Features

When I heard the song "Boys Like Us" by Bastards Of Young on a split they released with Western Settings, Success and Civil War Rust, I was instantly smitten. So i hounded them via mail about when their new album would come out. That album is out now via La Escalera Records and is called "White Knuckles". Read on to find out what vocalist/bassist Sean Hills had to tell us about it.

PRT: Can you give me the history of the band written in one minute or less, starting… now!

Sean: Patrick, Wyman and I all played together in a band called Hanover Saints for a few years. Nick was a friend of ours who was playing in an acoustic project at the time. When Hanover called it quits I talked Nick into teaming up with us to start a new band. The rest, as they say, is history.

PRT: Apparently you have been around for nine years, but you never appeared on my radar until I heard last year’s Burrito Wars split. How come? Was I the last one to not know about you?

Sean: Haha well, we're not a well known band by any stretch of the imagination. There are a lot of people who have never heard of us in the United States so the fact that someone knows who we are in Europe is pretty awesome. I think it probably has a lot to do with the fact that we haven't really toured much and until recently, most of our music wasn't easily available online. Thankfully, our new album is available on Bandcamp, Spotify and Itunes so I hope that more people are able to discover us.

PRT: I’m guessing your band name comes from the Replacements song with the same name? If so, why that particular song?

Sean: The Replacements are one of my favorite bands and Bastards of Young is definitely my favorite song of theirs. The name was so cool, I was honestly surprised that there weren't any other bands using it already.

PRT: For the people out there that haven’t heard Bastards Of Young yet… if you were the lovechild of two other bands, which bands would have had sex and which position were you conceived in?

Sean: Hahaha that's a great question. We have so many influences that it's difficult to narrow it down to two bands.

PRT: You recently released “White Knuckles”… what is the worst thing you’ve had to white knuckle your way through?

Sean: All of the guys in the band are getting older and it seems like life is passing us by very quickly. The album title is kind of a reminder to hold on tight and try to enjoy the ride. The road might get a little bumpy from time to time but luckily we have each other to lean on when the going gets tough.

PRT: What or who is Yankee Bluejeans?

Sean: Yankee Bluejeans is a reference to the movie Clerks. Olaf the Berserker has a metal band called "Fuck Your Yankee Bluejeans" which always cracked me up. I don't think it the song is about anyone specific, it's just about bands who take themselves too seriously and forget to have a good time.

PRT: You recorded the album at Earth Tone Studios, which is owned by your guitarist Pat. I can imagine it being a luxury to be able to take your time. But doesn’t it also make things harder? Like, when do you decide you’re done with the album?

Sean: Yeah, having unlimited access to our own studio is definitely a blessing and a curse. It's one of many reasons why it took so long for White Knuckles to come out.

PRT: I read that you already played Andrew WK and Sugar Ray cover sets… any other bands you’d like to tackle at some point in the future?

Sean: We got together with a couple friends and played an Andrew WK set for Halloween last year and it was a lot of fun. We were just joking about playing a Sugar Ray cover set. We always have such a hard time agreeing on cover songs. I would love to do a Turbonegro cover set for Halloween this year though!

PRT: What’s up next for you? Any chance you’ll be coming over to Europe?

Sean: We would absolutely love to come over and play Europe. Everyone I know who has ever toured over there has come home and had nothing but great things to say. Hopefully it works out one day. Until then, we'll keep trying to conquer the United States one show at a time. We're going to be playing some smaller festivals later this summer and hopefully we can get started writing the next album.