FORMED DURING THE Covid lockdown in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Yard Act’s initial 2019 lineup featured Sammy Robinson on guitar. But that didn’t last long, and by 2020, Sam Shipstone solidified the recording lineup for Yard Act’s 2022 EP, 100% Endurance (Elton John Version), and their first album, 2022’s The Overload.
Both were well-received but hard to pin down, with Yard Act being labeled everything from post-punk to indie rock to Italo disco-infused randomness. Throw in Shipstone’s textural licks, which err toward subtle minimalism as opposed to overt showboating, and you have a recipe for alt-darling success.
And the twists and turns didn’t end there, with Yard Act’s brand-new full-length, skewing toward sounds akin to Oingo Boingo and the Talking Heads. But interestingly, Shipstone’s early influences were decidedly dad-rock-leaning. “The big ones early on were Led Zeppelin and Radiohead,” Shipstone says. “Those shaped me early on while I was in Leeds. But once I started playing music properly, in Leeds, there was a great DIY noise rock scene. I played
