There's an aura of intensity that's been following The Orwells around for the past few years. Whether it was leaving David Letterman begging for more, their sophomore album 'Disgraceland' receiving worldwide attention or fighting a sound technician in Dallas last year, the unpredictability of "the future of rock and roll" has captured everybody's attention. 

As is predictable with a band as young as The Orwells, people are quick to slap labels on the five-piece, painting them with the age-old brush that brands young adults in rock and roll as waste-of-space slackers celebrating a life of sin. “I think it’s a little bit of a misconception”, their guitarist Matt O’Keefe tells me as we sit in Plaza Reial just a few hours before their show at Sidecar, a famous punk and alternative space in Barcelona.

“People cherrypick the one instance every twenty shows. People like to talk.” O’keefe isn’t wrong. A quick Twitter search will bring up a list of sceptics marring the band’s image, specifically lead singer Mario Cuomo’s spontaneous nature on stage. “It’s not something we consciously try to get away from. We just do whatever we feel like doing. You can’t control what’s said about you. Whatever gets the clicks.”

The Orwells have stated many times their distaste for bands who care too much about their image and exaggerate themselves for the fans. The Chicago-based outfit own their persona and while they don’t use it as a way to boost their popularity, it’s a great way to title your album. ‘Terrible Human Beings’ released in February of this year is their third studio album and is named after the first-impression so many people seem to be getting. A cathartic comment on the public’s ‘quick to judge’ mentality.

What’s within this album is a slick selection of rowdy stories, sarcastic disdain for the masses and a whole lot of kick, produced by the diversely talented Jim Abbiss. “With ‘Oh! Well’ we had no budget and recorded the whole thing in my parent’s basement.” O’Keefe explains to me. “We were given this opportunity with Jim so we took it. We’ll always have the opportunity to record in my parent’s basement but we might not always have the opportunity to work with a great producer like Jim.”

Since day one, the band have stated that their goal is to reinvigorate the excitement in rock and roll. It could be argued that working with someone who makes songs for Adele is not the way to do this, but O’Keefe doesn’t see things this way.

“I still think it comes down to the songs. How it’s recorded doesn’t change much. You can’t record a shitty song really well and expect it to be good, it’s still going to be a shitty song, but a great song recorded shitty is still a great song. Jim has worked with those big pop stars but he’s also just fucking… he’s great when it comes to working with a rock band.”

As we refuse a rose from a street vendor, so did the topic of critique: “He was critical in a way that was open to knowing it was our song and that we had a vision. He might see a path we didn’t see and shows it in a much more collaborative way. We’ve worked with producers who’ve just been yes men, but we’ve also worked with people who’ve told us “Oh, no you can’t do that”. What’re you talking about? It’s our song so we’ll do whatever the fuck we want.”

Keen eyes will see ‘Terrible Human Beings’ is the most stylised album to come from The Orwells. Clichés like distortion tracks and extended outros come in the form of ‘Body Reprise’ and ‘Double Feature’, both born from the mind of Abbiss and his all-knowing power to bring an artist to life.

What fills the rest of the album is The Orwells’ most catchy and accessible songs since ‘Mallrats(La La La)’. The success of ‘Who Needs You’ seems to have driven songwriting into a slicker side of rock and roll manifested in songs like ‘They Put A Body In The Bayou’, ‘Black Francis’ and ‘Heavy Head’. This new recipe has come from a greater collaboration between O’Keefe and Cuomo, who both contributed lyrically and musically to this album.

Lyrics focus on exaggerated stories that make the songs more exciting for the band. There’s no deeper meaning, just an apathy for the mundane in the masses. George Orwell lived by the saying, “Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.” His work is celebrated to this day yet his style of writing was full of continuity errors and unrealistic memory for conversations. When I ask if this was a coincidental inspiration for ‘Terrible Human Beings’ O’Keefe admits he’s actually never read any of Orwell’s work. In fact, they stole their name from a local band in their early years.

“I’m afraid to because what if I don’t like it?” He says while laughing at himself. “If I really hate it then I’d start thinking about changing our name. I’ve heard his essay collection is meant to be incredible. That’s great though.”

O’Keefe moves swiftly on, giving some context to the bitter lyrics on their latest album explaining that the band aren’t the ones to complain about someone’s taste in music. “I don’t get when people ask if it makes me mad about what’s big on the radio now. How can you be mad when that’s what the public want? Do I like it or do I listen to it? Fuck no, but I’m not going to complain about it.” O’Keefe’s honesty sounds sour but comes off completely sincere.

Recently the subject of a short film on how streaming is affecting the already gruelling fight as an arguably underground band, The Orwells speak on behalf of all struggling bands yet modestly understand they aren’t entitled to anything in particular. “It’s completely different but luckily we don’t count album sales and see it in money terms.”

Things are most definitely going The Orwells’ way though. With a more accessible sound comes more attention and bigger shows. “Kids you meet after shows will tell us they covered our song and that’s how we started. I always say that the moment we get ripped off will be our proudest moment. That’s how you know you’re doing it right.”

O’Keefe’s honest conversation and general excitement for being on tour is nothing like the lethargic character himself and Cuomo are sometimes portrayed as, but his authentic understanding of how the world of music is changing is perhaps the biggest shock. The Orwells are headed nowhere but up and ‘Terrible Human Beings’ has the power to change everything like ‘Melophobia’ did for Cage The Elephant.

‘Terrible Human Beings’ is out now.