Real?
WRITTEN BY JOSH RAY – OCTOBER 2016
Following up on the successes of their debut release, which paired the riotous ‘Drinking Game’ with the dubwise ‘Summer ’05’ and was selected by Piccadilly Records as 7” Staff Pick, the youthful force of The Isrights return with another vinyl offering.
With their first festival appearance under their belt, taking to the same main stage as one of their heroes, Lee “Scratch” Perry, at Manchester’s Moovin Festival, the four lads have been creating quite a buzz of late, which they’re looking to build on with their latest single ‘Real?’.
‘Real?’ questions the spectacle of a world the band grew up in, full of illusion and false prophets, where simple lies beat complicated truths – a ghost town of ideas and ideals, with hollow reality stars idolised and idealised as this celebration of the mediocre continues to dilute popular culture.
Musically the band again draw from the UK/Jamaica melting pot but this time add to it echoes of a ‘60s sensibility, Adding a plethora of sequencers and effects, the band have upped the ante, both live and in the recording studio.
Like the first single, The Isrights recorded ‘Real?’ at Liverpool’s Motor Museum, where many a great artist has got their sound down throughout the years – the new single will be available from 11th November 2016.
Although the cover for the single looks like a planned shot, it all happened through serendipity. The Isrights were about to play an explosive show at The Magnet on Hardman. Just as photographer Tim Collins was grabbing his photography gear out of his boot he noticed a rather bizarre sight out of the corner of his eye. When he turned around to look, his suspicions were confirmed; it was a group of people donned in ‘V For Vendetta’ masks and bright orange boiler suits sat outside Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall.
Originally worn by the main character in Alan Moore’s early ‘80s ‘V For Vendetta’ comics, the Guy Fawkes mask, which more recently became internationally renowned via the Anonymous movement, has become a globally recognised symbol for the counterculture. Whilst it would be quite common to see these masks around Bonfire Night, this was taken well far in advance (12th August). Tim knew he had to get the shot and ran into the middle of the road, dodging traffic to capture the sight.
A taxi pulled up in front of the grouping but quickly moved when he saw what was going on. Tim asked the men to give him a thumbs up and all obliged but the guy with the cane, who we assume is the boss/don figure in the group. They didn’t give a solid answer about why they were in town dressed that way, contradicting each other’s reasons, but they assured him there were more of them on the way.
As all of this was unfolding, the idiosyncratic episode reached a peak as cyclist rode by towing a trailer carrying a massive boombox that, for some reason, was playing David Bowie’s ‘The Laughing Gnome’. Once the dust had settled and everyone had taken stock. It was clear that The Isrights would be going home from that gig with a new cover for their latest single. Particularly apt, given the title and the fact that many would believe the shot was actually staged.
Having celebrated their debut release on the Xjukebox label with a launch party at Liverpool’s 24 Kitchen Street back in July, the band returned for their second launch party on 28th October, playing to a room filled with Guy Fawkes masks.
Their new single came out today (Friday 11th November) and is available digitally and on 7″ here.
