BIG SPECIAL - POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES [Zoetrope Coloured Vinyl]

Format: LP
Catalogue No.: SOAKLPZ493
Barcode: 0822166002090
Release Date: 21 Mar 2025
Genre: Rock

Limited edition zoetrope coloured vinyl.

TRACKLIST:
01.    BLACK COUNTRY GOTHIC
02.    I MOCK JOGGERS
03.    DESPERATE BREAKFAST
04.    SHITHOUSE
05.    THIS HERE AIN’T WATER
06.    MY SHAPE (BLOCKING THE LIGHT)
07.    BLACK DOG / WHITE HORSE
08.    BROADCAST: TIME AWAY
09.    iLL.
10.    MONGREL
11.    BUTCHER’S BIN
12.    DUST OFF / START AGAIN
13.    TREES
14.    FOR THE BIRDS
15.    DiG!

Words are not to be taken for granted. Especially when they’re being bellowed, full blast, by a broad-shouldered poet with the brimstone fire of a preacher and the honesty and wisdom of a layman, over ground-shaking live beats and between anthemic blasts of melody and rousing riffage.

Words matter. History matters. People matter. And BIG SPECIAL matter.

For BIG SPECIAL - Joe Hicklin (vocals) and Callum Moloney (drums) - their sound is one that comes from vital, frustrated young working-class voices that don’t always get heard on the scale they should do. It’s a frustration that comes to the fore through a voice that is at times coarse and raw, but sensitive, desperate and soulful at others. Hicklin's brimstone-fired voice marches from guttural punk barks and serrated spoken word to soaring soul and back again, arriving siphoned from their forebears, crushed under the weight of history, and retooled for a new generation. It’s wrought, raw and angry at a world lacking options, the thinning of the common understanding between the social classes of England, exasperation at repeating cycles, and the feeling that you’re watching your own life unfold from the outside.

These are songs that channel that voice you hear when you look in the mirror and see your true self – fight songs for a world gone wrong.

PRESS:

Reviews confirmed so far: Mojo, Uncut, DIY, Dork, Rolling Stone UK, The Line of Best Fit, Music News, The Scene, God Is In The TV, Indie for Bunnies, Sound of Violence

Features: Clash (In Conversation), DIY (Class of 2024 print), Dork (A Day In The Life print), Rolling Stone UK (digital cover), Far Out, Dork (print cover).

Online support from: NME, DIY, Rolling Stone UK, Clash, The Line of Best Fit, Louder Than War, When The Horn Blows, Backseat Mafia, All Music + loads more.

"We truly believe that they’re going to define 2024." - Rolling Stone UK, Ones To Watch 2024

"2023 has seen the Midlands duo marked out as one of music’s fiercest new prospects" - DIY, Class of 2024

“a brilliant new voice in British punk” - The Telegraph

“BIG SPECIAL’s deft knack for combining moving spoken word with incendiary soundscapes is unparalleled.” - DORK

"BIG SPECIAL make vulnerable, soulful punk that needs to be heard" - NME

RADIO: 

BBC 6 Music: over 130 plays in 9 months.
"THIS HERE AIN'T WATER" - BBC 6 Music: playlist (A-List), Roundtable review Radio X: X-posure playlist, X-posure Hot One
"DESPERATE BREAKFAST" - BBC 6 Music: playlist (B-List), Craig Charles interview feature, Roundtable review, Radio X: X-posure playlist, X-posure Hot One
"DUST OFF / START AGAIN" - BBC 6 Music: playlist, Roundtable review
BBC 5 LIVE live lounge interview, BBC 6 Music, Amazing Radio and BBC Introducing West Midlands support for 
"TREES", "BUTCHER'S BIN", "SHITHOUSE".

"They're not the sort of act you forget in a hurry" - Steve Lamacq, BBC 6 Music 

"Fantastic poetry, powerful songwriting and a texture of sound you’re just not going to hear any place else." - Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music