Pistola Kicks

"A SUMMER in the studio and the promise of a new single from Sheffield three-piece Pistoola Kicks was enough to bring the crowds flocking to Plug for a first airing of the band's latest sounds.
Serving as a launch for the double A-side single launch, Proceed Advance/ Lazy Baby Hurricane, songs are confidently delivered in a polished, energetic set.
"Lots of hard work has gone into this single and getting it in the right place," says frontman Joe Moran - and it shows.
Moran's vocals float across the venue with superb clarity and the audience bounces along with hyperactive Bloc Party-esque drum beats, courtesy of drummer Ed Evans, and melodious bass and keys from Jamie Hopkins. The trio display their musical knowledge as we are catapulted through slick time changes, catchy riffs and masterfully-handled instruments.
A Button Like No Other lulls the listener into a false sense of security with a slow opener but bites back with fast crunchy riffs halfway in.
Then the encore... "Is there a song we forgot to play?!" quips Moran, refering to their illustrious Friday Nights track, which was recently picked up for the ad campaign of a popular sports label.
The audience is hyped singing along about the working week of a working city. A chorus of well-rehearsed fans sing the insistant refain, "Whatever happened to...?" and I feel like I'm watching a well-established act.

Adelle Draper - Sheffield Telegraph - October 2011

With the still full and Dead Dolls pumping out all manger of great tunes it soon came round for Pistola Kicks to hit the stage. Frist the house lights went down, then a few stage light began darting around the room just as the opening theme to Pulp Fiction screams across the room. Joe (guitar/vocals), Jamie(bass/keyboard), ed (drums) mounted the stage and immideately opened with the track 'A Button Like No Other'. One of our Favourites. High on energy, packed with razor shape riffs and good soild bass that has 'dance and stomp' plasterd all over it, they tore through their set as their lives depended on it, meanwhile a torrent of skin smaking drums combined to produce the pefect package of beat, rhythm and style. The fact that they'd brought along a film crew with them may have had something to do with it, but tonight these guys were tight and on the money, they knew it and the crowd knew it, the fact that they were pushing up agaist the stage was a testament to that! Obviously they played both tracks of their signle, 'Proceed Advance' as well as 'Lazy Baby Hurricane', Both of which seem to have taken thier music more subtle and mature dircetion, along with older tracks like thunderous 'Head In The Sand'. But it was the encore track of 'Friday Nights' that really sent trhe crowd through the roof, and yet again Dead Dolls managed to squeez their way to the front to dance along, it may have been a slow start but when it got going it really got going and the crowd really went for it
- Sheffield Scenester - October 2011

.Their urgent, expansive take on indie might sound like a twelve-lane highway but Sheffield’s Pistola Kicks are going to feel like forty miles of bad road by the time Tramlines is done with them.



While most artists would be happy occupying a single spot at a music festival, the Sheffield three-piece are going all out and performing a daunting five times in forty-eight hours for this year’s Tramlines.



Starting at the Forum on the Friday the band have a lie-in Saturday morning then scoot across town to The Sheffield Music shop for an open-air lunchtime acoustic set, another unplugged session at Henry's in the evening, before a full midnight gig at The Frog and Parrot on the Saturday night and a final, triumphant, performance at Trippet’s Wine Bar on the Sunday evening.



The unplugged performances will see the band perform a selection of their highly acclaimed ‘Los Pepe’ sessions - acoustic takes on their ‘plugged in’ classics and specially written material, performed with an in-house string section.



In a drive to document their lengthening beards and shortening tempers, The Kicks are inviting audiences to film their tramlines sets and submit them to YouTube with the best movies making an appearance on the new Pistola Kicks website, due to launch shortly.

- Exposed Maganize Online - July 2011

But we have questions! What’s behind the Pistola’s love of the countryside? How do they feel about fan’s theories about their songs? And who is the mysterious woman in the cover artwork?



