A premier piece of procrastination-inspired power-pop goodness, ‘My Distraction’ finds its touch points in the angular and playful sounds comparable to Blondie or The Jam at their peak. A new-wave flecked, sugar-coated thrill clocking in at just over the two-and-a half-minute mark, the single is the latest cut to be lifted from the band’s highly anticipated new album, The Story Is… (out March 1st on Xtra Mile Recordings).

On typically fun-loving form, ‘My Distraction’ is, of course, companioned with a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek new video that sees the band playing on the track’s themes of our tech-binging addictions. In scenes perhaps best described as ‘GoggleBox meets Star Trek’, the video finds frontwoman Lorna Thomas unexpectedly transported across space and time at the hands of her TV remote… Watch the new video here.

Offering further insight into the themes of the new single, Skinny’s Dan & Lorna say: “’My Distraction’ is about being so obsessed with something that everything else falls by the wayside. When only one thing is in focus and everything else is merely background noise. Even though written initially with broader meaning, the lyrics are particularly fitting for our current fixation with modern technology and, even more particularly, our tethering of ourselves to our smart phones.”

A loosely-based concept album, The Story Is… anthologises a series of personal vignettes inspired by a chaotic few years for the band and binds them into 14 tracks of unmistakably Skinny-sounding rock’n’roll. Gather-in close and lend your ears as Skinny Lister rifle through The Story Is… and pull out: scorched stories of aggravated arsonists (‘Artist Arsonist’), rib-tickling tales of regretful re-fuellings (‘Diesel Vehicle’), and even polemic pleas inspired by some of life’s hardest lessons (‘Stop & Breathe’).

SKINNY LISTER: ‘THE STORY IS…’ 2019 TOUR

UK TOUR - LEG 1

FEB

28th - Brighton Concorde 2

MARCH

1st - Norwich Arts Centre

2nd - Southampton 1865

6th - Bristol Fleece

7th - Glasgow King Tuts

8th - Leeds Key Club

9th - Leicester Academy

UK TOUR - LEG 2: APRIL

3rd - Edinburgh The Mash House

4th - Newcastle Riverside

5th - Nottingham Rescue Rooms

6th - Manchester Club Academy 2

10th - Cambridge Junction 1

11th - London Electric Ballroom

Starting the New Year with an intriguing fresh start, Brighton’s Short People are made up of the likes of local royalty that’re guaranteed to turn heads, and they’ve now shared their debut single ‘You Know I’m Weird’.

Fronted by Rich Fownes (Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Bad For Lazarus, Clever Thing) and taking an exciting new direction, Short People are a gut-punch of angular and spirited rock n’ roll. Bred from the town's famous Brighton Electric, the all-star cast consist of fellow ex-Bad For Lazarus guitarist RV Monroe, Sam Morris of The Hungry Mothers, Tom Nichols of Yakul and Loa Loa, and William Jack Parker on drums, whose credits include mountain residing salsa bands.

‘You Know I’m Weird’ is a bold introduction to the band, and the first track written by the group as a unit. Taking a new philosophy in songwriting, Fownes has begun focussing more on the initial vocal hook before introducing the music. “Often it’s a joke or poignant moment said out loud that I write down, and sing whatever melody just comes naturally with it, so these songs have a really honest and conversational feeling. It also means I’m not allowed to disguise any meaning. It’s palpably hurts having to sing some parts, and makes me almost scared to release others; but I think that honesty and spontaneity was always missing before.”

The single is released alongside B-side ‘Fix My Fidget’ and both tracks perfectly encapsulate the bands intelligent, jagged art-rock, in their wry lyrics, upbeat and accomplished musicianship and more. Having been in and out of many successful projects there’s a sense that Rich Fownes has found that rare thing; a band that allows him to stretch his creative wings as well as providing a strong foundation with which to back it up.

Of his new comrades, he tells us “it floated together naturally. We knew each other's tastes, and as people, so clearly before we ever strummed a chord it always felt like an easy fit. Some of our sensibilities can be quite random to civilians (we put the band together under the premise of The Stooges playing Randy Newman songs) but there's always been a natural understanding when we jam. We like it as cute as it is obnoxious.”

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Tour dates:

23.01 Manchester - Aatma

24.01 Liverpool - Craft Taproom w/ DSM IV

25.01 Bristol - The Lanes

26.01 London - The Windmill w/ the Widows / A Void / Butterflies On Pins

01.02 Brighton - The Prince Albert