There is a special kind of delight to be found in a band that can create a significant amount of noise with a very small line-up, and Bristol’s MOULD are very much that band. The trio, made up of Joe Sherrin (vocals/guitar), James Luxton (drums), and Kane Eagle (bass), has, from day one, been delivering music that does not shy away from a hefty riff or a hammering rhythm section. In many ways, their music bears all the hallmarks of classic punk songwriting: tracks that are often short and straight to the point, a high level of energy throughout, and a willingness to tap into the more uncomfortable facets of life in modern society (calling it punk is not straightforward, though: “The whole genre thing has always been quite difficult for us,” Sherrin admits). 

“We all come from similar backgrounds, but have quite eclectic influences, which come through in the songs. You could have something that starts up really intense and massive, then it slowly turns into a more melodic or poppy chorus. It’s all of our influences wrapped together - some bits are more poppy, some are more folky, and some are more punky or screamy, all in one package,” Sherrin elaborates. “You could call it Frankenstein music,” Eagle concludes with a laugh.

If there’s something with a very distinct classic punk undertone in all this, it’s their choice of band name, which speaks to a punk willingness to embrace and celebrate the unpleasant and rotten things in life. “It came from an unreleased song by my old band,” Luxton recalls: “We were trying to find a name, and we really liked that song. We had tried every other word, and it just seemed to fit. It really worked with our sound.” It, however, came with its own little headaches: “There’s five other ‘Moulds’ in existence,” Sherrin points out, “so if we had to commit to this, we had to do it properly. So we’re all caps. Once in Birmingham, we played with another band also called Mould, who were proper hardcore. It was very much almost like a battle between the two of us… Mould versus MOULD in their hometown”.

The band’s lyrics, too, have more than a whiff of the classic punk about them, Sherrin muses: “they’re not overtly political, but they’re informed by this general climate of an overt and shared hopelessness, about how awful things seem to be, how awful humans are in general. But I try to write from my own experience, rather than a general standpoint”. Much as this alienation is a theme in their music (“That’s why the first song in our first album is called ‘Misanthrope’,” Eagle notes), they also share in the belief that the true strength of punk, as of now, lies in community: “It’s where we’ve all come from, that community aspect of it. It’s more of a state of mind than a sound”.

After some well-received EPs, their first album is due to come out this Summer. “There wasn’t a general theme or objective in terms of the songs’ narratives, but they’re connected by all being written over a short period of time,” Sherrin explains. “It’s our strongest selection of songs,” Eagle adds, “the record is a good introduction. This is who we are, and this is what we sound like”.

With a calling card that captures the heady energy of their live shows, one thing is certain: people who pick up the record won’t quite know what hit them. 

Chiara Strazzulla

@cstrazzull

Image: Alex James

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