If you aren’t a Nick Cave fanatic, hearing a band name like Loverman, one can only expect a bunch of hairy-chested heartbreakers ready to woo lusty teens with their wiley ways. But while the all-black wearing four piece band are exceedingly easy on the eye, the mini-album Human Nurture is just a cruel snippet of their storming potential. Boisterously disputing moralistic idolatry with their grumbling guttural guitars, its their artistic enjoyment of anti-thesis lyrics that lure you in for the final deathly kiss. Revealing the bands exhausting eccentric talents, the blond-bombshell Gabriel Bruce is the vocal culprit, playing the baritone guitar with lead guitarist, Jon Jackson and “brawling” brothers Adam and Chris Prendergast on bass and the drums.

Creation of Loverman: Adam’s fascination to “wear dresses and high heels” coerced the band together but while the cross-dressing band gimmick fell through, family blood sealed the deal. According to brothers, Adam and Chris, they discovered their family ties through the Jeremy Kyle escapade and so “felt obliged to form a band together”.

Song to win over an audience: Eager to unveil the dexterous musical flair of Loverman, Gabriel retorts ‘Crypt Tonight’ is the “one”, lyrically questioning the nothingness of “sexuality and faith and morality” and best played backwards in a slow build up into the roaring “full throttle” chugging peak. If that’s not enough, they’d play left-handed, or even switch instruments, as Adam blasts, “we want to show off as much as possible!”

Secret Sixth Sense 1: While Gabriel distracts away from Adam’s shouts of “Tapeworm!” with his nifty collarbone dislocations and Chris’ ability to “disembowel an ox…with his pinkie”, the front-man reveals his former role as a host to an infectious tape-worm. Though Adam declares touching Gabriel is a no-go (is this wrong to find this more alluring?) his tapeworm seemingly transformed him into a prophetic being able to win countless Coconut Shy funfair games and judge a person’s “bad character”.

Secret Sixth Sense 2: With Gabriel now tapeworm-less and overwhelmed with funfair cuddly bear prizes, Chris is the triumphant band member, able to combat onset vomiting with the simple gulping of garlic and what he calls his “sick-sense”. 

Failed Ambitions: Sadly Gabriel’s influences, from non-fiction Don McCullin’s Unreasonable Behaviour to war film Salvador leave his past ambition to be a war photographer in the illusory world. While Chris’ success of being the (insert thick York accent here) “fastest potato peeler in the North”, his aborted ambition to be a pilot still would have honed the input of Gabriel “to photograph me over warzones; he would have captured my good side!". 

Loverman Fans: Masochists, screaming “Punish me with your words” while writhing in aural pain.

The Loverman Experience: If you’re a “Shoreditch crowd” wannabe, assume you’ll be faced with a catapulting Gabriel off the stage, ripping guitar leads in show-stopping “Fuck You!” demeanor, knocking drinks over to then injure your toesies. So for the usual masochistic fans, expect to be in bliss with a cyclical journey of “extreme discomfort, sense of humiliation, and extreme discomfort”. SS demands you to fit on your tighhtest skin-peeling attire, with whip in tow, and get yourself down to a one bruising body-lashing performance (and keep your eyes peeled for our gig review!).

Ignoring the idea of an unavoidable celebrity presence and children “cash cow” choral voices, duo Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields intervention into music is dreadfully outstanding. Tearing deep-rooted melodic muscular tissue off its skeletal form, Dead Man’s Bones reminisce to untainted innocence to challenge deceptive ideas of the afterlife, religion and love in the realm of the supernatural. Enter the theatrical combination of choral backing voices of the Silver Lake Conservatory of Music Children’s Choir set to contrast the stifled haunted vocals of Gosling, lack of string instrumental manifestations and muffled soundtrack piano.

Creation of Dead Man’s Bones: When Gosling and Shields discovered they were making out with sisters in 2005 (Actress Rachel McAdams and her sister Kayleen), they united with Zach in heels and became so infatuated with their fixation on ghosts they then began to seduce each other, to possibly swap saliva, get physical and spawn their Arcade Fire/The Zombies infused self-named debut.

Song To Win Over an Audience: Though they contest social constructs, as actors they can still bloody get away with dirty sexual murder. So managing to lure a collective of impressionable kids to sing 'My Body Is A Zombie For You' without the lawful implications of protective parents (cue The O’Jays “For the Love of Money” ), is as shifty as the incomprehensible lyrics and Gosling’s 1950’s ethereal vocals.

Secret Sixth Sense 1: Both encompassing the unremitting imagination of a six year old. Whoa, Peter Pan much? (Hmm...is it too soon to make MJ jokes...) 

Secret Sixth Sense 2: Overcoming their problematic capacity to play any form of instruments by creating sharp production “rules” from no click tracks or electrical guitars, a three-take directive and playing new instruments themselves to birth that lo-fi  ( though actually over-expensive) feel. So giving a whirl on the cello, piano and drums for first time, the duo will leave you wide eyed and dribbling with hynotising PA system recordings.

Failed Ambitions: Though some may say his choice of acting career (ooo burn) or his rectangle tattoo, you’ve got to give Gosling chops for reducing even the emotionally crippled person into a heaping mess with The Notebook, while Zach Shields remains the allusive contributor without damaging failures. But musically, these two grown men admit to adhering to contemporised pressures in the studio at first because of cutthroat professional types embarrassing their “goofy” ideas of music. Thankfully, Gosling and Shields grew some weighty bollocks and regressed into a peculiar supernatural obsessed child to produce their mystical record on their own label Wolfman Heart.

Dead Man’s Bones Fans: Extremist Gosling fans who have suddenly discovered “the rock music” genre, or the large collective of listeners, ignorant to the famous celeb and bop their unaware heads along gleefully to the warped stories.

The Dead Man’s Bones Experience: Gosling and his man Shields bring out all the stops for their support, using local talent shows before their D.I.Y performance. Not forgetting the youth choirs, they also hand-pick a group for each city while on tour. We feel sorry for the obese-challenged children, aka those fat kids who are not “cute” enough to repetitively sing sinister lyrics “my grave, grave, grave.” A little emotional damage is always good for the soul right?

Words: Gemma Dempster

Photography: Elinor Jones (Loverman) and Hama Sanders (Dead Man's Bones)