Fortuna POP! - 7" Vinyl
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Sold outVisit product page →As we await the self-titled debut album from Fortuna POP!'s newest signings with baited breath, Evans the Death release the first single from the album, Telling Lies.
This comes as a necessary wake-up call, heralding an outstanding new band, bursting with ideas and brimming with talent. Combining Katherine Whitaker's unique vocals with a gift for melody, the band weave a distinctive magic. Telling Lies is an infectious and exhilarating slice of indie-punk-pop.
Guitarist Dan Moss describes the song like this: 'Telling Lies' is about having such an inflated sense of self-importance that you relish deceiving others about things that make no difference whatsoever to their lives. I wrote it after a friend told me that he had eaten cereal for breakfast that morning, but later found the remnants of toast and scrambled eggs in his room and brought him up on it which lead to the admission that he was lying all along. I found this bizarre but then realised that I did it all the time too.
The B-side is the original version of 'Morning Voice', which is on our album in a completely different incarnation. We took a long time to arrive at the sound we have now; when we first started out we were a folksy acoustic duo and this I think is the best example of that.
Tracklisting:
1. Telling Lies
2. Morning Voice (Acoustic) -
Sold outVisit product page →White Vinyl 7 (Limited Edition of 500).
Following in the footsteps of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Allo Darlin', Evans The Death will be releasing their debut album via Fortuna POP! this year, preceded by their debut single, the double A-sided 'Threads' / 'I'm So Unclean', produced by Rory Bratwell (Test Icicles / RAT:ATT:AGG / KASMs), on 5th September.
Evans the Death make frenetic and infectious punk pop which exudes the kind of unbridled charisma, intelligence, and runaway energy that promises a singularly exciting future for the band. Comprising Dan Moss (guitar, vocals), Olly Moss (bass), Katherine Whitaker (vocals keys), Rob Mitson (drums), and Matt Gill (guitar), and named after the undertaker in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, Evans the Death are poised to fulfill their potential as one of the most refreshing and exhilarating new groups around.
Having evidently spent a good proportion of their young lives attuned as much to the lyrical dexterity of Morrissey, Lawrence Felt, Edwyn Collins, and Jarvis Cocker, as to the scuzzed up melodic exuberance of early My Bloody Valentine, Pavement, The Pixies, and the I Am Kurious Oranj era of The Fall, the band effortlessly blend precocious musical literacy with the kind of unerring self-awareness which makes for a perfectly pitched pop sensibility.
Their imminent first release couples latent-cold-war-paranoia love-song 'Threads', as urgent, unsettling, and hook-laden a calling card as could be wished for, with I'm So Unclean, wherein Katherine's vertiginous, primal, and urgent vocal delivery electrifies lyrics which alternate between the scathingly acerbic and the boldly fragile: "When I'm watching the shopping channel, I will think of you / when I try to get to sleep, I will think of you...'' Elegantly handled self-deprecation, mordant wit, and a willingness to embrace your own awkwardness go a long way when you have the sophisticated grasp on the things that make music exhilarating, nervy, and vital which Evans the Death manifestly do. With their compellingly unhinged and hyper-intelligent pop the band look set to blaze a trail through 2011 and beyond.
Tracklisting:
1. Threads
2. I'm So Unclean -
Sold outFor Fans Of: The Arcade Fire, Belle and Sebastian, Sufjan Stevens.Visit product page →
Following prestigious support slots for Guillemots, Semifinalists and Love Is All. Now sees the first fruits of Fanfarlo's recording endeavours with the release of the single 'Talking Backwards', to be followed by an album early next year.
A soaring orchestral pop song possessed of the same driving intensity as The Arcade Fire, ‘Talking Backwards' showcases Simon's pure, crystalline voice and his gift for imaginative instrumentation. Other influences include Sufjan Stevens, Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! while Simon's charisma and boyish good looks are sure to lead to comparisons with that other talented Swede Jens Lekman.
The dark but playful B-side 'Tuesday...' is also worthy of attention, especially for its recorder solo and unique jazzy coda. A further string to Simon's bow are his intricate pen drawings which feature on the single’s artwork. With a management deal in their pocket, a bevy of A&R men beating a path to their door on a daily basis, plus talent and songs to burn, Fanfarlo are destined for great things. This is fall in love, take no prisoners pop at its very best. -
Visit product page →Coloured Vinyl 7 Ltd to 500 copies.
