Cheltenham band Quiet Pills offer up an enthralling indie sound with hints of punk, rock and shoegaze that they describe as “angsty Joy Division.”
The band started out during the comedown and return to normality following a weekend at 2000 Trees Festival (check out our Friday and Saturday reviews from the 2017 festival). Frontman Dan Bilas (vocals and guitar) had just left his previous band, was looking for a new band but most of his friends had left Cheltenham. So he put an advert on JoinMyBand.com and no sooner had he met Stu Mackenzie (guitar), Sam Jenkins (bass) and Ben Finch (drums) than they were coming to his apartment to work on a few ideas. Dan’s experience guided the band through their first gig in a battle of the bands at the Cotswold Inn, and they’ve gone from strength to strength since.
And on the sound they’ve crafted, Dan told us: “Quiet Pills is a copy of a copy of an episode of Top of the Pops from the 80s that your Dad happened to record on VHS.”
Our latest taste of what exactly that sounds like is their new single Snowblind, which was released in September and Dan says represents “a totally different style and approach to recording.” The track opens up with dreamy guitars that continue under heavier chords and rolling drums, then drop into a deliciously moody verse. That flows into an equally dreamy chorus “Babcia, I can’t abide, The sadness calcifies, When loved ones leave your side, Like mist in the morning light.” A second chorus drops into light guitars and laid-back vocals, then soft vocals and dreamy instrumentals bring the track to a smooth, calming conclusion.
On the track, Dan added: “We’ve slowed things down and allowed for a bit more introspection. We’re not just a two-bit indie punk band… We’re also a two-bit shoegaze band as well!”
While Ben explains: ” For me this track represents a real step up in our confidence as musicians. Previously we have written songs that are fun and we enjoy playing, but with Snowblind it feels like we have actually written a decent tune. When Tom, the producer on this track, first heard us play it he approached us and asked if he could help; that got me really excited about the prospect of releasing it and I think that energy has carried through from all of us.” Check out Snowblind here:
As Dan alluded to, Snowblind represents a shift in how Quiet Pills approach songwriting and recording and a move away from their indie and punk roots.
In Dan’s words: “This was a track totally unlike any of our previous recordings, in that we intentionally tried to lean into the shoegaze/dream-pop influences of our sound, ignoring the punk/indie side entirely and even breaking my ‘three-minute rule’ in that all our songs should aim to be three minutes or less. We also decided to record all of the tracks ourselves from various bedrooms. This meant using electric drums and MIDI tracks, as well as recording the vocals on a cheap Behringer condenser mic that was kitted out in my wardrobe.”
And Ben added: “A big challenge as a drummer was losing the ‘live, raw feel’ through using an electronic kit that has been present on our other releases (particularly the Gaslight Conspiracies EP), but overall I think the track managed to hit the balance that this song needed. Perfectionism also became a big concern, when you’re in a studio with a producer you have that third-party opinion of when the take is good, however when you aren’t on a clock, it’s very easy to keep doing take after take and you can get lost in it slightly.
“All of that is a learning curve though, as is every recording experience, and we are all keen to use a DIY approach again as the end product was exactly what we set out to make. Also, a big shout out to our incredibly talented friends who helped out with producing, art, and features – Tom, Ryan, Garth, Rich and Katie!”
Snowblind follows two EPs packed with tracks that sound a little different to Snowblind. We love the sound of She’s In Retail, which comes from their debut EP Gaslight Conspiracies. The track has serious moody indie vibes with a cool little riff under spoken vocals before exploding into a big chorus of repeats of “I’m in love with a girl, She’s in retail.” A funky guitar solo takes over alongside a little riff and continues through another chorus that sets up a heavier outro. Check it out here:
There’s also tracks like Please The Algorithm, which has a little more of a punk rock meets indie vibe about it, and the catchy Hold Me Steady, from last year’s EP Televandalism. But another personal favourite may be Plagiarism Begins At Home, which kicks off with stabs of guitar and a funky little winding guitar lick and has a bit of Milburn feel to it. Check it out in the stream here:
The Quiet Pills sound has been shaped by a wide variety of bands and genres. Dan tells us The National are a huge musical and lyrical influence, along with the likes of Alkaline Trio, The Front Bottoms, alternative rock, post-punk, and crooners like Jim Reevers and Dean Martin. Ben grew up on bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day and Foo Fighters that influenced his early drumming, before moving into contemporary jazz and hip-hop but loves nothing more than fast pop-punk beat.
And Sam tells us he grew up on his parents’ rock music before discovering punk rock and hardcore and his bass-playing style is influenced by the likes of Mike Dirnt (Green Day), Matt Freeman (Rancid, Operation Ivy) and Mark Hoppus (Blink-182). In his words: “Combining shredding bass lines with loads of fills that add to the melody and keep the songs interesting. I just want to have fun on the bass and not be restricted to the stereotype that bass is just ‘easy guitar.’ I want to show off that it can be just as fun to play!”
On what inspires them to write music, Dan tells us: “I don’t think it’s anything profound, I try to write about modern living while putting a gritty, often-silly spin on things. I think our song ‘She’s in Retail’ sums up my thoughts pretty well. It’s the song people love to sing along to, but it started out as a bit of a ‘joke’ song. It has turned out to be the one everyone came back to. I’ve yet to hear the word ‘retail’ in another song to this day, so that’s probably worthy of some merit.”
And Ben adds: “I’ve personally always been more into the music than lyrics in songs, which is why I’ve never attempted to write them. There’s something about a large chorus that hits different, which I think reflects in the fact that most of our songs have big energetic outros.”
You can see Quiet Pills live with another of our featured bands Mad By Mourning at the Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham on Saturday (4 November). The band hope to release another song before the end of the year, which they say will “return to form” to some extent, while building in the experience they’ve picked up from the Snowblind release.
And they add: “We have two EPs out currently, Gaslight Conspiracies and Televandalism, available on all streaming platforms. The hope is we’ll be able to start putting out singles much more frequently, so please give Snowblind a listen and if you like it, follow us on social media for updates on new material – we do have a TikTok with some spicy bass covers if you’re that way inclined!”
You can follow Quiet Pills on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and YouTube.
GigRadar 