“Heartbeats” is the first single to be taken from the forthcoming Fortuna POP! album by September Girls. A tale of unrequited love and betrayal, “Heatbeats” is awash with fuzzy guitars, ethereal female vocals and entrancing melodies – underpinned by a hurt that catches the back of your throat.

September Girls - Heartbeats

February 17th sees the release of "Green Eyed", the new single from
September Girls. The stand out track from their stunning debut album
Cursing the Sea (out January), the song epitomizes their
reverb-drenched sound.

Inspired by the call and response vocal style of “Look in My Diary” by
Sixties girl group Reparata and the Delrons, “Green Eyed” deals with
being trapped in a relationship with someone untrustworthy. Too scared
to question suspicions, the lyrics are the internal conversations in
your head that you are too afraid to have with the person themselves.

Named after a Big Star song via The Bangles, September Girls are
comprised of Paula (Bass/Vocals), Caoimhe (Guitar/Vocals), Lauren
(Keys/Vocals), Jessie (Guitar/Vocals) and Sarah (Drums). Their cool
blend of garage rock and post-punk has already seen them pick up
interest from the likes of NME Radar as well as Guardian New Band of
the Day. The new LP is also set to be Rough Trade's album of the week.

Drawing inspiration from the likes of Phil Spector, The Velvet
Underground, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus And Mary
Chain, the five-piece play reverb-soaked noise-pop of the finest
order, with distant layered harmonies, swirling organ and distorted
guitars once described as "sounds from a transistor radio abandoned in
a rural cinema."

“Nonchalantly cooing harmonies, driving basslines and swirling organs,
all with a hefty slice of Mary Chain-influenced reverb.” - NME Radar

“A compulsion to make 60s girl group pop sound echoey and strange:
beauty caught through a blur, a blizzard, as thought it’s about to
disappear at any moment through a fog of feedback and fuzz.” - The
Guardian, New Band of the Day

September Girls - Green eyed

Fortuna POP! will be releasing the self-titled third album by London’s LET’S WRESTLE in February. The record sees the band enter a new phase of maturity and sophistication giving frontman Wesley Patrick Gonzalez a forum to showcase his songwriting talents and love of classic pop. More heartfelt and musically diverse than previous albums, Let’s Wrestle sees the band transformed and ready to move up to a different level completely. 

Let's Wrestle - Codeine and Marshmallows

Taken from the new album 'Minimum Rock N Roll' by Chain and the Gang - due out on Fortuna POP! on 14 April.

Chain and the Gang are led by the hugely charasmatic Ian Svenonius, the prime mover of two of the most essential bands of our time Nation Of Ulysses and The Make-Up. They deal in deal in a new genre called CRIME ROCK that updates rock n roll, blues, and gospel music or vocal quartets from the late 50s /early 60s for the discerning few. Minimum Rock N Roll is minimal and ferocious, lean and mean. This record is a kind of aural austerity with barely any words, hardly any beats, fewer notes - its just EXACTLY ENOUGH.

Chain & the Gang bring their dynamic live show to Europe in May and June...

21.05_Prague, Pilot Klub
22.05_Trier, Exhaus
23.05_METZ, TRINITAIRES
24.05_TOURS, TEMPS MACHINE
27.05_Liverpool, The Kazimier
28.05_Glagow, Broadcast
29.05_Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
30.05_London, Tufnell Park Dome
31.05_Antwerp, New Scheld'apen 
03.06_Bordeaux, Festival Relâche
04.06_San Sebastian, Ayo Silver!
05.06_Madrid, Charada
06.06_Puerto de Santa María - Escena Rock
07.06_Granada, Planta Baja
10.06_Ravenna, Hana Bi
13.06_Brescia, Lio Bar
15.06_Munich, Kafe Kult
16.06_Wurzburg, Cairo
18.06_Berlin, Privatclub
19.06_Hambourg, Uebel & Gefährlich
20.06_Aalborg_1000fryd
25.06_Helsinki, Kuudes Linja


Chain and the Gang - Devitalize

"Sister" is taken from the new album 'Cursing The Sea', out now on Fortuna POP!

September Girls - Sister

Hailing from Pity Me near Durham, vegan straight-edge pop group MARTHA have just signed to Fortuna POP! and will be releasing their new album ‘Courting Strong’ at the end of May. Providing energetic, impassioned pop punk, Martha are informed by 90s indie rock and Scandinavian anarcho noir. The album, produced by MJ from Hookworms, is laden with harmonies and interchangeable vocals whilst still retaining the energy and excitement of the band’s live shows. 

Formed in 2011 by siblings Naomi (bass, vocals) and Nathan Griffin (drums, vocals) with J. Cairns (guitar, vocals) and Daniel Ellis (guitar, vocals), Martha have fast become a staple of the UK DIY pop scene. There are many competing stories as to the origin of their band name but it’s a fact that the very last passenger pigeon on earth was called Martha. When she died, the whole species became extinct.

Decamping from the North East to record the album at Suburban Home Studios, Leeds, the band enjoyed the freedom of being in the studio and experimenting with MJ’s equipment to produce unexpected sounds. The process saw them opening up to new ideas and, feeling more confident in their own abilities, allowing a wider range of dynamics.

Taken from a line in the song Gin and Listerine, the album title “Courting Strong” is an expression that was used to describe couples who were getting really serious. There’s the old cliché that when you’re young you think you’re invincible and that everything will last forever - the album is about looking back and reflecting on past moments in your life, past friendships and relationships, accepting the uncertainty and fragility of those things and moving forward positively.

