Mandy, Indiana’s emergence seemed sudden. Based in Manchester – a city where the speed of word of mouth means new bands rarely remain unknown for long – the outfit’s brutally abrasive post-punk noire has forcefully grabbed attention in a way that feels as if it’s come from nowhere.
Formed by Scott Fair (guitar/production) and Valentine Caulfield (vocals/lyrics), the band have signed to Fire Talk, attracted media coverage from the The Fader, Brooklyn Vegan, The Quietus and gained fans amongst the likes of Daniel Avery, Girl Band and Scalping.
Mandy, Indiana’s influences are fluid and lyrical content is left intentionally open-ended – whether French is your native tongue or not – but the group are keen to acknowledge cinematic references alongside musical touchstones. That’s clear in the early self-made music videos they’ve released so far – influenced by the macabre film-making of Gaspar Noe and Leos Carax – that have seen them carefully stitch together found-footage montages. Every image feels intentional, and they flit quickly between each other, providing a visual chaos that matches the music’s own sense of unpredictability.
Combining these entangled elements, Mandy, Indiana’s overall intention is to be a band to infiltrate the senses through ferocity. There’s anger and pain in their music but also humour and catharsis.