Long Distance Runner had played a sold-out headline show by their sixth gig. By the time their debut single appeared in July, the West London four piece had spent around eighteen months developing their music in front of audiences, including a residency in Shoreditch. Their lineup brings together Ned Prevezer and Maurice Talbot on guitar, James Stirrat on baritone guitar and Joe Bourdier on drums, with connections to Dead Dad’s Club and Mandrake Handshake among them. This is their first appearance on Static Sounds Club, and their first two recordings provide our introduction. ‘Zero’ and ‘New Song’ document a band who have found their sound very early on.
The origins of ‘Zero’ take us back to their first performance. Speaking to the ever awesome The Line of Best Fit, Prevezer explained,
“We were playing our first ever show, and needed to fill up the set time, so we decided to improvise over a riff James had been playing with in rehearsal.”
The piece remained in their live set, its arrangement developing as the musicians continued to play it. That gives you some useful context for the recording and its loose approach to structure. A practical decision about filling a set became the starting point for their first single, with the exchanges between the four players helping it develop along the way.
‘Zero’ has a really loose improvisational feel right from the off. Frenetic drumming and feedback slowly resolve into the central guitar motif at the heart of the track, and that gradual arrival gives the opening its intrigue. Bourdier makes a considerable impression here. His playing gives the piece a restless physical energy, keeping you attentive to the rhythm as the guitars establish their own patterns. There’s a lovely sense of discovery in the way those elements come together. You can hear why this piece developed through performance, with its central idea allowing room for the musicians to respond to one another. The blend of post rock and math rock sounds like Mogwai and American Football having a baby. That combination gives you plenty to get your ears around. Across its generous run time, the track gives that transition time to register. I particularly like how the looseness keeps the music feeling alive, with the drumming retaining its urgency as the guitar figure becomes clearer. It’s an absorbing introduction to the way these four work together, and by the end I’m keen to hear how that approach translates into another song.
The chiming guitars of ‘New Song’ offer an immediate change in tone, with a more compact arrangement bringing the band’s melodic instincts into closer view. There’s a great deal happening in a small space. Prevezer has spoken about The Smiths and Television in relation to the guitar writing, and those references provide a useful starting point for the way the parts fit together. The guitars give your ear a succession of melodic details to follow, with Bourdier maintaining that fast and loose approach underneath. I love the nervous energy this creates. It feels like someone trying to tell you a story but the sheer speed of their talking has them tripping over their words. The chiming tone adds a brightness that makes the busy drumming feel even more animated. There’s something very human about the impatience of it all, as though the players are eager to get each idea out into the room. Then comes that glorious crescendo just before the end, and it gets me every time. That moment makes the whole arrangement feel beautifully judged. They understand how much feeling you can fit into a short instrumental piece, and they leave me wanting to hear it again immediately.
Across these two songs, Long Distance Runner have given me plenty to get excited about. The gradual emergence of the guitar motif in ‘Zero’ and the concentrated energy of ‘New Song’ show a band with several ways of keeping you involved, all rooted in the relationship between those guitars and Bourdier’s drumming. I love the freedom in their playing, the melodic detail and the sheer pleasure of hearing an idea develop between musicians. That late crescendo in ‘New Song’ has already become a moment I look forward to, and the prospect of hearing where they take this next has me properly impatient. Give both tracks your attention and let yourself follow the parts as they come together. I’m so pleased to have found this band at the beginning of their recorded story. Long Distance Runner have started at ‘Zero’, and I’m already eager for the next ‘New Song’.
‘Zero’ and ‘New Song’ are out now, with both tracks also announced for a limited white label 10-inch release available at the band’s live shows. An album is rumoured but just whispers in the ether at the moment.
You can follow Long Distance Runner on social media here….
Photo Credit
Jude Jansen
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