The overarching theme of the album is ‘growing up weird’. It’s a semi-autobiographical story about growing up in a small town, with a sense of not fitting in but on the way finding people who share that feeling and forming really strong bonds. It’s about clinging to a sense of belonging and about being proud of who you are and where you are from, as well as the community of which you are a part. It’s an album for the people who stayed in their hometown, and for the people who still go back and visit.

Martha’s melodic punk pop celebrates being an outsider whilst being part of a community. The album touches on uncertainty, fear and loneliness whilst exuding an effervescent sense of excitement and joy. There’s darkness beneath the pop surface - but there are also songs about teenage antics, drinking, courting and having your heart broken – everything a good indie record should have.

 “Martha have mastered that neat Buzzcocks trick of riding those gloriously glowing guitars with sweet, comfortingly-fey voices singing in irresistible harmony. In short, they’re pretty darn great” Clash Magazine 

“Top notch buzzsaw indiepop with enough melodic punk in their DNA to make them stand out. Definitely worth keeping an eye on” Narc Magazine

Martha - 1997, Passing In The Hallway

"I am Fond of You" is taken from Let's Wrestle's self-titled third album - out now on Fortuna POP!

The album sees the band enter a new phase of maturity and sophistication giving frontman Wesley Patrick Gonzalez a forum to showcase his songwriting talents and love of classic pop. Straddling the sounds of the psych pop pioneers of the 60s and the Laurel Canyon cowboys of the 70s, Gonzalez still manages to give the songs a quintessentially English twist. For the first time, strings and horns are brought in giving the album a bigger, fuller sound, drawing on inspiration from the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Judee Sill, Harry Nilsson, Fairport Convention and The Kinks. Recorded at Lightship 95, a converted boat on the Thames, the album was made with ex-test Icicles/Kasma man Rory Atwell at the helm, his work for Veronica Falls, Male Bonding and the Vaccines making him the perfect man for the job.
 
Named by Lawrence (Felt, Denim) after a book by David Shrigley, Let's Wrestle were formed by Wesley Patrick Gonzalez on guitar and vocals with Darkus Bishop on drums and Mike Lightning on bass, recording their first two albums - In the Court of the Wrestling Lets (2009) and Nursing Home (produced by Steve Albini in 2011) - with that line-up before Mike left and was replaced by Sam Pillay (who left after the recording of the new album to focus on his band Virginia Wing). The third album also saw the addition of Max Claps of The Proper Ornaments on guitar.
 
"Alongside the condensed references to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Harry Nilsson and Fairport Convention, the band's refined musicianship also proves that their U-turn from scuzz to indie has paid off." The Independent

"It's their finest collection yet." NME 8/10

"Bristling with ideas, it's an album worth getting to grips with." Q 4*s

"this is the sound of a band making a bold creative leap." Mojo

"This third set from the Londoner's lo-fi quartet sees Gonzalez move from raw teenage tweeness towards elegant classicism." Uncut

Let's Wrestle - I Am Fond of You

Fortuna POP! are delighted to announce the signing of London-based neo-psychedelic pop group The Proper Ornaments. Mining the rich territories of The Velvet Underground and The Beach Boys, their debut album proper "Wooden Head" features fourteen thrillingly taut and melodic pop songs with a deep, dark undercurrent. Comprised of Argentinian Max Claps and James Hoare (also of Veronica Falls) – who both sing and write the songs – and joined by Daniel Nellis (bass) and Robert Syme (drums), the band have already shared stages with the likes of Real Estate, Woods, Crystal Stilts, Toy and Metronomy.

Maximo Claps arrived in London in 2008 on a one-way ticket from Buenos Aires, aided by former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Oldham had produced a record by Claps' Argentinian band of the time but the group had fallen apart in a mess of drugs and acrimony and Claps' family were attempting to intervene by sending him to a mental hospital. The only option seemed to be to flee the country. As Claps recalls, "The day before flying to the UK I got run over by a car and had to escape hospital in order to make it so I arrived with bandages and my head all stitched up."

A few weeks later Max walked into the vintage clothes shop where James Hoare sat behind the counter reading a book on The Velvet Underground, and attempted to cause a diversion while his kleptomaniac girlfriend stole a pair of boots. “She didn't steal them in the end,” says Max. “They weren't her size”. However, the shop assistant and the would-be accomplice bonded over a mutual love of the Velvets, Love, Felt and West Coast pop and began writing together, taking their name from a song by the pioneering soft psych band The Free Design. In 2010 they released their first single, "Recalling", following it up with a five-song EP for London label No Pain in Pop. In 2013 Lo Recordings released all their output to date on a collection titled "Waiting for the Summer", followed by the single “First Step Out” in February 2014.

Their new album was recorded at a studio in Hackney, as well as at home in their old flat in Whitechapel on a broken 8-track reel-to-reel bought off eBay from an angry guy who threatened to shoot them and chop off their balls when they attempted to return it - a terrifying experience for a pair of skinny indie boys. Taking inspiration from Berlin-era Lou Reed, Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Darklands”, The Television Personalities and West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, the songs are breezy and easy on the ear, with sublime harmonies and chiming Byrdsian guitar, but with a darker twist and a pervasive air of melancholy. Stand-out tracks include the beautiful but sad “Summer’s Gone” (about mental illness), “Magazine” (an upbeat number written from the perspective of a bullet in the barrel of a gun) and “You’ll See” (about how when you die you’ll see everyone you know, all there lined up in a row).

