New Gunning for Tamar EP – AND IT’S A WRISTWATCH

Wow – so this has all come round rather quickly, but it feels like a good time to announce. Ladies and Gentleman, may I present to you Gunning for Tamar’s first ever Alcopop! Release… The Time Trophies EP! Yes it’s packed with 5 fantastic songs, 2 of which are remixes by the epic maybeshewill and Jr JoFo, but what’s more – it’s truly one for the fans of alternative formats… Cos this baby comes on a gorgeous looking, tangerine, silver faced wristwatch… I’m sure you will have heard this by now, but to experience a bit of the tumultuous, rock drive, tender melody meets smash anthems of Tamar – try Chocolate Hooves below the pic…

Keeping real good time (I’ve been wearing one since Christmas), each watch comes with a QR/download code on the back of the timepiece to download the full EP (320kpbs), and in honour of the title track can be worn as your very own ‘Time Trophy’. Or you can buy it in a +CD format for an extra £1 (no fancy packaging on the CD though), or with a gig ticket to GFT’s launch show in Oxford with Jumping Ships on March 24^th for a tenner. Strictly limited, we only have 300 of these bad boys up for sale, for the reasonably reasonable price of £7…. Pah, enough talking from me… You probably just want to see the things right…? Done! Ohhhhh yes!

Oh, and ought to say – if you’re one of the chaps who have already bought the Freeze the Atlantic CDs this week and fancy this, please don’t pay postage again. Just set P&P to an MP3 and we’ll send them out together

New Freeze the Atlantic single up for presale!

Oh those lovely lads. 1 part Reuben, 1 part Hundred Reasons, and 3 parts other insanely talented rock and roll moguls – Freeze the Atlantic are back, and to use a Liverpoolism – ‘bosser than ever’. It’s been a while coming since the last EP dropped almost a year ago, but with the odd line up change, and much work being done on the album – one can forgive them. So with a tour of Ireland with those strong lads in Fighting with Wire on the cards, we thought we better drop an enhanced CD single (2 tracks and 1 video) of new song Volcanoes.

Oh and by gum it’s good… You know what to expect when you take a look at the FTA heritage, and you get it in spades. Don’t get me wrong, this is no Reuben meets Hundred Reasons derivitive but it is a huge rock anthem. Don’t believe me? I’m offended, but have yourself a look at the video beneath you…

And then, should you feel the need, we’ve got the lovely digipack singles up for sale for just £2.50 in the shop. All limited to just 250 copies, the first 50 come fully signed by the band… Be reasonably quick though.

Gunning for Tamar tour with Jumping Ships in March!

Exactly what it says on the tin. Two of our lovely lots of champs are out on tour together. And while Gunning for Tamar have been touted as one of the bands set to slay 2012 by Rocksound who brandished there new track ‘a phenomenal statement of intent from a very promising band’… Jumping Ships were featured across the board at the tail end of last year, Katie at Kerrang calling them ‘An addictive blend of danceable, jangly rock songs topped with British punk attitude’, whilst Rocksound suggested ‘Standard Bearer is a launching platform for these guys to do some serious commercial damage’….

Ahhhh no more talk, lets just you and me decide which of these shows we’re gonna go to – and rock the f**k out! In?

Rocksound this month was a blast then…!

One of our favourite print mags, Rocksound is always a very strong read. This month no different, as no less than 7 good PoP segments occurred. Oh yes we cried as The Social Club EP got 8/10, oh how we danced to find aforementioned TSC and new signings Gunning for Tamar on the covermount CD and wow we shouted as 3 of our bands (GFT, TSC and one as yet unrevealed new signing) were included in the ‘new bands to slay 2012′ section.

They’re right of course. Alcopop is poised to give 2012 a damn good slaying!

