Formed of four life-long friends, UK anarchists TV Priest share their noisy debut "House of York." Straight in with the goods, the band slam their politics straight into your face. It's pretty simple: are you with them or against them? Because they're making their views known straight away and not putting up with your shit.
Underscored with stirring, fuzzy guitars, "House of York" unravels into a frenzied anthem. Frontman Charlie Drinkwater declares "this is not my national anthem" over clashing guitar lines and solidified drums. It's a heavy-footed kick in the teeth to the UK establishment and royalists everywhere. Recorded and mixed by themselves, the band have squared up to forced leadership and catastrophically fully right-hooked it in the jaw.
In a press statement, the band explains: "House Of York broadly addresses the approach to class and the philosophical and psychological impact a monarchy has had on our country. The idea of an ordained family, traditionally and historically appointed by ‘God’, has defined our country in both ways both good and bad. We were interested in the less positive outcomes this sense of ‘leadership’ has had, how an individual is conflated with a national ‘cause’ or set of rights and macro actions. Can the UK ever truly be meritocratic with a principle like a constitutional monarch? Our guess is probably not."
It's tracks like this one, from bands who are unapologetically blunt, that make us stop to question the higher authority imposed on us. On that note: God Save The Queen, The Facist Regime.
"House of York" is out via Hand In Hive now.
