London tomorrow night, right! OBL yes yes

This is a must… Free entry, and first band strictly at 8.00pm. Don’t miss it! I know it’s cold, snow is cascading down and outside seems like a hellish place to be, but fear not yo… Inside the Old Blue there will be fiery hearts to warm even the chilliest soul. See you there.

PS – Thanks to Laura Bell for the poster… Ace innit!

ALCOPOPULAR 4 IS OUT!!! IT’S A F**KING MENU :-) first personalised compilation ever… Yup

(Of the Alcopopular series) “The coolest compilation ever” – The NME

Pick your compilation Menu (14 tracks) – Buy now / All you can eat Menu – Buy now

I know there’s a few of you who dig the previous Alcopopular compilations… (3” CD/ Tape/ Message in a bottle) and it’s finally time for number 4. And this one’s a right little peach!  The world’s fully personalised compilation…

First it was a 3”CD, then a tape – followed up with a treasure map in a bottle… Now it’s dinner time.. Yup! Featuring delicious tracks from the likes of Liam Frost, Stagecoach, Freelance Whales, The Xcerts, Jose Vanders and many more.. This physical menu (all prettily Alcopop made) will be sent out with your personalised CD compilation

Or you can have all you can eat and have every track! Yummy…

Full tracklisting here…

STARTERS (Pick 2)
1. Liam Frost – Skylark Avenue
2. Klaus – Under The Sheets (Ellie Goulding cover)
3. Jose Vanders – These Times
4. Lucy Day - A Fire in the Sea

MAIN COURSE – Pick 5
5. Kevin Devine – All of Everything, Erased
6. Tom Williams & The Boat – My Will
7. Perms – Give Me All Your Lovin’
8. Person L – Pleasure Is All Mine
9. SuperFantastics – As the Lights Go Down
10. Spring Offensive – A Let Down
11. Heathers - Remember When
12. Freelance Whales – Generator Second Floor
13. Ute – Brother
14. Spectres – Spider and Fly
15. The Xcerts – Home vs Home (Blueskies Remix)

DESSERTS – Pick 3
16. Muchuu – Their World
17. Talons – Manatee
18. Mimas – Mac, Get your Gear
19. Hiawata! – Lightning of the Sun

HOUSE WINE – Pick 4
20. The Candle Thieves – The Sunshine Song (live acoustic at G&Ds ice cream parlour)
21. My First Tooth – June July
22. Aspen Sails – Comfort
23. Stagecoach - Headbangers Ball
24. Elephants – Alexander
25. Screaming Maldini – Monkey See Badger Do
26. A Mystery Beverage… Alcopop’s new signing! (as yet unveiled)

Alcopopular 4 costs £5 for the full menu experience (you’ll be emailed a tick box menu and then posted the menu and compilation on CD, or have the menu and all tracks on 2 CDs for just £7  in an all you can eat deal!

Pick your compilation Menu (14 tracks) - Buy now / All you can eat Menu - Buy now

Alcopop showcase at Old Blue Last: Tuesday – free entry

When the Old Blue Last and their pals at Vic mag come a calling at Alcopop Towers requesting a short notice aster showcase it seems silly to turn them down. Not least when you know it’ll be free for everyone to get in, and all sort of handsome poppers will make their way down… Add in the fact that A Gun Rack?, Dexy, My First Tooth and The Candle Thieves, hot on the heels of their stunning debut album ‘Sunshine and other Misfortunes’, are all playing majestic sets too – and March 30th is pretty much sorted.

See you there…? Yep!

Elephants rock Matt Horne, and The Candle Thieves new video is awesome!

Do you ever get that thing where there’s so much to write about, you kinda miss it all. Yes, as do I dear poppers – but today I aim to attack just a couple of things that have been in my mind to scribe over the last week or so. Firstly, to apologise for the very poor showing of Tell Massini, the stupid Alcopop horse who singularly failed to bring home the bacon – but also to let you know about a rather fun podcast, This is Reality, based in Oxfordshire, who seem to be giving us rather a love-in at the moment. Bless ‘em.

