Clash Music

Battle

Down to earth, energetic four piece

Tales of bands holed up in the studio indulging their sordid vices in a blurred mess of nymphomania and narcotics are the stuff of rock and roll cliché, but witnessing Battle lay down their debut in the remote Surrey retreat of Jacob’s Studios could not prove a greater contrast to such debauched excess. The latest ascendant stars signed to the Transgressive label, Battle have a demeanour that is down-to-earth, unassuming and refreshingly pretension-free, and an ethic of hard work, honesty and democracy.
The London-based four-piece create a sound that is perkily energetic, rough-edged yet warm then lace it with strong melodies and clever lyrical imagery that hints and suggests rather than attempting to dictate, leaving the words pleasingly open to interpretation. As frontman Jason Bavanandan explains in typically self-effacing fashion: “I’ve never said I’m trying to be a poet, I’m not like Mike Skinner, I just like things that sound nice in my ear and make me feel a certain way. The only way I can really feel comfortable and play it to other people is when I’ve done something and I have a feeling about what it might be about but it’s not, resolute and it’s not an absolute defined thing.”