Stick in the Wheel - From Here (2015)

Stick In The Wheel's highly anticipated debut album 'From Here' is a raw, fresh take on English Folk music. Their now-trademark abrasive delivery of both original and traditional tracks, is not bland retroism, or empty nostalgia, but a voice linking now to then. Addressing issues that still have relevance today, re-visiting traditions long-lost, as well as those disappearing right before us, in a way that has more in common with Sleaford Mods than with Bellowhead. A thousand miles away from waistcoats and wistful ladies, the songs are roughed up down dark alleys with lyrics that are direct, honest, and caustic, but also eloquently poetic. The band is spearheaded by Nicola Kearey's fierce uncompromising vocal delivery, accompanied by Fran Foote's harmony vocal and underpinned by sparse taut arrangements. From Here follows a handful of acclaimed EPs and a recent Static Caravan 7", as well as BBC6Music and Xfm sessions and two BBC Folk Award nominations. stripped back to their bare components, the songs speak for themselves without ornament. These are aggressive and intentionally raw recordings, cobbled together in warehouses, kitchens, and wherever they can, telling tales of everyday life: carboot-swindlers, lorry drivers and London rioters, sitting seamlessly against traditional songs of prisons, hammer-wielding blacksmiths and 18th century madhouses. It's not about genres or labels anymore, it's about standing up and being counted. From Here is an important cornerstone in England's musical lineage, with a proud rallying cry that's impossible to ignore. "A triumph" - The Observer "SITW make Mumford & Sons sound like Roger Whittaker" - Record Collector Magazine "An exciting new band with attitude" - BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2015 "Splendidly pugnacious" - The Telegraph "Inspirationally abrasive" - The Guardian "The hottest new folk band for ages…" - Ian Anderson, fRoots magazine "A real discovery…" - Tom Robinson, BBC6Music "Grabs you by the lapels and doesn't let go…the best new folk band I've heard in years" - Shire Folk "The trouble with most folk music is that it's perpetrated by foppish men on stools with fringes and cut-glass accents whispering about flowers. This, on the other hand, is snarled out by Liam Gallagher's cockney sister complete with lyrics about men beating each other up in pubs." - Barney Songeist, Fresh on the Net "Written, performed and recorded in living rooms and kitchens the music is as authentic as it comes, at times brutally honest and grabbing." - FACT magazine "There is a pleasingly raw, simple and authentic sound to their music… this sound goes right to the heart of what folk music is all about. The sound speaks for itself." - Bright Young Folk "Their delivery has an energy that is raw, primal and uplifting, and moves at a fair rousing pace, the whole EP is nothing short of brilliant." - Folk Radio UK "Cracking stuff" - Sam Lee