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Okay Champ
William Tell
Digital
Out now
Louder Than War’s Ioan Humphreys reviews Okay Champ’s latest release.
Okay Champ follow their visceral post-punk debut single The Party’s Over (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, with the similarly menacing William Tell. I reviewed their brilliant debut here.
Their latest single starts with military style drumming that runs throughout. An almost Gregorian chanting is layered on top and immediately you get the feeling that you aren’t in the same arena as their debut. Let alone Kansas. This feeling of disquiet and unease continues with the guitar layers that build up and up.
The track pummels on with layers of squealing guitar. Completely different to the approach and feel to their debut! But this is what is so interesting about Okay Champ. This is a band expressing themselves however they to and without any constraints. Just over 5 minutes later, they have just done that. It’s a deluge of sound that is full of menace and intimidation. A propulsive, unending drum beat sets the tone for John Edgar’s imposing vocals to set a disconsolate scene, with gloriously fuzzy guitars and electronic atmospherics completing a hallucinatory soundscape.
Okay Champ are quite the enigma at the moment. Yet I still think they are a worth a listen and could definitely be your favourite band. Have a listen to this and their debut to find out.
William Tell was produced by Okay Champ and Will Thornycroft, and is being released via the band’s own newly established imprint Treetrunk Records on June 21st.
Live Dates
JULY 15th Newcastle – Cluny 2 w/ Blóm
16th Bristol – The Exchange w/Blóm
17th London – The Social w/Blóm
18th Brighton – The Quadrant w/Blóm
19th Portsmouth – The Edge of the Wedge w/Blóm
22nd – Sheffield Tramlines Festival
Okay Champ can be found via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and SoundCloud
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Words by Ioan Humphreys. More writing by Ioan can be found at his author’s archive. You can also find him on Twitter at @ioan_humphreys.