With "Wooden Head", The Proper Ornaments prove that it is still possible to create an album of pure pop perfection. Max's girlfriend may not have stolen the boots, but The Proper Ornaments are about to steal your heart.

“The joint project of James and Max, through romantic drama that borders on that of The Libertines. And when you hear The Proper Ornaments you’ll see why it’s all worth it. It’s like they’re meant for each other, like Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts” - Loud & Quiet

The Proper Ornaments - Summer's Gone

COMET GAIN return with their seventh album “Paperback Ghosts” on July 7th, their first since 2011’s critically acclaimed “Howl of The Lonely Crowd”. Recorded at Soup Studios with producer Simon Trought at the helm, and inspired by the psycho-geography of walks in North London woods and in the forgotten grey hinterland of the city’s back streets, “Paperback Ghosts” comes soaked in autumn melancholy. Tender-hearted but not miserable, defiant but not angry, it maintains the delicate balance that has always been Comet Gain’s strength.

"Long After Tonite's Candles Are Blown" captures a moment in time, old friends together on one of those magic nights that sweep into morning, everyone afraid to leave the dancing and the drinking... all nights merging into this one special romantic night that has to be held onto with sad determination because Heaven is a lie... joyous glorious ghosts seen in the half light, still holding on to each other long after they have died.

Comet Gain - Long After Tonite's Candles Are Blown

Taken from the album Paperback Ghosts, Comet Gain’s new single “'Sad Love' and Other Short Stories” is a classic upbeat indiepop tune, brimming with melody and slathered in chiming Byrdsian guitars. Over yearning harmonies and keening strings songwriter David Feck muses on a love left behind and what might have been, on a life haunted by memories of unrequited romance.

Comet Gain - "Sad Love" And Other Short Stories

No Ditching are playing Shake The Shacklewell II at The Shacklewell Arms on Saturday 2 August.

Advance: £13.50 from We Got Tickets / £15 Door
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/277420

No Ditching - Cuddles

Taken from the forthcoming album from Allo Darlin’, who are set to release their eagerly awaited third full-length, We Come From the Same Place this October. The new album from the much loved Anglo-Australian four-piece is made up of smart, beautiful pop music, with lyrics that resonate with experience and melodies that chime, echo and soar. Have a listen to the taster track “Romance and Adventure”, originally earmarked for a film soundtrack and written in response to a challenge from Paul to write a pop song in a minor key. 

The album combines the eagerness, urgency and immediacy of their 2010 self-titled debut with the contemplation, sophistication and ambition of their 2012 follow-up Europe, and yet it goes beyond either in both songs and sound. Lyrically the album fuses storytelling and conversational elements to ask questions of the listener, often flipping between time and location, external and internal. Sonically it's a progression too: the loud parts are louder, the quiet parts more stripped down, and there is more space in the music for everything to resonate, while rhythmically the band stray further from the indie dancehall and embrace other patterns. To quote guitarist Paul Rains, “I think of it as being high contrast. And it's sort of fleshy. And it makes me think of skin that smells really good.”

Allo Darlin’ were formed after Australian Elizabeth Morris arrived in London and bought a ukulele from the Duke of Uke shop in Shoreditch. She began writing music and was soon joined by fellow Australian Bill Botting (bass), Paul Rains (guitar), and Michael Collins (drums).  Their debut album attracted many plaudits including being named No. 2 record of the year by online retailer eMusic, and a glowing 1,200 word essay by Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens in the Australian critical magazine, The Monthly. Their second album Europe scored 8.1 on Pitchfork, was made USA Today’s Album Of The Week, and garnered praise from Uncut, Q, NME, The Quietus and The Guardian. It was also named Rough Trade Shop’s Album Of The Month, where it went on to become the biggest selling album of the year. The band have been playlisted at BBC 6Music and have recorded sessions for Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley and John Kennedy (XFM), as well being Steve Lamacq’s personal pick for BBC Introducing. Their releases to date, along with their joyous and effervescent live shows, have seen them build an intensely loyal and ever-increasing fanbase.

The truism is that third albums are difficult beasts, but by remaining true to themselves Allo Darlin’ have side-stepped the pitfalls to produce a wonderful record - thoughtful and exciting and exquisitely played – that will please their existing army of fans and newcomers alike. On first reading the album’s title may seem enigmatic, but from the very personal nature of Elizabeth Morris’ finely drawn vignettes to the more universal connections between the band and their audience, its meaning will be obvious to all who fall under the spell of this magical band.

"Breezy rom-pop brilliance." 8/10, NME
“Classic indie pop... doesn't rewrite the formula for wistful bedsit charm as much as show that it can still be carried out masterfully.” Pitchfork
“A masterclass of modern cult pop.” The Guardian
“Terrific, witty and heartfelt, like a less moody Belle & Sebastian.” The New York Times


Allo Darlin' - Romance And Adventure

East London five piece Tigercats return with a new album Mysteries that hones their already joyous and infectious sound into something more expansive and sophisticated. It's the first recording to feature new guitarist Paul Rains of Allo Darlin' and also features a guest appearance from Terry Edwards of Gallon Drunk and The Tindersticks on brass.

