After the release of their last few singles – ‘Concrete Over Water’ and ‘50/50’ – the Jockstrap have chosen to set out on 2 (?) UK tours this year. The band are currently floating around the festival circuit with a handful of standalone shows thrown into the mix. The surprising thing… no London date until October. When this was first announced I was little surprised, but in the end accepted that it may actually be quite in character to avoid the capital during a UK tour. But alas, I was wrong. The band have however continued their confusing philosophy by only announcing the show 2 days in advance. And when I say they announced it… that’s all they’ve done. The show is in London, this Thursday (May 5th). More details TBA soon apparently.
London show x pic.twitter.com/v34FdbBwrD
— jockstrap (@jockstrapmusic1) May 2, 2022
Ever since their joining back in 2019, Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye – otherwise known as one of the most underrated and creative bands of the post-brexit-new-wave era Jockstrap – have continually pushed the boundaries of what it means to be in a band in today’s day and age. The amalgamation of Ellery’s classical training in vocals and violin, and Skye’s immensely idiosyncratic production style has allowed for some unique, and quite challenging electro-pop out today. While the 2-piece setup is nothing new, until now it seemed impossible to be in one without seeming like you’re just copying The White Stripes and just doing it worse (I’m looking at you Royal Blood). But Skye’s production and performance style almost seems more reminiscent of a band like The xx, that lends itself perfectly to the incredibly technical and clearly well-rehearsed style of Ellery. You can hear the musicianship particularly well in their most recent single. See the video for ‘Concrete Over Water’ below.
Tickets to the tour have already gone on sale, but there may be available tickets here. As for the London show though, watch this space and we’ll see. In keeping with their theme, the band also stated in a press release that a full-length LP may be due sooner rather than later. But obviously, nothing has been confirmed as of yet.
The tour really ensures that Ellery is going to have a busy year, Black Country, New Road have also set themselves up for a massive EU/UK tour, the group’s first since the departure of lead vocalist Isaac Woods back in February. Set to begin in May, they had this to say, “We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on with you. The six of us will be performing a set of brand new music. We will not be performing any music from ‘For the first time’ or ‘Ants From Up There’.”
