Trembling with fractious energy as if permanently poised for collapse, Manchester’s electrifying splint follow their August debut on Nice Swan Records with their second single – the cracked, irresistible, burning beauty of 145. Where the siren calls of the band’s sharp-edged, urgent debut, Military Procedures, brought listeners onside amidst a torn and stuttering torrent, 145’s sensitive two-hander between vocalists, Giulia Bonometti and Jake Bogacki finds the band fighting emotional headwinds to crest a breathtaking songwriting peak.
Citing Television as a founding influence and finding the spirit of Velvet Underground somewhere in the bleary, early hours after late nights, the collapsing furniture and broken boilers of their home city’s industrial mills-turned-rehearsal rooms, the repeating peals of the tracks central riffs rolling in, out and around the track trace those New York art-rock silhouettes.
The video for the single, created by film-maker, Mackenzie Thomson walks on into the darker corners of the territory signposted by the band’s music and the deep-hearted intent behind 145’s lyrics. Throwing nothing away on the cheap, splint’s visuals meet the sonic ambush of every song.
Bonometti says: “It’s about the human condition that unites every person but also divides us. Going through life without paying attention to what is actually happening to the people around us and settle for the “I’m fine” in reply to the “how are you’s?” Pretending to be strong when everything is falling apart and never allow yourself to be vulnerable.”
Feeling the miles pass beneath their feet, splint – incorporating Jake Bogacki (vocals/guitar), Giulia Bonometti (vocals/bass), George Davies (guitar), Finn Cohen-Ennis (guitars) and Ellie Rose-Elliot (drums) in the band’s imperfectly insecure state – spent the summer and early autumn touring, as an independent entity, in support of kindred spirits such as English Teacher and The Lounge Society and at festivals, including Manchester Psych Fest.
splint initially malformed between Calderdale and the alley-arteried suburbs of South Manchester in 2021. Finding semi-permanent homes in walking distance of one another and settling into formation earlier this year, splint’s penetrating performances continue for an indefinite period, including the following dates:
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