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Pictures from some recent gigs we've hosted:

29 March 2013 - Brixton, London

Viv Albertine, VuVuVultures, Left Leg, Mickey Gloss, Big Wave, No Cars, Arthur Gunn, Simon Love (Pictures)

8 March 2013 - Lexington, London

R.Ring, Golden Grrrls, Slushy Guts and Equinox (Pictures)

On Our iPod

Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (album)

Antony Harding - Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear (album)

Black Angels - Indigo Meadow (album)

Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin (album)

Still Corners - Strange Pleasures (album)

Savages - Silence Yourself (album)

Mikal Cronin - MC II (album)

Can’s Ege Bamyasi played by Stephen Malkmus and Friends(album)

Victoria and Jacob - Festival 7"

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (album)

Sauna Youth - False Jesii Part II 7”

Lightning Bolt - Oblivion Hunter

Robyn Hitchcock - There Goes The Ice (2x 12")

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Gig Review

The Loves Retirement Party
The Loves/ Comet Gain/ The School/ The Lovely Eggs/ The Vinyl Stitches/ Mick Travis/ The Werewandas London, Lexington

Article written by Various Writers - Feb 21, 2011

If Fortuna Pop! had thought about it they could have reunited all the people who have passed through the Loves in the last decade; but then they’d have needed the O2 Arena if they’d all accepted. Instead they’ve assembled a bill of fellow-travelling indiepoppers to give the Loves a good send off. First up is the Werewandas, whose opening Wanda Jackson cover sets out their stall: big and twangy rockabilly-styled indiepop with Lucy’s torch singing dripping with attitude. This is a bit of a supergroup with a Cut Out, an Airport Girl and “Sweet Sister Delia” on guitar, the grande dame of London indiepop who’s rightly canonised in a Loves song. It’s fun but afternoon might be too early for the Werewandas; these are tunes for half-cut rockers with sculpted quiffs, homemade tattoos and 5 o’clock shadow to move their brothel creepers to - and that’s just the women…

Following the Werewandas is a solo set from former Tompaulin/ Fischers man Jamie Holman as Mick Travis who ransacks his back catalogue for a slew of early Tompaulin classics, full of acute observational detail: ‘My Life At the Movies’, ‘Ballad of the Bootboys’, ‘It’s a Girl’s World’, ‘Slender’. He’s in fine voice and it’s an unexpected pleasure to hear these songs live again, losing nothing of their gritty Northern charm. When the singer of the Vinyl Stitches takes off his cardie, he and they are transformed into the classic garage-rock combo: black-clad, skinny-jeaned and with just-so 60s haircuts. They look good and they sound loud (they’re influenced by those 60s garage-rockers who took their inspiration from the Who’s sonic punch-ups) but they just need to work on a killer song or two and they’ll be the Full English. (by Ged M)

Holly Egg shreds...

Next up are the Lovely Eggs, who of course are an absolute Godsend to lazy reviewers like me. Yes, they were CRACKING. Yes, indeed they were also SMASHING. And, would you believe it, their songs were SPECKLED with potty mouthed humour. Enough! Actually, they really are rather good though. A spin of their first album when it originally came out had me lurching for the stop button. Far too squawky for anything more than a thirty second burst, I couldn’t understand it when normally sane men and women proclaimed their performance in the church at last year’s Indietracks as one of the festival’s highlights. Now, here before me, live, it really does all make sense. Yes, they’re a bit shambling, and with just a guitar and drums they’re like a low budget indiepop version of the White Stripes, but with John Shuttleworth for a reference point rather than some 1930s blind blues boffin from a Louisiana swamp. The ‘tween track chatter between the pair is frequently laugh out loud funny though and lyrically, there’s much to smile at too (particularly new single ‘Don’t Look At Me’). Definitely, a band worth catching.

The School have been on our radar ever since Liz packed her mini dress and left the original incarnations of The Loves (though she’s often guested for them, since). Tonight they pilfer a few of her old band’s songs from her days, which makes the early part of their set an even more wonderful jangly 60s-inspired indiepopfest. The, so catchy-it-should-come-with-a-health-warning, ‘Honey’ and the Creation-indebted ‘She’ll Break Your Heart’ sound great but don’t outshine the bands own material, particularly the swoonsome ‘I Want You Back’. (by Paul M)

This is the best I’ve seen Comet Gain play for some time, with an urgency that suggests a band who’ve been told today that they’ve got 2 weeks to live but find out the message was left on the answerphone 7 days ago. Mr Feck mentions a lack of rehearsal but it doesn’t show – they just pile into their soulful indiepop, song after song with little drunken banter, conscious of wanting to leave time for the Loves’ set. It’s a slightly different line up (Kay is missing on bass, Ben P plays additional guitar) and it sounds like the hungry young wolves of yore. Play like this every time and they’d be legendary.

I thought that Simon Love might come out in ringmaster garb in emulation of the Rolling Stones’ rock and roll circus but he tops them by calling in a favour from Jesus instead; well, it’s Sean Price, to give him his human name, who acts the answerphone message on ‘It’s…the End of the World’ but the Price name has been uttered onstage so often in the past 12 months that Sean will soon believe he doesn’t need a bridge to cross the Thames and will be curing lepers on his way to work. The Loves bring loads of extras – dancing girls and a string section – to tonight’s show but mostly they bring their great songs and leave behind the larking around that has sometimes sabotaged other shows. Ten years has seen them grow up musically, from their bubblegum beginnings to full-on psychedelic pop. It’s a mystery why some of the smarter music mags never picked up on them because any band inspired by the Velvet Underground, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and Kasenetz-Katz’s Swinging Orchestral Circus, as well as the Kinks, should be meat and drink to them but that’s their loss. They play the wonderful ‘…Love’ from the first album and a bashful ‘Motherfucker’ (Treacle’s mum is in the audience and Simon Oedipus is keen to point out “it’s not about you”) and finish on a great segue of ‘WTF?’/ ‘Little Girl Blues’, which leaves us thinking that the last ten years were chaotic, shambolic and musically inventive but never wasted. Change the tense – The Loves are sadly now The Loved - but they went out with their best album and their best gig. (by Ged M)

Links:
http://www.fortunapop.com/