Music

Maybe it’s something to do with the success of the revamped ‘Doctor Who’, or some kind of fashion variant of the Millennium Bug, but the vogueish era for today’s hip young instrument slingers is the noughties – the nineteen-noughties. Indie bands now profess to love skiffle, klezmer, polka and folk, and all the other kinds of music that would normally have got their heads kicked in. Feature continues

Larrikin Love are one such band – you may already be familiar with their raggle-taggle-tastic single ‘Edwould’ or the folksy, maidens-a-roving-in-the-dales-isms of latest single ‘Happy As Annie’. Their sound, a collage of sonically, geographically and temporally disparate styles worked together without fear or favour, takes in reggae, calypso, folk, bluegrass and even some good old-fashioned punk. It’s a peculiar mix of things ancient and modern. Take the track ‘Downing Street Kindling’ from the band’s debut album ‘The Freedom Spark’, for example, which boasts the chorus ‘Everything I adore came before 1984’. A statement of retro intent, surely?

‘It’s more of a bookish reference, really,’ says LL singer Edward Larrikin. ‘It’s a nod to the state that some people think we’re in at the moment, that Big Brother world. But also musically, I haven’t really been into anything since then. The Smiths were all right, but…’

Culturally speaking, over the last decade, history has been repeating itself. Britpop devoured the ’60s, nu-disco consumed the ’70s, electroclash gorged on the ’80s. Recently, bands like Kaiser Chiefs’ reanimation of Britpop mean we’ve had to go through the whole sorry cycle all over again, and suffer through a ’60s revival revival. But now something intriguing seems to have happened. History has clocked itself. Rather than pilfer from their parents’ or elder siblings’ (practically interchangeable) record collections, a new generation of bands are looking to distant eras and faraway places for inspiration.

‘They come from everywhere,’ says Edward of his cohorts’ influences. ‘[Guitarist] Micko [Larkin] and [drummer] Coz [Kerrigan] are both from very strong Irish backgrounds. They’ve both been born and bred on old jigs and ceilidh and salmon and potatoes. Also Coz’s father is a jazz drummer so Coz does this crazy drumming which is very improvised and exciting. [Bassist] Alfie [Ambrose]’s big influence is Motown and ’60s pop. With me, I’m a bit of a folkie.’There’s a definite folk influence to the band’s storytelling, such as the twisted reveal at the end of ‘Happy As Annie’.