Skinny Lister have really given us as much as they can since 2009, passing the growing flagon of their experiences with every album and tour. They’ve led an endless parade gathering fans old and new, from the respected folk circuit to the riotous Download Festival, igniting pogoing mosh-pits at each. Over the past ten years they’ve travelled from rain-soaked London to the vast arteries of the USA, upgrading from narrow boat to Salty Dog Cruise, played huge tours across Europe and North America with Frank Turner, Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly as well as headlining themselves across festivals, sweatboxes and ever-larger venues.

After three albums taking confident steps into an ever larger world, their fourth offering, The Story Is… (produced and mixed by Barny Barnicott – Arctic Monkeys, The Enemy, The Temper Trap) takes the tales of the everyday, the minutiae of our lives, and turns them into potent pop that rings oh so true. The Story Is… finds fables in vastly contrasting true stories. Of an arsonist setting fire to the flat below Dan’s (‘Artist Arsonist’), of the sheer annoyance felt when accidentally filling a diesel van with unleaded (‘Diesel Vehicle’) – both songs laced with insight into everyone’s feelings. Even when the songs are outside of the band’s personal experience, they are still inspired by close connections. Musically, the band has also scoured volumes of texture and tone. Though songs like ‘Rattle & Roar’ and ‘Sometimes So It Goes’ will be familiar to anyone who’s loved the band’s three previous albums, the band has explored a lexicon of their tastes. ‘The Shining’ takes on Blondie’s new wave disco, giving Lorna Thomas (vocals) the spotlight. They’ve turned every melodic instinct up and, along with the hooks and lyrical reality Dan has drawn, it’s a deep dip into the band’s encyclopaedic sound.