THE JUST JOANS

We've got indiepop darlings The Just Joans down from Scotland for a rare full band show. Rumour has it there's a new record slowly coming together, but don't let that put you off, they'll play the old ones you like too...

The Just Joans were formed in Glasgow in 2005 by songwriter David Pope. Naming the band after Daily Record agony aunt Joan Burnie’s ‘Just Joan’ column, work immediately began on a number of lo-fi tracks dealing with love, rejection and everyday angst. These would eventually emerge as The Just Joans’ debut album, Last Tango In Motherwell. Released in 2006 on tape cassette to a small number of friends, one – Chris Gilmour – was so taken with the collection that he set up his own label, Ivan Lendil Music, specifically to circulate a CD version to a wider audience.

As he advanced from singing sad songs in his bedroom to singing sad songs live, David recruited Chris Elkin as a guitarist. Shortly after, he would add younger sister Katie Pope as a vocalist, alongside bassist Fraser Ford – with all four remaining in the band to this day. Their presence helped to build a reputation on the indiepop scene, and, in 2007, The Just Joans joined WeePOP! Records. During their eight years with the DIY label, they released a series of handmade EPs including Hey Boy...You’re Oh So Sensitive and Love and Other Hideous Accidents. The band also revisited their first LP, rerecording it, reordering it, and retitling it as Buckfast Bottles In The Rain.

Some much-loved band members have come and gone in the time since, not least Doog Cameron, who personified the manner in which The Just Joans tread a fine line between the heartfelt and the dangerous. However, it is the more recent additions, Jason Sweeney on drums and multi-instrumentalist Arion Xenos, that have helped elevate the band to a new level - both in terms of the studio and the stage. Completing the journey from shambling two-piece to accomplished sextet, the band continue to win fans with their mischievous lyrics and tender melodies. Embracing Scottish culture at every turn, the band were perhaps best described by Is This Music as ‘the missing link between The Magnetic Fields and The Proclaimers.’

Since moving to Fika Recordings, The Just Joans have released a variety of singles and, in 2017, You Might Be Smiling Now..., their first new LP in a decade. Much acclaimed in the music press, Highway Queens thought it to be ‘the perfect Glasgow kiss’ while Uncut identified the record as the point at which ‘Stephin Merritt lies down with The Vaselines.’

The band’s new album, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans, was released in January 2020.

WITCHING WAVES

We’re delighted to have Witching Waves back to play for us, following the release of their fourth album Streams and Waterways on Specialist Subject records in December.

A blistering advancement of the knife-sharp hooks and urgently efficient post-punk structures that they’ve spent over a decade refining since their formation in 2011, the band’s fourth album – and second on Specialist Subject - emerges from a period of flux for the band’s chief songwriting partnership of Emma Wigham (drums/vocals) and Mark Jasper (guitar/vocals).

“Streams and Waterways is about the struggle of looking at the clock, realising it’s actually going pretty damn fast and knowing that really you have no control over anything” Jasper confirms. Perhaps that explains the way that opener The Valley doesn’t even introduce itself before careering into a full-throttled, three-minute scuzzy rager that would approach the descriptor anthemic had it not been kicked and scuffed along the way; it’s maybe why the wiry, ferocious Choice You Make feels like a charge into a storm despite the uncertainty of what you might find. It’s perhaps why even when Witching Waves allow themselves respite on the pared down Open A Hole, there’s a churning anxiety that lies below the acoustic guitar and harmonising vocals: in many ways musically and thematically Witching Waves are relinquishing the control that’s always been a fixture of their music – with all the thrilling and nervous fallout that comes from that.

NATHY SG

Nathy SG is led by Nathan Stephens-Griffin, a founding member of Onsind, drummer in Fortitude Valley, and a member of DIY punk legends. Martha.

Tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings, including cheaper 3 day passes (Jan 11-13), and reduced price tickets for those on no or low-wages (no questions asked).

THE RESEARCH

It's the return of The Research! Wakefield's finest indie trio played their first show at Long Division this summer since 2008 or so, and we're delighted to have them down to The Lexington in 2024.

The Research are Russell 'The Disaster' Searle (vocals/guitar/synthesizers), Georgia Lashbrook (bass/vocals/harmonica), and Sarah Williams (drums/vocals).
”bedroom-crafted Blue Peter pop is stacked with stories of teen romance and subsequent broken hearts - it's an approach that recalls the Young Marble Giants and the Vaselines” The Guardian

ADAM ROSS

Adam Ross is the defacto band leader of Scottish alt-pop ensemble Randolph’s Leap. He’ll be appearing at The Lexington to debut songs from his forthcoming solo album.

Tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings, including cheaper 3 day passes (Jan 11-13), and reduced price tickets for those on no or low-wages (no questions asked).

