Released: 2020
You don’t want to jump to conclusions about Graeme, but it’s hard. We first met him on Yard Act’s debut single Fixer Upper, a torrid tale of property development and casual xenophobia. Formed when Leeds music scene stalwarts Ryan Needham and James Smith ended up living together, the band’s early promise brought them plenty of scrutiny, before the pandemic closed all the doors.
As we all sat at home there were signs of real promise; post punk as a vehicle was hardly an original choice – although far removed from their old projects – but character sketching like Mark E. Smith, his namesake brought a roughened observational edge to a refreshingly primitive musical outlook.
Back to Graeme. Having the principal role in Fixer Upper’s otherwise skeletal structure suited him, the erstwhile neighbourhood watcher bobbing and weaving amongst the verbal darts. Such was his winning personality that the instruments didn’t have to do much more than offer a stage to grab; you didn’t want to speculate about what he’d say in private, but you could draw your own conclusions.
The Voice Of Unreason 