For Man/Woman/Chainsaw, songs are never really finished until they have been tested in front of strangers. Sections might get cut; others might suddenly click in to place. “Playing something live is a good indicator of how a song feels” vocalist and guitarist, Billy Ward explains from one of the many boroughs his bandmates occupy across South London. It’s the need to experiment that sits at the heart of the band’s debut album, Cannonball – a record marked by new beginnings and defined by spontaneity.
Written across years and completed while members finish university, the band have honed these songs patiently in live settings – a just reward for playing nearly 200 shows since their first at the age of 16. “We write too much and then have to reduce it and edit things,” Billy Doyle, the band’s second guitarist, looks more excited than the gloomy London sky suggests. “Playing them live sometimes gives us the best idea of what we have to do with the song before it can be released.”
For its unconventional structures and overall exuberance, Cannonball gives the air of a band performing beyond their years. A restless blend of post-punk energy and art-rock eccentricity, the result is an unpredictable sound that somehow remains cohesive despite its constant twists and turns.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s rise has been rapid: the band pulled one of the biggest crowds ever seen at End of the Road’s Best Fit Secret Sessions, appeared across European festival line-ups, and have inevitably drawn comparisons to fellow South London experimentalists, Black Country, New Road – associations that feel increasingly deserved. Ward explains the similarities simply: “The music is our life experience – it’s the music we listen to, the friends we have in other bands, what we see when we wake up in the morning”
Latest single ‘Goddamn, Lizard Man!’ showcases the band at their most sleazy – moving beyond the euphoric, LCD Soundsystem inspired ‘Nosedive’. Soaring violins cut through a plodding bass line, as Ward’s droning vocals recall the icy post-punk of Iceage more than any of their contemporaries in the capital. That unpredictability is entirely intentional: “I hope all the songs sound different,” Ward says. “They all sound like us, but it’s going to be quite eclectic.”
The benefit of having six creative minds is a sound that never sits still. Each member draws from their own influences to create something simultaneously delicate and unhinged – as orchestral strings and piano give way to discordant noise in an instant. Doyle, as if struck by a new idea, looks beyond the camera: “I think we’ve got a lot in our heads at any given point. I don’t see us making a record where all the songs sound the same. It’s how we work that into something cohesive – that’s the fun part.”
As a group, the live setting is as much a testing ground as it is a performance space, with songs continually reshaped by instinct and audience response. “Our live sound is so important for us; you are always trying to get people to listen,” Ward explains. “It’s nice when you realise that people actually really are listening and enjoying it.” That same fluidity extends into their writing process – “Only Girl” emerged from a jam before violinist Clio Starwood introduced a melody she had been sitting on for months.
Despite the growing attention surrounding the band, there is still a sense that everything is still unravelling. Between university deadlines and preparing for their biggest headline shows yet, Man/Woman/Chainsaw are content in knowing the future is in their hands. “We don’t want to be known for style, we want to be known for being good,” Ward says. “We want to be a good live band.”
Having already established themselves as one of the most exciting bands in the capital after releasing just a handful of singles alongside 2024’s ‘Eazy Peazy’ EP, crowds will surely fill out their headline tour following the release of their debut record, Cannonball, in August. The singles pulled from the album showcase a band in motion – tying its influences in a presentable ribbon, waiting for a packed out room to rip it apart all over again.
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