After meeting at a Halloween 2013 gig (where drummer Ben Wallbanks was wearing a pair of tights coupled with a fetching potato sack on his head and guitarist Jonny Firth was dressed as plain old Jonny Firth) Knuckle were born kicking and screaming into the lowdown dirty world of blues.
Now you too can grab a slice of their freakish drone-blues pie with their debut EP This Week’s Been Hell set for release on 14th September.
The two piece, with a combined age of 58 (it keeps growing), are younger than lots of bands because they normally have more members. The filthy garage blues music they make has recently been self-described as “The Black Keys on crack”, but don’t let that put you off.
Knuckle are already gaining a reputation for explosive live sets and the artistic freedom of their compositions with a fondness for playing as loud as possible. Their creativity, flair and heavy blues style has seen them play support slots that have subsequently shamed the headliners from the stage.
Career highlights so far have included supports such as Little Barrie and Holy Mountain as well as London shows at The Old Blue Last (Shoreditch) and Birthdays (Dalston). On latest track ‘Living Hell’ the lightning fast and intricate drumming style of Wallbanks melds into a delicious audio soup with Firth’s emotive blues lyrics and engaging vocal range, delivered with a side order of warm, energizing, fuzzy guitar riffs.
Happy Days Music Blog named Knuckle as one of their “40 Bands To Keep An Eye On” alongside the likes of Catfish & The Bottlemen, Royal Blood and Post War Glamour Girls and the band are already poking their head above the parapet at local and national radio stations including BBC Introducing.
Why not come and see them at one of their many upcoming live appearances? Bring your potato sacks.
UK and EU Live Dates:
14th July – The Parish, Huddersfield supporting The Burning Hell
26th July – Tramlines Festival, Sheffield (Venue TBC)
30th July – Zephyrstock Festival, Huddersfield
2nd August – Humber Street Sesh, Hull
2nd August – Thorne Rugby Club, Doncaster (Charity event)
6th September – Instore acoustic gig at Vinyl Tap Records, Huddersfield
6th September – The Parish, Huddersfield (EP pre release party)
13th September – Long Division Festival, Wakefield (Venue TBC)
15th September – Zephyr, Huddersfield with Go!Zilla (Italy)
17th September – Oporto, Leeds with Go!Zilla (Italy)
20th September – Instore Acoustic gig at Wah Wah Records, Wakefield
27th September – The Woolpack, York
Knuckle are:
Jonny Firth (aka Jonny the Girth) – Guitar & Vocals
Ben Wallbanks (aka Ben Ballwanks) – Drums
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http://weareknuckle.bandcamp.
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