Standard Fare – Philadelphia

'A riot of hormones, cut-to-the-chase lyrics, bolshie girl-boy vocals and jingle-jangle propulsion, this debut from the Sheffield trio distils all the best and most loveable aspects of indie guitar music and avoids many pitfalls.’ 4/5 The Sunday Times

Following the March release of debut album The Noyelle Beat, Sheffield trio Standard Fare are set to release the lauded album track Philadelphia as the next single.

A tale of a Transatlantic love affair stymied by distance and budget, Philadelphia is a marvel of kitchen sink lyric-writing that, like the best of indie-pop, refuses to let wider issues get in the way of a bit of hormone-fuelled self indulgence. Here’s our favourite lyric: “Global warming is getting me down/It’s making the sea between us wider and deeper.” On the B-side is a brand new track, the really rather ace Don’t Tell. Both are the perfect crash-course in the band’s tune-fuelled, scrappy and utterly loveable sound.

Comprising Emma Kupa, Danny How and Andy Beswick, Standard Fare may be named after a sign spotted on a bus, but they’re the kind who could find romance amid the steamed-up windows and chewing gum-covered seats. “Our main influences are relationships and experiences,” they say. “These songs are often what we wanted to say to someone at the time but couldn’t articulate. There is often a fine line in the nature of relationships and friendships. And there are many emotions and situations common to both. But since the songs are often based on true experiences it is good to retain some vagueness about who they are about…”

Standard Fare met when Danny (from Buxton) and Emma (from York) were playing in other groups as teenagers. When those projects fell apart, the pair resolved to work together, and poached Andy from Danny’s brother’s band. Early practices were held in Andy’s loft in Buxton, “and then in his Nan’s living room when they got too loud.” Music is a family business for Emma too – her mother was in ‘80s anarcho-punks Poison Girls.

Recorded in six days with an indie aesthetic that would have made John Peel proud, their debut album is named for a formative period in the band’s development when they travelled across the channel to play at a festival in Noyelles Sous Lens, France. “It was where we felt our sound came together,” says Danny, and the collection of songs they were playing became The Noyelle Beat.

Recently, they’ve been making a big splash in the States, with appearances at SXSW and an appearance in celebrated organ The New York Times. So who knows… a reunion with that Philadelphia boy may come sooner than Emma thought.