New Jumping Ships and LightGuides material and tours!

It’s been a hectic month or so in the PoP stable (so why not trot out some horse analogies) – magnificent new foal Katie Malco has cantered in, we had a strong nuzzle-off at Alcopopalooza, rambunctious stallions My First Tooth have been led off to stud with Grand National runners Athlete, the benevolent Shire Horses of JoFo have been crafting a sleek new record (or horseshoe maybe) – but today we bring you news of fine new colts Jumping Ships and LightGuides, who are swiftly making the next two months their own.

First up will be brand new Poppers LightGuides brutal-pop-rock core 7 track mini album ‘Samba, Samba, Samba’ on 29th August (currently making a lot of magaziney type people pretty damn excited) – followed up by epic Brighton funsters Jumping Ships unleashing their massive sounding new 6 track EP ‘Standard Bearer’ on 12^th September. The latter is part of our Rock Sound endorsed new EP club (more info coming soon), all aided by the lovely folks at Red Bull – and sounding like a well lit express train crashing through a firework factory…!

Whatsmore, as part of the new breed of bands signing to Alcopop in this wonder year of 2011 for your super ears, we also thought – why not unleash perhaps the hottest tour in town all the way through August – so we did. Starting way down south and heading all the way up to Glenrothes, (which I’m reliably informed is the furthest away point in the world) both bands will be on tour kicking out the jams

(15) London, Old Blue Last (16) Bristol, The Croft (17) Hereford, The Jailhouse (18) Northampton, The Labour Club (19) London, Borderline w/ Brontide JS only (20) Cricketers, Kingston w/Shapes LG only (21) Hastings, Tubman (22) Leeds, Milo (23) Milton Rooms, Malton (25) Thurso, The New Market Bar (26) Dundee, Dexters (27) Glenrothes, The Greenside (28) King Tuts, Glasgow

Ooooooh yeah!

Loads more info, and front covers and free downloads will be heading your way soon – but in the meantime if you haven’t heard the boys most recent singles yet, do so here… And damn well pick your nearest date! This tour is gonna blow off some rooves yo!

Heart & Hope – Jumping Ships

The Casting Call – LightGuides

My First Tooth new video and Athlete tour support!

Isn’t it ironic that the more that happens the less time you have to write about it. I’ve always loved writing this PoP blog but it struck me the other day that so much has happened that I’ve just not updated all you massively handsome readers on! I guess that’s partly due to mixing all the content up between Facebook and Twitter and stuff, but dear reader – I digress.

I was here to tell you about the magnificent My First Tooth, who have been kicking it of late. Literally quicker to list the festivals they aren’t playing rather than the one’s they are – they have also been confirmed for 10 (count em’) support shows on the new Athlete tour, was well as filming this rather marvelous video with the epic Marc Bird – a man of many talents having previously managed Attika State.

So lower the lights, grab yourself a Hooch Lemon and enjoy this little beauty. It contains a swan, lovely tricks of the light and Gareth Stix… What more could you desire!

and those tour dates…

13 Wed MANCHESTER @ Lowry Keys
20 Wed LONDON @ Union Chapel
22 Fri NORTHAMPTON @ The Roadmender
23 Sat BRISTOL @ Thekla
24 Sun OXFORD @ Academy 2
27 Wed NEWCASTLE @ The Cluny
28 Thu PRESTON @ 53 Degrees
29 Fri YORK @ The Duchess
30 Sat GLASGOW @ The Arches
31 Sun BIRMINGHAM @ HMV Institute

Jumping Ships CD/T-Shirt single & new Tour!

OH YEAH! Payday’s in and you need some stunning new threads no? Well, now’s the time to indulge. Alcopop’s newest young hip kids Jumping Ships are kicking with a new 3 TRK single ‘Heart and Hope’ – released all on CD (yeah)/ MP3 (why not) and a CD + T-Shirt Megadeal package (both) for just 8 sheets! It looks pretty damn hot too, no…? Oh, and the tees are strictly limited to just 50 – so don’t leave it too long.

It comes out on the 7th March (coinciding with a pretty damn splendid evening show at The Old Blue Last) – and I promise you’ll love it. Speaking of tour… You can catch them around the country on the following dates….

