Hands Off Gretel – ‘I Want The World’ (Puke Pop Records)

Hands Off Gretel – ‘I Want The World’ (Puke Pop Records)

In a world of beige bands and radio stations that force feed the masses with bland, manufactured music that has nothing to say, alternative rock is well and truly underground.

We need rock stars, we need larger than life characters. We need songwriters and performers that do have something to say and are prepared to deliver the goods. More than ever grassroots, DIY bands need our help as it’s a freakin’ jungle out there, a day to day struggle for a band to stay alive.

The recent PledgeMusic debacle has not helped matters. Being fucked over by the very platform you have put trust in to get your music direct to your fan base is possibly the worst thing that could have happened to Hands Off Gretel, at the most important time of their career.

The band is out of pocket and the fans are out of pocket. But where there’s a will there’s a way. The world needs to hear this album and with the help of their fans, Hands Off Gretel have maybe succeeded in being even more independent than they ever dreamed of.

 

The title of Hands Off Gretel’s sophomore album says a lot about the attitude of their singer, chief songwriter and resident art co-ordinator Lauren Tate. Planning world domination from her bedroom in South Yorkshire since she could probably hold a crayon, this girl has ambition and she knows what she wants. Hours and hours listening to Hole, The Distillers and Pink. Creating artwork, writing lyrics and dreaming that one day she will show those who bullied and those who put her down that she could succeed…that she could be somebody.

While their debut album ‘Burn The Beauty Queen’ was a lo-fi, grunge obsessed ride, Hands Off Gretel have taken things up a notch with ‘I Want The World’. The hooks are more instant, the choruses stick like glue and the guitars are even more furious than before.

The change was evident in the first single and album opener ‘Kiss Me Girl’. An ode to lesbian desire, with a killer hook that adds a commercial element to Lauren’s inner Brody Dalle. It’s a game-changer of a song that takes their post-grunge/alt 90’s sound to another level. It’s the blueprint for their new sound and the perfect anthem for angst-ridden teens who feel alienated from the world.

And this is where Hands Off Gretel have a serious advantage. They appeal to a disenchanted youth, as they are still a part of that demographic. Lauren especially, while cute and diminutive, has a fire in her belly and can pen angst fuelled lyrics as well as her peers ever have. She has real stuff to write about. Kids will relate to her lyrics, girls will want to be her, boys will want to be with her. They are a poster band for the new generation.

The recent change shows a new confidence and self-assurance from a band who I have been watching evolve. With the recent addition of Becky Baldwin on bass, the band look and feel like a cohesive unit live. With two strong female characters and long-standing members Sean Bon (guitar) and Sam Hobbins (drums), it all just seems to have gelled.

 

Anyway, I digress. The previously released singles/videos were enough to whet the appetite with their No Doubt meets L7 vibes. ‘S.A.S.S’ is a dirt-smeared and groovy, dancefloor filler with a killer chorus. Exciting, sassy and cool as you like. The title track is a big middle finger to the naysayers. “I’m the rudest, I’m the cutest, I’m the one that hurts” she croons before exploding in a helium induced diatribe. With furious guitar work from Sean, it’s a song full of angst and fire. It could be their best work to date.

In total contrast, the following ‘Blame Myself’ is more commercial, slicker. In the verses, Lauren is sounding more like her heroine Pink than ever before. In a similar way, ‘It’s My Fault’ has that same pop suss, that great use of sugary sweet melodies. ‘Freaks Like Us’ is a cleverly penned anthem for a disenchanted youth, a song that demands you hold your lighter in the air.

This move towards a more commercial sound is a natural songwriting progression for a girl who has been finding her feet as a songwriter, not just a singer over the past couple of years.

The grungy vibes are omnipresent. With its guttural, screamo vibes, wah-wah infused guitars and pumping bass, ‘Milk’ is a mash-up of ‘Heart Shaped Box’ meets ‘Pretend We’re Dead’. And the hyper album closer ‘Rot (All The Good Things)’ is a final shot of adrenaline to the vein, as it has one of the most instant and memorable hooks you will hear this year.

