Girls Names make a welcome return with new single ‘A Troubled See’, taken from a forthcoming split 7” with Weird Dreams, released 25th June. The band will also be playing a handful of European shows in May including a performance at Primavera festival in Barcelona. Hear the new track below.

‘A Troubled See’ is the first proper indication of where Girls Names will be going with their next full-album proper. Following the release of last year’s debut album, Dead To Me, and after a successful tour of Europe in October last year supporting stand alone single ‘Black Saturday’, Girls Names began to hint at a possible directional shift away from their often mis-perceived surf and indie-pop roots into something more a kin to Krautrock and Psychedelia.Indeed, the band has expanded to a four-piece and has spent the last six months in virtual seclusion honing and developing a more progressive and expansive sound, feeding on the darker sides of Echo and The Bunnymen, Spacemen 3, The Birthday Party and David Bowie’s Low.

As for the Weird Dreams side of the split – entitled “House of Secrets” – you’ll have to wait a few more weeks for more information

Pre-order 7″

May
22nd – Night and Day, Manchester
23rd – The Waiting Room, London
24th – The Green Door Store, Brighton
26th – Le Guess Who Festival, Utrecht w/ Weird Dreams
27th – Effenaar, Eindhoven w/ Cloud Nothings
28th – Cafe Video, Gent
29th – Point Ephemere, Paris w/ Beach Fossils
June
2nd – Primavera, Barcelona

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Download a new track from Virals’ forthcoming debut EP, Coming Up With The Sun, released May 7th(digital)/21st (physical).

Download here or listen below.

Pre-order Coming Up With The Sun:
iTunes
12″

Virals make their live debut this weekend, and play a launch party for the EP on 11th May. See below.

May
6th – Camden Crawl
11th – EP Launch @ Shacklewell Arms, London
12th – Great Escape, Brighton

When they wake they’re still in a dream, floating down very sleepy rivers into south London’s gloom. Heavy with sleep and quiet desperation, Drop-Out Venus are drunk on love and other stuff.

Catch the band at the first Just Fantasy on 18th May – HERE

WATCH

(Photo)

More psychotic reaction music from our friends Sexbeat, this time in the form of Tim Presley’s White Fence.

And it sounds a lot like Presley has spent some time locked in the back room of his mind, eyes clamped open,  the 60s on repeat, spiralling off into the rabbit hole of just another yesterday.

(Photo)

Tomorrow will see the release of the vinyl version of CYMBALS’ new record, Sideways, Sometimes, in conjunction with Record Store Day. Limited to 300 copies with artwork by Liberty designer Robin Hulme, it’s a beautiful artefact that feels perfectly inkeeping with the spirit of the day.

Ahead of it’s release, Clash have streamed the record in its entirety, alongside a track-by-track breakdown from singer/guitarist Jack. Go here to read the full thing. And in other positive news, “Candy Bar” has been added to the evening playlist at XFM.

If you’d like to see the band play live, below is a list of up-coming dates.

MAY        
5th – Camden Crawl, London
6th – Camden Crawl, London       
9th – Pavillions, Falmouth w/Temper Trap
10th – Wedgerooms, Portsmouth w/Temper Trap
11th – Great Escape @ Dome, Brighton w/Temper Trap
12th – Coal Exchange, Cardiff w/Temper Trap
18th – Just Fantasy @ Birthdays, London w/Savages and Drop Out Venus
21st – Koko, London w/Temper Trap
JULY         
21st – Tramlines Festival @ The Harley, Sheffield

On 18th May, Tough Love will be launching a new monthly night at Birthdays, an equally new venue based in East London. The night is also a belated release party for CYMBALS new record, Sideways, Sometimes, out next week. You can hear a new song from that record below. 

To coincide with the night, we are updating a Tumblr daily with the kind of music you’re likely to hear us – and the DJs we book – play. Feel free to follow us here - http://notreallifejustfantasy.tumblr.com/ . In addition to this, we’ve also set up a Youtube playlist, so you can listen to all of the music in one convenient sitting – here.

The full line up for the opening night is below. All design by James Hines.

Just Fantasy
18th May @ Birthdays

LIVE
CYMBALS
Becoming Real
Drop Out Venus

DJS
Tough Love
Dummy
Off Modern
ParadYse

20:30-03:00
£5
Facebook

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Virals is the latest project from Shaun Hencher, last seen fronting the much-loved Dionysian punks, Lovvers. Following the demise of that band, Virals offers a new beginning and see’s Shaun predominately writing, playing and recording on his own. And with that new beginning comes a fresh approach to songwriting that takes cues from the sunshine vibe of certain American states yet retaining a suitably English feel.

