The Sheffield Scenester

Her Friend The Bandit was formed in late 2009 and began practicing at Yellow Arch studios writing songs. Their first gig was in February 2010 at Pop Nightclub in Rotherham with the Fightstar DJ set and since then have been gigging and writing. This, their first EP was recorded at Cellar Door Studios in Rotherham and features three tracks, ‘Neon Slags’ (their first song), ‘The King Is Dead’ and ‘Think Of England’ (a recently written track).

‘Neon Slags’, an upfront simple tale of a good night out, half poking fun at stereotypical bunch of lads out on the lash, whose soul aim is to pick up birds. The birds in question are in fact the Neon Slags of the title, and their main objective is to get free drinks off these lads whilst giving nothing in return, face it, get down town any Friday or Saturday night and you can see this everywhere. The thing that is so good about this song is the fact that it has one of the infectious rockabilly punk riffs behind it, to lift it above the average tale of a good p*ss up! With a sharp punchy rhythm driving along throughout, you’d have to be comatose not to love this song, for it is the music which is the predominant force on show here. One of the all time classic lads p*ss up anthems was Sham 69’s ‘Hurry Up Harry’, and that was simply because lead singer Jimmy Pursey screamed his simple urban poetry at you, while the music was a bit of an afterthought. What Her Friend The Bandit have done is to give this tale balance, humour and a bloody good tune!

‘The King Is Dead’ on the other hand is a much more confusing piece rising and falling in pace, no doubt to emphasize the emotional turmoil which seems to be the subject matter in this tale of dejected woe. At times it almost comes across as several songs mashed together but to its credit the varying tempos are blended seamlessly, ranging from a militaristic tattoo on the drums before dropping into an indie guitar rhythm, sandwiched between delicate guitar solos. I do love the ending which kind of slaps you in the face; suddenly you’re faced with the inevitable conclusion of this doomed relationship and with this clinical finish, all that has preceded it is suddenly justified with one simple statement.

The final track on this EP, ‘Think Of England’ is edging into The Stoops territory and whilst it lacks the punchy entrance of ‘Neon Slags’, it soon hits you with another catchy riff and once they start they refuse to let go! Not exactly a love song, more a song about a guy who basically thinks below the belt shall we say, and for that reason doesn’t leave! This seems to be a common thread from these guys, they take the slightly pessimistic view on relationships, a bit of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel would be nice now and then but then again life doesn’t necessarily pan out that way I suppose. With this song they seem to have gone back to their original song writing roots and come out with a belter of an indie track and whilst for me ‘Neon Slags’ is the strongest song on this EP, this is a worthy addition to their repertoire!

Both ‘Think of England’ and ‘Neon Slags’ have been played on Sheffield Live Radio receiving good feedback and with a couple of gigs coming up before Christmas, Dec 5th at Penelopes as well as Dec 10th at SAWA, they might be worth checking out