News of the return of Reckless Yes Records following a two-year hiatus was met with much rejoicing at Joyzine HQ. There are few labels whose ethics and musical taste have aligned quite so neatly with our own in our twenty-six years of existence, having been home to the likes of Piney Gir, Chorusgirl, Fightmilk, Panic Pocket, Bugeye, Paper Birch, Breakup Haircut and many, many more Joyzine faves over the years, all the while keeping a focus on giving a fair deal to their artists, minimising the environmental impact of their release formats and ensuring strong representation of female and non-binary artists.
In 2023 Reckless Yes founders Sarah Lay and Pete Darrington took the decision to put the label on hold, but now they’re back with a magnificent compilation, Among The Wildflowers, featuring ten artists from their roster. Amongst them are Joyzine regulars Charley Stone (whose contribution ‘Free Food’ bounces out of the speakers and features some hilarious spoken word exposition), Chorusgirl (whose knack for shimmering surfy melancholy has rarely glittered so beautifully as on ‘Pink Elephants’), and Feral Five (with the growling guitars and bloopy synths of ‘Truth Is The New Gold’). Regular Joyzine readers will also be au fait with Tiger Island (whose ‘Bad Women’ is a punchy slice of garage punk), Electric Pets (with the massive guitar chug of ‘Nicky Is Dead’) and Duck (who close off the record with the buzzy lo-fi keys of ‘New Super Power’).
There are new delights to be discovered too, most notably the peri-menopausal indie-punk clatter of Knitting Circle’s ‘Losing My Eggs’, but really every track in this collection is a treat in its own right.
We asked Pete, Sarah and all of the bands to take us on a guided tour of the record, track by track.
The story of Among The Wildflowers begins a couple of years ago with us deciding to put Reckless Yes on hiatus while we faced some huge personal challenges. It was a hard but a necessary decision, definitely for the best for ourselves, but for our artists and those supporting the label too.
We always knew we would come back. And opening our new chapter with a compilation seemed the obvious choice. There are so many amazing independent artists around – those we’ve worked with and those who are new to us, all of them defying the limits the industry place on artists while aligning with our values as a label. More than that they all bring absolutely amazing tunes across the indie, rock, pop, and electro spectrum.
Grawl!x – i need yr river
Grawl!x say: Our contribution is called ‘I Need Yr River’ and is about a person, facing the departure of their loved one in a daunting world, telling them that they are their lifeblood. We recorded the whole thing in about 3 hours, which was a bit of an achievement in and of itself!
Reckless Yes say: We always love working with Grawl!x, and being able to sink into their delicately layered melodies, belying the strength of sentiment and the experiences in their songs. ‘I Need Yr River’ is no exception. A masterclass in dreampop. The vocal melody just haunts you after one listen and the backing vocals do too – it’s just so lush and textured. Melancholy but also uplifting at the same time – every listen reveals something new to you – we don’t know how Maria and the band pull it off. Their output is nothing short of prolific and always epic sounding with it too. A new Grawi!x song is always like a musical comfort blanket.
Grawl!x: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Tiger Island – Bad Women
Tiger Island say: ‘Bad Women’ is a garage rock banger that challenges persistent narratives around acceptable female behaviour. Which woman is a good woman? Which woman is a bad woman? Who do these questions really serve and why are we asking them in the first place?
Reckless Yes say: What an absolute force of a band! We caught them live in Sheffield recently and were absolutely blown away by their frenetic set and magnetic energy. This is the first time we’ve got to work with them, and they fit the ethos and sound of Reckless Yes brilliantly. Great songs, bursting with energy that grab you by the scruff of your neck and shake you down in 3 minutes or less and leave you wondering what just happened. It sounds ridiculous but it’s also a breath of fresh air to see a punk rock band that knows how to wield a keyboard to devastating effect too. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a band come out on stage with such an infectious sense of fun about what they do – the songs might deal with important social issues but they ooze the vibe that they are here to have a blast and they spread it to the audience with ease. We were shocked when frontwoman Penny said it was their first time playing Sheffield – the crowd took to them so enthusiastically, dancing to every song and cheering like they were seeing their favourite band. Just incredible.
