My top music tip for 2021 for the Halfway 2 Nowhere website was for the Hebden Bridge/ Todmorden based foursome Lounge Society. Not that I was ploughing a lone furrow with that one; there’s a lot of folk tipping these guys. The lads have not let my confident dip to the minutest degree with their new single release Cain’s Heresy, the first offering from their forthcoming EP Silk For The Starving.

That word “blistering” was created and developed just for Lounge Society’s Cain’s Heresy. These guys are going to go places, earn a devoted following, and if you know what’s good for you, the 12 inch Lounge Society vinyl will already be on order. Pop along to Speedy Wunderground pronto if you haven’t ordered it yet. Don’t hang about.    

I think what I particularly pick up from the Lounge Society musically is a total melding of industrial post punk and a lot of great indie heritage but brought bang up to date. The result are Lounge Society tunes which resonate into my core because the marrow in my bones remember these sounds from when it was being formed.

I get a hint of the political and musical honesty of early biting Jam and their roots stretching back to those 60’s blues bands, a touch of the angry, quirky passion of Mark E (now who doesn’t need a touch or two of Mark E in their lives?), the urgent pounding power and rhythm of the Strokes, a bit of Pixies dust (sorry couldn’t resist), and a sprinkle of David Byrne, and then as the song pulsates forward a little bit of Iggy Stooges era chaos. Blend all this up raw and it has a fresh current and urgent feel. It’s true that Lounge Society move from Grouse in their previous single Burn the Heather to Cain’s Heresy where their musical souls emerge like a fresh Phoenix.

Likewise, the lyrics and vocals are just as vital. We live in a dark era where our political leaders rule with hate, division and lies, where Orwell would say telling the truth is a revolutionary act and where sadly there are few effective voices to expose what’s going on. So, I totally approve of the subject matter of the Lounge Society songs, and particularly their cutting spitting anger about how fuked up the world is. It’s so tempting to give up the fight and focus on your own little bubble, but actually that just allows them to get away with their obscenities against humanity, and their flagrant lining of pockets to keep the establishment and status quo.

With their last single Burn the Heather which exposed the environmental damage to countless acres of moorlands by large landowners to enable their “sport” of killing grouse, the Lounge Society gave the landowners ruffled feathers. It says something for the power of the Lounge Society message that these people are trying to defend their “sport”. In short, they are rattled. Can’s Heresy is about how big business try to infiltrate our culture for consumerism, and how empty and hollow so much of our fashion, celeb, influencer lifestyle is.     

I’ve spent long long years standing in grubby dark halls listening to live music, and a few bands from the Tod/Hebden/Burnley line are amongst my most cherished experiences. Working Men’s Club and The Goa Express at the Tod Golden Lion on August Bank Holiday 2019, The Goa Express at the Trades Club, and definitely The Lounge Society 12 months past at the Huddersfield Parish. The Lounge Society have announced some gigs for October 2021. I’ll be in the tight squeeze sweat pit at the wonderful Castle in Manchester, and again I fully recommend you pop along to check out exactly what’s left. The Lounge Society live will be epic. Trust me.

Chris R       

*  Just for interest, the West Yorkshire based artists I tipped to make 2021 exciting are Lounge Society, Genie Genie, Renegade, San Francisco, DeadWax, Millie Milner and L’Objectif.

* all images are taken from the band’s social media