But perhaps the funnest bit of all was this crazy cool quarter page ad that we placed, featuring magnificent faces from across the world, sourced from this very blog, who genuinely buy our records (along with yours truly, Alcokitten and a few other strong faces from the pop roster). For those who got involved thanks so much – I mean… It’s all very well advertising the label, but why do it with a standard ad when we can fit so many strong faces on the hallowed pages of Rocksound instead.

Fuckin’ indie since 2006 – with quite clearly the best looking audience too. Tasty!

New My First Tooth video

So it has been a slow old week on the blog… For this I blame two things. One of which has been a genuine swathe of preparation on several new releases, potential new signings and various other grand PoP business (including getting in more stickers and glostarz to go out with every order)… The second has been the immense BDO darts. An incredible tournament…

However, lets get right back on it with this, an awesome new video from a cracking champ, named Lizzie Campbell – who has put together this charming stop motion film to the ace ‘The Factory’ by My First Tooth. It’s awesome… A gorgeous rollercoaster of a story of failing industry pitched against the saving graces of pure creative minds. I’m a big big fan!

Check it below – and enjoy a little slice of stopmotion magic…

My New Years Resolution: By Jack PoP

One of the lovely things about having a blog is recording your heartfelt decisions for your readers/ or unsuspecting punters searching for New Years Eve porn – and then being able to come back to them years later and find out just how badly you’ve failed (or otherwise). Back in the bleak midwinter of 2009 I pledged to buy a new release every week of 2010 which I just about managed, wheras in 2008 I plumped for 9 must dos, of which I’ve managed about 4… And that’s in 3 years.

However – this year’s resolution is a must achieve… It might take me longer than a year, and it might take some pretty awful hours pretending I want to be a careerist film extra (which I definitely don’t)… But imagine when that curtain lifts and for just a fleeting second I see my horror stricken face running away from a Velociraptor on the very edge of the screen I can sit back and know I’ve won… See, my resolution is TO BE AN EXTRA IN JURASSIC PARK 4!

Jurassic Park is genius, 2 less so and 3 something of an abortion in a creative dinosaur-based franchise… But I have high hopes for 4. We’ve named a compilation after it, and I even bought the staggeringly expensive blu-ray box-set with a plastic T-Rex involved in it. Many a time I’ve adventured into Isla Nublar with strong adventurers (occasionally My First Tooth – Gammers is good to have as a Dilophosaurus wingman) and shit – I’d love a part, however insignificant, in the next one.

Now I’m well aware that this will probably lead me having to fly to Hawaii or something for filming. That’s a pretty small price to pay… And the journey starts tomorrow (the journey to be an extra, not actually fly to Hawaii – that would be pretty overzealous). If anyone who’s eyes drift over this page can help, do let me know at info@ilovealcopop.co.uk or drop a comment or something… You’d make me very happy.

Obviously being News Years resolutions and all it probably ought to be for the greater good, so I’d donate my fee to my fave charity Afrikids (do extras even get fees? If not, like say £250 for an extra role and £500 for a spoken part –ha!-) because otherwise this would be perhaps the most selfish NYR ever.

But yeah… Jurassic Park 4, the water must be rippling in your cup right now baby… After all… Life will find a way

Happy Christmas you beautiful souls…

Ah man. The Christmas break. And not soon enough. It’s been a quite frankly brutal last couple of months – but incredible all the same = and amongst amazing releases from Johnny Foreigner, Katie Malco, My First Tooth and The Social Club, a number of key shows, more mail orders that we’ve ever dreamed of and relentless fesive partying (it’s a hard life)… We’ve had a great time. And I think it’s fair to say that Alcopop! is in the best shape it’s ever been…

I won’t go into it in a big way. After all this is Christmas and you should probably be dipping into some serious litres of Bucks Fizz rather than reading this, but it’s all looking grand, 2012 is liable to be perhaps the best year yet(!) and it’s all down to you guys and the support you give us, so thanks SO much.

