Like dynamite-packing, corrupted choirboys, The Lathums’ do a one-eighty on dreamy jangle pop and hurl two-and-a-half minutes of hectic, ska-rigged scat through indie’s ornate window, releasing future live mayhem-maker, “I See Your Ghost” on Island Records. Knees high, volume up and smiles-wide, butter-wouldn’t-melt becomes a smoking sizzle as the magic gang of barely 20-somethings plug in, get loud and go wild.
Skittering in on the seat of its pants, the rocket-propelled track took flight in just one, smash-and-grab day of recording the moment the UK’s summer lockdown restrictions allowed the band to reassemble. Packing heavy bass, hectic verses, choral breaks and wiry speed solos into just two-and-a-half minutes, The Lathums’ make a mischievous, late running bomb dive into British music’s deep end with 2020’s time almost up.
Enigmatic frontman and songwriter, Alex Moore, whose lyrics deal with the enduring presence of the physically departed, says: “There’s something inside me, maybe like everyone, that ticks to the beats of reggae, ska, grime or hip-hop. A natural, human swing you hear in the music that, even without the tune, still exists. It’s how your heart ticks. ‘I See Your Ghost’ is that feeling for me.”
The single follows the announcement that the community-minded band will cut just one, 7” copy of their cover of Northern Soul classic, The Snake, with owning the one-off record being the only chance of ever hearing it. Ticket holders in an online raffle to grab the vinyl have already raised close to £4,000 to support the fan-led fund to save Wigan Athletic.
Beached by COVID 19 just weeks after their beg-for-a-ticket, debut headline UK tour in February, the band, including Scott Concepcion, a Rickenbacker-toting multi-instrumentalist, Johnny Cunliffe on bass and Ryan Durrans behind the drums, set their sights firmly on a new start in 2021. Now including a run of gigs in Scotland and Ireland to add to SOLD OUT dream dates at Manchester’s O2 Ritz and London’s Electric Ballroom, all confirmed headline shows for their Spring Tour 2021 are as follows:
Thu 22 Apr Hull, Social – SOLD OUT
Fri 23 Apr Manchester, O2 Ritz – SOLD OUT
Sat 24 Apr Stoke, Sugarmill – SOLD OUT
Thu 29 Apr Glasgow, Garage – SOLD OUT
Fri 30 April Sheffield, University Foundry – SOLD OUT
Sat 1 May Newcastle, Riverside – SOLD OUT
Sun 2 May Liverpool, Sound City
Tue 4 May Nottingham, Rescue Rooms – SOLD OUT
Wed 5 May Birmingham, O2 Institute 2 – SOLD OUT
Fri 7 May Leicester, O2 Academy 2 – SOLD OUT
Sat 8 May Leeds, Beckett Students Union – SOLD OUT
Sun 9 May Cardiff, Globe – SOLD OUT
Tue 11 May Oxford, O2 Academy 2 – SOLD OUT
Wed 12 May London, Electric Ballroom – SOLD OUT
Tue 1 June Edinburgh, Liquid Room – SOLD OUT
Thu 3 June Dunfermline, PJ Molly’s – SOLD OUT
Fri 4 June Dundee, Fat Sam’s
Sat 5 June Aberdeen, The Lemon Tree
Tue 8 June Belfast, Limelight 2
Thu 10 June Dublin, The Academy
Fri 11 June Galway, The Róisín Dubh
Sat 12 June Limerick, Dolan’s Warehouse