On the radar: Fronteers

Sounding like the irksome offspring of Arctic Monkeys and The La’s, Fronteers grew around the close-knit dual guitar and vocal talents of Andy Towse and James Taylor. 

An open-mic rendition of Love Me Do led to the accidental discovery of a harmony vocal that’s more addictive than Pringles

The duo started jamming Last Shadow Puppets covers, before an open-mic rendition of The Beatles’ Love Me Do led to the accidental discovery of a harmony vocal that’s more addictive than Pringles.

“We were just sort of astounded by how it came out,” says Andy. “So we decided to find more songs where we could do that, then eventually started writing our own.”

Reverb rundown

Having taught each other guitar along the way, they now conjure a brash-but-beautiful treble-laden tones from a Gretsch Electromatic G5422 (Andy) and James’ Blacktop HH Strat.

“We just find the thing that works well,” explains Andy. “As long as it’s got a nice reverb on it and it’s feeling exciting then it’s good!”

  • For fans of: Arctic Monkeys, The La’s
  • Hear: Next Time I’m Around
Matt Parker

Matt is a freelance journalist who has spent the last decade interviewing musicians for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.

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