“Our songs can be quite cryptic and I think that might be because I write lyrics in quite a hesitant way,” Says guitarist and singer Joe Moran. “I come from a hard working Irish Catholic family from the Black Country - when I wasn't working on a construction site I was helping my brother and dad with farming - so talking about feelings isn't exactly top of the agenda! But by not going the full distance with revealing the content, I find it allows people to identify and relate to the song more.



“What I would say is that the music we create is focussed on mood and feeling more than anything else. We’re all fans of film soundtracks and they’re great at this. It’s a real challenge giving the listener enough for them to make contact with the song without making it so much of a mystery that it’s forgotten. Hopefully, people take what they want, their imaginations are fired basically start to do what I did, which is to create a story for the song.



“I actually find it amazing that audience members or listeners want to bend my ear with what they think our songs are about. It actually makes me feel I have achieved something.

So what about the new single?



"Lazy baby Hurricane" is about falling out of favour – but with a place rather than a girl as it might seem. It is about giving up and going back home to essentially do what my family have been doing for centuries - farming. I think there is something primal and rewarding about being outside and working the land. City life gets on top of me quite often! ‘Proceed, Advance’ is more of a love song - in fact it's quite close to the wire in terms of revealing the subject.



“The cover’s full of references to the songs actually. There’s literally a ‘Proceed, Advance’ in the passing of the note and the woman is the personification of the city/place in ‘Lazy Baby Hurricane’. What I will not tell you is what is written in the note. C'mon - I've given you a good 75% of our secrets already! Hopefully there’s enough mysteries left to get people thinking…”

- Exposed Maganize Online - October 2011

We are blessed here in Sheffield when it comes to live acts. Truly blessed. And a host of local acts are currently causing some major ripples in the musical ocean. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Mark Perkins tells us who they are, what the do and why he thinks they stand a chance of making it.

Pistola Kicks

WHO: A guitar band with a line in high energy indie-rock
WHAT: No nonsense indie-guitar rock, catchy and then some,and with a string of storming live performances to back up those who are tipping this lot for success.
WHY: Despite several line-up changes, the current incarnation really seems to be holding it together. Their live shows are becoming a real talking point with a UK tour planned, the wider world looks like it might be about to catch up - Exposed Maganize - October 2011

After the release of the band's self titled EP, this three piece from Sheffield appear to have taken over the world with air plays in Singapore and more impressively entering the Canadian and North American college radio chart at number 13.
After some line-up changes, Joe Moran (Vocals/guitar), Jamie Hopkins (bass/keys) and Ed Evans (drums) have today created an indie-alternative sound that hasn't gone unnoticed.
In 2008 Umbro used their stomping track Friday Nights for the European championships advertising campaign and their Myspace has had over 67,000 hits. The band have already been pretty busy this year and we reckon they won't disappoint at Tramlines 2011, where you can catch these guys at three different venues across the weekend.
Pistola Kicks will be playing The Forum Friday 22 [July] at 7:30pm, Saturday at The Frog and Parrot at midnight and Trippets wine bar Sunday 24 at 7:30pm for the "Los Pepe" sessions.
- Sheffield Tramlines Press 2011

