Coventry based The Pristines have been around for years but have enjoyed, like indie pop as a whole, a resurgence of late producing three CDR albums since 2000 as well as a single out on Cloudberry Records last year. States Of Mine is the new album and sees a release on the Series Two label.

The first four tracks (no point in trying to separate them) are unabashed jangle pop affairs that sound at least twenty five years old such is the sound and production. That means they are great by the way and not a negative! Suddenly we hit the electro pop trail with When I Promised Not To Cry and despite catching me off guard it's a good foot tapping track.

It's back on the jangle pop track with Who To Trust which is the best song here being a fast and powerful indie pop track that reminds me of The Soup Dragons when they were on Subway. Numb, which like Good Things Never Come Despite The Wait, appeared on last years Cloudberry single is a grower hinting at 60's psychedelia via the blissful chords and boy/girl vocals.

Sadly the next three tracks disappoint. From the country twangs of Same Old Story to the way too long Getting My Head Together it's pretty despairing stuff being either unlistenable or over indulgent leaving the listener shaking their head and wondering what were they thinking off. Only when we reach the final track, the acoustic and 1960's sounding That Girls In Love With You, is parity with restored.

From a band that originally released their music on cassettes finding a home on a CDR label like Series Two seems wholly appropriate especially with the DIY ethos of the album. It's just a pity then that it's let down by three poor tracks which detract from what otherwise would be a pretty decent album.

The Pristines - Good Things Never Come Despite The Wait

You can buy the album from here

[My Space link]

New Tear Ruse is London based John O'Meara who is also one half of Annexe 13. However New Year Ruse is far removed from the industrial noise of Annexe 13 being a pretty lo-fi affair with more than a nod towards bands on Sarah Records, shoegaze and other retro sounds.

New Year Ruse released a retrospective of their work last year on the Best Kept Secret Tape Label. Additional releases include contributions by Series Two Compilation, A Layer Of Chips fanzine and Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams fanzine.

In fact You Can't Force Me recently appeared on a CD compiled the latter. It's an keyboard driven atmospheric effort recalling the darker side of 1980's synth pop. Others songs can be streamed via My Space and the more I listen to them the more I like!. Habitual is my favourite and you can hear where I am coming from on the Sarah Records angle on this one.

New Year Ruse - You Can't Force Me

Buy Backburner Songs.

[My Space link]

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart caused quite a stir with the release of their self-titled EP last year, and the succession of singles and Myspace-only demos that followed have only added to the excitement surrounding them. The latest of those singles, 'Everything With You', is due for a limited-edition October release.

The visceral, pounding intensity of the band's first EP has given way to a (slightly) more melodic sound over the course of the last year or so, but don't get the wrong idea; these songs don't sound limp in the slightest. The title track is taken from their forthcoming album and it still sounds utterly joyous.

The B-side is a re-recording of 'The Pains of Being Pure at Heart', which featured on their first EP of the same name (confused yet?). Where the original sounded crisp and stark, this recording bathes the song in fuzz and feedback. I loved the first version, but the band hasn't messed with a winning formula too much and it still sounds great.

I think it's safe to say that even if POBPAH split tomorrow, people would still be talking about them and listening to their records for years to come. They're not an ordinary band, they're something special, something exciting, something to celebrate. They're the band that, in my opinion, typify everything that's great about indiepop at the moment.

'Everything With You' will be released in mid-October on Slumberland Records (USA), Fortuna Pop! (UK) and Lost and Lonely Records (Australia).

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Everything With You

[Myspace link]

The Lovely Eggs have their new 7" single released on October 13th. I didn't manage to get hold of their earlier single that came out of the end of last year but I Like Birds But I Like Other Animals Too is one catchy track. The video is great too.

I Like Birds But I Like Other Animals Too- The Lovely Eggs


I have been listening to Aussie band The Bank Holidays new album As A Film these past couple of days and pretty fine it is being an appropriate soundtrack for the late summer weather we have been having recently. I hear a wide number of sounds ranging from 1960's surf pop as well as the likes of The Go Betweens and The Lucksmiths. The album is out now on Lost & Lonesome and places like e-music and i-tunes.

