Manchester’s melting pot has thrown up another wildcard—Pomona, the five-piece psych-punk fusion machine that’s been setting fire to the city’s indie underbelly. Their latest flare into the dark: the new single Double Yellows, a heart-bruising, muscle-flexing ode to thankless effort and stubborn persistence, out now as the first taste from their forthcoming debut EP.
The band—born in the DIY flames of 2023 and assembled via digital chance encounters and pedalboard swaps—have quickly become a magnetic presence in the North West. With Double Yellows, Pomona sharpen their buzzsaw guitars and thumping rhythms into a paradox: a track that seethes with frustration but brims with the energy of hope that refuses to die.
Frontman Joe Boxall explains: “At its core, Double Yellows is about unreciprocated effort: raising your voice and hearing no sound back, staking your claim and realising no one’s listening. The track paints a picture of someone trapped in a loop of persistence… trying, failing, rebuilding.” It’s a sentiment that feels both deeply personal and quietly political—frustration wrapped in melody, resilience masquerading as recklessness.
Where their May release Saga was a short, sharp jolt—a two-and-a-half-minute back-alley sprint through new wave tension and post-punk skittishness—Double Yellows sits more defiantly in its discomfort. There’s a maturity here, even as the band still punches through the genre boxes like a sugar-rushed toddler with a hammer.
Pomona have, in a remarkably short time, become a cult concern in Manchester’s scene, with two packed headline shows at YES already under their belts. Their sound lives at the intersection of carefully-controlled chaos and melodic abandon. One foot in the idiosyncrasies of DIY punk, the other planted firmly in something altogether spacier and more expansive, they carry the flickering torch of bands like Radiohead and Idles into something more scrappy and joy-drenched.
This is music that doesn’t want to wear cynicism like a badge of honour. It wants sweat and sincerity. It wants to make you proud.
Alongside Boxall’s expressive vocal and synth work, Pomona’s lineup includes dual guitarists and vocalists Jake Anderson-Bell and Liam Gamston, whose interplay oscillates between scratchy minimalism and searing riffs, underpinned by Harry Hart’s growling bass and the manic propulsion of James Lyons on drums. It’s a line-up that prioritises chemistry over conformity.
And now, they’re taking the show on the road.
Launching their EP campaign with a hometown blowout at Manchester’s new music haunt The Rat and Pigeon on Saturday 28 June, Pomona are heading out across the UK. The tour includes stops at Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham and a major milestone: their London debut at The Old Blue Last in August.
- Sat 28 Jun – Manchester, The Rat and Pigeon
- Fri 4 Jul – Brighton, Freemasons Pub
- Thu 31 Jul – Manchester, Aatma
- Fri 29 Aug – London, The Old Blue Last London
- Tue 16 Sep – Hull, The Sesh
- Sat 20 Sep – Salford, On the Irwell Festival
- Fri 26 Sep – Manchester, Stage and Radio w/City Dog
- Wed 1 Oct – Birmingham, The Sunflower Lounge
- Fri 3 Oct – Manchester, The Castle
