British Rock Trio THE SPITFIRES Dissect Their ‘LIVE EP’ Vinyl Offering with an Exclusive Track-by-Track Breakdown

On March 15th, 2019, Watford, UK-based rockers The Spitfires released a wonderful new vinyl offering (with the first 250 copies signed by the band) called the Live (EP) via Hatch Records, a five-track offering (also available in digital format via most DSPs) which highlights the group’s favourite setting – live, on-stage, in front of a big, rock-hungry crowd.

Sure, the digital version is something to check out but to truly appreciate this EP, one has to opt for the vinyl version. Recorded live in Hamburg, Germany during a 2018 gig, the Live (EP) serves up five of the trio’s biggest songs carefully etched onto a beautiful “white rabbit” coloured vinyl. This latest release follows hot on the heals of the band’s ten-track 2018 release, Year Zero, a full-length which was met with positive critical acclaim and served as the backbone for much of their touring schedule.

Speaking of which, The Spitfires are not ones to remain still for long and, beginning on April 11th, kick off yet another UK trek (all dates below). So, whether or not you’ve yet to see these raw rockers in a live setting, you’ll soon have your chance to do so when Billy Sullivan (frontman, guitarist, songwriter), Sam Long (bass), and Matt Johnson (drums) stop in your town with George Moorhouse (keyboards) and Alistair Welsh (horns) in tow.

Before we get into this new live album’s track-by-track breakdown – which sheds light on the live versions of each of the five songs on offer – Billy Sullivan spoke of the EP’s recording, stating “We were really taken back by the response of the German crowds from the very first show in Hamburg back in 2015 and it’s great to see it grow as time goes on. We’ve always wanted to release some live recordings to capture the true sound of the band – no overdubs, no studio magic. You really do play off the crowd response so to record the show in Hamburg in 2018 was a no brainer!”

Before reading about it, hear it. Stream the full Live (EP) here.

01. “The New Age”
– From the moment we started rehearsing this track we just knew it would good live. It was pretty much back to basics and back to the sort of tracks we’d be playing when we first started. But I suppose more melodic and structured as I had grown as songwriter. Great no nonsense punk.

02. “Tell Me”
– A track from the early days – probably the most played track live since back in 2012. It’s good to not forget your roots and represent the whole back catalogue when it comes to Setlists. Still a fun track to play too.

03. “Year Zero”
– Title track from our last album and a great atmospheric, dubby breather in our current live set. Great drumming by Matt on this too.

04. “Stand Down”
– Our first track to involve a keyboard player so the track is a good representative again of the twists and turns in the history of the band so far. I felt at the time I’d found my voice as a lyricist – oh how naive!

05. “On My Mind”
– For me this song just gets better and better. There’s no stopping it. Taken from an album ‘A Thousand Times’ which was not very well received by the press and didn’t sell as well as our first ‘Response’ – every night on tour it just gets bigger and bigger and goes somewhere else.

The five-song Live (EP) dropped on March 15th, 2019, via Hatch Records.

Spring 2019 UK Tour Dates:

04/11 – The Cluny – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
04/12 – Broadcast – Glasgow, UK
04/13 – Old Fire Station – Carlisle, UK
04/20 – Unknown venue – Tramore, Ireland
04/26 – 100 Club – London, UK
04/27 – 100 Club – London, UK
05/24 – Olby’s Music Room – Margate, UK
05/25 – Wedgewood Rooms – Southsea, UK
05/26 – Unknown venue – Ware, UK
06/29 – Concorde 2 – Brighton, UK
07/04 – Boileroom – Guildford, UK
07/05 – Esquires Bedford – Bedford, UK
07/26 – Santa Pod Raceway – Wellingborough, UK

Peep the music video for the song “The New Age” in its original version.