Big fans of My First Tooth, and come on now – if you aren’t you should be, it’s noticeable they tend to have a playlist of gold actually – and definitely put the work in… Just the other week I heard a specially created Alcopop megamix which was rather nice, and ith a quick glance to the playlist, one can see they regularly spin the likes of TTNG, Ex Libras and apparently a Hanson cover of Radiohead.. Sure, sure. They also boast a mascot which is a big dog thing wearing headphones… Which is cool.

Also meant to mention that the wonderful Elephants rocked up an awesome London show last week at Matt Horne’s takeover of Shoreditch party thing, wih the likes of My Tiger, My Timing and Jodie Harsh sharing the bill. By all accounts, Elepahnts slayed like tusk-wielding maniac mammals on the loose, which they tend to do in truth… And were pretty much the standout act of the evening.

It was Stagecoach who ventured that opinion too, and the good lads of Coach don’t lie – they’ve been brought up waaaay too nice for that..! (I once suggested to Nick Coach’s dad, whilst discussing his offspring, that he must have good sperm…. True story *cringe*)

Oh and finally, you should definitely check out the new Candle Thieves video for We’re all Gonna Die (have fun) which is coming out on Downtown Records tres soon… It’s magic!

Tim Vine endorses The Candle Thieves & Alcopop

Do you remeber ‘Whittle’ on Channel 5? Great show, people wore masks, noone other than me seems to remember it… Well if you are one of the sage few stroking your chin and saying “ah yes, now there was a show”, then you’ll be pleased to have a butchers at this magnificent pic of Tim Vine, captured by good ‘PoP soldiers The Candle Thieves last night (Glock pictured glaring at what must be a flyer misprint).  If not you should look at it anyway…

I have no words of explanation, no idea how this magnificent meeting of minds took place. But what I do know is that if you own The Candle Thieves Sunshine EP, you should know that you’re in very, very good company!

Ya’ll enjoy the Candle Thieves now buddy – U.S.Hooray!

It’s always nice to see the handsome stallions of Alcopop taking a frisky gallop into other countries to spread their love around, so hearty congratulations must go to The Candle Thieves, whose summery brand of sunshine pop has led them to be snapped up by Downtown Records in the U.S of A. Sharing the roster with the likes of Mos Def, Eagles of Death Metal and Gnarls Barkley (I can’t wait to see that label showcase) this is heap good news for our charming duo.

With new single We’re all Gonna Die, Have Fun described by Music Week as having all “the hallmarks of early Eels; simple, quirky and with a strong pop sensibility, this one calls for repeat”. True that, so expect to see the Thieves poppin out Hollywood bowl well, any time soon really. Good news is though poppers, that the single’s not out till early February – so you can still get the Sunshine EP from us to prove you were the very hippest thing since sliced hot dog.

Oh hell yes.

Alcopop ist Wunderbar!

It’s lovely to get recognition from foreign shores, so ‘pop points’ galore for terminally super pal Dorte, who not only has spent the year delighting us with lovely Twitter and email messages, but even flying in from Germany to take in a Candle Thieves show…  She’s ace, and what’s more – she saw fit to include The Candle Thieves ‘Sunshine EP’, and Alcopopular 3 in her list of the best releases in 2009, even describing the former as wunderbar! Amazing…

Pop over to the article over here at Fast Forward magazine, or you can read the translation below (again kindly provided by the lovely author herself).

The Candle Thieves – The Sunshine EP

I love The Candle Thieves. The day can be as foozled and gray as it wants to be, “The Sunshine Song” will bring sunshine into it. I always thought songs like that doesn’t exist or exist very rarely until The Candle Thieves taught me wrong. Their mix of poppy playful melodies with their quite dark lyrics is just wonderful. My advice: listen and melt away. Those two charming guys make the most beautiful music I have heard in quite a while. And their lyrics reflect me so good in many ways that it almost leaves me anxious.

I am really looking forward to their album in 2010.

Alcopop – Alcopopular 3 (Compilation)

I must admit: At first I just bought this Compilation because of its packing. Alcopop is a small but mighty indie label from UK and they have the most charming ideas for the special something. You could just buy a boring mp3 download OR you can order treasure map in a bottle! Amazing!

And by the way you’ll also get the perfect Saturday morning soundtrack and a bunch of british band you should take a closer look at. To name those who fascinated me right from the beginning: Stagecoach, Tellsion, Apple, David Gibb and Pulled Apart by Horses.

Cheers Dorte!

Music PR perfection that The Candle Thieves can take to the bank!

