Fortuna POP!

Over the course of some sixteen years and six remarkable albums, The Ladybug Transistor have confirmed their standing as the preeminent exponents of lush, formalist pop music.

With a superlative new record, Clutching Stems, at the ready, their pursuit of a singular musical vision remains as true as ever.

Tracklisting:
1. Clutching Stems 
2. Light On The Narrow Gauge 
3. Fallen & Falling 
4. Ignore The Bell 
5. Oh Cristina! 
6. Caught Don't Walk 
7. Breaking Up On The Beat 
8. Into The Strait 
9. Hey Jack I'm On Fire 
10. Life Less True

The Ship's Piano is an album of subtle, drifting piano ballads written by Darren Hayman while he was recuperating from a fractured skull.

1. I Taught You How To Dance 
2. Old House 
3. Cuckoo 
4. It's Easy To Hang With You 
5. Know Your Place 
6. Take A Breather 
7. Clown Sky 
8. No Children 
9. Oh Josephine 
10. Think It Through 
11. The Ship's Piano

Howl of the Lonely Crowd represents the fruition of the affection with which Comet Gain are held: recorded and produced variously by British musical icon Edwyn Collins, Ryan Jarman of The Cribs, Brian O'Shaughnessy (My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream) and Alasdair Maclean of The Clientele, who also contributed guitar. With added input from Matthew Sawyer (The Ghosts), Helen King (Shrag), and a blast of Terry Edwards' (Spiritualized, Gallon Drunk, The Tindersticks) legendary trumpet on the rousing mod anthem The Weekend Dreams, the record captures a band fully in their stride and able to realise their full potential.

As Feck remarked on being given access to the full range of Edwyn Collin's studio with its vast collection of guitars: they (the guitars) look great and were played on great records, which I tried to channel in that way a tribesman would eat the brain of his smartest enemy ' though I didn't eat any part of Edwyn.

1. Clang Of The Concrete Swans 
2. The Weekend Dreams 
3. An Arcade From The Warm Rain That Falls 
4. She Had Daydreams 
5. Working Circle Explosive! 
6. Yoona Baines 
7. Herbert Huncke Pt 2 
8. After Midnight, After Its All Gone Wrong 
9. A Memorial For Nobody I Know 
10. Ballad Of Frankie Machine 
11. Some Of Us Don't Want To Be Saved 
12. Thee Ecstatic Library 
13. In A Lonely Place

The new album by US indiepop legends Tullycraft, 'Lost in Light Rotation', is their record since 2007's 'Every Scene Needs A Center'.

Produced by the band themselves and engineered by Pete Remine, it also holds the distinction of being mixed by Phil Ek (The Shins, Band of Horses, Built to Spill, The Halo Benders, The Shout Out Louds, Fleet Foxes, The Walkmen).

The album benefits from Ek's experience ironing out the quirks to create a wonderfully polished, yet still as punk as ever, sheen on the 11 delightfully upbeat, smart, indiepop anthems.

Tracklisting:
1. Agincourt 
2. Queenie Co. 
3. Lost In Light Rotation 
4. Westchester Turnabouts 
5. From Wichita With Love 
6. Elks Lodge Riot 
7. No Tic, All Tac 
8. Dig Up The Graves 
9. Wake Up, Wake Up 
10. We Knew Your Name Until Your Heart Stopped 
11. Anacortes 

Thrilling Cardiff-based noisepop five-piece Joanna Gruesome's terrific debut album Weird Sister is brimming with irresistible pop melodies and spiked with dissonant fuzzy jangle, shot through with loud discordant feedback and super-fast, hardcore punk drumbeats.

This album sees their first foray away from recording in a living room to a proper studio under the guidance of producer MJ of the much lauded Hookworms.
 
Tracklisting:
1. Anti-Parent Cowboy Killers
2. Sugarcrush
3. Wussy Voidm
4. Madison
5. Lemonade Grrrl
6. Secret Surprise
7. Do You Really Wanna Know Why Yr Still In Love With
8. Candy
9. Graveyard
10. Satan

12' EP (white vinyl). 

January suddenly seems like a terribly long time ago, but if you can cast your mind back that far you may remember a remarkable album released just mere weeks into the then fresh, unsullied year that was 2014.

Full of driving drums, doom-filled fuzz guitars and perfect monochrome vocal harmonies, September Girls'debut album Cursing the Sea shot into the new year with all the excitement, vim and vigour of an outrageous New Year's Eve party. Critics rejoiced and new fans were birthed, kicking and screaming to the front rows of gigs and festivals across the globe. 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 and have been described as "a combination of razorwire guitar lines, thudding Moe Tucker beats and girl group melodicism".

