New Music Of The Day: Yak – ‘No’ (Video Premiere)

In an age where seemingly everything in music must have A Serious Message, Yak’s new single ‘No’ is notably non-conformist. Guitars splutter, fists smash into synths, vocals hollers all manner of gibberish about being “out of the woods” and “all clear” and the chorus is one chord, one riff, one helluva racket. Somewhere along the way, Courtney Barnett’s bassline from ‘Avant Gardener’ gets nicked, sped up and distorted to high heaven, while feedback wails and squawks… and just how rare is that from a British indie band in 2015?

The video, premiered below and directed by ex-Jesus And Mary Chain man Douglas Hart (who’s also made vids for The Libertines, Primal Scream, Palma Violets, My Bloody Valentine and The Horrors), is a near-perfect kaleidoscopic encapsulation of all of the above – trippy and twitchy and frantic too, which is kind of like the band themselves, probably.

What is the message of it all? That’s simple: Fuck the message.

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‘No’ EP, produced by Pulp’s Steve Mackey, will be released on November 13 via Jack White’s Third Man Records.

Yak are one of a number of great new UK bands hitting the US this week for CMJ, alongside The Big Moon and Hooton Tennis Club.

They play NME’s showcase this Wednesday evening (October 14) at Santos Party House in Manhattan, which you can read more about here.

The full line-up is:
Perfect Pussy
Dilly Dally
Protomartyr
Downtown Boys
Yung
Seratones
Yak
Hooton Tennis Club
Carseat Headrest
Shopping
Nico Yaryan

Yak will also be heading out on a full headline tour this winter, playing the following dates:

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London, Oslo (Oct 12)
US, NYC, Santos Party House (NME, Popgun, House Arrest CMJ Party) (14)
US, NYC, Mercury Lounge (High Road Touring CMJ Showcase) (15)
France, Les Inrocks Festival – Paris Boule Noire (Nov 13)
Southampton, Indiependence Festival (14)
London, Moth Club (17)
Brighton, Prince Albert (18)
Birmingham, Sunflower Lounge (19)
Liverpool, Magnet (20)
Bristol, Start The Bus (21)
Leeds, Brudenell Social Club (24)
Glasgow, Broadcast (25)
Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete’s (26)
Newcastle, Head Of Steam (27)
Leicester, The Cookie (28)
Manchester, Gullivers (Dec 1)
Cardiff, Ifor Bach (2)
Falmouth, Mono (3)
Plymouth, The Underground (4)

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