Nothing Sounds Good Record Club is the vinyl subscription service started by Luke and Paul in 2025, sending new DIY punk, indie and emo records straight to music fans, which basically reads like a 'Sherwood Recommends’ list of the best UK bands about right now, and even includes their own zine with each release. The first records featured included Soot Sprite’s ‘Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon’, Regal Cheer’s ‘Quite Good’, really big really clever’s ‘…huh?’, SUDS’ ‘Tell Me About Your Day Again’ and Brutalligators own sophomore album ‘Still Here’. These are all brilliant records that we’ve been shouting about ourselves that you won’t hear through any mainstream source. Brutalligators and Nothing Sounds Good are right at the heart of the DIY underground, and we had to shine our spotlight on them so we spoke to Luke Murphy to find out more:

Take us back to the beginning, and what made you decide to form a proper band instead of just talking about it?

Paul and I met back in 2016 because we were two emos in Hitchin who didn’t know anybody else who liked to listen to music and cry. I half-heartedly agreed to a jam, but after we came out with three full songs written in three hours it was pretty clear a band needed to be formed. We roped in Rhys and Simo and Brutalligators was born.

I think forming a band in your thirties means that you side-step all the bullshit that you’d normally do in your teens or twenties. Instead of playing endless shitty showcase gigs, we just found bands we liked and asked if they’d play with us. Instead of waiting and hoping for festivals to book us, we just started our own all-dayers. We just set out to have fun, make cool music and meet cool people, and it seems to have worked out.

Who were the key bands you felt spiritually closest to when you started out?

Paul had introduced me to the later phase of emo when we first met, so we were listening to loads of Prawn, Dikembe, and You Blew It! I’d also been slamming The Front Bottoms, Martha, and Smith Street Band so they were major influences. Then when we started playing and seeing bands like Fresh, Don’t Worry, All Better, H_ngm_n, I Feel Fine, and Fightmilk we knew we’d found our little scene.

What did you want Still Here to capture that wasn’t on your debut?

THITBTHITS was a pretty sad, angry, and urgent record. I’d just been through divorce and channeled a hell of a lot of that into the lyrics, combined with the Covid lockdowns and the world generally being a bit shit (how much has changed in five years). We knew we wanted Still Here to be a lot more about acceptance and moving on, and were really conscious that we wanted to create something a bit more thoughtful and positive. We were also really keen to weave in some different musical elements, building on bands we’d fallen in love with like Future Teens, Bartees Strange, and Sly Withers.

Can you talk about the network of producers and friends you worked with on the record?

We were really lucky that Rhys, our drummer, is a pretty damn good producer, so most of the record was recorded and produced by him. We rekindled our love affair with Tom Hill from The Bookhouse from the first record and recorded What’s Next with him (Tom is the best), and had a session with Rich Mandell from Me Rex/Happy Accidents for Hold Fast as well. It’s always great to get a nice mix of voices to work on things and see what comes together. And of course, the legend that is Trumpet Tom had to lay down some fat trumpet lines.

What are some of your favourite venues to work with, both as a band and as promoters?

The Lexington and The Victoria are both London institutions, and we love playing there. Signature Brew in Haggerston has always been our spiritual home, and the folks there do such awesome stuff for music. In fact, we were one of the first promoters to get into Siggy Brew in the arches! Outside of London, I think our favourite is always Hope & Ruin in Brighton. It’s an absolute icon of a venue, and run by absolute legends. Also, the crowds in Brighton absolutely rule.

Tell us about the decision to launch Nothing Sounds Good and why you feel it’s important?

There are so many good DIY bands out there, and as most people probably know, physical sales is how a lot of DIY bands keep afloat. But getting distribution into record shops is really hard as a small label or independent band. We just wanted to do what we could to spread the love of bands we hold in our hearts! Part of it was also making something that’s like a little event around these releases, which is why we include the zine and the print, and anything else we can get our hands on too. A couple of months ago we sent out little flexi-disc samplers as well as the rest of it! There’s something so joyful about physical media that feels like it lives the DIY spirit!

How do you choose the releases that you’re going to feature?

Easy - we keep an eye out for shit that we love. That’s pretty much it. As long as it isn’t a major label, and we genuinely like it, we’ll consider sending it out. Even though it’s DIY indie, emo, and punk, that’s pretty broad, so we’ve sent out emo shoegaze, dreampop, scream,o and midwest. As long as it slaps, it’s a candidate.

What do you think connects all the different bands you’ve featured, and what is it that excites you about this scene at the moment?

DIY, baby! All the releases, even though they span slightly different genres, have something DIY at the heart of them. They’re all people who are super passionate about the community, and they make damn good tunes. I mean, at the moment, every release has also been a band that Brutalligators have supported at some point, but that’s pure coincidence. We’re also bucking that trend next month!

Tell us about your zine, and why print zines are so important and awesome?

They’re all about spreading the love! I mean, getting an album in the mail is cool, but when you can have something that gives more context to the record and the scene, I think that’s so much stronger. From interviews with the bands, to track-by-track breakdowns, to why we chose the record, through to fun other bits like showcasing independent record shops, doing review roundups, and highlighting cool gigs coming up. It all adds more texture to the experience.

Also, it just allows me to spew thoughts onto a page. I love sharing shit that I love, and there’s something about zines that encapsulates that so well. A zine is just a little love letter encapsulated in a teeny tiny book. It’s why we’ve done zines for our albums, all-dayers, and club nights in the past, too! LONG LIVE THE ZINE AND THE PEOPLE WHO WRITE THEM!

What is the ultimate goal of Brutalligators?

To spread joy, kick the patriarchy in the dick, and prove that elder millenials can still be in a DIY emo band.