The first single to be taken from the Flowers' album Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do is Joanna, a song about someone suffering from a depression so deep that has become part of their identity. Joanna was the second song recorded in their sessions with producer Bernard Butler but the first where everything just clicked and the band knew they had a working creative relationship. He made it sound full of vitality and excitement, says Rachel, Flowers' lead singer. We were thrilled with the results and couldn't wait to get back and record the rest of the album with him. Flowers are Sam Ayres (Guitar/Synths), Rachel Kenedy (Vocals/Bass/Synths) and Jordan Hockley (Drums), brought together by Sam's advert for a singer to make music like "Madonna through a broken tape machine".
Drawing a line between the joyous fuzzpop of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and the minimalist brilliance of Young Marble Giants, the reception at their live shows has been nothing less than rapturous, with audiences blown away by their intensity and compelled by their sparse beauty: Jordan a physical yet inventive presence behind the drum kit, Sam a constant blur of kinetic energy on guitar and Rachel utterly still. It is this dynamic that has been captured over the fourteen deceptively simple pop songs that comprise Flowers debut, Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do out September 8th via Fortuna Pop! (UK).
Most of the songs weigh in at less than three minutes, a deliberate strategy for a band that seeks strength in simplicity. Our songs tend to be quite short - if there's something that doesn't need to be there, we take it out. Hoping for just the best bits, explains Rachel. We love all kinds of things, Ramones, Madonna, The Misfits, Iggy & The Stooges, Joy Division, all sorts! The album doesn't sound too much like any of those, but the songs are short and simple pop songs, and all those artists we love write songs like that. Indeed, Flowers' genius is in their ability to convey a remarkable amount of emotion with minimal instrumentation.
Rachel 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's guitars chime and churn with an incredible intensity and Jordan'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.
Tracklisting:
A: Joanna
B: Rachel's Song -
Sold outVisit product page →London trio Flowers return with a new single via Fortuna POP!, the last to be released on the label, singer Rachel Kenedy's ethereal vocals and Sam Ayres textured guitar are, as always, backed by the powerful, metronomic beat of drummer Jordan Hockley. Rachel told us a little bit about the genesis of the recordings:
'Sean from Fortuna POP! is sadly moving on to greener pastures in Japan and ending the label, but he asked us to do one last single for him, as we owed one for his Jukebox 45s Singles Club. We don't know where we'll end up next after Fortuna POP!, so rather than looking forwards for this single we decided to be nostalgic and do something that, for us at least, is classic. For the three of us in the band, "Flowers" has always meant our live performances and our home demos, of which Sam and I have produced hundreds and hundreds (we write them every day), and most of which will probably never be heard by anyone except us, our dog and our long-suffering neighbours. "Say 123" is one of these home recordings. The best bit is at the end.
The b-side, "Rhodes", was recorded at Big Jelly Studios, where we'd gone to record an EP. We realised after recording the songs we'd brought with us that we'd made a mistake, as the songs weren't quite right or ready yet. But while we were there, we fell in love with the sound of the Fender Rhodes in the corner of the studio. With about half an hour left before the van arrived to take us back to London, Sam quickly played me some chords on guitar and hummed a melody for a verse. I got out a pencil and paper and somehow by the time all our gear was loaded into the van we'd written and recorded this song (we did it live and used one take).
In keeping with the old-school Flowers theme for this single, we decided to hand-stamp the artwork onto each sleeve and vinyl label. We used to hand-make all of our artwork, making paper sleeves for CDs we burned on our laptop with random selections of home-demos on.
These songs aren't from a forthcoming album or anything, but we really hope you enjoy them.'
Tracklisting:
Side A:
Say 123Side B:
Rhodes -
Blue Coloured Vinyl 7' (Limited to 300).Visit product page →
Joanna Gruesome release their first material since the departure of vocalist Alanna McArdle on this limited edition coloured vinyl 7' on the Fortuna POP! Jukebox 45s singles club. Following a chance meeting in an occult bookshop, the band's new line up features two amazing and inspiring women, Kate Stonestreet (formerly of queer punks Pennycress) on melodic vocals/shouting/screaming and Roxy Brennan (of Two White Cranes and Grubs) on melodic vocals/keyboard, joining Owen Williams (guitar/vocals), George Nicholls (guitar), Max Warren (bass) and Dave Sandford (drums).