28th Feb – Portsmouth (Cellars)
2nd Mar – Reading Purple Turtle
3rd Mar – Basingstoke
4th Mar – Hastings Tubman
6th Mar – Cardiff Buffalo Bar
7th Mar – London, The Old Blue Last
9th Mar – Westminster University
10th Mar – Brighton, The Green Door Store
11th Mar- Wimbledon

See you there yo… xxx This is the introduction for one HOT Jumping Ships summer….

Touring Teeth on Tour!

It’s ever so lucky MFT come from Northampton (famous for its bangin’ shoe industry) as they’re on the road so often, Ross is always down the cobblers having his old hob-nailed boots fixed. Off they go, hither and thither, delighting the masses with not a thought for their own hooves.

And goodness me – they’re off again… Just a short jaunt this time, but if you live in York, Leeds or Cheltenham then you’re on to a winner – and if you’re good at sneaking into sold out venues then maybe it’s London for you (they’re playing with f****ing Danan! Who wouldn’t want to be at that!!!) Just don’t let Tim from the Windmill catch you or he might set roofdog on to you…

Oh – and look what The Word said about them.. ”A full-on blast of raucous folk-pop that’s all hoedown and no slowdown, Orchards was one of our favourite singles of the summer”

Jan 26 – Stereo, York
with Penny & The Poppet

Jan 27 – Milo Leeds
with Sharp Darts + The Arcadian Kicks

Jan 28 – Frog & Fiddle, Cheltenham
with Midnight Mile + Nicholas Stevenson + The North Ship

Jan 29 – Windmill, Brixton *SOLD OUT*
with Dananananaykroyd + Cats in Paris + Olympians + Stairs To Korea

Sooooo – if you’re in town, these are MUSTS!

Hometown Heroes Tour – in June!

One of our goals of 2009, and 2010 indeed, was to make Alcopop a close-knit family – and with it, adopt a hearty collection of bands who love each other, creative types who help us out – and a group of exceptional folk (aka you) who knew that when they bought a record, came to a show or got involved with Alcopop in any way that not only did we appreciate it massively, but that we were all pushing in the same direction. Team PoP as it were…!

And with this, we hoped would come inter-band harmony, acts who dug playing with each other, grew handsomely together – and generally had an ace time. So it’s with great delight that I can announce the Hometown Heroes Tour, an idea incepted in my back garden with the good chaps of Stagecoach at the beginning of 2010… And now coming to fruition, where 4 vessels launched from the good ship PoP all tour together over what is likely to be a weekend of sold out shows, ripping apart rampant home towns.

The handsome bunch involve: Screaming Maldini, My First Tooth, Stagecoach and Elephants, with venues (as it sounds) in home towns – Folkestone, Dorking, Northampton and Sheffield… And believe me, this tour is going to be rad! The Poster below [designed by Owen ‘Phants lovely girlfriend) explains it all, so see you at a show yeah?

Stagecoach & Elephants rampage out on tour….

Where are my manners! Just realised that somehow some rather important information has completely missed the blog over the last week or two – the rather ace matter of the forthcoming Stagecoach UK tour… F&*K yes!

Now you know what we think of the good ship Stagecoach… She’s a magnificent vessel with perfectly knotted rigging, billowing crisp white sails and cannons so loud that the crisp smack of cannonball to bow could raise the cowboy dead…. Yeah, you know we love them.

But even better news is that they’re going out on tour with the lovely Elephants, who’s raucous brand of indie rock is second only to their handsome faces.

It’s an awesome line up for true – and one that you would be ill-advised to miss, whatever perilous weather February bestows upon us. Look for the ace poster below, and be sure to follow @stagecoachuk on Twitter – for during tour giveaways and a whole lot of delicious banter besides.

See you there yeah?

Keeping My First Tooth on the Streets!

What’s even better than a My First Tooth single, released to the masses in a big ball of love, all beautifully performed by Ross and Sophie et al? Give up? Well, in my book it’s a bloody ace tour to go with it too. Treating us once again to tooth magic trotting up and down the globe, the boys (and girls) of the good ship MFT have booked a tour with Alcopop favourites Aspen Sails, and are trekking around the british isles over the next week or too.

