Heavy Lungs – Measure EP (Balley Records)
Heavy Lungs - Measure EP
Release Date: 10th October 2019
Bristol outfit Heavy Lungs have
been making a noise for some time now, but I think this EP might make people
start to pay attention a little more. The ‘Measure’ EP opens up with ‘Half Full’
which emerges, blinking in to an inorganic sunshine full of bleeps and whistles
before a throbbing rumble of a rhythm section takes the energy to another level
and then the guitar vs vocal competition kicks off – I’m not sure there’s a
clear winner beyond music itself. ‘Self Worth’ has a more immediate chug to it
but then spirals rapidly out of control into a sound that is part Idles, part
the Fall, part Stooges and part Slaves which, let’s face it, is one hell of a
mosh pit to be in.
On ‘T.O.T.B.’, Heavy Lungs take
things in a slinkier, more rock’n’roll approach with highly strung guitar notes
having the life wrung out of them and the kind of drumming that makes you want
to get back behind kit, even if you’ve never played before. The first single to
be released from the album is ‘(A bit of a) Birthday’ and you can immediately
understand why it was chosen with its urgent beat, filthy dirty guitar riff and
general Queens of the Stone Age meets Royal Blood vibe – throw in Life meets
Mark E. Smith vocals and you’ve got yourself a riot. The EP closes out with ‘Pacemaker’,
a track full of drunk romance and 3.00am serenades and the kind of angular guitars
you could cut yourself on if you weren’t properly prepared. Heavy Lungs are an
assault on the senses, sure, but it’s the kind of assault that invigorates and
refreshes and we all need that from time to time.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/heavylungsband/
Live Dates:
11th October – Student’s Union, Reading
12th October – Neighbourhood, Manchester
18th October – Wild Paths, Norwich
19th October – O2 Academy, Oxford
20th October – SWN Festival, Cardiff
23rd October – Cassiopeia, Berlin
24th October – DDW Music Festival, Eindhoven
25th October – London Calling, Amsterdam
26th October – Nijmegen, Netherlands
28th October – TBC, Paris
31st October – TBC, Madrid
4th November – TBC, Tunbridge Wells