Ain't

Bringing together the stranger side of ’90s guitar music from both sides of the Atlantic, Ain’t expertly toe the line between nostalgia and ingenuity. Comprised of George Ellerby (Guitar/Vox), Ed Randall (Guitar), Hanna Baker Darch (Vox), Joe Lockstone (Drums), and Isaac Griffiths (Bass), Ain’t’s compulsion to create seeps through with urgency and heft.

Having already played showcases for the likes of So Young, Rough Trade, The Alt Escape, and The Windmill, their first two singles, “Oar” and “Teething,” arrived last summer and marked the quintet as that rarest of things—a band with a feverish word-of-mouth reputation even before releasing a single official track. The songs delivered on that promise, earning widespread support: a digital cover with Dork and praise from the likes of Stereogum, NME, CLASH, DIY, The Line of Best Fit, and So Young, as well as radio play from BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X, Apple Music 1, and more.

New singles “Pirouette” and “Jude” mark the band’s opening salvo for 2025, setting the tone for what’s shaping up to be another meteoric year. Recorded with Theo Verney (English Teacher, Lime Garden, Egyptian Blue), the tracks showcase Ain’t’s knack for complex dynamics—combining heavily textured, hook-driven instrumentation, subtle vocal harmonies, and a combustible rhythm section.