Sky Larkin - Artist Picks

In a world saturated with boring, stale Indie-Rock bands, it clearly takes something 'special' to stand out; Yorkshire-based trio Sky Larkin might just have that 'something'. The band makes energetic fizzy pop-punk, complete with satisfying female-fronted melodies and forceful rhythms that makes me envious that I'm not having as much fun as them. Gaining acclaim from several singles and debut album 'The Golden Spike', Sky Larkin are surely due to hit the big time with the release of a new album in the upcoming months. As their Artist Picks show, Sky Larkin are refreshingly humble and astute; it is perhaps this decision not to take themselves too seriously that set them apart from the rest. Name: Nestor from Sky Larkin About us: Oh, hello! I play the drums really loud in a band called Sky Larkin. We started off the year by releasing our debut album and have since then been caught up in a whirlwind of gigs and awesomeness until just now. I’m not really sure if this was meant to be a 2009 retrospective kind of thing, but I’ve managed to turn it into one, so here goes... Listening to: Hmm, I seem to have only listened to different ends of a very broad spectrum, how odd. Either shimmery, shiny, perfect pop production or horrible, nasty and lo-fi sounds... Anyway, I started off 2009 still listening to M83’s Saturdays = Youth, which I think set a new record in shimmeryness and shinyness. I then followed up with Fever Ray’s self titled album, which I must admit I didn’t really understand at first (I was expecting more Knife based folk-techno), but after a few listens through the whole album it made a sort of claustrophobic sense. I had been eagerly anticipating Metric’s 4th album, Fantasies and I was overjoyed that they reverted back to the electronic sound of Old World Underground (which was, and still is, my favourite Metric album). I’m only slightly ashamed to admit that I then got seriously obsessed with Paramore. There, I said it. The first two albums, All We Know Is Falling and Riot!, are brilliant examples of perfect power pop, you can’t deny it! Anyway, I think Paramore tipped me over the pop edge, because from then on its been non-stop chaos and noise. A friend’s band recommended The Mae Shi to me after coming off tour with them and within a month I had amassed everything they had released. I was very disheartened when they decided to call it quits towards the end of last year, but HLLLYH is so wonderfully insane that my mourning didn’t last too long. I continued in a similar vein by listening to a lot of Hella, as well as Zach Hills’s delirious solo album Astrological Straits, but couldn’t take the pandemonium much longer and had no choice but to slow down and find Harvey Milk’s Life... The Best Game In Town. This opened a floodgate of heavy that included London band Shit and Shine, Japanese heavy-metal explorers Boris and a little bit of Sunn 0))) for good measure. That pretty much leads me up to the present, but I’ve still got HEALTH’s Get Colour (I’ve been saving it) and Lightning Bolt’s new album Earthly Delights to sink my teeth into and I can’t wait! Reading: I’m currently halfway through the Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. Nothing like a bit of old school sci-fi to send you to sleep with interesting dreams! Three books that I read this year that I don’t think I’ll forget in a hurry are The Dice Man by Luke Rinehart; which is a disturbing look at a life left entirely in the hands of fate and morality, The Road by Cormac McCarthy which is one of the few books I have read which actually made me feel scared to keep reading and On the Road/On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac (I read the original and the “edited” editions simultaneously to find quite a startling difference!). On a lighter note, I also read/looked at The Watchmen, which I polished off in a day I think. I also read Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy to see in the New Year with. Video for 'Fossil, I' Watching: I haven’t really had a lot of time to watch television of late, I started watching Heroes and thought the first series was amazing, but then it all went a bit Lost and made my brain hurt... I have however seen a fair few films! A few of my favourite films that I've seen recently are, in no particular order: Inglorious Basterds, Dead Snow, The Fountain, Southland Tales, The Nines, Milk, The Watchmen, Moon and Where The Wild Things Are, which I had the pleasure of seeing at Niagara Falls on my birthday, which was pretty awesome. Two websites that have regularly kept my eyes amused all year round are www.failblog.org and www.fmylife.com. Both sites kind of do what they say on the tin really! Playing: I got myself an Xbox 360 as a very special treat at the beginning of last year and I bloody love it. I played Halo 3/ODST until I started dreaming about it! Other notable games that I enjoyed are Mass Effect, Fable II, Left for Dead, Fallout 3, Mirror’s Edge, The Orange Box, Beautiful Katamari, Viva Pinata, Shadow Company and Rez HD which are all downright chuffing amazing. Also, I sourced a copy of Jet Set Radio: Future that came out for the original Xbox and basked in its 2002, cel-shaded, j-pop lunacy. I’ve just started playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and although initially sceptical I can definitely see what all the fuss is about! I do feel a bit mean though, because I’ve been severely neglecting my dear old Nintendo DS. They should be made a mandatory requirement for all touring bands. Eating: I’m currently plotting an epic feast for Christmas so I’m trying to restrain myself until then... I’m going to have to admit that I went to KFC last week for the first time in about 10 years. I would be ashamed of myself, but screw it, it was totally amazing! Anything else?: Erm, let’s see... I’m very much looking forward to receiving my Buddha Machine v3 in the post in the next few days. If you like lo-fi electronica and brightly coloured plastic then you’re in for a treat! Promo Info We’ve been underground plotting the next album, so expect a plethora of new sounds for your ears to enjoy in this year. I’m bloody excited about it, see you there! Nx