GLADBOY - Cult Leeds Favourites Return with New Single 'Doin' Art Badly'
Previous press highlights include The Guardian, Far Out Magazine, DIY Magazine, BBC Radio 6 Music and more.
Cult underground favourites Gladboy return next month with ‘Doin’ Art Badly’, a statement for shoddy acts of creation which provides a first glimpse at their debut album.
On ‘Doin’ Art Badly’, their first single in over a year, Leeds-based garage-rockers Gladboy shrug off the pressures of perfectionism and urge you to join them in approaching art completely wrong. An ode to outsider art, the track is about forgetting what you’re told and forging your own chains; whether that’s in music, art, sport, or even your day job.
“The track also paraphrases a guy I met at my old job who really inspired me,” Orton explains, “I worked at an art gallery in Leeds and we had an artist from Detroit called Michael E Smith do an exhibition. One day, we came into work and all the lights were off, and all our stuff had been moved. We all thought it was weird. But it turned out it was Michael getting in the zone. We asked him why and his response was what kickstarted this song. ‘Art is trouble’.”
Channeling The Modern Lovers’ proto-punk classic ‘Roadrunner’, Gladboy deliver this message amidst a jumble of driving guitars, distorted vocals, and the occasional bout of screeching feedback. And somehow, despite all their rallying cries for bad art, they create something far from it in the process. “When you’re doing art this badly, it’s all about feeling!” exclaims Orton as the song falls into Kinks-esque guitar twangs and carefree chaos. Maybe that’s the key.
Not long after the single release, Gladboy will host their own Christmas Staff Party at Leeds DIY hub Wharf Chambers on 13th December, joined by prog punk jesters Draags and avant-pop megastars Martin Manning. Slap your ass on the company photocopier, present your crisps in a nice bowl, and enjoy a night of music, art, live visuals, and bad decisions at the best venue in the city. Tickets available here.
About Gladboy
Gladboy have honed one of the underground's most unique and frenetic live shows. They are confounding - occasionally ear-piercing - but always melodic.
The band formed in 2017, starting their garage rock racket in a now-demolished eyesore in Norwich. In that time, they’ve cultivated a prolific live profile, supporting the likes of Westside Cowboy, Willie J Healey, English Teacher, The Orielles, Brix Smith Start (The Fall), Laundromat, The Cool Greenhouse and Jeffrey Lewis. Press highlights include The Guardian, Far Out, DIY Magazine, as well as BBC Introducing and BBC Radio 6 Music.
Following a sold-out run supporting English Teacher’s sold out album tour for their Mercury Prize winning debut This Must be Texas, Gladboy’s own full-length debut is on the way.
Live dates:
13th December - Wharf Chambers, Leeds
(support from Draags and Martin Manning)
Tickets available here.
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