Hertfordshire school friends Lock-In return with the second single from their upcoming debut EP ‘On To The Next’. ‘Red Stripe Remedy’ follows the fan favourite ‘Easy’ and was recorded at Premises Studio in Hackney with Curtis Elvidge producing again.
Images and artwork courtesy of Fear PR and Joe Lowe.
Joe Leek’s harsher and more jagged licks allow the “what if” Graham Coxon joined Two Door Cinema Club to develop joyfully. Where ‘Easy’ tapped into a more melancholic sonic, ‘RSR’ sees Lock-In take another step toward marrying their natural optimism with more serious songwriting.
Every generation has its band(s) tackling the human release from the 9-5. What’s different about Lock-In’s submission to the genre is its emotive poignancy. As frontman Benjy Leak sings “Lost in the 9-5, we only work to stay alive”, it’s tinged with a forlornness not seen with songs of this ilk before. It serves as the perfect reflection of the dire times we’re struggling through. When The Enemy sang ‘We’ll Live And Die’ in these towns, Tom Clarke conjured images of people still brimming with hope despite the decay. ‘Red Stripe Remedy’, sixteen years later, demonstrates what it’s like to exist in those towns; six for a fiver being one of the only hopes left for so many.
Lock-In, though, are never down for the count. Their introduction of strings and as Leak howls “It’s life, Its Life, It’s life”, a chink of light emerges. Faint, but bright enough to reassure us that we’re not alone.
There are just too many dreams in this wasteland for you to leave us all behind.
Click the image below for tickets to their biggest ever show at Lafayette next April:
