Following a long-realised dream headline tour in Japan earlier this year, Brighton punks HARKER are back with a brand new single ‘Dead Ends’ ahead of a support slot with Mercy Union (ex Gaslight Anthem) and appearances at Call of The Wild Festival and Bristol’s Booze Cruise Festival in May 2019.
Commenting on the single, the band say: “We dig our own graves, pin blame on ourselves, ruin everything. Destroying what we create makes us human, the hardest part is to learn from your mistakes. Here’s to the ones who constantly feel like they are getting nowhere & are frustrated. Give yourself a catharsis, let loose—break all and rebuild. Come back stronger.”
It’s taken 5 years for Harker to perfect their emo-gaze sound, with their feet firmly rooted in pop music, and their heads still buzzing from the golden era of Dischord records & 90s fuzz aggression.
Starting as a solo project in late 2014 by frontman Mark Boniface, the band has bloomed into a four piece collective powerhouse and what is now a relentless touring machine, warming up stages for the likes of Beach Slang, Ducking Punches, Creeper, Boston Manor, Spanish Love Songs, Red City Radio and many more.
With three EPs released through well established labels, including A Lifetime Apart through the Paper & Plastick imprint created by Less Than Jakedrummer Vinnie Fiorello, their first full length No Discordance followed up their earlier work with a louder fuzz-pop driven sound, setting a new bar for the UK’s independent punk scene.
The album received rave reviews for its amped-up take on the Midwestern punk rock of bands like The Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World, and their sharp guitar-led anthems have as much to say instrumentally as they do lyrically, drawing comparisons not only to pop-punk favourites but also the more seasoned influences of artists like Husker Du, Buffalo Tom, and Dinosaur Jnr.
Their valve busting take on drive-time punk rock puts them in the same league as much-loved underground gems like Sugar, The Get Up Kids & Superchunk, with support at alternative press from New Noise Magazine, Already Heard, Punktastic, The Soundboard, Ramzine, Alt Dialogue, Uber Rock, Atom Smasher and a whole host more.
HARKER live:
18/05 – Brighton, Green Door Store
22/05 – London, 229 The Venue*
23/05 – Leeds, Temple Of Boom*
24/05 – Glasgow, Classic Grand*
25/05 – Lincoln, Call Of The Wild Festival
26/05 – Bristol, Booze Cruise Festival*
*w/ Mercy Union