'Feel Like Pretending' for SEVERE GIRLS as their debut EP is released
Emergent power-punk melodists, Severe Girls, release debut EP with the sprightly slacker-rock of FEELS LIKE PRETENDING
SEVERE GIRLS – FEELS LIKE PRETENDING
From the debut EP, Another Night - OUT NOW
BANDCAMP / STREAMING / YOUTUBE
Following a slow-drip of fervent live shows and fuzzed-out, tightly wound alt-rock gems, riffy North West newcomers, Severe Girls return with the radio-ready melodies and emotional disorientation of new single, Feels Like Pretending – OUT NOW. Dealing in unease, disguise and the theatre of holding it all together, the track is the final cut from the band’s debut EP, Another Night.
Piecing together a set of punchy songs in the overlooked shadowlands between Manchester and Liverpool, Severe Girls deliver a woozy, melodic tincture across three minutes and 45 seconds of riff-laced power pop, echoing the drivetime lure of The Replacements, the harmonic charm of Teenage Fanclub and the lo-fi defiance of Guided By Voices. Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Richardson’s distinct sonic ambition is a journey of personal, post-session-musician discovery.
As a former drummer for Thurston Moore, Infinite Bisous, Aldous RH, Francis Lung and more, Richardson’s personal musical outlook is as informed by his experiences in other people’s recording sessions, and on other people’s stages, as it is a reaction against them. Experimenting with and settling on a sound that’s as true to the sanctity of the verse-chorus-verse song as the ‘learn three chords and play’ punk ethos, Richardson has created what he calls “a good time band toeing the line between 80s American college rock, power pop and modern UK indie that celebrates simplicity and leans into hooks.”
Reflecting on Feels Like Pretending, the third song to be highlighted from the EP after previous releases, Fill My Head and Not The One, Richardson says:
“It’s about life feeling like an act sometimes. And wanting to run, or distance ourselves, from a reality we try to hide from. It’s framed largely through the lens of a relationship but at its core it’s about the line between convention and non-conformity and how both sides feel like some kind of pretence.”
Alongside Richardson, Severe Girls features Jon Hughes (guitar), Chris Clayden (bass), and Mike Duckworth (drums).
The EP release is marked by a special, intimate FREE launch show at Low Four Studio in Manchester on Sat 18 October 2025. Limited tickets are available from See Tickets. A very limited run of cassettes, the only planned form of physical release for the EP, will be available exclusively at the event.
Catch up with Severe Girls on the internet at:
https://www.instagram.com/severegirls
https://www.facebook.com/severegirlsband
https://severegirls.bandcamp.com
