Yard Act is a British rock band from Leeds, West Yorkshire. Critics have categorised the band’s music as post-punk and indie rock, often making use of elements of 1970s Italo disco, ’90’s hip-hop and early 2000’s indie rock. Their lyrics are often political, discussing opposition to topics including capitalism, gentrification and social class, told using “dark humour and cynical storytelling”. Their lyrics also take a surrealist style, such as on the song “Payday” from their first album.
Prior to forming the band, vocalist James Smith and bassist Ryan Needham had both been members of other Leeds-based bands. Smith was a member of Post War Glamour Girls and Needham played in Menace Beach, two bands that released a split EP together in 2016. After the release of the EP, the pair began discussing forming a band together, a plan that eventually came to fruition in September 2019, when the pair moved into a house together in Meanwood.
They soon recruited guitarist Sammy Robinson and drummer George Townend who played together in Treeboy & Arc. During this period, Robinson departed from the group, leading to the recruitment of Sam Shipstone. Prior to the announcement of their debut album, the band had only released a total of four singles independently. These singles were then compiled onto an EP, titled Dark Days, released in 2021.
Their debut album The Overload was released in January 2022. The group was “one to watch” in the BBC’s Sound of 2022 shortlist. The group was also named one of Paste’s “Best New Artists of 2021”. Yard Act’s debut album The Overload is a series of vignettes of a reality that doesn’t exist but also is right outside of everyone’s front door – much like this bustling allegorical public house. Characters stumble in and out, individually living interesting – if questionable – lives, but when they interact, the smell of fading ‘70s wallpaper cuts through. A thick musk, smoke-stained, sticky floors, beer-soaked wood, and enough stories and disappearing lives to fill all six-thousand-plus episodes of Eastenders.
In July 2022, a re-recorded version of “100% Endurance” was released featuring a collaboration with Elton John. Their second album, Where’s My Utopia?, will be released in March 2024.
