Eagulls
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Eagulls

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"Loud and Quiet EP review"

Raging back into life with this, their first release since last year's Maze's split, Eagulls have grown into a confident presence on the UK DIY scene. Recorded in their local Suburban home studios with Matthew Johnson of Leeds drone band Hookworms behind the desk, they sound sharp and ready for action. "Coffin" keeps Henry Ruddel's Clash style drums to the fore whilst "Moultings" drawn out star stumbles onto George Mitchell in a state of languid Cure - like intropsection. Eagulls haven't strayed too farm from their roots, though, and while the tunes are more discernable the bitter tastes of lifes injustices remains captured by George's embittered howls.
The magnificently entitled "Cripple (Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis)" shifts away from there usual laid back state, challenging you to a ruck over a background of venomous guitar growls. If your're hoping for a repeat of "Council Flat Blues" post rock fuzziness, you wont find it here, but it's soul lives on in the rallying cries of "Still Born" with shaven-headed chavs and glass-eyed junkies lifted straight from This Is England . Eagulls are a band for out shitty times and their acid-tongued insight into the lives of the downtrodden continues to grow in ambition. - Loud and Quiet


"The Fly EP Review"

It can be difficult for a DIY band to maintain momentum. As a fan, if you like say Dinosaur Jr. There are infinitely more bands you can be sure you'll at least entertain the idea of falling for. This fearless crossover should then be applauded. Softening there teeth smashing edges (Spectrals producer Matthew Johnson is behind the glass) , Eagulls splice noisy aggravation with heel dragging melodies on "Coffin" and "Moulting" whilst "Still Born" almost shimmers with subtlety.
Here Eagulls play the role of a bovver booted school bully, approaching menacingly only to change his tack and share his wine gums with you instead. - The Fly


"Ones to watch Eagulls"

There comes a time in most young punks’ lives where they realise the limitations of hardcore. For some, it’s a convenient way to embrace the narrow parameters of their lifestyle, whereas for others it’s an opportunity to apply the genre’s best tricks to new sounds. Happily, former hardcore kids Eagulls are filed under the latter.
“We wanted to try something a bit more melodic,” explains guitarist Mark ‘Goldy’ Goldsworthy. “It doesn’t all have to be shouting in your face.” He and drummer Henry Ruddell first began writing songs in a Leeds bedroom in 2009, eventually recruiting pals Liam Matthews and Tom Kelly to play guitar and bass respectively. This nascent collective lasted “about six months” before choosing a singer. “George (Mitchell, vocals) was an illustrator,” remembers Goldy. “We thought if he could put his illustration style across in lyrics, he’d be a good frontman.”
The band began working on their sound – an intoxicating mixture of 90s indie rock and hazy garage slop; like Greg Sage dragging Hüsker Dü through a swamp in heavy waders. “There’s some shoegazey stuff in there, and British college rock. We had a middle ground which was mainly punk, and stuff like the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr.” Within months, their debut ‘Council Flat Blues’ 7” surfaced via the ever excellent Moshi Moshi, followed by a split with the capital’s finest slacker-poppers Mazes.
Since then the band have shared stages with the notable likes of Hot Snakes and Fucked Up whilst, at the time of writing, they’re gearing up to support proto-sludge legends Flipper at London’s XOYO. Goldy is far from oblivious to the profile-raising significance of these shows: “Obviously we’re excited – they’re bands we’ve grown up listening to. It sounds cheesy, but it’s a privilege.”
He’s not kidding either. Eagulls might see themselves as lucky to be here but rest assured, the privilege is all ours. - The Fly


"Eagulls – Old Blue Last, London"

TONIGHT, the Old Blue Last plays host to a maelstrom of punk activity as Leeds-bred Eagulls play a release show for their forthcoming self-titled, Sexbeat-released EP.

Freshly-hewn East London quartet Cheatahs open the show with their bolshy marriage of early-’90s melodies and half-droned vocals. The room reacts sleepily as flannel memories of Sub Pop’s Pond were conjured, and, in true Bush Snr-era style, audience members shift from foot to foot, unmoved and stoic as swathes of mid-career Sonic Youth licks beat out of the speakers.

Main support comes from fellow Londoners Sauna Youth, an altogether different animal. Refined, chewed and chopped since their stint supporting Ceremony in March, the band plays a typically frenetic set peppered with new material to a room alive with electric awe. The one-two punch of the band’s artistic punk and unorthodox dynamic jab the room into life, leaving a fearsome impression.

