A wise adolescent once said “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in while you might miss it”.
In that vein, grab your baggiest pair of Levi’s and as much hairspray as you can get your hands on because Chesterfield’s April Tapes have just released a single drizzled in enough nostalgia to make Molly Ringwald blush, and it is not to be missed.
Now I’ll be honest, I’m an indie kid. In my eyes, Brahman Park is The Vatican and Alex Turner is the pope. I grew up drooling over everyone from The Kooks to Razorlight then later rejoiced in welcoming the likes of Sam Fender and Wolf Alice into the fraternity as well.
However, I believe as indie kids, we have a rather unfortunate disposition. And that is the unparalleled ability to forget where we came from. If you take The Smiths and The Stone Roses out of the equation, I guarantee you would not hear a song released before 1994 at any indie night, anywhere in the country. I’m right aren’t I.
Enter April tapes. Armed with their latest single ‘Cactus Flower’, they remind us that there was bedlam before britpop, and that there was indie before indie sleaze.
The song describes loving something beautiful but finding the closer you get, the harder loving it becomes and nothing hammers the point home harder than Bethan Evans’ pained, Dolores O’ Riordan esque Vocal. Yes, it’s that good.
As for the others, where do I start?
The Chorus infused, yet undeniably snarly guitars marry with equally potent drums and bass to create a soundscape that will have people of a certain age excitedly breaking out their specs and praying that the likes of Echo And The Bunnymen, Modern English and The Psychedelic Furs have made it to “The Spotify”.
That said, I am absolutely not suggesting that this song is merely a misty eyed nod to yesteryear. A tribute to the olden-days-ers.
Beautifully crisp (and impressively DIY) production ensures the track is very much a product of 2024, leaving nothing to be desired on that front whatsoever. In fact, It’s why I think April Tapes might be the most exciting musical prospects around today.
I don’t think I could name you another band that honours the era of indie music that April Tapes do in this track. It’s a pantheon of truly epic bands that have been unfairly consigned to the footnotes of indie music history but maybe, just maybe it’s time for them to make a comeback and who better to carry the torch than April Tapes?
If you too would like to hear a little more McCulloch and a little less McCan, then why not get yourself to April Tapes’ upcoming headline show at The Hallamshire Hotel, Sheffield on 25th May? I’m telling you, these times are a changin and this band will be front and centre.
Written by Iwan Grant
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