Cursing the Sea garnered widespread coverage, with a Guardian New Band of the Day piece, NME radar and 8/10 review and a 4* review in The Fly as well as coverage in The Sunday Times, The Observer and Uncut. The Financial Times said that they were 'like a less malevolent Jesus and Mary Chain - impressive power, conjuring exactly the right balance between noise and sweetness', while Time Magazine no less named them as one of the 11 best new bands in the world. In the intervening months September Girls have been busy on the road, playing SXSW as well as UK festivals such as Beacons, Body & Soul, Great Escape, Stag and Dagger and Wales Goes Pop, not to mention a mobbed show to a packed Berwick Street for Record Store Day. Bobby Gillespie and Andy Weatherall turned up for their show at The Lexington in London and they were invited to support John Spencer Blues Explosion in Dublin.

They are set to play at The Liverpool Psych Fest later this month and CMJ in New York in October. As their year of triumph draws to a close, September Girls return with a brand new four track EP entitled Veneer, recorded deep underground in Guerilla Studios, Dublin. Whilst still retaining their signature drenched feedback sound the tracks have a greater depth and polish than the album recordings. Each of the four tracks is written and sung by a different member of the band.

The perfect way to round off September Girls' incredible year, the Veneer EP builds on the foundations of Cursing The Sea to offer a tantalising glimpse into the band's future as purveyors of the finest dark-hearted pop in town.

Side A:
1. Veneer
2. Black Oil

Side B:
3. Melatonin
4. Butterflies

Transparent Blue Vinyl Re-press available, includes Download Card.

Allo Darlin's eponymous debut album runs the spectrum from joyous, breezy, punky, jump-around pop with fabulous harmonies to sparse ukulele and steel guitar heartbreakers.

Singer Elizabeth Morris and bassist Bill Botting form the Australian contingent of the band, and put the band's sunny, optimistic sound down, in part, to the 365 straight days of sunshine they would enjoy back home in Queensland.

There's another band from Queensland called The Go-Betweens who talked about having a 'striped sunlight sound', says Elizabeth. That's always been a quality that I've been chasing in songs.

Tracklisting:
1. Dreaming 
2. The Polaroid Song 
3. Silver Dollars 
4. Kiss Your Lips 
5. Heartbeat Chilli 
6. If Loneliness Was Art 
7. Woody Allen 
8. Let's Go Swimming 
9. My Heart Is A Drummer 
10. What Will Be Will Be

The darlings of the UK's indiepop scene, Allo Darlin' 2^nd album Europe follows on from their critically acclaimed and hugely successful self-titled debut.  The London-based four-piece ' led by Australian songbird Elizabeth Morris, with guitarist Paul Rains, Bill Botting on the bass and Michael Collins on drums ' create perfect, sophisticated pop gems and know how to put on a joyous, effervescent, fun-filled live show.

Having built up an intensely loyal and ever-increasing fanbase, Allo Darlin's reputation has developed at its own pace, from just one girl strumming a ukulele to headlining London's Scala and touring all over the world. In their brief lifetime they have toured the USA four times, sold out tours across the UK, embarked on an epic five-week European tour and played shows across the United States. The band have been strongly supported by BBC 6music, recording several sessions including one at the BBC's prestigious Maida Vale Studios as Steve Lamacq's personal choice for BBC Introducing.

Their self-titled debut was released to universal acclaim with plaudits including being named No. 2 record of the year by online retailer eMusic and a glowing 1,200 word essay by legendary Go-Between Mr. Robert Forster in the Australian critical magazine The Monthly. Achingly personal, incredibly poignant and familiar all at once, Elizabeth Morris' songwriting has deepened and developed since their debut, although they've lost none of their ability to create sophisticated, intelligent pop music with an uplifting, joyous feel. There's a sense though that the feel of the new record, Europe, reflects the changes in the world since their debut in 2009 ' with riots and protests across the globe and a deepening feeling of gloom, a carefree album didn't seem appropriate.

Singer Elizabeth Morris explains: I wanted to make beautiful songs and end up with a beautiful album, not necessarily an album full of three minute pop songs¦ the songs have an awareness of a darker place but end up coming out the other side. Already confirmed as Rough Trade's Album of the Month for May, Europe is chock full of memorable songs including the first single "Capricornia", which conjures up the bleached sunlight of summer in the area from which Elizabeth hails in Australia.

