BROKEN HANDS

The new EP from Broken Hands ‘Down By The Current’ was inspired during last summer’s festival season…

In the words of lead singer Dale Norton: ”Plagued by torrential rain, I waded through T-In The Park’s Scottish mud and stopped at the live arena to witness hundreds of mini-events unfold. Couples tore each other apart whilst flocks of drug infused followers droned on. Groups of new-found friends danced without a care for time, or the knowledge that their tent had also been engulfed by the torrent. All this was fueled by the music – the songs on this EP are anchored to these and our own experiences. Those people were in the moment and we want our music to be there when it happens again.”

Meeting at school, Dale (vocals), Jamie (guitar), and Thomas (bass) quickly discovered a mutual love for Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac coupled with long windy walks. Joined by Dale’s younger brother Callum (drums) they formed a band named in homage to Chief Broken Hand from Western flick ‘White Feather.’ It’s been a series of stage invasions, bloodied microphones, blown amplifiers, soldering fuzz pedals and good times ever since.

Barely out of their teens, these boys are ardent students of rock’s evolution, their cultivation of psychedelic rock, garage and blues influences has gathered them shows and festival dates up and down the country. But residing in the picturesque but relatively muted Canterbury in Kent, Broken Hands felt the need to start something of their very own. ‘Hoochie Coochie’ events found them hosting their own shows at an old working men’s club as well as providing an invaluable community service for gig-starved local punters. These DIY shows placed the band on a rapid ascent, and earned them a slot opening Lounge On The Farm festival, which attracted admiration and interest from James Endeacott and Edwyn Collins. Who duly wacked out the bands first 7′. this was quickly followed by an invitation to join Band of Skulls on both UK and European tours.

The old basements and garages Broken Hands played are giving way to increasingly larger spaces, broadening their horizons and their sound. Last summer found them navigating the country with a number of festival dates and even a return to Lounge On The Farm that was greeted with a special homecoming fervour.

The new EP ‘Down By The Current’ represents another step up for Broken Hands. This is a lean and muscular output. Exactly what they need to precede a British Summertime show with The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park. No doubt in a few decades’ time – when they’re road-weary, weather-beaten and all sporting bizarrely long fingernails – Darby, Ford and the Norton brothers will look back on this period and wonder whatever happened to those wide-eyed young dreamers.
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