Hockey have announced a string of their biggest UK and Ireland shows for next February.

Tickets are on sale now.

Wednesday 24th February 2010 – London Koko
Thursday 25th February 2010 – Manchester Academy 2
Friday 26th February 2010 – Glasgow Queen Margaret Union
Saturday 27th February 2010 – Belfast Spring & Airbrake
Sunday 28th February 2010 – Dublin Academy

Okay, I admit it – I love remixes. I love how dance and non-dance songs alike can be retooled by a master producer’s able hands, fiddling with switches and dials in a darkened room with a mixing board to create anatmosphere usually completely different than what was intended in the original. Often times the remix is made longer than the original, drawn out by heavy beats and extended intros and outros. And just as often, the remix transforms the song into a tune perfect to get you pumped up for that evening jog. A plus!

Such is the case with the London act Jack Beats‘ Anger Management remix of Portland band Hockey’s newest single “Song Away”. You may recall we featured the band and the promo video for the song last month. Put these two songs side by side and they’re completely different. But you just might be like me and love both of them. Have a listen.

MP3: Hockey – Song Away (Jack Beats Anger Management Remix)

Baddies – Open One Eye

Jess first introduced Baddies back in May, and if you’re a fan of fast paced, tongue-in-cheek pop-rock along the lines of We Are Scientists or Futureheads be sure to check this lot out.

I first heard of Portland new wave band Hockey through their single ‘Too Fake’ that got a lot of play on BBC 6music, back when the Mid-Atlantic air was still cold and snow was on the ground. (Admittedly, my ears perked up further when I heard they were the support act for a Friendly Fires UK headlining tour.) It’s only now, in the middle of the sweltering summer, that they’ve started to make waves in America – oddly enough, in a television advert for J.C. Penney (an American department store), in which the Shoes remix of ‘Too Fake’ plays while high school students turn the school cafeteria into their own fashion catwalk dressed in supposedly ’school hip’ duds from the store. I’m too old and cynical to buy into this but to young, impressionable teens of America, good tunes usually translate to thoughts of, ‘oh yeah? This song is cool! I need those clothes!’ Leading to the sounds of ringing cash registers all over the nation. (Isn’t capitalism grand?)

I’m really excited that an indie band I only knew about from a radio station across the pond is finally getting some love in our own country. Whether mainstream exposure and association with a middle America department store will help or hurt the band’s profile is unclear. But one thing’s for sure: the adverts are certainly getting the band noticed stateside, and for an indie band, that is always a good thing. And hopefully it won’t take too long for the next single to show up on American radio.

‘Song Away’ is the third single from their forthcoming debut album ‘Mind Chaos’. It’s bouncy and bright upon the first listen, just as fresh as ‘Too Fake’ was to my Hockey-virgin ears back in the winter. Listen to a couple more times, and the lyrics are humourous as they are memorable: “this is believe me music / this is forget me music / this is who can love me you know / this ain’t no Roxy Music“. I give props to any band who can crowbar the name of Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno’s old band into a song, because you know if the song gets popular, kids will inevitably investigate who that Roxy Music is (which I think you will agree is better than kids not ever hearing ‘Love is the Drug’ or ‘Virginia Plain’.) If the official video can be believed (see it below), this song should be tearing up homecoming dances this autumn.

Hockey’s debut album ‘Mind Chaos’ will be released on 24 August in the UK. Hockey’s ‘Song Away’ single drops on 14 September.

Okay, we’ve mentioned our love of Hockey before here at TGTF. Well, now the Portland, Oregon new-wave quartet are playing a super-secret gig next Tuesday at the shiny new Flowerpot in Camden, North London. It’s in the place of the legendary Nambucca, the pub that burnt down just before Christmas, and is essentially trying to carry on its spirit.

So, why are we telling you this? Well, rather excitingly we’re offering one of you lucky people the chance to win a pair of tickets to what is sure to be a rather hot, cozy and rather fun event. All you need to do is email hockeysecretshow@googlemail.com with the subject line “TGTF – Hockey secret show comp”, along with your name and age and Hockey’s people will sort it allll out for you. Yes, it’s really that easy.

The special gig is taking place as the guys promote their new single, the rather brilliantly amazing “Learn To Lose”, which is out on Monday (1st June) from your favourite independent record store (or iTunes, if you must). You can watch the fab video for this below (featuring sparks, water, an empty warehouse and leather jackets) – and do, it’s a proper big sounding anthem. Really.

The boring (but necessary) small print:

• The prize is two tickets to see Hockey at the Flowerpot in London. No transport or other extras are included, unfortunately.
• Before entering please ensure that you are free and able to get to London for Tuesday night.
• Please note that this competition is run by Hockey’s people, not TGTF. Please direct any gig questions to the email address mentioned above
• Competition closes this Sunday, 31st May at midnight
• The winner will be notified on Monday morning (1st June).

It may only be their second single, but already Hockey have big songs and even better videos. This one features film sets, rain, sparks and general chaos. Always good.

