Blanketman’s debut EP National Trust is released on 12” vinyl via PIAS.
Back in March 2020, the band’s debut single “Taking You With Me” marked the arrival of a band full of ideas, and cut a boundless, energetically pop edge that saw them likened to early Blur. Follow-up “Beach Body” dialed up the urgency and distilled a swift insistence, on top of which vocalist Adam Hopper masterminded a trove of indelible melodies, dedicated to the ailing Brit-abroad. The band wrapped up 2020 with “Harold”, which brought with it a thumping, wonky and rowdy execution and then saw in the new year with "Leave The South". On the back of 12 months that has seen much made about the divide between the north and south of England, "Leave The South" seeks not to pit the regions against one another, and instead offers a far more nuanced look at the way the grass can always appear greener on the other side. It also acts as something of a love-letter of absent friends and an admission that nothing is perfect. National Trust looks at themes of feeling trapped and anxious, but also the hopes held toward eventual liberation from that feeling.
Recent years have seen the band spearheading a burgeoning scene in Manchester as they gigged extensively throughout the city, performing their original brand of restless post-punk and cerebral indie-pop – all served with a sharper, more sardonic pop edge than many of their more po-faced peers. So sharp in fact that Steve Hanley, of The Fall and Brix Smith and Extricated, has performed live on stage with them a number of times already.
Released 16/07/21