Never Hill might be our new favourite band

Never Hill Vocalist Adam Ross

I lived in Leicester for three years and I am absolutely devastated that this was the first time I had been to Nuneaton’s Queens Hall. It’s less than an hour’s drive from where I used to live and I’m almost positive I would have spent every weekend there, had I known it existed. The place is insanely cool, from the downstairs bar covered in posters and merch (some priceless, some not so priceless at all) to the top floor backstage area painted in an intense orange. It is a wonderfully typical local rock venue.

And on June 19^th it played host to a sterling selection of local acts, all of which were pretty impressive. But our interests were quite singular. We were there to see Never Hill.

You might have seen these guys before, performing under the name The Oceans Above, but around March 2015 they rebranded. Thus, Never Hill was born and it is glorious.

We sat down with the boys before the show and they answered some ridiculous questions from the Louder Now Grab Bag for us. You can read that mayhem here. But if there’s one thing that our time with Never Hill taught us, it’s that these guys pay particular attention to detail, all the way down to their stage clothing. “It’s not that we all HAVE to wear black…” explains guitarist Dan Thomson, “we wouldn’t say he couldn’t play with us or anything…” We think you might consider it though Dan. Be honest.

Never Hill Guitarist Dan Thomson

After we were done torturing them with pointless questions, we got to witness an incredibly energetic and impressive performance. Propped up against the stage to get some snaps, I could feel the whole construction shaking. This band have stage presence in abundance.

Opening track, Forgive Me, is taken from their EP, Epilogue, which was released on June 20^th and is also a clear sign that this band are going places. It’s loudly melodic, the vocals are on point and it has a ‘woah oh’ that NEEDS to be played in a huge venue with adoring fans screaming it back. We love a ‘woah oh’ here at Louder Now. You can see the video for this track here, and we strongly suggest you do give it a listen.

The Nuneaton crowd was then treated to Starting Line, which is also from Epilogue, and has an astounding production value rarely seen in a band at this level. The flawless vocals throughout the EP are paired on this track with that of Eleni Drake which is genius because it allows for some killer harmonies and a whole new dimension smacked into the middle of the record.

Never Hill Bassist Jake Mendham

As the guys launch into Afraid of The Dark you would think that they have been on that stage together a thousand times before. The reality is that they have just welcomed a new guitarist into the fold in the form of Jacob Morris and their drummer, Peter Cornell, is out with a knee injury. Despite all of that they nailed this set and it was remarkable to see a band who can record fantastically also bring it on stage.

And whilst we’re on the subject of drumming (well we sort of were, shut up) we are in love with the opening to Stay Away. In fact this whole track has been swiftly added to our summer soundtrack. Road trips, festivals, barbecues, we’re gonna be wacking this song out all over the place and screaming along the chorus as if we were still in Nuneaton.

Closing up the set with Fire we are stoked we managed to catch these guys just before the world exploded with Never Hill Fever. If you’re one of those people who takes pleasure in saying the sentence “you know I saw them before they were massive”, and I am 100% that person (one day I’ll tell you about Give It A Name in 2006 when Paramore and You Me At Six were itty bitty) then you MUST get yourself to a Never Hill show. Soon. If not immediately (you can throw one together instantaneously right guys?)  

If there was one criticism to be made it’s that we didn’t get to hear Colours, the token slow song of the record. It would have been incredible to see this but I suppose there’s only so much you can ask of a band that later admitted to me that they only had a 3 hour rehearsal before the show! That is mighty impressive lads.  

I suppose there is a lot to be said for the method of always leaving them wanting more.

Never Hill Facebook. 

Never Hill Twitter. 

Buy Epilogue here.