This Rebel is the lockdown concoction between The Twang’s Phil Etheridge and Liam Gallagher engineer Jon “Simmo” Simcox. The pair first met in 2008 when Simcox was The Twang’s monitor engineer touring the UK. During the pandemic, Simcox sent Etheridge music to write and sing for and ‘Heartstopper’ is the first helping from their self-titled album due for release next March via Jump Cut Records.
Image Credit: Charlotte Simcox. Courtesy of Wasted Youth PR.
In 2019, The Twang released their fifth studio album ‘If Confronted, Just Go Mad’. It was career-defining on several levels. Creatively, it was the best work to date. Perhaps more significantly, its reception didn’t appear to stretch beyond the band's loyal fanbase. Another fine body of work overlooked by the press and radio stations supposedly having the back of our alternative scene heroes.
It would have been easy for The Twang’s frontman, Phil Etheridge, to walk away. On ‘Heartstopper’, he could be forgiven for taking tentative steps. Instead, he delivers a vocal drenched in defiance and lyrics which snipe with venom (“no snakes, just ladders”).
Unrestrained by the industry, the carefree Etheridge from The Twang’s first two albums and the aforementioned ‘If Confronted…’ remerges throwing soulful hooks (“This rebel, aint your level”) to Simcox’s XX-esque music. Together, they’ve made a lo-fi 4am sonic sound like a headline act setting the masses free.
This Rebel have laid ghosts to rest and set hearts racing for the debut album next March.