09 February 2024
Newsdesk
New album, ‘Intermittent Fast Living’, their third studio release in as many years, is inspired by the relentless, breathless, stop-start lifestyle PET NEEDS have found themselves living in recent times.
Founded with humble bedroom-band beginnings by brothers Johnny (vocals) and George (guitar) Marriott and later joined by Jack (drums) and Ryan (bass) only a matter of years ago, PET NEEDS’ career has been sky-rocketing ever since the release of their acclaimed debut ‘Fractured Party Music’ in 2021. From getting signed to SOLD OUT shows, rave reviews to rabid fans, and embarking on extensive global tours with the likes of Frank Turner, The Hives, The Lottery Winners, Skinny Lister; demand for these four lads from Essex has been on a trajectory with the stratosphere.
But being strapped-in to the big dipper that is living the rock’n’roll lifestyle most kids can only dream of, while trying to balance a steady family life at home, is not without its challenges. And by perpetually riding around what frontman Johnny describes as “a dream-like tornado”, they have found themselves jolting between a life in the fast lane and “the security and stillness” of being with those they love. Channelling the chaos of their dichotomous lives into their visceral latest work, Johnny explains:
“In the last 18 months we have been catapulted from steady jobs and playing in our small town local bars to world tours at a million miles an hour. The life we’d grown accustomed to is constantly thrown behind us until it disappears into the distance in our rear view mirror.
We thunder forward, show by show, adventure by adventure, until [normal life] returns as a speck on the horizon like an oasis in the desert. Then suddenly we’re home again. I sit content on the sofa with a beer, my wife and our new little puppy wondering what the hell just happened for the last three months.”
From bare bones scratched out in the sanctity of their spare bedroom, into the full-bodied and frenzied final cuts befitting of their third body of work, the songs of ‘Intermittent Fast Living’ quickly began to take shape. Booking themselves in at Vada Studios with producer and sound engineer George Perks (Enter Shikari, You Me At Six, Mogwai, Skindred), PET NEEDS hunkered down at the residential studio and began “the most creative fortnight of [their] lives”.
“All these songs started life on a battered acoustic guitar in my spare room.” says Johnny. “I then took them to my brother and collaborator George, and together we worked them up from ideas into fully-arranged, fully-fledged songs. With the band we transform embryonic ideas into huge songs with incredible arrangements of drums, bass, guitars and more.”
Like that unexpected snapshot for sale at the end of a theme-park ride, ‘Intermittent Fast Living’ is a vivid portrait of a band riding high on the rollercoaster that is the rock’n’roll life, and stopping for just a split-second to capture the moment. A rush of adrenaline and a tornado of emotion, it will be released on 16th February 2024 (via Xtra Mile Recordings).
The album is preceded by lead single “Separation Anxiety”, a blazing, punk-bristled offering that unfolds as a warped interpretation of the traditional love song. With breakneck instrumentals and runaway riffs embellishing vocals spun with offbeat declarations of an undying devotion, it captures PET NEEDS’ fun-focused and frenetic approach to music-making, but also their knack for injecting life’s deeper deliberations into the mix
As frontman Johnny says of the single:
“”Separation Anxiety” is an unconventional, subverted love song about my wife Lorna. We have been together almost 15 years and had never spent more than two weeks apart until last year. I know Lorna would absolutely cringe at anything too over-sincere, so shouting that I love her more than anyone else does is more her style!”
Completing a run of UK headline shows throughout November and December 2023 plus a huge homecoming show in Colchester, PET NEEDS will be embarking on an extensive schedule of live fixtures throughout the first half of 2024, including UK & European dates, plus a limited run of intimate instore gigs. Catch them here:
PET NEEDS UK LIVE DATES 2024
INSTORE DATES
FEBRUARY
15 - BURY Wax & Beans
16 - BRISTOL Rough Trade
18 - GLASGOW Assai
19 - PORTSMOUTH Pie & Vinyl
20 - KINGSTON Banquet
21 - COLCHESTER HMV
UK TOUR
FEBRUARY
17 - NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
APRIL
16 - STOCKTON ON TEES Georgian Theatre
17 - LEEDS Boom
18 - MANCHESTER Night & Day
19 - BRISTOL Exchange
20 - BRIGHTON Exchange
23 - CAMBRIDGE Portland Arms
24 - OXFORD The Bullingdon
25 - LONDON The Underworld
26 - BIRMINGHAM Hare & Hounds
27 - SOUTHAMPTON The Joiners
EUROPEAN TOUR
MAY
28 HAARLEM, NL Patronaat
29 COLOGNE, DE Blue Shell
30 - HAMBURG, DE Nochtwache
31 - BERLIN, DE Cassiopeia
JUNE
02 - PARIS, FR La Boule Noire