Full facebook details (with all you’d ever need to know) can be found over here, or check out the lovely poster below. Highlight of the tour well…. There’s many a highlight, but especially keep an eye out for December 14^th, where Tooth and Sails will be joining Stagecoach and Tellison for the Alcopop Xmas Party, W1.

It’s but a fiver in advance (slightly more pricey on the door) and will be packed I promise you… What’s more is that there’s going to be a raffle where you can win a sizzling date with Tooth drummer Gareth/ Gammers/ G-Unit as one of a selection of sickeningly ace prizes. So come to this one, or if you’re elsewhere go to another.

Don’t just listen to me though – read this, the thoughts of Alcopop connoisseur Darren on the blog, “Totally captivating stuff that gained a generous audience response and even an unprecedented (for this venue) encore. I felt I heard a previously unnoticed Go-Betweens vibe throughout that gave the songs an added warmth”. Yes!

My First Tooth to tour the world?

After a week of shows that have been way up, and then a little bit down – before soaring with joy again (apparently one group of fans in Colchester were so enamoured with the Tooth that they refused to let the van leave) – My First Tooth, as is their way, have been hitting the road hard. I think Ross enjoys it too, as he yesterday outlined plans to permanently locate his home to a van and have played shows in all 7 continents before the end of the 2010…. Well, almost anyway.

This is cool for several reasons… ‘Cos not only will Ross be able to take his very own brand of tooth pop to people so far flung that they haven’t been touched by the leprous tongue of Bono, but I imagine he’ll want to take Alcopop with him, and I quite like he idea of sending the mail-orders out from a golden beach in Aruba, or liaising with RoTa whilst half way down the Amazon – hanging out in Alcocroc’s spiritual home.

Either way, it also looks like the veritable champs at MFT are going into the studio before the year’s out to begin work on their debut full length – and after that, you may not see them for months. So make sure to catch them while you can, before Ross tours that little too hard and is appointed lord and master of a small southern pacific isle, soon to be deposed by a mercilessly gigging folk duo from The Philippines.

Onward MFT, onward….

And for your delectation and delight… Here’s an Italian review recently come in from soundmagazine.it! Love the translation

Don’t let yourselves be fooled by the young age of these english musicians, they play mature music.
It’s a pleasure to listen to My First Tooth because they combine elements that recall the relax, the spring warmth and the comfort of a good sofa. It feels simple to suddenly abandon yourself to the sweet and melancholy folk notes, that fit well with a delightful taste in country music. Acustic guitars, violin, mouth organ, a fascinating and sometimes harrowing voice can conquer you and make you want to stop for a few minutes, keeping time with nude feet and make yourselves a good hot coffee. It’s a pure and honest music, that goes straight to your heart, and you feel it. If you like bands like Wilco, Bright Eyes or Bon Iver, this English collective, taken with the right measures, could be your band.

Wolf Am I on the road…

The Wolf Am I album’s only weeks away, and we’re getting pretty damn excited already… It’s going to sound, and look, absolutely gorgeous – and be available pre-release from every date on the tour! So getting to a date would be a tremendous idea.

From High Wycombe to Glasgow and beyond, tickets are already available – and the poster is genius – go listen to Wolf Am I on the MySpace and book yourself a ticket or two. We’ll see you there.

Pavilion sell out 7″, and snare a tour with The Thermals

So…it seems like forever since we at Alcopop HQ entertained a hearty blogpost about those handsome lads Pavilion – but believe me when I say it’s all go in Wakefield. Firstly, they have themselves a shiny new bass player – Mr Tom Butler – and what’s even more exciting is that they’ve booked a main support UK/Ireland tour in June with… Get this – The fu**in’ Thermals…. Awesome!

This is of course fantastic news – not least because the summer is very much the season for Pavilion and this update proves to me that it’s just weeks away. Remember last year and Spoils of War. What a glorious song… I would say buy it immediately on vinyl form, but unfortunately it’s sold out. Still available on iTunes though so if you fancy a listen, head over there or stream it from the MySpace page.

Now – where did I put those sunglasses….?