As a little thank you we’re not only running an ad in Januarys RockSound that features a good number of your handsome faces, but we’ll also be running a few little bits and bobs in early January to say thanks. Kinda wanted to do an advent calendar but everyone was working on those, so we thought we go for something to combat the Christmas blues. So look out for HAPPY NEW YEAH!!! coming in January…

In the meantime, as we say – thanks so much for sticking by Alcopop! Without you we’re nothing…  Have an amazing Christmas, and just in case you missed it – here’s our free download compilation we released via the Banquet Advent Calendar to have a listen to what’s coming up in 2012…

Much love – and moreover.. Have an AMAZING Christmas

Lv Jack PoP, Mean Kev and Alcokitten!

ALCOPOP! Sign Gunning For Tamar

“There are some pretty famous bands from Oxford, right? This quartet look set to join that list of alumni”- Rock Sound 

Although the winds are cold and everyone is slapping on the scarves for Christmas, Alcopop! have been busy in the transfer window, and are pleased to announce the signing of Oxford heart-throbs Gunning For Tamar – along with a fresh new track ‘Chocolate Hooves’ for download pretty chaps!

GFT (Joe Wallis (lead vox/guitar), Dan Pollard (guitar/keyboards/vox), D’Arcy King (drums) and Ben Green (bass) come fresh from a stint with exceptional brothers in arms ‘Walnut Tree Records’, with sold out EP in tow – and a host of folk starting to get a little frothy around the tonsils about this lot.

Already confirmed as ones to watch in Rocksound 2012, and packed with fresh new EP, UK tour with Jumping Ships and European tours in the planning for 2012, it’s all been strong sailing thus far. With recent hits playlisted on Scuzz TV and NME TV, as well as being added to NME.com, they’ve been featured on XFM & BBC 6 Music, Canadian & New Zealand radio and have performed a BBC Introducing session. The band previously picked up the Breakthrough Track Of The Week through NME for “The Organs…”, their first single.

Two full summer tours & a successful first tour away from home soil in Germany, as well as supporting bands such as Tellison, Maybeshewill, Ungdomskulen & Sound of Guns signals a busy, great year already for this young band. They also played a packed out BBC Introducing night in the Oxford Academy back in May & a host of festivals including Truck Festival, Ley Lines Festival & Guilfest last year.

Let’s go (once more) Oxford! For any more info, do get in touch!

Limited Edition My First Tooth scarf single set!

Oh My First Tooth. As beautiful as they are talented, the inescapable 4-piece are not only a hot action rock band these days (well, sort of anyway) but they’re also right at the forefront of the the keep your neck warm this Christmas campaign. A very worthy cause part funded by Sew Fuckin’ What and Alcopop! Records, which has the ultimate goal of encouraging people to keep their necks well sheathed this wintertime.

To that end (and not because lovely Barry from SFW said hey “Poppers, we’ve got to do this for Christmas because it’s THAT ace”) we’ve put together this pretty awesome single – based around a 3 track CD of Sleet and Snow, and a pair (count ‘em) of scarves stitched with those very words – one for you and one for a loved one or friend or pet (and if it’s the latter please take a photo of it ).

By now you know the music is good right, but here’s the even better thing. The Highland News gave the scarves a bang up 4/5 for warmth, and if you can survive the harsh winds of northern climes in them, you can go anywhere!

Limited strictly and only about 7 or 8 pairs left, so do be quick!

 xxx

Alcopop Christmas Party! Next Thursday….

Do say you’ll come – it’s going to be a lovely time. Just check out the line up and know you’re going to have a suuuuper time (At the Siver! There are Alcopop! Santa Hats for the first 10 people in, a glass of mulled wine for everyone on arrival – and all for £4. Tickets are available from wegottickets.com or the PoP Shop, and the line up looks a little something like this: ps – My First Tooth are also playing an exclusive busking set that you’ve never seen before, and may never see again. Oh yeah!!!

It’s all happening at The Silver Bullet, which is right next to Finsbury Park tube station – and a cracking venue to boot… Do say you’re in! Oh, and here’s the facebook event should you like that kind of thing.