PANIC POCKET

Panic Pocket are recognised for their cathartic musical storytelling about shaking off bad relationships, the life-changing nature of female-friendship and the perils of online dating, "delivered with a wry sense of humour and an undeniable charm” – For the Rabbits.

EX-VÖID

Ex-Vöid are a “Power Pop” group who make music so jangly, so melodic, that it could be considered nationally threatening and potentially illegal under current U.K legislation. Critics have compared them to Teenage Fanclub, The Lemonheads & Lucinda Williams , but they claim to exclusively take influence from Black Sabbath’s “Into the Void”, The Raincoat’s “The Void” and the Washington DC hardcore punk group VOID.

Ex-Vöid was formed in 2018 by Alanna McArdle and Owen “O” Williams from the punk group Joanna Gruesome. During McArdle’s time in Joanna Gruesome, the band toured internationally, received acclaim from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The New York Times and The Observer, were playlisted on BBC 6 Music and won the 2014 Welsh Music Prize. Ex-Vöid was formed after the pair reunited, having unexpectedly attended the same contemporary dance class. Since forming, Ex-Vöid have been creating similar waves, touring with groups such as Waxahatchee and Speedy Ortiz, as well as gaining attention from 6 Music and publications such as The Fader, Brooklyn Vegan and Stereogum.

NEW STARTS

A brand new 4 piece (members of The French, Tigercats, and adults), they've individually appeared across about a dozen Fika releases to date, and we've got an album coming from the four of them in 2024...

SCHANDE

A London trio, Schande are known for writing discordantly catchy, melodic indie rock- that joyous blend of 90s indie at its best, mixed with a unique element of the unknown. Jen’s take on Schande’s sound is simple: “We’re not story tellers- the music is landscape where literal meaning is irrelevant. We’re inspired by memory, by experience and by those undefined tangents and planes linking the two. Those tensions between space and location- that’s what we soundtrack.”

Tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings, including cheaper 3 day passes (Jan 11-13), and reduced price tickets for those on no or low-wages (no questions asked).

The David Tattersall Group is a new project from David Tattersall of The Wave Pictures and The Surfing Magazines. And check out his group. You got ‘Wailin’ Dom Brider (The Surfing Magazines) laying down his soulful sounds on his harmonica. You got fiddlin’ Dan Mayfield (Darren Hayman), bona fide countrified. You got honky-tonkin’ Paul Rains (Allo' Darlin') on the piano. But you know all that ain’t worth diddly squat if you ain’t got that country groove… that’s where Bo-Diddlin’ David Beauchamp (Jeffrey Lewis) comes in, super cool like on the drums. Yeah, it’s a hell of a band, The David Tattersall Group.

Support comes from Bill Botting & The Two Drinks Minimums.

First there was Paul McCartney, Phil Lynott and Lemmy, and now Bill Botting swells the esteemed ranks of bass-players-with-moustaches-come-charismatic-front-men. He gathered a supergroup of siblings and indie legends including Allo Darlin’ bandmate Paul Rains, Jonny Helm from The Wave Pictures, Tom Wade from Owl & Mouse, Laura K from Tigercats, Darren Hayman from Darren Hayman and Hannah Botting from home, to record his debut solo album Better Friends - an album simply described as indie mixed with country, or country mixed with indie. Or like if Lou Reed went to a Linda Ronstadt Concert in 1988 and decided to have a change of direction.

Tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings and from SeeTickets.

A national musical treasure" The Guardian

Steven Adams, formerly of The Broken Family Band, releases new album DROPS on Fika Recordings in November 2023 - and will be showcasing the new record at The Lexington with an all-too-rare full band show.

DROPS is a sonically compelling piece of work: from bleak/exultant opener Out to Sea and the motorik Living in the Local Void to the weirdly funereal Fascists (where Adams imagines the "little skip in our steps" that we'll have upon outliving some baddies), and Day Trip's psychedelia in miniature. There are also moments of tenderness: the avalanche of empathy on closing track Cheap Wine Sad Face, and I Tried to Keep it Light's "worse things could happen" I don't know how, but give me time".

Adams says: "I'm preoccupied by the passing of time and the way it affects how we feel. This record is about time and bewilderment and trying to make sense of things".

Since calling time on TBFB at the height of their success, Adams has released half a dozen albums under various names (Singing Adams, Steven James Adams, Steven Adams & The French Drops), his witty, incisive lyrics and melodic sensibilities taking in DIY indie rock, folky introspection, and off-kilter pop hooks.

Support comes from Emma Tricca.

"It felt like I was driving through tunnels," Emma Tricca says of her fourth album - her first for Bella Union. A phosphorescent panorama of undulating colour, shape and sound.

