Leeds grit-rock four-piece Neon Dolls have announced the release of their new single Step Out Of The Dark last Friday. The visceral new single is lifted from their upcoming second album When It Strikes and combines classic rock riffs, pounding drums and football terrace melodies. Since forming two years ago, Neon Dolls have been busy perfecting their hybrid of muscular Britpop and shoutalong punk vocals and blowing away audiences on the buzzing Leeds music scene. Formed from the ashes of defunct bands on the scene, the boys quickly developed a sonic formula influenced by Northern guitar greats Oasis, The Verve and The Stone Roses as well as more recent hardcore and grunge bands from the USA. With a growing fanbase affectionately dubbed the Neon Army behind them, tracks from their debut album Imperial (released last year) were playlisted on BBC Introducing and their sold out live shows led to Fred Perry Subculture hailing them as one of the best new bands in the country. Neon Dolls will embark on a UK tour this Autumn. You can check out Step Out Of The Dark below!
We managed to catch up with the band as they talk about their latest single, new album, fans and more!
How has the release of Step Out Of The Dark gone?
– Very well. I think it’s the first time we’ve really done a single properly with a video and whatnot and we’ve been getting some great feedback
Is this any different from your previous work?
– It’s not really different, it’s probably more of a continuation of a theme! We always try and write big hooky choruses and have a ridiculous amount of guitars. It feels like a continuation of the stuff from our first album in a way, but a bit more polished.
What inspired you to write this song?
– To be honest, it was written about 2 years ago and for some reason never made the first album (think we ran out of time) so my memory’s a bit hazy. I suppose I wanted a catchy song with an uplifting chorus that essentially says ‘life may be shit, but it’ll be ok in the end’, which is kind of a theme in a lot of the songs really.
Will there be a new album on the horizon?
– Yep, our 2nd album ‘When It Strikes’ is released on the 4th November and, not to miss a plugging opportunity, is available for pre-order now from iTunes
Are you looking forward to your November/December shows?
– Massively. We love playing live, I don’t think you can be taken seriously in a band without having the chops to cut it live. It’s also where you can make an instant impact with people who may never have heard you before.
How much do your fans mean to you guys?
– We’re completely independent and unsigned, we haven’t got any record label or management backing at all, so the fans are integral to us, without them we’d be nowhere!
What has been your proudest moment to date?
– Erm, probably recording this album. You never really know how it’s going to turn out and if the songs will hang together in a coherent way, but it’s gone far beyond where I thought it would and it goes to show you don’t need to wait around for a record deal, with a bit of hard work and dedication you can create something special.
If you could work with any band who would it be and why?
– Tough one. Touring with Oasis back in the 90s would’ve been awesome, before everything became so corporate and people worried about their image and ‘career’. It also helped that back then that guitar bands ruled the roost!