A FRENZY FIT FOR FOR A MIDNIGHT DIVE BAR: LEEDS’ GARAGE ROCK REVIVALISTS HAXTON BABY RELEASE DEBUT

“Black Cloud Pink Cloud Blue” is our tune of the day. It's a frantic dervish of a track, propelling you into a pulpit of sound. The debut single from the Leeds four-piece Haxton Baby kicks off with an escalating signature handshake: its pounding groove, fuzzed-out bass and excoriating guitars consistently fight for your attention throughout - it’s music bound together by sheer excitement.

At the heart of “Black Cloud” is a surrealist portrait, beset with modern insecurity and yearning for escape. Penned during a still afternoon outside, Alex Carrie (vocals, bass) recalls: ‘I was just trying to get my head around how a week can feel like a day or a year depending on your mood’.

Formed in 2022, Haxton Baby draw on previous experience within Leeds’ illustrious scene and grassroots venues: differing post-punk and off-kilter pop projects, cast off and bound by a mutual, restive disposition and absorption of late 60s and 70s garage rock influences. Throw together the Stooges’ primitive works, some soulful CCR, the absurdist satire of Talking Heads and Gang Of Four’s frenetic energy, and maybe you’re getting warm.

“Black Cloud Pink Cloud Blue” is the confluence of it all. The first in a tantalising string of recordings set for release in 2023 and a clear marker of what’s to come.