Earlier this year, tQ enlisted Gravenhurst’s Nick Talbot to talk to Oxford trio Young Knives about going it alone to record and release their ace fourth album, Sick Octave, on their own label, Gadzook. The record marked a distinct shift for the band, where, while the astutely observed lyrics of their earlier material remain, the music itself has taken on a more experimental bent, stemming out of days spent figuring out the recording process themselves.
Talking about self-producing, guitarist and singer Henry Dartnall says: "We thought, ‘This needs to go faster and [this needs to be] slower and [this needs to] be energetic.’ And we’d never done that before, we’d always played to a click. Even when slowed down, they’d program the click to slow down! But [on Sick Octave] the ones where there were mistakes in there, when you were playing it for the first time, we were like, ‘Yes! That’s the one!’ and you were like, ‘Really?! I thought I was fucking up!’, ‘No it sounded awesome!’"
The band are embarking on a 12-date UK tour, beginning in Glasgow tonight, and to mark the shows, they’ve given us a first look at the video for album cut ‘Score’ – have a watch of that above, with the dates below, and head over to the band’s website to get hold of the album and tickets.
NOVEMBER
Tue 5 – O2 ABC, Glasgow
Wed 6 – O2 Academy, Birmingham
Thu 7 – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Fri 8 – O2 Academy Islington, London
Sat 9 – The Joiners, Southampton
Sun 10 – The Horn, St Albans
Tue 12 – O2 Academy, Newcastle
Wed 13 – O2 Academy, Sheffield
Thu 14 – O2 Academy, Liverpool
Tue 19 – Sound Control, Manchester
Wed 20 – Trades Club, Hebden Bridge
Sat 23 – Esquires, Bedford
