The DSM IV

Liverpool gothic alt-pop trio THE DSM IV are pleased to reveal their brand new A side single ‘WISE GUY’ which is released on 10th December 2024 via 9x9 Records.

The track is the first to be taken from their new EP, NEGATIVE UTOPIA, released via local independent label heroes 9x9 Records on 31st January 2025, available on vinyl and all good digital service providers.

Following recent shows alongside HUMANIST, Jemma Freeman & The Cosmic Something and ARXX, the band recently announced a new run of early 2025 UK headline tour dates, with tickets on sale now (see below for listings).

‘WISE GUY’ comes backed by AA side ‘PENNYWISE’, a deep cut from their debut album NEW AGE PARANOIA which was released earlier in 2024.

Commenting on the tracks, front man Guy McKnight says: “WISE GUY sprang from our early days writing together as a trio when our Pavarotti first arrived with his drum machine; from then on our destiny was set and we would not conform to the typical rock n roll set up, despite his skill as a live drummer. It's us exploring new territory together into the musical no man's land. We're gonna resurrect it on our forthcoming Family Jewels Tour early 2025.”

“PENNYWISE is on our debut album New Age Paranoia—the majority of our songs just emerge from us jamming together, usually around riffs that Jade writes on the spot. However, this track Pav brought with most of his parts written, so Jade's response are the guitars and I just sang what came out. It was initially about my mum, Penny, being wise. But then it transformed into an ode to the folly of Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein! It's about not fearing the powers that be. I played it on headphones to my mum in hospital before she died. Although unable to speak, she responded with her eyes…”

Formed in Liverpool in 2018 by former Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster frontman Guy McKnight, THE DSM IV crystallise the ultra real and the otherworldly, bringing a focused hyperrealism to the party. Their convention-defying live performances toy with audience expectations and stimulate questions of the narratives being sold to us as news—or entertainment—all to the beat of the drum machinist.

As if pontificating from a lectern, McKnight sings and gesticulates like his life depends on it, his lyrics enticing or lacerating depending on the mood. In an age of perversion of reality, THE DSM IV poetically reflect on our world’s hypocrisies and dilemmas, with danceability, intelligence, indignation, grace & style—refreshing purity for these polluted times.

“We’re inspired by a lot of stuff like books, certain artists and painters,” says McKnight of the band’s world, “but for me personally, especially by film. Directors, photography, film scores. Different aspects. I think it’s always healthy to have a recognition or uncomfortable embrace of the dark crises that everyone experiences from time to time in our creativity, and confront some of the taboos and blind spots that have haunted human beings throughout history. Particularly now, in this social media generation, it’s becoming increasingly important.”

Growing up in the ‘90s on the notorious Grizedale Estate in Liverpool, THE DSM IV’s incendiary guitarist Jade Ormesher has a lifetime of inspiration to draw on. With the debut album cover featuring a photograph of a bar of soap from her Nan Moe’s mantle piece which one of her cousins recently carved whilst in jail, their  origins and lived experiences are real. Incidentally, the back cover is a footprint in concrete from a beloved “110” (Nike Air 95s) which are synonymous with the city, so-monikered by locals because that’s how much they cost when they first came out. 

When drummer Pav Cummins walked into the clothes emporium where Jade and Guy work on the hunt for denims, McKnight instantly knew that this rake-thin, medieval-looking percussionist was the answer to his prayers; a handsome doppelgänger of ‘Naked’-era actor David Thewlis. Perfect! Drum machines were invested in, no persuasion necessary.

After a long gestational period giving rise to a string of stand-alone singles, the band finally released their formidable, uncompromising debut album, NEW AGE PARANOIA—recorded at The Libertines’ HQ at The Albion Rooms, Margate—in 2023, following tours with Sleaford Mods, The Libertines, and Dream Wife.

“It’s interesting and problematic how much of our entertainment plays into our fears,” says McKnight of the album title’s meaning. “New Age Paranoia is really a kind of observation about the time we live in, and a lot of those observations are taken from the media.”

Stand-alone 2024 single ‘White Wolf’ carried on the momentum, with a forthcoming EP of as yet unreleased demos and remixes, NEGATIVE UTOPIA,  scheduled for 2025 on new independent label home 9x9 Records—an as-yet unheard part of the band’s musical explorations and experimentations in preparation for the debut album.


New EP NEGATIVE UTOPIA is released 31st January 2025 via 9x9 Records

THE DSM IV are:

Guy McKnight - lyrics and vocals
Jade Ormesher - guitars and bass
Pav Cummins - drum machine and synths

More about NEW AGE PARANOIA:

THE DSM IV's debut LP, NEW AGE PARANOIA, is an album that seamlessly brings together kaleidoscopic reflections about joy and pain, sin and shame.

At once sobering and dream-filled, these songs bear witness to the ways in which our collective minds’ eyes are being projected upon by mass media. As they portray a frightening world, and entertainment industries capitalise on our morbid curiosities by indulging and fetishising our obsession with violence and death—romanticising depravity to the point of near canonisation—social media's ever encroaching presence continues to influence the way we think about ourselves, others, and our desire for validation.

It all begs the question: what's fuelling the normalisation of a narcissistic culture, which values the pursuit of personal desires over altruism and contributive living? Big brother's in your pocket. But why be paranoid?

Day to day we leave our digital footprints everywhere. We can be traced, followed, listened to, recorded, and at the same time we are being programmed to view the world and our fellow human beings in a certain way via the lies of the mass media & our entertainment industries, courtesy of our phones.

Stay paranoid!