It’s interesting what you can glean about a band through their Facebook profile. Did you know that Bruce Sargent, the drummer for The Hipshakes, has a small indentation known as a sacral dimple above his buttocks? Did you want to know? The important information surrounding the Manchester punks is that they’ve just released Snake, their fourth album, and it’s bloody good. Originally from the small town of Bakewell, home of the Bakewell pudding and the longest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, the band started in high school and released their first record as 15-year olds. Now veterans of the UK garage punk scene, the four piece have released stuff on Goner and Slovenly and toured and played every small punk club across the UK and most of Europe. Listen to the album below and read a short interview with the band’s Dan Russell.NOISEY: Are you really Manchester's premiere punks?
Dan Russell: Nah, I'd say Duds, for their lifestyle, or Denim and Leather,for their stage show, are more punk than us. We seem to have a certain prestige by virtue of having been a band for a long time, but there are other bands regularly kicking our arses in the songwriting department, like Birth Marks. Plenty of bands could beat us in "premiere-ness."What is Manchester's premiere beer?
There are so many small and new breweries in Manchester but none of us are particularly discerning. Pint of what's cheap please. A lot of my friends do the artwork for a brewer called Cloudwater, that's pretty good. Boddington's is the classic old Manchester beer.Who did the album art? There's something about it that's striking (and not just the snake).
I did. It's actually a legless lizard, a slow worm. I saw one on a walk in Lathkill Dale (a beauty spot in the countryside where we all grew up). It looked so great, sat there not doing anything (but also, what a pathetic creature) and I thought, "There is our Snake." Even though it's not a snake. They aren't really the colour I did it, but we couldn't have a nondescript smooth length of brown on the cover, could we?I'm digging the song "Doubts Himself" Is that about anyone in particular?
It's about the band member's doubts. Andrew has doubts. I have doubts. Ben has doubts. Bruce, well we all love Bruce. Cleverly, we use the word 'he' instead of naming names to keep the mystique for our fans.You just played with the Flaming Groovies. What were they like? Could you hang out with them back stage?
They had the only backstage area and we had to share a venue staff member's office with the Fruit Tones so there was little interaction. They seemed pretty normal and not rock star egotists or jaded at all, which was great. They played with the same enthusiasm you could imaging them having when they first started - they tore through loads of covers in a way that really showed how much they love the music.
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Dan Russell: Nah, I'd say Duds, for their lifestyle, or Denim and Leather,for their stage show, are more punk than us. We seem to have a certain prestige by virtue of having been a band for a long time, but there are other bands regularly kicking our arses in the songwriting department, like Birth Marks. Plenty of bands could beat us in "premiere-ness."What is Manchester's premiere beer?
There are so many small and new breweries in Manchester but none of us are particularly discerning. Pint of what's cheap please. A lot of my friends do the artwork for a brewer called Cloudwater, that's pretty good. Boddington's is the classic old Manchester beer.Who did the album art? There's something about it that's striking (and not just the snake).
I did. It's actually a legless lizard, a slow worm. I saw one on a walk in Lathkill Dale (a beauty spot in the countryside where we all grew up). It looked so great, sat there not doing anything (but also, what a pathetic creature) and I thought, "There is our Snake." Even though it's not a snake. They aren't really the colour I did it, but we couldn't have a nondescript smooth length of brown on the cover, could we?I'm digging the song "Doubts Himself" Is that about anyone in particular?
It's about the band member's doubts. Andrew has doubts. I have doubts. Ben has doubts. Bruce, well we all love Bruce. Cleverly, we use the word 'he' instead of naming names to keep the mystique for our fans.You just played with the Flaming Groovies. What were they like? Could you hang out with them back stage?
They had the only backstage area and we had to share a venue staff member's office with the Fruit Tones so there was little interaction. They seemed pretty normal and not rock star egotists or jaded at all, which was great. They played with the same enthusiasm you could imaging them having when they first started - they tore through loads of covers in a way that really showed how much they love the music.
‘Snake’ is available now through Art For Blind records.