The Bank Holidays - Cheating, Cheating

I wrote about Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck back in March and the album mentioned has now been released. It's called Days Come And Go and has been released on Blow Up Records. If you like Belle and Sebastian you will not go far wrong with these Swedes.

Mockingbird, Wish me Luck - Step In Concrete

Wee Pop have just released two fine EP's that are worth grabbing hold off. The first is by Chicago based The Lorimer Sound who for some reason remind me of The Lucksmiths. The second is by Megamoog so no prizes for guessing how the music sounds although you get a point if you thought it may be slightly minimalistic! Both EPs are highly recommended.

The Lorimer Sound - Brooklyn Bound
Megamoog - Eleanor

Buy both from Wee Pop!

We're delighted at Lostmusic that Decoration are launching their brand new LP at our next popshow at the Gramaphone on October 9th. You can still buy advance tickets for £5 from We Got Tickets. Their new LP is called "See you After the War" and this superb song (and video) - 'Square Mile' has recently been posted on You Tube.


Links: October 9th @ The Gramaphone | Decoration | My Space

I'll start this with a little confession: I have no clue who Jay Reatard is. I'd never even heard of him before this 10 track promo of his upcoming Matador LP arrived a few days ago. The description in the press release piqued my interest. Any mentions of the words pop, punk, garage and rock and roll in the same sentence will do that. The press release all describes Jay as a Memphis boy wonder. He has been releasing limited 7" singles all year. They're collected on to this release for those that missed out first time around. I am kinda glad they are. This promo is missing 3 songs - as they're not yet ready - but they should be in time for when the LP comes out on October 6th.

So, yeah, writing this from a point of ignorance I can only concentrate on the ten songs that make up this promo. It starts off as a raucous punk rock affair with the song 'See/Saw' coming over all New York Dolls updated for the current times. As the LP progresses (it's sequenced in chronological order) the songs lose a little of their punky bite - but this is no bad thing as Jay Reatard demonstrates he can write songs that go beyond the simple punk stylings that start the LP. I like. He will be over in the UK for a tour (in November) that takes in Ireland, Scotland and predominantly England. I shall have to try and catch one of his three London dates.

Links: My Space | Matador Records

Botpop Vol. 1 is the first full length LP released on Happy Robots. They state their manifesto as a label that seeks to highlight the best in melodic, optimistic, electronic forward-looking *pop* music. The album is primarily a download only album, though there are a limited number of cds available which are available exclusively from Happy Robots.

And so to the music. You get some rather gorgeous electro pop on this 12 song compilation which is jam packed with exclusive and rare songs from the likes of The Bridal Shop, Katsen, Compute, Monster Bobby and DJ Downfall (amongst many others). The attention paid by the label in making this compilation should be commended as it really is great listen and the songs flow into another like a well made mix should. The beats and electro feel recall the early 80s synth pop sound - but with a very now twist. This could be called electronica or indietronica. Both those labels aren't labels I like. This is just some of the best and freshest sounding Pop music I have heard this year.

Arthur and Martha are also featured on the release ('Ultra Alliance') and they are the people behind Happy Robots. This fab song and their earlier single 'Autovia' marks them out as one of the better bands to emerge in 2008. They're playing a headline show at Undersolo in Camden (London) this coming Wednesday (October 1st).

Links: Facebook | My Space | Last.fm

This Almighty Pop! is a new record label which has grown out of the fanzine of the same name. Their first release is by Play People who I have raved about before.

This single looks gorgeous. All home printed and pressed - with a gorgeous insert to boot. The single is two songs long. The 'A' side 'Oh What A Life...' still sounds a little like Strawberry Switchblade being run through an indie-pop blender. It's a lovely little song. The other song is called 'Don't Come Back' and it's a bouncy 60s tinged pop song and is the exact opposite of what I want Play People to do (not in the way it sounds but the notion implied in the songs title!). I really want to see this band up on stage sometime soon, too. They're one of the best new bands I've heard this year and I can't wait to hear more.

