Tomorrow sees the return of Truck Festival for its 26th year at Hill Farm in Oxfordshire! The festival line up spans the breadth of the indie, rock and alternative spheres which sees Royal Blood, ALT-J, Two Door Cinema Club and The Wombats top the bill with the likes of DMAs, The Vaccines and Self Esteem supplying incredible back up. Truck also boasts a superb line up of the best in new and emerging music with STONE, Deadletter, Courting, Crystal Tides and Red Rum Club to name a few.
We have been invited back again this year to cover the festival and here is a list of our bands that we think you should go and check out over the weekend!
Swim Deep – Truck Stage – Thursday @ 7.30pm
Notorious in indie folklore, the premier ‘B-Town’ dream-pop outfit have toured internationally, from Glastonbury’s ‘Other Stage’ to numerous festivals in Bangkok, Shanghai, and across China, Europe & the US. Swim Deep have previously had both The 1975 & Wolf Alice support them on past tours in the UK. The band have garnered endorsements ranging from Harry Styles to the FIFA soundtrack. Fresh from a recent UK tour in May/June to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut album ‘Where The Heaven Are We’ – Swim Deep will be playing to us lucky ones who have early entry on Thursday – be sure to catch them and if anything like reminisce on where the hell those last 10 years have gone!
Crystal Tides – Market Stage – Friday @ 1.45pm
Portsmouth indie quintet Crystal Tides take influence from classic noughties guitar riffs and modern feel-good pop melodies. The indie band have been making big strides over their last few releases, gaining lots of momentum in a short space of time. The band have sold out shows up & down the country and received multiple BBC R1 and BBC 6 Music plays to demonstrate their potential. Taking influence from bands like Two Door Cinema Club, Foals and The Wombats, Crystal Tides create a fusion that will get you dancing and singing to their catchy hooks. The band have new music expected in autumn following their previous releases ‘Animated’ and ‘Just Friends’ which received support from the likes of E4’s Made in Chelsea and ITV’s This Morning.
Covasettes – Truck Stage – Friday @ 2.15pm
The Covasettes’ time spent living together in Manchester allowed them to hone in on their signature indie sound comprising frontman Chris Buxton’s heartfelt lyrics and melody, guitarist Matt Hewlett’s infectious riffs, drummer Matt Buckley’s rock-inspired grooves and bassist/producer Jamie McIntyre’s pop production sensibilities. The lads have quite the list of achievements under their belt already: sold-out shows across the country including Manchester’s Gorilla, London’s Omeara and Glasgow’s famous King Tuts, 8 million streams, and stealing many shows at UK festivals. The band are continually blown away by how many milestones they’ve passed in just a few years of making music. With rumours of an EP to be announced this autumn following their biggest headline show at Manchester Academy 2 the band are sure not to be missed.
Heavy Lungs – The Nest – Friday @ 5.45pm
Formed during the early days of summer 2017, Heavy Lungs can’t help feeling like a product of their Bristolian environment. Quickly writing and recording an EP and playing their first show within months of forming, they have been a band hungry from the off. Honing their craft and forging their tight bond as a unit, the quartet have gone from strength to strength over the past few years. Incidentally, if their frontman’s name seems oddly familiar it might be because the Ukrainian-born vocalist is the titular subject of IDLES hit ‘Danny Nedelko’. Their debut album ‘All Gas No Brakes is released on 29th September and their set will give you a chance to hear some of this new material!
Deadletter – Market Stage – Saturday @ 2.30pm
Hailing from Yorkshire, now South London rooted, Deadletter channel the droll fury of Gang of Four and the lopsided rhythms of Talking Heads into a strain of vehement post-punk, exploring the darker side of existence through a lens of narrative-driven levity. With members being firm friends from birth, there is an instinctive understanding of movement and danceability to their music worth its weight in gold, whilst never cheapening the nuance and grit of their sound.
Panic Shack – The Nest – Saturday @ 6.30pm
Armed with brash, witty lyrics and killer hooks, Panic Shack have crashed the UK music scene with a tidal wave of noise! Their raw, unapologetic live shows have built them a reputation that DIY does it better and it has been an upwards trajectory since their formation. We have been fortunate enough to see Panic Shack play twice this at Glastonbury and Rockaway Beach and would 100% advise you to grab a spot in The Nest for their set, you definitely will not be disappointed!
DMAs – Truck Stage – Saturday @ 7.45pm
The beloved Australian trio have played some of their most memorable live shows ever in the UK, including their biggest UK headline show at OVO Arena, Wembley in April of this year. Having just appeared as special guests to The Courteeners in front of 50,000 fans at Manchester Heaton Park, their Truck Festival appearance will give fans the chance to catch material from their fourth album, HOW MANY DREAMS?, which reached #3 on the UK Official Album Chart. The latest album weaves electronic dance elements seamlessly through the foundations of guitar rock and punk, and is an album noted for its explorative qualities and direct positivity.
Lock In – This Feeling – Saturday @ 8.45pm
Lock-In are no strangers to Truck Festival as they played twice last year at This Feeling and return again this year to headline the Saturday night. The five piece have this year appeared on a number of shows including Soccer AM, Radio X and TalkSport with their everyday-life influenced and candidly relatable sounds. Earlier this year in April they sold out their biggest hometown show yet at The Garage in London. Lead singer Benjy is known for his outlandish outfits so its worth going along to check them out just for this alone!