Tigercats - Wheezer

Thrilling Cardiff-based noisepop group Joanna Gruesome have teamed up with their American cousins Perfect Pussy to release a remarkable four song split 7" EP. The release comes packaged in a 24-page comic book, illustrated by cartoonist Phil McAndrew (brother of Perfect Pussy's guitarist Ray McAndrew). The heroine in McAndrew's comic is a "split" between Joanna Gruesome front woman Alanna McArdle and Meredith Graves of Perfect Pussy, who battles misogynists, online trolls and haters everywhere. The EP is being co-released by Fortuna POP!, Captured Tracks and Slumberland on 24 November.

Joanna Gruesome’s terrific debut album “Weird Sister” took the world by storm when it was released last September. Produced by Hookworm’s MJ, the album is brimming with irresistible pop melodies and spiked with dissonant fuzzy jangle, the songs shot through with loud discordant feedback and super-fast, hardcore punk drumbeats. Fantastic press support saw glowing press reviews across the board with particular love from Pitchfork and from NME, including a spot on the front cover as part of their Rule Britannia issue. At radio the singles from the album scored a remarkable three out of three in BBC 6Music B-lists and the band played sessions for Lauren Laverne on 6Music and for Huw Stephens on Radio One. The album has recently been shortlisted for this year’s Welsh Music Prize. The two tracks here follow their recently released split EP with Trust Fund and represent some of the first new material to be heard from the band since the release of “Weird Sister” and, in lead track “Psykick Espionage” a taste of their new album to be released in the first half of 2015. Their second track “...And Keep Reaching for Those Stars” is a cover of a song by 90s US emo band I Hate Myself.

Hailing from Syracuse, New York, Perfect Pussy are one of the boldest and most intriguing projects to surface in recent years. Veiled beneath layers of exquisitely abrasive noise, frontwoman Meredith Graves’ lyrics are disarming, brutally honest and poetic, possessing a feverish intensity that can only be matched by her electric stage presence. Their album ‘Say Yes to Love’ was released on Captured Tracks in March 2014 to widespread critical acclaim. On this EP Perfect Pussy cover Björk’s old band the Sugarcubes’ “Leash Called Love” and also contribute the new track “Adult World (The Secret)”.


Joanna Gruesome - Psykick Espionage

"Forget the Fall" is taken from Flowers' debut album Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do out now on Fortuna POP! 

Fresh from a series of stunning shows at CMJ in New York and a support tour with The Wedding Present, Flowers have announced a one-off gig in London on Saturday 7 February at the Sebright Arms, their only headline date in advance of a full UK and European tour next Spring. While their Bernard Butler produced debut album Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do (released in September via Fortuna POP! (UK) and Kanine Records (US)) beautifully captured their raw vulnerability, their live shows that present a different aspect of the band, revealing the kinetic energy that is an essential element of their emotional beauty and stunning power.

Flowers’ genius is in their ability to convey a remarkable amount of emotion with minimal instrumentation. Singer Rachel Kenedy possesses one of those beautiful pop voices to die for, with echoes of Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins), Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) and Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays), whilst Sam Ayres’ guitars chime and churn with an incredible intensity and Jordan Hockley’s drums rip right through with urgency and precision, resulting in a beautiful album that conjures up a strange and entrancing sort of magic. Haunting, mesmerizing and intense, Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do is an impressive calling card from a sensational new band.

Flowers - Forget The Fall

The fabulous “Sleeping in the Backseat” is the first single to be taken from Tigercats’ second album Mysteries, which is due out in February on Fortuna POP! Keyboardist Laura Kovic takes lead vocals for this one but it was written by frontman Duncan Barrett who said; “I’ve always wanted to write a good driving song, but I don’t have a license so this is probably the closest I’ll get.” The track encapsulates the album’s sonically expansive sound, blending the very best of indiepop with complex song structures, lush production and beautiful arrangements.

Mysteries is the second album from Tigercats, described by The Sunday Times in a review of their 2012 debut Isle of Dogs (Fika Recordings) as “a very, very good band…. The kind of band that make you want to be a teenager again, so they can be your band.” Isle of Dogs fizzed with jangly punk, afro rhythms and spoken word sections, while Mysteries is a sophisticated pop record, effervescent and spirited, with care and love poured into every song.

Tigercats combine the talents of songwriter, singer and guitarist Duncan Barrett with his brother Giles on bass, Laura Kovic on keyboards and vocals, and Jonny Evans on drums, as well as recent recruit Paul Rains from Allo Darlin’ on guitar. And on Mysteries they’re joined by living legend Terry Edwards (Gallon Drunk / Tindersticks), who contributes saxophone and trumpet on several tracks.
  
Tigercats have toured across Europe, playing at Primavera and appearing on Spanish TV, while back in the UK they’ve appeared at both Indietracks and End of the Road festivals. They’ve also toured in the USA and Canada, their last trip culminating in a headline appearance at NYC Popfest.
 
Mysteries is the sound of a band of outstanding musicians fulfilling their potential and using their talents in the studio to realise their musical vision, retaining their infectious hooks, their heart and their sheer danceability, and coupling it with a bright new contemporary sound. Superbly crafted and full of personality, Tigercats’ second album suggests that they won’t remain a mystery much longer.


