A fragrantly melodramatic fierce panda one sheet

The Band: SAD BOYS CLUB

The Release: ‘SLEEPYHEAD’

The Format: DIGISINGLE

The Release Date: JULY 27TH 2018

The Truth: SAD BOYS CLUB are from Crouch End in Northern Londonshire. They consist of Jacob Wheldon (vocals), Tom MacColl (drums), Jake Chatterton (guitar), Pedro Caetano Leite (bass / vocals) and Tom Herzberg (guitar). ‘Sleepyhead’ is their first release on fierce panda records, and quite the sonic journey it is, too, an ominous intro leading into some especially spacious melodies, which are in turn followed by a fragrant dreamy interlude, which is then superseded by a gigantically heroic final 63 seconds.

‘Sleepyhead’ is quite possibly then four songs crammed into one four minute meltdown, and it’s a total blast from first to last. Or, in frontman Jacob’s words: "The song was born of a lucid dream I had, the Shelob scene from ‘Lord of the Rings…only Shelob had Hayley Williams' face. It became a kind of distorted landscape in which to think about faith and fiction, idols and judgement."

Such is smart life with Sad Boys Club, the new saviours lurking on the alt.rock block. Over the past eight months they have self-released a furious flurry of hyper-excellent singles with names like ‘Know’, ’15/01’ and ‘American Spirit’, all of which mix modern shiny pop palavers with classic alternative tactics. The end results are a touch like the mythical missing link between The 1975 and Placebo but with perhaps an added splash of Smashing Pumpkins, a waft of The War On Drugs and a crafty thimbleful of The Cure here and there.

It’s onstage where the fragrant theatrics and occasional bellowing outbursts of Jacob really hit their straps, arms a’twirling and fringe a’whirling as he embodies the snarling / smiling sadness of the boys club behind him. And if these anthems for the broken-hearted sound like the soundtrack to immense teenage angst then little wonder – Sad Boys Club have been dabbling in the dark art of songwriting since their pre-teens and some of those furiously excellent singles were written when they were barely 15 years old.

Back then, other kids at school were into Bombay Bicycle Club, Yuck and Theme Park. The older kids at school meanwhile were actually IN those bands. Happily, familial circumstances ensured that the nascent Sad Boys had full access to the Bicycle Club’s studio facilities at the bottom of the garden. The story might have started there, but the plot is only just starting to thicken…

There will be an EP release on fierce panda in the autumn. In the meantime, go see Sad Boys Club brighten up these venues here:
JULY 26TH ST ALBANS THE HORN (w/ Guava)
JULY 28TH LEEDS THE KEY CLUB (Double Denim Live w/ Stryde)
JULY 31ST HACKNEY SEBRIGHT ARMS (w/ The Caress)

www.facebook.com/sadboysclb
www.fiercepanda.co.uk