Yard Act

Formed in Leeds, England in 2019, Yard Act is a British post-punk band comprised of James Smith (vocals), Ryan Needham (bass), Sammy Robinson (guitar, replaced in 2020 by Sam Shipton) and George Townend (drums, replaced in 2020 by Jay Russell). The group’s first batch of singles in 2020 - including "The Trapper's Pelts", "Fixer Upper", "Peanuts" and "Dark Days” – established their style of black humour, cynicism, surrealism, and political consciousness. Yard Act released their debut album, The Overload, in January 2022. The album, which was nominated for the 2022 Mercury Prize, charted at Number 2 in England, Number 1 in Scotland and included the singles “Payday”, “Rich”, and “For Another”. The band's second LP Where's My Utopia? followed in March 2024 and took influence from disco and dance-rock rather than the post-punk of their previous work.