Following a slow-drip of fervent live shows and fuzzed-out, tightly wound alt-rock gems, riffy North West newcomers, Severe Girls share the radio-ready melodies and emotional disorientation of new single, “Feels Like Pretending.” Dealing in unease, disguise and the theatre of holding it all together, the track is the final cut from the band’s debut EP, Another Night.
Piecing together a set of punchy songs in the overlooked shadowlands between Manchester and Liverpool, Severe Girls deliver a woozy, melodic tincture across three minutes and 45 seconds of riff-laced power pop, echoing the drivetime lure of The Replacements, the harmonic charm of Teenage Fanclub and the lo-fi defiance of Guided By Voices. Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Richardson’s distinct sonic ambition is a journey of personal, post-session-musician discovery.
As a former drummer for Thurston Moore, Infinite Bisous, Aldous RH, Francis Lung and more, Richardson’s personal musical outlook is as informed by his experiences in other people’s recording sessions, and on other people’s stages, as it is a reaction against them. Experimenting with and settling on a sound that’s as true to the sanctity of the verse-chorus-verse song as the ‘learn three chords and play’ punk ethos, Richardson has created what he calls “a good time band toeing the line between 80s American college rock, power pop and modern UK indie that celebrates simplicity and leans into hooks.”
Reflecting on Feels Like Pretending, Richardson says:
“It’s about life feeling like an act sometimes. And wanting to run, or distance ourselves, from a reality we try to hide from. It’s framed largely through the lens of a relationship but at its core it’s about the line between convention and non-conformity and how both sides feel like some kind of pretence.”
