Ricky Gervais and an Olympic diving gold-medallist who had his nudes leaked. This is all the town of Reading had to be proud of until The Amazons released their widely successful self-titled debut album in June of 2017. Although the band have taken to Twitter to admit that none of the four members are actually originally from Reading, I’m going to stick my neck out and claim them for my hometown whether they like it or not, because, let’s be honest, we’ve not got a lot else going for us. Nonetheless, at the very least, The Amazons themselves should be able to take great pride in their fledgeling career that has seen them rapidly rise to the top of the indie-rock scene.
With the recent resurgence of British rock, led primarily by the likes of the always impressive Royal Blood, the conditions for a rising band like The Amazons seem optimal right now. Blossoms, Sundara Karma, and The Sherlocks are all vying for a place amongst the country’s rock elite, and with the release of their debut album, The Amazons have quite aggressively thrown their hat into that ring. The release is eleven songs worth of unapologetic, destructive guitar music that displays the band’s clear confidence and proves that they know the exact direction that they wish to head in. Despite only being in the embryonic stages of their career, the album shows a maturity that sets them apart from their counterparts. Songs like ‘Black Magic’ and ‘In My Mind’ are clear examples of the bruising intensity that is maintained throughout, with hooks that are made for filling stadia. Frontman Matt Thomson insists upon oozing machismo in every note, grabbing the industry by the collar and forcing people to take notice. Unsurprisingly, this worked. The Amazons, commercially and critically, are running riot, with the album reaching 8th in the UK charts, and being included in the BBC’s Sound of 2017 and MTV’s Brand New 2017 lists.
The band are quite clearly after the hearts of the masses, endorsing casual gluttony with titles like ‘Junk Food Forever’, which incidentally will leave anyone salivating with its tantalising riffs, and paying homage to everyone’s favourite cult sitcom, Peep Show, by calling their tour bus “Big Suze”. Unfortunately, “Big Suze” met her demise as she took the ultimate sacrifice of being set alight for the band’s album cover. That hasn’t, however, put The Amazons off touring. Having gigged up and down the country for a good three years prior to the release of the album, the four-piece have already gained national recognition and have an ever-growing fan base. Everywhere you turn they seem to be playing, be it at festivals or at your local venue. Their live shows are just as frequent as they are dynamic, with the leather-clad bandmates relentlessly and brazenly attempting to out-rock each other throughout most sets, peppering the audience with buckets of bravado. Often filling the small venues with such a boisterous sound, and whipping even the smallest crowds into a hysterical frenzy, the band can make anywhere feel like a stadium, and are justifiably being rewarded with their tours becoming exponentially bigger, in terms of capacity and number of dates.
The Amazons are making noise, and it’s getting louder, and I’m sure it’ll keep getting louder until they reach the peak of the British rock scene, or we are all left deafened, whichever comes first. I would say they’re a band to look out for, but you’ll hear them coming first.
The Amazons still have six dates planned across the UK in February, seeing them return home to Reading’s The Hexagon on the 10th.
