South London band CURSER combine elements of grunge, punk and indie in a big hooky, moshy sound that they describe as “heavy, dark and melodic.”
The band, formed of Herbie Jones (guitar and vocals), Pete Schunemann (guitar), Alex Lambert (bass) and Bleu Wright (drums) from the ashes of two previous local projects, take a fully hands-on DIY approach. Having formed in 2019, they’ve encountered their fair share of challenges, from pandemics and personal loss to illnesses and injuries, while funding their passion by working full-time jobs and investing every spare penny into their music.
And on the sound they’ve crafted, Alex told us: ” If you’ve never listened to a CURSER song or caught us live, here’s what to expect: in your face vocals, cathartic lyrics, loud guitar parts and jump around your living room/bedroom/kitchen energy.”
Our latest taste of this is The Leech, which was released in April. It opens up with cool little guitars that pick up pace through a lively opening verse led by Herbie’s engaging vocals. It drops into repeats of “It wasn’t always like this” before picking up pace again with jaunty guitars and more intense chorus vocals “Now they return to you again, Even though you’ve had enough, All your peers are sick of you, They’re too kind to admit you’re the never ending leech, You’re who space is wasted on, And I know that you can change, I just hope it’s not too late.” Heavier guitars and driving drums kick in and the pace slows with the “It wasn’t always like this” lines dropping into the cool rolling guitars and drums under a light guitar lick. Staccatoed guitar notes kick in to tee up a funky little conclusion.
On the track, Alex told us: “It’s been great to put something out again. Our last release was the EP Point of No Return (featuring an x-ray of Herbie’s finger after a freak ‘beaten-up-in-a-pub-toilet’ accident as the cover,) which came out in September 2023, and although it’s been less than two years, it’s felt like an age. The reception to The Leech has been great, and it’s generated a real buzz for itself, especially with the video, expertly crafted by Ben and Uli. Our sold-out single release at the Windmill was a real triumphant moment, and people who don’t know anything about us seem interested in what we’re doing, which is encouraging.”
As Alex mentioned, that follows on from CURSER’s debut EP Point Of No Return in 2023. The EP starts out with a heavy indie romp in Nobody Knows. The pace drops a little with the mellow Dyson Sphere before the dreamy Sahara, and the EP concludes with a GR favourite track, the superb closing track Partisan, which you can check out in the video below. And the EP was preceded by three singles, including the excellent Blink Of An Eye.
The CURSER sound is influenced by a wide range of styles and sounds. Alex tells us his favourite band is Nirvana and he listens to a lot of hardcore and metal. Herbie is big into Jeff Buckley, Bleu loves Primus and Pete leans more towards old school Sepultura.
And, in Alex’s words: “We’ve made a conscious decision to try and avoid post punk cliches, because the London scene is pretty rife with those bands now in the year Fat White Family AD, but we still enjoy a lot of that music.”
“Herbie writes all the lyrics and generally delves into the personal and introspective side of things, perfect for when you feel like it’s you vs. the world, although occasionally the inspiration is external. I tend to like my rock music moody and atmospheric, so it’s perfect for me.”
As mentioned, CURSER is fully DIY and put their own hard-earned music into their music and more. “We have to book all our own gigs, organise all our own press and pay for all our own recording,” Alex explained. “We rely heavily on personal connections, which are extremely hard to build when you don’t have a CEO Dad or an Aunt who wrote the Gruffalo, and have to make big economic sacrifices in order to invest in the band.
“We’ve been desperate to play more gigs outside of London, but with the way things are money-wise for smaller venues, it seems they’re much less likely to take a chance on an unknown act nowadays rather than a local band, which will definitely bring a crowd. Doing your own marketing is a huge part of it as well, and it can be disheartening to watch bands with more access to contacts and resources get much further in a shorter time.
“But the hard work makes any success we have all the more rewarding. Every boring closet-nepo baby indie project should be looking over their shoulders for CURSER because we are the stalking cheetah to your oblivious gazelle.”
There’s plenty more to come from CURSER, who have new music and more gigs in the offing – including a recently announced first European gig in Rotterdam in October – as they hope to attract more fans “to inflict CURSER on.” And Alex adds: “A vote for us is a vote against nepotism.”
You can follow CURSER on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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