Pave The Jungle - Ants
Newcastle alt rock newcomers Pave The Jungle have just announced details of their debut EP The Hissing, which is set for release on 9 October 2020 via Cow House. Lead single Ants is out now and available to stream on all good digital service providers.
Blending shades of US indie with a post punk urgency and the unchecked power of heavy alternative rock, Pave The Jungle were established in 2019 in Newcastle, and formed by songwriter Rachael Whittle after the dissolution of her previous outfit and she is joined by Scott Jeffery (drums/vocals), Jack Burlison (bass) and Stephen McLaughlin (guitar/vocals).
Commenting on the track, songwriter and front woman Rachael says:
I got the inspiration for Ants after reading Flowers for Algernon. The book is about a mouse named Algernon who undergoes surgery in order to increase his intelligence. The surgery is then also performed on a man named Charlie Gordon. Charlie is the first human to undergo this surgery and the reader follows his journey via a series of progress reports he writes himself.
What struck me about the story were the themes surrounding the treatment of intellectually disabled people, how, as Charlie’s intelligence increases, his childlike naivety and love for the smaller things in life decreases. This prompted lyrics like ‘comfort in naivety inside’.
Exploring the idea that as we age and become more aware of our intent in life we are often disappointed with what we achieve, Rachael examines how, in the end, we are all just the same, much like the track’s titular ants, carrying a giant weight on our shoulders when she says:
Musically I wanted this song to reflect the chaotic and unpredictable nature of life. This is why the chorus is the only repeated section of the song. I wanted it to be quite progressive. At the time of writing this I had just discovered Pile. I fell in love with the way their songs are so unusually structured and are quite chaotic, but in the middle of it all is an amazing melody that draws you in.
Following a mentorship session from Mercury Prize-nominee Nadine Shah and her co-writer/producer Ben Hillier (Depeche Mode, Blur, Smashing Pumpkins), Rachael’s songwriting came on leaps and bounds, and PTJ entered Blank Studios (Pigsx7, Richard Dawson) to capture the more intricate ideas which developed into this latest material.
The band have released two tracks to date on their own Cow House imprint, debut single Jelly arrived in January 2020 racking up over 1000 Spotify plays inside a week, and was playlisted by Hype Machine as well as receiving multiple plays on BBC Radio. Follow up single Cookie Cutter surfaced in March 2020, showcasing the bellicose flip side of Rachael’s spectrum as a rock writer, highlighted in the track’s off kilter footprint and hard to place swagger.
So let’s get back to Ants which is the taster track for that new EP coming later in the year.
This is a track that continues to build on a hard core blistering wall of sound that they are renowned for. There is a bit of chaos with opening buzzing guitar riff, which see the band change chords rather abruptly and sharply which should mean the strong loses its hold but quite frankly it doesn’t as the sharp drums hold the rhythm together brilliantly.
This will certainly encourage you do to a bit of head banging particularly the last minute or so when it really is a full assault on your ears with huge guitars and an almost mumbled lyric as the song reaches it finish with a final repeat of the chorus.
There is some clever lyricism with the line “you used to live in my sun, now your just an ant like everyone else’!! immediately grabbing my attention.
Ants is on the very heavy side of new wave punk, it has so many elements of that genre with its fast guitar riffs and drums but cranks it up to a much more chaotic sound, so alt-rock is probably the best description I can give the track and it complements Pave The Jungle’s previous releases.
It is a song that definitely grabs you by the collar, straightens you up and makes you sit up and listen. I really enjoyed it as the chaos sweeps you along and makes you wont to dive in that imaginary mosh pit.
Give Ants a stream now:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2xpD9fKXPmw8ooS7Ru302k?si=ArZPPoWURsCxoWNU8DUtxg
And remember to keep an eye out for the debut EP The Hissing released later this year on 9 October.
Pave The Jungle can be followed on Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify:
https://www.pavethejungle.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pavethejungleband
https://instagram.com/pavethejungleband?igshid=1kv0orkisvhhu
https://twitter.com/pavethejungle
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4WPofpXi1zIRWu609q5pNg?si=1hA6JTzdThaeYvU3xs90ng
