WELLY
SOAK UP THE CULTURE SINGLE // OUT NOW
PRAISE FOR WELLY’S PREVIOUS SINGLE SHOPPING
“One of the most exciting new acts in ages … equal parts nostalgia and social commentary and a healthy dose of self-awareness” DORK
“There’s something undeniable about quintessential British bands and Welly are just that” WONDERLAND
“Funny yet sarcastic pop which brilliantly stands on suburban narration” THE LINE OF BEST FIT
“Satirical, sometimes scathing Southampton newcomers” STEVE LAMACQ
“Captivating, straight out of the gate … heaps of fun” DIY
“The Britpop revival is afoot” SUNDAY TIMES STYLE
WELLY, the hotly tipped act made up of Welly and his schoolmates, have shared their brand new single SOAK UP THE CULTURE, a tongue in cheek tour of Brits abroad with a cast of characters – from posh boys who ski to those suspicious of local cuisine – each in pursuit of escape and a moment in the sun.
Colliding the breakneck art-rock of Pulp with the electronic cacophony of Late Of The Pier, it’s a musical and lyrical voice that already feels like Welly’s own, as their titular front man explains: “There’s been a gap in the market for a lads-on-tour anthem, a gap-year themed song. I think Soak Up The Culture is the natural successor to a lineage of classic holiday tunes … Summer Holiday by Cliff Richard, Agadoo by Black Lace. Soak Up The Culture promises to be the Macarena for the Magaluf generation.”
Welly are one of the UK’s most thrilling new bands. Playing with notions of artifice and aspiration, style and self, their blueprint for Pop on a budget was set out on the riotous single Shopping: a love letter to the high street and a cautionary tale against the grass-is-greener mentality of modern consumerism. The band’s front man, songwriter and producer was born in Southampton, showing an early fascination for suburban life – and, on Soak Up The Culture, its brief respite – through the writings of Alan Bennett and John Betjeman.
Welly began applying this to music whilst literally on the job, currently working as a greengrocer and blazing a trail through the great, grassroots British tradition. Already the band have played over a hundred self-booked gigs and made their main stage ambitions clear with a live album, documentary and a sparsely attended red carpet event performing Live In A Village Hall for Welly’s dissertation.
Soak Up The Culture expends Welly’s small-town-big-dreams cinematic universe in a project which takes little too seriously but equally asserts that nothing in life is for granted. With early support across BBC 6 Music and Radio X and the band’s hilarious Instagram reels quickly going viral, their ringleader ultimately strives for, “music to uplift me and make me feel cool and collected. I take my inspiration from the 80s in that way – the threat of nuclear war, the miners’ strike, privatisation, crap government – what did Pop do? Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Girls On Film … almost LAUGHABLY dancing whilst all hell opened up. Where is that now when we need it most?”
These, though, are questions for back home: on Soak Up The Culture Welly enter holiday-mode.
MAY
Sat 25 BRISTOL Dot To Dot Festival
Sun 26 NOTTINGHAM Dot To Dot Festival
JUNE
Sat 01 LEEDS Headrow House This Must Be The Place
Sun 30 BRISTOL Sounds Festival presents The Breeders
JULY
Fri 26 SOUTHWOLD Latitude Festival
AUGUST
Sat 03 LONDON Signature Brew (Dork’s Day Out)
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