Junior Bill

Junior Bill are back with ‘BOYS FROM JUNGLE’, lashing out with wit and riffs against injustice for refugees.

The angular, textured hybrid punk of Junior Bill is set to re-emerge into the spotlight this year. ‘Boys From Jungle’ is the first song released from their upcoming debut album ‘Youth Club!’. The track details the bleak fates of asylum seekers after their arrival in the UK. The song’s catchy new wave tunefulness makes for a juxtaposition to the incisive, cynical social comments that spill out as a collage of slogans and thrown away official observations. After airplay on BBC Radio Wales, Adam Walton said that Junior Bill have an “ability to cross pollinate cultures and musical styles but make them entirely their own … they’ve got their own spirit and defiance to them … they’re clearly brilliant”

Cardiff’s Junior Bill is the project of frontman and songwriter Rob Nichols. The band has been thrilling audiences through the small venues, pubs and festivals of the UK & Ireland since 2013. From teenage beginnings rehearsing in Cathays Youth & Community Centre, they have since self-released a string of EPs, singles and an ambitious, award-winning live concert film called 'Above Your Station' in 2017. In the live music scene they’ve made a lasting impression, opening for Supergrass during their reunion shows after a supporting tour with drummer Danny Goffey, then last year making their debut at Glastonbury Festival.

Much of Nichols's writing reaches into the lives of other people with an unusual intellect and an open empathetic spirit. Gigwise said "it's a political maturity set against a childlike honesty that makes Junior Bill so intriguing." The band are also known for their well crafted concepts with artistic relish surrounding releases. 2017’s self-titled EP saw a guerrilla marketing campaign surrounding the fabled “Wolf In Grangetown” which ended up capturing the imagination through a series of national headlines.

"Boys From Jungle's jolly sound is a smokescreen for the bleak realities expressed in the lyrics.” says Nichols “It’s a story about the depressing fates that often await those who’ve risked life and limb to make it to the UK. I wrote it years ago after reading a WalesOnline article exposing the grim conditions of an overcrowded hostel for asylum seekers near where I live in Cardiff. The lyrics were intentionally written with bad grammar to evoke a hastily written report." 

More singles from their brilliant new album ‘Youth Club!’ are set to follow, culminating in the album’s release later in the year.