 

Whether its shades of KatieJane Garside craziness, Pink’s spot on pop suss or the angst of Courtney Love and Brody Dalle, Lauren Tate’s vocals and melodies are the driving force behind one of the most exciting underground bands we have here in the UK. Punk infused angst with fuzzy guitars, loud/quiet nineties vibes, dreamy pop anthems with lush backing vocals. Yep, with the songs and the style to match, they got the whole package, baby!

In 2019 it’s fair to say rock stars are a dying breed, especially the female role models. You wanna know who has the balls to fit into Joan Jett’s leather jacket? Who has the “fuck you” attitude of Courtney or L7? Well, with a mass of two-tone dreads, khol smeared eyes and ruby red lips, a diminutive Yorkshire lass is happily being Alice In Grungeland every day of the week and it’ll take more than PledgeMusic to destroy Lauren Tate’s dreams of world domination. Are you man enough to follow her down the rabbit hole?

Author: Ben Hughes

Buy I Want The World Here

Lauren Tate Interview – Hands Off Gretel

Lauren Tate Interview – Hands Off Gretel

South Yorkshire band Hands Off Gretel deal in 90’s Grunge swagger, deliver riotous live shows and have enough bubblegum hooks to scale the top of the charts baby! It’s no surprise to find their Pledge Campaign for sophomore long player ‘I Want The World’ currently sits at a staggering 230%. Not bad for a relatively unknown and completely independent band.

We caught up with lead riot grrl Lauren Tate to get the lowdown on all things pink and girly and find out exactly what she’s been up to, locked up in her bedroom all these years.

 

 

Your pledge campaign reached 100% in under 24 hours. Were you expecting such a quick response? Ah, dude! It was crazy, we were all sat hitting refresh every second, it was so exciting! I’ve teased the album for a while; people were ready and willing to pre-order it. I was blown away that we hit it so fast though, it really gives me so much hope for the future of independent music. 

 

Your new album is entitled ‘I Want The World’ …so what’s the message there then? ‘I Want The World’ is about how I’ve felt since I was a little girl. I’ve always felt shushed and muted, with everyone always telling me to shut up or stop being unrealistic, leaving me constantly thinking of ways to give everyone who doubted me or ridiculed me the middle finger.

‘I Want The World’ feels like my rebellion. I’m chewing gum, I’m not smiling because someone told me to, I’m not just being a nice pretty girl, I’m fucking angry sometimes and I deserve more, be it friendships or respect from others without being patronized. ‘I Want The World’ to me, means ‘I deserve more than this world is gonna give me and I’m gonna kick and scream until I get what I want’!

You’ve always been an independent DIY band, handling all the artwork, design and even producing the videos. Why choose now to go down the PledgeMusic route? The Pledge route to me is the best way for independent artists to self-release their music. It shows there is demand for your music, that your fans believe in you without needing a label to put it out for you. With Pledge too, you’re giving fans exclusive content. You can get personal with them, which would never be an option signed under a label. I’m not saying getting signed is a bad thing, I think if you’re wanting to be world famous it’s easier to be signed than it is to get there independently. But until the right deal comes along on my terms, I have no interest in searching for a record label.

 

Recent singles ‘Kiss Me Girl’ and ‘S.A.S.S.’ suggest a more commercial direction and a definite sense of stepping things up a level. Was this the intention when setting out to write the album? The first album I ever wrote was our first album. Before then I’d written a few acoustic songs here and there, but I’d never done an album before. Since that point in 2017 I’ve learnt so much about myself playing live and working with song formulas, that this time around I was just naturally better at composing songs. I knew more about what kind of artist I was too, without worrying about what anyone else wanted me to be. Songs like ‘Kiss Me Girl’ and ‘S.A.S.S’ came to me almost instantly, it was a very natural progression for me mixing more of a melodic pop sound with distorted heavy fuzz guitars, creating the newer sound we have now.

You’ve gone through a few line-up changes in the past, which is not unusual for an upcoming band finding their feet. Going by recent performances, you are certainly at your strongest live right now. With the addition of Becky on bass, does it feel like the band are now a cohesive unit? Yeah, I mean it’s bound to happen within bands. I’ve always been honest, I wear my heart on my sleeve and if anything feels wrong I gotta speak up about it. I think people who judge bands for having lots of line-up changes should try spending tour after tour with the same people without going nuts. You find out very fast if you can spend that much time with another human and with us, whenever anyone has left the band, it’s always made the line-up stronger because you can’t force something that just isn’t meant to be.

