London three-piece Flowers released their first single on Fortuna POP! on 19 August 2013. Despite only having formed last year they have already toured Europe with The Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart and recorded with Stuart Moxham of Young Marble Giants. Fittingly, Flowers draw a line between the joyous fuzzpop of the Pains and the minimalist brilliance of Young Marble Giants.

The trio is comprised of Sam (guitar), Jordan (drums) and Rachel (bass, vocals). Together they create a wall of sound larger than the sum of their parts, catchy pop songs hidden in noise. And Rachel possesses one of those beautiful pop voices to die for, with echoes of Elizabeth Fraser, Hope Sandoval and Harriet Wheeler.

The single features three songs recorded entirely at home in East London, where they all live together. Fiercely DIY, Flowers have spent the past year or so writing voraciously and recording frequently, burning the CDRs that are hungrily snapped up at their gigs, often with no artwork or tracklisting, random pot-luck selections of the hundred or so songs they have recorded to date.

“Stuck” is a beautifully stark stunner of a song, performed by Rachel alone, playing just a single-string bass.  Rachel explains, "Everyone asks me why I have a one-string bass... It's not for show or effect (though luckily people seem to like it) but came out of necessity.  I've always played lots of instruments but never guitar or bass, so I didn't know how to pick the strings.  I strummed the bass when I first played it and hit all the strings and made an awful noise!  So Sam took the top three off for me.  I've learnt to pick a little now, but we like keeping just the one string.. It means I don't have to think about it when I play the bass and can just sing and enjoy the music."

Flowers - Stuck

This song was supposed to be available online for a week but we decided to share it a little longer.

Pale Spectres - Didn't Know Where To Go (Demo)

"Will You Always Be My Friend" is the AA-side of The Spook School's first single on Fortuna POP!

While the A-side "I'll Be Honest" is taken from their forthcoming debut album 'Dress Up', due out on Fortuna POP! in October, “Will You Always Be My Friend?” is exclusive to the single. It was written by Adam a few years before and turned out a lot better than they expected it to once they recorded it. It’s about not really knowing how romantic relationships work or even if you’d actually want to take part in one in the first place or if you did then not knowing who with. Seeing other people who seem to be able to do all that kind of stuff so easily and not really knowing how they do it.

The Spook School - Will You Always Be My Friend

Our Leeds-based pop heroes return with a stunning sophomore album. Carefully conceived as a proper album rather than "merely" a batch of great songs, Ben, bassist Joe Margetts and drummer Bruce Renshaw have created what could be one of the top albums of 2008, and certainly a great album in the long tradition of UK guitar pop. More textural and varied that its predecessor, "Life Is Sweet" is still filled with gorgeous melodies and some of the catchiest tunes you'll ever have stuck in your ear, but it also is deeper and more thoughtful, full of emotional peaks and valleys. Rather than just chip in with an album of "more of the same," the band has paid extra attention to the arrangements, with judicious use of 12-string and acoustic guitars, lap steel and violin adding crucial detail and depth to the tunes.

And what about the songs? These are easily the strongest set of Lodger tunes yet. Opener "My Finest Hour" is an upbeat charmer that reminds one of The Pale Fountains, setting a wistful tone for the rest of the album. First single "The Good Old Days" is pure Sound of Young Scotland energy; with it's scratchy riff, driving drums, sing-along chorus and bouncing bass it's bound to fill dancefloors for years to come. "Honey" is a beautiful country-tinged lament, setting the table for "The Conversation," whose tough verses set the listener up for the chorus' surprising melodic burst. "A Year Since Last Summer" is pure strummy pleasure, a two minute tribute to the genius of The Housemartins.

And so it goes - superb tune after superb tune, each one distinct from the others but taken together building Life Is Sweet into an assured example of the pop songwriter's and band's craft. It's a true classic, a brilliantly written, produced and sequenced album that reveals new facets and produces new favorites with each listening.

The Lodger - The Good Old Days

Transpennine Express

Sweetness

Seeing Double Twice

A side for the upcoming 7" of Don't Cry Shopgirl, the loveliest duo from Stockholm, Sweden

Don't Cry Shopgirl - Bring Me Home

Free summer compilation from Labrador. Enjoy!

www.labrador.se
info@labrador.se

10 Sambassadeur "Kate"

The brand new single from Making Marks, out on Fika Recordings the 5th of August 2013 on 7" vinyl and download.

Making Marks - Barcodes [Soup mix]

Summer Fling

Leeds-based miserable jangles
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Transpennine Express

Finnmark!

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