As with any transformation, it is this sense of movement that underpins Aspirin Sun and its bold new form, ebbing and flowing, continually unfurling. The tunnels led the Italian-born, London-based singer-songwriter towards something expansive and far-reaching: an entirely new and experimental collection of songs. But they also drew her closer to her late father, and her memories of him driving them both in his small white Fiat, darting through the Alps and whizzing through darkened passageways, where shafts of light flickered ahead of them in the distance.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter! Four nights and twelve bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.

Tickets £14 adv + bf from WeGotTickets. Cheaper 4 day passes also available. Sold out!

Winter Sprinter 2023 Spotify playlist here

BALLBOY

Favourites of the late John Peel, who invited them to perform five sessions for his BBC Radio 1 show 2000-2004 as well as featured them many times in his Festive Fifty chart, ballboy are a cult indie-pop band from Edinburgh whose warm, whimsical and savagely witty speak-sung songs about bored sex, DIY drugs, civic shame and polar bears helped to define a generation of fiercely independent Scottish music around the turn of the millennium.

ballboy are Gordon McIntyre, together with Nick Reynolds (bass), Gary Morgan (drums) and Alexa Morrison (keys, vocals), the latter of whom joined the band in 2004, replacing original keyboardist Katie Griffiths (pictured above). Evoking shades of The Wedding Present, The Field Mice, Arab Strap and Billy Bragg, Club Anthems 2001 helped to break ballboy to an international audience and saw the band go on to tour widely around the US and Europe, as well as release four full-length albums – A Guide for the Daylight Hours (2002), The Sash My Father Wore and Other Stories (2003), The Royal Theatre (2004) and I Worked on the Ships (2008).

THE JUST JOANS

A stripped back set from The Just Joans, with Katie, David and Fraser.

The Just Joans were formed in Glasgow in 2005 by songwriter David Pope. Naming the band after Daily Record agony aunt Joan Burnie’s ‘Just Joan’ column, work immediately began on a number of lo-fi tracks dealing with love, rejection and everyday angst. As he advanced from singing sad songs in his bedroom to singing sad songs live, David recruited Chris Elkin as a guitarist. Shortly after, he would add younger sister Katie Pope as a vocalist, alongside bassist Fraser Ford – with all four remaining in the band to this day. It is the more recent additions, Jason Sweeney on drums and multi-instrumentalist Arion Xenos, that have helped elevate the band to a new level - both in terms of the studio and the stage. Completing the journey from shambling two-piece to accomplished sextet, the band continue to win fans with their mischievous lyrics and tender melodies. Embracing Scottish culture at every turn, the band were perhaps best described by Is This Music as ‘the missing link between The Magnetic Fields and The Proclaimers.’

ALISON EALES

Alison is a long-standing member of the band Butcher Boy, playing piano, accordion and other keyboards as well as arranging for choir and brass. The band have made three studio albums: Profit in Your Poetry (2007), React or Die (2009) and Helping Hands (2011). All of these albums have been well-received, with React or Die featuring in The Times’ top 100 pop albums of the 2000s. The band have also released two EPs. A compilation album, You Had A Kind Face, was released on Needle Mythology in 2022, along with three new songs, with tracks mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road. Butcher Boy have supported bands including Belle and Sebastian, Scritti Politti and The Wedding Present.

An all-ages matinee show, from 13:30 - 16:00.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter! Four nights and twelve bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.

Tickets £14 adv + bf from WeGotTickets. Under 18s are free - but must be accompanied by an adult. Please note The Lexington’s licensing terms require all under 18s to be off the premises before 17:00.

Winter Sprinter 2023 Spotify playlist here

BALLBOY

Favourites of the late John Peel, who invited them to perform five sessions for his BBC Radio 1 show 2000-2004 as well as featured them many times in his Festive Fifty chart, ballboy are a cult indie-pop band from Edinburgh whose warm, whimsical and savagely witty speak-sung songs about bored sex, DIY drugs, civic shame and polar bears helped to define a generation of fiercely independent Scottish music around the turn of the millennium.

ballboy are Gordon McIntyre, together with Nick Reynolds (bass), Gary Morgan (drums) and Alexa Morrison (keys, vocals), the latter of whom joined the band in 2004, replacing original keyboardist Katie Griffiths (pictured above). Evoking shades of The Wedding Present, The Field Mice, Arab Strap and Billy Bragg, Club Anthems 2001 helped to break ballboy to an international audience and saw the band go on to tour widely around the US and Europe, as well as release four full-length albums – A Guide for the Daylight Hours (2002), The Sash My Father Wore and Other Stories (2003), The Royal Theatre (2004) and I Worked on the Ships (2008).

THE JUST JOANS

A stripped back set from The Just Joans, with Katie, David and Fraser.