Then there's the title track and next single "Europe", a celebration of the togetherness that pulled the band through a disastrous tour of the continent last year, when noxious fumes in their tour van nearly put paid to them altogether. There's the epic Still Young, the song that their friends The Wave Pictures refer to as their Born To Run, the wonderful "Northern Lights" about spending New Year's Eve in Sweden and Wonderland, the last song written for the album and one of the band's favourites. Perhaps the two best songs on the album are the ballads.

If Elizabeth describes the extraordinary "Tallulah" as "probably the best song I've written", then Some People Say runs it close for sheer, heartfelt emotion. Gloriously catchy, brilliantly uplifting and charmingly intelligent, Europe promises to be one of the most exciting albums of the year, with Allo Darlin' pleasing their existing loyal fanbase as well as winning over hoards of new admirers. The album is proof that Allo Darlin' will be one of THE bands to watch out for in 2012.

Tracklisting:
1. Neil Armstrong 
2. Capricornia 
3. Europe 
4. Some People Say 
5. Northern Lights 
6. Wonderland 
7. Tallulah 
8. The Letter 
9. Still Young 
10. My Sweet Friend

We have a few copies of this Rough Trade exclusive, pressed to celebrate the fact that Allo Darlin's album 'Europe' was Rough Trade Shop's biggest seller of 2012!

Originally available as a bonus CD given away with the album we've now remade it as a 300 copies only, white coloured vinyl 10".

It features six fantastic covers of songs by AC/DC, The Ramones, Bruce Springsteen, Eux Autres, The Go-Betweens and The French (Darren Hayman's post-Hefner band).

Tracklisting:
1. Dive for Your Memory 
2. City All To Himself 
3. Wu Tang Clan 
4. I Wanna Be Sedated 
5. Atlantic City 
6. You Shook Me All Night Long 

The Butterbean Crypt EP is a special Halloween release from Cinema Red and Blue, an indiepop supergroup featuring members of both Comet Gain and Crystal Stilts. Strictly limited to 500 copies on 10 vinyl, it's pressed on spooky black vinyl with a white marble effect.

Tracklisting:
1. Walkin\' To The Cemetery 
2. Gentle Wandering Ways 
3. As Pure As The Freshly Driven Snow 
4. Memory Grave (Recalled From The Crypt) 

Limited Edition Vinyl 10 EP (500 copies) with free MP3 download.

Best known as the singer-songwriter of the phenomenally successful and much-loved Hefner, Darren Hayman is now six albums into an increasingly idiosyncratic and remarkably productive solo career. Following massive critical acclaim for last year's Essex Arms album Hayman followed up with his January Songs project, writing a song a day for the entire month.

There's been no let up since either with Hayman just releasing a brand new solo album of subtle, drifting piano ballads called The Ship's Piano, written following a fractured skull left him wanting to make quieter, more peaceful music. The album has already received rave reviews from the BBC uniquely intimate and very satisfying to Q It's galling that Hayman can churn out such high quality so often and Mojo Hayman has hit a creative purple patch¦ a treat.

'I Taught You How To Dance' is the stand out track from The Ship's Piano, a beautiful, sweet and non-ironic love song. Darren describes it as his cruise ship song, a song suitable for weddings and 1980s teenage discos, like 'Red, Red Wine.' Expertly embellished by Steve Pretty's mournful trumpet, the song sounds even better when played with a glitter ball in the room. The ten inch EP also contains covers of 'Come Dancing' by the Kinks, 'I Don't Wanna Dance' by Eddy Grant and 'Dance Away' by Roxy Music.

Asked why he chose these particular songs Darren replied, These are the tunes that would drift over my school playground from the 6th formers' social club. It's hard to imagine how cool and exotic these songs sounded to me as a 13 year old. 'Come Dancing' in particular is a much sadder intelligent song than it appears on first inspection. The truth is that songs that are good to dance to, don't have the word 'dance' in the title. Songs that have the word 'dance' in the title are usually heartbreakers. Listen out for Nik Vestberg of Moustache Of Insanity playing Gameboy on Come Dancing!

Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern play on November the 3rd at the Scala London, as part of Fortuna POP!'s 15th birthday celebrations. London's laureate of sexual dysfunction, discomfort, and dog-eared under-achievement... the match of Ray Davies, or any of the quintessentially English masters. (The Guardian).

Tracklisting:
1. I Taught You How To Dance 
2. Dance Away 
3. I Don't Wanna Dance 
4. Come Dancing