First impressions are pretty good. I don’t think I can really make any greater judgements without being able to listen to the tracks over and over into oblivion, but on a first listen it’s really nice to hear a little more of a coherent and original sound come through. I find it incredibly easy to pick a track from
Big in the Suburbs and hear exactly where or who it had taken influence from, but I found then newer material to be a little more confident with its own identity. Still very much
Welly in its raucous charm, but less like a parody of something greater that had come before it.
A couple of standouts for me, for better or for worse, were the – currently untitled – track describing broken hearts and skinny boys; which rubbed me the wrong way, but I can’t quite describe how. I'm definitely looking forward to breaking it down once it is inevitably released to the hungry public. It seemed to go down well in the crowd though, earning a reprise later on in the set, much to the surprise of everyone (
everyone) involved.
And another, on the topic of steering away from obvious influence, the melody of
this new track is to me
absolutely the erratic lovechild of
Kasabian’s L.S.F and
Kokomo by the
Beach Boys. Despite this, I think this may be lining up to be a new me and your mates type hit – it’s very hard not to move, and feels like it’s got that upturned-nose edge that propels some of Welly’s more beat driven songs.
On a performance note – Welly always bring it live. Like a left-hook to the head, it’s jarring, abravise, and leaves your ears ringing…
but gets your adrenaline going nonetheless. It’s very rare to see indie bands these days with such an unbridled desire to make total idiots of themselves, which makes for a really refreshing atmosphere, and an audience that are just as keen to piss about.
Compared to past shows, I do think that the set at YES felt a
little sloppy. The crowd work felt like it dragged just slightly too long – especially when playing so much unheard new material – there was a certain polite impatience in the air that I think could easily turn into the band losing the attention of their crowd if not careful. There was also a strange attempt at – what I asssume was - sex appeal from Hall that I hadn’t seen at past shows, and just made my shoulders go up a bit.
‘Manchester is way fitter than London’ followed a few tracks later by
‘So who here is a fresher?’ felt unintentionally grim, and if I ever have to see anyone pull their calvin’s that far up their arse crack onstage again i’ll walk out. I’m not in any way suggesting that Welly have to remain family-friendly fun - there was just something about it that felt too performative, and maybe a bit insincere?
To wrap it up, keep the energy, lose the sex appeal, The new stuff is incredibly exciting, but still comfortably on brand. Put pamaps grass on the setlist.
I did manage to pin down Elliot after the show for some wise words over a packet of vogues and a pint of Heineken. Below, we discuss all sorts of pretentious rubbish. Enjoy x
Welly, YES Bar - Photo @islaa_gw.
How are you feeing post-album?
Relieved.
That album, it took about four years before a deal came through and it got to come out, so…
I think with a lot of people’s first albums it probably feels like the start of something, whereas i’ve got like – a finished line. So now it’s finally out it’s been very liberating.
The second album’s written and ready to go, so, singles pretty soon.
Am I right in thinking you wrote all of Big In The Suburbs when you were younger?
Yeah, like eighteen.
How does it feel that that’s the kind of sound that you’ve built – how do you feel with that being your identity?
The typical thing to do is to sound like a bit of a diva and say it doesn’t really represent me anymore, but I’m also very aware that I’m trying to make pop music.
The funny thing is, I remember when I wrote all those songs it was before
Wet Leg, before
Yard Act. I’m not trying to sound like a pioneer, everyone had a very similar idea at the same time, but now I think it all just sounds a bit cliché, if anything. Now, it’s nice to have a bit more of a grown up head on, so im not just trying to be
Damon Albarn – like I was trying to do for the first album.
But, in terms of those songs being the biggest ones, I mean, you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I’m incredibly grateful that people resonate with anything. You know, we do a gig like we did tonight and people love those songs – so as much as I can be at home and go ‘oh the snare’s too quiet’ or whatever – I’m still so, so grateful that people like them.
And you know what, it sounds quite whorish but I will do it by any means. I’m not in this game to express myself, I write songs because I want to do what we did tonight. I want to
perform songs.
As far as performance goes, how much of Welly is a character for you?
When I’m at home – without sounding like a complete arsehole – I don’t wear that [Referring to an adidas tracksuit that got elliot barred from The Garratt before the show.] When i’m Welly, I wear a tracksuit, and I’ll be in like this ‘yeah, I’m this fucking guy’ way. It’s not a fakery, it’s a part of my character. But when I go home I’m very much not that. I read a lot, and I write. I’ve got a really nice place at the moment where I can do both – just go home and be who I am, and then Welly is a nice thing to sort of inhibit.
I think there is something about you guys as a band – and maybe even further as a brand – that have such an interesting, performance quality about you, and it’s such an identity beyond the music. Everything from instagram posts to your live shows, it has such a clear kind of wit and personality that makes it yours.
That is totally on purpose as well. I feel like the music industry rhetoric takes itself very seriously, and I think people are sort of sick of that a bit. When it came to all of us going out to see gigs in Southampton, they ended up being incredibly dull. It’s like ‘I’ve just spent all my paper round money on this, and I can’t even drink yet - this isn’t that much of a laugh.’
So when I'm writing it’s to be like, look - this is the chorus, this is the verse, and this is the bit you dance in. That’s what it’s supposed to be.
Without going into it too deeply, venues are dying you know? Just to get someone to a show means the world. So yeah, it’s just, you have to understand the difference between artistic representation and a live performance. Welly is written to be: let’s have fun live. Kids have fuck all to do now. It’s just something to get you off your phone for half an hour. Go to a gig. Have a dance. That’s what it’s supposed to be.
Again I’m not saying I'm a pioneer of it, because you know you’ve got bands like
Getdown Services - and then even pop has gone fun in the last five years, it’s great. You’ve got
Charli,
Sabrina,
Chappell Roan who are doing fun pop. It’s what people want. But it hasn’t connected - indie hasn’t got the fucking idea yet. It’s a scene that just takes itself so seriously. I want to have fun, and I’m trying to make some fucking money. Why not? I’ll be open about that…
…We’re not making any money, by the way. I still work at a grocers.