TRACK OF THE WEEK
THE UPTIGHTS- IS IT FOR THEM THAT THE LIGHTS TWINKLE
Distorted synth-punk from enigmatic Oslo quartet The Uptights. Their single It Is For Them That The Lights Twinkle is a decadently dark slice of atmospheric intensity that was 10 years in the making! This title track is lifted from their upcoming LP set for a June 25th release! We were able to catch the Andreas W. H. LindvÄg from the band who was more than gracious enough to take some time out and answer a few questions we had for them!
01. Hello! How are you all doing and what are you up to?
Just me, Andreas no. 1, here, Iâm afraid. Right now Iâm a bit  hung-over. The bars opened up again in Oslo a few days ago after being closed since autumn last year. Itâs a sunny and warm day, so Iâve sought refuge in the relative cool of the offices of the newspaper where I work.
02. How did you choose the name for your band? How many are in the band (what are names and what instruments do you play?)
We knew we wanted to call ourselves The Uptights before we started the band in 2010. Drummer Ăyvind and I needed an outlet for more difficult, moody and unbending music. Just blatantly sad music too. We thought the name was a good fit. In the early days we didnât say a word to the audience at shows. We had a dress code of sorts as well: hats and shirts buttoned all the way up. With time we lost the hats and became a bit less, well, uptight, but our music and band still has an inward-looking, insular feel to it.
When we recorded the songs on the record we were still a trio:
Andreas W. H. LindvĂ„g (me) â vocals, guitar, bass, field recordings
Andreas UtvĂŠr Fossheim â guitar, bass, organ, drum machine, vocals
Ăyvind Bersvendsen â drums, percussion, bass, banjo
Our friend Anders Meyn Jensen joined in 2019. He plays synthesizer and guitar.
03. How would you describe your sound?
We record our music to cassette and mix it in mono, so we sound pretty lo-fi. Sometimes weâre noisy and even upbeat, sometimes weâre quiet. Our music is dreamy and melancholy, at times experimental and almost confrontational. You could bill us as post-punk.
04. What were some of the bands that you all listened to growing up?
From childhood and onwards? My dad is English and we had this old cassette (now lost) with childrenâs songs in our car that we listened a lot to when I was a kid. Some of the songs were pretty eerie, like Charles Jollyâs «The Laughing Policeman». Others were just wonderfully sentimental and sweet, like  The Seekersâ version of «Morningtown Ride». That tape influenced the little vignettes on our first cassette, At the Wörthersee Hotel (2011), like «Pier. Late.», «Lisa on the Balcony» and «Vault».
Until my senior year at high school I mostly listened to the retro rock and post Britpop acts of the day (the early 2000s). How I wound up playing in a band like The Uptights half a decade later is a classic story of working at a record store, hanging out at the local student radio (Radio Nova) and of friends heavily into music.
We formed after a Japandroids show in the winter of 2010. At the time I was very into Guided By Voices. Add a bit of The Fall, Capân Jazz and emotional, shoegazy music like early Twilight Sad to the mix and you get a sense of where I was at back then.
05. Do you all remember the first gig you played? Where and when was it? How did it go?
That would be in the basement at Revolver in Oslo in July 2010 together with Dark Times and Deathcrush. The bass player in Deathcrush said we looked scared out of our wits. Which is probably true. It was loud and chaotic. And a kick.
06. What was the inspiration behind It is for them that the lights twinkle?
IIFTTTLT is the title track from our upcoming album, which is due out on June 25th. Itâs a remorseful song about having done something wrong, prompted by a specific situation. Musically the chorus was inspired by the verse on The Telescopesâ «Never Hurt You». The title, however, is taken from a paragraph in Lewis Mumfordâs book The Culture of Cities (1938) describing how the lights of adverts and cinemas twinkle at the crowds at night.
07. Any sleeping tips for us?
A hard pillow, a hard mattress and an open window. A book way too heavy to read late at night helps too.
08. What are some of the bands in your area that you are loving and want us (and readers) to check out?
Weâve got friends and acquaintances in two new bands that just released their first single. Check out Flight Modeâs «Fossil Fuel» and Onsloowâs «Overthinking» if youâre into emotional indie rock. Porto Geese just released a new single too on Sheep Chase Records, which keeps putting out great stuff. A few favourites: Outer Limit , Lotus and Dark Times.
Then there's all of our other projects: Ăyvind and I have played in an indie pop/rock outfit called The Slow Painters since high school. We released our debut album last year⊠Weâre an aptly named band. Ăyvind plays in three great bands that sing in Norwegian as well: Dinosaurtegning , HusbĂ„ten and Youdude/Heybro.  Anders makes melancholy, ambient music under the moniker Meyn. Andreas no. 2. is part of a trio called Wölfbike. Theyâre like a combination  Algernon Cadwallader and a loud stadium rock band.
09. Any recent books, music or movies that you all watched and would love to tell us about?
I write about Norwegian politics, so Iâve mostly been reading books on that this past year. But Lizzy Goodmanâs Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001â2011was a fun read and a trip down memory lane.
