Formal Sppeedwear make their debut with time-bending single ‘Bunto’
Taking us back to the future, the Stoke-on-Trent band’s first single is for those who wish they grew up in the 80s.
Photo: Jacob Swetmore
Melodic’s newest signing Formal Sppeedwear have just dropped their debut single Bunto and it’s not a debut you’d expect to hear in 2024. Pulling inspiration from the wonderfully wonky discographies of Yellow Magic Orchestra, DEVO and NEU!, the Stoke-On-Trent trio have nailed their own brand of new wave with jolting melodies and a Bowie-esque combination of guitar and vocals.
Consisting of Beck Clewlow (Bass, Vocals, Synth), Charlie Ball (Guitar, Synth), and Connor Wells (Drums, Guitar, Synth), the band’s spacious mix blends organic and synthetic instruments to impressively ignite fleshed-out synth-pop melodies amongst a rigid structural soundscape.
Despite the track’s solely staccato surface, thanks to early 80s basslines and a stomping rhythm, there is an intriguing and intense freedom to Bunto that can’t be ignored – which is likely down to the band taking creative cues from Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies and Conny Plank’s experimental recording technique. As a result, Formal Sppeedwear’s soaring synths ultimately boil over into ecstasy by the song’s end, making us feel as though we’re confidently and contentedly dancing the night away, and leaving us wanting more from these modern-age, new wave weirdos.
Bunto is out now via Melodic Records.