Transpennine literary noise merchants, splint announce third Nice Swan Records single: Awaiting Hills
From the misted moor tops of Hebden Bridge, the sullen alleys of Manchester and on to black box sweat pits of the wider UK, tipped and troubled punk/moodscape band, splint uncouple from touring’s long train to release their latest single – Awaiting Hills. The third single to be released with influential incubator, Nice Swan Records, the skin-tight, wiry-riffed, gritty verse-throwing track finds journal-scribbling talisman, Jake Bogacki, finding his true voice. One bearing the scrapes and scars of nicotine and nocturnal misadventure.
Relentless. Awaiting Hills’ tumble from the top of the stairs to the bottom lands on listeners in a heap of Tom Verlaine-indebted peals of direct, ear-piercing, guitar lines and percussion drawn from the heated core of primal, human beats of war and want. Fractious and fractured, splint’s existence rolls on apparition-like with a cast of changing actors, with Bogacki’s in-blood-scribbled, profound words and coarse delivery drawing increasing, however uneasy, parallels with Joy Division and pomp-era The Walkmen.
Bogacki reluctantly says: “The portrait of ‘Awaiting Hills’ is reflective and meaningless, creating an idea of magnitude from the ordinary. Self-expression isn’t something that necessarily has to be dissected. It takes the realness and meaning from a moment that’s now only a song. It’s for someone else to find meaning.”
Building beneath an impenetrable cloud of social media blackout through 2021, emanating sufficient non-digital buzz to bring searching music fans and industry interest to their door, the first official broadcast from splint was last year’s intricately constructed debut single, Military Procedures. Following up with the swaying, slacking splendour of 145 in autumn, the band’s dexterity was equally met with their unpredictability.
Musicians pinned to Bogacki’s fizzing Catherine Wheel include Ellie Rose-Elliot (drums), taking to the road in recent weeks throughout the UK in support of English Teacher and Pip Blom, following up previous dates with The Lounge Society and notable appearances at festivals, including Manchester Psych Fest and Sounds From The Other City.
splint continue to jot live engagements into their diaries, with the following gigs confirmed:
- Tue 11 April – London, The Social Residency
- Sun 30 April – Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall w/Nice Swan and Friends
- Fri 5 May – Halifax, Grayston Unity
- Thu 25 May – Salford, The White Hotel
For up-to-date information on splint including up-to-date release information and live announcements connect online at: