Regressive Left announce 'On The Wrong Side of History' EP, share 'Bad Faith'
Arriving following recent tours with Bodega and Folly Group, dance-punk trio Regressive Left are today announcing their killer debut EP, 'On The Wrong Side of History'. Due out July 15th on our Bad Vibrations Records imprint, you can pre-order the 12" EP here and stream the first single 'Bad Faith' (featuring vocals by Valentine Caulfield of Mandy, Indiana) below. The band have also now announced a run of UK tour dates in support of the EP.
In dark, troubling times, maybe the most instantly gratifying solace one can seek is a wittily barbed diagnosis of the situation. “The fox has his den. The bee has his hive. The stoat … his stoat-hole,” Stewart Lee once remarked: “But only man chooses to make his nest in an investment opportunity.” Caustic retorts like this are what fuel this EP. For pervading through Regressive Left's dynamic and glitching music is a duty to report unflinchingly society’s ills. They are a staunchly political group, but far from your average po-faced by-numbers punk band. There is a gristly social commentary at the band’s core, but the songs themselves are characterised by a need to have fun, to find some kind of solace and escapism from the inevitable rapture.
Hailing from the ex-industrial town of Luton, Simon Tyrie (vocals, electronics), Georgia Hardy (drums, backing vocals) and Will Crosby (guitars, backing vocals) make up Regressive Left. Having spent their teenage years playing in unsuccessful indie bands, sometimes together, the trio used their first-lockdown boom of creativity to try their hands at something new. Recorded over an intense 5-day spell with in-demand producer Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, MIA, Amyl and The Sniffers) in Sheffield, their debut EP ‘On The Wrong Side of History’ was immortalised over a handful of 11am-1am sessions in his studio. In many ways it is a time capsule of the maelstrom of ideas that got the group to this point in the first place – the infuriating, bleak political climate, and the urge to find escapism from it – consigned to vinyl in one herculean effort. On 'Bad Faith', the first taste of the EP, frontman Simon Tyrie says:
"The term 'Bad Faith' has been interpreted in various ways, but this song essentially focuses on the idea of deliberately assuming the worst of someone or something they’ve said or done. Both the left and right of politics are guilty of this. I think the internet and social media has really amplified trends towards bad faith arguments because it fosters contrarianism and everyone has to have a take on something. But also, in my opinion, humanities degrees train us to think like this – we’re awarded on the basis of reading between the lines and finding more colourful takes and interpretations on the faintest of evidence. In that sense the bad faith argument is something of an art form, but ultimately detrimental to society."
