{"product_id":"formal-sppeedwear-punch-card-cd","title":"Formal Sppeedwear - Punch Card [CD]","description":"\u003cp\u003eFormat: CD\u003cbr\u003eCatalogue No.: MELO150CD\u003cbr\u003eBarcode: 5060168046703\u003cbr\u003eRelease Date: 11 Sep 2026\u003cbr\u003eGenre: New Wave\/Post-Punk\/Mutant Disco\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStoke-On-Trent’s most tuned-in and turned-out trio are releasing debut album Punch Card, which might be the avant-pop record of the year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor Fans Of: Devo, Talking Heads, XTC, Neu!\u003cbr\u003e\"A slinking, unctuous energy shot of new wave and mutant disco\" - DIY\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlack vinyl, die cut sleeve on printed manila board, printed inner, and DL code.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eDriven by a desire for sonic collage and bolstered by lateral thinking, ‘Punch Card’ is a crafty lesson in how, with touches of masterful manipulation, the collision of opposing forces can cause sparks to fly and an irrepressible need to dance. “Our aim is to undermine anything leaning too far one way or the other. We shoot for homogeneity - if it sounds good and its component parts can't be pulled out, we’ve matched the job description,” they say of finding balance in their desire to ‘pull the rug’ musically whenever listeners least expect it.\u003cbr\u003eMuch like the typo in their name, now proudly worn by the band as a badge of honour, the result is an album of happy accidents that truly embody their audiences’ visceral knee-jerk reactions. The cut-out windows of an eighties protocomputer punch card that line the sleeve offer a portal into Formal Sppeedwear’s universe.\u003cbr\u003eAfter signing with melodic in 2023, the trio’s now sold out 2024 debut EP - a self-titled, self-produced 12” sample of elastic bass arrangements, leaping guitar motifs and sparse, un-assuming percussive work - picked up notable fans at BBC 6 Music and helped to secure shows around the country with the likes of Fat Dog, Preoccupations, Warmduscher and Divorce. A legion of listeners grew, barraging Instagram DMs curious to unearth the mystery behind their idiosyncratic, off-kilter lyrics – usually a product of Beck’s phonetically-associated wordplay.\u003cbr\u003eProlific in their output, the band diligently produced Punch Card themselves with mastering from Paul D. Millar (Slug Bug). Led by a preference for sonic variety, they even discarded three tracks not belonging on the record; not because they didn’t fit - but because they did. Through their boomerang voice notes and a sense of telepathy that only college friends bonded by Neu! and Yellow Magic Orchestra could possess, they explain; “There’s definitely a subconscious level to what we do but it’s always driven by what works sonically. The real challenge becomes how to recreate it live.”\u003cbr\u003eBlame those tracks which formed quickly when raw ideas and lyrics flowed from jam sessions in their Tremolo rehearsal room. Jagged, punchy ‘Indecent’ was largely improvised by the trio as a single recorded live take, and ‘The Ballad of DCB’ (avid bookworms in Stoke may have an inkling as to the meaning behind its acronym) was wrangled from a spritely brink of uncertainty after twilight tinkering powered a plethora of jangling guitar lines. Live staple ‘Wait (Hatchet Gets a New Hide) serves as collage of ideas and melodies harking back to the early days of Sppeedwear, completed on a Tascam 488 cassette recorder.\u003cbr\u003eBut, between joyfully jarring twists and turns, it is a rare moment of wistfulness which offers the biggest hint to the album’s wider Punch Card themes. A turning point in the recording process, finale ‘Friedrich Backs Up Nothing’ shimmers with strange atmospheres and sound-manipulated cellos; lyrically considering how history might react to the world today.\u003cbr\u003eFormal Sppeedwear may look and sound something like pop, but Punch Card emerges through collision, constraint, and chance - much like the stamped out geometry that inspired its artwork.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTracklisting\u003cbr\u003e1. Hit ‘n’ Run 2. Who Needs Spain Ball? 3. Indecent 4. Knutmo 1-5 5. Aardvark x2 6. A Concise History 7. Fleas\u003cbr\u003e8. Wait (Hatchet Gets A New Hide) 9. The Ballad Of DCB 10. New Brother 11. Appointment 12. Friedrich Backs Up Nothing\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melodic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46964393443484,"sku":"MELO150CD","price":11.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0130\/8714\/6043\/files\/MELO150CD.jpg?v=1779817783","url":"https:\/\/www.horizonsmusic.co.uk\/products\/formal-sppeedwear-punch-card-cd","provider":"Horizons Music","version":"1.0","type":"link"}