Available for presale now! We Move by This City

ThisCity – We Move ALCOPOP018 – 2 track 7″ – Released: 22.09.08 This City’s third and last limited edition single before moving onto pastures huge, is an anthemic call to arms. Imagine disco-jerk rythms mixed with the impassioned strains of the Blood Brothers, all fused into 3 minutes of pop-hardcore hit. PRE-ORDER 7″

Seriously… Buy this. It’s bloody awesome! Don’t believe me? I’m hurt, but prove it to yourself by following this MySpace lnk and listening in!

And if you’re not the ‘buying records’ type, and prefer iTunes type shenanigans, simmer down that dissapointment that it’s not available until the 22nd, by indulging in this amusing Alcopop cartoon.

goFASTER>> seek a new guitarist – can you play

So I’m sure you will have heard by now… But sad news has been hanging around the goFASTER>> camp this summer like a fat kid round the leftovers, as guitarist Chris has bid a fond farewell to the band, leaving the scouse 4-piece a member short.

They have been keen to stress that it’s all happy “He is moving onto pastures new and we wish him all the best, and still remains our bestest of fwends. He plays his last gig (his testimonial) for us on 27th September at the carling academy in Liverpool so come down and give him a good send off!” – and while I can only concur with those sentiments (I miss you Chris *sobs*), this does mean an exciting opportunity is open.

Can you wield an axe, do you reside near Liverpool and are you an all-round awesome chap/ess? Well, if so, probably worth reading this blog and putting your name forward… For goFASTER>> are set to come back stronger than ever, rip-roaring into 2009, and while plans are still in motion – keep an eye on the blog for some potentially exciting happenings with the lads over the next few months.

Long live goFASTER>>!!! and er… their orange shark. Oh, and have you ever noticed how drummer Ian (pictured left) looks like all the members of Supergrass?

Hot zombie chicks, gore and geeks star in This City’s We Move video

Fresh from wiping the tears of mirth away from my face after witnessing Mike from Hassle Records live up-to-the-minute battle with Apple on Twitter, which ended with his reasonable request for “Steve Jobs’ address and access to MURDER WEAPONS” I’m preparing myself for a massive night of Alcopop work, without any Mac in sight.

Indeed, I think that in protest I shall be adopting nothing but a pen and paer from now on, which may make the blog harder to write – but fear not, as from now on I’ll be sticking updates on the notice board outside Buckingham Palace.

Apple be warned – you’re making powerful enemies…

Meanwhile, the new This City video for ‘We Move’ is being playlisted across all the coolest music telvision shows around.. And, I promise you, kicks ass.. You want hot chick zombies, geeks, lesbian kisses blood, a clean-up bill that would boggle the mind of the chancellor of the exchequor and a punchy rock anthem…

Then observe…

Sunday Times know where it’s at….

Massive bank holiday so apologies for a short blog post from Alcopop HQ… The dusk is settling on another fine Oxford eve, and with gentle glass of pimms and hand, and Pavilion’s ‘Spoils of War’ settling on my tongue – but it’s not just mine… So get out to the shops, or preferably here online, and order yourselves a copy of the single on limited edition 7inch.

Or you could do what the Times Online suggest, and download the track here. They say of the single, what sweeping the nation have known for weeks, that it is “a new pop single to lose your heart to” – and alongside Slow Club, Glasvegas and Tigercity it nestles snugly in their ‘hottest download’ section. Click below..

Meanwhile, an observation for you.. Rubicon, I now have no doubt, is perhaps the finest drink ever to grace the shelves of British newsagents, and seems to be slowly taking over in the last few weeks. Whilst its sometime mango lovliness had never even crossed my pallette more than a month ago, I’m now addicted to pretty much every flavour going. It’s fucking brilliant! They really need to get on something a little alcoholic…

Jamie from the Family Machine Mo’ Ped, Mo’ Problems

Ah that loveale scamp is upto his old tricks again, and as all the members of the Alcopop family are busy touring, thrusting records into the hands of the unsuspecting public or busying themselves in studios across the land – good ol’ Jamie of The Family Machine has taken rather a different approach to spending September. I’ll let Jay from The Family Machine take up the story…

“Jamie (our glorious Family Machine lead singer) is embarking on the jorney of a lifetime with two good buddies, Liam (of local rising stars Cat Matador) and Bonamy ( Who may be better known to you as ‘the drum guy’ from Oxford’s PMT music store). It’s an overland journey to Greece… ‘no big deal’ I hear you say… EXCEPT these brave lads and true are undertaking this journey on Honda C90 mopeds… Yes you heard me correctly, HONDA C90 MOPEDS!!! If you don’t know what I mean, stick the name in to google images and you will get a whole load of pictures of these shetland ponies of the road!!

What’s more dear friends, they are doing all for charity… Sobell House Hospice to be precise. They have set the very achievable (!) target of raising £100,0000 for this good cause… Always good to shoot for the moon!!

It has already been a story full of twists and turns… Not least that some damned reprobate stole Jamie’s C90 from outside his work a couple of days ago… Just a week before the trip begins… The long and the short of it being that Jamie had to go to Surrey yesterday to purchase a new steed… Incidentally, if you do see anyone riding a C90 with the registration F377 OVX… CALL THE COPS!!

If we are lucky they might actually do something, that is if they are not all too busy watching speed cameras and reading peoples emails to check if they are ‘terrorists’!! If you want to donate or know more about the trials and tribulations of our group of intrepid explorers then just google ‘C90 Dreams’ and click on the top entry to find their blog and details of how to get involved…”

And fear not people who don’t like to stray from www.ilovealcopop.co.uk (and who can blame you), cos we’ll be loosely following their progress as they wend their way inexorably to their final destination… Jamie, we salute you sir! Oh, and for anyone who is still yet to purchase the brilliant FM debut album ‘You Are The Family Machine’ – do so while Jamie’s a ridin’ from our shop, and Alcopop will doate 100% of our slice of the revenue to the charity appeal. Oh, and our pals at STNF have recently shoved up a few words.. If you got a minute to spare read them now…

This City offer up a fine competition!

They move at just the right speed, they’re releasing a very limited 7″/digital single on Alcopop, and now This City have proved themselves to be pretty damn benevolent too, by offering a really rather corking competition on their MySpace blog, with a free track to go…

As they say, it really couldn’t be simpler – and all you have to do is buy just a single ticket for their massive upcoming tour (more details here) which will set you back not much more than a fiver. Southsea, Stoke and Norwich types… That includes you!

All you have to do is forward a ticket confirmation email / take a photo with your ticket / scan a ticket etc and email it to THISCITYCOMP@HOTMAIL.CO.UK to win….

1st prize

T Shirt of your choice
Signed We Move promo CD
We Move 7″ vinyl
Kids With Fireworks CD
ThisCity tote bag

2nd prize

T shirt of your choice
We Move 7″ vinyl

3rd prize

We Move 7″ vinyl

Whatsmore, those who buy tickets for any of the above dates will be sent a brand spanking new demo track “GHOSTS” absolutely free. Man…. What more could you possibly want!

Look Mum! Pavilion are in the papers…

I’m still out at Sziget, with my face all bloodied and torn (well – sort of). I’ve partied till i can literally dance no more, and all thats keeping me awake while Babyshambles meander their way through a quite frankly tedious set outside, is the gentle tip-tapping of these keys. This though my friends is no matter, and the real subject of this post is the quite frankly ace press that’s popping up all over for Pavilion, and their latest single ‘Spoils of War’.

Still a good week or so away from release, you may well have been hearing this song all over independent and BBC related radio, but have you seen this ‘New band of the day‘ post in The Guardian? OK – so the author has snatched upon that old Hoosiers comparison and run, and run, and run with it – but one cannot deny several things that they’ve picked up…. Firstly that they have hits to go, and also that they produce the kind of melody driven pop that is beautifully infectious – guilty as charged. Not to mention that they’re Most likely to: Recruit an army of fans.

Record of the Day… You got it, and noize make enemies are big fans too it would seem. Subba Cultcha rave about the boys too suggesting that Spoils of War is “Another fine slice of Indie pop brilliance to grace my speakers as I go a little crazy on my office/dance-floor… with a whiff of Morrissey, two dashes of Guillemots and a sprinkle of Rumble Strips-You’ve got one hell of a sonic cocktail here…”

There will be plenty more to come too – so for the meanwhile head over to their MySpace page and fill yourself with musical aceness, or catch them on tour next week.

Alco pop to Sziget Festival

Ah – another lack of updates, but this time we’ve got a fair old excuse… For you see, while Kev grafts ever hour god sends selling BSM and Alcopop records – I have upped-sticks and flown towards Sziget Festival in Hungary, safe in the knowledge that while he deals with everything else, I’m free to kick around drinking ridiculously cheap beer, crisping my skin int he midday sun – and slowly grinding out a blog post on a slightly obscure Hungarian keyboard, with every word turning red as i can’t remember where the fuckin’ language setting is.

Apart from that though, the festival has thus far been great, and despite an 8 hour journey from Prague to Budapest on a train staffed by a paedophilic looking jobsworth who charged us extra for beers because we moved from the train bistro to restaurant, and a rapidly drunkening German, we made it past a rip-off cab driver whose anti-english repost I imagine was scant compensation for the 10,000 gobblers (roughly 35 quid) we refused to pay him on top of the fare he agreed.

Otherwise though, the highlight has thus far been narrowly avoiding a good rogering from a burly Hungarian man who plied me with iced shots, before moving in for the kill…. And the traditional Jewish costumed lads who rocked out an obscure tent we happened upon during a drunken stroll to the party arena. It was carnage, with a mass of sweaty bodies dancing furiously… Ace! Then i payed a quite frankly paltry sum to seek answers to lifes questions from a rabbi. We talked long and hard, and although i cant much recall his advice – i’m sure it was sage.

Iron Maiden were also, and obviously, superb, despite one of my pals getting destroyed on double tequilas and inexplicably falling over a bush-hidden massive open sack of mayonaise at 7am (incidentally the first time i’ve ever come across a massive sack of mayonnaise in my life). VIP creds were tough to get too, with us ending up in a hut marked ‘troublesome cases’, being led over to a corner and told to wait there. The folk then totally ignored us for 15 minutes, and left our forms on a shelf before we asked how progress was going. There was no progress, and we were sent away. Useless

Now I’m off to sink a few pints of tasty European lager, and watch some more bands – including the interestingly monikered ’Orange the Juice’ and The Cribs… (I win Kev – where are your sacks of mayo and mindbogglingly hateful festival toilets eh?) Oh, and speaking of the cribs – make sure to go and see Pavilion on their forthcoming tour. Buy the single too, and know summer’s here!!!

Breakfast and tours

Hi gang!
Kev here. Jack’s away in Eastern Europe being a disgusting mess in a tiny tent at a metal festival, probably getting rained on whilst sweaty men touch him where he pees. I’m sitting in my flat in Oxford watching the Olympics and thinking about cooking up some Tesco Finest sausages. Who’s the real winner here? I’ll let you decide.

Alcopop heroes and the soundtrack to YOUR summer, Pavilion, are out on tour right now. All self-respecting indie-pop fans will be in attendance. Here are the dates:

14.08 – Blackburn, North Bar (w/ The Foxes)
15.08 – Leeds, The Cockpit (Single Launch)
18.08 – Brighton, The Freebutt
19.08 – Cardiff, Barfly (w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)
20.08 – Exeter, The Cavern
21.08 – London, The Metro
26.08 – Hull, The Sesh
27.08 – Derby, The Venue
28.08 – Manchester, Night & Day

Their debut single, the catchy little ‘Spoils Of War’, is released on August 25th. Check out the video on NME TV. Or below. That’s probably easier isn’t it? Just doesn’t sound so cool.

Beach volleyball is on and I’ve decided that sausages are indeed the way forward. Happy days.

What Alcopop Records have got coming up over the summer…

Booze Britain always fills me full of joy. Watching inebriated c**ts stagger around with jars of pickled eggs is a brilliant subject matter – and one that always makes you feel a touch better about yourself. It seems unlikely that Ron from Goodnight Sweetheart and his crew (he’s the narrator aye) will ever send the cameras to an Alcopop meeting to take in 6 hours of sleeve-making in-jokes and discussion of how much our pal Dicky looks like Evan Davis of Dragons Den, but if they fancy it, we’re in… Obviously with crates of Alcopop galore!

Anyway – I digress – It is with some excitement I probably ought to let you know exactly what is coming up on Alcopop over the next few summer months. As you all will know, Pavilion are releasing their slab of harmonious pop ‘Spoils of War’ on the label on the 25^th August (pre-order now), but there’s a whole heap more coming up… September sees Cut the Blue Wire release their magnificent debut EP after teasing everyone with the 1-track digital epic ‘Everest’, and This City unleash their smash-up-your-face ‘We Move’ on strictly limited edition 7” vinyl… The release we’re told will be their last collectable single before their long-anticipated album.

Then comes October and with its golden leaves, and frosty paving slabs – ooh… Who but Sam Isaac, the nation’s favourite acoustic troubadour releasing his 5 track EP, with title track Sticker Star and Tape leading the charge, which has been getting a few nice radio plays already. That’s not to mention EPs from My First Tooth and goFASTER>> already firmly squeezed into the pipeline, and our long awaited Alcocroc T–Shirts which really do have to be seen to be believed.

Sounds good eh – and I do hope the line up suits all our favourite Alcopoppers amongst you. Many kisses!