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Help She Can’t Swim

Brighton-based indie rockers Help She Can't Swim return with second album 'The Death Of Nightlife' on 30th April, so DIY recently caught up with the band's Tom Denney for a (virtual) chat.

Posted 23rd April 2007, 8:54pm in Interviews, by Emma Swann
Help She Can’t Swim Brighton-based indie rockers Help She Can't Swim return with second album 'The Death Of Nightlife' on 30th April, from which recent single 'Hospital Drama' was taken. They're due to take part in The Great Escape and Dot To Dot festivals this Spring, and DIY recently caught up with the band's Tom Denney for a (virtual) chat.

You're about to release your second album - how is it different from your first?
It's more fully formed. The songs from the first album were written in the first seven or eight months of us being a band, and since then I think we've developed a lot. We just pushed ourselves to try and make the best record we could. It's got more light and shade to it. We're still noisy though.

Is nightlife really dead?
Night clubs don't really interest me very much. Sometimes it can be fun, a lot of the time I really can't get in to the whole atmosphere. Nightlife does feel kinda dead when you just can't see how other people are enjoying it.

You've recently toured with The Blood Brothers and supported CSS. How did these compare?
The Blood Brothers tour was amazing because it was the first tour we'd done in over half a year, and our first as a four-piece, so it was great to do that with a band we really like and respect musically and as people. It was really great they asked us to tour with them again. I don't think you can really compare the CSS show to that because it was a one-off show rather than a tour, and we were first on out of five bands. It was a pretty horrible rush getting us on stage, and then it was all over really quickly. There wasn't really any time to think.

The first single from the album is called 'Hospital Drama'. Which is better: Casualty or Holby City?
I don't watch either, but I'm a big fan of Grey's Anatomy. It's like a more trashy version of ER. I get very involved in it.

Do you ever wonder why Dr Karl Kennedy is allowed to do anything and everything?
To be honest I have no idea who that is. I don't watch much TV. Apart from cartoons.

Oh, okay. What's the most drama you've been subjected to in a real hospital?
The single is about watching people you love wasting away in hospitals, I don't know if it's really dramatic, just fucking horrible. I think some people think the song is about getting fucked up at a party. That's really not what it's about.

Back to the 'serious stuff'... You're already confirmed as playing The Great Escape and Dot to Dot festivals - any more in the pipeline?
We'll have to wait and see, we want to play a lot for this record, so some festivals would be nice. We're playing a festival in Sweden in July which I'm really excited about 'cause I've never been, and Of Montreal are playing too, which is a bonus.

What's next for Help She Can't Swim?
Touring, basically. We've got a UK tour in May and hopefully we will go out to Europe later in the year which is loads of fun. We're really happy the album is finally coming out, so it's gonna be interesting to see what people think of it. It'll be great to play these songs live now that people will be able to know them. That, and trying to write new songs.

Finally, any bands you reckon DIY-ers should be looking out for? Any we should avoid?
People should check out Munch Munch, who do this dual drums and keyboard pop thing which is great, The Tumbledown Estate (amazing electro indie pop) and Mewgatz (really pretty electronica using circuit bent keys). Also people should get the Tiger Force album. There are way too many bands people should avoid.
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