Preston’s THE FORENSICS – So much more than just another northern guitar band

PROUD Prestonian four-piece THE FORENSICS release latest single ‘Maxine’ today, a mature, confident sound from a band with an admirable attitude to promoting their hometown – rather than attaching themselves to the nearby Manchester music hype machine.

Accomplished in production, but heart-warmingly raw in delivery, ‘Maxine’ delivers a Doves-style anthem, accompanied by a Suede buzzsaw attack guitar riff, with tribal, pounding drumming straight out of the Budgie playbook – a welcome sound that has served them well in this, the early stages of what deserves to be a long and fruitful career.

Formed in 2021, The Forensics have performed at prestigious grass-roots venues including Manchester’s Night and Day, Liverpool’s Jacaranda, and a sold-out Glasgow’s, Nice and Sleazy, along with securing support slots for The Snuts, Andrew Cushin, and Deco.

“We always mention where we are from because we think it is an integral part of the DNA of our band,” said frontman and rhythm guitarist, Liam Reilly. “We want to create a community around our band, and we can’t do this by claiming we’re from somewhere that we are not. Anyone who listens to our music would know that we aren’t another Oasis rip-off, and our influences are probably as varied as they come.

“The new song, ‘Maxine’ is about being stuck in a relationship gone bad. It’s about being torn between falling back into old habits for a seemingly easier life or making the painful decision to leave. It highlights the ways those sort of situations can haunt a person. The characters are fictional, but the emotions are real.”

The band recently expressed a tongue in cheek interest in making themselves available to open for Oasis on their upcoming tour – perhaps a surprise announcement given their wish to separate themselves from the Manchester music scene.

“I’d argue any band from the North West of England claiming that they don’t want to support Oasis would be trying too hard to be different,” explained Reilly. “We’ve been listening to their music for our entire lives and their upcoming tour is likely to be one of the biggest events in recent times. I can’t think of many people who wouldn’t want to be a part of that. 

“But yeah, the technicalities of buying tickets for the tour were poor on a number of counts, and we’re not blind to that. I didn’t even attempt to get tickets, I wasn’t prepared to pay the overinflated prices and would rather miss out than have to spend my time trying to get in or out of the hell hole that is Heaton Park on a gig day.

“There’s no smoke without fire though and I think the hype for the reunion of one of the country’s biggest bands is justified. We’ve got a long, long list of bands we’d love to tour with but in terms of what’s happening currently we think that tour will be a historic one – as an alternative choice we’d love to play at Black Sabbath’s final gig at Villa Park.

“But we all just enjoy making music together. We feel happiest in the studio making noise and it’s where we want to be every single day. That’s the driver behind why we’re in a band. We all work across accounts and sales, it’s probably the most boring line of work but it funds the dream of one day being musicians full-time.”

Completing the lineup are, Jordan King (lead guitar), Paul Clayton (bass), and Dan Lewis (drums/backing vocs).

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