Fews are one of the year’s best new bands. Tim Hughes tries to find out what makes them tick

HARD, fresh and uncompromising, Fews are being hailed as the future of indie-rock.

The pulse-racing, dancy psychedelic post-punk outfit have gone from playing Berlin squat parties to Texas’ South by South West festival and London’s Field Day; shows with with Spring King, Fat White Family and Bloc Party; and now an epic European tour, which tonight hits Oxford – before they jet off to Iceland.

Their shows, fizzing with melodic guitars and pounding bass lines, are received with frenzied excitement and their frenetic debut album Means has been critically acclaimed across the board.

And, says the band’s Swedish frontman David Alexander, it has all happened without them noticing.

“We have a big following, which is amazing as I don’t know how people find us,” he says, as the band’s van rolls up in London’s Dalston for a show at the Victoria.

“It’s crazy,” he goes on.

“We must be doing something right, but I don’t know what it is.

“We’ve had a lot of luck on radio and people love what we do – and come to the shows.”

And it is live that they come into their own.

“We’ve just come from Bognor Regis and it was quite rock & roll,” he says without a hint of irony. Clearly, if they can find debauchery in the sedate Sussex seaside town, they are not a band to be messed with.

“It was a nice night; we had so much fun.”

Fews began life when David (‘It’s David... not Dave’ he insists) met San Francisco singer and guitarist Frederick Rundqvist in Berlin.

They bonded on Myspace over a shared love of the same bands, and signed up drummer Rasmus ‘Rusty’ Andersson from David’s hometown of Malmo.

“Fred and I met in Berlin and had loads of drunk times. I had made some music and put it on Myspace, and Fred followed me and said ‘let’s get a band’

That was in 2013, though he admits nothing happened for another year.

“We went to parties and talked about it but drank and partied instead of doing anything. Then suddenly it started and we had a band.

“It’s exciting because I can’t remember sitting down and writing anything. It just kind of happened.

“It never felt like working, just jamming together.

“Rusty, our drummer, was a guitar player back home, but is a super-skilled musician and a crazy person.”

A succession of bassists resulted in the recruitment of Brit Jay Clifton – completing an impressively international line-up.

“We had a couple of different bass players but the first said ‘I can’t deal with you, I’m leaving the band’. then we were introduced to Jay and that’s how we started the band.”

He goes on: “We have two Swedes, one American and one English guy,” he says. “I don’t know where home is, but we rehearse in London, in Camden, so this feels like home, to our band at least.”

Certainly it feels more like home than Sweden. “We’ve never played there,” he laughs.

So what do they sound like?

“We play post-punk, psychedelic music with loads of repetition,” he says.

It’s all coming from different backgrounds but I listen to loads of electronic music,” he says. “We are definitely a guitar band.

“We are interested in songwriting too and make every song as good as we can. There’s no filler!

“Most of it comes from real life experiences, but with a twist. We try to write what we feel and think but in a way people can interpret any way they want.”

He pauses for reflection and adds: “We don’t want to say ‘this and that’ and ‘your interpretation is wrong’. We just provide the basis for a story.”

Alongside their musical idols – including Interpol, with whom they have been favourably compared – they profess to being influenced by Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy, surrealist painter Rene Maigritte and Swedish football star Zlatan Ibrahimovic – who is immortalised in their track Zlatan.

Fans include a certain Philip Selway of Radiohead, who played them on his 6Music show and hinted that he may be at their show at The Bullingdon, tonight.

“He said he was looking forward to seeing us at the Bullingdon, so hopefully he shows up at the gig,” says David.

So what can Philip – and the rest of us – expect?

“We never know what to expect,” he says. “We just go in and do our best and hope people enjoy what we do.

“The best show was playing South by South West in Austin. We didn’t know what to expect there either, but it was amazing.”

So what’s their secret? “We just write the music we write and don’t try to sound any certain way or try too hard to be unique.

“But we are all from different backgrounds and manage to make music that sounds different.”

And, he says, they are loving every minute.

“So many weird things go on,” he laughs. “Just being on a tour bus with these guys is enough. Just hanging out with your best friends all the time and meeting all those crazy people.

“We like to party too. Sometimes a bit too much.

“We do ask for fruit juice on our rider but that’s only to mix with the vodka – which is Absolut, of course.

“As we are a small band we don’t have a big crew, and early mornings are not our forte – so there is always one or two of us who are nowhere to be found in the morning. I don’t want to name any names though.”

He adds: “Playing Oxford is going to be fun. Get out, come down... and dance.”