FISTS
"pounding mystery-rock and country music spiked with bad acid"
Fists have been writing, fighting and exciting in various bedrooms and rehearsal spaces across Nottingham since 2005. They signed to Hello Thor in 2009 and released their first single, Cockatoo b/w Skit soon after.
Their noisy, joyful, occasionally ramshackle and always ferociously energetic gigs display the Fists sound in all its crisp, fresh, beautifully bruised glory. Sweet vocal harmonies, rich raw power; original, electrifying indie rock.
Their first single Cockatoo was handpicked to appear on Rough Trade's Counter Culture compilation alongside Emmy The Great, The XX and Fever Ray, and was named as one of Artrocker's top 100 tunes of 2009. The band followed this up with the Olympic Hits EP, which received strong reviews across the board, including coverage from the likes of NME, 6Music and Radio 1.
Then in February 2011 Fists released Ascending b/w Stag (on limited edition green vinyl). Recorded with producer Rory Brattwell (S.C.U.M, Comanechi, Fair Ohs, Male Bonding, Veronica Falls) at Pallet Recording Studio in Dalston, the single perfectly exemplifies Fists’ DIY sound as it flits from lilting lo-fi pop to stomping yet experimental garage rock. Order your copy HERE.
Fists' music is influenced by everything from mid-50s skiffle and rockabilly, through lo-fi pioneers like Daniel Johnston and Simon Joyner, to proto-punks the Monks. Throw in the likes of Link Wray, Woodie Guthrie, Yo La Tengo, Les Savy Fav, The Breeders, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, The Fall and Scott Walker and you might begin to find yourself nearing a place where Fists are coming from. It is DIY, lo-fi; both wildly experimental and toe-tappingly pop.
Self-confessed culture freaks, Fists has grown through friendship, love, animation, screen-printing, zines, club-nights, heavy metal, Casio keyboards, comic books, 78s, art...the list never stops.
“…a delightfully tumbledown fusion of hillbilly twang and soft-psych pop harmony…” The Stool Pigeon
“I love this record...utterly defiant and like it doesn't have a care in the world"
Steve Lamacq, BBC Radio 2
“Punky rockabilly lo-fi fun…” NME
Listen to Weekend from the Olympic Hits EP:
>> Buy and listen to Fists now
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