You recently toured with The Virginmarys, how did you go down with their fan base and were their fans even aware of Hands Off Gretel before seeing you live? Weirdly, we had a load of cross-over fans I didn’t even know about. I was announcing us each night imagining nobody knew us, but the majority of the crowd knew the songs. We picked up loads of new fans from those shows, it was a blast. The Virginmarys boys and their tour crew were lovely; we were saying we would defo do some shows with them again.

What’s your favourite venue to play? I’d say one of my favourite is my hometown venue The Old School House in Barnsley. The stage is a great size, same with the room and the sound rocks! We’ve played plenty of shows there which always sell out. 

Lauren, you have become a bit of a role model for alternative girls, tackling issues in your lyrics that the mainstream avoids and advocating women being authentic, strong and true to themselves. Still, in this day and age, there is a lack of truly great female fronted rock ‘n’ roll bands out there. Why do you think this is and do Hands Off Gretel have the power to help change this? Sure, yeah. It’s always great to motivate and inspire young women. Growing up, I looked up to my biggest role model P!nk and I held onto her every word. She changed my life and she’ll never know that. It’s small changes that change the world, one individual at a time. I believe yes, 100%, I alone can contribute to a better future for girls and boys.

All my life I’ve been talked down to by ‘authority figures’ and teachers and made to feel like I couldn’t achieve even a quarter of what I have up to now. I’ve played with lots of women in bands, they are everywhere in the underground scene, just ready and waiting to break out to the mainstream rock stations and festival line-ups that still are mostly all-male bands. I think everyone realises now, with social media being a wonderful platform, that there is inequality still to challenge in society, and as long as people continue to speak out about this and create platforms for these passionate, angry women to have a voice, the world will have no choice but to listen. 

You’ve had abuse from girls in the past online, but do you ever get heckled at gigs, and if so what’s the weirdest experience? I’ve had abuse from everyone online! It just hurts like hell when it’s a girl because I believe so passionately that women should bring each other up. People love to believe I’m a bitch, I think they really want me trip up and fall flat on my face because things are going well for me. I’ve had it all my life with teachers and kids at school, I’ve done this independently for so long without any mentoring or help. I know all eyes are on me when it comes to trolls and haters online and I’m determined to prove them wrong. Haha YES!!

One time this man wanted to buy pictures of my feet for $500, but he wanted me to give him a free sample, then he intensely stalked me and created multiple profiles attacking me with insults and threats online because I said I didn’t want to suck my own toes for money,  that was weird haha! Gigs are alright though; I think the biggest stalkers and dick pic charmers prefer to stay behind the keyboard!

What was the best year for music in your lifetime? I pretty much missed all the ones my dad talks about seeing, as I wasn’t born until ‘97. It gives me hope though, I feel sorry for kids growing up having to listen to their parents banging on about the good old days. Sure the music back then was raw and brilliant and most of my favourite bands never made it past 1999, but I’m focused entirely on the current time and this generation of music because this is my generation. I’m so excited when I hear amazing bands that nobody knows about, being in a crowd of 10 watching something spectacular before everyone else knows about it.

At what point after you were born did you discover who you were? Probably around 14 years old, when I chopped off all my hair and started listening to The Distillers. Before that point I was totally lost, trying to be popular, trying to fit in listening to N-DUBZ, I was so chavvy it’s unreal. I cut off my hair and became hated at school, it was the most freeing thing I’ve ever done.

When you hear the word ‘successful’, what comes to mind? I think of being in a position where I don’t have to suck anyone’s wrinkled balls to get what I want. I mean, I’d never do that hahaha but I think of success meaning ‘I am now a boss bitch’, I think of finally being respected by those that have ignored me in the past and continuing to be authentic, making a living off my own self-built empire.