The Just Joans were formed in Glasgow in 2005 by songwriter David Pope. Naming the band after Daily Record agony aunt Joan Burnie’s ‘Just Joan’ column, work immediately began on a number of lo-fi tracks dealing with love, rejection and everyday angst. As he advanced from singing sad songs in his bedroom to singing sad songs live, David recruited Chris Elkin as a guitarist. Shortly after, he would add younger sister Katie Pope as a vocalist, alongside bassist Fraser Ford – with all four remaining in the band to this day. It is the more recent additions, Jason Sweeney on drums and multi-instrumentalist Arion Xenos, that have helped elevate the band to a new level - both in terms of the studio and the stage. Completing the journey from shambling two-piece to accomplished sextet, the band continue to win fans with their mischievous lyrics and tender melodies. Embracing Scottish culture at every turn, the band were perhaps best described by Is This Music as ‘the missing link between The Magnetic Fields and The Proclaimers.’

ALISON EALES

Alison is a long-standing member of the band Butcher Boy, playing piano, accordion and other keyboards as well as arranging for choir and brass. The band have made three studio albums: Profit in Your Poetry (2007), React or Die (2009) and Helping Hands (2011). All of these albums have been well-received, with React or Die featuring in The Times’ top 100 pop albums of the 2000s. The band have also released two EPs. A compilation album, You Had A Kind Face, was released on Needle Mythology in 2022, along with three new songs, with tracks mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road. Butcher Boy have supported bands including Belle and Sebastian, Scritti Politti and The Wedding Present.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter! Four nights and twelve bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.

Tickets £14 adv + bf from WeGotTickets. Cheaper 4 day passes also available.

Full band performances from Withered Hand and from Randolph’s Leap.

Winter Sprinter 2023 Spotify playlist here

WITHERED HAND

Withered Hand is the creative output of Edinburgh-based musician Dan Willson.

A cult figure in the Scottish music scene since 2009, Dan has released two widely acclaimed albums, New Gods (2014) and Good News (2009) and several lo-fi EPs and has toured extensively, both solo and with his band, and with the likes of King Creosote, Kris Drever, James Yorkston, Scott Hutchison/Frightened Rabbit.

A third Withered Hand album was recorded in 2022 and is set for release via Reveal Records in early 2023.

RANDOLPH’S LEAP

Randolph’s Leap started out as a pseudonym for the solo output of Adam Ross, and now includes up to 8 people in the full live band. The debut Randolph’s Leap album, Clumsy Knot, came out in 2014, with another four live and studio albums and a handful of singles across labels Fence Collective, Olive Grove Records and Lost Map. In 2018 a touring theatre show called The Isle of Love was devised around the songs of Randolph’s Leap.

THE LITTLE HANDS OF ASPHALT

After two extremely well received albums, main man Sjur Lyseid just let the project quietly fizzle out, choosing to rather work as a producer and co-writer of other people’s music. With Half Empty he’s back doing what he does best, writing lyrically dense, classic pop songs, that range from low key acoustic numbers, through deeply orchestrated arrangements, to snappy, catchy guitar pop.

Although the record is self produced and mixed, and even largely performed by Lyseid himself, it’s not an album that springs for indulgent sonic experimentation or lo-fi excursions. The songs are rather presented in a tasteful, timeless manner, which means The Little Hands of Asphalt isn’t reaching for a current radio pop sound, nor any specific subgenre. There are elements of folk, power pop and even kraut, and nods to Serge Gainsbourgh or Brian Wilson, but Half Empty is not album that regurgitates any specific influence or time period. Still, in a sense, it feels like these songs have always just been there.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter! Four nights and twelve bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.

Tickets £11 adv + bf from WeGotTickets. Cheaper 4 day passes also available.

Winter Sprinter 2023 Spotify playlist here

STEVEN ADAMS AND THE FRENCH DROPS

Steven Adams is a "national musical treasure" (The Guardian) who fronted country pranksters The Broken Family Band throughout the 2000s before calling time on that band at the height of their success. 

He's been ploughing his own furrow ever since, with multiple name changes (Singing Adams, The Singing Adams, Steven James Adams, Steven Adams & The French Drops), and a series of albums ranging from DIY indie rock, intimate folk and - with 2018's Virtue Signals - experiments in krautrock and politically-charged widescreen pop.

Originally from South Wales, Adams now lives in East London. His latest album with The French Drops - Keep it Light -  is out now.

FLIGHT MODE

Flight Mode is an all star band of sorts from the burgeoning Oslo, Norway indie rock scene, with members from Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson, Dråpe and The Little Hands of Asphalt,  and is ripe with experience. But it's not the experience or former glory that has seen their two EP's of classic, slightly nostalgic emo rock make waves in the international community, but rather their joyous playfulness, their intuitive and uncomplicated understanding of the genre, and songwriting of the highest caliber. Which has resulted in releases on a credible American label, touring England and a decent amount of hype from British and American music press, including Pitchfork, Paste and Upset Magazine.

