Portsmouth newcomers The Suicide Room make a strong first impression by basing their brilliantly wacky debut single on Bozo the Clown. What follows is a thrilling, slightly creepy and boisterous punk meets metal sound that they describe as “theatrical, daring, distasteful” and “unlimited, modern and arcane.”
The idea of the band had been kicking around for a while, starting with guitarist Matt Terry, bassist Matt Green and Spencer Glanville. And it was completed when Matt T discovered vocalist Dani Thorkelson, in the latter’s words, “killing some Mariah Carey,” and asked him to try out for the band.
“The rest is history yet to be made,” Dani said. “We are like a hot punky metal gothic poppy gumbo, I think you’re going to love it.”
And Matt added: “(It’s) an audio and emotional journey. Fast, slow, loud, quiet, control, madness, laughing, tears, pathos, theatre. Each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. A three-piece with a new singer who makes us one. We don’t agree on much, but we do when we are being TSR.”
Our first taste of this is The Suicide Room’s debut single Bozo, which was released in November. It opens up with a slightly creepy cackle then chunky guitars and bass drop into a verse led by sinister but engaging vocals that gradually build in intensity into big screams, with the vocals “Big shoes, red lips, fat pants and red tips, Tip tap, jazz hands, and all that he can’t resist, Be a clown, Be a clown, All the world loves a clown, Play the fool, act the calf, And you’ll have the last laugh with me, Come see and dance, In the circus of obscurity.” It drops back into another creepy verse, that this time builds to stabbing guitars that continue as intense, fast-paced vocals set up a last blast of the chorus.
On what to expect from their debut single, Matt said: “Across the spectrum. Mostly love for what we are proud to put out as a two-and-a-half minute expression of who we are and what is still to come.” And Dani added simply: “My mum loves it.” Check it out in the lyric video here:
The Suicide Room intentionally brings a wide range of musical influences to the table in an attempt to exorcise their musical demons. As Matt explains: “We grew up experiencing strict genre boundaries. For TSR, anything goes. Teenage me would not accept the amount of ska influences sitting alongside thrash, pop and techno. Me now has moved on.”
And on what inspires them to write music, Matt adds: “Personal relationships and experience as we grow as humans. Sociology, philosophy, science. Life The universe. Everything.”
And Dani told us: “All that, with the odd clown here and there. I often try and write something specific and end up somewhere completely different. It’s a process that surprises me almost every time.”
The Suicide Room are back in the studio this month and will release new tracks to back up Bozo throughout the year, as well as playing as many gigs as they can.
You can follow The Suicide Room on Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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