If you could have a drink with anyone alive or dead, who would it be and what would you drink? I’d sit in my music room with Freddie Mercury and ask him what his last thoughts were as he died. Did he feel quenched by his life, did he reach his goal? I obsess over death, it’s my biggest driving force because I’m so afraid of my time being up and not being finished with my creations. We’d drink a little vodka and cry together.

Buy Hands Off Gretel Here

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Author: Ben Hughes

Hands Off Gretel Release New Video & Album Details

Hands Off Gretel Release New Video & Album Details

Hands Off Gretel announce new album ‘I Want The World’ to be released March 29th via Puke Pop Records

 

Watch the band take over a skatepark with the new video for the title track released today!

 

“A riotous tangle of bubblegum riffs and rebel girl swagger” Planet Rock

Formed in 2015 in South Yorkshire when frontwoman Lauren Tate stuck two-fingers up to the repressive school environment that trapped her and dropped out, the 16-year-old self-confessed misfit wasted no time in finding an outlet to channel every bit of the alienation and despair experienced within those concrete walls into something cathartic and creative. And Hands Off Gretel was born.

Inspired by the volatile and liberating melody fueled noise of bands such as Hole, The Distillers, Nirvana and PJ Harvey, Hands Off Gretel quickly set about creating the perfect soundtrack of sugar-coated grunge-punk for Lauren to vent and rail against the issues of body image, mental health, celebrity, childhood and loneliness she felt enraged by, all of which were addressed from a fiercely female, unapologetic, feminist perspective.

Recorded at Monnow Valley studio in Wales, new album ‘I Want The World’ is set for release this coming March 29th via the bands own label Puke Pop Records and features twelve-tracks hugely addictive, and sometimes vindictive, melodic rock that is unafraid to blend the heavy screeching distortion of grunge rock with the catchy hooks of bubblegum pop, whilst keeping true to their original roots in punk rock.

“I Want The World is a song about how I’ve always felt since I was young,” explains Lauren. “It’s me pouting like a child and saying ‘no! I want more than what this world is going to give me.’ I channel Veruca Salt from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory when I sing it. I am being obstreperous and impossible like a child, kicking and screaming until I get what I want.”

“It feels like I wrote this album 6 years ago in a school toilet whilst skipping class and hiding from the world,” continues Lauren. “The way I felt so ostracized and alone like I didn’t fit in anywhere. It became my mission to sing for the outcasts, the weird kids, the ones that feel misrepresented in society and left behind like I do. I made it my obligation at 15 to make as much noise as possible as a young woman, to challenge everything.”

 

“‘I Want The World’ is about how I’ve felt since I was a little girl,” she adds. “I’ve always felt shushed and muted. Everyone’s always told me to stop showing off or stop being unrealistic and so I’m constantly thinking of ways to give everyone who doubted I could do this or ridiculed me the middle finger. The album is about feeling rejected and acting out, wanting acceptance from a society you don’t even want to be part of. I’m channelling my childhood throughout it all, always being alone and fighting my own battles. The only track that doesn’t fit this theme is Kiss Me Girl, that’s just my lesbian anthem because I felt the world lacked them and I wanted to piss off homophobes.”

 

Fiercely independent, Hands Off Gretel produce and control every aspect of the sound and image. Their loyal and passionate international fan base has grown organically from years of work, interacting daily with fans on social media, creating artwork, videos and merchandise, building not just a band, but a brand with a very clear identity. Their hugely successful Pledge Music campaign to fund the album hit 100% of their goal in less than 24 hours and currently stands at over 200%, combined with PRS Foundation Emerging Artist Funding, which has helped Hands Off Gretel bring the sounds in their heads to life on their own label.

“With the new album we wanted to incorporate more of a pop production to our sound, capturing the wildness and brashness of the fuzz guitars and heavy drums mixed with a flirtatious pop fruitiness,” describes Lauren. “The songs have a pop arrangement at the core”

“I worked hard at crafting catchy melodies and layering my harmonies throughout the whole album,” she continues. “All the while keeping the grit and angst people love in our live shows. It was the most natural progression for us being able to express ourselves in different ways without losing what we have at our core.”