Standing oddly triumphantly in front of the large eagle banner backdrop to the band’s merch desk, Eagulls’ lead singer and Lydon-esque frontman George Mitchell grumbles about his new EP not being available for purchase tonight, but all traces of disappointment fall away from his Etonian good-looks as the band roll into their headline set.

Between the drug-punk-flavoured fan fave ‘Council Flat Blues’ and the rawer-than-Sage-sounding cover of ‘Mystery’ by Wipers, Eagulls trot out four of the five new tracks on their self-titled EP. The peppy opening to ‘Coffin’ ignites the room, and a smile can be seen beneath guitarist Liam’s drape of Mascis hair.

The rattle and hum of scene cognoscenti in response to the expeditious rise of Eagulls has brought industry players to their door of late — no mean feat,when you consider the Yorkshire-based group are essentially a quintet of noise-making northern ragtags.

A mid-set pause prompts an impassioned crowd member to inform the band that Londoners “don’t like northerners down here” (“fuck off,” comes Mitchell’s response), but he’s forgotten as the squalling intro to ‘Moulting’ clocks in. ‘Still Born’ and ‘Cripple (Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis)’ keeps a steely grip on everyone’s attention with a strong-arm of Dinosaur Jr riffing and Mitchell’s coal-fired shouting. The new tracks translate well in a live setting, carrying that same winding pace of the band’s previous work.

In truth, Eagulls’ live show has been primed to go off for some time now, the band having cut their teeth on the nation’s toilet circuit. You get the sense that the slacker marque is peeling back and their dreams of playing in a band extend much, much further than Leeds house shows and six-date touring cycles, and with this clutch of new songs, the band have neatened themselves up creatively without sacrificing an ounce of their potency. - The Stool pigeon


"Eagulls moulting stream"

Eagulls came crashing out of Leed’s with some satisfyingly gritty releases on Moshi Moshi and Italian Beach Babes last year. They’ve spent the intervening time touring, which has not only honed their instrumental skills but also seems to have inspired them to set some melody lose amongst the prog-punk noise on their new EP out on Sexbeat on July 16th. The grunge-core sound is still there but a little sedated, in a good way. Like, enjoying a codeine buzz, rather than smothered by a cloud of prozac.
- Noisey


"Eagulls Moulting video"

Last week Leeds-based progressive punks Eagulls released their new self-titled EP on SEXBEAT. Now the band are premiering their new video for "Moulting" here on Noisey. The video collates some kaleidoscopic VHS-styled footage of the bands rather chaotic live shows. - Noisey


"Listen: Eagulls – Coffin"

Leeds’ so-called progressive punks Eagulls balance on a fine line between isolating and accessibility, mixing post-hardcore rawness with a certain knack for pop hooks. They seem the type of guys that would readily don a plaid shirt or leather jacket but might give the gravity-defying mohawks a miss.

They’ve been putting a couple of 7?s out on some of our favourite upcoming labels, Italian Beach Babes among them, and now their new track ‘Coffin’ is set for release on London scene fore-fronters Sexbeat. The track exhibits the clear fingerprints of Spectrals, the producer of whom (Hookworms man Matthew Johnson) helped them on their coming EP (released 16 July). - Line of best fit


"Eagulls – “Acrostical” & “Council Flat Blues"

Leeds quintet Eagulls make a shambling racket akin to No Age doubling up with a studlier Cloud Nothings — or something older and scuzzy from the ’90s Pacific Northwest. They lean into their instruments, but keeping the vocals buried within the feedback doesn’t lessen the anthemics. See, for instance, the B-Side of their forthcoming debut “Council Flat Blues” single. It’s called “Acrostical.” John Cage approves, etc. - Stereogum


"Radar band of the week: Eagulls"

Eagulls: the future of post-hardcore?

“All our band practices, everything we do, we record on a boombox tape recorder.” Eagulls singer George Mitchell drawls like a northern John Wayne, hovering over each word for what seems like an eternity before pouncing.

It’s a favourite pastime of indie bands to prattle on about their detachment from supposedly unworthy contemporaries, but it’s clear from the off that Eagulls are no fools. Hailing from far, wide and beyond, the five-piece currently dwells in a communal roost in Leeds – close enough that they can “throw stones at each others’ houses”.

This tight-knit musical environment deftly sums up the band’s diligent attitude towards local scene-making. Before getting in promoters’ good books, Eagulls would curate shows of their own, inviting mates’ bands to play any scummy dive that would have them. But, alas, a handful of scurrilous punks and a rack of busted practice amps does not a movement make.Yet as friends fell by the wayside Eagulls ploughed nobly on, building a pluming head of steam.

