{"product_id":"formal-sppeedwear-punch-card","title":"Formal Sppeedwear - Punch Card","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*Pre-Order, album out 11th September*\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003eLP\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e-Die cut sleeve on printed manila board\u003cbr\u003e-Printed inner sleeve\u003cbr\u003e-Black Vinyl\u003cbr\u003e-Download Code\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCD \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Printed digipack\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eT-Shirt\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-Customisable modular Formal Sppeedwear shirt, comes with 3 iron on patches to create your own vision. Screen printed on Gildan heavy shirt\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSize chart: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca rel=\"nofollow ugc\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mygildan.com\/store\/au\/browse\/productDetailsPage.jsp?productId=2000\"\u003ewww.mygildan.com\/store\/au\/browse\/productDetailsPage.jsp?productId=2000\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3EBHkGoAqkY?si=Tt7qUzS5hEIuN5W6\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStoke-On-Trent’s most tuned-in and turned-out trio are releasing debut album Punch Card, which might be the avant-garde pop record of the year.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDriven by a desire for sonic collage and bolstered by lateral thinking, ‘Punch Card’ is a crafty lesson in how, with touches of masterful manipulation, the collision of opposing forces can cause sparks to fly and an irrepressible need to dance. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Our aim is to undermine anything leaning too far one way or the other. We shoot for homogeneity - if it sounds good and its component parts can't be pulled out, we’ve matched the job description,”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e they say of finding balance in their desire to ‘pull the rug’ musically whenever listeners least expect it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMuch like the typo in their name, now proudly worn by the band as a badge of honour, the result is an album of happy accidents that truly embody their audiences’ visceral knee-jerk reactions. The cut-out windows of an eighties protocomputer punch card that line the sleeve offer a portal into Formal Sppeedwear’s universe.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter signing with melodic in 2023, the trio’s now sold out 2024 debut EP - a self-titled, self-produced 12” sample of elastic bass arrangements, leaping guitar motifs and sparse, un-assuming percussive work - picked up notable fans at BBC 6 Music and helped to secure shows around the country with the likes of Fat Dog, Preoccupations, Warmduscher and Divorce. A legion of listeners grew, barraging Instagram DMs curious to unearth the mystery behind their idiosyncratic, off-kilter lyrics – usually a product of Beck’s phonetically-associated wordplay.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eProlific in their output, the band diligently produced Punch Card themselves with mastering from Paul D. Millar (Slug Bug). Led by a preference for sonic variety, they even discarded three tracks not belonging on the record; not because they didn’t fit - but because they did. Through their boomerang voice notes and a sense of telepathy that only college friends bonded by Neu! and Yellow Magic Orchestra could possess, they explain; \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“There’s definitely a subconscious level to what we do but it’s always driven by what works sonically. The real challenge becomes how to recreate it live.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBlame those tracks which formed quickly when raw ideas and lyrics flowed from jam sessions in their Tremolo rehearsal room. Jagged, punchy ‘Indecent’ was largely improvised by the trio as a single recorded live take, and ‘The Ballad of DCB’ (avid bookworms in Stoke may have an inkling as to the meaning behind its acronym) was wrangled from a spritely brink of uncertainty after twilight tinkering powered a plethora of jangling guitar lines. Live staple ‘Wait (Hatchet Gets a New Hide) serves as collage of ideas and melodies harking back to the early days of Sppeedwear, completed on a Tascam 488 cassette recorder. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut, between joyfully jarring twists and turns, it is a rare moment of wistfulness which offers the biggest hint to the album’s wider Punch Card themes. A turning point in the recording process, finale ‘Friedrich Backs Up Nothing’ shimmers with strange atmospheres and sound-manipulated cellos; lyrically considering how history might react to the world today.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormal Sppeedwear may look and sound something like pop, but Punch Card emerges through collision, constraint, and chance - much like the stamped out geometry that inspired its artwork.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Melodic Records","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":57588282491263,"sku":"MELO141LPM","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":57588282556799,"sku":"MELO141CD","price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":57588282589567,"sku":"MELO141","price":8.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP + S Tee","offer_id":57588282622335,"sku":"MELO141BundleS","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP + M Tee","offer_id":57588282655103,"sku":"MELO141BundleM","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP + L Tee","offer_id":57588282687871,"sku":"MELO141BundleL","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP + XL Tee","offer_id":57588282720639,"sku":"MELO141BundleXL","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Screenprinted T-Shirt S","offer_id":57588283015551,"sku":"MELO141ScreenprintBundleS","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Screenprinted T-Shirt M","offer_id":57588283048319,"sku":"MELO141ScreenprintBundleM","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Screenprinted T-Shirt L","offer_id":57588283081087,"sku":"MELO141ScreenprintBundleL","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Screenprinted T-Shirt XL","offer_id":57588283113855,"sku":"MELO141ScreenprintBundleXL","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0549\/8765\/3223\/files\/MELO150FrontCover.jpg?v=1779359373","url":"https:\/\/www.melodic.co.uk\/products\/formal-sppeedwear-punch-card","provider":"Melodic Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}