Feature - 'Banishing Ritual' LP

Feature - 'Banishing Ritual' LP

Liv Willars (guitar) and Jen Calleja (drums) met while living in Brighton via Richard Phoenix of Sauna Youth – a band Jen would join soon after – and pretty much immediately promised to start a band with each other when they had both fulfilled plans to move to London. They played their first show at Power Lunches in the summer of 2012 and performed as a duo for nearly two years before Heather Perkins (of Slowcoaches) joined on bass after she moved from Nottingham to London in 2014. Their most recent release was a split 7” with Slowcoaches, released by South London DIY label Unwork Records, and both bands toured together in the summer of 2014. Initially inspired by the addictive quality of the motoric Cold Pumas and jagged doom of Vision Fortune alongside the otherworldly radio pop of Ariel Pink, Feature’s first release was a 4-track demo recorded by Richard Phoenix and released on Lindsay Corstorphine’s (also of Sauna Youth) tape label Cazenove Tapes. This was followed by The Culture of the Copy EP released by Sheffield label Tye Die Tapes and was also recorded in the back room of the recently closed Tye Die DIY space. Self-described as melodic-punk and drone-pop, on debut album Banishing Ritual they strike from bare, menacing punk to harmonious post-punk to blisteringly fast garage-pop to ponderous instrumental, showing not only their overlapping music tastes, but also how the band has gained broad influences over the years representative of the diversity of the UK DIY scene from Joey Fourr to Good Throb. Calleja’s lyrics are sparse narratives: a love song for a twin consumed in the womb, the stalking of a doppelganger, a rallying cry against the lack of belief in women’s ability to be artists, a tongue-in-cheek look at jealousy and bitter competitiveness. Though Calleja provides a leading vocal throughout, all three members sing on most songs to create unmatchable and unexpected vocal harmonies, plus friend and fellow London DIY musician Joey Fourr provides his immense vocal range on two tracks. Liv has now relocated to Sheffield and has started a new band, Jen plays in Sauna Youth and their alter-ego Monotony along with new band Gold Foil, and Heather is currently on tour with Slowcoaches, with the band having just released their debut album also.