“Tigercats are a very, very good band. The kind of band that make you want to be a teenager again, so they can be your band. “ The Sunday Times

“An indiepop band you can dance to. That’s actually rarer than you’d think.” - Neon Filler 10/10
 
“A manifesto for what it means to be alive, to be in London and to be living life… if I was 16 right now I’d think this album was sent to save my life.” – Artrocker
 
“A record that is full of personality, vitality, and even youthful rebellion, the sort of record that very well might reinvigorate indiepop.” - Drowned in Sound
 
“It reminds me of Los Campesinos that, and that’s a very very very good thing.” - Huw Stephens, BBC Radio 1


Tigercats - Sleeping In The Backseat

COMET GAIN
Fingerprint Ritual EP
6 April 2015- Fortuna POP! – FPOP170 - Red vinyl 12”

Fresh from the success of their seventh album “Paperback Ghosts”, COMET GAIN return with a four song EP of tracks recorded at Soup Studios with producer Simon Trought at the same time as the LP, but owing more to more musically to psychedelia/garage/kosmiche punk side of the band than the melancholic-hearted autumnal Rickenbacker sound of the album.

TO THE CITY'S CORE - Inept white boys n girls attempt to play Bo Diddleys 'Black Gladiator' LP with a 'Slates'-era Fall sneer and end up somewhere else - includes Comet Gain's first funky(ish) break beat and a farfisa organ played thru a mangled fuzz pedal. Words involve Buckminster Fullers utopian architectural dreams gone wrong - the city as a virus, its life cycle like that of humans in mid-life crisis seen thru the psychic warfare in its core and the anger of the neglected suburbs aiming at it, the history of city war as the target thru history seen thru the lens of the time like Paris from communard uprisings to today's atrocities.

Comet Gain - To The City's Core

Hot on the heels of their Shaun Keaveny BBC 6music Record Of The Week for their abrasive, distortion-heavy single "Enabler", and a host of glowing reviews including an 8/10 from NME for their remarkable new album Expect Delays, Evans The Death are set to release a second single “Sledgehammer” from the album. Poppier and more immediate than "Enabler", and bursting with exuberance and youthful angst, the new single showcases a different side to the band (and has absolutely nothing to do with the Peter Gabriel 1986 smash with the same name).

Recorded with producer Rory Atwell, Expect Delays is due out in March via Fortuna POP! (UK/EU) and Slumberland (USA) and bristles with an underlying tension, veering from rip-roaring noise to quiet contemplation, underpinned by Katherine Whitaker’s extraordinary voice. Still barely out of their teens, there’s a tremendous sense across Expect Delays of a band coming into their own, honing a plethora of influences to make a sound that is uniquely them. While retaining the post-punk and 90s alt-rock inspired elements that peppered their debut, the music is more expressive, heavier and more experimental, and the lyrics more nuanced, the sense of despair leavened by sharp wordplay and humour.

More ambitious and focused than their previous record, whilst sacrificing none of their spontaneity and vitality, Expect Delays is a supremely inventive and intelligently crafted album from a band who have suffered for their art, and used that experience to inform and nourish their work. Expect no more delays, Evans the Death have arrived.


Evans the Death - Sledgehammer

"When I Was Your Age" is the first single to be taken from "Hide and Seek", the debut album from Mammoth Penguins, the new band fronted by Emma Kupa (formerly of Standard Fare). The song is gloriously messy and loud, about feeling inadequate about one’s achievements. As Emma explains, "It started off with a birthday card from my granddad saying that he was married with kids at 28 and then I started thinking about what my parents, grandparents and family members had achieved by the time they were my age".

"Hide and Seek" is the debut album from Mammoth Penguins, the new band fronted by Emma Kupa, formerly of BBC 6 Music favourites Standard Fare. Due out on 6 July via Fortuna POP!, the album is an exhilarating collection of indie anthems, with Emma's candid songwriting and heartfelt vocals at the fore. Chugging away like the greatest Weezer record you’ve never heard, the songs are bold, loud and outrageously catchy, with lyrics that hit just the right chord, exploring the burgeoning responsibilities of being in your late 20s/early 30s.

Mammoth Penguins - When I Was Your Age

"Propped Up" is the first single to be taken from the debut album Hide and Seek from Mammoth Penguins, the new band fronted by Emma Kupa, formerly of BBC 6 Music favourites Standard Fare.  With a stirring chorus that makes you want to pump your fist and a call-and-response section that begs you to join in (“regrets, mistakes,…”), the rip roaring “Propped Up” talks about how we're all dependent on others to distract us from negative thoughts.
 
The album Hide and Seek is due out on 10 July via Fortuna POP!, the album is an exhilarating collection of indie anthems, with Emma's candid songwriting and heartfelt vocals at the fore. Chugging away like a great lost Weezer record, the songs are bold, loud and outrageously catchy, with lyrics that hit just the right chord, exploring the burgeoning responsibilities of being in your late 20s/early 30s.
 
When the much-loved Standard Fare called it a day after nine years and two albums, Emma Kupa upped sticks and moved from Sheffield to Cambridge, where she recruited Mark Boxall (bass) and Tom Barden (drums). Previously the bassist and lead singer in Standard Fare, Emma relished the switch to guitar in Mammoth Penguins, allowing her the space to deliver her trademark soaring vocals and to indulge in the occasional mean guitar solo. With Tom’s driving energy and Mark’s bouncy pop bass they quickly developed their riff-tastic powerpop sound.

