at Assault & Battery studios in London, recorded live to capture the intensity of the songs. “It’s a pretty ambiguous title for most people, but for me ‘Reeling’ sums up every emotion of the album in just one word,” says Lia. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” she explains.
Grief, self-destruction and heartache run heavy through the record, but all are brought together by the blackest of humour. The dirty desert blues of ‘Life’s A Bitch’ was actually meant to be the first single, “but it turns out I say ‘bitch’ too much on it,” chuckles Lia. Other tracks run the gamut from the grunged-up country of ‘Old Friends, Die Hard’ to the giddy, free-falling ‘On The Run’, Lia’s unique take on the tale of the teenage runaways in Terrence Mallick’s iconic Badlands. Then there’s the creepy, cultish ‘Under Your Skin’, which is The Doors by way of The Manson Family and the Stooges-esque ‘The Bad Thing’, of which Lia says: “It’s the most fun to play, and the words I find really funny as well – I’m digging someone up from the grave that I used to love.”
My take on the album is it has a timeless feel and takes you on a road trip…not a summer, sunny days kinda road trip mind you. More a soundtrack of escapism as you jump in the car on a wet n rainy night and make a run for it, leaving behind the emotional turmoil of your past and drive toward an unknown future.
This is a album of pure cathartic exorcism. An enigma wrapped up in beautiful, warm fuzzy guitars and deep beats that shake you to the core.
There are some true stand out tracks here, full of dark, brooding menace such as “In My Head”, “Means to Bleed” and the aforementioned “Under Your Skin”, all of which make the hairs on my neck stand on end in there raw, visceral sound and feel.
Comfortably, the best album I have listened too in 2022. And an album that instantly puts the music world on notice…. The Mysterines have arrived.
We suggest you catch them live
The Mysterines Record In-stores
7-Mar-22 Leeds Crash Records
8-Mar-22 Sheffield Foundry
9-Mar-22 Brighton Resident Music
11-Mar-22 London Rough Trade East
12-Mar-22 Bristol Rough Trade
12-Mar-22 Marlborough Town Hall
13-Mar-22 Nottingham Rough Trade
14-Mar-22 Liverpool Phase One
15-Mar-22 Preston Blitz
The Mysterines 2022 headline UK tour dates
18-Mar-22 Belfast Ulster Sports Club
23-Mar-22 Glasgow G2, The Garage
24-Mar-22 Kingston Upon Hull Social
25-Mar-22 Leeds Brudenell Social Club
26-Mar-22 Cambridge Mash
30-Mar-22 Manchester Band On The Wal
l31-Mar-22 Birmingham The Castle & Falcon
1-Apr-22 London Electric Ballroom
2-Apr-22 Liverpool Invisible Wind Factory
The Mysterines are:
Lia Metcalfe (vocals/guitar) George Favager (bass) Callum Thompson (guitar) Paul Crilly (drums)
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