by Glen Screeton
SOME bands are carefully manufactured, and others happen almost by accident and for Warrington’s Severe Girls, it all started with a broken body and a misunderstood weather forecast!
What began in 2022 as Andy Richardson’s solo project, during recovery from a skateboarding injury, has quietly evolved into one of the North West’s most intriguing underground guitar bands. Now operating as a fully established four-piece, Severe Girls reached a significant milestone with the release of their latest single Sunset Mindset and their first headline show at Manchester’s legendary Rose & Monkey.
Now, I was present when they had the single launch at Peggy McCools in Warrington and again at the Rose and Monkey and I really enjoy this band, their DIY ethics and the on-stage drive. So, I was more than happy to grab an interview with them at their rehearsal space at Big Pink Studios in Warrington.
Today’s line-up sees Andy handling lead vocals, guitar and the majority of the songwriting, joined by Mike (Drums) —whose CV already includes Slow Hand Clap, Chris (Bass) – also with Dennis Beach, and long-time collaborator Jean on backing vocals and lead guitar – also with Warrington band Fordton Leisure. Incidentally, Andy also plays bass with Fordton Leisure and the two of them pour as much energy into that outfit as this one – it’s exhausting!
Importantly, humour and creative spontaneity run through everything the band does. Even the band name refuses to take itself too seriously! The story goes that Andy misheard a Scottish weather presenter announcing, “severe gales.” Rather than correcting the mistake, he embraced it, tweaking the phrase into Severe Girls because, as he puts it, “it simply sounded more like a punk band”. When composing songs, Andy arrives at rehearsals armed with chord progressions and melodies, ideas are stretched, reshaped and occasionally dismantled completely as songs develop. It’s a process that has naturally shifted Andy’s original vision into something far more collaborative, quite common nowadays and far removed from the Lennon & McCartney era.
Mike jokingly describes their sound as “Soyboy Rock,” although labels such as College Rock, and Power-Punk probably get closer to the mark. I personally think they are a blend of Weezer and The Buzzcocks with jangling California melodies sitting comfortably alongside the Pete Shelley lyrical style – whatever, I know I like it …………..a lot!
The band’s philosophy is uncomplicated, forget over-produced arrangements or endless studio perfectionism. Severe Girls prefer dry recordings, honest performances and songs that capture the energy of a room and that approach reached its logical conclusion during the recording of their latest single Sunset Mindset. Away from the studio, momentum is building quickly yet nobody in Severe Girls is pretending they’ve arrived.
The bigger ambition lies further ahead. Andy speaks enthusiastically about finally releasing a full-length album, revealing that the band already has a considerable catalogue of unreleased material waiting in the wings. Beyond that, the goal is simple: more festivals, bigger audiences and establishing Severe Girls well beyond the Northwest circuit. Check them out in a venue near you, no ‘shoegazing’ here, they are another one of those superb live bands and you won’t be disappointed!