This is a highly recommended release and it only cost £2 in the UK, £2.50 in Europe and £3.00 for the rest of the world. Bargain.

Play People on My Space.

Blackflower are band from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. 'You and Me' is their début LP after a couple of singles released in 2006 and 2007. They make good old fashioned guitar pop which takes elements from the 1960s to the present day. Overall this is a pleasant listen but not one that gets me over excited. I can't help think of a host of 1990s Britpop bands when I listen to 'You and Me' - maybe that's because they filter their 60s influences through the poppier side of 80s indie. That leaves you with a band that could have been right at home alongside bands like Dodgy and The Bluetones on a myriad of 1990s festivals line ups. There are flashes through out the LP when a more interesting jangle pop band bubbles to the surface like on "I Only Say What You Want To Hear" - which is probably my favourite song on the whole LP.

The band even cover 'Indian Summer' - the Beat Happening classic - and it's valiant attempt at the song. It's hard to not like any version of that song - so at least the LP does end on a high - even if they manage to drag the song out for nearly 9 minutes. All in all this is not a bad LP, it has moments when it's nearly very good - but all too often they are too fleeting. So a little bit of promise here - but more often than not - it strays too close to that 1990s Britpop sound for these ears.

[My Space]

I received this press release this afternoon and as a massive fan of both The Jesus and Mary Chain and Earl Brutus I thought I'd post it in it's entirety:

The Jesus & Mary Chain are set to headline a one-off show in commemoration of musician & railwayman Nick Sanderson who sadly passed away on June 8th of this year. The show, to take place at The Forum in London on October 27th 2008, will also feature sets from Black Box Recorder, British Sea Power and a DJ set from Jim Fry & Gordon King of Sanderson’s final group, Earl Brutus.

Tickets for the show are priced at £20 and are available via www.kentishtownforum.com. All proceeds from the show will go to Nick’s immediate family.

Born Sheffield, South Yorkshire 22nd April 1961, Nick was a talented musician with an infectious passion for everything from Manchester United, the British rail system, British history to ornithology.

Nick started out as drummer with Sheffield post-punk group Clock DVA in the early Eighties before a stint with The Gun Club. A founding member of Manchester’s World of Twist, Nick also went on to regularly drum for Jesus & Mary Chain, for whom he played on their 1998 album Munki.

Yet it was to be Earl Brutus, the band he formed with Gordon King of World Of Twist and Jim Fry, who he knew from his Clock DVA days, which gave a voice to Nick’s acute sense of the minutiae of British culture.

The name was meant to conjure up "a pub that's quite a rough sort of place, but with a nice carvery on Sunday lunchtimes" and they marvelously continued to be at odds with all prevailing trends courtesy of a musical blend that fell somewhere between Kraftwerk and the terrace-stomp of classic glam-rock and a keen lyrical absurdity that often championed the un-celebrated while deriding the vacuous.

Having originally come from a railway family, Nick was to finally become a train driver on the London to Brighton line following the demise of Earl Brutus.

The Susan's In The Sky EP is the follow up to last years 10 Years Younger release which saw Bubblegum Lemonade thoroughly nail their colours to the indie pop mast with their songs echoing to the influences of the likes of The Byrds and the Mary Chain.

Here the title track is a 1960's influenced track that packs one mean fuzzy guitar punch. If the Beach Boys were a jangle pop band they may have well possibly sounded like this.

Surfin USB is Jan & Dean updated for the 21st century, riding the crest of the indie pop waves. Just Like You is the Mary Chain inspired tune that Glasvegas think they have made but to be honest couldn't do so if they tried in a month of Sundays. It's the EP's must buy moment - a glorious noise comparable to what The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are producing at the moment. Finally Bubblegum Lemonade give way to their influences once more with a cover of Big Star's Holocaust. Another wonderful example of pop music from the Matinee stable, a label that can do no wrong at present. Buy.

Bubblegum Lemonade - Susan's In The Sky

The Susan's In The Sky EP is out now on Matinee Recordings. The début album Doubleplusgood should be following soon.

