There's one factor, above all the others, that gets me really excited about a new band. Sure, I often get excited about a band's look, their musical style, or a particular song of theirs, but there's a bigger tell-tale sign when it comes to figuring out whether you're going to love a new band for the long haul or not. That one thing is their consistency. It's hard to get into a new band (that already doesn't have much material) if you only like about half of their discography. All my favorite new bands share this one factor, but one of these bands takes consistency to a whole other level.
That one group is Inheaven and they're a South London band that has some serious tunes. They've officially released four singles (their newest tune being "Drift"), all backed with b-sides that are worthy of being singles themselves, and it seems there's no talk of their debut album just yet. They're keen to release as much material for fans as possible and I'm really excited to hear what they put out next. According to an interview on Radio X with the band's lead singer, James Taylor, he's says they have about 60 songs written and they want to release as much music as they can and put out loads of music videos as well. I gotta say it's really inspiring to see a band that loves what they do so much that they keeping pushing themselves to write tons songs that are better than the last ones, even though they've got a hectic touring schedule.
Perhaps the band's first big break was when Julian Casablancas' label, Cult Records, showed interest. According to the band, they got an email saying that Casablancas heard their demos and immediately wanted to find out who they were and find out how the label could get involved with them. The label ended up putting out their first single in the US, "Regeneration", backed by "Slow." The band have already played several major festivals and have toured with the likes of Sundara Karma (this was the tour that I first heard about them), Vant, Pale Waves and The Big Moon. Plus, they're due to support another huge buzz band, Blossoms, on their upcoming tour as well.
They describe their music as "dreamy noise punk pop", and it's clear that they thought long and hard about that phrase because it's really spot on. However, they do also mention their intention to keep the words pop and punk separate, in regards to their sound, which is always a win in my book! The band members share a mutual love of bands like Nirvana, The Clash, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, The Smashing Pumpkins and Pixies. They really are a great melting pot of American and British rock over the last several decades. There's obvious elements of shoegaze, grunge, indie, punk, rock and pop and they pull off all of those styles with ease. They also remind me a lot of The Jesus and Mary Chain, whose noise pop, at times, is hard to make out its distinct elements, but is still super infectious and full of great melodies.
The band consists of James Taylor (lead/backing vocals, guitar), Chloe Little (lead/backing vocals/bass), Jake Lucas (guitar) and Joe Lazarus (drums). Most of the time, James sings lead vocals while Chloe sings backup, but there are occasions where the roles are reversed and both definitely have the pipes to pull it off. Their two voices mesh really well together and it's a combination that's very much reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher.
An element of the band that can't be left unsaid is their DIY ethos. They make and sell their own fanzines and bassist Chloe Little makes the band's music videos. Chloe studied film in school and she actually makes short films (with images that she took) for James to write songs to. Chloe said that James would sits and watches them for hours and some of their best songs actually came from this unusual songwriting process.
All of the band's album covers for their singles share the same pattern. They all have the bottom half of a person's face with their tongue stuck out, which has a colorful shape on it. The name of the single isn't on there either, it's just the band's name in all caps at the top. There's another pattern for their music videos too. All the videos share a common aesthetic and imagery that just goes perfectly with their music. It's a sort of airy, chaotic, colorful, indie bliss and It's very much a world that the band created just for their unique sound. Many of the videos have the same few recurring characters that live in this fictitious world ("All There Is", "Bitter Town"), often with the band making a few cameos. However, their first few videos, "Regeneration", "Slow" and "Baby's Alright" (though there was a new version made), are collages of clips and images, sometimes erratic ("Regeneration"), sometimes socially and politically motivated ("Baby's Alright") and sometimes simple and beautiful ("Slow").
So, their four singles with their b-sides, in order, consist of "Regeneration" / "Slow" (2015), "Bitter Town" / "Tangerine" (2015), "Baby's Alright" / "Meat Somebody" (2016) and "All There Is" / "Drift" (2016). Personally, I think their newest release is their finest work to date and the b-side, in particular, might be their best song yet. "Drift" is a great, melancholy summer tune that features Chloe on lead vocals while James sings backup. I particularly like the guitar riff that tops any guitar work they've done so far. Plus Chloe's vocals are just sublime, especially towards the end when she sings "glad I know I'll feel it soon" over the top of James, who repeats the word, "whenever." I honestly could sit and listen to that part on replay forever.
The a-side of that track is of course, another banger, but it's much more optimistic. "All There Is" has this fantastic, hazy guitar feedback with lovely vocals over the top and then the keyboards are just the perfect cherry on top. Another talking point is the fantastic, "Baby's Alright." This was the first song I heard from the band and the first thing that hooks you is that catchy bassline. Then, James comes in with the powerful line, "bombs will drop and the world will shake / don't believe a word they say / pull the trigger now / or face your fate / in messed up place where hate breeds hate." And then, by the time that repetitive chorus kicks in with the keyboards, you're already jumping.
Lyrics an extremely important element to their music. "Baby's Alright" is a nod to all the world's unnecessary violence with lines like "lonely kids of the USA / fight a war in a foreign state / no they ain't got your technology / so we'll burn them down with no apology", while "Regeneration" points to the whole concept of youth rebellion with lines like "I don't want to bring you down / I don't wanna f*** around / this is my generation." Another song, "Bitter Town" is about wanting to escape where you were raised with lines like "this town is made of plastic", "we're from another planet", "this bitter town / it's the only way around." It's intelligent and motivated guitar, noise pop and it just makes you want to jump around with a bunch of other like-minded kids.
According to MusicWeek, their next single will be a song called "Stupid Things" (out November 11 on RCA), which has already been played live and I'm sure it'll be great, considering everything they've released so far is genius. In a radio interview with John Kennedy, James said that some of the stuff that's already out will be on their debut album, but there will be some new stuff on there as well. All I can say is that whenever that first Inheaven album finally arrives (we're not sure when yet), "bombs will drop and the world will shake." I really hope they decide to cross the Atlantic soon, because the "lonely kids of the USA" like me could really use a band like them right about now. To get future updates from this year's best new band, click here to follow them on Twitter.
