Leeds' Yard Act are looking at a 'Fixer Upper' on new 7"

Words: Ellie Ward 

Leeds DIY alt-punks Yard Act have released a new 7" this week, 'Fixer Upper', b/w 'The Trapper's Pelts'.

And if you're into property or just bought a house, you'll appreciate the sentiment here from the four-piece fronted by vocalist James Smith.

"Well, I just moved into the area, yeah / That big old thing over the road / It’s a fixer upper though, it’s a fixer upper so / We’re gonna put poundshop terracotta frogs everywhere / And wrap solar power fairy lights round the gutter / Got a prosecco o’clock poster half price in Ikea"

Vocalist James Smith explains the inspiration behind the narrative character Graham.

“Graham was inspired by an amalgamation of people who lived on my street growing up. I think everyone knows a Graham, maybe a neighbour or an uncle… sorry if he’s your dad. Not a bad man at heart, he just sincerely believes he’s from a country and generation that achieved the apex of everything so therefore can’t ever be wrong about anything."

‘The Trapper’s Pelts’ the band describe as "a satirical take on neoliberalism". “It skewers elements of the American frontier into a Scarface-type narrative set against the backdrop of a mundane West Yorkshire suburb,” Smith adds.

Produced by Bill Ryder Jones (The Coral) before lockdown, the recording process of the track “felt like a Happy Mondays thing, keeping the drums tight and high up in the mix like a dance mix.”

Hear both below.