A Mancunian Frontman, a Derry Quartet and a Put-Down Aimed at a Conceited Musician
Cheese Slices opens quietly. Then the band lock in at a punk clip, with the hi-hats running at about 150 beats per minute. On Cheese Slices, Invaderband frontman Adam Leonard takes apart a musician who thinks they are terrific. Ultimately, the verdict is that they are as interesting as cheese. The song first appeared on the Derry quartet’s 2021 album Peter Gabriel. It returned as a single, with its own video, in June 2022.
Invaderband’s Cheese Slices is a Derry art-punk put-down with a Mancunian at the microphone, and the Invaderband artist profile tracks the rest of their coverage. The single reached this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news desks. Hear it on Bandcamp first, then keep reading for the scene that produced it.
Invaderband’s Cheese Slices Sits Between The Undertones’ Derry and Magazine’s Manchester
In fact, two cities meet in this record. Derry gave the world The Undertones. Their 1978 single Teenage Kicks set the standard for short, sharp punk from the north-west of Ireland. Leonard, who formed Invaderband in Derry, is a Mancunian. Manchester, in turn, gave post-punk Magazine, the band Howard Devoto started in 1977 after leaving Buzzcocks.
The notes for Peter Gabriel on Bandcamp draw the same map. They place the band between art-rock and post-punk. They also name The Stranglers and Magazine as pacesetters, alongside Britpop’s Supergrass and Blur. Wire gets a mention too, for the album track Vanity Search. For example, on Cheese Slices that lineage shows in the tight, wiry guitar work. It also shows in a chorus that is nothing more than the title, repeated.
The lyric belongs to an old punk tradition: the put-down song. Its target gives tedious interviews, makes records that are even worse and has an ego that keeps soaring. By the second verse, the narrator wants to break the target’s CDs and destroy the LPs as well. Crucially, the joke lands because the music is so disciplined. In the stream on Bandcamp, the hi-hats measure about 150 beats per minute. The kick drum runs at half that speed. Cheese Slices is track six of eight on Peter Gabriel, runs 3:33 and was written by Leonard alone.
Invaderband Recorded in Derry With Rory Donaghy, Then Turned the Put-Down Into a Self-Mocking Video
According to the band’s own site, Invaderband have spent more than a decade in the city. Chris McConaghy, who also records as Our Krypton Son, plays lead guitar. James Cunningham, formerly of Schtum, plays bass, and Tom Doherty, formerly of Bam Bam & The Calling, plays drums. First, the self-titled debut arrived in 2017, recorded at the same studio with Rion McCartney in the line-up and Rory Donaghy mixing. Two singles came in 2021, I Won’t Remember You in March and Handcuffed Man Shoots Himself in July, each with its own video. Peter Gabriel followed in September 2021 on Tectona Grandis, produced by Rory Donaghy at Blast Furnace Studio in Derry. On that record, Gavin McCartney played bass and synths, and everyone added handclaps. Invaderband then released Cheese Slices as a single in June 2022, with a video to match.
The track record is solid, too. Both albums were shortlisted for the NI Music Prize Album of the Year. Peter Gabriel also made The Irish Mail on Sunday’s top 20 albums of 2021. The band list radio play on RTE2, Today FM, BBC Radio 6 Music and Radio X. They also cite support from Steve Lamacq and Gideon Coe. Mickey Bradley of The Undertones praised them on BBC Radio Ulster. In addition, they have played Other Voices in Dingle.
Adam Leonard’s Work Beyond the Band and the Cheese Slices Video
Leonard also works well beyond the band. Those solo releases of eccentric English folk and electronic music have come out on boutique labels. They include The Great Pop Supplement, Polytechnic Youth and Castles In Space.
However, the video turns the joke on the singer. Jude Leonard directed it in Derry in 2022. It casts Adam Leonard as the egotistical musician and Emily Blackwell as a bored interviewer. Meanwhile, bandmates buy and throw the cheese.
For Listeners Who Follow The Auteurs and Supergrass, Invaderband’s Cheese Slices Keeps the Sneer Tuneful
The closest link is personal. Leonard and James Cunningham designed the sleeve of Peter Gabriel around a painting commissioned from Luke Haines of The Auteurs. In March 2022, Haines also reviewed the album on his Boogaloo Radio show and played a track from it. The clip is on YouTube. The Auteurs’ 1993 debut, New Wave, set sour lyrics to bright guitar pop. Cheese Slices strikes the same balance. Similarly, Supergrass are the other obvious neighbour. I Should Coco in 1995 proved a band could be funny, fast and melodic in the same three minutes.
From the RockRevival.News Curator Team: “Cheese Slices proves a put-down song still works when the band can really play. The riff never loosens. The chorus is the title sung four times, and Invaderband sound like they enjoyed every second of the insult.”
Where to Hear Invaderband and the Rest of Peter Gabriel
Hear Cheese Slices on Bandcamp, where the whole of Peter Gabriel is available too. Watch Invaderband on their YouTube channel. For news and gigs, follow the band on Instagram and Facebook, and read the full story on the official site.
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