Alcopopular review in Artrocker – 4/5!

It’s a cracker and all! I do love the handsome folk at Artrocker – great bunch… The menu is still available (with burger sleeve) from the shop. Read below… ‘Most forward thinking of record companies’ eh… Well thank you very much Emily Kendrick!

Deep breath – We all love Screaming Maldini…(part 1)

But it’s not just us you know, and in the past few weeks there has been all sorts of love from all sorts of places for the boys and girls from Sheffield. And in a blog post (or two), I’m going to attempt to sum up just some of the kind words uttered by glorious people from super places.

The ace Folly of Youth shall start suggesting that “the band manage to confound expectations and continually surprise and delight”, whilst Alter the Press mark the record 4/5 and reckon that “If you are looking for Indie Pop that guarantees a good time and harks back to the golden age of pop, this is definitely for you.” Rock Midgets give the same score asking “Is that Hugh Hefner? Screaming Maldini’s are the house band? Awesome, someone get me a martini!”

Elsewhere (on Tumblr) Music Fans Mic mark the record 9.1 out of 10 and say “Good things lie ahead for Screaming Maldini, make no mistake”, and Clicky Clicky reckon the EP is “mind-bogglingly good”. This is Fake DIY agree suggesting “This eccentric cacophony is entirely over the top but like the youthful exuberance that radiates from these three students, it’s contagious.”

I think my very favourite quote of all though comes from the lovely Matt of Heckler Spray who sums it up for me… Perfectly! “Honestly, if we could pick a band to soundtrack our dreams where we float through the clouds and eat pieces of rainbow, it would be them.” Got it in 27 words!

For fans of The Get Up Kids, Brand New and the X-Certs – WAI in Rocksound

Jesus – our bands have been busy the last couple of weeks! Where to begin I wonder, but just about manage to settle on Wolf Am I… Firstly to announce that the winner of the tickets to their London show and CD single is Thomas Smith with his answer to the question ‘what would you call your pet wolf should you be lucky enough to have one’ – Wolveritus the second. Nice one…

Even more importantly though is the band’s coverage in Rocksound this month, which is nothing short of fuc*in’ awesome (click on the Exposure image to see a bigger, more readable pic). For fans of the X-certs, The Get up Kids and Brand New works for me…. Go pre-order here (oh, and we’re down to the last few album/tee deals, so if you fancy one of those, get on it quick)…

Alcopop need you… Reviewers wanted for the new compilation!

I can feel it in my follicles that May is going to be a spectacular month. Mos Def, for as the sun gets ever bolder, the festival season really begins in earnest (hello Great Escape) – we’re also releasing a bostin’ compilation – featuring circa 13 tracks of indie loveliness.

We’ve got Tellison; we got Unicorn Kid, fancy a bit of Paul Steel? Apples, David Gibb, Stagecoach, Stars and Sons – the list goes on… And it’s all coming out via a treasure map in a bottle (which contains a secret URL and password to enable you to get downloading).

More details over the next couple of weeks as to exactly what’s going on – but to kick off we’re looking for a limited number of people based on Twitter, who fancy getting their reviewer hats on and tweeting reviews of each song (in 140 characters or less) each day in run up to the release. We’ll send you access to the compilation, feature the best Tweets on the website everyday – and what the hell, we’ll even send you a free CD with new stuff/ back catalogue cos y’know, we love you like that.

If you’re interested, just @ilovealcopop on Twitter, or email us at info@ilovealcopop.co.uk – and we’ll be in touch.

Here’s what Artrocker say about My First Tooth…

I’ve just bought the new issue of Artrocker – a fine rag indeed! This is what they had to say about My First Tooth…

“Enjoying the same sandpapered finish as Beirut and Bon Iver, My First Tooth and the Rubies EP makes you wish for a front porch, a sunset and a song of your own to sing, that could match Honesty Honestly for it’s beauty.

Typewriters almost replicates its namesake rythmically whilst it is steeped in honey-thick violin and melodies that reach for the open road.

Oak cured alt-country“

Lovely bit of writing – thanks Martyn Boyle!

Now I’m off to get drunk with some folks from the real world. I imagine, as bank holiday approaches, that the bars will be filled with mega-c**ts on their annual ‘one day out of the year’, dressed to the nines (possibly even tens), shovelling down wine like it was water and crying/vomiting/screaming about some long lost office argument at around 8pm – before having their soiled bodies thrown into a cab by fat co-workers.. and spending the rest of the weekend in bed, hoping they won’t be sacked on Tuesday.

Know good Alcopoppers – that I can guarantee none of these folk will own an Alcopop release, let alone think a crocodile on a skateboard is cool. In fact they probably think that Fierce Panda would be a public nuisance, and that Moshi Moshi is a dubious dish they buy from the Chinese takeaway of an evening.

In other words – you’re bloody ace… Know this

goFASTER>> Alter the Press and My First Tooth impress the devil’s Tuna

It’s really gratifying when those knowledgeable souls out there in the great wide blogosphere take some of the Alcopop family to heart, and a couple of superb posts have been brought to my attention over the last couple of days which have brought a spark of delight to my otherwise grimly ‘not at SXSW’ soul…

Firstly a review of goFASTER>>s new EP A Modern Education from Alter the Press, who rated the record 4 out of 5, but also this feature on My First Tooth from the Devil Has the Best Tuna – who correctly pointed out the fresh new scene burgeoning from within the sleepy county of Northamptonshire (pictured courtesy of Taz etc).

The former said of the scouse posters that “goFaster>> are definitely on to a good thing. These 5 tracks shows they are a band that enjoy what they do and have so much energy whilst doing it. They certainly have the art of indie pop-punk done precisely as it should be. Don’t be surprised if goFaster>> go places in the future…” While the Devil was definitely into a bit of Ross and that’s the Tooth! (sorry, sorry)..

“My First Tooth craft subtle, beautiful lullabies that locate your heart strings and tug at them gently like a folkie strumming a guitar. You can have your heart melted to a pool of slush later this month when the band’s debut EP is issued via Alcopop Records.”

Awesome… And if any muso blogger types read this and fancy a piece of the Alcopop action – gis a yell and we’ll have a chat.. Handsome!

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.

We like Rock.. We like Midgets – and they like Cut The Blue Wire!

See…? Awesome! Look out for the EP released on Alcopop in the summer… Or buy teh single from iTunes now, Now, NOW (for 79p)…

“The sure sign of a top draw single is that it leaves the listening begging for more, a trick which is executed with consummate skill here by Portsmouth-based five-piece Cut the Blue Wire. ‘Everest’ is positively brimming with same kind of youthful exuberance and towering ambition that fellow up-and-comers In Case of Fire are dripping with, as effervescent verses fizz along and blend effortlessly into a toweringly infectious chorus. With a six track EP due for release in July, summer simply can’t come quick enough on this evidence.”

Rating: 4/5 by Dan Jones

Hush the Many (Heed the Few) review in NME

Another Tuesday, and another great review for Hush the Many (Heed the Few) – and this time it’s the NME rising unsteadily from the Alcopop bed – all cheeks flushed red, utterly spent and clutching a bottle of something that may, in a few years time, seriously rot teeth. Of course (much like this post) it takes them a while to get to the point, even thought the whole review is less than 100 words long (they’re nattering on about lemurs or something) – but do feast your eyes on the entire happy summary below…

And pre-order the very limited (to 500) 7” single here…

Rave Revolve review

From those lovely chaps at Transition Tradition. Jumping the gun somewhat as the single’s not out for another month, but you can understand that people are getting excited already… Check out HTM here