Band of Skulls Rock 'Sweet Sour' Tracks Live at Milk Studios -- Video

Like most young groups, the gritty alt-rockers Band of Skulls spent time opening for bigger acts after releasing their 2009 debut, 'Baby Darling Doll Face Honey.' The English trio regarded those support gigs as an excellent learning opportunity.

"We did quite a big show with Muse, and seeing how bigger bands on a huge tour, how they make their stage show work and how their set lists are structured, you learn new things each time," singer and bassist Emma Richardson tells Spinner. "It was to our advantage, really, to support bands like that."

Also, it was a chance to win over new fans, which must have worked: With the new album 'Sweet Sour' out now, the group is headlining shows at respectable-sized venues on a U.S. tour that starts at SXSW this spring.

It's all part of Band of Skulls' growth, which extends to the songs on 'Sweet Sour.'



"We wanted to make it sound a little bigger and more impressive for bigger venues, and on some on the quieter tracks try out some ideas we hadn't tried before," Richardson says. "Some of the structures are quite complex, and some of the sounds are new."

The band worked again with producer Ian Davenport (Supergrass, Philip Selway) on songs the trio wrote as a reaction to getting back home to Southampton after a long time on tour. The initial writing sessions got off to a rocky start, though.

"We went to a studio in Norfolk up on the east coast of the U.K., and it was freezing, and we had just come straight from touring, so it was quite -- not a dark time, but everyone was quite stressed about writing a second album," Richardson says. "There was a bit of an edge to it and a lot of the louder riffs came about at that time, sort of an angry time."

Exhausting though it was, Richardson says all that time on the road was beneficial in fusing her, guitarist and singer Russell Marsden and drummer Matt Hayward into a tight musical unit, which in turn benefited the songs they wrote for 'Sweet Sour.'

"Everyone has got better as players and maybe taken a few more risks," she says. "We tend to write things we can't play very well, and when it comes time to tour, we have to relearn them, and it pushes our abilities. I think maybe this record shows that."

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