[My Space link]

Just received info on this up coming night that's taking place in Leeds on October 10th - It's looks like a cracking little night and the line up reflects the whole breadth of indiepop from Fall influenced noise-niks The Container Drivers, the twee-er pop stylings of The Seven Inches along with the Belle and Sebastian influenced Understudies. I am not familiar with opener Dexy - but a quick listen on My Space reveals a singer-songwriter cut from a similar cloth as Elliot Smith.

The official the blurb states:

The Heavenly Option (@ Rio's (basement))

I have realised that we have not really reviewed the Vivian Girls on indie mp3 - I must get on to rectifying that as the album and singles to date have been great although I did mention them here.

In the meantime if you head to the WFMU Radio Blog you can download a complete session they did for that station.

Vivian Girls - Tell The World
Vivian Girls - Such A Joke

{My Space link]

Pyrolyse Bred is a fairly new blog that started back in August of this year. An interesting mix of songs uploaded from the 1990s (the decade, not the band). The person running the blog seems to be painstakingly converting their old vinyl over to MP3 - much like I did (and intend to do again on my other blog which is currently offline due to some weird billing error)

It's worth checking out and adding to your bookmarks, feeds etc. Bands featured so far include The Jesus and Mary Chain, Edsel Auctioneer, Hefner, Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, Harper Lee and many others.

Cineplexx’s (Sebastian Litmanovich) new album with contributions from Duglas Stewart (BMX Bandits), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Jad Fair (Half Japanese), Federico Aubele & more...

The press release goes on to add:

Cineplexx presents Picnic, a gorgeous Spanish-language record of beautiful harmonies and lush instrumentation similar to Belle & Sebastian a la The Boy with the Arab Strap, the swaying rhythms of Gilberto Gil and tender 60s rock reminiscent of Love and the Zombies. Picnic is a rare treat of a perfect pop record with revelatory songs underneath the album's fuzzy, echoed wash.

The album has been released here:
Portia Records (US & CA) jun 08
Universal Records (Phillipines) sep 08
Molecula Records (Mex) jan 08

After listening to the songs on My Space I have to say I am taken with the sounds that Cineplexx are making - another LP to check out it seems.

Cineplexx - Espiral

Cause Co-Motion! are a new band to me, they hail from New York and they've just released a single on Slumberland Records and it's a nice slab of DIY indie pop. I've only had the songs for a few hours and they all short punky but poppy affairs - straddling a line somewhere between The Television Personalities and C86 era Pastels. The three songs on the single are all under 2 minutes in length and like all good bands they know how to lace their skewed pop with the vital ingredient. That being - cracking tunes.

'I Lie Awake' kicks off proceedings and it's got this neat little guitar riff and some half spoken vocals that fits together really well. 'You Don't Say' follows and it's a lovely Pastels inspired song - over before it really starts and perfect in every way. The single ends with 'Cry For Attention' and the pace is slowed a little - but their reverb quota is maintained and before you know it - you are humming this song as well.

The band are due to release a compilation LP of all their singles to date in the near future and on the evidence of this single it's going to be a must have release.

Cause Co-Motion! - I Lie Awake

[My Space] (take a listen for yourself!)

Ex Norwegian (they must be Monty Phyton fans) are an indie rock band based in Florida. US Indie rock is not exactly my forte - it all sounds the same to me - but there is something about the band's new digital only single Something Unreal that I like but I am not sure what it is.

It could be that the structure of the song is simple enough to be effective or that the lyrics are clever and precise. It could be that the guitars soar or that Roger Houdaille's vocals are pretty decent.

Whatever it is I am not sure I can listen to too much of this type of music in one go but for now Something Unreal makes a pleasant enough diversion from my digital players indie pop dominated playlists.

Something Unreal is out now via i-tunes, Napster, e-music, Amazon and the other usual digital suspects.

[My Space link]

Mighty Mighty are the latest band of the C86 era to reform and will be playing the Indietracks Christmas Twee event. It will be there first gig in over 20 years. Support comes from Phil Wilson and Plans & Apologies.

