{"title":"High Vis","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"guided-tour","title":"Guided Tour","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlbums of the Year 2024 - Number 51\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince first forming in 2016, London’s High Vis have steadily polished their palette of progressive hardcore with shades of post-punk, Brit pop, neo- psychedelia, and even Madchester groove, mapping a middle ground between hooks and fury, melodies and mosh pits. Singer Graham Sayle describes their third album\u003ci\u003e Guided Tour\u003c\/i\u003e as an axis of competing forces: “It’s trying to be a hopeful record, while also being incensed.” Rounded out by drummer Edward 'Ski' Harper, bassist Jack Muncaster, and guitarists Martin MacNamara and Rob Hammaren, the band’s deep roots in the UK and Irish DIY hardcore scenes have kept them grounded but growing, inspired equally by restlessness and righteous anger. As Sayle puts it, \"Everyone’s scratching, everyone’s working all the time, and their idea of relaxing is just getting fucked and avoiding reality. This album is an escape from that.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom its opening seconds of a cab door slamming, a car revving away, and a baggy rhythm swinging to life, \u003ci\u003eGuided Tour\u003c\/i\u003e sounds like a band reaching for new heights, bristling with energy. Recorded across a few weeks at Holy Mountain Studios in London with producer Jonah Falco and engineer Stanley Gravett, the results feel dynamic and dialed-in, like anthems burned into sense memory through sweat and repetition. Harper cuts to the chase: \"We had a clear idea going in, every moment got used. Maybe when we’re 60 we can sit around and get a drum sound right, but for now it’s about getting things done.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album’s 11 songs span the spectrum of contemporary guitar music, sharpened by experience, camaraderie, and societal frustrations. From swaggering street punk (\"Drop Me Out,\" \"Mob DLA\") to jangling indie sneer (\"Worth The Wait,\" \"Deserve It\") to heavy alt (\"Feeling Bless,\" \"Fill The Gap\") to shoegazey spoken word (\"Untethered\"), the group’s chemistry transmutes any style to their unique intensity. Sayle champions this evolving fusion: \"For years coming from hardcore, we had pretty clear boundaries – other scenes were separate worlds. Now things are getting more blended, drawing from different places.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNowhere is this sentiment flexed more boldly than on “Mind’s A Lie,” a dance- punk anthem inspired by Harper’s love of house, garage, and pirate radio. Stabs of sampled female vocals (by celebrated South London singer and DJ Ell Murphy) build into a razor wire rhythm of low-slung bass, tense drums, and sparkling guitar before Sayle’s staunch voice starts barking harsh truths (\"Face to face with all I’ve known \/ I can’t call these thoughts my own\"). After a sudden breakdown, the track regroups and takes off, cruising into the horizon in a haze of chiming guitars and Murphy’s ascendant voice, from the streets to somewhere beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dais","offers":[{"title":"Clear LP | Signed Copy | Rough Trade Exclusive","offer_id":50447611920715,"sku":"2213685","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Orange LP","offer_id":50447611363659,"sku":"2213684","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50447611101515,"sku":"2213683","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50447610478923,"sku":"2213682","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Unknown_c0641efc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727080122"},{"product_id":"no-sense-no-feeling","title":"No Sense No Feeling","description":"\u003cp\u003eLondon’s High-Vis play aggressive, frosty post-punk that’s as hard as any hardcore record. Like Black Flag, Sleaford Mods and of course Public Image Ltd before them, High-Vis’ anger is artful, gripping, and energising. It’ll trim the fat from your soul. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFormed in 2016 from the ashes of some of the UK’s best hardcore bands (Dirty Money, Tremors, DiE, The Smear), the band maintain a hardcore energy in their live shows - it’s not uncommon for cheerfully miserable, gold toothed Scouse vocalist Graham Sayle to come away from a gig with a bleeding forehead - but they've taken their aural cues from old UK bands like Gang Of Four, Crisis, Joy Division and Stone Roses. Recently, they've played with all the other smart bands who have been fucking with the old blueprints - Angel Du$t, Turnstile, Negative Approach, Higher Power to name a few - and like all those bands, their sound is uniquely theirs. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn December 4th 2019 High-Vis released their debut album \u003ci\u003eNo Sense No Feeling\u003c\/i\u003e via Venn Records (Gallows, Bob Vylan, Higher Power). “This record is a desperate search for meaning while living an uncertain nihilistic existence,” says drummer, Ski. “The melodies should inspire a touch of hope and the lyrics should be a reminder that hope is a mirage. The songs are stories of broken societies, failed relationships, good Vs evil and violence. Things we have lived, loved and hated in equal measure.