Tiger Island: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Charley Stone – Free Food
Charley Stone says: ‘Free Food’ was an attempt to write a garage-rock song about wanting to live in a socialist utopia – however, it ended up being yet another song about romantic longing.
Reckless Yes say: We’re fans of free food, romantic longing, and Charley Fucking Stone. We have had the pleasure of working with her once before on a limited 7” lathe cut, which also featured tracks from her debut Here Comes The Actual Band – a sweet, scrappy, complex character of an album with poignancy and so much joy. ‘Free Food’ is about a socialist utopia that in these times might seem like nothing more than whimsy, but it bursts with bouncing riffs, punctuating percussion, and gang vocals that make it an irresistible manifesto to sign up to and dance along to as well. If you don’t know who Charley is, her pedigree is impeccable – she is probably the hardest working guitarist on the scene and chances are you’ve seen her playing live in one of her many guises – be it for Desperate Journalist, Sleeper, Salad, Linus or Nightnurse – we could go on, but instead we insist you should embrace what a brilliant artist she is in her own right.
Charley Stone: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Chorusgirl – Pink Elephants
Chorusgirl say: ‘Deliciously let go and swing, Don’t cling to chasing rain clouds’ – The song ‘Pink Elephants’ is an ode to both the film Dumbo and the band Suicide.
Reckless Yes say: Working with Chorusgirl has always been a dream and the back catalogue is one we dip into all the time. Third album Collapso Calypso, from which ‘Pink Elephants’ comes, is such a perfect slice of the Chorusgirl sound and feeling. There’s no-one like Silvi Wersung, the creative force behind the band – she effortlessly takes 2 almost absurdly opposed starting points for a song and crafts them into something that actually makes perfect sense by the time you get to the end. Elements of surf music, jangle-pop and shoegaze are skillfully blended to leave you feeling warm and fuzzy with a big heart for this band. We need more Chorusgirl in our lives than we get right now and can’t wait to hear more.
Chorusgirl: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Hannah Rose Kessler – Not Today
Hannah Rose Kessler says: ‘Not Today’ is from my 2023 album Too Busy To Die. I was also too busy to promote it, having released it while juggling extensive and disastrous house renovations, a 7 month old and an imploding workplace. ‘Not Today’ is a song about hope, or lack of hope. It takes the listener on a hypnotic and dark journey, that feels somehow appealing.
Reckless Yes says: Hannah’s music is beautifully unique in that she never cares to follow any rules or ‘stay in her lane’. Her songs can be loud and rocking or quiet and introspective, dark and moody or happy go lucky. She lives in quite a remote area of the countryside and is very connected to nature and this seems to be reflected in her art – weather and wildlife alike can be extreme, idyllic and calming one minute, brutal and aggressive the next and her work can be the same, but there is a common thread that runs through all of her songs, they really scrutinise the human condition, how that is different for all of us and how that makes us unique.
Hannah Rose Kessler: Facebook / Bandcamp
Knitting Circle – Losing My Eggs
Knitting Circle say: ‘Losing My Eggs’ is a song about how debilitating the peri-menopause/menopause can be for so many women, written from first-hand experience and seeking to raise awareness about this under-discussed life-stage.
Reckless Yes say: If there is to be an anthem for this time of life, the visceral physicality of it and the challenge of dealing with that as well as the diminished status society pins on women, then this song has to be it: the frustration, the shock, the accidie. It captures the observant, wry, and rocking riffs of this issues-led band. Another one new to us at Reckless Yes but who capture everything we’re all about. And they’re just as good live as they are on record – super tight, incredibly danceable riffage. With a strong indiepop pedigree (members of Milky Wimpshake, Crumbs, Red Monkey and No Fit State play on this track) that echoes through each chord, this band are only just getting started and yet has already so brilliantly, and confidently, shaped their very own sound.
Knitting Circle: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Feral Five – Truth Is The New Gold
Feral Five say: ‘Truth Is The New Gold’ explores truth and trust in shifting worlds, with glittering synths, mighty beats and glorious guitar crunch – a time capsule to let the future know we never gave up hope.
