The Tamesis
It’s easy to define the Fcukers as a very New York band—perhaps too easy. First, I guess it’s because they’re based locally: the duo, formed in 2022 by Shanny Wise and Jackson Walker Lewis, have built a reputation over the years in different indie bands and on the city’s late-night party circuit. Their sound then blends ’90s and ’00s dance beats with Wise’s disaffected vocals, channeling the lo-fi spirit of New York bands like Le Tigre and acts associated with DFA Records throughout the 2000s—most notably label co-founder James Murphy’s long-influenced LCD Soundsystem. (There was even support for Murphy during his residency in New York City a few years ago.)
However, speaking to them after they arrived in London for a series of album signings and promotions, their debut feature, oh, released last week – it’s clear their hearts are at least partly in the UK too. “My dad was very into British music when I was growing up and he played me Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and Primal Scream,” Lewis said. He even spent a semester studying at Goldsmiths University in London, immersing himself in the city’s clubby atmosphere. (British club influences are sprinkled throughout the album, from the jerky British garage beat on “Butterflies” to the infectious, staccato vocal loop on “Play Me” that’s reminiscent of Fatboy Slim.)
“I think New York and England have such a great musical connection, whether it’s the Chemical Brothers taking their name from the Dust Brothers who worked at Paul’s Boutique with the Beastie Boys, or people coming to New York and going to clubs and saying, ‘We should go back and set up [the iconic Manchester nightclub] Estate,” Lewis added.
You can hear the shudder of influence oh, They took the lo-fi style of their early music – including their breakthrough club anthem, the catchy “Bon Bon” – and elevated it to something more extreme. They expertly cycle through a dizzying array of genres—drum & bass one minute, dub the next, even ending with a series of hazy, downtempo, trip-hop-style tracks—while keeping it all cohesive, helped in part by their increasingly confident ear for narrative as the album has been calibrated to mimic the emotional arc of a night out on the town. Thus, the soft, airy “Getaway” that closes the album has an air of decadence, while the lush, Balearic-hued strings of final track “Feel the Real” – like an audible sunrise – are, as Wise sings, “in the penthouse, slipping away.”
While you can hear influences from these different genres and musical traditions, it also has a distinct and unique Fcukers feel to it. (As for the name? It’s pronounced like a curse word and comes from a vintage FCUK hoodie Lewis gave Wise shortly after they started making music together: “I still wear it, but only around the house,” she laughs.)
