Start Listening To: thistle
A fast, instinct-driven EP that stretches thistle’s sound into something bigger, messier and more deliberate without losing its bite.
Northampton band thistle are carving out a space where scrappy intensity meets a sharper sense of dynamics, pushing beyond the loose shoegaze tag that’s followed them so far. With their new EP backflip, the band lean into contrast, chaos and instinct, capturing the restless energy of a group figuring things out in real time while refusing to settle into one sound. We caught up with them to talk about impulsive songwriting, studio refinement and learning how to hit harder without losing the rough edges.
For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?
We are the Northampton rock band thistle.
‘pylon’ has this chaotic, wired energy to it. Did it feel different writing something so last-minute compared to the rest of the EP?
Judwyn - It really did. We were kind of going nuts in a rehearsal studio while on tour in Cardiff, hopped up on Monster Energy. It was the combination of two different songs Cameron and I had spinning in our heads. Different keys - different vibes. It’s a kind of dizzying track.
The ‘backflip’ EP feels like it moves between heavy noise and something much more fragile. Do you see those contrasts as deliberate, or do they just naturally fall out of how you write together?
Judwyn - There’s certainly a bigger focus on dynamics on ‘backflip’. Our previous EP was kind of meant to smack the listener in the head (lovingly). We didn’t want to necessarily do the same thing again, or at least we wanted the highs to feel higher.
Cameron - We don’t want to just be labeled as another shoegaze band so we try to push out of that box quite often.
You recorded with Macks Faulkron at REX Studios. What did that environment bring out in the songs that maybe wasn’t there before?
Judwyn - The songs were a lot more linear going into the studio - Mack’s really honed in and brought out the catchier elements of the tracks which wasn’t something we’d done while recording in our garage. He introduced a more iterative process, which I’m a fan of.
There’s been a lot of talk about your sound pulling from ‘90s alt, shoegaze, hardcore. Do you think about those reference points at all, or are they more something people project onto you?
Judwyn - We definitely take a lot from late 80s and 90s alt rock, going into the early 2000s with stuff like Autolux’s Future Perfect. If you’re reading this and you don’t know us but like Weezer, Autolux, and a bit of Title Fight, check out ‘backflip’.
Your music gets described as lo-fi, but it still hits really hard. What does “lo-fi” actually mean to you in practice? Is it a limitation or a choice?
Lewis - I think in our previous releases it was a limitation and a choice whereas now it is more a choice. The way we have recorded everything up to this point has been by using pretty wack equipment by ourselves. This last EP was recorded beautifully by Mr Macks Faulkron to a point where it was almost too clean - we asked him to dirty it up a little. I wouldn’t describe our sound as lofi though.
You’ve been building momentum pretty quickly over the last year. Has anything about being in a band surprised you since things started picking up?
Cameron - When I was younger I thought that bands at the point we are at now would be able to live off music…. Very ignorant of me. This is the most poor we’ve all been but being able to do what we love doing is our priority so we don’t mind.
You’ve toured with bands like Humour and Man/Woman/Chainsaw. What have you taken from being around those kinds of live environments?
Lewis - Bands like Humour and M/W/C have an immense live sound that we also strive for. We have a lot fewer members, however, so we have to find creative ways to sound big and interesting.
The EP title backflip suggests something slightly reckless or impulsive. Does that reflect how you approached making the record?
Judwyn - For better or worse, we’ve approached a lot of things like this, but we get by. Hope to stick the landing!
Cameron - The whole process of the ep has felt super fast and impulsive but hopefully in a good way
You’re heading out on a headline run, including Moth Club. How are you thinking about translating that intensity of the recordings into a live setting?
Lewis - We are usually able to play intensely and keep energy high in live performances, the difference with these songs will be the synth parts. We have been playing around with a sample pad to fill in these parts and are excited to start using it live.
You’ve already landed slots at The Great Escape and 2000 Trees Festival. Do festivals feel like a different challenge compared to smaller DIY rooms?
Lewis - Any festivals we have played so far have been very fun, especially getting to hang out with a bunch of great musicians. Time constraints are usually the thing that is different in festivals as everyone has a tight slot to fit into but, that’s usually fine for us.
What do you love right now?
Judwyn - Al Pacino flicks, Aglio E Olio, light beer.
Cameron - my bicycle, one piece and the rock band suede
What do you hate right now?
Judwyn - Can’t say - I’m trying to love more. My collection of unpaid parking tickets.
Cameron - Whoever knocked the wing mirror off my car
Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?
Judwyn - Monkey Business by The Black Eyed Peas is electric. My family had it on CD, and we spun it on repeat in the car. It’s a party. Made me wanna dance, made me wanna sing. It still fires me up with its pre-financial crisis optimism and earnestness. I have a lot of appreciation for the production and songwriting, listening as an adult; it introduced me to artists like Q-Tip and Timbaland who played a large part in my want to produce music as a teenager.
Finally, with ‘backflip’ on the way, what do you feel this EP says about thistle right now that the earlier singles didn’t quite capture?
Judwyn - We’re trying to stretch our legs a bit more, you know? Explore our influences and points of reference through a wider lens. For that reason it makes us happy when we’re referred to as an alt-rock band as opposed to a shoegaze, or godforbid, a nu-grunge band. I guess it doesn’t really matter, but the former feels more like positive reinforcement than the latter.
