LIFE

Life's new single 'Rare Boots' may become a familiar song to many readers, having earned itself a place on the BBC6 Music playlist from today. Watch the video, and check out our playlist and interview below.

What is your name? Where are you from?
We are LIFE. I'm Mez and we are four punks from Hull.
What do you do?
I'm the lead singer and lyricist in LIFE (alongside my brother Mick who is also in LIFE). I'm a veggie in a leather jacket. In the day I work as a youth worker at The Warren, a community hub in the centre of Hull.
Describe your style in three words?
Gods of Sugar.
How should your music be listened to?
You should listen to us when you are contemplating speed, not the drug but when you need to use urgency to get the fucking achievement done. We are your fix.
What do you miss about home when you’re on tour?
Sunny days, drinking and drinking at The Minerva as the river Humber hits the rocks.
What British music icons inspire your sound today?
Mark E Smith - a genius, a pop-pervert and the Bishop of truth.
What was the first song you played on repeat?
I can remember our dad taking us to school playing his one and only cassette. On side A was The Clash - Give em enough Rope and side B was filled with deep reggae. I recorded 'Safe European Home' by The Clash from the car speakers onto my Nokia and set it as my ring tone. It is still my ring tone.
A song from your favourite album?
Ahhhhh, my favourite albums constantly change that's the great thing about music. I rinse and then I burn. At the moment I'm rinsing Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect. Lyrically the album is outstanding, it makes you want to crack open a blank page. Uncle Mother's from the album is my pick at the moment.
Song you wish you had written / Music icon that has inspired you?
Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat - a true man.
Human Performance - Parquet Courts
Everything they put out is insanely well written and great. I own pretty much all their vinyl. That's rare for a modern day band.
Uncle Mother's - Protomartyr
"welcome to uncle Mother's, keep your children in the car"
Crap Rap 2 / Like to Blow - The Fall
Disjointed chaos. Excellent.
If Rah - Underworld
Shoes of stars, Beads of prayer, Tattooed shoulder, Speaking, you say Fall before you fly
But I don’t look And you don’t look old enough
To have suffered so much, What do I know?
Man - Skepta
Modern man, modern punk with a bit of a QOTSA sample!
Jobseeker - Sleaford Mods
Brutal story telling. Observational. Wit.
The Way We Were - XX Teens
I'm obsessed with Welcome To Goon Island! I go back to it constantly.
Famous Blue Raincoat - Leonard Cohen
The man is magical. - Fred Perry Subculture

The Hull punks lurch forward once more on their latest track, premiering on DIY.

Every weekday, DIY’s new music know-it-all Neu brings you one essential new release to get obsessed with. Today’s Neu Pick comes from LIFE.

There’s something brilliantly snide about the bond shared by Mez and Mick, Hull punks LIFE’s brotherly duo of frontmen. Spitting barbed statements on the minutiae of modern life atop their thrashing, noisy backdrop, they pull no punches.

‘Rare Boots’, the group’s latest single, is captivating further evidence of just how few fucks this lot give. Taking the snotty, smily attitude of Yak and sharpening every point, they gleefully point the finger at everything around them, content to storm forward on their own terms. “I keep hearing voices calling my name,” they yelp as the track reaches its rollicking conclusion - the bright future ahead of them suggest they’d better get used to it.

Stream ‘Rare Boots’ below - it comes ahead of a bunch of dates for the road-tested gang, including a DIY Presents night at London’s Old Blue Last next weekend. Full dates are as follows: - DIY

Rock music is boring these days. There are so many bands that sound like they should rock, but overproduction softens all the edges into one big, clean, safe, sanitized stadium show. Then there are hundreds of indie bands who keep things raw as hell in their bedroom studios, except they can’t write memorable songs.

LIFE comes from the English town of Hull, and their new song “Take Off With You” finds the balance between a massive sound and the edge that you want from rock. It’s produced by ex-Kaiser Chief Nick Hodgson, and LIFE’s singer Mez explains what the song is all about:

“It’s is our twisted love song. It’s about the night, you’re young and broke, you’re in love. You like the smell of her hair. She likes the pull on your dick shaft. You’re in love. You’re free. She’s free. It’s beautiful. You’re in love. You pick up. You get loaded. You don’t run. You don’t run away from anything. You’re in love. You’re bugs.”

As far as their goal as a band, they aren’t overthinking it. “Mission statements are for prophets, clergymen, silver spooned politicians, and well-hung cannibals,” Mez explains. “All we want to do is plug in and play.”

On the current state of rock, Mez adds: “There is a stink hanging over the music scene and it smells like shart. Do you wanna drill a hole in a watermelon or make a human connection?” - Pigeons & Planes