We don’t get much Alcopop coverage on drowned in sound… Not a lot indeed. But it is with proud faces and handsome grins that I’d like to point to their most recent single of the week column (occupied by the Candle Thieves), point an outstretched thumb at the offending article and say – y’know, we’re on wotcha.

The review is nice enough, with the reviewer feeling “confident it will appeal to those of you mourning the likes of Aberfeldy. Or those with a fondness for perky ditties what are darker than they first seem”. She goes on, “because this song is actually all about how we’re all going to die. So not quite as cute as it sounds.”

But kinda cooler than the article itself is the way it happened… Step forward Andre Wonder (PR guru helping le Candle Thieves) who responded to reviewer Wendy Roby’s power-hungry offer to make a track ‘single of the week’ if “it was sung down the phone to her” – by bloody doing it (video below)! His voice is not quite as heart-achingly beautiful as TCT Scott’s, but fair play on the effort old chap.

For his next trick Andre will be burping Stagecoach’s We Got Tazers to Jools Holland for a slot on next weeks show…. Maybe

Pop show @ RoTa 10th October

It wouldn’t be an Alcopop show if everything went to plan, and despite last Saturday (and a bit)’s show at RoTa being quite a remarkable rock n’ roll orgy of ace (busiest RoTa’s been in months according to the organiser – get in Team PoP ) it was not without it’s teething problems. Gigjunkie will explain from their point of view….

“After searching for forty minutes [for the venue], I received a text from Scott McEwan of The Candle Thieves; informing me they had broken down on the M25 and might not be able to make it at all – a rather bad start to the day!
However, despite the initial problems, all turned out well. The RAC rescued The Candle Thieves, and the venue [which we'd walked past dozens of times] opened it’s doors as if to say sarcastically “Yes, I’m here – you haven’t looked foolish trying to find me at all.”

But despite the difficulties – with a generous double fisting of free beer bottles, it was plain sailing… And as the all-Alcopop line up took the stage, and the punters poured in, we were rockin’. The Candle Thieves, fresh from the busom of the RAC, delighted the crowd with honey sweet melodies, delicious faces and hand claps galore, My First Tooth launched into a veritable marathon of folk-fused modern day classics – do you dance? Do you laugh at the lush melodies or cry at the bitter sentiments hinted at? All three at respectable levels (perhaps simultaneously) recommended.

Then it was time for Stagecoach, who showcased a new stage show which really rocked – with crowd pummeling Nick furiously thrashing within the crowd while Tom became perhaps the first Mandolin player to pull a flying leap from atop a bass drum ever… In short, breathtaking… On decks Nathan T Pyle kept the punters entertained with a smattering of The Candyskins and Arrows of Love, whilst Richard from Ten Speed Photography took marvelous photographs.

All in all, a splendid day – and a favourable setting for the launch of the Stagecoach We Got Tazers EP… Strong times ladies and gentlemen, strong times…. Oh, and cheers so much for coming y’all!

Alcopop show rocked the flake out of G&Ds

It’s always fun trying gigs somewhere that little bit different… So last Thursday Alcopop took to G&D’s Ice Cream Parlour on the Cowley Road in Oxford (so a bit of a homecoming show in essence). How lovely it was, and amidst copious amounts on magnificent flavoursome ice cream (with gummy bears the only choice) a vaguely confused crow gathered, wondering what to expect. I too wondered. Slightly worried.

On first, and supplying the PA were the charming Boog who impressed a strong local following, before The Family Machine swept up the gig in a folk-tinged fist of glory. Reminiscent of a bunch of old country yokels (without the straw hats) they sat on a bench and regailed delighted revellers with new songs, old songs and all sorts really. They were ace; consummately delicious some might say. In terms of ice cream, imagine a big nutty caramel swirl served on a wafer – with added smartie topping.

Then came the Candle Thieves, clearly delighted with the scene, to deliver what has to go down as one of the top ice cream shows ever seen in Oxfordshire….  Sparklers, glockenspiels, ceremonial reveries of some starry-eyed kids and more, they left the stage to a standing ovation. Hot chocolates and sugar topped waffles flying about in abject happiness. A super night!

Ah it was ace… Thanks to G&Ds for putting it on, and look out for the next one. It will be ace I promise thee.