(KERO) — The United Kingdom is well regarded when it comes to music, from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones and The Who, and is also well established in terms of punk rock.
Leeds-based Sunliner is carrying on the legacy of the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, and a slew of other bands.
They're considerably more like The Clash in that Sunliner have influences outside punk.
As Sunliner's singer/guitarist Jake McAllister explains there's also a bit of a Bruce Springsteen vibe on their upcoming self-titled album due out Nov. 4th. You can preorder the album on Lockjaw Records website.
"This one was really interesting to write because I kind of went into it from quite a different angle as I've previously done, because I tend to write the lyrics. And most not all of them, but a lot of the songs will start with a melody or an idea that I've got absolutely not all of them, a couple of them are other other people's ideas that I've then sort of gone on top of," said McAllister.
"But for me, lyrically, especially this one is, is very narrative. And that is like a proper Springsteen, sort of influence. You know, it's like, you can, if you want to, you can read the album start to finish as one person, you know, and like, sort of life events that go through it."
Fans might also remember them from their previous band name Jake & The Jellyfish.
There's also the videos that have been released to hype the album with each offering a different creative vision.
"I Call Him Gamblore" features the band being beaten down working in a sort of music factory, while "Jo, Joni, Mary & Maria" splices together old Hollywood film footage mixed with cartoons.
"It's basically we don't have a lot of money. During the pandemic we all just kind of sat around thinking of stupid ideas. That's what we did bascially," said McAllister about coming up with the video concepts.
"We try and do as much as we can do with the least amount of money possible. And it's just constant like ideas back and forth with the band, like what would be, in reality, the silliest video that we could possibly come up with most of the time. And then also with our budget constraints. Well, what can we do that'll be fun?"
Sunliner's most recent video for "Salad Days" is their most ambitious yet as an homage to the "Tony Hawk Pro Skater" video games.
"We found out that Caffs, our bassist, is Number 11 in the world at a level of Tony Hawk, so we thought: 'How can we make this into a video?' " explains McAllister.
"You have to try to get people's attention somehow. As much as I love a really well made video, we've all seen bands playing in warehouses a lot of times. So hopefully the songs are serious enough as they are, so it's time to be silly I suppose when you get the chance to be."
If you're a fan of The Simpsons, there's also a hidden reference in "I Call Him Gambalore" besides the song title.
"There is actually a sneaky Simpsons reference in there, but it's quite hard to pick up on," said McAllister. "I hope somebody will pick up on it and get back to me."
You can check out more of Sunliner on their Bandcamp page. This is definitely a band that continues to evolve.
Jake also has some very talented siblings. His brother, Callum, is the lead singer for Bristol's Toodles & the Hectic Pity and his sister, Eloise, is an artist.
