LURCHER – Mecca (Bingo) (2025)
At its core, LURCHER is a DIY four-piece bound by a mutual passion for music and the need to express reality through music. Drawing together the musical talent of Spencer White (vocals), Alex Featherstone (electric guitar), Christoph Crinson (bass guitar), and Jonathan Mudd (drums), the UK-based group melds personal preferences, tastes, styles, and convenience into one harmonic union of the post-punk variety. With only two singles to their name, the lads are only just sneaking around the music scene’s corner; however, they are quickly earning an international reputation for a hard-hitting, attention-demanding, sit down and shut up sound.
Following the critically acclaimed debut single, ‘Stone Island’, ‘Mecca (Bingo)’ is a nostalgic drag back to the 80s post-punk era. Produced with Mark Folland, the track is abrasive and brash while retaining a sense of mellifluousness as the dark underbelly of its chaos. Opening softly, vocalist White leads you into a hazy sonic fog with a smile and wink; but as soon as we hit the midway point of ‘Mecca (Bingo)’, the instant crescendo into a hurricane of guitars, bass, and crashing drums hits you at a head-spinning, grit-tossing rush of music.
For me, ‘Mecca (Bingo)’ teeters between the line of somewhat uncomfortable and utterly liberating. Melodically, LURCHER rip off the proverbial band-aid, exposing an open wound before rubbing a calming balm, easing the painful sting. Lyrically, it’s almost the same; profound, poignant and weighty words lay the culture of Northern working-class bare before slathering it with familiarity, understanding, and total acceptance. Vocalist Spencer White explains:
“I’d recently watched The League of Gentlemen, one of the skits is an old bingo master telling a story of love and loss with a Thai lady boy, using bingo call outs as a vehicle for the anecdote. I thought it was really clever, very funny, and even more sad. I felt like I could tie this in with the homely, familiar themes of the EP. What’s more Northern working-class culture than the Mecca? In a high-risk, high-reward world, the stakes in Hartlepool mirror that of a Wednesday night bingo club. No winners, no losers, just working-class limbo, their own Mecca be it drugs, drink, sex or gambling.”
Find out more about LURCHER on their Instagram and Spotify.
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