Punchy melodies coupled with infectious lyrics are bound to make Farewell a hit in the UK; especially with fans of Cute Is What We Aim For and Say Anything. Originating from North Carolina, Farewell are here to take the UK by storm with their debut tour, supporting none other than YouMeAtSix.

The tour will also help to promote their first album: “Isn’t This Supposed To Be Fun?” released earlier this year. The album contains 13 full length tracks of power pop goodness. It bears reminiscence to Motion City Soundtrack with the occasional negativity in the lyrics; but when coupled with the lively guitar and keyboard melodies, it turns it into what every screaming teenage girl loves: a fabulous collection of catchy tunes they can sing along to.

The album opens with “Start it Up”, a song that’s guaranteed to push away any flickers of doubts about the band, and pull in every power pop lover to listen further. Lead singer, Marshall Davies, brings this song, along with the others, the right edge to match the lyrics to the catchy tunes bound to make every teenager want to get up and move.

Stand out tracks on the album include “War”, “September Brought the Fall”, “Hey Heather” and up-coming single “Eighty-Eights” released 20th October.

This 5 piece band from America are definitely a band to keep your eye on, and in for big things over here if they can give as good a performance on stage as they do on their record.

You can catch Farewell supporting YouMeAtSix at the below tour dates:

Wednesday 15th October - Middlesbrough Empire
Thursday 16th October - Norwich Waterfront
Friday 17th October - Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Saturday 18th October - Wolverhampton Wulfrun
Sunday 19th October - Northampton Roadmender
Tuesday 21st October - Leeds Met University
Wednesday 22nd October - Glasgow ABC1
Thursday 23rd October - Manchester Academy 2
Friday 24th October - Liverpool Carling Academy
Saturday 25th October - Southampton University
Sunday 26th October - Oxford Carling Academy
Monday 27th October - London Astoria
Tuesday 28th October - Cardiff Solus
Wednesday 29th October - Brighton Komedia
Thursday 30th October - Exeter Phoenix

Have a thing for 70’s rock songsmithery and laid back 90’s Britpop? Yeah, so do we.

So imagine how excited we were when Hoodoo Scoundrels‘ new EP (”The Witch Song EP”) dropped into our postbox yesterday and delivered a glorious 12 minutes of pure power pop goodness. Each of the four tracks is only 3 minutes long, but hasn’t gone down the Scouting For Girls / Hoosiers route of paint by numbers. Oh, no. They’ve still got their balls intact.

Originally, Hoodoo Scoundrels were called simply “The Scoundrels”, but were persuaded by the legendary Brian Eno to change their name after he caught them live and their footloose fans caused him to rename them.

Opener “The Witch Song” is a funk-laced colossus that could draw comparisons both with elements of the Kooks today and Thin Lizzy back in the day when they had Phil Lynott at the front. “A Touch Far” sees the Scoundrels blast out some proper “Saturday night down the pub” vibes, and sees them at their strongest - catchy, anthemic sing alongs with funky guitars.

Closer “Shame on You” is an ace closer - short and sweet at just 3 minutes but reminiscent of Arctic Monkeys’ “Fake Tales of San Francisco” (well, to me anyhow!).

Hoodoo Scoundrels are on tour at the moment. Catch them at the below tour dates for a great night out:

Tuesday 14th October - London Macbeth
Friday 17th October - Chatham Tap N Tin
Saturday 25th October - Southampton Joiners
Friday 31st October - London The Troubadour (Hoodoo Hop)

Hoodoo Scoundrels’ “EP 2″ is released on Monday 20th October on Hot Sauce Records.

Keane have announced that they’ll play three free UK Shows next week ahead of the release of their third album.

“We decided last night that we want to get out there next week and play our new songs to our fans in an intimate environment,” said lead singer Tom Chaplin. “We love playing live, we love the intensity of the atmosphere in those clubs, you just can’t capture that in an arena or festival. We want to do it like we used to! It is going to be amazing fun.”

Tickets for the three shows are free, but you’ll need to sign up here by 4pm tomorrow (Friday 10th October).

Keane will play:

Monday 13th October - Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms
Tuesday 14th October – Leeds Cockpit 2
Wednesday 15th October – London 100 Club

The Research have bounced back with a new album, tour and a glorious new single. I’d heard of them before this single, but never really taken the time to have a proper listen, however after being sent a link to their myspace page I must proclaim - I quite like the first single off their second album.

“I Think She’s The One” features jangly guitars, dreamy vocals, “woah-woahs” and 60’s style girly backing vocals - what more could you ask for from a first single?

So, if you like what you’re reading and hearing on their myspace, why not go and catch them at the below venues as they hit the road?

Tickets are on sale now for all dates.

Monday 20th October - Glasgow Stereo
Tuesday 21st October - Newcastle Cumberland Arms
Wednesday 22nd October - London Luminaire
Friday 24th October - Southampton Hamptons
Saturday 25th October - Bath Moles
Sunday 26th October - Oxford Bullingdon Arms
Monday 27th october - Bristol Louisiana
Tuesday 28th October - Birmingham Bar Academy
Wednesday 29th October - Stoke Sugarmill
Friday 31st October - Wakefield Esco Bar
Saturday 1st November - Manchester Roadhouse
Sunday 2nd November - Runcorn Underground
Monday 3rd November - Norwich Arts Centre
Tuesday 4th November - Nottingham Bodega
Wednesday 5th November - Cambridge Portland Arms
Thursday 6th November - Brighton Freebutt

The Research’s new single, “I Think She’s The One I Love” is out on October 20th on This Is Fake DIY Records.

After the jump: A quick (handwritten) biography of the band.

