22-23! PRESALE GOES LIVE TOMORROW 10AM pic.twitter.com/H77fhQA47a

— jockstrap (@jockstrapmusic1) September 20, 2022

As mentioned before, Jockstrap have already finished 2 tours in the UK so far this year. After the first ended in March the group allowed themselves to have a moment to breathe before taking part in a handful of instore shows to celebrate the release of their debut LP I Love You Jennifer B. Now the album has dropped, and is being strongly praised pretty universally – not to try and give my own opinion – the group can finally tour the album to the world. Starting with Europe.

Ever since their joining back in 2019, Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye – otherwise known as one of the most underrated and creative bands of the post-brexit-new-wave era Jockstrap – have continually pushed the boundaries of what it means to be in a band in today’s day and age. The amalgamation of Ellery’s classical training in vocals and violin, and Skye’s immensely idiosyncratic production style has allowed for some unique, and quite challenging electro-pop out today. While the 2-piece setup is nothing new, until now it seemed impossible to be in one without seeming like you’re just copying The White Stripes and just doing it worse (I’m looking at you Royal Blood). But Skye’s production and performance style almost seem more reminiscent of a band like The xx, which lends itself perfectly to the incredibly technical and clearly well-rehearsed style of Ellery. You can hear the musicianship particularly well in their most recent single. See the video for the most recent single ‘Glasgow’ below.

Recently, it was discovered that I Love You Jennifer B almost didn’t make it to the public after the only copy of the album was stolen at a restaurant in London. Fortunately for us all, iconic London rapper Slowthai was there to chase after the thief and retrieve the stolen Laptop containing the album.

Ellery will also hit the stage with her 2^nd, and arguable larger, project Black Country, New Road before the end of the year. the group’s first since the departure of lead vocalist Isaac Woods back in February. BC,NR started touring in May, and they had this to say, “We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on with you. The six of us will be performing a set of brand new music. We will not perform any music from ‘For the first time’ or ‘Ants From Up There’.”

7/2/22 – Liverpool – District
9/2 – Newcastle – The Cluny
10/2 – Nottingham – Rescue Rooms
11/2 – Sheffield – Foundry
13/2 – Oxford – Bullingdon
15/2 – London – Heaven
16/2 – Margate – Olbys
17/2 – Manchester – Gorilla

London show x pic.twitter.com/v34FdbBwrD

— jockstrap (@jockstrapmusic1) May 2, 2022

Ever since their joining back in 2019, Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye – otherwise known as one of the most underrated and creative bands of the post-brexit-new-wave era Jockstrap – have continually pushed the boundaries of what it means to be in a band in today’s day and age. The amalgamation of Ellery’s classical training in vocals and violin, and Skye’s immensely idiosyncratic production style has allowed for some unique, and quite challenging electro-pop out today. While the 2-piece setup is nothing new, until now it seemed impossible to be in one without seeming like you’re just copying The White Stripes and just doing it worse (I’m looking at you Royal Blood). But Skye’s production and performance style almost seems more reminiscent of a band like The xx, that lends itself perfectly to the incredibly technical and clearly well-rehearsed style of Ellery. You can hear the musicianship particularly well in their most recent single. See the video for ‘Concrete Over Water’ below.

Tickets to the tour have already gone on sale, but there may be available tickets here. As for the London show though, watch this space and we’ll see. In keeping with their theme, the band also stated in a press release that a full-length LP may be due sooner rather than later. But obviously, nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

The tour really ensures that Ellery is going to have a busy year, Black Country, New Road have also set themselves up for a massive EU/UK tour, the group’s first since the departure of lead vocalist Isaac Woods back in February. Set to begin in May, they had this to say, “We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on with you. The six of us will be performing a set of brand new music. We will not be performing any music from ‘For the first time’ or ‘Ants From Up There’.”

Alongside the single announcement, which also comes with rumblings of an upcoming Jockstrap debut LP according to a press release, the band have also laid out plans to embark on an extensive UK tour. Beginning at Edinburgh’s Mash House this September, the tour will see the band take on 10 dates spread over the UK, before concluding at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach in October. Fan Pre-sale begins tomorrow (Wednesday April 13th) at 10am, with general sale then going ahead  the following morning (Thursday April 14th) again at 10am. You can find full ticket information here.

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The tour really ensures that Ellery is going to have a busy year, Black Country, New Road have also set themselves up for a massive EU/UK tour, the group’s first since the departure of lead vocalist Isaac Woods back in February. Set to begin in May, they had this to say, “We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on with you.
The six of us will be performing a set of brand new music. We will not be performing any music from ‘For the first time’ or ‘Ants From Up There’.” Considering the standard of music that the group have already put out, the next month could be a long wait for fans that just want to know how exactly things are going to work now, watch this space.

Jockstrap’s UK tour:

29/9/22 – Mash House – Edinburgh
30/9 – Stereo – Glasgow
1/10 – White Hotel – Manchester
3/10 – Belgrave Music Hall – Leeds
4/10 – Hare & Hounds – Birmingham
5/10 – The Fleece – Bristol
7/10 – Norwich Arts Centre – Norwich
8/10 – Patterns – Brighton
10/10 – Village Underground – London
11/10 – Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff

Prior to playing the piece, Sharp aired Jopckstrap’s new single “Acid”, which sounds as if a ’40s vocal jazz number has been yanked a century forward, as well as a conversation between Ellery and Smith on the recording process of their untitled composition. “It’s been nice to be able to make music without too much pressure”, Smith said of the piece, “something that’s so long with so few instruments … rather than an over-thought, over-arranged thing”.

“When you’re usually working with … three, four minutes, you try and stuff everything in”, Ellery elaborated, “[but this] was different to anything I’ve ever made … more freeing than usual”. On the piece’s beginnings, Ellery said that she had recorded some strings “which were kind of reminiscent of Górecki and I thought it’d be interesting to hear them married to Jamie’s production” though to my ears, they sound more like Reich. Whatever the influence, it’s clear that the key ingredient to the pair’s creative endeavour comes from being shut off from the outside world, “the luxury of never-ending time” as Sharp calls it. Well, that’s at least one silver lining to this pandemic.

“Acid” is the latest single from Jockstrap off of their forthcoming EP. Wicked City, the duo’s first release on Warp Records, will be made available on Friday the 5th on both vinyl and as a digital release. Ellery has described the EP as a “breakup/breakdown record that presents how I dealt with losing what I had when I wrote Love Is the Key [to the City]”, Jockstrap’s previous release. Having remained (relatively) quiet in the five years since his debut In Colour, Smith revealed a new song in April titled “Idontknow”. The music video was shot in Belfast the night before the city went into lockdown, and uploaded onto YouTube on the 6th of May alongside a short poem by director Oona Doherty. Watch the video below: