It was a baking hot Tuesday in mid-August, the nation was awaiting an eclipse, and Man/Woman/Chainsaw were in the mood for dancing. Rough Trade Nottingham provided the venue...
All-male bands with feminine descriptors in their titles are nothing new. Violent Femmes and Barenaked Ladies feature no female members whatsoever, This is Lorelei is actually a man named Nate Amos, and of the 48 musicians credited on the Mothers of Invention Wikipedia article, only five are women. So, perhaps you can imagine my surprise when I found out that Man/Woman/Chainsaw are 66% woman, 33% man, and 100% metaphorical chainsaw - their name is taken from Men, Women and Chainsaws, a 1992 book by Carol J Clover dissecting gender in horror films.
Rolling into Nottingham on the fourth date of their seven night tour, Man/Woman/Chainsaw are a London group following the art-rock sensibilities of Brixton’s prolific Windmill venue. Formed in 2019 by guitarist Billy Ward and bassist Vera Leppänen, they were joined in 2023 by school friends Emmie Mae-Avery (keys), Lola Cherry (drums) and Billy Doyle (guitar), with violinist Clio Starwood completing the lineup most recently. After releasing an EP, Eazy Peazy, to positive reception in 2024, along with a double A-side single and a deal with Fiction Records, the band are hitting the road to promote their debut album Cannonball.
With production credits from Margo Broom and Seth “Shank” Evans - highly in demand since his work on Geordie Greep’s The New Sound - Cannonball has been praised by NME and Rolling Stone, referred to by the former as “one of the most accomplished debuts of the year”. As a six-piece it’s a small miracle they managed to fit on Rough Trade’s intentionally miniscule stage, but cramped conditions did little to derail the group’s confidence. Walking out to 50 Cent’s In Da Club, Man/Woman/Chainsaw proceeded to play a tight 45-minute set consisting of Cannonball’s tracklist. Anyone feeling short-changed by the tour’s shorter run times was surely compensated by the album’s stylistic variance and quality musicianship, delivered almost verbatim from record to stage.
They’re not a group inclined to joke around onstage, but at the signing afterwards they were good humoured and attentive, posing for pictures and chatting with virtually everyone who came to the table.
While all members sing at different times, primary vocal duty is split between founding members Billy Ward and Vera Leppänen. Ward takes on songs Goddamn, Lizard Man!, a bluesy lament of a friendship gone sour, and Flick of the Wrist, laying down a Queens of the Stone Age worthy groove which grasped the crowd’s attention. A deep baritone with intonations comparable to Isaac Wood, he performs with a quiet intensity that renders him almost separated from his bandmates. Leppänen was more interactive, demanding audience participation in a dance break for closing track Nosedive and performing with a provocative, exuberant swagger.
The brilliantly named Clio Starwood brought the energy, dancing with utter abandon in between violin riffs. Paired with Emmie Mae-Avery’s piano work, this instrumentation elevates Cannonball from a standard indie run to an original, intentional soundscape. Lola Cherry is a beast on the drum kit, setting the pace and adding style to tracks like Still Angry and Get Up and Dance.
Meanwhile, an enigmatic and slightly underutilized presence is found in rhythm guitarist Billy Doyle, who stood out from an otherwise casually dressed group in a three piece suit and peroxide quiff.
Though Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s name might suggest heavy metal theatrics or complicated background lore akin to Ethel Cain’s southern gothic saga, the group present as a musical free-for-all: when I had a chance to question the group on their influences, Lepännen and Starwood couldn’t bring any single name to mind.
For my money, their set contained traces of seventies prog, nineties dreampop and contemporary acts Westside Cowboy and Mannequin Pussy. Canyon’s opening verse is surprisingly comparable to an Olivia Dean ballad, while Get Up and Dance has recently been selected for Radio 6’s playlist.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s record store tour has concluded, but no need to fear if you missed them this time around, as after some festival dates in France
and Spain at the end of the month, they will be embarking on a full UK tour in October, including a date at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms on 5 October. I’d advise you to hurry to get your tickets, though: if Rough Trade’s crowd was an accurate predictor, Nottingham is a city that wants more chainsaw.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw appeared at Rough Trade on 11 October 2026.
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