ADULTS

adults are a noisy pop band desperately clinging on to the ghosts of 2009. Their songs are a silly, joyful, and occasionally sad, look back at the tail end of their 20s, a way to grapple with breakups, parties, alcohol and loneliness, and looking hopefully into the future.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter! Four nights and twelve bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.

Tickets £11 adv + bf from WeGotTickets. Cheaper 4 day passes also available.

Winter Sprinter 2023 Spotify playlist here

THE LEAF LIBRARY

The Leaf Library are a north London band playing experimental dream-like music built on layers of chiming guitars, pulsing electronics, noise and looping drones. They have released three studio albums (Daylight Versions, About Minerals and The World Is A Bell), a collaborative LP with Japanese artist Teruyuki Kurihara (Melody Tomb), and a recent double LP of rarities and compilation tracks (Library Music: Volume One). 

The band formed in the mid 2000s around singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton. After the departure of original drummer Rob Smoughton (Hot Chip, Black Peaches) the band (including bass player Gareth Jones of Wintergreen) recruited drummer Lewis Young, guitarist SJ Nelson and singer/percussionist Melinda Bronstein, releasing their debut Daylight Versions (5* - The Guardian) in 2015.

The World Is A Bell was released in 2019 and gained reviews from, amongst others, Uncut (“World-weary yet innocent, blissful dreampop”, 8/10), The Quietus (“an expansive and rich listening experience, full of wandering basslines and disorientating rhythms”) and Electronic Sound (“brims full of their slowly rolling blend of drone pop... a real pleasure to explore”). 

In their live shows the carefully constructed and occasionally delicate sound world of their records is replaced by a much noisier and intense experience, helped by the addition of an ever-evolving collective of musicians including saxophonist Daniel Fordham (The Drink, Steven Adams and the French Drops), flugelhorn player Laura Copsey and Mike Cranny, both of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations. 

On their studio albums the band have collaborated with musicians as diverse as Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele, singer Ed Dowie, noise group Far Rainbow and string collective Iskra Strings, and have provided music for a number of exhibitions, films and performances. Over the last few years they have released five Monument CDRs; an on-going series of experimental solo and side projects on their Objects Forever imprint. 

LANDE HEKT

Lande Hekt’s natural state of being is in the writing of a song. Having crafted politically aware, heart-on-sleeve, punchy yet tender, punk-flecked songs with her band Muncie Girls, Lande turned her hand to an even more personal songwriting approach as she embarked on writing a solo record - 2021’s ‘Going to Hell’. The debut full-length documented her experience coming out as gay. It set out her stall as a solo artist with supreme storytelling abilities and a knack for understatedly luminous melodies.

With her debut album barely a year old, 2022 sees Lande armed with a whole new collection of song-form vignettes and musings on her life and experiences.

JESSICA’S BROTHER

Jessica’s Brother are a London trio comprised of songwriter Tom Charleston, Jonny Helm (drums, also of The Wave Pictures) and Charlie Higgs (bass). Channelling the spirit of the Brothers Grimm to create an otherworldly atmosphere, they weave their motley influences together making a rich and eclectic vision, with nods to Silver Jews, Jason Molina, Nick Cave, Richard Thompson and Neil Young. There are themes of joy, anger and silliness in a carefully crafted world with a colourful cast of characters.

The trio formed in October 2016. Jonny and Charlie worked together in a framing business and had often talked about collaborating in a band together. Fate intervened when Jonny’s girlfriend Jessica introduced him to her brother Tom, and they found a songwriter in waiting.

Weaving a variety of influences from jangly indie-rock to gothic country and contemplative psych folk, Jessica’s Brother create the sound of a band coming together and getting caught up in the rush of starting new and enjoyable. The instruments clamber over each other in a small room, with Helm’s distinctive drumming counterbalances the gothic guitar thrums and wailing violin. Already lauded by the likes of The Guardian (for their first ever gig) and the Saatchi Magazine (for their first single), the scene is set for a bright future.

RESCHEDULED DATE - ALL ORIGINAL TICKETS REMAIN VALID. PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF VENUE - THIS SHOW NOW TAKES PLACE AT MOTH CLUB AND THE EARLY START/FINISH TIMES.
Please contact your ticket seller if you’re unable to make the new dates for a refund.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter! Four nights and twelve thirteeen bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of Moth Club.

Tickets £12 adv + bf from Dice and from WeGotTickets. Cheaper 4 day passes exclusively from WeGotTickets.

It’s the last EVER Tigercats show - come on down and relive the glory of everything from 2012’s Isle of Dogs through to 2022’s New Works.

