Bilk: Chelmsford's Cheeky Punk Band Laughs All the Way to the Stage
Photo (April 2019, earlier line-up): Paul Hudson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BILK_(33712367048).jpg
Bilk don't take themselves too seriously, and that's the point. Reviewing their second album, The Upcoming said it "shows that music does not have to be grim, stone-faced, heavy or profound." The Essex band's early single "CM2" is on U-Rock®'s WURN-dB Underground playlist.
Chelmsford beginnings
According to Wikipedia, Bilk are an indie rock band from Chelmsford, Essex, fronted by vocalist and guitarist Sol Abrahams. Wikipedia says Abrahams developed the idea in 2015 and spent two years working with different musicians. He took the band's name from his father's job as a London cab driver. Bassist Luke Hare joined in 2017. Abrahams, in an interview quoted on Wikipedia, said the two bonded because "we both liked Harrington jackets and early Green Day." Drummer Harry Gray played on both albums. Wikipedia says he left in 2026, and that the band added guitarist Dalton John Foster in August 2026.
Singles, EPs and a World Cup song
Wikipedia lists the debut singles of 2018: "Give Up," "Spiked," "Next Weekend" and "Slob." "CM2," the song on our playlist, followed on 8 March 2019. That year, Wikipedia says, came the self-released EP Chipped Out. It was followed by the single "I Got Knocked Out the Same Night England Did," written during the 2018 World Cup, and then a signing with Scruff of the Neck Records for the 2021 EP Allow It.
The same source says Bilk played Louis Tomlinson's first Away From Home Festival in 2021 and opened for him on the UK leg of his world tour the next year. It says their song "A Brand New Day" was used in the American police drama The Rookie in 2022, and that they played The Great Escape and Reading and Leeds that summer.
Two albums
Wikipedia dates the self-titled debut album to 10 February 2023, recorded on a farm outside Manchester. Essex, Drugs and Rock and Roll followed on 24 January 2025.
The Upcoming's Taryn Crowley found the second record "an unserious yet charismatic concoction that displays the band's love for the craft." She wrote that the opener "RnR" has "a quintessential rock and roll production." She said the band "explores the different subgenres of rock," from the acoustic "Skidmark" to Britpop-inspired moments. The record's most honest moment, in her view, is "Turning Pages," where Abrahams "solemnly discusses thoughts of hopelessness." Her verdict: "It is impressive that the trio is able to laugh at themselves as well as how the world views their behaviours with pure, unadulterated confidence."
Influences
According to Wikipedia, Bilk have cited The Jam, Arctic Monkeys, Jamie T, The Streets, the Sex Pistols, Nirvana and John Cooper Clarke as inspirations. Abrahams has described Allow It as combining '90s punk with old-school hip-hop.
Why it matters on U-Rock®
Bilk started out self-releasing music from a commuter town in Essex and worked their way up to festival stages. That's the independent climb U-Rock® was built to play. "CM2" is on the WURN-dB Underground playlist.
U-Rock® play data: no plays logged in the BROADCAST or CORE histories (2026-07-02 to 2026-10-12). The band appears on the WURN-dB Underground Spotify playlist.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Bilk (band)" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilk_(band)
- The Upcoming, "Bilk – Essex, Drugs and Rock and Roll | Album review" (Taryn Crowley, 20 Jan 2025) — https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2025/01/20/bilk-essex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll-album-review/
- Spotify, "WURN-dB Underground" playlist (embed) — https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/0bZ0fCQCL7IkKfqcQycsMI