Indie rockers Pistola Kicks, are starting to make some large music-shaped waves in our city and beyond. Some of you may already be familiar with their music, while others may have seen the name stuck to the side of a car. We sent Loic Tuckey to catch up with them and give us their story so far.
It's an absolutely bitter winter evening as I walk across Devonshire Green to the Washington with local lads Pistola Kicks. They're due on stage at the Bowery in an hour so we decided to leg it across the road for a quiet pint and a chat.
Most of us are dressed for the occasion with winter coats, scarves and woolly hats. However the drummer, Ed Evans, thinks just a skimpy grey jumper is appropriate attire. “Aren't you cold?” I ask. “Yeah it is a bit nippy isn’t it?” replies Ed. He'll learn one day.
Lets start with the basics. They play loud, no nonsense indie-rock and they're really, really good at it. There is a guitar, a voice, a bass, a drum kit, a keyboard and a shed-load of effects pedals which are used wisely and with caution, ie they don't go all 'shoe-gaze.'
Joe Moran plays guitar and sings, James Hopkins does the four-stringed bass and synth, while Ed and his drums provide massive beats and is who Joe describes as the “final piece of the jigsaw.”
“It sounds a bit cliché, but when Ed joined everything with our music just clicked,” says Joe.
After a number of line-up changes, including losing a guitarist and a tiny revolving door of drummers, the boys are now firmly settled on the current three piece.
“Obviously we were really disappointed when Rich (ex-guitarist) left but he had other stuff going on,” says Joe. “We didn’t want to bring in another person for the sake of it so we decided to carry on with the three of us.”
It's fair to say the loss of one music-man has failed to slow down their progress. Their 'work hard and do it yourself attitude' means the band organise their own gigs, recordings and deal with their own finances. As a result they are constantly playing venues the UK over, have a self-released four-song EP and received airplay on the continent and the US.
“When we were told we were getting our songs played on US college radio we didn’t really think it was a big deal or many people would hear it. It turns out college radio has a pretty big broadcast space which was nicely surprising,” admits James.
However their biggest coup to date has been a cash-cow provided by sportswear company Umbro, who paid “good money” to use their song Friday Night throughout the Euro 2008 Championships, although the subject of money brings a squirm to Joe's face.
“I am not the first person to say it but money is the route of all evil and it breaks my heart when money and art seep into one another,” he says.
“Finance is by no means the motivation behind but of course we do whatever it takes to keep the band moving which includes covering costs. When faced with an opportunity the financial side of things comes in last. We make decisions based upon the exposure opportunities create for the band and whether it opens doors for our music, in terms of reaching people in different parts of the world.”
And exposure is exactly what the Umbro deal has given the band. A quick glance on their Myspace page shows that Friday Night has around 13 times more listens than their nearest other, and having a song played to 90,000 football fans at Wembley offers something more than money can buy.
Joe even goes as far as to suggest that the business side of being in a band is a demon and a burden, but one they attempt to put to good use on-stage. Their live shows are often fiery and unpredictable which Joe claims is the result of letting loose their inhibitions.
“When we play it's like the demons come out, they drive us and we let them. Money is just one more demon circling us while we play and me and my two good friends kind of like the feeling of being outnumbered,” he admits.
So looking to the future, what can we expect from the lads? They plan to hit the studio again in January with a view to releasing a digital single mid next year and also are planning a UK tour around the same time, although they indicate there are no plans to release a full record.
“People keep expecting us to say we're putting out a full album or something. I'm sure we will at some point but I think it's better we do one when we're ready. Right now we are more concerned with playing the gigs, recording new material and for the meantime giving it away for free,” says Joe.
“Our happiness and energy on stage and in recording studio's are paramount. This is why I can't wait to find the right team (Management/label) to work with us, bur until then we'll carry on with the same DIY ethics which have got us this far.”








- Exposed Magazine February 2011 (page 20-21)

Ripe, local talent, is always a pleasure to taste - and there's no band who sit nicer in the mouth than Pistola Kicks.
Their brand of clever and exciting indie is a breath of fresh-air in today's often stagnant and repossessed mainstream market.
They opened their Friday night set with 'Head in the Sand', a relentless drum driven anthem in which singer, Joe Moran's warm, toned voice excels. The song is a prime example of their non-formulaic approach to writing songs and dynamic, unpredictable sound.
As performers, the yexude confidence. Each song was played nigh on note-perfect and at breakneck speed - While Moran's quiet and seld assured attitude shone through as he dealt with the heckles of boozed up audience members.
Towards the end of their set, Moran announced: "This is supposed to be our last one, but I'm enjoying it, so we'll play a bit more."
He's that confident he organizes their own encores.
To sum up: brilliant.

Loic Tuckey

- Exposed Magazine November 2010 (page 98)