Yard Act - Fixer Upper / The Trapper's Pelts

Zen F.C.

£10.01

Format: 7" in screen-printed wrap around sleeve
Cat: ZENFC002S
Barcode: 5056340101650
Release Date: February 2021 (repress)
Genre: Punk/Hardcore

 Leeds outfit Yard Act release their debut single, a double A side featuring two prime cuts of coruscating protopunk, fierce and fun in equal measures.
 Formed in 2019, Yard Act began life when friends Ryan Needham (bass) and James Smith (vocals) started creating minimalist rock tracks using a primitive drum machine and borrowed bass guitar. Later drafting in George Townend on drums and Sammy Robinson on guitars, whom they met at their spiritual home The Brudenell Social Club, they played a handful of shows to a rapt reception before you-know-what intervened. No matter: ingenuity and artistry enabled them to great their debut release.
 Overflowing with satirical one-liners, A side ‘Fixer Upper’ follows a cocksure fictional character, Graeme, planning some home renovations. Yard Act coinstigator Smith explains: “Graeme was inspired by an amalgamation of people who lived on my street growing up. I think everyone knows a Graeme, maybe a neighbour or an uncle… sorry if he’s your dad. Not a bad man at heart, he just sincerely believes he’s from a country and generation that achieved the apex of everything so therefore can’t ever be wrong about anything.” Drafting in Ross Orton (whose credits include Arctic Monkeys, Working Men’s Club, MIA, Amyl & The Sniffers) on mixing duties, it is equal parts fearsome and funny and never less than breathtaking.
 On the flip side, ‘The Trapper’s Pelts’ is a satirical take on neoliberalism.
James Smith explains, “It skewers elements of the American frontier into a Scarface-type narrative set against the backdrop of a mundane West
Yorkshire suburb.” Produced by Bill Ryder Jones (The Coral) prior to
lockdown the recording process of the track “felt like a Happy Mondays
thing, keeping the drums tight and high up in the mix like a dance mix.”
 Housed in a screen-printed wraparound sleeve (individually printed by Ryan
from the band), it’s a debut single to be treasured.
 Offered as an exclusive to independent retailers.
 “An unnerving slice of post-punk” - Dork
 “Nick Cave and John Cooper Clarke would’ve been proud to have written this” - The Line Of Best Fit
 “An immediate and blistering punchy number” - DIY
 “Pleasingly derisive and immediately pertinent in this current state” - So Young
 “A satirical take on neoliberalism driven by James Smith’s menacing vocals and fuzzy bassline, most notable for its killer one-liners” - NME

Tracklisting:
Fixer Upper
The Trapper’s Pelts