The Wytches

Crusading, crunching indie punk…a dash of melodrama to the songwriting…thoroughly addictive” - CLASH
“One of the UK’s best-loved and well-regarded underground bands” - GIGWISE
“Raw and absorbing…deserves our full attention” - The Line of Best Fit
“Gnarly Disgusting Psych Rock. Super Visceral” - The Needle Drop
“More ramshackle and hypnotising than ever before” - DORK
“Sludgy, annihilating rock...a haze of rabid noise” - DIY

Brighton-based rock quartet The Wytches are delighted to reveal their new limited edition 7” single ‘Zep Step’ which is out now and only available via Alcopop! Records’ online store.

Pressed on actual X-Rays, the single (limited to just 15 copies) is inspired by the work of Soviet Union dissidents in the 1950s who defied the authorities by importing banned Western music, pressing it on begged, stolen or borrowed X-Rays from local hospitals. This 'bone music' (roentgenizdat) was smuggled past the regular pressing plants, and thus brought genuinely progressive music to the population, allowing people to express themselves in the face of appalling anti-cultural agendas.

Commenting on the track, which is the opener from their forthcoming album, front man Kristian Bell says: "We wrote ‘Zep Step’ quite quickly at the end of a rehearsal last year. We were messing around with a riff and kind of parodying our own sound. The main idea for the new album was to try things out that were quite bare and simple because we were favouring the material that didn’t feel like a struggle to write, songs that were fun to play live. ‘Zep Step’ is pretty pumping all the way through and I don’t think we’ve written anything with that kind of pace for a long time."

The track is the latest to be taken from their new album Our Guest Can’t Be Named, set for release on 22nd September 2023, and follows on from lead single 'Maria' released earlier this year.

The album will be released via Alcopop! Records on vinyl and digitally, with a special Dinked edition (500 copies) containing a glow in the dark patch and several original Super 8 film cells from video for lead single 'Maria' on a signed collectors card.

Our Guest Can’t Be Named was recorded with Luke Oldfield at Tilehouse Studios, Uxbridge in the long hot summer of July 2022, after the last few years had a profound effect on vocalist Kristian Bell and his bandmates that seeped its way into the bones of the record.

“The main theme for this album is the loss of identity,” he explains. “The pandemic kind of sucked the innocence out of a lot of things for me. It seemed to really put the nail in the coffin of certain connections that were already kind of fading out before the whole thing started, so that fed the inspiration for the lyrics.”

The Wytches will be embarking on a tour of the UK and France this coming autumn, with tickets on sale now (see below for listings).

New album Our Guest Can’t Be Named released 22nd September 2023 via Alcopop! Records

More info:

The Wytches formed in Brighton in 2011 after meeting at music college. During their first year they relentlessly played any show they could find and rapidly began picking up traction. In 2013 the band signed their first record deals with Heavenly Recordings and Partisan (USA). 2014 saw the release of their debut album Annabel Dream Reader and they would tour the world throughout the year, headlining shows and sharing stages with the likes of METZ, Cloud Nothings, Blood Red Shoes, Pixies and Jamie T.

Since then, The Wytches have released two further albums and countless EPs. 2020 saw the band release their third album Three Mile Ditch on their own label Cable Code Records—an explosive collection of 10 tracks that weaves seamlessly between gut-wobbling monster riffs, swampy rock, slick surf, and finely tuned song craft.

With the return of live music in 2021, the band appeared at a handful of UK festivals including Bigfoot, Handmade and Norwich Psych Fest, and were finally able to embark on a tour in support of Three Mile Ditch in October 2022. The album tour was a great success and allowed the band to showcase the new songs for the first time since recording back in 2019.