High Vis is an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band formed in London in 2016. Formed by the members of various

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

bands, the band blends the genre with other styles like

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

and baggy. They have released three studio albums and four EPs.

History

Beginnings and ''No Sense No Feeling'' (2016-2020)

Vocalist Graham Sayle grew up in

New Brighton, Merseyside New Brighton is a seaside resort and suburb of Wallasey, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England, at the northeastern tip of the Wirral peninsula. It has sandy beaches which line the Irish Sea and mouth of the Mersey, and t ...

, moving to London at nineteen to study at

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

. There, he became involved in the city's

scene, forming the bands Dirty Money with

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. The town is located approximately north-northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Its north ...

native Rob Moss, then Tremors with Moss and Edward "Ski" Harper. After Tremors disbanded in 2012, Harper began writing music influenced by

. This culminated in the 2016 formation of High Vis, with a lineup rounded out by Sayle, Moss and guitarists Romain Bruneau and Rob Hammeren. The band took its name from the colloquial abbreviation of

high-visibility clothing High-visibility clothing, sometimes shortened to hi vis or hi viz, is any clothing worn that is highly luminescent in its natural matt property or a color that is easily discernible from any background. It is most commonly worn on the torso an ...

, with Sayle explaining in an interview with ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' that "It is the unifying clothing item of the working class. And it also just alienates you completely if you put a high-vis on, nobody wants to see you or speak to you unless they want something." At the beginning of 2017, the band released the EPs ''I'' and ''II'', then on 7 December 2017, the band released their third EP ''III''. Their debut album ''No Sense No Feeling'' was released on 7 December 2019, however only a few months later the

COVID-19 lockdowns During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology), non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar socie ...

began, leaving the band unable to perform. Around this time, Bruneau departed from the band to move back to Paris, leading to the band hiring Martin MacNamara. In the following months, Sayle and Harper entered the studio, culminating in the release of the ''Society Exists'' EP (2020).

''Blending'' (2020-2023)

On 15 April 2022, the band released the single "Talk For Hours". On 4 June 2022, they announced the release of their second album ''Blending'' for 9 September, which would feature "Talk For Hours", and released the single "Fever Dream". On 15 September, they released the single "0151". On 24 January 2023, they released a music for the album's song "Trauma Bonds". Between 1 and 15 April 2023, they embarked on a headline tour of the United States and Canada, followed by another tour of the country from 28 July to 23 August, which featured both headline dates and festival appearances including Sound and Fury, Riot Fest and Furnace Fest. In the summer of 2023, they band performed at both

Outbreak Festival Outbreak Festival is an English hardcore punk festival and concert promotion company founded by Jordan Coupland and Lee Follows in 2011. Beginning at the Broomhall Centre in Sheffield, the festival has moved between a number of different venues ...

, 2000 Trees festival, as well as at

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

. Between 15 and 28 October 2023, they headlined European tour. The band released the one-off single "Forgot To Grow" on 25 October 2023, which was included in a compilation of

Dais Records Dais Records is an American independent record label founded in August 2007 by musicians Gibby Miller and Ryan Martin, and based in Los Angeles, California, and Brooklyn, New York. History The label traces its origins to Ryan Martin's time a ...

tracks ''DAIS223''.

''Guided Tour'' (2024–present)

On 11 June 2024, they released the single "Mob DLA". This was followed by the announcement of their third album ''Guided Tour'', to be released on 18 October 2024. The second single released was the

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and garage influenced "Mind's A Lie". This was followed in September 2024 by the single "Drop Me Out" In September 2024 the band contributed to the song "Stomach" from the Corpus II Ep 2 by

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

band Show Me the Body.

Musical style and influences

Their music has been categorised by critics as hardcore punk,

and

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

, incorporating elements of

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

oi! Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement wa ...

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

, baggy,

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as Dmt, DMT, Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, ...

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

and

Madchester Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that emerged in the English city of Manchester during the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance movement. Indie dance (also referred to as indie rave) blended indie rock with elements o ...

. Their music makes use of jangly guitar and hardcore style drum playing. Sayle's vocals are often more similar to hardcore's shouted vocals than standard singing, while also emphasising his

scouse Scouse ( ), more formally known as Liverpool English or Merseyside English, is an Accent (dialect), accent and dialect of English language, English associated with the city of Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside. The Scouse accent is h ...

accent. The band's lyrics early on were angry and expressed hopelessness, while later on often discuss pushing through a traumatic upbringing to better oneself. In a 2023 interview, Sayle reflected that since 2020, "A lot of the subject matter f his lyrics becamejust things that I was kind of reflecting on in therapy", also stating in a '' Paste'' magazine article he believes "It's really easy to hide behind anger if you play in a hardcore band... That’s easy. Standing there, just having a microphone and singing is hard".

Class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

is also a common theme in their lyrics, as are references to the singer's

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

upbringing, such as the song "0151" named for the county's dialling code. In an article for ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'', writer Will Richards called their music "For hardcore fans wanting something a little sweeter or indie fans after some crunch or grit". ''

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'' writer Eli Enis likened them to "what

the Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...

would sound like if they were on

Dischord Records Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release '' Minor Disturbance'' by their band the Teen Id ...

". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' writer Sophie Porter said they merge the "tightly wound energy and seething passion of hardcore, softened (albeit slightly) with a post-punk maturity and a dash of Britpop idealism". ''Brooklyn Vegan'' said of ''Blending'' "the band really found their sound, dropping a pin in mid-’90s Manchester, part

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up consisted of brothers Shaun Ryder (vocals) and Paul Ryder (bass), Gaz Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry la ...

, part

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment the Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...

's stadium atmospherics in there too, all filtered through their hard-charging, aggressive past." ''Loud and Quiet'' writer Dominic Haley described their sound as "a frankly out-there melding of

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

style Youth Crew,

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

-like goth and '90s Britpop". They have cited influences including

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...

, the Stone Roses,

the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

, Wipers, the

U.K. Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper (singer), Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's Rhythm and blues ...

, Chromatics,

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continuous members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notability as a hardc ...

the Chameleons The Chameleons are an English rock band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 1981. The band's classic line-up consisted of bassist and vocalist Mark Burgess (now known as Vox), guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding, and drummer Jo ...

and the Sound.

Members

*Graham Sayle – vocals (2016–present) *Rob Hammeren – guitar (2016–present) *Edward "Ski" Harper – drums (2016–present) *Martin MacNamara – guitar (2018–present) *Jack Muncaster – bass (2024–present) ;Former *Romain Bruneau – guitar (2016–2018) *Rob Moss – bass (2016–2024)

Discography

;Albums *''No Sense No Feeling'' (2019) *''Blending'' (2022) *'' Guided Tour'' (2024) ;EPs *''I'' (2017) *''II'' (2017) *''III'' (2017) *''Society Exists'' (2020) ;Singles *"Walking Wires" (2019) *"Talk For Hours" (2022) *"Fever Dream" (2022) *"Forgot to Grow" (2023) *"Mob DLA" (2024) *"Mind's a Lie" (2024) *"Stomach" ( Show Me the Body featuring High Vis) (2024) *"Drop Me Out" (2024)

References

{{Reflist 2016 establishments in England Musical groups established in 2016 English post-punk music groups British hardcore punk groups Indie rock groups from London British post-hardcore musical groups