TIPPER OF THE WEEK: JACK CLOTHIER

This week we continue our latest feature on the Tipping Point, spotlighting the biggest and best emerging acts from across the UK. Each Monday, we ask one of our esteemed tippers to select five of their hottest tips to be featured on the site throughout the week.

Next up we’ve got Jack Clothier, co-founder of Alcopop! Records. Former AIM Award winners, and pioneers in creative thinking over big budgets, Alcopop! has overseen the rise and rise of some incredibly important bands in the UK (Art Brut, johnny foreigner, TIGERCUB, Spook School, Indoor Pets) – as well as making waves in Europe and beyond with the likes of Kississippi, Nelson Can, DZ Deathrays, Anamanaguchi and more.

Famous for being the first label to pioneer podcasts on vinyl (with The QI Elves and Corey Taylor of Slipknot fame), as well as a catalogue now almost 200 releases old, the label has reached far and wide to make the most of all sorts of opportunities. Highlights include releasing a compilation on a fixie bike, pressing asteroid dust into Emperor Yes’ debut space-pop LP and releasing political protest single ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Nigel Farage’ on completely blank 7” with Enter Shikari.

Check out Jack’s tips below!

 

---

 

DITZ

Ditz are a special band. They’re a really special band. Fizzing their way out of that oh-so-virile Brighton scene, this is all buzzsaw bass, brooding vocal and fucked up guitar all perilously teetering on the edge of the edge, and they’ve got a LOT to say. If recent single ‘Gayboy’ is an indication of what’s coming up, then we should all get very excited. Very excited indeed.

 

DBOY

It’s OK to put a band you’ve just signed in this, right? Because the full-on-force that is Dboy deserve your attention right away. The masked trio have emerged from nowhere preaching an aesthetic that lays waste to sonic restrictions and creative austerity in search of a greater good, and having just packed out shows at The Great Escape, Live at Leeds and a stack more UK venues with their particular brand of 50’s rock n’ roll meets all out thrash – and it looks like people are starting to believe. Most importantly, Dboy is just a whole load of fun… And in a world that takes itself way too seriously, sometimes we need a bit of that! #Dboyforpresident

 

DREAM NAILS

Dream Nails are one of the best bands I’ve seen this year. Or last year for that matter. They describe themselves as queer punk witches from London bringing life-affirming feminist ragejoy, and you can’t argue with that. It’s all punk as fuck but interspersed with ludicrously immediate riffs, singalong choruses and the kind of energy that will stay with you for days. At its most fun, there’s a ludicrously hyper-surf feel to proceedings, but Dream Nails have a serious political agenda – and you can guarantee you’ll be hearing a LOT more about it.

 

NANCY

Fronted by the charismatic Jamie Hall from TIGERCUB, Nancy is an absolute tour de force, that seems to have set the hearts of many a music critic on fire – and it’s no surprise when you give the debut EP a listen. Beautifully experimental but with melodies that could launch a fleet of singalong ships, Nancy merges a wonderfully diverse set of styles to create something that defies anyone who likes their music easily defined. Channeling chiptune here, a Beatles flourish there – at one moment the tune is bouncing along like Pavement meets Beck, the next Hall is hollering over a fuzzy punk riff as drums jitter all off-kilter in the background. This is refreshingly exciting to listen to. More please.

 

CABLE TIES

All scuzzy punk and incredibly powerful vocals that pack a similar punch to a small planet colliding with your face, Cable Ties are the latest force to emerge from the Australian underground scene – and fully deserve all the praise that has been piling up since their recent UK excursion with Tropical Fuck Storm. Taking The Great Escape by storm and packing every venue they played with consummate ease, Cable Ties will be huge. Get on them now.