Over the past 3 years, the band have played over100 UK headline dates, toured Germany and played major festivals, including, Rebellion Festival, The Great British Alternative Festival, Isle of Wight, Amplified Festivals Download and Camden Rocks festival.  They have built themselves a solid reputation for their live shows, which are as visually compelling as they are musically, with Tate like an ever-evolving chameleon, you’re never quite sure what you are going to get.

With tastemakers ‘This Feeling’ picking the band up for their “Big in 2019’ predictions and support from Pirate Studios, the industry is starting to take notice of a band that are making a lot of noise under their own steam. As Northern Exposure put it “Hands Off Gretel are a time bomb waiting to go off”

Catch the band live at the following dates:

 

Sat 19th Jan – ‘Big In 2019’ This Feeling – Nambucca London

Thurs 28th March – London Album Launch – Nambucca London

Fri 29th March – Home Town album Launch – Old School House Venue Barnsley, South Yorkshire

April tour – ‘This Feeling’ Tour

Sat 6th April – Brighton – Hope & Ruin

Sat 20th April – Sheffield Café Totem

26th April – Glasgow – Broadcast

27th April – Edinburgh – Edinburgh

Confirmed festival dates:

Camden Rocks Festival – 2nd June 2019

Amplified Festival – 21st July 2019

Rebellion Festival – Aug 2019

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Keep checking back at RPM as next week we’ve got a long interview going online with Lauren Tate

Rainy Days & Mondays

Rainy Days & Mondays

So its that time of week again when your getting ready to head out the door but don’t worry RPM are here to put a spring into your step and a smile on your face but most importantly a tune in your head.  this week Ben Hughes offers up three tunes he thinks would cheer up any day of the week and especially a Monday so here goes.

Butch Walker – ‘Closest Thing To You I’m Gonna Find’

Butch Walker has fast become my favourite singer/ songwriter over the years and this song, taken from the 2011 album ‘The Spade’, is one of his most heartfelt and uplifting country-tinged tunes. This performance, taken from a Fender Studio Session is probably my most watched video on YouTube and encapsulates everything I love about this guy from Georgia. The tone of that signature telecaster is unreal, the passion and emotion in every note is unsurpassed. The sentiment of the lyrics and the notes he hits on the final chorus, it sends goosebumps through my very soul. Utter musical perfection.

 

PJ Harvey – ‘Good Fortune’

A go-to song to cheer me up any day of the week. Polly Harvey can do no wrong in my eyes, I love the jangly, carefree feel of this tune. The way it builds in the chorus, the vocals are perfection. So upbeat, rapturous and sultry all at once. Love the video too, PJ on a night on the town, is she drunk? She looks it! Possibly the only woman to make swinging a handbag look cool.

Hands Off Gretel – ‘Kiss Me Girl’

Gamechanger of a song from the Yorkshire band. Here, Lauren Tate has upped the ante. While the previous material has been good, this ode to lesbian desires takes their post Grunge/alt 90’s sound to another level with a killer hook that adds a commercial element to Lauren’s inner Brody Dalle. She’s a Riot Grrl who knows what she wants and I think she’s gonna get it! She even produced the video. Watch out for big things when they release their as yet untitled second album.

Ben Hughes.

Hands Off Gretel – new single is OUT NOW!! (video)

Hands Off Gretel – new single is OUT NOW!! (video)

Brand new video to accompany the new single ‘S.A.S.S.’ from Hands Off Gretel sees new music from the band before they head out around England and Scotland for some shows. Formed in 2014, Hands Off Gretel features Lauren Tate (lead vocals, Guitar), Becky Baldwin (Bass guitar, backing vocals), Sean Bon (lead guitar) and Sam Hobbins (Drums). Founding the band at just seventeen, band songwriter Lauren is also behind all of the band’s art design, merchandise, music videos & album art visuals creating HOGs own unique style aesthetic.

25 Oct – The Lantern – Halifax
26 Oct – The Globe – Newcastle Upon Tyne
27 Oct – The Wee Red Bar – Edinburgh
20 Nov – Louisiana -Bristol
21 Nov – Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen – London
28 Nov – Stereo – Glasgow
30 Nov – Stereo – Glasgow
27 Dec – Old School House Venue – Barnsley

Info: www.handsoffgretel.co.uk