Come on, who saw this one coming? All of you? Even you at the back? Yeah, thought so.
From pretty much day one of Dork kicking into gear, we’ve been convinced Declan McKenna was The Real Deal. A superstar in waiting. And boy, were we right. As he prepares to drop his debut album ‘What Do You Think About The Car?’, our Dec has blossomed into the kind of engaging, exciting voice that keeps us excited about the power of music. In this month’s cover feature, he proves just why he’s a cut above as all that glittering potential is realised with interest.
Course, it wouldn’t be Dork if we hadn’t rammed our pages full of more bands than any other magazine on the planet. We’re not letting you down, with our biggest issue yet. There’s the genius mind of Mura Masa, a teary goodbye to The Maccabees and the biggest, best pop show in town with Paramore. There’s hugs all round with Broken Social Scene, the brilliance of Lucy Rose and the invention of Bombay Bicycle Club’s Jack Steadman as he dodges your boring expectations as Mr Jukes.
We dare to ask The Avalanches if they’ve thought about that third album yet, dive deep into the return of pop’s lost treasure Chloe Howl, and welcome back Thumpers, Childhood, Dan Croll, The Districts and Waxahatchee. Hype introduces Francobollo and Swimming Girls, we check in with Husky Loops ahead of their Dork Live! tour, and ask Any Other Questions to our chum Will Joseph Cook.
Plus, there’s everything that went down on Worthy Farm with our huge Glastonbury 2017 round up, featuring chats with Dork faves The Big Moon, Marika Hackman, The Magic Gang, Blaenavon and more. We’re not afraid of getting political, as we join Wolf Alice to smash the Tories in London. If you’re after a soundtrack, we’ve got not one but two playlists from those brilliant blighters Bad Sounds too.
And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s the official verdict on the new Arcade Fire album (as well as all the other new releases, obv), reports from down the front with Alt-J, Matt Maltese‘s guide to South London and the full lowdown on just what Becky from Milk Teeth gets up to in A Day In The Life.
The new issue of Dork is out this Friday, 14th August. You can pre-order a copy below, subscribe here, or pick one up from record shops, venues and bars around the UK.