TIGERCATS
Tigercats are a kalimba-led psychedelic pop band from East London.
Having honed his songwriting craft in the short-lived but much much-missed Esiotrot, in 2010, Duncan Barrett went about forming a new band and recruited sibling/long-time producer Giles Barrett (bass), talented songstress Laura Kovic (keys) and rhythmic powerhouse Jonny (drums), as well as Paul Rains (guitar, of Allo Darlin' fame).

FORTITUDE VALLEY
Fortitude Valley is a brand new project for the songwriting talents of Durham based Brisbanite Laura Kovic. Having spent the majority of her musical career playing keyboards in other people’s bands, bringing their songs to life with a melodic flourish, it was about time for Laura K to find an outlet for her songs: awkward power-pop that’s bound to appeal to fans of The Beths, Weezer or The Weakerthans. She’s assembled quite the band too: Martha’s Daniel Ellis on lead guitar and Nathan Stephens Griffin on drums, and Night Flowers’ Greg Ullyart on bass.

MOUSTACHE OF INSANITY
Moustache of Insanity have been making music since late 2008 (until they stopped around 2012) and have played more than 60 shows in the UK, Europe and in the US. The band consists of Nik Vestberg and Bill Botting (who also plays bass with Allo Darlin' and with Darren Hayman & The Secondary Modern), a Swede and an Australian with a shared passion for DIY music (pop, antifolk, punk you name it). Using a variety of vintage casio keyboards, gameboys, electric guitar and drum machines, they play pop songs, sometimes silly, sometimes serious, but always catchy and straight from the heart.

COMMON OR GARDEN
Time stands still for no-one. Talented young Brisbanite Hannah Winter (née Botting) has taken a step aside from the much-loved Owl & Mouse to present her solo project Common or Garden.
A step forward from her previous acoustic based & ukulele led outfit, Common or Garden is self described as ‘scrappy’ synth pop - self produced and more experimental than her previous outfit. The core of her songwriting charm remains: vociferously personal stories, resonating harmonies and layers of vocals to lose yourself in.

Tickets on the door £15

18: 15 Doors open
18:45 Common or Garden
19:30 Moustache of Insanity
20:15 Fortitude Valley
21:00 Tigercats
22:30 music curfew, then we’ll all be heading to Paper Dress Vintage (a 3 minute walk) for drinks into the night and a free entry italo disco clubnight….

RESCHEDULED DATE - ALL ORIGINAL TICKETS REMAIN VALID.
Please contact your ticket seller if you’re unable to make the new dates for a refund.

Jessica’s Brother can’t make the new dates - we’ll be announcing the final addition to the line-up shortly.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter! Four nights and twelve bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.

Tickets £12 adv + bf from Dice and from WeGotTickets. Cheaper 4 day passes exclusively from WeGotTickets.

DARREN HAYMAN
Best known as the singer-songwriter of the phenomenally successful and much-loved Hefner, Darren Hayman is now 15 years, and over 14 albums, into an increasingly idiosyncratic career path, where he has taken a singular and erratic route through England’s tired and heartbroken underbelly. Darren is also writing the best tunes of his career; increasingly complex and mature songs, he is a thoughtful, concise and detailed songwriter.

EMMA KUPA
Emma Kupa currently fronts Mammoth Penguins, and The Hayman Kupa Band alongside Darren Hayman. She initially made her name with Standard Fare, whom called it a day at the peak of their success in 2013. Her insightful warmth, eye for lyrical detail and powerful, idiosyncratic voice has made her a firm favourite amongst fans and critics alike.

BILL BOTTING & THE TWO DRINK MINIMUMS

Returning all the way from Australia, it's Bill Botting! You'll know Bill from Allo Darlin' and Moustache of Insanity. His debut album Better Friends is simply described as indie mixed with country, or country mixed with indie. Or like if Lou Reed went to a Linda Ronstadt Concert in 1988 and decided to have a change of direction.

Tickets on the door £15

19: 00 Doors open
19:45 Bill Botting & The Two Drink Minimums
20:30 Emma Kupa
21:30 Darren Hayman
22:30 all downstairs to the bar before you can go back upstairs for dancing until the wee hours

RESCHEDULED DATE - ALL ORIGINAL TICKETS REMAIN VALID.
Please contact your ticket seller if you’re unable to make the new dates for a refund.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter! Four nights and twelve bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.

Tickets £12 adv + bf from Dice and from WeGotTickets. Cheaper 4 day passes exclusively from WeGotTickets.

MAMMOTH PENGUINS
For the uninitiated, Mammoth Penguins are a 3-piece indie pop powerhouse, showcasing the songwriting and vocal talents of Emma Kupa (Standard Fare, The Hayman Kupa Band) backed up by the noisiest rhythm section in indie pop.
The sound is big, bold and confident, but maintaining Emma’s candid, heartfelt, confessional style of songwriting, and the jubilant power pop hooks that make Mammoth Penguins so special.

