Cabbage

These young Manchester lads are named after a vegetable, writes carefully crafted songs about dinner ladies, and offers a slice of satirical discordant neo post-punk as well as some rad hairstyles. On the up and up since the release of their debut EP Le Choux, Cabbage are coming to Norwich as part of Norwich Sound & Vision this month. I spoke to Lee and Joe from the band about GG Allin and asked them to tell us a joke.

You’ve been hyped to the max of late by the media and your increasing barrage of fans – how does that feel? Are you worried about expectations from your audiences going forward?

Not in the slightest, we thrive on it. My only worries relate to the tax man and what's for tea.

Has Manchester’s huge and important musical heritage influenced you as a band or not so much?

Manchester has a rich heritage, but our favourite bands prided themselves on being entirely different to anything that's been done before, rather than resting on the city's laurels. Joy Division & Happy Mondays, for example, sounded otherworldly. We intend on writing a new chapter within Machester fook'lore.

How did you choose which songs to put on your debut EP, Le Chou?

We weren't an active band when we decided to document those songs. Ste runs an independent label, Play & Record, and the three of us had a handful of songs that we recorded with him. We were beyond pleased with the outcome, so we began rehearsing with Ste on bass and recruited Burnage's finest young drummer, Asa Morely. As apposed to Le Chou, our new material has been crafted collectively in the practice room. The next EP entitled Uber Capitalist Death Trade is due on the 30th of September and is a bold statement of intent that we're immensely proud of.

I have to ask – why the name Cabbage?

Why not? It provokes a reaction within every walking soul and will soon become its own entity. Skipping along the tightrope between love and hate is never boring either.

Your lyrics really look to say something about the world as you experience it in 2016, and are biting on occasion. Do they start off as poems because some of them read that way?

Writing lyrics is an intense process that we take very seriously. We hope they'll serve as a time capsule in the years that follow, documenting the world we're struggling in. There are no rules and we're constantly looking to explore new pastures, but the state of so called 'democracy' in the UK triggers both anger and amusement, which is a prominent source of inspiration at present. 

You’re playing Norwich on the first date of a UK headline tour. You’ve only had one EP out so far, so it might be rather a short set! Do you have enough songs ready to start putting together an album now?