Meet Monobloc, the New York band with a uniquely British flavour to their sound
Monobloc might hail from the Big Apple, but there's flavours of true British greats to be found...
By Nick Reilly
As Monobloc‘s debut single ‘Where Is My Garden’ showed earlier this summer, the New York rockers feel like they could be next in line to become one of the Big Apple’s great bands, with spiky guitars that effortlessly transport you back to that city’s storied history.
And yet, it’s a love of British music that brought vocalist Timothy Waldron and bassist Michael Silverglade together with drummer Zack Pockrose and guitarists Ben Scofield and Nina Lüders.
“Of course we’ll get the New York comparisons,” says Waldron. “But the band that actually brought us together was Joy Division and it’s kind of funny. This reverse relationship where the UK feels like we’re a New York band, but we want to be a Manchester band. I feel like if we were in an alternative dimension and from Manchester we’d get those comparisons. But we’re from New York, so everyone just thinks we sound like The Strokes.”
Now, with the skittish groove of latest single ‘Irish Goodbye’ under their belts, Monobloc are onto something quite special. You can read our full Q&A with the band below.
We’re speaking the night after your first London headline show. What was it like facing a UK crowd?
Silverglade: It’s kinda funny because London crowds can be kind of silent beforehand. It’s the first song and you’ll get very minimal interaction, but when we got through each song it felt like we were slowly breaking through. There were people moving, which is good.
But is it a thing where to see Monobloc live is to really understand what you’re about?
Waldron: When we formed this line up we had no music out and we just spent a year playing in New York maybe twice a month, any show we could get and we put out our first song after that phase. So I think it was able to build on the live show and the recording in that.
Silverglade: We’re still pretty young and we’re figuring it out but we most recently figured out the micro moments of the set and how to interact more and what are we trying to say, you know, as a unit on stage?
Why did you choose ‘Where Is My Garden’ as the first proper taste of what people can expect of Monobloc?
Waldron: It just really connected in our live shows and felt like the moment where we’d really found something that was resonating with people. We had an early version of the recording but when we played it live it took on this new form that was a little heavier and just a higher energy. We recorded it again to capture that, which is an interesting process.
Sound-wise, where do you think you land?
Waldron: Of course we’ll get the New York comparisons. But the band that actually brought us together was Joy Division and it’s kind of funny. This reverse relationship where the UK feels like we’re a New York band, but we want to be a Manchester band. I feel like if we were in an alternative dimension and from Manchester we’d get those comparisons. But we’re from New York, so everyone just thinks we sound like The Strokes.
Silverglade: We know what we like and we just throw it in a blender with a bunch of other stuff and then try to change it into something that is new but also different at the same time.
Waldron: The one thing we can try and keep in our pocket too is that we’re into a lot of timeless hits like Glen Campbell and The Highwaymen. We appreciate other worlds!
And finally, what’s your elevator pitch to those unaware of Monobloc?
Nina: It’s a post-punk Soviet wave-inspired experiment!
Waldron: Or Soviets, described as cowboys, described as Brits!