Chesterfield via Sheffield outfit April Tapes were second up on This Feeling’s stage on day 2 of Truck Festival this year. Sweltering heat had migrated in to challenge the hangovers and comedowns of day 1 overindulgence. Could they blow away the cowebs?
*banner image credit; Rhona Murphy
Image Credit: Rhona Murphy
They say timing is everything in music, and, in a testing heat, April Tapes’ blend of meandering introspection was the perfect tonic. Thoughtful prose and melancholic licks, which occasionally strayed into moments of euphoria, coerced a tentative crowd back to life.
Former singles ‘Reyt Fast’ and ‘Those Days’ breezed through the tent, suggesting their name will climb festival bills sooner rather than later. The former stomped its way to hearts and minds like lost indie underdogs Polytechnic and Two Wounded Birds, but with frontman Max Stokes’ indie take on Jonathan Richman, April Tapes are set to outrun the underdog tag. On ‘Those Days’, the coming-of-age sounds of The Goa Express came to life through the brooding guitars and rueful lyrics.
From their latest EP ‘Dead in Water’, ‘Salt Rock’ and ‘Grunge’ burned Brightest. The former was a gentle foray into the world of Seafood and Six By Seven. Whereas ‘Grunge’ saw bassist Bethan Evans take lead vocals and drag their outsider status to the edge of mainstream.
Truck Festival has a great knack for putting over new talent, and in 2025, the offshoots of a new era emerged. Out goes the spoken word post-punk craze, and in comes the likes of Maystones, The North, and April Tapes. Bands which blur the lines of indie and punk with melody and teenage angst always at their core.