Tim Hughes doffs his hat to a local group who specialise in honest songwriting, great riffs, an upfront stage presence and tight shows

Loud, joyful and punchy, there’s something about the Black Hats which makes them impossible not to love.

A cult act here in their hometown, the pop-punk three-piece also have a burgeoning fan base further afield, a result of their honest songwriting, brash stage presence, powerful riffs and thumbscrew-tight live performances. If they have never quite achieved the success they deserve, that could be about to change.

After six months absent from the local scene, frontman Nick Breakspear, bass player Ian Budd and drummer Mark Franklin are back. They have something to share – a new mini-album.

Called Does that make you Nervous?, the six-track album, sees the lads in swaggering style, with songs boasting more hooks than the Icelandic fishing fleet and with just as much attitude (but perhaps with less of an appetite for patterned knitwear – or whale meat).

Always ones for a party, the band are launching the record in style, this Saturday, with a headline show at the O2 Academy Oxford. The gig is the latest of the venue’s Upstairs nights staged in conjunction with BBC Oxford Introducing, and will see them taking to the stage in the old Zodiac room, with support from The Shapes, Invisible Vegas, Late Night Lights and Talk In Code.

Nick says the recording has been a year in the making – with a few ups and downs along the way. “We had to look at the sort of songs we were writing and decide if we wanted them to get on the radio, or if we wanted to be true to our music,” he says. “The main national stations are looking for certain kinds of music, and it is making the type of tunes you hear very similar. Have you noticed that everything sounds a bit ‘Mumfords’ at the moment? “We decided that it’s not what we do and, foremost, we have to like what we do, or how can we expect anyone else to?”

He described the band’s sound as “intelli-punk”, adding: “It’s intelligent rabble-rousing punk-pop which appeals to cool indie kids, and people with smart shoes and funky shirts.”

The record is their first long-player since 2012’s Austerity for the Hoi Polloi, and follows last March’s single Mutiny in Progress.

“If you put these records together they make a proper album,” he says. It finds Nick and the boys in a fiercely independent state. “We are back to where we want to be,” he says. “We are doing this on our own terms. We know there’s no massive record deal around the corner, and we don’t want that anyway. We don’t want to be writing songs we don’t want to play. We are the record label now and can do what we want to do. We don’t owe anyone anything.”

Nick, formerly of local act Chamfer, is long-serving on the Oxford music scene. Hailing from Wantage, and now living in Marston, he is a loyal Oxford United fan and a regular at the Kassam Stadium. Budd, meanwhile, is a Witney man, while Mark is a Londoner.

“Being local means I’ve been here from the start,” says Nick. “I’ve grown up with the sound of Oxford bands. Of course, Oxford also has the best fans – and the best-looking groupies.”

The band could not have picked a more appropriate venue to launch the mini-album. A standout track is No More Smoke about the former Zodiac club, what he got up to there and how life has changed since it became the O2 Academy. The band have played there a number of times including a support slot for punk legends Stiff Little Fingers.

He says: “I have seen amazing bands and had some great nights there. In the early days the floor was black and you would come home filthy but when you see bands like The Verve, Radiohead, Michael Stipe and Super Furry Animals then you don’t mind.”

He adds: “Headlining the venue after all these years is special and playing on the same stage as some of those greats will make it extra sweet.”

He is delighted to share the bill with up-and-coming artists. “They are all local bands picked by the O2 Academy and BBC Introducing.

“This is your chance to hear what is coming out from our city... and see them before they make it big.

“As for Black Hats, we are ready to give a great show. If people haven’t seen us a for a while, they’ll be impressed. Of all the gigs we have played, this is one we are most ready for.”

While he wouldn’t sniff at a bit of industry money and the chance to work with a producer, Nick insists his only ambition is carry on.

He says: “If we can carry on playing gigs for people who want to see us, we are happy. If we can continue making records, that’s great.”

Listen online: Listen to Black Hats, The Shapes and more than 50 other Oxfordshire bands and artists at the Oxford Mail’s MP3 showcase, brought to you in association with our friends at the O2 Academy Oxford. Go to oxfordmail.co.uk/music

To add your song to the showcase, simply email it as an MP3 to tim.hughes@nqo.com. You must own the copyright of the recording.

 

LIVE
Black Hats play Upstairs at the O2 Academy Oxford on Saturday. Tickets are £6 from the 02 Academy box office or online at ticketweb.co.uk