Static Dress Release ‘injury episode’ and Ask Crowds to Turn Off Their Phones

Static Dress put out their second album this Friday, five months after the first clue appeared online. Fans who decoded a mini-game earned an invitation to a short film screening in an abandoned London theatre. The rollout was sharp, designed for the algorithm, but the band is already pushing back.

“The way that people consume art nowadays is so destructive. It destroys the music. It destroys people,” says bandleader Olli Appleyard. That conviction led to a recent pair of in-store shows in New York City where phones and cameras were banned from the room. A post showed the band performing to a crowd with their backs turned, no lit screens between them. “Word of mouth is stronger than ever,” Appleyard says.

Static Dress have earned the pull to pull that off. Touring with Motionless in White and Knocked Loose, winning a Heavy Music Award, they sit among the most visible rock acts out of Leeds. Their rise was often tagged as a Myspace revival, but Appleyard rejects that framing. “The only thing we are is an emo band. We want to make music that’s emotional, intense, and as dramatic as it can possibly be.”