Guitar bands have become terrified of themselves. Terrified of looking stupid, sounding silly, dressing well, or caring too much. Somewhere along the way, “authenticity” in music became synonymous with standing still with an expensive guitar and pretending not to enjoy yourself. Luckily for us, Leeds’ newest noise complaint, Fetish Society, seem deeply uninterested in any of that, and are more than happy to bring back the urgency that once made music exciting. With the release of their debut single “Perfume”, they have some things they want to tell you, and you’d better listen.

“Perfume” is 3 minutes and 28 seconds of stumbling over your words and crying about it later. It has all the sex appeal of a car crash, and it’s impossible to look away from. The song opens with a slinky, sexy riff accompanied by the haunting dual vocals of the band’s singers, who sound like they’re having a conversation we weren’t meant to be hearing. Before long, the whole thing mutates. Guitars swell underneath until the song suddenly grows teeth, lurching forward with the kind of swagger most modern guitar bands seem desperate to possess. From there, Fetish Society fully explode, turning “Perfume” into a statement of intent from a band determined to drag danger, sexuality, and spectacle back into alternative music. I got the chance to ask them about their hopes, dreams, and fantasies for Fetish Society. Talking to the band’s drummer,  Lucas and singer/guitarist, Clem, I discovered that fetsoc aren’t perverts, they just want what’s best for you! 

Fetish Society consists of Clem (Vocals/guitar), Lucas (Drums), Alex (Guitar), and Maddy (Vocals/bass). They’re a sort of supergroup with all members being in other bands such as Mince, hitlist, CLITSPIT and more. When asked about the pressure of being in a supergroup it was made clear that it was “better to be in a supergroup than a shitgroup”, and that there was “No pre-Antidisposition to wanting other people from good bands.”, with Clem emphasising that bringing “lots of interesting people, from lots of interesting scenes” made for a good band. There’s definitely a mature sound present within the first single from the band, and it’s not unlikely due to the past experience of its members, who according to Clem “blew it out of the park” with perfume. When asked about what Fetish Society wanted to do with the track, they said “We’re here to change the zeitgeist, we’re here to upset and confuse, but also to sound nice in your ear.”

“Perfume” is one of a few songs that has been “brewing for 3 years” according to the band, with it being chosen as the debut thanks to its constantly changing sound. “Perfume shows that we can do twangy guitar… bass that goes heavy, 4 chords ramones style” and more. One thing I notice throughout this interview is that the members talk about music very emphatically, which is really refreshing to hear, when everything feels quite stale. Talking about “Moaning guitars” and “walls of sound”, demonstrate the dedication of this band to the sound, and make me extremely excited for what’s to come next. 

When asked about the song’s meaning, Clem said “bands… have denied themselves sexuality for far too long. People in the world deny themselves their own sexualities for far too long. The lyrical content of it, and the atmosphere of it, both prove a point to the world and ourselves…Mostly ourselves. You can have fun, and all the bands are far too fucking coy. Do you know what I mean? Like, dancing around issues.” Clearly, Perfume is a call to arms for fetish society. There is an authentic passion and identity within this band and it’s clear they just want more honesty, more danger, more reality, which is understandable in a time plagued by falsities and Ai generated content. “The world is shit” according to Clem, and the stagnation of arts is a symptom of this. “People have to be told something is good before they can enjoy it” he says. It appears that authenticity and human influence, for better or for worse, inform this band massively. 

I asked them about their opinions on the current state of music and the way bands operate. This led to us talking about the current cop out trend of naming your band one word abstract names, and their opinions on this. Lucas said “What is all of that? What is going on? Yeah, I like an actual name for the band instead of just a word. I think it’s cool.” When asked about it. 

When asked about the visual side to the band it was stated that, “Yes it is 150% as important to us as the music”. The cover for “perfume” features a papier mache pigeon skewered on an anti bird spike. “Pigeons are cool. And also, like, Anti pigeon spikes everywhere? What if we just show humanity to the things around us?” Says Clem who notes that society is “Hostile”. For the band,  the cover is reminiscent of a struggle we as a country are facing now, “it’s like homeless people with homeless architecture… here’s a beautiful life, heres someone’s son, and here they are on spikes, except it’s a papier mache bird.” Fetish Society are dedicated to making music edgy again, and they have vowed that that does not mean “Dyeing your hair pink or looking like your hair is some sort of spider.” For them it means “having cool artwork, or being interesting in some way”. Though they have said “We will see how far it gets us… until we dye our hair”. I hope it gets them very far, not just because Clem wouldn’t suit pink hair, but because it’s exactly what the music scene needs right now, real artists being their authentic selves. 

Fetish Society are going to be huge whether you like it or not, so you may as well embrace it. Don’t be put off by the way their music makes you feel, it’s all just part of the experience. I for one can’t wait to hear their next songs, and hopefully catch them gigging sometime in the near future, I urge you to do the same. 

FFO: the drones, my bloody valentine, at the drive in

Review from Finn Sullivan – @Incinerate.design