The record features original artwork from Bart De Baets.
Recorded by producer Rory Atwell on a boat in London, a statement from the band on Pretty Fucking Sick (Of It All) reads, 'This song is about being pursued by intelligence operatives and is partly set in the Welsh village of Llangrannog. It is influenced by our recent U.S tour, during which the CIA took a special interest in the group's movements.' On Occult Bookshop the band says, 'This is an origin story, detailing the first meeting of the group. It is also about using astrological means to strengthen, receive and administer crushes.
Another reading suggests that the song is about attempting to destroy binary conceptions of gender through ritual hexing.' Joanna Gruesome's terrific debut album Weird Sister took the world by storm when it was released in September 2013, going on to win the Welsh Music Prize, with the 2015 follow up Peanut Butter receiving similar acclaim.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
Pretty Fucking Sick (Of It All)
Side B:
Occult Bookstore -
Sold out7" single (Mustard Coloured Vinyl, Ltd to 500 copies).Visit product page →
"Rain Ruins Revolution" is the first single proper from Let's Wrestle's self-titled third album, due out in February. An uptempo zinger of a tune with a psychedelic edge it was written during the London riots and is described by songwriter Wes Gonzalez as 'my accidental "protest" song', musing as it does on the effect rain might have on the fickle, merchandise-looting youth of England.
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.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
Rain Ruins Revolution
Side B:
Christopher -
Limited Edition 7" on blue vinyl.Visit product page →
"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, - ¦'), Taken from the band's new album. -
Sold outTracklisting:Visit product page →
Side A:
1. Sharing
2. Stick Around
Side B:
3. Moonbathing
4. Amen Corner -
Sold outVisit product page →“Like prime ride or earlier Boo Radleys with a harder edge, a funkier bass and better singer.
Other side is a love-song, the kind of thing that was all over Sarah Records like a rash” (Robots and Electronic Brains)
'Good record!' - Steve Lamacq, Radio 1 -
Sold outCompletely mental all-over-the-place single from London-based 5 piece. Cool drawled vocals over guitars that sound like car alarms and ‘whoo-whoo-whoo’ backing vocals.Visit product page →
Record collector single of the month “flat, cheaply-recorded vocals, haywire time signatures, oh-yeah! guitars and a “silver machine” . -
Visit product page →The North-East's favourite DIY punks Martha return with a new single via zombie label Fortuna POP!'s singles club, the very last to be released on the label. A-side 'The Winter Fuel Allowance Ineligibility Blues' previously featured on the now sold out compilation 'It Came From Plan-It-X' while B-side 'Fix My Brain' is exclusive to this release.
Having been battered by the cruelty of this Tory Government, "The Winter Fuel Allowance Ineligibility Blues", is a reminder that in spite of it all, we have love on our side. It's bittersweet; it's about the horrors of austerity and desperation but finding power in the tiny acts of resistance - whether it's being in love or simply putting the heating on. The B-side is Martha's take on The Marked Men's "Fix My Brain" - one of the bands that started it all for Martha.
Martha's version of their Dirtnap label mates' tune is a back to basics punk ripper, delivered with Martha's harmonious Northern charm. Both tracks were recorded at home in Durham with Jesus & His Judgemental Father's Danny Gibbins back in 2014.Hailing from Pity Me near Durham, Martha play energetic, impassioned power pop with intricate vocal interplay and lush four-part harmonies, informed by 90s indie rock and contemporary Scandinavian furniture. The band is comprised of J. Cairns (guitar), Daniel Ellis (guitar), Naomi Stephens (bass), and Nathan Stephens-Griffin (drums). All four members sing and write the songs.
Their debut album 'Courting Strong' came out in 2014 and was included in NPR's top 50 albums of that year, winning them the epithet 'One of Britain's best rock bands' from Drowned in Sound.
Their second album Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart was released in July 2016 to a similarly rapturous response, with the band playing End Of The Road Festival and Glastonbury at the personal invitation of Billy Bragg the same year.