Christmas Twee takes place on Saturday 6th December 2008 at Butterley Station in Derbyshire, between 6.30pm and midnight. Tickets cost £15 (+£1 booking fee) and can be bought by phoning 01773 747 674.

More details can be found on the Indietracks website.

The outstanding Fallen Aristocracy EP by Danish band Northern Portrait has been one of my most played singles this year. And remarkably the band have gone one better on the follow up Napoleon Sweetheart EP.

The band are, by their own admission, heavily influenced by The Smiths and this is prevalent throughout the EP from the Johnny Marr like guitars to Stefan Larsen's dulcet vocals which are as impressive as ever and are comparable to the miserable one.

All the songs here are worthy of being the lead track but as catchy as I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me is it's Empty Hotel which should take the plaudits. Not only do the lyrics sound like they were scribbled by the hand of Steven Patrick himself but the song would not be out of place on the Queen Is Dead.

How long the band can keep this up and replicate their obvious influences remains to be seen. The forthcoming début album Criminal Art Lovers will hopefully give us some clues but in the meantime just get hold of this EP reminiscent of classic English jangle pop - via Copenhagen of course! Truly glorious stuff.

Northern Portrait - I Give You two Seconds To Entertain Me

The Napoleon Sweetheart EP is out now on Matinee Recordings

On a side note the band have contributed a track to the 1980's Rewind covers project at Buffetlibre. You can download their cover of Cliff Richard's 1987 track Some People from here.

[My Space link]

Edition 59 is a German 3" CDR label which puts out just, wait for it, 59 copies of each release.

The mission statement of the label is "to support young, fresh and creative musicians and bands from around the world." There have been nine releases so far including EP's from The Motifs, Stars In Coma and The Pristines. The Motifs one is almost sold out so get in quick!

[My Space link]

Fredericksburg's Ceremony are a favorite of mine and I posted an interview with the dynamic duo back here. The band has now teamed up with Screen Vinyl image to release a split 12" on Custom Made Music. That means four songs from each band.

Preview and ordering here.

[Ceremony on Myspace]
[Screen Vinyl Image on Myspace]

It surely won't hurt if I post a favorite of mine here. Listen especially for the wonderful wall of distortion starting around 3 minutes 50, and turn the volume up real high.

Ceremony - Old

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have released a free digital download of the a-side of their forthcoming new single Everything With You which will be released on Fortuna Pop in the UK at the end of October - it's released on Slumberland Records across the pond and on Lost and Lonesome down under. The physical version is backed with a re-recording of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart which is taken from their debut album which is due for release next year.

Talking of their debut album head to the bands my space page and listen to the track Young Adult Friction which has to be one of the best tracks I have heard this year. Well the best song I have heard about having sex in a library that is! The last line repeated time and time again is pretty infectious.

Trev posted the details of their Swedish and British Isles dates here which include three London dates including one supporting The Wedding Present at the Kentish Town Forum on December 18th.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Everything With You

Bonus:

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Stay Alive

Ypu can pre-order the single at Rough Trade (UK).

[My Space link]

Trev wrote about The Soft Close Ups a couple of months ago now. The band feature David Shah formerly of Luxembourg and now of The Melting Icecaps.

Since that piece the band have now uploaded a new track for download called Ditch The Theory and I have finally got around to listening to the band. Ditch The Theory is best described as melancholic electro pop but give it a listen and I am sure you can come up with a better description!

The Soft Close Ups - Ditch The Theory

On a side note The Melting Icecaps will be playing at a Lostmusic night on Friday 26th September 2008. More details of the night and how to buy tickets can be found here.

[My Space link]

go get it!
fraction discs

myspace

The Social Services, who left us with our jaws dropping when they played at our Lost Music Presents gig in July, have released a free download single The Baltic Sea via Stereo Test Kit Records.

Think Small wrote that the Baltic Sea "should become Sweden’s national anthem" whilst I wrote that "Their sound is very melodramatic with hints of drama and melancholy. The songs are very well thought out and come tightly wrapped with some rather fine melodies."