Recorded at Sickroom Studios in Norfolk by producer Owen Turner (Magoo, Factory Floor), Hide and Seek captures the band at the age they're at right now, reflecting on different aspects of being in their late twenties. With Hide and Seek, Mammoth Penguins have produced a wonderfully varied record, each song a story, nuggets of joy, despair and hope. Already onto her second great band, feeling inadequate isn't something that Emma Kupa needs to do.

Mammoth Penguins - Propped Up

"Dream On, Baby Blue" is taken from Chorusgirl's debut album, which is due out on Fortuna POP! on 13 November. As singer Silvi Wersing explains it is; "mostly about feeling powerless and small and the demands that others make on you to speak up, but that there can also be beauty and dignity in silence if you just stay who you are. "

The brainchild of German songwriter, singer and rhythm guitarist Silvi Wersing, Chorusgirl blend the shimmering dreaminess of 4AD bands like Lush, the noir pop of The Cure and the bittersweet electricity of The Breeders across ten songs that sparkle with melody and pop nous but are stealthily subverted by something darker. 

Chorusgirl - Dream On, Baby Blue

“Really Something” is taken from Pete Astor's new album 'Spilt Milk' due out on Fortuna POP! on 8 January. The track re-connects Astor’s bespoke guitar pop with his long-standing embrace of The Velvet Underground’s musical DNA. 

Spilt Milk is the brand new album from indie auteur Pete Astor, previously of The Loft, The Weather Prophets, and other esteemed acts. It was recorded and produced by James Hoare of Ultimate Painting, The Proper Ornaments and Veronica Falls, with James playing guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and singing backing vocals. “He was”, says Astor, “an amazing band.” The album continues the story of one of one of England’s most respected and significant songwriters. As Astor says, “time passes, shit happens; some losses, some gains. Don’t cry – but I did!” This is Spilt Milk.

Pete Astor - Really Something

The wonderful Evans The Death with a song from the sessions from their forthcoming album that didn't quite make the cut. You can only imagine how good the album is!

Evans The Death - Hello Seems To Be The Hardest Word

For fifteen years, and over fourteen albums, Darren Hayman has taken a singular and erratic route through England’s tired and broken underbelly.  Influenced by punk through his art college years and then American lo-fi indie in the ’90s he fronted John Peel favourites Hefner. His solo career has earned widespread critical acclaim with his many and varied projects including his Essex trilogy, his Lido album, and recently a project to set the poems of William Morris to music entitled “Chants For Socialists”.

In addition to his solo career, Darren has been moonlighting as the drummer in Papernut Cambridge, the sprawling pop collective led by former Death In Vegas guitarist Ian Button and pals, described by Mojo as “An escapist mix of 70’s glam, Nuggets-psych and 80’s indie, all balancing pop bliss and more sinister psychological depths”. And now Darren has stepped out from beyond the drumkit to record two cover versions, with Papernut Cambridge as his backing band – “I've Been A Bad Bad Boy” by Paul Jones, and “Big, Big Deal” by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel.

I've Been A Bad Bad Boy

Taken from Evans the Death's new album Vanilla, due out on Fortuna POP! on 10 June 2016.

It's their most their most ambitious and experimental album to date, eschewing the more traditional pop structures and hooks of their first two albums, 2012’s self-titled debut and 2015’s critically acclaimed Expect Delays. While Expect Delays was a step towards something more collaborative, experimental and abrasive - a bleak, introspective album that still retained a pop sensibility - Vanilla sees the band veer in an ever more adventurous direction: more aggressive, extroverted and raw.

Vanilla

Evans the Death - Suitcase Jimmy

Allo Darlin’ are all set to release a final single to coincide with their sold out farewell shows in December. Comprised of two brand new recordings by the band, “Hymn On The 45” and "Wanderlust", it's due out as a limited edition gold vinyl 7” on the 12th December via Fortuna POP! and The Hangover Lounge, and will be available exclusively at the sold-out London gigs on the 10th December at MOTH Club and the 11th December at Scala. The tracks will also be available to purchase digitally via the band's Bandcamp.

The A-side “Hymn On The 45”, weaves Elizabeth Morris’ heartfelt lyrics about starting afresh in a new city with guitarist Paul Rain’s signature stylings, ending with a heartwarming sing-a-long. The B-side “Wanderlust”, about missing people and places whilst embarking on your own adventures, is classic Allo Darlin’ fare, blending poignant melancholia with bright and sunny pop melodies.

The band have also announced the supports for their three sold out London farewell shows: Night Flowers play the all-ages matinee show at MOTH Club on the 10th December, with The Hayman Kupa Band supporting at the same venue in the evening, while Allo Darlin' bassist Bill Botting and his band of indie allstars The Two Drink Minimums open at Scala on Sunday 11th December, with the main support being comedian Josie Long.

In addition, another much-loved institution, The Hangover Lounge, will be putting on an Allo Darlin' special on the Sunday afternoon, around the corner from the Scala at The Water Rats. The Hangover Lounge DJs will be playing their usual soothing mix of country rock, deep soul, psychedelia, soft pop and lovers rock all afternoon from 12 noon, ahead of the main event at the Scala in the evening.


About Allo Darlin':

Allo Darlin' are many things. They can turn a room in a famous punk venue into a joyous, jumping, sweaty, pop-mosh pit. Or bring a room of 500 to hushed silence with the few strums of a ukulele and a love song about cooking chilli. Their DIY attitude inspires true dedication from their fans, some of whom will travel hundreds of miles to see them.

