New music review with PiNKSLiPS and doops

Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason brings us her review of new singles from Reading four piece doops and Belfast's PiNKSLiPS

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Artist: PiNKSLiPS

Track: Young Blood

Credit PiNKSLiPS

Young Blood is the debut single from Belfast’s PiNKSLiPS. All accounts indicate its release is a real sense of achievement for the band who dealt with not only the pandemic but personal setbacks. During their formation drummer Shane Watters underwent open heart surgery. Frontman and guitarist Gerry Norman speaks of feeling musically dead in the wake of the pandemic and attributes his rebirth to a chance meeting with lead guitarist Dave McGaughey at his open mic night. It was this spark that lit the fuse, with the line up being completed by Watters on drums and Carl Gilmore on bass.

The track is powered by a vocal full of power and passion. However it’s not all loud, with the quiet section towards the end adding a particular moment of quiet emotion. The guitar is given its time to be set free, firing off wild hooks while the crashing percussion holds the beat throughout. The bassline adds the depth to Young Blood, creating a layer of intensity.

Norman’s emotive vocals sing: "I never thought that I’d survive but you found my body alive", a love letter to the band that helped resurrect him. It’s interesting to note that he prefers not to delve too deep into the meaning behind the lyrics, hoping that each listener will bring their own experiences and let them resonate in their own unique way. With Young Blood PiNKSLiPS have announced themselves loud and clear.

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Artist: doops

Track: Fever Tree

Credit Louis-Jean La Grange

Reading indie-rock quartet doops share new single Fever Tree. It’s an atmospheric track, quietly emotive led by heavy bass-riffs, stoner guitars and a vocal which sounds like it is deep in the swamplands. The crashing percussion as the track progresses adds an increasing intensity, until it all quietens down again. The static-fuelled guitar riffs layered with the echoey bass and more off-kilter drums see out the track as it fades back into the swamp.

The origins of Fever Tree began with an absent bass player, as vocalist Andy Bingham explains:  "In doops' second recording since becoming 4 piece, the band lyrically attempts to challenge the theme of trying to stay relevant & visible in a world of constant artistic re-invention, and at what point this compromises the integrity of the artist in the process. Set to the back drop of Tarrantino'esque groove, it's the bands' first experiment into a switch-around on instrumental duties: our bassist Luke couldn't make practice, so I covered for a rehearsal and we ended up with the Fever Tree riff at the end of it!"

doops originated as a 3-piece, recording their EP at Abbey Road studios. The current 4-piece met through the local music scenes across Reading and Berkshire, and impressively, a mutual appreciation of each other's Gollum impressions!

Upcoming Tour Dates

18 Dec Reading - Purple Turtle (underground) w/Black Foxes

21 Dec Reading -The Butler w/ Puma Theory and T Bloc

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