Bold, brainy and ballsy, Louise Distras represents nothing less than the rebirth of British punk; reinvented for a new generation. She’s taking the UK, Europe, Canada, Japan – and soon the USA – by storm.
For a world grown exhausted of Simon Cowell’s X Factor synth-pop, there’s a raw emotional honesty to Brit punk sensation Louise Distras that might be too incandescent, all too real. But you know what? She couldn’t care less. The Guardian said Louise Distras is “putting punk and protest back into the mainstream” and she’s trumpeted as the natural successor to Billy Bragg , Joe Strummer, and the UK’s answer to Joan Jett who has been described as “so good, so truly punk rock” by Linda Perry (4 Non Blondes). But Louise insists: “I don’t view myself as a protest singer, I view myself as a young woman passing on a message for the next generation.”
And that message is spelt out vividly on her newly released, critically acclaimed debut ‘Dreams from the Factory Floor’, featuring Jamie Oliver (UK SUBS) on drums and Mick Talbot (Style Councl/Dexys) on keys.
The tracks are twelve clenched fists full of fury aimed squarely at consumer society, sexual discrimination, and the ‘chosen few’ who run society in their own interests. It’s a vivid, poetic, relevant and relatable portrait of a kind not often seen in music these days; at least not in mainstream channels overrun by vacuous sex and an anodyne vocabulary. Here is the story of a thousand disenfranchised young people, laid bare in viperous and vitriolic song. Everywhere you look on this record, the downtrodden and dispossessed are raised up, championed, supported and urged to keep fighting and the fact that it’s a belting, melodic thrash, as well as a statement of solidarity and a call for change, simply makes it all the more powerful.
Over the past year alone, Louise has traded songs with Billy Bragg at Glastonbury Festival, and played shows and festivals all over the UK and mainland Europe with New Model Army, UK SUBS, Tim Barry, Kevin Seconds, Street Dogs, US Bombs, Cocksparrer plus a Canadian tour with The Mahones, and praised by BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, XFM, KROQ (USA), Inter FM (Japan), Big Cheese, Vive Le Rock, The Independent and many more along the way.
Following Louise Distras’ biggest UK show to date at London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, she returns to the UK, Belgium, Germany and Austria!
*with Steve Ignorant’s Slice of Life
**with support from Sammy H Stephens
11 September : Costa Nostra, Aalst (Belgium)
12 September : Rock N Ink Festival, Chemnitz (Germany)
13 September : Chybulski, Feldkirch (Austria)
14 September : Wahlfisch, Freiburg (Germany)
16 September : Das Werk, Vienna (Austria)
26 September : The Hairy Dog, Derby (with Buster Shuffle)
2 October : The Parish, Huddersfield**
3 October : Dog & Partridge, Bolton**
4 October : The Full Moon, Cardiff*
8 October : Amplify Youth Project, Northwich**
9 October : Mello Mello, Liverpool**
10 October : Adam and Eve, Birmingham*
11 October : Fighting Cocks, Kingston*
12 October : Black Rabbit Tattoo Studio, Newbury**
14 October : Lady Luck, Canterbury
15 October : The Cornerhouse, Cambridge**
(support from Jake Martin)
16 October : Owl Sanctuary, Norwich
17 October : Unity Hall, Wakefield* (with support from Demitaves)
18 October : Star & Garter, Manchester (with support from Healthy Junkies)
23 October : The Yorkshire House, Lancaster** (with support from Joe Solo)
24 October : Bannerman’s, Edinburgh**
25 October : Cobra Club, Dunfermline**
30 October : Santiagos, Leeds**
31 October : City Screen Basement, York**
1 November : The Intake Club, Mansfield
7 November : The Green Room, Welwyn Garden City
(support from Steve White & The Protest Family)
8 November : The Holroyd Arms, Guildford
14 November : Stag & Hounds, Bristol
12 December : Polish Club, Barnsley
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