Hotly-tipped Welsh powerpunk/hardcore quartet XL LIFE are pleased to announce they will play two select April 2023 UK headline dates in Cardiff and London, with tickets on sale now (see below for listings).
To celebrate the news, the band have released a visualiser for ‘Shout’, the experimental jazz-laden opening track and manifesto from the quartet’s powerful and “genre defining” debut album, The Boogie Down South, out now via Venn Records.
Recorded at WWWStudios in Aldershot, The Boogie Down South was mixed by friend of the band Nick Davies at Meteor Sound in Cardiff. The striking painting used for the album artwork comes courtesy of another friend of the band, artist Maddie Hobbs.
“We met Nick through a mutual connection, and were beyond lucky to do so,” says drummer Jasper Gaskin of working with Davies. “He put every drop of passion you could ever ask for into bringing the mixes to life. His creativity and experimentation allowed The Boogie Down South to take on a life of its own through trial and error, successes and failures. It really became its own creation and breathed its own air, and for that we are eternally grateful to Nick.”
Like many of their peers in the hardcore scene, XL LIFE’s ethos is a deceptively simple one, but it’s something that we all struggle with at times: making the most of our lives.
“It’s all about living an Xtra Large Life,” explains vocalist Traxx, “but in a context that holds longevity. Being that this is our whole mission statement, we’ve had to do the very thing that we didn’t want to do, which is to step back from the band until we are in a stable place. Placing our healing journey before anything else. We take the stance that anything is possible. Full restoration and recovery is possible. It might take some time and it will be painful but we are not here to repeat the wounds of the past.”
Lead single ‘Baby Steps’ featuring MOBO winner Bob Vylan was released in December 2022, with the track crashing straight onto Spotify’s New Music Friday Playlist and drawing attention from STEREOGUM, Rock Sound, Brooklyn Vegan, and more.
The band’s previous single ‘Just Do It’ was released earlier this year and picked up a wave of support from hardcore and punk tastemakers at the BBC R1 Rock Show, Kerrang! Radio, Down For Life, Distorted Sound, Punk News, The Alternative, KNOTFEST, and more.
After a busy summer of live appearances in 2021 at 2000 Trees, Burn It Down, FOCUS Wales, Primordial General Mayhem and more, the band were set to hit the road on support tour dates with Cancer Bats and Comeback Kid, before a series of traumatic personal struggles with substance abuse, broken homes, violence, disabilities and mental health issues forced the quartet to put their music to one side and focus on themselves.
The Boogie Down South is out now on Venn Records
XL LIFE live dates:
27th April – London – Bermondsey Social Club (tickets)
28th April – Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach (tickets)
