Liverpool garage-punks YOBS drop kick new single ‘Head The Ball’ ahead of their debut self-titled album out May 3rd via Fuzz Club
11th April 2024Liverpool punks YOBS are dropping the politically-charged ‘Head The Ball’ from their self-titled debut album, out May 3rd on Fuzz Club. Following last year’s debut with ‘Fortune Teller b/w Cemetery Man’ and recent singles ‘Wasted’ and ‘Cyanide’
Taking no prisoners, YOBS deal in hard-edged, primitive punk salvos that race by with a bludgeoning intensity – abrasive rock’n’roll that will leave your bones rattling just as much as your speakers. Whilst rooted in a scuzzy hedonism – see the aptly-titled lead single ‘Wasted’ – the YOBS LP doesn’t shy away from the more serious subject matter. The ferocious ‘Head The Ball’ – the heaviest track from the record, bordering on hardcore territory – takes aim at sneering middle-class elitism and the structures that perpetuate such divides.Front-man Joey Ackland explains: “I’m not sure Head the Ball is a northern thing or a scouse thing, but it basically means someone who is a bit of a wild one, or a bit different. It is derogatory I guess, but we are reclaiming it haha! The song is about how middle-class prep boys look at the working class. Like we are all idiots, that they can manipulate into thinking they are somehow more important. I have a lot of anger towards that kind of thing. The whole meritocracy thing. It’s not a level playing field, and the education system is there to preserve the class divide. We never aimed to be a political band, but it’s pretty hard not to be influenced by the growing populism and this yearning to be an elitist. It’s gross, isn’t it? So, this is saying fuck you to them. Don’t look down your nose at us, when you are licking the boots of the royals, waving shitty flags, and supporting the likes of Johnson or Trump. Anyway, Vive la revolution, Vive le Yobs!”
Emerging out of the rubble of the now-defunct Liverpool bands Weird Sex (Roadkill Records) and Ohmns, YOBS was kick-started in 2022 and is made up of Joey Ackland (Vocals), Alex Smith (Bass/Vocals), Michael Quinlan (Guitar/Vocals) and George Gebbie (Drums). Their debut full-length, recorded in four days at Hackney Road Studios with “our master and mate” James Aparicio, arrives off the back of a 2023 spent playing rowdy, ear-ringing shows with the likes of A Place To Bury Strangers, Mark Sultan, C.O.F.F.I.N, Alien Nosejob and more.
UPCOMING YOBS SHOWS
April 19 – Liverpool, UK @ Quarry
May 3-4 – Eindhoven, NL @ Fuzz Club Festival
May 18 – Manchester, UK @ Meltchester Festival
June 22 – Southampton, UK @ Heartbreakers
July 5 – Portsmouth, UK @ The Vaults
July 7 – London, UK @ The Old Blue Last
