Quitter

“Never less than fascinating…a band worth watching as the byways and mysteries unfold” - For Folks Sake
“A fascinating lo-fi collage of indie pop, psychedelia and high-quality homespun poetry” - At The Barrier
“A beautiful catalogue of songs...needs to be heard to be fully experienced” - Distorted Sound [9/10]
“This will stay with you…it will bury deep into your thoughts and feelings" - Podcart
“A soul-stirring experience...authentic and emotional” - Amplify The Noise
“Quitter dazzles here” - The Review Geek

Scottish alt singer-songwriter Quitter (aka Kenny Bates) is pleased to release his new single ‘Monument Road’ which is out now via all good streaming platforms.

The track is the final single to be taken from his latest album Monument Road, which is out now via Scottish independent labels Heavenly Creature and Gold Mold Records.

Commenting on the track, Bates says: “This one is the album closer and the last song to be written for the album of the same name. The track leafs through many of the album's key themes—reflection on changing relationships, key moments that altered the path you took in life. I travelled down to Ayr to record at my parents’ house one summer when lockdown lifted and they’d left for the week. I took a break one night to find an old camera of my grandpa’s I thought was in the attic, and came back with the basis for this song instead. The lyrics put you there with me in the attic, looking at old letters and keepsakes over the years, with that bittersweet feeling of time changing everything.”

‘Monument Road’ is the final single to be taken from the album following on from lead single ‘Penny Drop’ and follow ups ‘Hey, Useless’ and ‘Sword Fights’, which were released earlier this year, picking up support from press at The Scot Magazine, Rave Child, podcart, Song By Toad and more.

The new album received rave reviews from key underground tastemakers at Distorted Sound Magazine, Amplify The Noise, For Folks Sake, and At The Barrier, with a host of small bloggers and alternative radio shows lining up to praise the record.

Based between Stirling and Glasgow, Bates has also previously toured France, Germany and the UK with Quitter and recently played a run of Scottish live dates, including a special album launch show at Glad Cafe in Glasgow and a stripped back Sofar Sounds session.

Monument Road is out now on a run of 200 black vinyl, including a printed card inner sleeve with lyrics and photographs. Pre-ordered vinyl came with exclusive stickers and an exclusive hand-numbered, 16 page, A5 full-colour zine featuring album liner notes, collage, lyrics, poetry, photographs, and stream of consciousness writings.

Quitter’s new album Monument Road is out now via Heavenly Creature / Gold Mold Records

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Setting his confessional storytelling within a noisy, progressive-yet-emotive musical landscape, Bates’ music is heavily flavoured by ‘90s US indie, emo, noise rock and lo-fi recording practices in a battle of what he calls “yuck vs yum”—a quick listen will yield distinct influence from the likes of American Football, Pavement, Slint, David Pajo, Conor Oberst, and Songs: Ohia, amongst others.

Recorded at Bannockburn House in Stirling by Stevie Cossar and in his parent’s house Bates, Monument Road was mixed by Stevie Cossar, mastered by Robin Sutherland (Esko Mastering) and follows on from Bates’ 2021 EP Good Things Come To You, 2018 self-titled album Quitter, and 2016 debut EP Commuter Town, which drew underground acclaim for their notable quality.

“A road is a pretty tried-and-tested allegory for life,” says Bates of the new album, “and for me, when I entered my thirties I started feeling the accumulation of memories and time more acutely, and how your life’s great conversations / nights / mornings / mistakes / flukes / discoveries / people / places are what gives you that sense of time and brings you to this point exactly.”

“I feel like we build monuments to these things along the road of life, and sort of walk up and down in their shadow. I’ve tried to represent the monuments I’ve built, here in this set of songs—some standing tall, others long half-built, many of them regularly revisited. All lovingly set in line either side of this road.”

Over the course of Monument Road, some songs lean affectionately on lo-fi sensibilities—carefully layered drum machines, percussion mic’d in hallways, vocals and guitars driven through 4-track cassette machines. These tracks sit alongside live band recordings made in a half-burnt-down old manor house in Stirling, soaking up the atmosphere in the performances. The thread that ties them all together is one of tactile, real sounds, made by real people in real rooms, and left largely unadulterated, the hope being that the listener feels present in the songs with Bates.

Having an affinity with the format that stretches back to taping songs off the radio and recording early bands on a ghetto blaster, 4-track cassette recordings have featured across virtually all Quitter (aka Kenny Bates)'s musical output.