Thee Vicars look like The Rolling Stones and party like King Khan, what's not to like?
After a pretty slow start, the garage rock revival has been picking up some serious speed recently. What started as Black Lips puking on each other has turned into a whole pantheon of bands recently who have been playing the traditional bang-bang-chorus formula you find on those ‘Nuggets’ compilations, from the lo-fi reverb-laden sound of bands like Ganglians and The Strange Boys to the messed up surf/punk fury of Sex Beet.
Decked out in bespoke suits that make them look like ‘Play With Fire’ era Rolling Stones, Thee Vicars have to be our favorites, and it’s not just because of the sharp threads and bowl cuts. With music that sounds like The Standells meeting The Animals and armed with a very party attitude, we’re still a little bit flummoxed as to why the NME aren’t following these guys around like lost puppies.
Still their loss is our gain, right?
You guys tour a lot. Is Bury St Edmunds really that boring?
In the sense that there is nothing but night clubs playing what sounds like bees in a jar. It's not a bad town; there's just not a lot going on. It's nice to relax here when we have time off though.
If you have the opportunity to travel the world playing music and partying, you’re going to take it!
I've heard it mentioned by your manager that France is the best place to play in Europe. What are they doing that British promoters aren't?
There seems to be a lack of funds for bands in Britain, there's no money in shows at a lower level. You also never know what to expect if you don't know the club well.
We do still love playing in the UK, I don't think all unsuccessful gigs are down to the promoters.
Normally, guys your age either end up in mathy indie bands or horrible Rancid rip-off bands. What led you guys to form a garage rock act?
Pretty much because of what you just pointed out. Music seems to be missing soul and feeling now, people need to be able to really get excited about what you're doing and it needs to be 'real'.
We play this music because it's fun, and it’s great to listen to and people can get wild and really dance to it. Not enough bands play music that you can dance to and have fun.
Your band has possibly the smartest look I've seen since The International Noise Conspiracy. Would you say your image is as important as your music?
I'm not sure. I mean, I think it is important in the way that it does contribute to how people think about the band.
We don't even really think about an "image" too much though: all the clothes we wear on stage are what we wear everywhere.
What have you got planned for the next few months - can we look forward to seeing you at any festivals this year?
A lot of touring, it looks like. We have a couple of singles coming out on a US label and an Italian label too, maybe another LP towards the summer. We'll see...
As far as festivals go we'll be playing SXSW in America with Thee Vicars and also our other band The Wailin' Yeahs in March. We will also be doing Le Beat Bespoke in April this year supporting The Undertones.
Thee Vicars play the Victoria this Saturday.
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