Brighton garage-punk trio Gaffa Tape Sandy are have shared their new single Dead To Me via all good digital service providers. The track is the latest to be lifted from their forthcoming new album ‘Hold My Hand, God Damn It’ set for release on May 31st, 2024 via Alcopop! Records.
Alongside the new single, the trio have announced they will perform at Latitude Festival this summer, along with a new pair of in-store appearances at Resident Records and Banquet Records (see below for full listings).
Following on from album track Split in late 2023 and lead single Scrapbook released earlier this year, the new material has so far picked up radio support from BBC 6music, BBC introducing, John Kennedy at Radio X, Total Rock, Amazing Radio, and more, with the band welcomed enthusiastically back by alternative tastemakers at 101 Part Time Jobs, Noizze, The Punk Site, Bring The Noise UK and more, plus Spotify editorial support on the All New Punk and The Punk List playlists.
Commenting on the new single, the band said: “We put this song together in what felt like seconds! Some songwriters would call it a ‘sneeze’. Certain songs come together quickly for Gaffa Tape Sandy, and others take months (or years!) to get right. The song takes lyrical ideas and tone from revenge films… we like to think of this song as a throwback to our first EP called “Spring Killing”, which had similar inspirations. It’s jagged, characteristic and sounds exactly like the slice of garage punk that we’ve tried to carve out for ourselves as a band.” Listen to Dead To Me via YouTube below or stream it here.
Gaffa Tape Sandy wrote forthcoming new record ‘Hold My Hand, God Damn It’ nervously together as the world slowly emerged from the first COVID-19 lockdown. The album writing process proved difficult, as a myriad of anxiety and personal relationship issues plagued the trio. The band was battling post-COVID mental health problems and employment issues, all while Catherine and Kim were trying to navigate recent breakups that coincided with their first UK headline tour in March 2020, just before the pandemic struck.
Thankfully, the band persisted, and adopted a more cooperative writing method that made the songwriting process for ‘Hold My Hand, God Damn It’ a revitalising experience, rather than a debilitating challenge. Rehearsals that started out as somewhat difficult became more like bonding sessions, and the friendships within the band started to flourish. The theme of the album quickly materialised.
Recorded and produced by George Perks (Wargasm, Enter Shikari, Skindred) at the legendary Vada Studios in the countryside surrounding Birmingham, UK, the album was made by three friends with boundless love and affection towards one another, who pulled together and preserved their musical output and friendship, despite the odds. As such, Hold ‘My Hand, God Damn It’ is a frustrated-yet-compassionate, cathartic celebration of friendship and reconciliation in difficult times.
‘Hold My Hand, God Damn It’ track-list
1. Body In The Water
2. Scrapbook
3. Dead To Me
4. Evil, Evil, Evil
5. Get Off
6. Split
7. Rosemary
8. Devour (Rosemary Pt. II)
9. Medicine
10. Energy
11. Holding Hands
12. Queasy
‘Hold My Hand, God Damn It’ is released May 31st, 2024 via Alcopop! Records. Preorder – https://shor.by/holdmyhand
With their sights now firmly set on launching a full scale assault on 2024, Gaffa Tape Sandy will be pulling no punches as they reveal further new music over the coming months.
The band will play an extensive run of September/October 2024 UK headline tour dates later this year, with tickets on sale now, plus a special album release show at Rough Trade East, London on June 5th, 2024 (see below for listings).
Live dates
Fri 31 May 2024 – Brighton – Resident Records (In-Store)
Tue 04 Jun 2024 – Kingston – Banquet Records (In-Store)
Wed 05 Jun 2024 – London – Rough Trade (album release show)
Sat 15 Jun 2024 – Bury St Edmunds – The Apex
Sat 27 Jul 2024 – Latitude Festival
Fri 20 Sep 2024 – Newcastle, England – Zerox
Sat 21 Sep 2024 – Glasgow, Scotland – Broadcast
Sun 22 Sep 2024 – Edinburgh, Scotland – Sneaky Pete’s
Mon 23 Sep 2024 – Leeds, England – Hyde Park Book Club
Wed 25 Sep 2024 – Sheffield, England – Hallamshire Hotel
Thu 26 Sep 2024 – Liverpool, England – Kazimier stockroom
Sat 28 Sep 2024 – Manchester, England – The Deaf Institute
Sun 29 Sep 2024 – Nottingham, England – The Bodega Social Club
Mon 30 Sep 2024 – Bristol, England – Exchange
Tue 01 Oct 2024 – Cardiff, Wales – Clwb Ifor Bach
Thu 03 Oct 2024 – London, England – Boston Music Room
Fri 04 Oct 2024 – Guildford, Surrey, England – The Boileroom
Sat 05 Oct 2024 – Brighton, England – DUST
Sun 06 Oct 2024 – Tunbridge Wells, England – The Forum
Tickets on sale now: http://www.gaffatapesandy.com
More about Gaffa Tape Sandy?
Formed in 2015 by three friends with a simple desire to make loud and exciting music, Gaffa Tape Sandy’s popularity quickly escalated thanks to a series of notoriously incandescent live shows and a seemingly endless hit parade of instantly memorable garage-punk-rock tunes.
Their 2017 debut EP Spring Killing led to them performing at Glastonbury Festival, with their next single ‘Beehive’ gaining much support including Huw Stephens’ BBC Radio 1 Tip Of The Week, before being included in NME’s 100 Essential Acts for 2018.
The Brighton/Bury St Edmunds outfit’s brand of giddily frantic, high-octane hyper rock ‘n’ roll has already landed them support slots with acts including IDLES, Peace, Art Brut, Weakened Friends, SuperGlu, Bloody Knees and UK tours supporting Indoor Pets and Skegss.
Regulars on the UK festival circuit, Gaffa Tape Sandy have appeared at the likes of Live At Leeds, Liverpool Sound City, Latitude and The Great Escape Festival, as well as a number of international festivals across Iceland and Germany. In 2019 they announced their signing with Alcopop! Records, who released their second EP Family Mammal on vinyl and digital platforms.
After successfully weathering The Great Pause of the pandemic—which dramatically cut short their debut UK headline tour and left them pondering the future of the band—as well as a break up between former partners and band members Cat and Kim, the three piece have emerged triumphant, all the better and stronger for their struggles, and raring to show the world how much they’ve grown, both as people and artists.
2023 saw the band kickstarting preparations for their forthcoming new release as they launched into a wave of live activity taking in a full UK tour supporting The Subways and several sold out nights supporting Mom Jeans within the first few weeks, followed up by a packed summer of festival appearances.
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