BREAKUP HAIRCUT
This ragtag team came together from across the wilds of London to play their own brand of angsty and/or spooky punk - defined by fierce basslines, humorously relatable lyrics, and a legitimate, concerted effort not to play the same three drumbeats over and over again. With heart, power, and oh so many feelings, this quartet one day hopes to master the art of playing really, REALLY fast. 
 Though initially formed for First Timers Fest 2019, they've continued to solve mysteries, play shows, and make pals across London and the South East.

FIRESTATIONS

Firestations is Mike, Laura, Martin, Giles and Tom. They write alt-pop songs then paint over them with drones, vocal harmonies, electronica and sometimes unusual rhythms.

Tickets on the door £15

19: 30 Doors open
20:15 Firestations
21:00 Breakup Haircut
22:00 Mammoth Penguins
23:00 all downstairs to the bar for a nightcap

RESCHEDULED DATE - ALL ORIGINAL TICKETS REMAIN VALID.
Please contact your ticket seller if you’re unable to make the new dates for a refund.

UPDATE June 19th: Unfortunately, following a family bereavement in the band, Steven Adams and The French Drops have had to pull out of Wednesday’s show at The Lexington.

We’re devastated for them, and send them our condolences at this difficult time.

If you’d bought a ticket specifically to see Steven Adams & The French Drops, please get in touch with WeGotTickets or Dice to arrange a refund.

The show must go on though - and we’re delighted to be able to introduce our new headliners: THE WAVE PICTURES. 

We’re hugely grateful to them to be able to make this last minute addition, and hugely excited to see them play in the intimate surrounds of The Lexington again.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter! Four nights and twelve bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.

Tickets £12 adv + bf from Dice and from WeGotTickets. Cheaper 4 day passes exclusively from WeGotTickets.

THE WAVE PICTURES
The Wave Pictures are David Tattersall, Franic Rozycki and Jonny “Huddersfield” Helm. Formed in 1998 when Franic and David lived in a village called Wymeswold, the band played with several drummers until Jonny became a permanent member in 2003 replacing Hugh J Noble. In the beginning the band learned to play together by covering Jonathan Richman songs but soon David was writing lots of original material. They have since released five studio albums to critical acclaim and played numerous sessions on BBC 6 Music, Radio 1 and Xfm. The interest generated by these recordings has enabled The Wave Pictures to play shows all over the world with artists including Jeffrey Lewis, Darren Hayman, Stanley Brinks, Freschard and Herman Dune.

CRAKE
An alt-folk four piece from the city of Leeds in northern England, Crake write melodic and (sometimes) hopeful songs about flora, fauna, anxiety and the tough stuff. Formed on the cusp of 2016/17 after a New Year’s Eve pact, Crake spent their first couple of years playing locally with loose-line-up changes and self-releasing two EPs, toured Europe with Big Thief and released with Saddle Creek records.

ATHABASKA
Athabaska are a dreamy alt-folk/indie group fronted by Suggested Friends’ Faith, a joy of heart-warming shimmering folk-strewn musicality and luscious sweeping harmonies

Tickets on the door £15
19: 30 Doors open
20:15 Athabaska
21:00 Crake
22:00 The Wave Pictures
23:00 all downstairs to the bar for a nightcap

An End of the Road festival warm up show, showcasing Darren's recent album Home Time and songs from throughout his career.
With support from Common or Garden.

Tickets £10+bf adv via WeGotTickets or Dice.

Covid19:
Please check and follow the latest NHS and government guidance on Covid.
We encourage everyone to take a free NHS lateral flow test before coming to the gig, and if positive, seek a PCR test and isolate as per the current government guidelines.
If you are displaying Covid symptoms, please do not come to the venue. If you're unable to attend having been asked to self-isolate or as a result of a positive PCR test, please get in touch and we'll organise a refund of your ticket.
We'd encourage you to wear a mask moving around the venue if you wish to, and to be considerate to everyone else attending.

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter!

Limited 4 day passes available from We Got Tickets - all super early and early bird passes now sold out.
Day tickets from We Got Tickets or from Dice.

Facebook event here.

THE JUST JOANS
Acerbic yet winsome Scottish indiepoppers The Just Joans return to London to celebrate the launch of their dazzlingly maudlin new album The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans.
”The Just Joans have documented the romantic pratfalls of a generation of indie kids with a sardonic wit and a shambling musical style where Stephin Merritt lies down with The Vaselines” Uncut

SEAZOO
Quirky and masterful in equal measure, Welsh noise-pop experts Seazoo channel the American indie rock of Pavement and Grandaddy with the off-kilter, wonky pop of fellow Welsh natives Super Furry Animals.
”Music doesn’t have to take itself too seriously to be valuable; in fact it's Seazoo's enthusiastic attitude that really elevates into more than a piece of throw-away indie pop.”

