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Tour Bus Playlist: Boston Manor’s essential tracks
The band celebrate their new album with headline dates in April and May 2020.
Blackpool rockers Boston Manor are gearing up for the release of their third studio album, GLUE, the highly anticipated follow-up to their acclaimed Welcome To The Neighbourhood – an album which saw them break further from the pop-punk sound of their early days into thrilling territory. The four tracks to appear from the record to date, from the industrial-tinged Everything Is Ordinary to the grunge-balladry of On A High Ledge, continue the band’s exciting evolution, pulling together grunge, rock and their earlier influences to create something uniquely their own.
As they prepare for the record’s release – due on 1 May 2020 through Pure Noise Records – and a run of headline shows to celebrate, the band’s vocalist Henry Cox delves into some of the tracks that keep the band company when touring across the globe.
Cash Basket – Beach
“Our tour manager started playing this on a US tour about 2 years ago and we haven’t really stopped playing it since. It’s got such a feel good vibe about it. It’s become synonymous with good times and is usually played when leaving a show that went really well, leaving a show that didn’t go very well and collecting a large bag of Mexican food.”
Loathe – A Sad Cartoon
“We’re really enjoying this record at the moment; if you’re not familiar with Loathe then go check out their new record, its one of the best heavy albums I’ve heard in years. This track particularly is beautiful and so well put together.”
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Help, I’m A Rock
“Not much to say about this really; it’s one of the weirdest songs I’ve ever heard. We started putting this on towards the end of all-night drives to keep the driver awake and weird-out the sleep deprived passengers. Truth be told it sends me west and I struggle to listen to it now.”
Microwave – Lighterless
“This is one of my favourite songs of all time. We first met Microwave on the Warped Tour in 2017 and quickly became good friends. This is the feel good hit of the summer and reminds me of that amazing few months we spent on that tour. We’ve been lucky to tour with them several times since then, and every time this song plays I try and make it to the stage to watch it.
Avril Lavigne – Anything But Ordinary
“Whenever we cross the boarder into Canada, this song always gets played. I guess cause she’s Canadian? I’m not really sure why we do it but it’s a tradition. This song plays, we hit a Tim Hortons and then we crack a Sleemans. I love Canada.”
Local H – Bound For The Floor
“In the wake of the grunge era there seemed to be infinite bands that were trying to ride the hype. Some were alright, many of them were genuinely terrible, most just faded into insignificance. I’m sorry to any Local H fans out there but until I heard this song I’d never heard of this band. The rest of their discography also does nothing for me. But me and the rest of my band love this song. It’s so so catchy. We were in the studio working on GLUE and we went to the movies one night and this came on. We got to the movie theatre at about one minute into this song coming on but stayed in the car and listened in silence til it’s done. Stone cold jam imo.”
Radiohead – Idioteque
“This is a track that we always come back to. Sonically the way it’s put together, it’s emptiness; it’s a sort of fractured soundscape that still has a very clear structure. It served as an inspiration and a big palette cleanser when we were making the album.”
Kylie Minogue & Robbie Williams – Kids
“We play this song usually before we go on stage and pretend we’re on the match of the day highlights. It’s such an early 2000s sports montage song. The harmonies in the chorus are so sick as well. Although “I’m an honorary Sean Connery” might be the worst lyric i’ve ever heard.”
Boston Manor 2020 UK tour dates
30 April 2020 – Engine Rooms, Southampton
2 May 2020 – SWX, Bristol
3 May 2020 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
4 May 2020 – The Garage, Glasgow
5 May 2020 – Manchester Academy 2, Manchester
7 May 2020 – Electric Brixton, London
8 May 2020 – O2 Institute2, Birmingham
9 May 2020 – Stylus, Leeds
Tickets for Boston Manor’s UK dates are available now through Ticketmaster.co.uk.