Read the rest of this entry »

The only band to have a frontman who can give Johnny Borrell a run for his money in the irritating self-important front man league, Snow Patrol, have announced a unique 48 hour tour around the UK and Ireland around release day of their new album, A Hundred Million Suns which is out on Monday 27th October.

The ‘Take Back The Cities Tour’ will see the band play four capital cities across the UK and Ireland in a 48 hour period stopping off in Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh and London.

Tickets for these shows are priced £22.50, and due to the intimate nature of the events are available exclusively to members of their fan club via a lottery draw. Each lucky ticket holder will also get an exclusive free Live CD of the show they attend, picking up an artworked CD on the night, which will contain details of how to download highlights of the show the next day.

Sunday 26th October - Dublin Gate Theatre (Lunchtime show)
Sunday 26th October - Belfast Empire (Evening show)
Monday 27th October - Edinburgh Assembly Rooms (Midday show)
Monday 27th October - London Bloomsbury Theatre (Evening show)

The wonderful Das Wanderlust have announced their largest tour to date around the UK starting in just 7 days time.

However, if you haven’t heard of Das Wanderlust, let us introduce them…

Das Wanderlust are Laura Susan Simmons on vocals and keyboard, Andrew Richard Elliott on more Keyboard and guitar and Wesley John Stephenson on drums. Critics opinions of them have veered between avant-garde experimentalism and super-melodic noise, but the band prefer the more simplistic term ‘Wrong Pop’.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, they were featured in the Guardian last month.

So, what are you waiting for? Tickets are on sale now for all dates around the £4 mark - catch them at the below dates / venues:

Thursday 9th October - Glasgow Barfly
Friday 10th October - Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire
Saturday 11th October - Aberdeen The Tunnels
Tuesday 14th October - Cambridge Portland Arms
Wednesday 15th October - Brighton Club NME
Thursday 16th October - Manchester The Green Windmill
Thursday 30th October - Nottingham Junktion 7
Friday 31st October - Derby The Venue

Side image comes from obo-bobolina’s flickr stream under the Creative Commons License.

I’ll be honest… my knowledge of Israeli rock singer-songwriters is lacking at best.

However when I got a press release earlier today introducing me to Aviv Geffen, I was intrigued - he’s got over 14 albums released over 15 years, and seems to be rather a big deal in the Middle East.

And now he’s coming to the UK.

He’s playing an exclusive London gig on 10th of October at London’s Roundhouse in preparation for releasing a single and album in the UK for the first time.

In the same press release, the F-Gen competition was announced, which sees Aviv opening the doors for video directors, stylists and artists to completely design the look and feel for the upcoming video’s, artwork and tour costumes ahead of a full UK tour and single release next year reportedly.

So, if you fancy something a bit different why not pop on down to London’s Roundhouse to catch Aviv next Friday… tickets are £8 each from the Roundhouse Box Office.

You probably remember my (rather big) love for new kids on the block, Red Light Company after we first found them, and then when we caught them live. Well now they’re off on the road again for a fairly dauntingly big new tour throughout October and November.

Tickets are on sale now, priced between £5 and £7 each. Catch the lads at:

Monday 20th October 2008 - Sheffield Shakespeare
Tuesday 21st October 2008 - Liverpool Barfly
Wednesday 22nd October 2008 - Manchester Night & Day
Thursday 23rd October 2008 - Stoke Sugarmill
Saturday 25th October 2008 - London Electric Proms Camden Barfly
Sunday 26th October 2008 - Nottingham Bodega
Monday 27th October 2008 - Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire
Tuesday 28th October 2008 - Aberdeen Café Drummond
Wednesday 29th October 2008 - Inverness Madhatters
Thursday 30th October 2008 - Glasgow Captains Rest
Saturday 1st November 2008 - Middlesbrough Arena
Monday 3rd November 2008 - Oxford Zodiac
Tuesday 4th November 2008 - Leicester Firebug
Wednesday 5th November 2008 - Bristol Louisiana
Friday 7th November 2008 - Cardiff Barfly
Saturday 8th November 2008 - Plymouth Hub
Sunday 9th November 2008 - Portsmouth Cellars
Tuesday 11th November 2008 - Southampton Joiners
Wednesday 12th November 2008 - Brighton Coalition (Free Show!)
Thursday 13th November 2008 - Guildford Boileroom
Sunday 16th November 2008 - Bedford Esquires
Tuesday 18th November 2008 - Colchester Arts Centre
Wednesday 19th November 2008 - Birmingham Rainbow
Thursday 20th November 2008 - Leeds Cockpit
Friday 21st November 2008 - York Fibbers

Like Shiny Toy Guns, Ladytron, and shouty frat rock? Then maybe check out innerpartysystem when they tour the UK next month.

Tickets are on sale now, priced between £4 and £8 a ticket, but going rapidly for most dates.

Saturday 4th October - Oxford Zodiac
Sunday 5th October - Liverpool Barfly
Monday 6th October - Birmingham Bar Academy
Tuesday 7th October - London Camden Barfly
Thursday 9th October - Manchester Roadhouse
Friday 10th October - Middlesbrough Cornerhouse
Saturday 11th October - Leeds Cockpit
Sunday 12th October - Glasgow Barfly

The Holloways, Underground Heroes, Haunts, Regards and Bear Hands are all out on a joint tour in October and early November around the UK.

Tickets for all dates go on sale at 9am tomorrow morning (5th September).

Friday 24th October - Newcastle Carling Academy 2
Sunday 26th October - Leeds The Faversham
Monday 27th October - Manchester Club Academy
Tuesday 28th October - Brighton Concorde 2
Wednesday 29th October - Birmingham Custard Factory
Thursday 30th October - Oxford Carling Academy
Friday 31st October - Sheffield The Leadmill
Saturday 1st November - London ULU