10 reasons why we need Wu Lyf right now





1. They are bored of the Manchester old guard (and that includes me!)

They don’t want to fit into the Manchester ‘lineage’ . They have more in common with the US eighties hardcore underground than the Stone Roses. This is a good thing. The Roses were a great band but why should every band in Manchester be connected with them or Joy Division? The Roses themselves would have hated that. Wu Lyf are bored of being shoe horned into this story. Why should a 20 year old in one of the best young bands in the country have to anything to do with the Hacienda? or old time music types like me?

2. They love SST records and Minor Threat and US hardcore.

It totally informs their aesthetic and their anti mainstream stance. They may have taken a publishing advance but it’s on their own terms.

“I always preferred bands like the Minutemen and Black Flag,” says Wu Lyf member McClung. “They put on gigs that suited their surroundings and really thought about things: for example, gigs would start at half-seven so that people could watch then go home in time so they wouldn’t be late for work the next day. Fugazi would set low prices for gigs, and Minor Threat would print the price of the record on the sleeve so that it couldn’t be changed. That sort of stuff is far more inspiring to us.”

3. Their album is brilliant.

That helps. It bleeds passion. And originality. They may hint at the past but they sound right now. Heavy Pop.

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4. They created a story round themselves

They were hard to get. They didn’t crawl to anyone. And won.



5. They piss people off.

They are divisive. They are a new millenium version of a skinny young punk band 35 years ago sneering at the establishment. The establishment is pissed of. Great.

6.They sings songs full of biblical imagary.

Always liked that.

7. There’s something about them that reminds me of Nation Of Ulysses

The genius first band of Ian Svenonious The manifesto. The steely idealism. The sassisness. The smarts.

8. They are very smart.

9. They make you question yourself.

All great bands do this. They make you think, why do I like this? why am I doing this? This is not passive consumerism. This is clenched fist passion and steely ideas.

10. They say they will retire when they are 25.

Always a tough call once the fun starts. I don’t care whether they do or they don’t as long as they are good.

11 Oh I know it’s meant to be 10 but…I love bands whose names are acronyms

]Wu Lyf. World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation. Genius.