Liverpudlian doo-wop dreamers Trudy and the Romance bought their shuffling 50s pop to The Lending Room on the 15th. The 3-piece took the time to answer our questions about their brand new EP, their love for Leeds and their headline UK tour.
Trudy and the Romance have the ability to carry you back in time. The slur of Oliver Taylor’s fragile falsetto and guttural growls, blended seamlessly with ramshackle guitar hooks and shuffling rhythm, instantly transports you to another plane; you’re carefree yet heartbroken; troubled but happy; exhausted yet blissfully unaware. This dichotomy of feelings that Trudy and the Romance manage to evoke is what makes their music so immersive and refreshing to discover.
Their ramshackle sound fits in perfectly with the potholed streets of Hyde Park and the DIY culture of Leeds; “We love Leeds a lot; lots of old and new friends here. The Brudenell is probably our favourite venue and we’ve been lucky to have played there a few times now. It’s always the best vibe; lots of fond memories made there. We also played the arena last year supporting Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbot, so Leeds is our biggest crowd yet too, that one was nuts!”
Since playing Brudenell Social Club at Live at Leeds in April, the carefree dreamers have had a summer of festivals, recorded their seminal EP Junkyard Jazz, and toured right through October and November. However, when asked what they’ve been up to, the boys are flippantly humble; “Not much really; Lew’s got some new shoes, Olly’s gone veggie, and Al’s broken his finger from too much clicking at a party.” Despite this time-consuming shoe-shopping and overexertive finger-clicking, they did manage to squeeze in a support slot opening for 80’s post-punk band The Fall in Newcastle; “It was amazing! To see Mark E finally was really inspiring; The Fall are one of Lew’s favourite ever bands so he was especially excited; and we got a proper rider.” And what would Trudy’s dream rider be? “Loads of vodka, cocaine, and a Golden Retriever.”
Trudy are certainly charming enough to demand such dream requests. On stage, they joyfully deliver buttery riffs and woozy soundscapes that possess you to shake everything off and jive. The vulnerable heartbreak of their lyrics is empowered by the band’s fluidity and effortlessly synchronized rhythm; “We definitely feel a kind of Trudy-vs-the-world vibe when we’re together.”
Last Friday (17th), Trudy and the Romance unleashed their EP Junkyard Jazz, and its release has been long anticipated by fans and the band themselves; “we recorded it earlier this year so we were sitting on it for a while, trying to decide on how to release it. We were dead excited to share it! we think all the tunes are a bit odd and seem kind of out of place, which in turn allows them to co-exist in the ‘Junkyard’”
While, the woozy melancholy of ‘Is There A Place I Can Go’ has you swaying with sunken eyes, ‘Twist It Shake It. Rock & Roll’ encapsulates the bands’ ability to effortlessly oil your joints and get you, well, twisting and shaking. “It’s all about letting go, baby; just let your hair down and boogie to our new tunes; let yourself fall in love with that person you just can’t get off your mind.”
Let yourself fall in love with Trudy and the Romance. They’ll have you slow dancing and jiving in your bedroom, with a heart full of nostalgia, and a mind heavy thinking about that one person you quite fancy. Junkyard Jazz is the soundtrack to your woozy November nights.
Meg Firth
Feature Image: Emma Swann for DIY Magazine