Bloody Knees return with a string of free live shows

Bloody Knees at Picture House Social, Sheffield.

After over a year since their last release and headline shows, Cambridge’s Bloody Knees are finally back.

The four-piece have hit the road again in support of their new EP ‘Maybe It’s Easy’ and have taken to the road for a UK tour, but with a difference.

Most of the shows on the tour are free to attend, with fans only having to pay for gigs in Birmingham, London and Stoke, and the experience has been an interesting one for the band.

“It’s definitely been an eye opener for us because we’ve not done a big headline run of shows before but with the release of the new EP we just decided to give it a go,” said singer and guitarist Brad Griffiths ahead of their show at Picture House Social in Sheffield.

“It’s been a real mix of shows – some of the free ones have been really good and then others not so great.”

“For example, the Oxford show was free, and the venue said they had pretty much sold out, but when we got there barely anyone had turned up so that was frustrating.”

In terms of the Sheffield show, gig promotor Tariq Navarone explains the reasoning behind the free show at Picture House Social.

“In a city like Sheffield which has a lot of students you want to pull the price down a bit to get more people in,” he said.

“But for Bloody Knees they’re a band I’ve known about for a while and they’ve got good things going for them at the minute and good press surrounding them.”

“They’re also trying to build themselves back up and they’ve been around for a few years now, so they wanted some bodies in the room and a buzz around the place, and they managed to pull in a good crowd, even for a free show.”

Despite the odd misfire here and there, the risk of putting on free shows around the country seems to have paid off for the band.

But the tour itself has come at a good time for the band, after they took an unintentional break.

“It wasn’t something we planned to do it’s just the way it ended up happening,” explained Brad.

“We were working with some management and ended up parting ways because we were both heading in different directions, which is fine, but it just didn’t work out."

“Then life just got in the way a bit really with jobs, uni and stuff like that but it feels really good to be back and playing shows again.”

One thing that is for sure however, is that now they’re back, Bloody Knees are here to stay.

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Live Review: The SSS @ The Leadmill 19/03/2016

To say this is the biggest moment of The SSS' short life as a band would be a bit of an understatement. Not many bands sell out the main room of The Leadmill without releasing their debut album but the local boys did just that, with a little help from their main support The Wired.

Admittedly I did miss first support Franko Fraize as I may or may not have been enjoying some beverages with friends but turning up in time for The Wired was definitely a good idea. I wasn't the only one who had got to The Leadmill early either as the band emerged to a sizable crowd. Performing in pretty much darkness apart from a single strobe light, the lighting almost personified their dark and brooding sound perfectly. Reminiscent of the old school melancholic indie of White Lies and Editors, The Wired posses towering riffs and buoyant basslines that are held together by thumping drums throughout. Everything is tight knit and sharp and new single 'Fit The Feel' is a definite highlight of the set. The only minder hindrance is that a lot of their songs sound almost too similar to one another, which isn't a massive problem but it leaves you wanting something that just a tad different to the rest of their tunes.

Arriving onstage to SSS chants the band had gone all out for their big day as they were accompanied by an extra drummer and keyboardist for the first two tracks which beefed up their already ambitious sound. The whole gig shows just how far the SSS have come in a relatively short space of time and this is made abundantly clear as they play 'Snake in the Grass', which they played at their first gig at the Shakespeare pub. Past single 'Eighteen' provides the first singalongs and the first anthemic moment of the night. A brief cover of The Human League's 'Don't You Want Me' follows and merges with the catchy 'Find a Way' firing up the crowd in the process as the lead guitar chases frontman Josh Coddington's vocals like an obsessed love interest following you round a club.

Not content with their already stellar back catalogue The SSS use their biggest gig to date to preview a host of new material. New single 'Stay With Me' is a Cribs like ballad that allows Coddington's voice to shine through whilst 'Told You Twice' stays in the same vein as their Love. Lust. Loss. EP but it's a definite effort to create a festival anthem. The main set is brought to a close on a poignant note with 'Into The Sun', the bands tribute to a late friend, which fits the occasion perfectly. It's fair to say that the SSS look surprisingly at home on the big stage, at one point Coddington even jokes "whoever gets the best picture with Max [SSS drummer] gets to keep Cal [SSS bassist] for a week". If anything, the magnitude of the show doesn't seem to effect the band but instead it drives them to perform even better.

Starting the encore with a cover of Nena's '99 Red Balloons', complete with red balloons falling from the ceiling, was as unexpected as it was brilliant but it sums the band up perfectly; they're good for a laugh but even when they're messing about, they still deliver. First single 'Morning Light' sparks a singalong that brings a fitting end to proceedings and if tonight is anything to go by, this won't be the last time The SSS are selling out big venues in the UK.   

Track Of The Week: Nai Harvest - Whatever

Sheffield duo Nai Harvest are possibly the best band to come out of the city in recent times, blending scuzzy indie pop with melancholic lyrics it's hard not to be enthralled and 'Whatever' is the perfect testament to their sound as it makes you forget that they're just a duo. 

Opening their debut album of the same name, it's the perfect singalong for anyone currently down on their luck. The quite beautiful breakdown of "Being busy doesn't keep me happy it keeps me sane / Less time to worry over shit more time to avoid it" is hard not to scream at the top of your lungs no matter where you are (believe me I've tried to resist). Plus the rough around the edges feel this song has certainly makes it a gem in an already impressive back catalogue for an equally impressive band.