Drenge are an English three-piece

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band made up of Eoin Loveless, on guitar and vocals, his younger brother Rory, on drums, and Rob Graham on bass. The brothers grew up in

Castleton, Derbyshire Castleton is a village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, at the western end of the Hope Valley on the Peakshole Water, a tributary of the River Noe, between the Dark Peak to the north and the White Peak to the south. The pop ...

, where they formed the band in 2010, relocating to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in 2014. The band take their name from something "that would sound like a noise that we would be playing on stage". Their name also translates into "Boys" in Danish. They have released three albums, ''Drenge'' (2013), ''Undertow'' (2015), and ''Strange Creatures'' (2019).

Background

In January 2013, Drenge, who had a small following at the time, were picked up by national media when ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s

Paul Lester Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, North London. Career He began his career as a freelance journalist, for ''Melody Maker'' in the early 1990s, as well as ''City Limits'', ''20/20'', ''Sky Magazine ...

featured them in his "New band of the week" column. The band rose to further prominence seven months later following the resignation of Labour MP Tom Watson from the Shadow Cabinet in July 2013. Watson wrote in his resignation letter on his blog: "be that great Labour leader that you can be, but try to have a real life too. And if you want to see an awesome band, I recommend Drenge." Drenge have toured extensively in the UK, and have appeared at

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

Latitude Festival The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006 and has been held every year since, apart from 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 ...

, and

Reading and Leeds Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

. They have also toured with Californian duo

Deap Vally Deap Vally are an American rock duo, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2011. The group consists of Lindsey Troy (guitar, vocals) and Julie Edwards (drums and vocals). They have released three albums, an EP and a number of singles. Both album ...

, including an appearance close to their hometown at Sheffield's Queens Social Club. They also toured with British band

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

in late 2013. They played a headline tour in the first half of 2014, as well as playing at many festivals over the summer of 2014, including Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury and T in the Park. In recent activity Drenge have toured the UK alongside American punk

band Radkey, appeared on '' Later... with Jools Holland'', and their single "Bloodsports" was used for an advert for British TV show ''

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

'', fitting the crude, aggressive nature of the show. Their self-titled album was released on 19 August 2013 on

Infectious An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

Records. The artwork for the album features a photograph of

Wardsend Cemetery Wardsend Cemetery is a Victorian cemetery in the Owlerton district of Sheffield, England, consecrated by the Archbishop of York in 1859 and closed to legal burial in 1968. History The ground on which the cemetery stands was originally purchase ...

and a nearby

scrapyard A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish, British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and ...

. On 27 January 2015, they made their US network television début on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

''. On 6 April 2015, the band's second album, '' Undertow'', was released, debuting at number 14 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. For their tour in 2015 the band included a bassist in their live line-up as well as in their new single "We Can Do What We Want". In February 2018, the band announced their first tour in over two years.

Band members

Members * Eoin Loveless – lead vocals, guitar (2010–present) * Rory Loveless – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2010–present) * Rob Graham – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)

Discography

Studio albums *'' Drenge'' (August 2013, Infectious) *'' Undertow'' (April 2015, Infectious) *'' Strange Creatures'' (February 2019, Infectious)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Sheffield Musical groups established in 2011 Rock music duos Musical groups from Derbyshire NME Awards winners People from Castleton, Derbyshire Infectious Music artists Sibling musical groups British musical trios English musical duos English blues rock musical groups English garage rock groups English grunge groups 2011 establishments in England