.png)
Following 2019's demo tape, one of Melbourne's most high-energy punk bands Future Suck are back with the new single "Hell for Leather," a dizzying assault of searing guitars and hard-charging vocals that's the first taste of the band's anticipated debut album, Simulation, out August 5th through Rack Off Records. Along with the premiere, we had a quick chat with frontwoman Grace Gibson who discusses more about the new single and takes us through the recording of the forthcoming LP.
Pummeling their way onto Melbourne's underground punk scene with their self-titled debut demo tape back in 2019, Future Suck are back with their rousing and amphetamine-fueled hardcore punk on the new single "Hell for Leather." The new single is the first taste of the band's anticipated debut album, Simulation, out August 5th through Rack Off Records (Shove, Blonde Revolver). Comprised of frontwoman Grace Gibson (Blonde Revolver), guitarists Rhys Campbell (The Brakes) and George Ottaway (Super-X), drummer Kyle Campbell (The Brakes), and newly-recruited bassist Kayley Langdon (Carpet Burn, Blonde Revolver), the new track was recorded by Jason Fuller (Blood Duster, The Stripp) at Goatsound Studios last year. The punchy cut is a tongue in cheek run-through of people with big egos and not much to show for it, according to Gibson. "I wrote these lyrics when I was listening to a lot of country music so there's a bit of a hat tip to Billy Joe Shaver in there," Gibson said via email. Gibson's combative vocals is a tirade of explosive energy that rapidly dart around the tight arsenal of muscular riffs and thunderous rhythms. Along with the premiere, we had a quick chat with Gibson to discuss more about the new single and anticipated debut LP.
Paperface Zine: Talk to me about the origins of this new single. How did it come about and what did you envision for it when initially composing it?
Grace Gibson: We wrote "Hell for Leather" at a band practice in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdowns last year. Rhys had brought the main riff to everyone and we wrote a song called dollar bill around it. After a few weeks of playing it together, we almost scrapped it because it wasn’t really coming together, but brought it back with new lyrics and and a different structure which we're way more stoked on. Kyle wrote a new bassline for it before recording the album too so it turned out completely different to how we’d initially envisioned.
PFZ: This is the first single to your highly anticipated debut LP, Simulation, set to be released in August. What was the recording like for it and how was it different compared to 2019's demo tape.
GG: We recorded the album with Jason Fuller at Goatsound which was just an awesome experience. Jason's so good at getting the best out of bands and it was a super relaxed, easy process. Our 2019 demo was recorded by our drummer Kyle so it was much more manic! Kyle setting everything up, running to press record then jumping on the kit and recording it all live including the vocals. I think the album has worked much better because we were able to get the best takes of everything rather than just using whichever version we didn't fuck up too badly on like we did with the EP! I'm super excited to put this album out since it's been a long time coming with most of it being written in 2020.
PFZ: Take me through the lineup of Future Suck. What's something special that each member brings to the table?
GG: Our guitarists Rhys and George are so good at working together on riffs and song structures. They've both got really different music tastes — Rhys being a big rock 'n' roll fan and George more into the darker post-punky stuff which I think together makes some really interesting and fun songs. Kyle is a little genius on the kit. He's actually a bass player and only started playing drums for Future Suck which is wild because he's annoyingly good and so smart at making songs better. Kayley joined the band while we were recording after our old bass player Bec Allan (Blonde Revolver, Delivery, Gutter Girls) left last year to get a little more time up her sleeve for other bands. Kayley has picked up everything so quickly and definitely brings really cool new energy to the band. Kyle actually played bass on the record because Kayley had just started, but we're all super excited to write some even newer stuff together after the albums out.
PFZ: I see you have a couple shows coming up in July including one for Swab's album launch. You've been playing the songs from your forthcoming album for a bit now right? If so, how has it been translating them live? What's the energy like at a Future Suck show?
GG: Super excited to play Swab’s launch! It's a killer lineup with Vampire and The Neuros. We also got show right before on July 16th with Body Maintenance and SKXI at Nighthawks, but those will be the only ones we play until we launch the album. There’s some songs on the debut we've been playing for years, some we've just played at the last couple of shows and about half the album is brand new songs we've never played live. We actually picked "Hell for Leather" as the single because we've played it at our last couple of shows and it seemed to translate really well. Our shows are just super fun, really high energy and as loud as we can be.
Pre-order Future Suck's upcoming debut album Simulation through Rack Off Records' website or Bandcamp on July 1st. Catch Future Suck playing at Nighthawks with Body Maintenance and SKXI on July 16th and at Thornbury Bowls Club for Swab's album launch on July 23.