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne global pandemic later and the London five-piece released their sophomore record via American label Dais (Cold Cave, Spice, Youth Code). \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Venn Records","offers":[{"title":"Red | LP","offer_id":50453444493643,"sku":"1158062","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Green LP","offer_id":50453445083467,"sku":"2005999","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Blue LP","offer_id":50453448098123,"sku":"2016963","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/350322c3-f99d-449f-8b40-3287b15d47f5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727172146"},{"product_id":"blending","title":"Blending","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/blog.roughtrade.com\/gb\/on-the-rise-high-vis\/\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eOn The Rise: High Vis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHigh Vis were formed in 2016 from the ashes of some of the UK’s best hardcore bands. Gild-toothed frontman Graham Sayle’s anguished lyrics about life in working class Britain were familiar to fans of Tremors’ full-throttle thrash, but alongside his former bandmate Edward ‘Ski’ Harper and veterans of Dirty Money, DiE and The Smear, High Vis sought to transform that energy and intensity into something entirely new.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike scene-mates Chubby and the Gang did by pulling in unlikely source material from classic doo-wop or Micromoon have by combining everything from psychedelia and metal into their high potency mix, High Vis’ 2019 debut album, \u003ci\u003eNo Sense No Feeling\u003c\/i\u003e showed the band were never going to be constrained by any sense of genre rules or regulations. Its claustrophobic rattle bore traces of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Crisis, The Cure and Gang Of Four lurking in the shadows. 2020’s synth-driven EP, Society Exists, was further evidence of the band’s restless creative MO.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHigh Vis’ second album \u003ci\u003eBlending\u003c\/i\u003e sees them open their viewfinder wider than ever before. Alongside longstanding favourites such as Fugazi and Echo and The Bunnymen; Ride and even Flock Of Seagulls were shared reference points as the band worked on the album together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the anthemic sweep of opener “Talk For Hours”, through the title track’s psychedelic swirl and “Fever Dream”’s baggy groove, it sees High Vis’ sound blossoming into something with an unlimited richness. The hazy drift of “Shame” or the melodic jangle of “Trauma Bonds” may take them until uncharted waters, but they still have all the power and bite that made No Sense No Feeling so remarkable. Lyrically, the album represents another leap forward too. Talking frankly about poverty, class politics, and the challenges of everyday life, Sayle’s lyrics have always addressed the downtrodden and discarded communities across Britain slipping below the waterline. This time around, Sayle’s lost not of that social consciousness, but he’s looked at himself and his own emotional landscape, and in the process created something that feels more universal, that reaches a hand-out to people and ultimately gives a message of hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“To me, the lyrics are less selfish,” reflects Sayle. “In the past, I couldn’t see past whatever was going on with me. It’s about accepting things and being open to conversations and learning to talk to people rather than just thinking that we’re all doomed.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe song “Talk for Hours” is a prime example of that. Born out of an afternoon meeting up with an old group of mates “repeating the same thing and not actually learning anything about each other” it offers to actually break the cycle and to listen and speak frankly about shared feelings and experiences. “Trauma Bonds”, meanwhile, traces the broken lines of those living in lost communities, but ultimately realises that despite our shared scars, there’s still hope to move on to a better future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The message of the album is you’re not who you’re told you are,” Sayle summarises. “You’re not your class background. Whatever it is, you’re not that. Don’t resign yourself to thinking you can’t be this and you can’t be that.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt's a vitally important message right now, and one that could be the motto for not only \u003ci\u003eBlending\u003c\/i\u003e, but for High Vis themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dais","offers":[{"title":"Orange | LP","offer_id":50465532248395,"sku":"1157884","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Grey | LP","offer_id":50465532019019,"sku":"1157880","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50465530184011,"sku":"1157877","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50465530085707,"sku":"1157876","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a678be2b-5b69-457e-8ebc-704fc17375a5_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727291115"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/high-vis.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}