Allo Darlin’ were formed after Australian Elizabeth Morris arrived in London and bought a ukulele from the Duke of Uke shop in Shoreditch. She began writing music and was soon joined by fellow Australian Bill Botting (bass), Paul Rains (guitar), and Michael Collins (drums). The band have toured across the USA and Europe, as well as wowing the crowds at End Of The Road and Indietracks festival. They’ve also been strongly supported by BBC 6music, recording several sessions including one at the BBC’s prestigious Maida Vale Studios at the invitation of Steve Lamacq.

Their self-titled debut was released to universal acclaim in 2010 with plaudits including being named No. 2 record of the year by eMusic, and a glowing 1,200 word essay by legendary Go-Between Mr. Robert Forster in the Australian critical magazine, The Monthly. This was followed by Europe (2012), earning them Rough Trade's Album Of The Month as well as rave reviews in NME and Pitchfork, and their most accomplished work to date, We Come From The Same Place (2014).


"Breezy rom-pop brilliance." 8/10, NME

“Classic indie pop... doesn't rewrite the formula for wistful bedsit charm as much as show that it can still be carried out masterfully.” Pitchfork

“A masterclass of modern cult pop.” The Guardian

“Terrific, witty and heartfelt, like a less moody Belle & Sebastian.” The New York Times

 

http://allodarlin.com

Hymn On The 45 (MP3 Digital Master)

Allo Darlin' - Hymn On The 45 (full version)

It's Different Now - The Butterflies Of Love

Rob A Bank - The Butterflies Of Love

Belt And Shoelaces - The Butterflies Of Love

Smite The White Eagle - The Butterflies Of Love

Indiepop institution Fortuna POP! quit the scene last year amid much gnashing of teeth from discerning music fans, going out in a blaze of glory with five days of sold out London shows by artists spanning their twenty year tenure, before label owner Sean Price fled Brexit Britain for a new life in Tokyo, Japan. 

That would have been it for Fortuna POP!, were it not for the label’s Jukebox 45s Singles Club. With one final single still owed to subscribers, Price saw the opportunity to do something special for what would be the very last release on the label. Taking one of the label’s best-loved releases, Comet Gain’s classic 2001 single “You Can Hide Your Love Forever”, as his starting point, contributions were solicited from Fortuna POP! bands past and present for a Band Aid-style cover version.

Over twenty bands contributed, with the music recorded by a crack band featuring Amos Memon of Fanfarlo (drums), Emma Kupa of Mammoth Penguins (bass), Laura Kovic of Tigercats (keys) and Paul Rains of Allo Darlin’, Ben Phillipson of Comet Gain and Sam Ayres of Flowers (all guitar) at Soup Studios in London. Mikey Collins of Allo Darlin’ then recorded percussion at Big Jelly studios in Ramsgate, and The Victorian Horns aka Gary Olson (trumpet) and Kyle Forrester (sax) of The Ladybug Transistor put down their brass parts at Gary’s Marlborough Farms Studio in New York.

Vocals were recorded in various studios and kitchens around the world, with Amelia Fletcher of Tender Trap, Daniel Ellis of Martha, Lan McArdle and Owen Williams of Joanna Gruesome, Adam Todd of The Spook School, Bill Botting and Elizabeth Morris of Allo Darlin’, Jeff Greene and Dan Greene of The Butterflies Of Love, Lisa Horton and Iain Ross of Bearsuit, Katherine Whitaker of Evans The Death, Silvi Wersing from Chorusgirl, Helen King of Shrag, Rachel Kenedy of Flowers, Pete Dale of Milky Wimpshake, Darren Hayman, Pete Astor and Simon Love all contributing. Giles Barrett at Soup Studios then made sense of it all and mixed the track.

The result is a fantastic, uplifting indiepop anthem that’s sure to be lifting the lids off indie clubs around the world this summer and for many years to come. Oh, and there’s a B-side too, in which DC Feck of Thee Comet Gain International Psychedelic Pop Conspiracy may have had more than a hand. Enjoy.

You Can Hide Your Love Forever

Cat No:  FPOP134
Title: Step One
Artist: Tender Trap
Release Date: 20th Aug 2012

Tracklisting:
A-side: Step One
B-side: Love Is Hard Enough (DJ Downfall Thermohaline Mix)

The first single from Tender Trap’s new album “Ten Songs About Girls” (Fortuna POP! 20 August 2012), is “Step One”, which offers obstreperous instructions to aspiring young girl bands everywhere.

Led by indie legend and feminist icon Amelia Fletcher (of Talulah Gosh and Heavenly), Tender Trap also includes Emily Bennett, from Betty and the Werewolves (replacing Elizabeth Morris from Allo Darlin'), drummer and vocalist Katrina Dixon, John Stanley on guitar and original Heavenly bass player, Robert Pursey. With three strong female voices on the record, sometimes harmonizing, sometimes calling and responding, sometimes singing alone, Tender Trap draw on the dynamics of the original girl group songs, but aim to show what happens when those girls aren’t in thrall to the male Svengali.

‘Step One’ is a fantastic call and response, rallying call of a song, laying out advice in a series of steps about how to become a successful girl band.  With wise instructions, such as “Find like-minded girls”, “Write a great chorus - never mind the verse”, “Eschew a manager” and “Buy a pink guitar”… Tender Trap show an indiepop girl band how to take the world by storm.

