Little Destroyer return with their new album 1134, a blistering collection of songs that see them at their dramatic grunge-pop best.

The Vancouver based outfit is a tight knit trio of creative powerhouses; vocalist, bassist and songwriter Allie Sheldan, and the brothers Weiss – multi-instrumentalist Chris, and drummer Michael. The three are industry veterans, with the scars to prove it. No stranger to the exploitations of the music industry, nor the house of cards upon which it is built, Little Destroyer have a litany of almost chances, near misses, and lawyer invoices strewn behind them. A break was needed and the last two years provided the breathing space to reassess and realign.

Back with a new team in the female-led Tiny Kingdom, it’s a clean slate for the band and one they’re keen to move forward with. Working alongside JUNO Award winning producer Howard Redekopp (Mother Mother, Tegan and Sara, The New Pornographers), the band has excised any remaining demons, returning with a new offering that is part cathartic release and part raucous reclamation of their musical identity.

Like so many artists, this latest offering was born during the pandemic and the creative process looked a lot different due to accompanying restrictions. “We didn’t see each other for 8 months,” Chris says, “Having to be apart really defined our creative process”. Tracks were built by passing files back and forth, each band member creating at home, allowing ideas to percolate differently - adding, layering, building. "We've always either been in a jam space or writing room together, and often with a producer in the wings", Chris continues, “In a jam space setting you’re very much feeding off each other and there’s an ebb and flow and things are happening so fluidly. When you’re apart, and you’re in your own head, you’re not able to bounce it off their expression”. There was a paradoxical liberation that came with the feeling of being boxed in, and when combined with the extemporaneous guidance of a producer that truly gets it, well, that’s where the magic is. “Howard was such a good sport,” Allie shares, “We were able to get as weird as we wanted to and, after being locked inside for months, things definitely got weird. Not only did he get it, he supported and matched it, and started coming to the table with really crazy ideas. It felt like an exciting process for not only us, but also for Howard; the synergy was palpable"

It’s that synergy that gave a rise to an authenticity within this album, truly the closest yet to capturing the rawness and seething energy of a live Little Destroyer performance (the stuff of legend) within the studio environment. “What producer is down with you not practising your parts before you record,” Michael laughs. “It needed to be so raw, so real, so unrehearsed”. And it’s this confidence in the vision, this ability to flawlessly pull off a shoot from the hip kind of idea, that makes Michael the undisputed creative wellspring of the band.

Little Destroyer, in their own words, is a sum of its parts. And every part makes great fucking music. Inspirations for the album are as diverse as you’d expect from this motley crew. From Portishead and Massive Attack to indie-rock stalwarts Sleater Kinney to Elvis. First single “hitman”, released in April 2022, is a Sleaford Mods inspired slice of pop-punk perfection. An ultraviolet fantasy, all slicing guitar riffs, slick drums and burbling samples layered with Allie’s gritty vocals. The storyteller narrative is a new angle for the band but allowed them to expand the musicality of the track to cinematic heights.

The next single to be released was the rakish “love and anarchy”, a joyful love story Little Destroyer style. Allie recorded it smiling, and pushed for its inclusion on the album, "It took a bit of time to convince the boys that this was an important song to include on the album”, she says. “It's a love song, for people who know that love and life aren't a fairy-tale, but they can still be full of joy". Themes of unapologetic feminism and self-empowerment are core to the band, and as a frontwoman, songwriter and vocalist, Allie stands shoulder to shoulder with the greats; think Garbage’s Shirley Manson, Skin from 90s UK legends Skunk Anansie or Queen Karen O; raw, riotous, and uniquely honest.

“sucker4u” is a bristly wildcat of a track, all Charli XCX sass shot through with The Prodigy style big beats. The band jokes this was the track that almost broke them up, so chimerical is the arrangement, so frenetic was the creative process behind it. “It was definitely a learning process for the rest of the record,” Chris shares.

1134 signals a new intention for the band, a conscious decision to shift away from the meat grinder side of the music industry and toward a way of working and creating that sees the self honoured and freak flags flown high. Little Destroyer is proof that creating a pop-punk blitzkrieg is just as much about love and connection, as it is spit and spectacle. It’s great to have them back.

Dating profile: queer woman and two brothers strap on and make your ugly dreams come true.