My Inspiration: Pretentious – More Or Less

Hartlepool’s Pretentious emerged in 2023, carving out a style built on shifting alt‑rock riffs and vocals that lean into melody and harmony. Their latest single More Or Less More or Less strips things back to the essentials — a straight‑up indie rock track with a classic verse‑chorus drive. Recorded with Michael Kitching (Onlooker), mixed by the band and mastered by Mark Foll Productions, the track channels early ’90s grunge and lo‑fi shoegaze, with vocals carrying a pop‑punk melodic drawl. Crunchy guitars, lurking bass and crashing rhythms build a mesmeric soundscape that drives home the refrain, ‘that’s what makes me better than you.

Here, the band discuss the inspiration behind the track…

The song first came about in one of our band practises. Our drummer (Alan Key) was playing Billie Jean by Michael Jackson and I (Cliff Hanger) try to make the most generic sounding indie/alternative rock riff on guitar using major 7 chords and a vibrato pedal to keep the spirit of things. We even chose to include the quiet verse/loud chorus dynamic to make it more like Pixies, The Breeders and Nirvana who are some of our main inspirations. The bass riff came last which is funny because it opens the song. Our bassist (Just Ron) and Alan Key kind of made it together when we were properly piecing the song together. They definitely went for a very Kim Deal-esque vibe with the bass line aiming for something thats simple and effective which serves the song well rather than incoherent noodling.

As for the vocals the melodies usually come with the lyrics at the some time. If I’ve got a tune in my head for it I’ll just say whatever comes to mind, sometimes I’ll change the words if they’re a bit too whack or if we want to go for a certain theme. But sometimes it’s hard to get away from certain words and it usually won’t sound right if I change them. I didn’t have anything in mind for what it was about when I first made it, I usually know what the songs mean later on when I look back and read the lyrics. 

But this one I’d say is just about time getting faster as you get older and looking back at how much of a dick you’ve been in the past but also certain times that were good and you didn’t realise it at the time. Theirs somewhat of a similar theme theme on the song which was released with it Be Whoever’.