Pale Kids are four queer-punks from Durham, and no they’re not the same band as Martha, although they did record one of their EP’s in their house. The band are currently out on tour with Milk Crimes, building a suitable amount of excitement around their upcoming EP, Holy Mess, which well be out later in the spring as a joint release between Frux Tapes and Drunken Sailor Records. Discussing the record, the band suggest it’s about, “being sick, distracted, heartbroken, obsessed, inattentive and the guilt we feel for all these things.” Ahead of that release, today we’re lucky enough to have the premiere of the EP’s first track, Prayer List.

The band have cited a quote from Jeannette Winterson’s book, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, as the lyrical inspiration for the track.

“When my mother heard about this, she was furious, and she crossed Nellie off her prayer list. My dad put her on his instead, so she didn’t miss out.’

Lyrically it’s a musing on illness, accepting the help of others and getting rid of the negativity of toxic friendships. The lyrical depth is contrasted by the buoyant musical accompaniment, building around the thrilling primal clatter of Kate’s drumming, David’s solid, expressive basslines and some wonderfully bombastic guitar riffing, sitting beneath emotive duelling vocals, that sound a little like a North-Eastern Wolf Parade. It builds to a thrilling crescendo as singers Joe and Andrew chime in, “I’m crossing you off my prayer list”, part in unison, but also at least partly vying for the listener’s attention. Energetic, thrilling and deliciously unpolished, as the old cliché goes, they might be pale, but they’ve interesting indeed.

Holy Mess is out later this year via Frux Tapes/Drunken Sailor. Pale Kids are on a UK tour right now, click HERE for full dates and details.