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Brighton four-piece Had Sandy have released their suitably-emo-titled new single ‘I Hate My Parents And I Wanna Learn How To Swim’ today via Sugar-Free Records. Its sound harks back to the frenetic but impassioned energy of second wave emo - think Sunny Day Real Estate, Texas Is The Reason and Mineral with a touch of The Movielife and The Anniversary thrown in for good measure. Initially inspired majorly by Tigers Jaw (especially with the keys element), Had Sandy have grown to incorporate influences such as Citizen, Title Fight, and Drug Church as they’ve honed in on the sounds that flow most freely through them as a unit.

Vocalist and guitarist Jude Allenby says of the track: “The title actually means something entirely different to the lyrical content of the song, but accurately paints a nostalgic picture of teen angst and the innocence of a misunderstood kid. However, the lyrics sit somewhere between smoking cigarettes to try fit in, and frustration with contrasting feelings in a relationship - all in all, the essence of being a teenager - and the song tells this musical story. I love the idea that someone’s nostalgia can be someone else’s present fixation. We’ve had a few people saying that our songs ‘make them feel 16 again’, and that’s what this song is meant for.”

This new single is one of the first songs written for the Had Sandy project. Jude says: “One day Elliott (Scambler - drums) just texted me, ‘Wanna write a song?’, so I went downstairs to his room. He had had the idea for a drumbeat that he wanted to play in a song, and so that was the only tool we went into the songwriting session with, and in 20 minutes it was done - it kind of just fell out of us." 

Louis (Tong - bass) came up with the name on a drive to a show at Brighton’s Green Door Store. I think he was taking the piss out of being a kid / stroppy teenager, and we immediately went, ‘Write that down!’. To be honest, it’s how a lot of our song names come about.”