Watch and enjoy below:

Following on from their slot supporting Friendly Fires on their upcoming UK Tour, Hockey have announced a string of four of their own headlining dates for May, where they’ll be playing their electro pop for your enjoyment.

Tickets are on sale now, priced at £7 each.

Friday 8th May 2009 – Nottingham Red Room
Monday 11th May 2009 – Reading Plug And Play
Tuesday 12th May 2009 – Cardiff Club Ifor Bach
Wednesday 13th May 2009 – Portsmouth The Cellars

To find tickets, we suggest you try using Needtickets. Needtickets.com offers you the most comprehensive ticket service in the UK. With one click you can search every nationwide online ticket agent and as a result you can find tickets for any live music event that can be booked online. Every ticket is 100% guaranteed as Needtickets.com only offers links to official agents.

Hockey are one of those bands I’ve overlooked mistakenly for a while. Playing with Passion Pit on their recent UK tour, I had grown to love PP and overlooked Hockey as a bunch of “also-rans”. However, recently I was sent their new single, Too Fake, which manages to combine LCD Soundsystem with a casual dis-interest.

They’ve also just been announced as the main support for Friendly Fires on their upcoming UK Tour.

So, watch the video below, download a great remix of the single and blow away those Monday morning cobwebs.

MP3 – Hockey – Too Fake (Joe and Will Ask remix)

Another busy day here at TGTF. Expect things to slow down over the end of this week and next week, as I have to have about half of my university dissertation done by next Friday, and frankly I’ve done next to nothing on it so far. I’ll also be roping in some of you lovely readers later in the year to help out with some of my research – I’m looking at corporate sponsorship in the music industry, something I’m sure you can all relate to and have strong opinions on!!

Moving on to the more day-to-day stuff (and what you’re probably all here for: MP3s!).

Now, I know I said last year that here at TGTF we wouldn’t be featuring many of the festival lineups. At that point, I hated festivals. Not gonna lie, I hadn’t been to one and was too frightened of getting my feet muddy. Then we went to Hydro Connect, and fell in love with the concept, so expect a bit more festival coverage this year.

Field Day have announced some of their lineup for Saturday 1st August this year. They’ve got the amazing Mogwai headlining, along with Four Tet and James Yorkston (pictured right) and a few more artists to be announced. Sounds pretty good, might well see if we can wander down. Tickets are on sale now, priced at £29.50 each plus the obligatory booking fees, bah humbug. It’s in Victoria Park, London from 11:30am – 10:30pm. Fun.

In other festival news, local lads to me here in Oxfordshire, Supergrass have announced that they’ll be playing Wychwood Festival. The event, which runs from Friday 29th – Sunday 31st May at Cheltenham Race Course will see the Oxford brit-pop stars will headline the Saturday night, and BBC 6Music DJ Tom Robinson will be curating his very own evening line-up on Wychwood’s third stage. All sounds good, and very local to me.

You all probably know that loud mouthed Lily Allen has a new album out shortly, and I’ll be honest – I quite liked her last one, in a guilty-pleasure sort of way. At least she has more talent than Kate Nash. She’s made an album megamix available for download, so enjoy it before you get your grubby mits on the new album.

MP3: Lily Allen – Album Megamix

Stumbled across an amusing video interview of Goldie Lookin’ Chain earlier today (yes, I should have been working) – words fail me to describe it well, so wander on over to Don’t Panic (which seems like a great student run magazine from a quick look), and watch and enjoy.

One last MP3 and we’ll go. Hockey, who are off on tour with the AMAZING Passion Pit in late February have given us a free MP3 to give to you guys. It’s pretty amazing, a bit of electro pop is always good to get you warmed up for a Saturday night!

MP3: Hockey – 3am Spanish

Oh, and stumbled across the below video for T-Mobile. No, we’re not being paid to have this up, I just quite liked it.

If you want something different or just some catchy vibrant music then look no further than the new wave sensation that is Hockey. Now I’ll be honest, when I think of new wave bands I imagine weird, ultra-jolly and synthesizer happy misfits but I couldn’t be more right. Hockey’s sound delivers weird beats and tones that freak out the ear while fantastic synthesizer melodies fill their songs with quality and vibrancy. There lyrics have been well refined and there is a great intellectual feel about the tunes.

But yet the band still offers so much more.  By far their most popular track, “Too Fake” has all the ingredients from a new wave recipe but with elements of rock and indie thrown in for good measure.  LCD Soundsystem should love Hockey but so should fans of Springsteen which clearly shows the diverse dynamic that the band seems to emit.

Now my favourite track is “Song Away” which carries a sunny and chirpy tone that is almost impossible not to like.  I do have one fear though. If this track is released, the radio stations will never stop playing it and I won’t get any sleep whilst I chant the chorus over and over again.  Now don’t throw your computer at the wall, but last time I checked, Hockey weren’t signed! It’s almost unbelievable that there isn’t a bidding war between labels for these guys.

To sum up, Hockey are a great new band with a fresh sound. If you’re into rock you’ll like them, If you’re into pop you’ll like them and if you’re into indie you’ll like them.