New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Welsh four-piece Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard have shared their new single "Double Denim Hop" from their debut release The Non-Stop EP (out July 10th via Missing Piece Records / Communion). Frontman, guitarist, and magnetic showman Tom Rees describes the song as something of a lightbulb moment, "the first time I felt fully confident as a writer… it set me off on a good journey for writing a lot of other BBB tunes."
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard have garnered their reputation thanks to a slew of sold-out shows, their own Late Night Sermon club night in Cardiff, Wales and support slots with the likes of Miles Kane and The Magic Gang. Rees has become a central figurehead in the Cardiff scene, producing other local bands who've gone on to receive widespread acclaim nationally, including Rosehip Teahouse and Panic Shack.
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard began as Tom's bedroom studio project, before eventually spreading his wings alongside bassist brother Eddie Rees, guitarist Zac White and drummer Ethan Hurst. The band first emerged in 2018 to widespread acclaim from the likes of The Guardian - "Thin Lizzy or
T-Rex in the back room of a pub, riffs and tunes intact but with an endearing slacker attitude" - who included them in their 2019 list of artists to watch out for. The legendary Iggy Pop's seal of approval on his BBC
Radio 6
Music show, and a session for Huw Stephens on the same station followed at the beginning of 2019.
With a mildly Spinal Tap inspired name, the Non-Stop EP, artwork features an homage to a famous image of a Yves Saint Laurent - but instead starring a nude frontman Rees. The image was quickly deemed "explicit" and banned by Instagram and Facebook leading to a fan poll to determine which outfit to photoshop onto Rees until it is deemed "safe" by the social media sites. "When I saw the original reference image I was stunned," he says, "That photo of Yves Saint Laurent made him look so vulnerable, but equally powerful, as if one complemented the other. I think I'm veering towards "nervous lion" more than "relaxed gentleman", but it provides a bit of a contrast between the cover material and the music, which is where we want to keep it."
Rees wrote 'Double Denim Hop' shortly after finishing college and moving back to his hometown of Barry, Wales "just bathing in melodrama as I worked out what I was going to do with the rest of my life like any other straight edge 21 year old who should have maybe spent a couple more years partying, just to loosen up a little." The genesis of the song stems from a trip to visit a friend to cheer himself up, Rees continues:
I had started wearing double denim (I of course thought it looked good but nothing else really throws other people off the scent of despair than TWO DENIM ITEMS hung on ONE PERSON ONLY) and wore it pretty consistently over the weekend that I was up there. Anyway to cut what I have made a long story short, we were going to lunch somewhere and somebody was taking a photo and I decided to try some kung fu moves whilst they were snapping. Immortalised in film, was my first hop, I'll never forget it. I posted the photo to Instagram and quoted it 'that double denim hop', obviously to impress the 20 or so followers I had at the time, but in turn gave myself the idea for the song. I kind of built the rest of the song up using all of that melodrama I felt living at home and popped it into this narrative that no matter your worries, if you just hop it off, it's all cool, which I think has some truth in it.
A disco version of the track also features alongside the single with Rees explaining: "I went on a real big disco trip when I was 18/19, I actually played in a disco band called Chronic Strut at that time too which I had completely forgotten about until right this second. This journey through disco offered a bit of a fresh perspective on the '70s rock vibe, just because it seemed to be a bit more energetic and above all, positive. Listening to a lot of early '70s Lennon can really make you cynical and bitter, so it's good to have some Kool and the Gang to balance it out, plus with K and the G you get to go outside and dance with other people, as opposed to crying for
John Lennon alone in your bedroom."
