London’s Screech Bats have unveiled the video single for ‘Get Better’, the lead single from their forthcoming sophomore EP ‘Wish You Were Her’ below. Ostensibly a performance video featuring slick visuals that contrast with their scrappy punk musical edge, vocalist Esme Baker explains: “We decided to film it in this style because we didn’t have one! We teamed up with Tom Le Bon and quite literally let him ‘do his thing’, only needing for everyone to see ‘who we are’. He’s a genius.” The track itself pays homage to Baker’s doctor who she recalls, “dedicated months of her life to rewiring my brain, taking a woman who was waiting for the next second she could be alone so she could kill herself, and moulding her into woman who loves her life and wants to live it to the full. I never imagined a life unburdened by crippling depression and yet here I am. This song is a message to everyone who is suffering through something similar – recovery is possible – it is hard, and it is slow, but it is possible.”
Completed by Lexi Clark on Drums, Rio Hellyer on Bass and Kit Reeve on Guitar, Screech Bats began life as a side project of Hearts Under Fire. With a grungy, riot girl ethos at heart, the members gelled so well that as Kit and Lexi’s other band went on hiatus, they decided to stick together, with Baker recalling: “Band practices were fun and something we looked forward to every week. Having a laugh is very much at the core of everything we do, but we are also very serious about the band and the music we write.As an act without male members, Screech Bats openly recount many instances of their gender taking centre stage: “It’s awful. But it’s a reality for every non male band out there. In our opinion, the whole industry needs to stop seeing gender as a genre. We are not a ‘girl band’ just because none of us have penises. We want to live in a world where we don’t get booked as a novelty – we want to get booked solely on merit. We don’t want to have to explain to anyone that we are not a female band because this should not be a topic – we need to see a shift towards just listening to the music, not having to consider what it is we have between our legs.”
Check out the video for ‘Get Better’ – BELOW:
Recording ‘Wish You Were Her’ with James Routh of Sonic Boom Six, often until the early hours in a Blackpool rehearsal room, the band opted to strip back to a rawer form of their sound. Lyrically the quartet put it best themselves: “We always want to attack topics that are real, thought provoking and unpredictable – not tired or cliché. Most of the lyrics are drawn from experience. We want to make dark, often ‘taboo’ topics, approachable with a positive message.” The result is self-released on 30th March, a heart-on-sleeve alternative rock with punk roots, topped with distinctly British vocals à la Lower Than Atlantis; the influence of the likes of Against Me! and Jimmy Eat World is clear.
23.02.18 – Nambucca, London | 01.04.18 – Lady Luck, Canterbury | 04.04.18 – The Monarch, Camden, London | 05.04.18 – Boileroom, Guildford | 02.06.18 – Camden Rocks Festival
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