The single is a taster for their début album It's Nothing Personal, It's National Security which is released on October 6th 2008. It's backed with a cover of Europe's The Final Countdown.

The Social Services - The Baltic Sea

Head to Stereo Test Kit to download The Final Countdown and to pre-order the album.

[My Space link]

Lapels are a quartet from Wakefield in England. And this is their début single. It released on the newly established Philophobia Music. The lead song 'Painted Skeletons' is nice slice of guitar heavy indie. It kind of straddles the lines between indiepop and indie rock. But not bad indie rock. This song has me wanting to like the band. Sadly the other song on the 7" - 'Last Great Civilisation' is a little too close to the Arctic Monkeys for my tastes. If you buy the single you get a free CD with an extra song on it. The bonus song is called 'Forever Too Lonely To Smile' and it's more straight up indie rock sound being cultivated here. And that's a shame as I would have preferred if the band had tried a little harder to stray away from the generic indie sound - they manage it on 'Painted Skeletons' but are less successful on the other songs on offer.

Fireflies is one man, Lisle and he is based in Chicago in the USA. I reviewed his LP that was released last year, here and I wasn't overly sure about the recording - as I found it a little too fragile. But I have to say the lead song on this single has me wanting to revist that CD. 'Cherry Blossom Girl' is a cover of an Air song. Fireflies have taken it and turned it one of those delicate indiepop songs - recalling the gentle sound of Sarah Records and that early 90s indiepop sound. The 'B' Side is called "Les Belles Etoiles" which is an instrumental that is rather sweet, but it's not grabbing me in the way the 'A' side does. Saying all that this record is worth owning for the 'A' side and as such is another wonderful 7" to cherish.

The single is released on a new label called Papillons Noir and they will soon have a single from Komon for release as well.

[Fireflies on My Space]

Cloudberry Records have reached their 100th 3"CD single release which sees a two CD set from Strega and My Lily Of The Valley marking the occasion.

Well done to Roque for making it all possible and if you have missed the first 99 you had better start collecting them now. Here is to the next 100.

Strega - You Will Kiss Her
My Lily Of The Valley - Precious Moments

Buy the release from here.

{My Space link]

The All Girl Summer Fun Band are back with a new album due out on the 23rd of this month titled Looking Into It.

Martijn has more.

Hurrah!

[My Space link]

This Is Almighty Pop Issue 5 is out now apparently only a mere 18 years after issue 4. It includes articles on Horowitz, Play People, The Simple Carnival, Blackflower, Kathryn Williams, Withered Hand, Jeans Goes Pop!, Still Corners, Cocoanut Groove, The Scaremongers, The Rosie Taylor Project, Jenny And The Bets, Arthur And Martha, Moira Stewart, The School, The Wave Pictures And The Clientele. It also features an 8 track CD featuring some of those bands written about. It only costs £2 (UK), £2.50 (Europe) and £3 (Rest of the World). Instructions on how to purchase it are on the fanzines webpage.

The excellent Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams has reached issue 3 already and is one of the brightest fanzines around. Issue 3 has articles on/interview with The Airfields, Pam Berry, Trembling Blue Stars, Yay Records and the BMX Bandits amongst others. It also features a 14 track CD including tracks from The Airfields, Still Corners, BMX Bandits, Apple Orchard, New Year Ruse and many others. Buy it from here.

Finally you can get these fanzines (probably!) and many more from the Caramel Fanzine Distro.

If you like a vaguely twee disco beat with some winsome female vocals, then there’s a good few tracks of this album that are for you, the ones where Gene Serene takes vocal duties. It’s not my bag, it’s a good vocal performance, but the combination doesn’t really do it for me apart from The Hours which works well in a shuffle pop way.
Personally I much prefer stuff like the title track, vocal free aside from the odd sample, giving Downfall much more freedom to crank up the beat. That and To Bring You Joy another instrumental, atmospheric track with robotic samples. Cherrybomb’s vocals on Stronger On The Breaks work well, weaving effortlessly into the music. Films is a break from the norm, a minimal driving electronic beat and some affected vocals. I’m very much liking Seven Dials, where Gene does her best Susanna Hoffs impression, making it sound like Bangles infused with electro pop.
It’s a weird and wonderful album, one that will confuse and amuse in equal measures.

