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From punk lullabies to creating their own anthems: How Noah And The Loners started young on being one of the UK’s most exciting new bands

Noah And The Loners’ new EP A Desolate Warning is very good. But what do you expect when they’ve been around this stuff since they were toddlers?

From punk lullabies to creating their own anthems: How Noah And The Loners started young on being one of the UK’s most exciting new bands
Words:
Jake Richardson

Most parents tend to sing their babies to sleep with a gentle lullaby like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or Baa Baa Black Sheep. Noah Lonergan’s mum, on the other hand, felt that some Ramones was just what her son needed to settle him in for the night. It’s no wonder, then, that he eventually grew up to front one of the UK’s best young punk bands, Noah And The Loners.

“My mum had a punk lullabies CD that she used to play me when I was like three-years-old,” Noah says. “It was lullaby versions of Blitzkrieg Bop and stuff like that. I grew up around a lot of punk music; my mum’s partner for most of my childhood was in a punk-influenced band, so I went to a lot of his shows. All of us were around music a lot from a young age – Amber’s [Welsh, bass] dad is in a great Pogues cover band!”

You can hear those influences radiating from Noah And The Loners’ aggro punk ditties. Despite still being uni students, the band – completed by guitarist Joseph Boyle and drummer Noah Riley – have enjoyed some notable successes, having already been stateside to play SXSW and becoming the youngest band ever to sign to Marshall Records.

Now, their focus is on taking the political-meets-personal message of debut EP A Desolate Warning to as wide an audience as possible. There’s plenty of cries for societal change on the record – ‘There’s riots on the street and violent police,’ the band yell on Crash Landing – but so too does their brand of punk allow them to lay their emotions bare.

That more personal side is captured on You Make Me (Fall Apart), a track whose intensity was exacerbated by a rather brutal run-in frontman Noah had with his ex prior to its recording.

“I’d just had a break-up with my girlfriend when we were recording the EP,” Noah remembers. “She called me up while we were at the studio and was like, ‘I never loved you.’ That was the spark – I immediately spoke to Amber was like, ‘I need to record the vocals to You Make Me (Fall Apart) right this second.’ Within 20 minutes, I was tracking those vocals, and I’m so glad it happened like that, because I don’t think I’d have captured that directness had I not just had that conversation. In a way, it was perfect.”

Whether you’re looking to rage against someone who’s wronged you or the many failings of those who govern us, A Desolate Warning is the perfect soundtrack to those moments where your frustrations with the world are at the forefront of your mind. These kids might just be the future of punk.

Noah And The Loners’ EP A Desolate Warning is out now via Marshall

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