Reckless Yes say: Truth Is The New Gold was the last album we released before we went on hiatus, and we have come back to it time and again throughout that break. Not only as it captures the zeitgeist of these post-truth times, but for the incredible blend of electro, rock and pop, and the stunning visual aesthetic the band developed with Malcolm Garrett.
Feral Five aren’t just another band blending electronic music with more conventional instruments, they’re the punk rock of the 21st century – they embrace technology and what opportunities it could bring us, but also hold a mirror up to what the darker side of the future might entail as a stark warning that if we’re not careful, we could lose our humanity.
Feral Five: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Electric Pets – Nicky Is Dead
Electric Pets say: ‘Nicky is Dead’ is a ‘70s glam rock style fuzzed up guitar riff monster accompanied by suitably retro moog-esque sci-fi synth lines. The cheeky nod to the famously gender bending period in British rock is a deliberate choice – the song is a bold and sultry confession of femme fatale lust with a twist – the thrill of chasing the straight girl (because you know you’d make a better lover than her clueless boyfriend) and the unspoken price that comes with it.
Reckless Yes say: Electric Pets are the magpies of our roster – they’ve made an art of stealing from so many historical pop music styles and reference points to craft their own truly unique nest. Nothing seems to be off limits – motown, surf music, garage rock, lounge jazz, country, blues, synth pop – it’s all in there, like an encyclopaedia of pop music, but it’s anything but pastiche or retro. Instead, they somehow manage to patchwork this rich quilt together to make something fresh and new sounding, with a deep, eclectic passion for literally the whole history of recorded music.
Electric Pets: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
S.J. Thomas – Turn You Out
S.J Thomas says: I wrote the song in the midst of a heartbreak. I was feeling pretty raw and angry but adamant that I deserved to find my own right path. This one came on like a fever – all feeling, no thought. I produced the recording at home with my Grawl!x bandmate Robin Newman who is a certified wizard.
Reckless Yes say: Shelley-Jane has been part of the RY family from the very beginning, but has only really just struck out in her own right with us. One of our first releases was an EP by electro indie pop trio Mighty Kids and SJ provided bass and vocals for them. Later on she joined what I guess was RY’s first ‘supergroup’ project – GodNo! A noise pop collab also featuring our co-founder Pete and the drummer from Pet Crow (who put out their debut album with us). She went on to join Grawl!x providing bass and backing vocals there too – in fact she’s the only person to appear twice on this compilation because of that! It was obvious why Shelley-Jane was in such high demand as a musician when we started to attend her solo live performances a few years back – there seems to be no instrument she can’t pick up and write a perfectly crafted pop song with, so asking her to contribute something of her own was a no-brainer.
S.J. Thomas: Facebook / Instagram
Duck – New Super Power
Duck says: ‘New Super Power’ is a defiant roar against the societal expectations, cliches and shame around aging as a woman: ‘This cloak of invisibility could be freedom, a NEW SUPER POWER!’
Reckless Yes say: Duck come from a great tradition of Sheffield bands – self deprecating – tick, a dry humorous wit that is also poignant – tick – and not afraid to mash electro-pop and punk rock together with an industrial welding torch- tick. Live, they’re incredible. Sarah’s Siouxsie-esque vocals and grinding guitar are underpinned by a collection of bastardised 80s reject casio keyboards and drum machines wired together in a manner that look like they could pose a fire hazard. Anyone who thinks electronic music isn’t real ‘live music’ should go see Duck. When you see a keyboard player playing a different keyboard with each hand while literally triggering the drums with his nose, you’ll realise your argument is invalid. ‘Why don’t they sequence it all with midi?’ we hear you cry. Well it’s because (a) most of their gear dates from a time when midi was still a twinkle in an electronics boffin’s eye and (b) where would be the fun in that?
Duck: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Among The Wildflowers is out now – order via the Reckless Yes Bandcamp on vinyl and CD with fanzine-style sleevenotes and as a digital (Bandcamp only) version too
Reckless Yes: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bluesky
Introduction by Paul Maps
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