Bon Viveur is out now on WIAIWYA

This is by far one of the more musically interesting things I’ve received recently…The cheerily titled Single Suicide Mode has a rumbly gothic slow tune while Karina intones suitably ethereal vocals other the top, sounding like she’s lost somewhere between Siouxsie and Miki from Lush. Then you have Waves Of Love which is a gothic X-Ray Spex and Something to Feel in which you can lose yourself in her dreamy voice, but the music is treading over old ground. Crash and Burn is a bit more spirited, and carries a malevolent threat. Despite all this, they do lose their way a bit, with too many tracks like Love Is Underwater being sketchy demos.

28 Degrees Taurus myspace

Ah, another Hoxton urchin, just what we need. James does that sigh/yelp a bit like Robert Smith, but generally sounds like a little kid who’s just discovered he’s wet his pants. Do The Circus Circus is a pleasant enough tune, just the horrid whine puts you right off. On Somewhere things seems better. James doesn’t try so hard and the less affected vocals work fine. It’s a gentle acoustic strum about hungry crocodiles, light bondage and wise postmen. Finally Death Of A Bus Driver continues the uphill progress. Over a sweet little rumbling piano line James intones some wistful lyrics and proves the less he tries, the better he gets. It’s a shame the EP ends here, as things kept getting better the more it progressed.

Do The Circus Circus + Other Songs is out now on Art Goes Pop
James Severy myspace

The Pains of being pure at heart have a free download only single due for release on 15th September. The single is a rather splendid re-recording of 'Come Saturday'. It's still a beautiful piece of guitar pop - but it somehow sounds even more magnificant second time around. This is their first 'release' on the UK based Fortuna Pop label. Fortuna Pop (along with Slumberland in the US and Lost and Lonesome Records in Australia) are lining up to release the bands debut LP in 2009.

The band are also back in Europe in September (Sweden) and December (UK and Ireland). I wish I could get myself to Sweden - but alas I can't. I'll have to content myself with taking in a few of their December dates instead.

24 Sept - Stockholm
Venue: Café String
All ages. Acoustic-ish instore
Link: http://www.cafestring.com/

25 Sept - Gothenburg
Club: Svanen
Venue: Jazzhuset
Link: http://www.myspace.com/klubbsvanen

26 Sept - Stockholm
Club: Svenska Musikklubben
Venue: Debaser Slussen
Link: www.svenskamusikklubben.se

27 Sept - Malmö
Club: Don’t Die on My Doorestep
Venue: På Besök
Link: www.myspace.com/dontdieonmydoorstepclub

England, Scotland, Ireland

Dec. 2 - Colchester, UK - Arts Center*
Dec. 3 - Portsmouth, UK - Wedgewood Rooms*
Dec. 4 - Oxford, UK - Academy*
Dec. 5 - Leicester, UK - Princess Charlotte*
Dec. 6 - Manchester, UK - Academy*
Dec. 8 - Cork, IRL - Pavillion*
Dec. 9 - Dublin, IRL - Andrews Lane Theatre*
Dec. 10 - Belfast, UK - Limelight*
Dec. 12 -Glasgow, UK - Captains Rest
Dec. 13 - Leeds, UK - The Cockpit
Dec. 14 - Nottingham, UK - The Social
Dec. 16 - London, UK - “Twee as Fuck” @ Old Blue Last
Dec. 17 - London, UK - “Fortuna Pop”
Dec. 18 - London, UK - Forum*

* with The Wedding Present

Last night we launched our latest release from Pete Green on Lost Music Records at the Spiral Scratch pop show at the Betsy Trotwood. It was a great night with four excellent acts. Here are some photos I took and despite taking advantage of the pub's pretty decent ale t