Quick to extol the praises of nu-slackers such as Yuck, Mazes and a low-rent Leeds outfit by the name of Hookworms, you might mistake them for another bunch of scuzzy indie no-hopers. Mistake being the operative word...“It’s more edgy than indie,” insists George, defiantly. “But we’ve been compared to fucking... everything under the sun. Like fucking, The Cribs... Oasis. Fucking everything! That’s just... not what we are.” Baffling comparisons aside, Eagulls’ sold-out debut EP ‘Songs Of Prey’ would be turning heads regardless of the band’s aesthetic.

Its three roughshod gems are a blast of gruff, fuzzed-out melodic vocals and lacerating Dinosaur Jr-style riffery, wholly unbecoming of their elegant avian moniker. Sticking stubbornly to their DIY guns, the band self-recorded ‘Songs Of Prey’ on crummy cassette tape and sold it for tuppence at gigs.

“It seems right to put a cassette out, because that’s how we make it,” drummer Henry explains. “It’s not like we did it for the whole retro vibe – it’s just ’cos it’s easy to do and nice to put something different out.” By happy accident, this is the perfect social climate for Eagulls to have hit their glide, and they may be just the perfect band to ruffle up indie’s feathers a bit.

Jazz Monroe

Need To Know

• They didn’t start out busking ‘Hotel California’ – the band’s name came from a drunk guy singing karaoke at a holiday camp. Hilarity ensued after he mistook the lyrics of Shaggy’s ‘Angel’ for “girl you’re my eagle”

• Bassist Tom Kelly’s dad is a trench-coat-sporting goth, who quit his job to design manga, leaving the family in “loads of debt”

• George’s real name is Aaron. His dad used to assign him nicknames and George is the one that stuck - NME


"Dollars to pounds: Eagulls"

Note to bands: record a raging cover of The Wipers and I will write about you. Eagulls are from Leeds and play loud, brash and snotty. Like D2P alumni Yuck, they take their cues from Our Band Could Be Your Life-era American rock, and like all of those bands, they’re born of hardcore and balance being smart with being silly (that name!). Their debut single “Council Flat Blues” is out now on Moshi Moshi imprint Not Even. You can stream it and read its excellent back story below. They also (finally) resolve the big ‘eagle vs. kestrel’ debate that has consumed the FADER office for most of 2011.

I read on Abeano that you are named after a Shaggy song. Is that true?
Henry: Yes, it’s true. We’d just watched Neil Young at Primavera Festival and a Shaggy song came on over the stage speakers. We were dead pissed and were singing along, but then Goldy (guitar) started singing a different version.

Mark: It’s from when I was younger with my sister at a caravan holiday camp called Blue Dolphin and the shitty club singer was on performing his version of the song, but it sounded like he was singing “girl you’re my eagle, you’re my darling eagle” and we just imagined him serenading this eagle perched on his arm and were in creases.

Henry: Then Sonic Youth came on stage and then Ghostface Killah. It was that point we decided to start a band and call it Eagulls, spelled that way for copyright reasons.

Mark: Yeah, we heard that some American pub-rock band had a similar name and had some sort of success. However, we then didn’t do anything for about six months.

Some of you used to be in hardcore bands. How hardcore are Eagulls?
Mark: Even though we donít have an obvious hardcore sound it definitely filters through, Musically and melodically we are influenced by a lot of those American bands from the early 80s who started out playing hardcore punk and went in other directions, such as Husker Du, Replacements, Dinosaur Jr, Wipers and so on. But lyrically I think there are undercurrents of those snottier, more cynical bands such as The Adolescents and Circle Jerks. So if you’re talking about a certain attitude or outlook then I’d say we’re pretty hardcore. As for our previous bands, on listening we were definitely influenced by heavier, faster bands, more in your face, whereas Eagulls are less overt about it, but it’s still there.

Kestrels are better than eagles. Discuss.
Mark: An eagle could easily knack a kestrel, but I suppose a kestrel would be better to just chill out with.


Tell our readers the three best things about Leeds.
Henry: 1) Mine and George’s neighbor, because he tried to slice them with a meat cleaver.
Mark: 2) The Brudenell social club, it’s a class venue and a decent pint of Smiths.
Mark: 3) The soon to be O’ Kellys, which will be an Irish themed, family strip club that Eagulls one day hope to establish.

