The visibility of London punks High Vis is set to grow on their latest album Guided Tour.
High Vis has to be one of the most interesting punk/hardcore acts around at the moment. If you were to pick up one of their records at random, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a rogue cut from the early 80’s post-punk scene that birthed Echo and the Bunnymen and Jesus and Marychain, not the modern day punk/hardcore scene.
Label: Dais Records
Release: 18 Oct
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But High Vis don’t need the same aggression every other band uses to prove their point. They’re blue-collar, working-class lads, and as a result, they’ve got enough to be pissed off about without forcing their sound to be angry.
And it’s evident, with the group’s vocalist, Graham Sayles, delivering every line with such a matter-of-fact conviction that the group’s messaging could never feel manufactured. He’s got something to say, and he’s got that opinion because he lived it, not because he caught a newsgrab on Instagram and decided to channel faux rage.
Title track ‘Guided Tour’ mixes riotous vocals against shimmery guitar licks and downtrodden post-punk basslines, signature to the sound the group have become known for. ‘Drop Me Out’ delivers commanding drum grooves that battle for your attention alongside Sayles’ hammering vocal delivery, while both ‘Untethered’, and standout, ‘Mind’s a Lie’, take influence from UK house, combining loops, MPC’s, and in the latter, vocal samples of DJ Ell Murphy, to strike the perfect balance between ambience and abrasiveness.
It helps give Guided Tour a distinctive point of difference — it’s poetic punk that’s hardcore in ethos, not tone, proving that sometimes that’s even more powerful.
Give Guided Tour by High Vis a listen here.
