The Mic is proud to exclusively present the new two-track release from Nottingham rock outfit Good Hustles, which acts as a delectable fusillade of noise emblazoned with subtle shades of sonic maturity.
In the past twelve months, Nottingham four-piece Good Hustles have started to stamp their mark on the city, with impressive performances at Rescue Rooms, The Bodega and in New York for a whistle-stop tour of the city, whilst being crowned The Mic’s Nottingham Band of the Year 2019 at our inaugural The Mic Awards. Following the release of the uplifting Make a Move earlier this year, the band, consisting of Morton Piercewright (vocals, bass), Will Bewley (guitar), Nathan Hart (guitar) and Will Peters (drums), return with a two-track offering in an attempt to lift the spirts of everyone during the current testing times.
Having taken the name of the combined release Everything is Going to Be Totally Great Forever from a Peep Show quote, which Piercewright states ‘we started throwing around mid-lockdown to try to cheer each other up,’ the two-track offering is a product of lockdown blues, but inspired by better times. ‘We haven't actually been able to rehearse or hang out as a band since our last show in February, which has been really difficult for us,’ muses the band’s frontman. ‘It's something everyone is having to deal with at the minute and we thought people could relate. We're still constantly in touch and still writing together, and we just wanted to release these tracks as a kind of pick-me-up, both for listeners and for us. We've worked insanely hard on writing, rehearsing and getting these tracks ready so it would be a shame for them to be sat on the shelf until all this is over!’
On Outside, the quartet demonstrate their staple tendency for high-octane and guttural instrumentation. Opening with a blues-tinged, Spaghetti Western-styled introduction, the track strips rock music back to its very core, with monolithic riffs, propulsive drum configurations and wailing vocals all combining to create a vehement release befitting of large stages. Morton Piercewright’s opening lyrics ‘I’m not asking where you’ve been / We both know I don’t need to / I can see the marks you’ve got from him’ set the tone for the moody single, which was recorded and produced by Tom Smith across an eight-hour stint, and mastered by Charlie Kirby at Nottingham’s integral Mount Street Studios.
Speaking of the single, Piercewright states ‘Outside started as a really angsty, yell-y track back when I was doing solo stuff. It wasn't until when we started jamming it together as a band that it turned into this really atmospheric and heavy track. As soon as the riff got added in we all looked at each other like "Yeah okay, this is awesome" and started working on it and opening our sets with that eery Spaghetti Western style intro. Tom helped us to record the entire thing in one eight hour day, and really captured the moody and epic vibe we were going for.’ As a single Outside slots alongside the band’s previous works, a loose and emphatic release complete with a parasitic solo from Will Bewley infecting its listeners, a convoluting bead of sonic sweat dampening the brows in anticipation of what is to come from the quartet after lockdown.
The new releases are destined to incite a fervent frenzy amongst crowds when played live, both tracks displaying an incandescent drive towards seismic new heights, emitting to its listeners a carnal necessity of feeling alive
Whilst Outside cements Good Hustles’ vivacious rock sound, Run Out propels them to new ground in its entirety, as one of the most complete releases the band have produced to date. Recorded and produced by John Black of Desired Effect Media in Yonkers, New York, during the band’s tour of the city in November 2019, and subsequently mastered by Mike Kalajian of Rogue Planet, the single demonstrates the importance of Piercewright’s velvet vocals that soar over an array of percussive rim-clicks, synths and celebratory ‘woo’ at the track’s finale.
‘Run Out was an idea that we just dived headfirst in on,’ offers Piercewright. ‘We wrote it on a Saturday, played it at a gig in New York that same night, and then recorded it the Tuesday after that which is just a rapid turn around! We recorded this with John Black, which is probably why it's a lot more layered than stuff we've worked on before, I think this is the first of our tracks to have synths and piano on, which is a really fun change of pace. We recorded this in this ridiculous mansion [visible on the artwork] in Yonkers the day after we got there, and we were just insanely jet-lagged and sleepy. Run Out is definitely different for us, but we still love it.’
In spite of the current lockdown situation, the new releases are destined to incite a fervent frenzy amongst crowds when played live, both tracks displaying an incandescent drive towards seismic new heights, emitting to its listeners a carnal necessity of feeling alive. Despite being released in cautious times, the band’s infatuation for rock’s simple pleasures provokes the belief that the world could return to a place where everything is going to be totally great forever.
Everything is Going to Be Totally Great Forever is released on all platforms at 7pm on Thursday 28th May. A special edition of the release will also be available on Bandcamp, which includes a demo version of early-favourite Raise a Glass. Readers can hear the release exclusively here now.
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