Frank Lloyd Wleft

“Flits between down-trodden lyricism and a sprawling upbeat melody… an unrelenting, genre-melding clash” – The Line of Best Fit

“Infuses country, punk, poetry and jangle into a concoction that’s truly one-of-a-kind” – Still Listening 

“Clearly a very talented emerging singer-songwriter” – Gary Crowley, BBC Radio London

“A lilting tapestry complete with woven guitars and jumpy bass guitar” – The Most Radicalis

Ahead of a special headline show at Hackney’s Paper Dress Vintage to coincide with American Independence Day (4th July), London singer/songwriter Frank Lloyd Wleft journeys across the United States with epic new single ‘The Actual Kids in Actual America’.

Channelling a passion for the nostalgic American artforms - Beat Poetry, classic Country & Western, Rock ‘n’ Roll - with all the gnarled bite of a thrashing London post-punk band, Frank Lloyd Wleft’s latest cut delivers a sprawling panorama of United States culture as it reveals itself to a young, 20-something Brit.

Inspired by a solo two-month trip undertaken across the US in 2022, ‘The Actual Kids In The Actual America’ is as restless, diverse, and unpredictable as the storied country itself. Flitting from jangle-pop, bluegrass fiddles, a capella chant-a-longs and Lou Reed-style swaggering punk rock, the track concludes with an urgent slice of isolated spoken word poetry and a cascade of cultural references: from Bob Dylan to Allen Ginsberg; from Wordle to Walthamstow. Explaining more about the track, Frank Lloyd Wleft says:

‘The Actual Kids in Actual America’ was written to soundtrack my two-month journey across the US in 2022, with lyrical details emerging along the way. Inspired by Beat Generation poetry, Pop Art and the writings of the likes of Jean Baudrillard and Rebecca Solnit, the song blends a lot of what I saw and imagined, everything presented as equally enchanting and equally banal.  

Musically, it draws on a number of classically American influences, too, celebrating the electric guitar as well as country idiom in the lap steel and fiddle parts and the Appalachian-style a capella singalong, before exploding to leave only the Fall of America poem.”

More about Frank Lloyd Wleft

Drawing upon influences as diverse as country, jangle pop, post-punk and beat poetry, Frank Lloyd Wleft released his debut mini- album Raised on Red Milk last year to acclaim from the likes of The Line of Best Fit, John Kennedy (Radio X), Gary Crowley (BBC Radio London), BBC Ulster, Wax Magazine and more.

Performing with his backing band, or ‘Orchestra’ - consisting of drummer Will Ormsby, bassist Beatrice Stride, lap steel player Daniel Wackett (also of Ellie Bleach) as well as occasional saxophone contributions from Deadletter’s Poppy Richler - Frank Lloyd Wleft is a regular feature at the Brixton Windmill, boasting shows with The Rebel, Mary in the Junkyard, Kaeto and Lou Terry, to accompany a support with Terra Twin at Lower Third, gigs across the UK with the likes of Mumbles, Rowan and Friends and Supermilk, and, in April 2024, a first US gig at New Orleans’ legendary Saturn Bar.

Outside of his own band, Wleft has played with H.L Grail (Of Goat Girl), Salomé Wu and fellow country singer Wildwood Daddy. He also writes and performs poetry, being published by Blue Shout (Angus Rogers of Opus Kink) and Toothgrinder Press (Ned Green of Legss) as well as by the Gobjaw Poetry Collective.

Frank Lloyd Wleft (& His Orchestra) are:

Lloyd Bolton/Frank Lloyd Wleft (he/him) – Vocals, Guitar

Beatrice Stride (she/they) – Bass, Backing Vocals

Will Ormsby (he/him) – Drums, Backing Vocals

Dan Wackett (he/him) - Lap Steel