Beginning as a studio-only project in late 2010, Virals began with the main aim to craft songs that stick in the head but don’t take themselves too seriously. To date a collection of twenty-plus songs have been stockpiled, and are only now starting to be made available with a series of well-planned releases. The first release arrived in February 2012, a two-track 7” on Sexbeat (Fresh & Onlys, White Fence). Those songs hinted at an uncanny melodicism that is fleshed out on the follow-up, a four-track 12” EP on Tough Love.

Opening with “Coming Up With The Sun”, a glorious shot of wide-eyed she-loves-me/she-loves-me-not powerpop, Virals offer up an EP that’s as infectious as the band name would suggest. Recalling the classic productions of Nick Lowe, Bob Mould’s Sugar or even The Go Gos, sharing the same earworm qualities and wreckless abandon.

Released digitally on May 7^thand physically on 21st, the EP is issued on limited edition 12” red vinyl and digital download.

Today Dazed Digital premiered the new video for CYMBALS’ track “No Bad Decisions”. Directed by Daniel Brerton who the band previously worked with on the video for “Totally Over”, it’s a perfect encapsulation of what makes CYMBALS such a compelling band. Watch it below.

Although their are four members onstage when the band play live, their collaborations with artist Robin Hulme (Liberty, Louis Vuitton) on the artwork for Sideways, Sometimes and with Daniel Brereton (Wild Beasts, Django Django) on the video completes a collective line up of CYMBALS, as the visual identity of the band is as important as the music.

Director Daniel Brereton: “I thought the song could work with animation, and me and a couple of people helping, Etienne and Elsa, did some tests. When put to the music we thought it worked really well, so after the tests we shot the band and then added another layer of animation by “rotoscoping” the band.

The song feels a bit like a journey to me and i think the animation adds to that. The animation was often done in an “exquisite corpse” way, where one person would do one frame and another person do the next. Or sometimes we would take two separate totally different images and join them with animation in between. These techniques led to more accidental results.”

The band have also been invited by the Temper Trap to support them on the first leg of their UK tour. Alongside those dates, the band play Camden Crawl and a record release party on 18th May at new London venue, Birthdays. See below for a full list of dates

APRIL        
10th – White Heat w/Prinzhorn Dance School, London
MAY        
5th – Camden Crawl, London
6th – Camden Crawl, London       
9th – Pavillions, Falmouth w/Temper Trap
10th – Wedgerooms, Portsmouth w/Temper Trap
11th – Great Escape @ Dome, Brighton w/Temper Trap
12th – Coal Exchange, Cardiff w/Temper Trap
18th – Just Fantasy @ Birthdays, London w/Savages and Drop Out Venus
21st – Koko, London w/Temper Trap
JULY         
21st – Tramlines Festival @ The Harley, Sheffield

 “Choreography stands as a most impressive debut: one that captures a young rock ‘n’ roll band buzzing with raw energy and inspiration, while already displaying the sort of rapidly sophisticating songcraft you expect to hear on a sophomore release.” – Pitchfork

 “The east Londoners have conquered where others have since failed: scoring pop in all its simple pleasures for an instant, enjoyable and intelligible record” – NME

 “Weird Dreams sound just as they should. Pining, winsome and as ‘proper’ as your aunt.” – Clash

 “Weird Dreams concoct impressively heady and hooky guitar tunes… This bunch do whip up a rather lovely indie reverie”– Metro

“Definitely songs to fall in love with” – The Fly

“a seamless ability to take elements of yesteryear and craft them in to meticulously melodic pop songs” – This Is Fake DIY              

Weird Dreams debut album, Choreography, is released today on CD, vinyl and on digital formats. It’s received a great reaction from the press and fans alike, and has also been made Album of the Week at Rough Trade.

Thanks to everyone who has helped with the release, bought the record already and attended shows.

Buy Choreography
iTunes
Amazon
HMV
Rough Trade
Tough Love

To celebrate the album release, the band will be playing three shows in London this week, and will be touring in May. All forthcoming shows are listed below, and many more across Europe to be added soon.

APRIL       
3rd – White Heat @ Madame Jojos, London w/Savages and Indians
5th – Rough Trade East In Store, London
6th – Album launch @ The Others, London w/Fear of Men and Omi Palone
MAY  – Cosmic Unconscious Tour
1st – Start the Bus, Bristol
2nd – Static Gallery, Liverpool
3rd – Castle Hotel, Manchester
4th – The Victoria, Birmingham
5th – Live At Leeds (st – 17:15), Leeds
6th – Camden Crawl, London
11th – Great Escape @ Sticky Mikes w/Outfit, Brighton
JULY
27th – MIDI Festival, France