Band of the Week: Pulled Apart by Horses

Anyone who has seen Pulled Apart by Horses will testify that they are a phenomenal live act. As aggressive as they are fun and -- more often than not -- topless, the band have won a legion of fans by doing things the old fashioned way and touring their behinds off.

"We gig relentlessly" says bass player Rob Lee, backstage at London's 100 Club shortly before another sold-out tour date. "Last time I counted we'd done something like 400 in a year. "The most we've ever done is three in one day but we love it so we don't care. We never turned a single thing down when we started because we just wanted to play."

Not really caring what people think is key to making these Horses such an exciting prospect. Lee tells us that during the recording of their debut album they would venture into the local town for food and "get stared at for looking like weirdos." Trying to understand their surreal intra-band banter proves very difficult, which Lee claims "makes you think we need sectioning."

One of the trickiest parts of recording a debut album is the tightrope between sounding as raw as your live shows and as polished as you can achieve using studio technology. Capturing the ferocity of the stage show was what Pulled Apart by Horses -- also counting singer/guitarist Tom Hudson, James Brown on guitar and Lee Vincent on drums -- wanted to do. "It needed to be the most honest document of the band that we are and not to be too polished whilst maintaining the live energy we have when we play," says Lee.

Recorded in Bridlington, North Yorkshire, in a barn that has been converted into a studio, the resulting album is Pulled Apart by Horses at their leanest. Pummelling and relentless, yet never overtly aggressive, the self-titled debut album captures everything that's made them such a live draw. Recorded in just a week, the only problem the guys had was being stuck together in such close quarters. "We basically spend our lives together and are constantly cooped up together in vans and we definitely get on each others nerves eventually," admits Lee.



Having spent more time on the road than Jack Kerouac touring has taught this Leeds band a few things about their music. "You learn so much by touring, you discover how to make audiences react and what sounds better and well as just becoming more competent musicians so it was important for us to make the album about who we are now and not when we first started."

With song titles like 'Meat Balloon' and new single 'Back to the F--- Yeah' could this be a band with more than a little novelty value? "We don't purposefully inject humour into everything we do but at the same time we're not going to avoid it if doing something amusing feels right," says Lee. "We're not going to pretend we're all heartbroken and angry at the world all the time but we're not a novelty either. There is a lot of anger within the band and I think that comes through in the music but we mix it with a sense of humour so it never get too intense.

"People come up to us and say things like, 'That was the heaviest thing I've ever heard!' But then people who are into proper metal music don't get it as much, we've been called disco gay boys more than once. It's just nice to see that people are willing to listen to bands and music that they wouldn't normally listen to and that we're the band doing that for them."

Doing it for people is certainly what Pulled Apart by Horses are all about and this summer they will play to more people than ever before when they hit every festival going as well as a massive support slot with Muse. "It's not just the opportunity to play with Muse in front of that many people on a stage that sized the more you learn. I love playing dirty basement gigs but it's great to see how things work when you get to that level."

Ambitious, riotous and above all else ready to rock Pulled Apart By Horses, go catch them at their next show. We'll see you down the front.

Pulled Apart by Horses' debut album is out now. For the band's full list of tour dates over the summer, visit their MySpace.