The alternative Post-Punk phenomenon will be live at Thekla on 24 April 2026
Ist Ist will be bringing their UK Tour to Bristol's Thekla following on from the release of their fifth full-length studio album earlier this year, and arrives on the heels of last year’s acclaimed Top 30 effort ‘Light A Bigger Fire’. The alternative Post-Punk phenomenon will be appearing on Friday 24th April 2026 and tickets are available here. The band have become known for their powerful, atmospheric live performances featuring melodic and dark sounds that leave a lasting impression on their audiences.
Wasting no time to sit on their laurels
IST IST launched into laying down the bones of what would become their upcoming fifth album. As guitarist Mat Peters reflects:
“We started working on the album as soon as we got back from the European tour in late 2024. The momentum you carry from a tour into the studio is powerful and you’re still in that live headspace, so the music you write in those moments tends to be more visceral. You go with the flow a little bit more rather than it being methodical. What you end up with is a collection of songs already primed for the stage.”
Alive with ambitions for the band’s next evolutionary stage, IST IST approached esteemed producer Joe Cross (Hurts, Courteeners, Slow Readers Club), tasking him with creating a conduit with which to conduct their big ideas. Rekindling the chemistry that had spawned their previous work together, pretty soon, something special began to materialise from the partnership again. Bass player Andy Keating adds:
“We wanted to make some braver and more brash choices during the recording process. We wanted to make this record for ourselves first and foremost. There was no agenda beyond capturing the post-tour energy and playing the sort of things we wanted to listen to. The result of that is our most direct album since our debut ‘Architecture’.
While DAGGER marks a major leap forward for the band in confidence, precision, and delivery, it hasn’t come at the expense of their core approach. Fully self-funded and set for independent release on their own Kind Violence Records label, the album—now their fifth—stands as a testament to the determined DIY spirit that has defined IST IST from the very beginning.