Pleasure Island
Pleasure Island Release New Single
“Greek Riot Squad” is out now on all digital formats
Nov 07, 2024
Web Exclusive
Photography by Emma Shoots Life
Liverpool duo Pleasure Island released their hotly anticipated new single “Greek Riot Squad” this month.
“Greek Riot Squad” is the duo’s (Sean Ekins – vocals and guitar, Sam Pierpoint – drums) follow-up to “Evangelion” which came out in January 2024 and is the second track off their forthcoming as-yet-untitled EP which is scheduled for release in the early part of 2025.
The track was produced by Loïc Gaillard at the Motor Museum, the studio famous for The Arctic Monkeys, 1975 and Bring Me The Horizon.
Songwriter and vocalist Sean Ekins said about ‘Greek Riot Squad’: –
“’Greek Riot Squad’ was written extremely quickly, basically in the studio on the fly based on a few chords and a song title. We’ve found ourselves having less time to sit down and write music, due to demands of touring, our day jobs and the expansion of the Penny Lane Weekender.”
Lyrically, the song is a political satirical commentary on the 2008 Greece Riots, as Ekins describes: –
“The chorus was already written, which was the name of the song repeated over and over again. I then decided to write the verses from the point of view of a police officer in Greece lamenting on how much work he had to do, following the police shooting of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, which triggered the riots. In the third verse he thinks fondly of visiting the UK, where the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by the Metropolitan police generated no rioting. He was shot as part of Operation Kratos, which is the Greek word for power.”
Pleasure Island recently held their second Penny Lane Weekender festival in August, which saw 70 artists play four stages across the iconic Liverpool street, featuring local and nationally acclaimed artists.
Regarding the Penny Lane Weekender, Ekins says: –
“The first Penny Lane Weekender was supposed to be a Saturday show, which ended up doubling to a 32 act multi venue three day event due to an administrative error. This year the festival has doubled due to demand from the local area and a load of great volunteers who have come on board. If we expand next year we’ll have to make sure not to continue with exponential growth”
Regarding the EP, Ekins reports: –
“We’ve held back on the EP to 2025, because the festival was a goliath effort for us. We’ve always been able to put on a few bands with a couple of posters around town and the odd gig out of Liverpool to flesh out a tour. This was on a scale completely beyond what we have done with the band, closer to the effort it would take us to produce an entire album, so I don’t think anyone will judge harshly us for postponing again.”
“Greek Riot Squad” is out now and available on all digital formats.
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