Ungagged Bands

The Tuts

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The Tuts are an indie punk trio from West London. Live they seriously pack a punch and are noted for their impassioned songs about sexism, feminism and everyday life-isms. The Selecter’s Pauline Black describes The Tuts sound best: ‘infectious guitar led pop wrapped around fiery drums, sharp tongues and splendid harmonies’.

Founding members, Nadia Javed (guitar/lead vox) and Beverley Ishmael (drums) recruited Harriet Doveton (bass/vox) in 2011. The following year they were spotted by Kate Nash and supported her UK and European tours, building up their fan base of ‘Tutters’ wherever they went. Kate Nash raved ‘they are currently the best UK band I’ve seen live in a really long time’. These tours were notably an all-female rock experience that celebrated feminism in the unapologetic 1990s ‘Riot Grrrl’ tradition.

In 2014 Billy Bragg invited The Tuts to play his LeftField stage at Glastonbury. The effervescent appeal of Nadia’s irreverent stage persona and, as Billy himself called it, the ‘fabulous cacophony’ these three women conjure up every time they play makes for an unforgettable live experience. Pauline Black was in the crowd and soon after The Tuts joined The Selecter on their 2015 UK tour.

The Tuts’ music owes something to the Libertine’s brash, devil-may-care aesthetic but they are not fashionable, and hopefully never will be. This is not beautifully crafted gloss for the latest hipster market – the tunes are too good for that. Their timeless three and four chord rants sung out in authentic working class accents carry the X-Ray Spex and 70s New Wave mantle onwards. The Tuts are ‘indie’ indeed, but not in some generic introspective sense: here is a band that possess that irrepressible spirit unique to independent DIY bands. There is no escaping it, ready or not, The Tuts are coming…

 

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