Underground Heroes
Words by Damien Gabet
‘It’s amazing what you can do in a year.’ Ever thought you were a bit of a time waster? Do you wake up of a Sunday afternoon and let T4 rot your skull for six hours? Not these boys. In the short time since they decided to skank their way to planet indie-pop, a fair bit has taken place. They started the year playing gigs at their local dive the ‘Tap n Tin’, then moved on to slots at various summer music festivals, played Ibiza Rocks with The View and The Automatic before finishing at the London Astoria. ‘We knew the View before they were big and we’ve been good friends touring around together ever since.’ Pretty busy then for a bunch of scruff-arsed 19 year-olds with a love for ‘Crude, fag-chuffing tunes’.
The Kentish raised quintet take influence from atypical sources. ‘Growing up we all listened to the regular stuff - Clash, Libertines, Specials and things like that. The area we’ve grown up in has a special vibe about it. England’s original Libertine was from round here, that kind of history has attracted the likes of Pete Doherty and others down here and I think that makes it a cool place to be.’ For those in need of a quick history lesson the man in question is James Wilmot, the 2nd Earl of Rochester circa 1680. Hedonism, debauchery and all the bawdy trimmings. Modern day translation: 20 year old male.
But what about depth? Do they carry a message? In today’s Indie band of the day disposable culture it’s something so frequently lacking. Not with Underground Heroes, Aaron explains. ‘Bands like the Kaiser Chiefs have made playing a guitar fashionable. Top Man rock isn’t it? Our new stuff is less rudimentary than the early days. We’ve matured and I think people prefer something with a bit of something about it.’
Blimey, this stuff might even have socio-political relevance! Self-confessed reformed chav Aaron explains how the band is trying to work on deeper levels. ‘You do get your hardcore mods and indie kids down a lot but more and more we’re seeing - shit yourself when you see them – skin-head Lacoste wearing lads singing along to the tunes, and everyone just gets on. We write songs that are relevant to both sorts of kids.’ Imagine tunes as social glue, a diluted Clash effect maybe? DING DING DING! New genre alert.! Chav + Indie = Chindie. You heard it hear first.
G.C.S.E chat aside, all this gives strong promise for a band who have aspirations for the top. It’s got people more excited than when Wagon Wheels released the jam centered range for fucks sake. If they can dodge the hype magazines sticking literary pins in their musical voodoo doll then you might just be hearing a little more from these Chindie pioneers.
http://www.myspace.com/undergroundheroes
Posted Thu, December 04, 2008