Skeletons

When looking up Skeletons on the Internet you’ll be lucky to find any results that bear a musical connection...

However, take a quick dash up to Sheffield and you’ll soon hear Skeletons (or Skeletons And The Empty Pockets to use their Sunday name), who are currently one of the hottest live bands in the area. As previous members of the Drowned In Sound group ThisGIRL, you’ll find Skeletons are ready for a challenge, music savvy and a good old bit of fun. So, how did a band who’d played together for seven years find themselves regrouped?

Ryan Jenkinson, drummer in the band said, “Well, to be fair ThisGIRL achieved so much that we didn’t expect and one day it just seemed right to call time on it. We’d just got back from a long European tour with International Noise Conspiracy, and I can’t quite put my finger on it now, but I think we all just knew. I think the time away from each other probably helped, and when we started talking about a new project together it all got very exciting again very quickly.”

Now emerging with an extra member (keyboardist Matt), Skeletons have learned to take a more relaxed, carefree attitude, with more grins onstage than hard rock riffs. Although the band argue this project is not poppier than their previous outfits, it’s hard to not boogie away to their latest material. Early demo ‘Oh Brother, Oh Sister’ is a top ten hit in the making while ‘Pack That Suitcase’ could easily grab the prize for best sing-a-long chorus of the year. Lead singer Liam Creamer adds: “I think initially when we started jamming together there was no desire to overthink things. We were having fun jamming Minnie Ripperton, Captain Beefheart and Minor Threat songs, and somehow in those three weeks the Skeletons’ baby was conceived."

Yet, for many ThisGIRL fans, it may come as no surprise to find Skeletons still keep much of the excitement, thrill and charisma onstage. Having played last year’s Leeds and Reading Festivals, the band are still in the early stages, but their live performance has taken years to perfect. Strutting around the stage with a whirl of high jazz piano and guitar sleaze, each thud sends a burst of electricity straight to your brain as Liam jolts around the room intruding on every audience member in sight. So, with their carefree melodies and bolting rhythms it’s no surprise to find the band hopping into bed with Too Pure’s singles club later in the yearand the single?

Ryan cuts in: “We’re not letting that cat out of the bag yet... mainly because we don’t know!”

Words: Ruth Offord