FORTITUDE VALLEY
Fortitude Valley is a brand new project for the songwriting talents of Durham based Brisbanite Laura Kovic. Having spent the majority of her musical career playing keyboards in other people’s bands, bringing their songs to life with a melodic flourish, it was about time for Laura K to find an outlet for her songs: awkward power-pop that’s bound to appeal to fans of The Beths, Weezer or The Pixies. She’s assembled quite the band too: Martha’s Daniel Ellis on lead guitar and Nathan Stephens Griffin on drums, and Night Flowers’ Greg Ullyart on bass.

19:30 Doors open
20:00 Fortitude Valley
20:45 Seazoo
21:45-22:45 The Just Joans

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter!

Limited 4 day passes available from We Got Tickets - all super early and early bird passes now sold out.
Day tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings or from Dice.

Facebook event here

MAMMOTH PENGUINS
For the uninitiated, Mammoth Penguins are a 3-piece indie pop powerhouse, showcasing the songwriting and vocal talents of Emma Kupa (Standard Fare, The Hayman Kupa Band) backed up by the noisiest rhythm section in indie pop.
”one of the finest examples of simple and true indie rock around” All Music [8/10]

BROKEN CHANTER
Broken Chanter is the adopted name of David MacGregor. MacGregor spent the past decade as the principal songwriter of Scottish Alt-Pop darlings Kid Canaveral - a band that could get you to dance, laugh, and weep all in the space of a set. The first Broken Chanter album is a record which paints an emotional and expansive soundscape with a distinct sense of place, that showcases MacGregor's ear for melody and dexterity at tugging heart-strings.
”MacGregor’s writing bares the mark of maturity that comes with age whilst possessing the same vitality as his earlier work with Kid Canaveral” The Skinny

ADULTS
Adults started out in 1996 as runners up on the short-lived channel 4 talent show Voices Of A Generation. Despite securing a record £6 million contract with Simon Fuller, their debut single failed to chart and their UK tour was brought to an abrupt halt when Alycia didn't turn up to the opening night in Preston. Amid rumours of internal fighting, drug problems and accusations of bullying, one-by-one the founding members quit and were replaced first by Mutya and Heidi, then Tom and finally, former-child actor Joely. Relaunched in 2003 the new-look band saw a surge in popularity, no doubt helped by a certain high-profile relationship with a first division footballer, and their cover of Smash Hits remains the best selling edition of the 00s. But it wasn't until Tom came out of his stint in rehab and Joe, Dan and Marcelo were recruited that the band really found its niche. Having wiped all evidence of their past from the Internet (although a grainy video of their 1996 audition tape is still up on vimeo) the group are now most often found in back rooms of pubs in the southeast London area, proving themselves to be, without a doubt, the hardest working popstars in the business.

19:30 Doors open
20:15 Adults
21:00 Broken Chanter
22:00-23:00 Mammoth Penguins

Fika Recordings proudly presents the return of annual Winter Sprinter!

Limited 4 day passes available from We Got Tickets - all super early and early bird passes now sold out.
Day tickets from We Got Tickets or from Dice.

Facebook event here.

HOLLY MACVE
A heavenly voice couched in spellbinding country & western ballads, with a devastating emotional delivery - we're delighted to have Holly Macve headline the opening night of The Winter Sprinter.
“Exquisite… Her voice echoes the Appalachian-tinged old-timers Patsy Cline and Kitty Wells, all framed by the pared-down boniness of Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Gillian Welch.” MOJO

THE HANGING STARS
Blending folk pastoralism with swampy 60s Americana, The Hanging Stars sound like the missing link between the California desert sun and the grey skies of London Town. The Hanging Stars place themselves firmly as part of a long folk tradition encompassing European and North American influences – as a continuation rather than a pastiche of these styles.
”a hazy, desert-dream of a song, nicely sharpened with steely-eyed guitars, Mersey-laced harmonies and just a whiff of the Gun Club” Guardian"

PORTLAND BROTHERS
Steven Adams (The Broken Family Band) and Timothy Victor (The Folk Orchestra) first met in the summer of 2001, in the Portland Arms, Cambridge. The two became good friends, and TV went on to produce the first two Broken Family Band albums, as well as becoming an unofficial fifth member of the group. Portland Brothers sees them sharing songwriting and singing, consciously revisiting some of the influences that brought them together in the first place.
”very good indeed” Americana UK

19:30 Doors open
20:10 Portland Brothers
21:00 The Hanging Stars
22:00-23:00 Holly Macve