Watch the new video for ‘Swim In The Blues’ by Rough Hands

By Ben Tipple

‘Swim In The Blues’, the lead single from Rough Hands’ forthcoming debut LP, isn’t exactly what you’d expect from a handcore outfit. Previous associations with Holy Roar Records, and having since moved to Dog Knights Productions in the UK, suggest an element of progressive experimentation; neither label known for settling on the typical sound. And you’d be right. The London and Brighton outfit are as unpredictable as their are explosive. Whereas some tracks on ‘Let Me Win Your Hearts And Minds’, due this August, stick more closely to the band’s hardcore roots (they are still brilliant, by the way), ‘Swim In The Blues’ breaks down those boundaries. It’s no surprise the unusual spoken word meets sultry yet unsettling post-hardcore is leading the charge.

“Locking ourselves up for a year and barely playing a show was a necessity for Rough Hands to stay together as a band,” guitarist Tom Barber explains their experimental sound. “Removing ourselves completely from any form of scene allowed us to write the music we wanted to write, completely free from any form of boundaries we started to take more influence from Detroit techno and acid Rock than any contemporary aggressive bands. Being pushed to our limits by producer Jag Jago (The Maccabees, The Ghost of a Thousand) enabled us to produce something much more special than we had initially imagined.”

The songs couldn’t come at a better time either. Written before the recent political turmoil that has enveloped the UK over the last week, the ethos shines more brightly than ever. “Alex’s lyrical themes were influenced heavily by the concept of alienation of the worker in a late capitalist society,” Barber continues, “completely being cut off from the fruits of your labour and the various intoxicants we use to escape the drudgery of modern working class life. The task of trying to clutch on to some meaning in an increasingly postmodernist world is something that is relevant in every member of Rough Hands’ life.”

Finally, after much soulsearching, Rough Hands have reached a point where their own creative direction is key. ‘Swim In The Blues’, as the first piece of material to arrive from their debut, is a huge middle finger to convention. “‘Let Me Win Your Hearts And Minds’ as a record actually has very little to do with winning over hearts and minds,” Barber concludes, “its a statement of exactly what we want to do musically and artistically regardless of what people like, and we hope that the irony is not lost along the line.”

Watch the official video for ‘Swim In The Blues’ below. ‘Let Me With Your Hears And Minds’ will be available in August on limited 12″ vinyl, cassette tape and digitally via Dog Knights Records. For more on the band, head to Facebook, BandCamp and Twitter.Â