About

Consisting of vocalist Jack Lawther and guitarist/vocalist Rory O’Rourke, the pair met whilst studying in Bath, before moving to London in 2021 where the long-held vision for Flat Party finally came to life.

The outfit’s second single “Dig Up Concrete With A Plastic Shovel”, released on their new label home Submarine Cat Records, is a frenzied reproach to ‘abject cynicism’.

Self-produced by the band themselves at Abbey Road Studios, mixed Chris McCrory (Walt Disco, Catholic Action) and mastered by Noel Summerville (The Clash, My Bloody Valentine, Kraftwerk), “Dig Up Concrete…” skips joyously between barbed guitar stabs and irresistible call and response vocals; briefly descending into a lugubrious, woozy mid-section, before climbing out of the gloom into a feverish closing blast of art-punk.

Flat Party self-released their debut single “Fish” towards the end of 2022 – an agitated yet undeniably catchy slice of modern art-rock that was quickly added to Spotify’s Hot New Bands playlist. In recent months the band have followed up that initial wave of excitement with key support dates with (now-label-mates) FEET, along with Saloon Dion, Fräulein, Gag Salon and more.

With a sizeable back catalogue of unheard material, ranging from jagged art-rock to crooning sixties-tinged pop, Flat Party are adamant they do not want to be pigeonholed, with collective influences ranging from acts such as Big Star and Lava La Rue, to Suede, Sparks, Japanese Breakfast and David Bowie.

“What we’re mostly about is escapism,” vocalist Jack Lawther explains, going into more detail on the band’s ethos. “Rory and I have had similar upbringings, we both grew up in towns devoid of any real culture and so music, art and literature were the only things that excited us; I think this is why our lyrics are very visual. We want to paint worlds for people to step into for three minutes and just forget about everything else.”