XFM “Having the definite article as a prefix these days seems enough to get you going on the garage rock scene, but when it's backed up with quality it's a total bonus. The Fades don't disappoint. They seem to have melded what is a very old school sound to the new school of punk-garage, and this is what gives them the edge. From the opening riff ‘You Say' grabs hold of you and by the end feels as though it's been a very uplifting experience.......”

LOSINGTODAY "More flippantly irregular coolness and lovesick blues this time from the Fades with this muscularly schizoid follow up to their ‘You Say' debut earlier this year. Housed in a sleeve that depicts a hapless vehicle of a car crash it neatly sums up what ‘Life Support' is all about, except that their car of choice is a ringer as they set about welding together reggae rhythms to the kind of urgent blistering pop punk that shreds eardrums and has toes tapping and betrays a crafted classic Ruts feel to it. Raucous and damn fun with it."

Tim Perry (The Independent): "One of the mainstays of the capital's gig circuit, this west London quartet follow a gaggle of singles with an eight-track mini album. Combining the soul-punk of the Clash with vogue-ish garage-punk, the Fades set out to make every track a dark, memorable anthem and, for the most part, succeed."

SANDMAN MAGAZINE (HT) This pack of vagabonds are out of control. ‘CACA’ is an amalgamation of scuzz and punk, fiery licks and catchy indie garage noise. Starting with a deep, scraping, repetitive riff, the guitar cuts and slashes its way through the song like some demonic wasp. Nervous energy then kicks in, as an impatient lead singer wails down his mike “And everybody wants the chemicals, but the chemical drive me insane”. ‘Fruit Machine’ is similarly taut and wiry, bursting out at the seams and demanding to be heard. There’s a real sense of urgency about The Fades, like their about to lose grip and slide off the edge of reason. Consequently everything has to be tightly squeezed into two minutes of howling reality.
What a fantastic record, kind of like listening to The Falls ‘Totally Wired’ after drinking six cans of red bull and watching a whole series of 24 in one sitting.

THE PIT THE FADES - Caca / Fruitmachine(single)
The Fades have a real sound that’s a breath of fresh air, and this London based four piece are anything but generic. If you’re sick of of the sugar coated American punk pop and overly produced indie – then THE FADES could be the perfect antidote.

KARMADOWNLOAD "Social misfits The Fades get down and dirty with their anthems to alienation, hopscotching from Gang of Four punkfunk to balls out guitar solos, always with one eye on rocking the house despite claiming not to 'fit in'. Put simply they sound like the soundtrack to the filthiest houseparty in history; a dirty booze swilling, tv smashing, bedroom trashing riot with added scuzzy guitars and pounding backbeats. Catch them before the police come round!"

LOSING TODAY MAGAZINE The Fades ‘Life Support’ (Genepool). And the hit tunes just keep coming. More flippantly irregular coolness and lovesick blues this time from the Fades with this muscularly schizoid follow up to their ‘You Say’ debut earlier this year. Housed in a sleeve that depicts a hapless vehicle of a car crash it neatly sums up what ‘Life Support’ is all about, except that their car of choice is a ringer as they set about welding together reggae rhythms to the kind of urgent blistering pop punk that shreds eardrums and has toes tapping and betrays a crafted classic Ruts feel to it. Raucous and damn fun with it. ‘Blade’ over the other side is a rampant festering collision of white-hot dynamics and a caustic wall of sound howls served up in less than two minutes. Does it get any neater?

WWW.SOHOSTRUT.CO.UK The Fades - “Social Misfits”
These boys know how to deliver a brand of angular, straight ahead rock that is perfect for now. They combine the heartfelt punk of the Clash with elements of the industrial funk of the Gang of Four. But its all done in such a way that you know they‘re rocking to the rhythm of the naughties. Post Britpop. Post indie. Post dance. The quartet of south Londoners are Graham Best: drums, Dave Lightfoot: vocals & guitar, Bon Jarnard: guitar and James Lightfoot: bass. They have established themselves on the gigging underground, with gigs alongside the likes of The Others and Art Brut. Tunes such as “1995” and “Social Misfit” are particularly anthemic. “Don’t take much to get me down, I gotta be ballistic, I walk round with my head in the clouds, I’m a social misfit”. Great stuff. “Another Song About Motorbikes” is pure rock and roll. They have got a real chance of breaking through. Songs that have a shed load of power together with tunes that get you moving along to them. A good advertisement for live music. Watch them go.

ANDREA CARUSO (INDEPENDENT CLAUSES) Southwest London’s The Fades is Misfits-esque psychobilly with a pop twist. The aptly titled Social Misfits is a high energy, fun listen that does the genre justice. Their sound, though, varies from song to song. At times, they have a very brooding, somber feel, yet at other times they can sound more poppy. The contrast can be experienced quite well within the opening track “1995”, which opens with a quick-paced guitar riff, and after a short time, it is accompanied by a darker, brooding bassline, giving it that traditional psychobilly feel. At other times, they seem a little poppier, such as the song “You Say”, a quicker song with a good dance-able vibe to it. One thing that The Fades does not purport itself to be is complex. It is clearly straightforward fun music with simple lyrics. It is a fun listen, but does not attempt to make any strong political or social commentary. The last track on the CD, “Another Song About a Motorbike”, is just that: another song about a motorbike.
In their lack of seriousness, the Fades accomplished what it set out to do. This was a genuinely fun to listen to album. They have a tremendous amount of energy and catchiness. It would be a great soundtrack for a rowdy, drunken party (assuming that all the partygoers are of legal age, of course)!

