“From the Ash Trees, to Hough End I was asleep, now I'm on the mend My war chest is full, it overflows With so much love, for so many souls” (War Chest) “A welcome throwback to the wry, self-lacerating alt.rock of the early 90s” Uncut “Astonishing” Record Collector “Lovely bit of noise” Tom Ravenscroft BBC 6 Music “It devilishly combines a banged acoustic with spiky electric, like Bevis Frond covering ‘A Catholic Education’ Teenage Fanclub.. If this is “Hell,” give us more!” Big Takeover Easter’s new single War Chest is released 2nd February 2024 on Scratchy Records and taken from their forthcoming album ‘Facsimile of a Dream’, out 23rd February. As frontman Tom Long elaborates: “War Chest is probably the centrepiece [of the album], the threads that run through it run through the whole album: digging out of the lockdown hole, moving from North Manc to South Manc (big change for me), and just getting ready to fight the good fight again, knowing there'd be big battles ahead.” Produced by Simon ‘Ding’ Archer (PJ Harvey, The Pixies, The Fall) at 6db studios in Salford, the album title seems to refer to the lockdown period in one sense, a document of that time, but as frontman Tom Long elaborates: “It also harks back to pre-lockdown, when there was actually a possibility of some change on offer. Unfortunately we’re forbidden from talking about that. There were solutions to many of the problems we face now, but that dream was crushed, never to be spoken of again”. Manchester indie-rockers Easter have built a reputation as one of the city’s best-kept secrets. Spurred along by singer/songwriter/guitarist Tom Long with a rotating cast of Manc-underground shredders, they’re a formidable live act who’ve toured the UK repeatedly and provided support for post-rock behemoths Mono, avant-rockers Ranga and Mugstar but also poppier acts such as Canadian shoe-gazers Tallies. However, for all of Manchester’s illustrious musical history, it’s hard to bring to mind a local act that they compare or aspire to. Instead Easter’s binoculars are fixed on the fuzzy indie-rock of Dinosaur Jr , Guided By Voices and Teenage Fanclub with added twin-guitar weaving recalling the articulate jams of Television, Chris Forsyth and even Wishbone Ash. Only in Tom’s vocals are there hints of their surroundings with occasional echoes of Morrissey and, a few junctions away across the M62, Dave Gedge. They’ve found admirers in Huw Stephens and Tom Ravenscroft at 6Music and garnered praise from Uncut, Record Collector and NYC’s The Big Takeover while building a loyal fanbase across the UK. Easter are - Tom Long - Vocals/Guitar Gavin Clarke – Guitar Paul Flieshman - Drums/Backing Vocals Graham Blyth – Bass Live: Easter have been playing out and about recently with more shows scheduled around album release February / March ’24. Confirmed so far - Friday 16th February – Star & Garter, Manchester Saturday 16th March – The Old Dispensary, Camberwell