Legss

"It’s suffocating, surreal, grotty and gorgeous. This is modern-day London according to Legss" The Line of Best Fit long-read

“Fester is magnificent. And it is unlike anything you will hear this year” So Young Magazine

“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” Loud & Quiet (150th Anniversary Print Issue) 

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

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

London art-rock quartet Legss release new EP Fester today via The state51 Conspiracy (Hotel Lux, Lou Terry), a selection of 6 viscerally dark, many-limbed tracks. 

Talking on the process around the Fester EP the band explain: “It’s boring and hackneyed to say it but we felt pretty disillusioned/exhausted coming into writing these songs, and so didn’t want to give ourselves any deadlines or restrictions, etc., and basically just shun the idea of momentum which is probably the least helpful thing you can do as a small band trying to get heard. 

The process of how we produced it was completely new to us. We chipped away bit by bit, recording ourselves more regularly, which meant we had more time to play about and question what sort of music we wanted to write not only now but in the future. We found we wanted to push the dynamics of the songs further; make the lighter bits lighter, and the heavier bits heavier. This led to more introspective, vulnerable songwriting, and an emotionally richer sound. Our Louis was producing it all in his bedroom, building a wider sonic world for the project, until we met Balázs Altsach who co-produced, engineered and mixed the whole thing. Balázs gave the music what it deserved and we couldn’t have done it without him. 

When we started writing Fester we had no idea if it was going to be an album or another EP or just some singles. What we do know now is that this will be our last EP, and the next release will be something longer, soppier, poppier and richer still.” 

There is a 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 a moment of musical familiarity, discordant noise-rock stabs jolt - and vocalist Ned Green’s soft soliloquy accelerates to an exasperated yelp.

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 Ned 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 Line of Best Fit, The Sunday Times, The Independent, DIY CLASH, So Young, HERO and many more in the music press.  

Title-track ‘Fester’ and ‘The Landlord’ were the singles which preceded the release  - and landed the band The Sunday Times ‘Breaking Act’ feature amongst other press acclamations.

This 2023 foray was 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) - Louis Grace (drums/samples/production), Jake Martin (bass) and Max Oliver (guitar) complete the line-up.  

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