First & Last #10 - The Neat

It's hard to describe The Neat without sounding like a bad Liam Gallagher type rant about how there are no 'real' bands around anymore. Having said that there are certainly not many who sound as snotty and agitated as these four guys from Hull. Angry, snarling but clever and poised The Neat remind me of the much missed Elle Milano and should well give a well placed kick up the arse of the indie scene that has lapsed to near coma like state. The Neat's new single 'In Youth Is Pleasure' is out at the end of April through Chewing Gum Records.

First band you ever saw live?
The first band I can remember seeing live must have been at Trowbridge Folk Festival. It was Waterstone-Carthy featuring a young Eliza Carthy playing violin in a short skirt, when I say young she was probably in her early twenties. I remember that festival well as my brother was accused by the compere of smelling of thick garlic and marmite. I think the levellers also played that year.

What was the first instrument you played as a child?
I used to gum a lot of Kazoo's!



First song you wrote as The Neat?
The first song we ever wrote as The Neat! Ha ha it was in Rich's bedroom we had only really just met and we got drunk a lot, played with the windows open and annoyed the residents of Bicknell Avenue in Hull. We would play a lot of lo-fi sounding tracks with a hint of 'real heavy guitar'. Our first finished song must have been ’Broken Fingers' it used to be a stalwart in the set however it’s now a distant memory. It sounded like Le Tigre vs. the Stranglers or that was the intention anyway.

I guess we have matured our sound a little now.......If you wanted to know when we discovered what we wanted to sound like it was probably after coming up with tracks such as Fruits and Counteract.

Where was the last show you played? How did it go?
We last played at Amplified in Darlington on Friday. It went really well. The crowd was bouncy and colourful they were not afraid of getting involved. The greenroom was cool it was in the loft, hell you could even smoke up there.

First album you ever bought?
Just texted Loz he says it was Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath! Left handed guitarists have thing for metal…..


Last time you were drunk was...
We did a lot of mooching on 'Malibu' on Saturday. I think it’s the change in the weather.

First crush on a famous person...
The Wicker Man was always played late on New Years Eve, once when my parents had a party, I can remember watching the Wicker Man upstairs. The image of Britt Eckland's breasts swinging and rubbing a wall was an intriguing thing for me.

The last band you saw live recently?
I watched the new Wild Palms video online if that counts. Good band man.

Tell me about the first ever The Neat show
Our first ever show outside of Hull was at Leeds Festival. We have always been proud of that. First ever ever show was in a hall in the backwaters of Lincolnshire for my Dad's 50th birthday....farmyard antics indeed.

Last film you saw...
Not-a-film-as-such but me and Nick have both been re-watching Twin Peaks.

First & Last #10 - The Neat