Backseat Mafia favourite pop punk exponent, Hartlepool’s James Leonard Hewitson, has put on his dancing shoes and boxing gloves in yet another dynamic and, dare I say, punchy track ‘Commercial Vibes’. This is the title track from his forthcoming EP due out on 29 July 2021 through Win Big Records.
Hewitson has an uncanny ability to fuse punky aggression with danceability, and melody with a spitfire attitude. ‘Commercial Vibe’ is angular, jagged and melodic as Hewitson berates hypocrisy and modern capitalism in the age of the pandemic. He says of the track:
It’s mainly about and inspired by the cold resilience of capitalist thought in society and government during the Coronavirus pandemic. How, despite disaster, death and tragedy, whims and desires were still being packaged and sent out from Amazon Warehouses.
We loved his album ‘Only The Noise Will Save Us’, released last year, for its cohesion, intelligence, danceability and creativity. Indeed, to reinforce those sentiments, his music is self-deprecating, snotty, articulate, intelligent and eminently danceable in a pogoing kind of way.
Two previous releases in anticipation of the new EP (‘Waiting for a Call‘ and ‘Temporary Values’) confirm Hewitson’s place in the gathering of iconic English cheeky pop punks stretching from the Sex Pistols, Ian Dury, The Undertones, and Wreckless Eric through to The Libertines, Pulp, Supergrass and more recently The Arctic Monkeys. Musical morsels for the mind and the body.
The track is available to download and stream through all the usual outlets. You can pre-order the EP here:
Hewitson has also announced a series of gigs – details below and tickets here:
Live Dates:
30/07 – South Durham Social Club, Hartlepool
08/08 – The Cluny, Newcastle
22/08 – Hardwick Festival, County Durham
26/08 – The Engine Room, North Shields
02/09 – End of The Road Festival, Dorset
08/09 – Old Cinema Launderette, Durham (w/ The Primitives)
09/10 – Twisterella, Teesside
22/10 – Head of Steam, Newcastle (w/ Ed The Dog)
Connect with James Leonard Hewitson:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify
Feature Photograph: Lily Henderson
