New Music

Secrets, lies and murder. We unpack the new single by Yorkshire outfit Yard Act.

A little white lie. “No, I didn’t eat the last biscuit.. I’m definitely not drunk right now.. For the last time, I didn’t steal the condiments from Weatherspoons!” We’ve all told a few. Here to recount a sordid tale that is worthy of frontpage news, are minimalist rock four-piece Yard Act with their outlandish third single Peanuts.

At the helm of this comically morbid affair, wry frontman James Smith narrates the plot of an unhinged ‘wife’, attempting to kill her imaginary husband by exploiting his, also imaginary, peanut allergy. An immediate response might be that you just can’t make this stuff up. In this case the Leeds band have, vocalist James Smith’s characterful delivery has all the compelling bluntness of a Sleaford Mods number.

Packing a solid punch of infectious grooves, flourishing riffs and hooks catchier than the entirety of the UK Top 40, the track is one that you won’t forget in a hurry. The icing on the *warning contains nuts* cake is guitarist Sam Shjipstone’s grandad who joins the northerners on the track with his whistled rendition of In A Monastery Garden (a classical piece of music by Albert Ketèlbey composed in 1915), sampled under the second half of the single. It’s not often in alternative music that you can truly say, it’s fun for all the family.

Despite being jovial in appearance, there is certainly meat to Smith’s light-hearted fable. The vocalist comments, “It’s also about accepting that we don’t all see the world in the same way. It feels to me that divisions are getting more extreme. We’re so certain we’re right that we can’t comprehend why someone else could see the world differently to the way we do. That’s why ‘Peanuts’ ends with a compromise in the kitchen. Empathising with her friend and validating her emotions is the only way she can help her begin to move on from the bonkers version of reality that’s built up around her.”

In a similar vein to previous singles Fixer Upper and The Trapper’s Pelts, Yard Act have well and truly solidified their place as the fun guys at the party. It’s time to sit up, take note and assess the severity of your white lies in the future.

Words by Laura Pegler.