TRACK OF THE DAY: ASYLUMS – ‘Joy In A Small Wage’

TRACK OF THE DAY: ASYLUMS - 'Joy In A Small Wage'

Some seaside fuzz for your Tuesday afternoon. Played (alone) 3 times last week by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music, Southend-On-Sea upstarts Asylums will be releasing their new single ‘Joy In A Small Wage’ on June 15th. It comes on like Orange Juice gene-spliced with Mudhoney, all pop hooks wrapped in barbed wire and wry social commentary. It’ll be released via the bands own Cool Thing Records.

About the song:

Low budget. No budget. The small wage. The last tenner to last you another week till the next small wage. Food or booze, food or booze, food or booze?

Asylums know intimately the tiny pleasures that can be found despite walking the poverty line. Joy In A Small Wage may as well be the band’s manifesto – a fierce DIY ethic with homemade videos and self-released records. And having more fun than anyone else.

Joy In A Small Wage comes on like Orange Juice gene-spliced with Mudhoney, all pop hooks wrapped in barbed wire and wry social commentary – further confirmation (as if it’s needed) that Asylums are no one-trick ponies, they write fantastic songs. End of.

In the six months of blitzkrieg pop since they first appeared, support for the fresh punk blast of first three outings “The Death Of Television”, “I’ve Seen Your Face In A Music Magazine” and “Wet Dream Fanzine” has snowballed from all quarters: Steve Lamacq to Channel 4 to The Line Of Best Fit to Huw Stephens to the NME… even lad bible Loaded sings their praises.

The band only (grudgingly) set up social media in January this year. And now comes a summer of high profile supports and festivals (with the likes of Carl Barat, at The Scala and The Great Escape in May). With a debut album nearing completion and Asylums are set to make the post-Summer comedown just that little bit more bearable.

Here’s to the small wage and the big plans.

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Upcoming Shows:

26th May X-Posure Live (supporting The Bots)
30th May Camden Rocks Festival (The Enterprise)
19th June The Railway, Southend (Cool Thing Records Club Night)
11th July Village Green Festival, Essex

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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