LOSING TODAY MAGAZINE The Fades ‘Social Misfit’ (Genepool). Boogieing with a similar chord progression to the Monkees ‘(I’m not your) Steppin’ Stone’ there’s really nothing that can go wrong with this spiked pop tart from The Fades, and so we pogoed to our hearts content with the sound of festering sharp as knives riffs ringing in our ears like the spirit of the late 70’s never went away and just when our heads couldn’t take it anymore we played it once again just for the road you see. ‘Social Misfit’ is taken from the bands forthcoming mini album entitled er….’Social Misfits’, an arse whipping mess of ‘glammed up punk’ blues that manages to sound all at once like the Ruts teamed with Dr Feelgood and running the sword through the Small Faces, the Faces and the Stones while strutting with the cock sure aloofness of a seriously wired T-Rex.

WWW.HOWSYOUREDGE.COM The Fades hail from south west London and have just released this album on a Beverly Hills label. How they ever got together, I have no idea. This band has nothing Rodeo Drive about them. They claim to be "punk soul rockers." Sure, I could see that maybe. I don't really see the punk part. Soul rockers, sure. They mesh well with a lot of those DIY indie THE bands that have been popping up lately: The Action, The New Pornographers, The Decemberists, ... I think you can see where I'm going with that. The Fades are definitely funkier than those bands. Plus they have a song about motorbikes. Catchy. (www.howsyouredge.com)

TMS (LOST MUSIC) The Fades are a band from London. They have been around since 2000. This is first release of theirs that I have come accross - being from what I can gather their first mini LP - they have released. They make a punk rock noise - with a healthy edge to their rocking. They also touch on the old punk penchant for mixing up some reggae into their mix of firebrand rock n roll. My favourite on this LP is 'You Say' which moves from reggae to punk rock effortlessly. The band have obviously honed their sound during the past 4 years. Another stand out track being the more straightahead rocker 'Get Better' which shows the band have the nouse for that great rock sound. There are enough tunes on this 8 track collection to make it worth £5.99 of anyones money. The CD can be bought direct from Genepool Records. This is a very promising release from a band currently doing the rounds on the london gig scene. I, for one, would be keen to hear more. TMC (Lostmusic)

WORDS BY: LUCY RUMBLE (UKMUSIC.COM) Have you ever felt as though you don't belong? Do people cross the road as you pass them in the street? Are you an unknown oddity? A loner? A bit of a hermit? Social Misfits is the new album by punk-garage outfit, . Previously of Radio 1-championed band Molotov Cocktail, brothers David and James Lightfoot have recruited and reformed to make a new and improved line-up. Opening track ‘1995' has me dancing round my front room in a way that hasn't been seen since my discovery of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This song will make you want to twirl around so fast that you make yourself dizzy and fall over. And as far as I'm concerned, this is a good thing. It feels like an anthem for my teenage years, I loved 1995 and now I love ‘1995.'
‘Another Song About Motorbikes,' the final track, is pretty damn sexy too. Dirty guitars and sleazy vocals make this song compulsive and I listen to it on repeat without getting tired. However, somewhere in the middle of this album I get lost, bored even. Maybe I've got a short attention span, maybe not. But as soon as I realise I've started to count the squares on the CD sleeve (there are one thousand and twelve, front and back) I think it's safe to conclude that not all tracks are as enthralling as others. The songs are catchy and likeable, but whilst this album will probably grow on you, it's apparent that style has been given priority over content.
My first piece of advice for you is to go out and buy this record. It's worth it for two or three great songs. My second piece of advice is to keep your remote control handy; if you're anything like me you'll be fervently track hopping.
Rated 3.75 / 5

LOSING TODAY MAGAZINE The Fades ‘You say’ (Genepool Records). I blame the Strokes and the White Stripes you know, they’ve opened the whole Pandora box thing, guitar bands have never sounded so good. Next to be pinned up on the bedroom walls and blasting from the headsets everywhere are the Fades. Providing the link between old school punk / reggae crossover merchants the Clash and the Ruts to today’s white hot nostalgia fuelled garage punk hybrid scene, the Fades on the evidence of this twin track debut have enough about them to be major players on the circuit. ‘You say’ ducks and dives with almost wild abandon between sharpened chord jabs to loosened skank riffs, storming spangled anthem crazy chorus’ and drop dead gorgeous dynamics. Flip side ‘1985’ is equally attrition filled power punk pop, jagged chords ride roughshod across blistered fury, mental melodic thrills, spills and skills sort of describes it in a neat nutshell. Don’t say you weren’t warned. (LosingToday Magazine)

The Fades
Strutting British garage rockers who ain't that far from their NYC counterparts play a top session in the Xfm studios.
 
Not, as you might expect, a lank-haired garage rock band from NYC, The Fades are nothing so much as the direct British equivalent; struttingly confident yes, but with a slight sense of withdrawl in the quieter moments of songs like 'You Say' and even the furious ode to their personal sword of Damocles that is 'Blade'. Current single 'Life Support'ends the set on a note of violent nihilism, repeating 'I have no life left' over and over. Lovely