Hot New Band: Statues

Insanity can be infectious, which may explain why many who experience the rabid, unpredictable fury of Aussie hardcore mob Statues’ debut album Together We’re Alone find themselves with an urgent need to smash everything in sight. It really is a properly demented piece of work, with shades of Every Time I Die and Dillinger thrown in for good measure.

“I’d describe what we do as a positive outlet for frustration,” says guitarist Scott Kay. “We write music that best captures that frustration and anger. We’ve all come from different backgrounds and grew up listening to music that wasn’t hardcore. We don’t have conventional song structures… We write with a very ‘train of thought’ kind of process in the jam room, so our music tends to reflect that.”

When you play music this deranged and aggressive, it generally follows that live performances are chaotic and overwhelmingly intense affairs. Pleasingly, Scott confirms that Statues’ gig history is littered with instances of adrenalised bravado and injuries incurred in the name of entertainment.

“Jim [Van Keulen, vocalist] climbed 20 foot of scaffolding once,” he laughs. “Dan [Harper, drums] vomited on his snare drum after we moved his kit into the mosh pit in Adelaide. I split my head open on my own guitar and needed four staples in the back of my head.

“We just want to hit stages wherever we can… It’s where we thrive!”

TOGETHER WE’RE ALONE IS OUT NOW VIA HIGHLAND/o:p

Dom Lawson began his inauspicious career as a music journalist in 1999. He wrote for Kerrang! for seven years, before moving to Metal Hammer and Prog Magazine in 2007. His primary interests are heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee, snooker and despair. He is politically homeless and has an excellent beard.