Recorded at Bark Studios in Walthamstow with producer Brian O’Shaughnessy, ‘Ten Songs About Girls’ is Tender Trap’s most complete-sounding effort yet, filled to the brim with resounding backing vocals and glorious fuzz. The album follows the critically acclaimed Dansette Dansette, which gleaned glowing reviews from the likes of Mojo, Q, The Observer and The Sunday Times.

Having recently supported The Magnetic Fields on tour and played this year’s Indietracks Festival in Derby, the band have shows scheduled in London, Berlin and Paris and will be touring the UK later this year.

 “Riveting three-way harmonies offer depth and sophistication.” Q****

“More than two decades since they invented present-day indie-pop, with the punk noise, sha-la-la 1960s choruses and shouty vocals of Talulah Gosh and Heavenly, Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey’s third album as Tender Trap arrives in a landscape where the formerly forgotten innovators are revered by fresh-faced imitators.” Sunday Times****

LIVE: Sat Sept 10 Paris, L'Internationale


Step One

The new single, out now on Happy Happy Birthday To Me records. 

http://hhbtm.com

Nothing is sacred and everything is permitted, even bliss, even love. In the space of five minutes, Joanna Gruesome veers from jangle to riot, from sweaters to torn stockings, from feedback to swoon. Boy-Girl high velocity terror-pop. Stuck inside of Cardiff with the London blues again, nothing to do but get loaded on candy and record a 7” before you get bored all over again and start shooting bb guns into the ocean.

Joanna Gruesome - Do You Really Wanna Know Why Yr Still In Love With Me?

In anticipation for the first new Tullycraft album for five years, Fortuna POP! are releasing a single featuring the title track ‘Lost in Light Rotation’. One of the most influential bands to have emerged from America’s indiepop underground, Seattle’s Tullycraft revel in a DIY aesthetic having honed their particular brand of clever, self-reverential pop to perfection.

‘Lost in Light Rotation’ is an all-in-one banner anthem for the heartbroken, the disenfranchised, and the fleeting pop star. The song also makes a not-so-veiled reference to the 1996 single “This is Fake D.I.Y.” by the Scottish indiepop band Bis.

The b-side ‘Bad Connection’ is a cover written by the British synthpop duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz in the United States). The song originally appeared on the group’s 1982 debut album, Upstairs at Eric’s.

The album ‘Lost in Light Rotation’ was mixed by Phil Ek (The Shins, Band of Horses, Built to Spill, The Halo Benders, The Shout Out Louds, Fleet Foxes, The Walkmen). Sparkling with brainy fairy dust and glittering with proper pop songs, Ek irons out the quirks to create a wonderfully polished, yet still as punk as ever, sheen on the 11 delightfully upbeat, smart, indiepop anthems. With Sean Tollefson’s nasal vocal delivery counterbalanced by the sweetness of Jenny Mears’ responses, if you need a template for what the best indiepop sounds like, look no further.

Tullycraft - Lost in Light Rotation

Darren Hayman releases a special four-track EP for Record Store Day (Saturday April 20th) entitled Four Queens, available on limited edition coloured vinyl 10" and digital. The EP follows on from his critically acclaimed album, The Violence, released on Fortuna POP! last year, which has spawned an ongoing fascination with English history.

Comprised of one track from The Violence, the outstanding ‘Henrietta Maria', plus three new compositions, the EP features (as the name suggests) songs about a quartet of English Queens. Sung from the perspective of King Charles I as he serenades his French Queen, 'Henrietta Maria' is beautiful and touching, and somehow Hayman manages to indulge in a brief history lesson without ever compromising his lyrical meter or the song’s integrity.

Henrietta Maria by Darren Hayman & The Long Parliament

"Big, confident pop songs that fizz with melody" - 4 stars. Music OMH

"Admirers of the Magnetic Fields, Pet Shop Boys and the Postal Service ought to find I Blame Society a treasure trove." - 8/10 Press Association

Unashamedly “sissy” and explicitly queer, The Ballet marry the DIY ethos of the Hidden Cameras with the wry poeticism of The Magnetic Fields and the romantic pop of Jens Lekman, to create literate infectious pop gems. "Turn You" is one of the standout tracks and the obvious single from their highly praised new album "I Blame Society", an upbeat slice of pure synthpop heaven that takes seriously and romanticises the idea that one might be “turned gay,” in opposition to the more common formulation of queerness as something that nobody can, or would, choose. You can dance to it! You can intellectualise it!

Formed in 2005 by Greg Goldberg and Craig Willse, with Marina Miranda completing the trio, the Ballet have released two previous albums Mattachine! and Bear Life. They have been joined by a few other musicians along the way including Ginger Brooks Takahashi and Michael O'Neill, who left in 2007 to join JD Sampson in MEN as well as guest appearances on previous albums from the likes of Linton from The Aislers Set and Ramesh from Voxtrot.

Avoiding autobiographical or confessional modes, songwriter Greg Goldberg nonetheless mines his own psychological constitution and intellectual interests to craft songs whose overt musical prettiness is often contrasted by a dark and complex subtext. In addition to citing Stephin Merritt as an influence, Goldberg draws from an array of pop artists and periods, from 60’s bubblegum to 80’s synthpop and 90’s indiepop, fusing these in sophisticated and novel ways which rewards repeat listening.

Popular tracks by Fortuna POP!