Legss

“Mordant, unsparing and droll - brilliant band” The Sunday Times

Part of the post-Brexit new wave NPR  

“utterly unhinged”  The Quietus  

“biting art-rock” DIY

“their capricious sound regularly strays far from centre, entering realms unfamiliar for guitar-driven music, incorporating dark sonic expositions, strong fictional characters, and elements of theatre. At times, all three all at once” Loud & Quiet (150th Anniversary Print Issue) 

“stabbing, urgent musicality setting the group apart from their peers” Clash   

“one of the most underrated acts to grace the British musical landscape” So Young Magazine 

 "Legss are an imperative project to get behind" Notion Magazine 

London art-rock quartet Legss sign to The state51 Conspiracy (Hotel Lux, Lou Terry) and announce new EP Fester for June 9th. The title track is released as a single today.

Talking on the new single, and the formative impact it had on their new era, the band say:

“Fester was the first song we wrote for the EP and it’s probably still the best. It was sort of like a stepping stone: writing it enabled us to write the rest. It’s a lot more vulnerable than anything we’ve done before, and it opened us up to melody in a way we’ve previously tried to avoid. 

The lyrics were written in the summer, when you’re sun-drunk and romantic, and the buses look like they’re kissing as they cross each other, and everyone’s got a cold sore. But beneath all the sunny games there’s a bittersweet desire to be someone or something else, which was how we felt musically at the time. Everything’s different now though, of course.” 

This droll explanation feeds into the tragi-romantic narrative that flows through their work. Even when leaning into more melodic territory, there’s a pervasive uneasiness that underpins both the vocals and lyrics, and instrumentation. Just when the listener feels they can relax into the arpeggio flow, discordant noise-rock stabs jolt - and vocalist Ned Green’s soft soliloquy accelerates to an exasperated yelp.

On the visceral accompanying video, the band say:

"The video, filmed and edited by The Reids, follows this same desire for melody and abstraction. We’re trying to think less and feel more, which visually and musically feels like a departure from what we’ve done before.”

The four-piece take inspiration from a plethora of literary and visual works, and key to the immersive soundscape is the band’s distinctly feverish optical world in which Green’s perturbed protagonists are truly awakened. This narrative aesthetic is reflected sonically by drummer Louis Grace, who co-produced the EP with Balazs Altsach.  

It’s an approach that has led to the four-piece being anointed by NPR as part of ‘The Post-Brexit New Wave’ - as the only unsigned band at the time - alongside the likes of Squid, Black Country, New Road and Dry Cleaning. This comes alongside acclaim from Loud & Quiet, The Quietus, The Sunday Times, The Independent, DIY CLASH, So Young, HERO and many more in the music press.  

‘Fester’ follows March release ‘The Landlord’  - which landed the band The Sunday Times ‘Breaking Act’ feature. This 2023 foray being the first new music since double-A ‘Hyde Park Coroner’/‘Hollywood’ (2021) - the latter being released alongside a short film that was directed by The Reids and exec producer Mura Masa - and the ‘Writhing Comedy’ (2019) and ‘Doomswayers’ (2020) EPs. Legss have toured with the likes of Bella Union’s Pom Poko as well as joining a sold-out tour supporting Hotel Lux. Previous radio acclaim has been received from the likes of BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq who premiered ‘Hyde Park Coroner’, BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, John Kennedy from Radio X (playlisted) and BBC Introducing London’s Jess Iszatt. 

Alongside Ned Green (vocals/guitar) and Louis Grace (drums/samples/production), Jake Martin (bass) and Max Oliver (guitar) complete the line-up.  

The track was co-produced by Balázs Altsach and Louis Grace, recording and mixing engineer was Balázs Altsach, mastered by Jim Spencer at Eve Mastering.  

Upcoming Shows 2023 
04.05 Clunk Mag- Cornish Bank, Falmouth (Headline)  
17.05 Supersonic's Block Party Festival, Paris  
19.05 The Lexington, London (Headline)