Bone Wars: Terrible Wars
Don’t panic, but Yorkshire’s Bone Wars have released “Terrible Lizards”
by Jack Rush
Emerging from the eclectic ‘musical ecosystem’ of Birds and Beasts Records we have the latest species evolving into existence, the band Bone Wars and their first single, Terrible Lizards. Bone Wars are a fearsome new psych rock quartet from Yorkshire. Taking their name from an obscure chapter in the history of palaeontology and writing songs that tap into their shared childhood fascinations with prehistoric creatures, you can expect colossal hooks and extended sonic improvisations over pulsating beats.
The four coalesced around the jazz/funk bass monster Sully Evans after he migrated to the hills of Huddersfield. On drums, Ben Wallbanks is known as a founding member of deluxe garage blues band Knuckle and keyboardist Steven Beever has appeared in many classic Yorkshire outfits including Nu-Popes and Land Sharks. Taking a lead on the songwriting and providing vocals and guitar is Leo Brazil who has been developing his own esoteric songwriting for years across many bands.
Presenting an almost inexplicable combination of early psychedelia such as Pink Floyd and The Zombies and modern psych sounds like The Oh Sees and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard with funk sounds like Parliament but with Turkish bands like Mogollar and Atlin Gun but with rock giants such as Led Zeppelin thrown in for the fun of it, Bone Wars could be the definition of the phrase “eclectic influences”.
Gigging in 2025, you can expect high energy, pounding drums, funky bass, ferocious crescendos, mind bending synth solos, insane fuzz guitar and wild psychedelic looping explorations.
Bone Wars aren’t wasting any time. Recorded after just 3 rehearsals - that’s not just 3 rehearsals of the song, that’s the band’s first 3 rehearsals ever - their first single “Terrible Lizards” is ready with more singles to follow and an album that is well on its way.
Terrible Lizards arrives as a song with so many elements that without the inimitable vocal navigation it has, you’d be as lost as those early palaeontologists piecing fossils together in obscure manners - it is continuously electrifying discovery. How this band managed to not only learn but record this in their first three rehearsals ever confounds my mind. The song has landscape shifts that scoff in the face of the droll lack of dynamics and rote structures that we have been forced to be accustomed to from other bands.
The moments into blissful psychedelia which make you believe you might take a moment are only to be interrupted by a drum fill leaving you wondering if John Bonham’s ghost did a guest appearance, to be mediated by a bass line with so much funk power you wonder if you’re now wearing a pink suit made of sequins with big black shades on, synths that soothe only to be pierced by a guitar solo that makes your eyes squint wondering where that segway came from just as you thought you’d got a handle on things, and yet, there isn’t a single moment the song feels dislocated or jumbled, the phrase “Mind Melding Psychedelia” seems apt.
If this is the first offering of insight into what Bone Wars is about, I’m very excited for what is next and cannot wait to see what this band will be like live - I think we can expect a show and a half!
Have a listen and connect with Bone Wars:
Facebook Bone Wars (@bonewarsmusic) • Instagram photos and videos
