Xmas is coming! The bells are ringing! We’ve already eaten too many Frosty Fancies! Our bumper double end of year edition drops this Friday, 24th November, and it’s a doozy.
Packed to the rafters with over 35 (THIRTY FIVE) features, it’s a who’s who of the best bands and artists. Here’s just some of the stuff you should be getting excited about.
It’s Pale Waves! AND King Nun!
Label mates, tour buddies, two of the most exciting new bands on the planet – it’s no surprise when we wanted to get excited about the year ahead we’d call on this lot to lead the charge. You’ve got twelve full pages of glorious, full colour action from 2018s most likely, fronting up a whole raft of awesome things to expect over the next twelve months.
It’s Xmaaaaaaaas with The Big Moon
You know what we’re like, Dear Reader. Once the festive period comes round, we start getting a bit giddy. So, obviously, we buzzed our favourite gang in town, The Big Moon, and invited them round the tree for a catch up on their amazing year and a spot of band based secret Santa. And yes, they did turn up in costume. There’s even a special festive cut out and keep poster, so you can make your crib especially indie Xmas.
St. Vincent and our fave 50 albums of 2017
Most people will try and tell you their list of top albums are The Very Best of All The Albums. Not Dork. Obviously we think they’re all absolutely fucking stonkers, but there’s a whole world of amazing music out there beyond our horizons. So instead, we’ve picked out our favourites – the stuff that gave us a buzz, the characters that made our pulses speed and our hearts skip a beat. Lead off by the brilliant St. Vincent, interviewed right after her first fantastic, divisive live shows, we also catch up with INHEAVEN, Rat Boy, Creeper, Superfood, The Cribs and The Amazons.
Behind the scenes with Sundara Karma
We kicked off 2017 with Sundara Karma, so when we found out they were set to headline the supreme chapel of all indie, London’s O2 Academy Brixton, we figured we should blag our way in and celebrate the occasion with the band. So that’s exactly what we did. SPOMB.
Blaenavon’s 2017 Jukebox Jury
If there’s one band you can rely on for an opinion, it’s Blaeners. So, when it came to making sense of Sheeran, ‘Despacito’, Swifty and more, we knew who we had to call. And yes, we did make them review their own song. Obv.
A toast to Deccers
It’s been a breakthrough year for Crown Prince of Indie Declan ‘Deccers’ McKenna. As we grabbed him to celebrate, you’d expect him to have all kinds of exciting new stories to rave about. But what, Dear Reader, has dominated his 2017? Toast. Yep. Us too.
Marika Hackman’s Xmas Gift Guide
What do you buy Mum? Dad? That awkward mate who always wants to be on everything first? We took Marika down to Rough Trade East to work it all out. Seriously, we should be on commission here.
On set with The Wombats
Come to Ireland with us, The Wombats said. Sit in on our glam video shoot, The Wombats said. It’s dark, it’s raining, and we’re watching three musicians sit on chairs outside a muddy portakabin. This is rock ‘n’ roll, kids. Still, it gives us plenty of time to get the inside scoop on that new album. There’s always a silver lining with your gr8 m8s at Dork.
It’s an Album preview bonanza!
If there’s one thing we’re ready for in 2018, it’s a whole bunch of amazing new albums from our fave bands. We’re giving you the inside line on what to expect, and catching up with The Magic Gang, Black Honey, Dream Wife, Idles, Gengahr, Hookworms and more to find out what they have planned.
Will Joseph Cook’s Festive Film Guide
We figured, by asking our mate Will to tell us the best five Xmas films, we’d settle that Die Hard debate once and for all. The fact he didn’t include it should set the cat amongst the Xmas pigeons. Take it up with him.
Glass Animals: festival faves
Pineapples, pineapples, something pineapples. They dominated this year’s festival circuit, so we get misty eyed with everyone’s favourite fruity fellas, and work out the top three moments of festival season 2017.
Once you pop…
Dear ‘the charts’. We’re coming in 2018. Yours, Dork and friends. Yep, the new year sees some of our favourite popsters dropping their debut albums. We chat with the mighty Sigrid and the phenomenal Fickle Friends as they get ready to blow the bloody doors off. Heart eyes emoji here.
Go South!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock this past year, you’ll have noticed all kinds of murmurings about Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarf London’s influx of talent. The bands don’t really sound similar, or look the same, but apparently in this country divvying people up by postcode is A-OK. So we’ve done that with The Rhythm Method, HMLTD, Sorry and more.
More of the best new bands for 2018
Wait, you thought we were done? Nah. We’ve previewed, profiled and partaken in chats with some of the most exciting new bands set to kick up a fuss in 2018, including Yonaka, Ten Tonnes, Confidence Man, Freak, Anteros and loads more.
It’s our party…
Yep, we’re throwing a Xmas bash this December – the 11th, to be exact – in that there London. It’s free, and you can find all the details in our new issue. We promise, the line up is 100% awesome.
Welcome to Dorksville!
This month sees the first edition of our brand new monthly comic strip, Dorksville. Created by the amazing Russell Taysom (you’ll know his work if you’ve seen VANT’s ‘Fly-By Alien’ vid, ‘FYI’), it features all your favourite bands, who conveniently all reside in our special, purpose build conurbation. It’s like an indie Milton Keynes, but not as shit.
The ultimate Xmas bangers
We’re fed up with debating this one, so we asked Jamie of Indoor Pets (no, not Get Inuit anymore – Ed) to definitively work out what were the best Xmas songs. He did. Now you can be sure your festive celebrations are appropriately soundtracked.
Make your own indie Xmas decoration
We know you like to get crafty, so we’ve included a one-off special festive tree topper in this issue. Cut it out, glue it up, and have a very indie Xmas. And no, we’re not telling you what it looks like. That’s a humongous secret.
Oh, and if you want… The Super Awesome Dork Indie Colouring Book Volume 1
Yep, we warned you it was coming. If you fancy, you can order the new issue alongside the first volume of The Super Awesome Dork Indie Colouring Book.
Featuring hand-drawn illustrations based on Original Dork Photos of Wolf Alice, Bastille, Declan McKenna, Muna, Blaenavon, Sundara Karma, Pale Waves, Will Joseph Cook, Rat Boy, Marika Hackman, The Big Moon, Black Honey and INHEAVEN, they’re ready for you to fill in with your very own glorious rainbow.
They’ll ship from 1st December, and they’re absolutely brilliant.
You can pre-order a copy of this month’s Dork, out this Friday, 24th November, here. Alternatively, you can subscribe and get every issue sent direct to your door. You know you want to!