Following an emotional sold out headline set at the Scala as part of Fortuna POP!'s farewell celebrations in March of this year the band are currently working on new material.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
The Winter Fuel Allowance Ineligibility Blues
Side B:
Fix My Brain -
Sold outTracklisting:Visit product page →
Side A:
Yvonne
Side B:
Up From The Minors -
Sold outBrummy boy-girl synth duo, with vocals reminiscent of Lawrence from Felt.Visit product page →
“A lo-tech fuzzed up pop stomper for the 80s electro pile” (Robots and Electronic Brains) “80s synth-punk with shades of Pulp” (Pop is Dead)
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. I Was Starving Hungry In Tescos
Side B:
2. Precinct
3. Little 2 Late
4. Just Look At You Now -
Pete Astor writes, sings songs and teaches music. He was singer songwriter in early Creation Records trailblazers The Loft, releasing two singles, Why Does the Rain and Up the Hill and Down the Slope that helped define the sound of the label and the emerging Indie genre. He subsequently formed The Weather Prophets, and launching a solo career with the albums Submarine and Zoo in the early 1990s.Visit product page →
Continuing to perform extensively in France and mainland Europe, his next two solo albums, Paradise and God and Other Stories were on the Danceteria label. Following a two year stint as A&R manager at the publishing arm of the Beggars Group, working with acts such as Hefner, Cornershop and Republica, Astor returned to music in the late 1990s with his Ellis Island Sound and Wisdom of Harry projects, both releasing music on 7', 12' and 10' for a variety of emerging independent labels such as Static Caravan, Wurlitzer Jukebox and Astor's own label, Faux Lux.
The Wisdom of Harry eventually signed to Matador, releasing three albums. Astor's collaboration with David Sheppard, Ellis Island Sound, signed with Heavenly Records, also releasing a compilation of their early releases. The solo album, Songbox came out on Second Language in 2011, featuring an extra disc of cover versions of the albums'songs by Let's Wrestle, The Raincoats, Darren Hayman, Comet Gain, The Proper Ornaments and Mathew Sawyer, among others. 2013 saw the publication of Astor's study of Richard Hell and the Voidoids'Blank Generation as part of Bloomsbury's 33 and a Third Series, along with scholarly articles with Keith Negus on songwriting practice for the Cambridge Journal of Popular Music and Ashgate books.
Astor is Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster, and currently working on new material for the Fortuna POP! Label with Veronica Falls/ Proper Ornaments/ Ultimate Painting's James Hoare, the first fruits of which is the single Mr. Music.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
Mr. Music
Side B:
Armitage Shanks -
Sold outVisit product page →Heartbeats is taken from the band\'s forthcoming album "Cursing The Sea".
A tale of unrequited love and betrayal, it's is awash with fuzzy guitars, ethereal female vocals and entrancing melodies ' underpinned by a hurt that catches the back of your throat. It's backed by the exclusive B-side "Wasted".
Tracklisting:
1. Heartbeats
2. Wasted -
Sold outVisit product page →Taken from the band's third long-player Canines, Shrag's new single Devastating Bones is due for release on 10 September. Heralding them as one of the most exciting British bands around, Devastating Bones is a sordidly salacious stomper, fizzing with energy and raw emotion.
Shrag's Bob Brown says this about the song: "I wanted to do a glam song. A proper, chant-along, fist-punching glam song. I was born in the epicentre of glam rock - Wolverhampton, so it seemed a natural thing to do.
Of course in the end it sounds like a Shrag song but that's a good thing too! And it's possibly the only pop song in history to mention the word 'Ischium'".Helen King, the band's lyricist, describes Devastating Bones as; a filthy song about lust and summer, and wanting someone with a weaker mind than oneself
Tracklisting:
1. Devastating Bones
2. Broken Glass And Fingernails -
Visit product page →On the cusp of the release of Canines, their hotly anticipated third album via WIAIWYA and Fortuna POP!, Shrag bare their teeth and offer the second single from the record, the title track Show Us Your Canines.
A visceral pop song bristling with excitement and melody, Show Us Your Canines is the sound of a band fully in their stride, with the band's signature girl/girl/boy vocals revealing more complex arrangements and a greater sense of urgency and danger.
Tracklisting:
1. Show Us Your Canines
2. Trains That You're Not On