Stream: Eagulls, “Council Flat Blues“

Do any of you live in a council flat?
Henry: One of us used to live in a council flat above a butcher’s, but that’s about it. But the towns we are from all have large council estates, so we all know what they can be like.

George: Council flat blues was inspired by my teenage years hanging around with my friends in their parents’ houses. It just so turns out that most of my friends parents were either on drugs or drug dealers. At the time I just got on with it all and I thought it was the norm, but looking back at it now, it’s far from it! A lot of the stories come through in my lyrics and council flat blues really shows that time. When I was around 16 I went to Arts College and I met a girl who I really wanted to go out with. To cut a long story short I asked her and her friend to come round to my friend Sam’s house. The girls were already a bit frightened when they saw all the swords and weird shit in the house, then there was a knock at the door. We were being held up at gunpoint for an unpaid drug deal by Sam’s parents! First date. She went out with me though.

You sound angry. Not many bands do nowadays. Why are you angry?
George: “Anger is an energy” — John Lydon. Haha! To be honest I’m not always angry. I sing the way I do as I feel that’s how it should be. I know a lot of the bands around nowadays have the same overall sound, but Iím fed up of the sound of a beach, I’m from the fuckin Midlands, no coasts in site! To be fair, I think a lot of the new bands are amazing. It’s just the bandwagon bands that piss me off. We set out as a band with a huge punk influence and I think the anger comes from this, definitely through my vocals. - The fader


"Eagulls sore above the rest"

Singer George Mitchell's life is a living hell the perfect inspiration for slabs of dirty punk.

Since last time we spoke with thrilling Leeds grotters Eagulls, things have been looking up. Fresh from sharing stages with the likes of Fucked Up, Hot Snakes and San Fran hardcore legends Flipper, the punk five piece have a new EP released on Sexbeat later this month.
Not that singer George Mitchell has anything to crow about: "They're more personal, the songs on this one. The old stuff was more my anger against other people, but this time, I dunno, I got a bit pissed off. I went off the rails with drinking and that. I was living in a shit place and it was just the perfect opportunity to write about my shit life."

Seagulls being more the types to crap directly into your chips than soar on great thermals of windy metaphor, George doesn't stint on the gory details: "Coffin" recalls his pisshead flair for passing out drunk on mates carpets with arms folded Dracula-style, "Moulting" talks about going to pieces - literally - in the face of the mounting squalor of your existence, and "Stillborn: is a nasty retort to the neighbours from hell.
George explains: "Our neighbours came round with knives and wanted to kill us, he fucking hated us. He was a drug dealer, he managed to get his scally crew to come and rob the house. He had about a thousand fucking kids and his girlfriend was pregnant again, even though they used to take pills constantly. So the song's just me saying I wouldn't mind if you'r baby is still born. I wouldn't wish it on anyone else but I'd wish it on them"

Elsewhere on the (self titled) EP, Cripple (Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis) deals with a potassium muscle deficiency that left George temporarily unable to move when he was younger. "I remember there was a woman on the hospital war and she was pretty much brown bread. I was looking at her thinking, "fucking hell, I might not move again…" It's like a therapy session this!"

Let it all out George! - NME


Discography

Demo Cassette - Self Released - Early 2011
Council Flat Blues 7" - Moshi Moshi/Not Even - Feb 2012
Mazes split 7" - Italian Beach Babes - Oct 2012
Self titled EP 12" - Sexbeat - July 2012

Huw Stephens has been an avid supporter of the band since there inception playing there tracks on his show and having them do a Maida Vale session.

Other presenters such as Zane Lowe, Steve Lamacq and Jen Long have played tracks in there shows.

Photos

Bio

Pile-driving onto the UK DIY scene with there Council Flat Blues single in 2011, Eagulls have relentlessly toured, practiced and recorded since. All while working various dead end jobs to get money to feed there habit of making music.

The band channel there working class up bringing in the North of England into there music. Putting all they can into it and spending every waking hour honing there craft.

Forming after the demise of various members hardcore punk bands due to them becoming tired of the borders and limits of that particular scene and striving to break out and do something new while retaining the same attitude and ethics.

Eagulls brash vocal delivery and take no prisoners sound evokes the spirit of the first wave of 77 punks bands such as The Clash and The Damned structured in a Post Punk Style with Shoegaze guitars.

The live show is raw and chaotic while still being musically tight in the same vein as bands such as Black Flag and The Wipers.

They've toured the UK and Europe with contemporaries such as Fucked Up, Iceage, Hot Snakes and Pulled Apart By Horses to name a few.