More indie rock gold from extra mile
Literally hundreds of bands are playing somewhere in the UK right now. People will go home this evening and think “That was band was amazing. Hardly anyone knows about them. I wish I bought their CD.”. That band, sick of the merciless drudgery of playing every toilet venue in the country for little thanks, pennies and pints of warm Strongbow will sadly split in a couple of years and only be remembered as that really good band who could have gone places. Some of those bands deserve more.
Stapleton, in particular deserve far much more than pennies and warm pints.
Eleven years in, four albums and numerous EPs released and sharing stages with the likes of The Dismemberment Plan, Statistics, Idlewild and Hundred Reasons, Glasgow’s Stapleton need to be heard. They’ve seen the bands that cite them as a huge influence •Dartz!, Tellison, Johnny Foreigner - overtake them in terms of popularity and still they are, plugging away and making some of the most lovely sounds you may ever hear. It is a crime that they are not bigger than they are. Although they have been the best kept secret of every indie rocker, they now deserve the right to hit big themselves.
Recorded in a remote Scottish barn, Rest and Be Thankful is another top notch recording from those hardworking chaps at Xtra Mile, which in itself is fast becoming one of the most treasured bastions of endlessly lovely indie rock around. With the heart tugging, indie jangly sensibilities of bands such as The Weakerthans and Jimmy Eat World with the vocal frailty of Mike Kinsella’s, Owen tinged with the same soft intonation that fellow Scots Roddy Woomble and Simon Neil have; Stapleton really are something special.
Every track shimmers with a lovely indie glow which you can’t help but adore. Everything sounds so effortlessly put together. Every song is a perfectly constructed little package which nestles neatly and seamlessly together. From the bouncy, anthemic Chez Chef (which has been a favourite of fans for some time) to the aching burn of Birds in Formation; it all fits together faultlessly to make the most dreamy of packages.
Whether Stapleton will be hitting the major leagues any time soon is impossible forecast, but they a band who have worked hard to win over the hearts of many and will retain the title, for sometime to come, as the Kings of the UK underground.