It won't come as any surprise that due to the current Covid situation, we've postponed The Winter Sprinter at The Lexington. We're still trying to confirm rescheduled dates - original tickets will be valid - please contact your ticket seller if you need a refund in the meantime.
CANCELLED: Fri 12th June: Darren Hayman
Unsurprisingly, this show is cancelled due to Covid19.
If you’d bought advance tickets, then you should have already received a refund.
Darren Hayman returns to The Lexington to present songs from his latest album “Home Time”.
Special guests tba.
Tickets £12 + bf from Dice and from We Got Tickets.
Sun 15th March: Jeanines + Breakup Haircut + Athabaska
Fika Recordings presents a free show at The Shacklewell Arms!
Tickets from Dice.
Jeanines
Brooklyn's Jeanines specialize in ultra-short bursts of energetic but melancholy minor-key pop. With influences that run deep into the most crucial tributaries of DIY pop — Messthethics, the Television Personalities, Marine Girls, early Pastels, Dolly Mixture — they've crafted a style that is as individual as it is just plain pleasurable. Alicia Jeanine's pure, unaffected voice muses wistfully on the illusions of time, while My Teenage Stride/Mick Trouble mastermind Jed Smith's frantic Motown-esque drumming and inventive bass playing provide a thrilling rhythmic foundation.
Breakup Haircut
This ragtag team came together from across the wilds of London to play their own brand of spooky confessional punk. With heart, power, and oh so many feelings, they hope to one day master playing really, really fast.
Breakup Haircut formed for First Timers 2019, and have since been described as 'instantly charming', 'a mix of nihilism and slapstick guaranteed to put a smile on your face', and 'a pop punk version of the Scooby Doo gang'.
Defined by fierce basslines, humorously relatable lyrics, and a vehement determination not to recycle the same three punk drumbeats, they've been making pals, taking names, and solving mysteries left, right, and centre.
Athabaska
Athabaska are Roxy Brennan, Faith Taylor, Jacob Wills, and Mike Boyle. The band formed in January 2019 to bring together folk, indie and heartland rock. The seeds of the project were planted in 2009 when Jacob and Faith began playing together as students – over the years they played and sang together on a variety of stages, markets, bookshops and living room floors. After spending three years playing in the indie DIY scene, Faith began importing some of these sounds into the project, and what became Athabaska expanded to include Roxy and Mike.
Rough timings:
1930 doors open
2000 Athabaska
2050 Breakup Haircut
2140 Jeanines
and a nice early finish for a Sunday night!
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Winter Sprinter 2020: Sat 11th Jan: The Ballet + Keel Her + Mr Ben & The Bens
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.
THE BALLET
Queer New York duo the Ballet marry the DIY ethos of the Hidden Cameras with the wry poeticism of the Magnetic Fields and the romantic pop of Jens Lekman, to create literate, infectious pop gems. In addition to citing Stephin Merritt as an influence, Goldberg, who writes and home records all of the band’s songs, draws from an array of pop artists and periods, from 60’s bubblegum to 80’s synthpop and 90’s indiepop, fusing these in sophisticated and novel ways that reward repeat listening.
“The music is so lovely, all dewy guitars and dripping synth bells, that it makes you understand the appeal of intertwining with someone who doesn’t necessarily respect you.” Pitchfork
KEEL HER
Keel Her is the musical recording project of Rose Keeler-Schaffeler, from Winchester (UK). She began writing and recording "bedroom" music in 2007 for therapeutic reasons,[1] and has continued this as part of her daily routine since. As a child, Rose learnt the violin, but is largely a self-taught musician; she plays guitar, bass, keyboards and sings. Rose has described her writing process as being like a "stream of consciousness".
”Keel Her’s caustic sense of humour shines through on even its darkest moments” Loud and Quiet
MR BEN & THE BENS
Born as a recording project in a barn in Lancashire in 2012, Ben Hall recorded and self released 7 albums under Mr Ben. Now a complete outfit Mr Ben & the Bens sound like they were baptised in water from the church of indie classics, the songs of the Lancaster Polymath echo Belle & Sebastian, Teleman, Gorkys Zygotic Mynci and a bit of Bill Ryder-Jones his genuinely great modern songwriting.
Winter Sprinter 2020: Fri 10th Jan: The Just Joans + Seazoo + Fortitude Valley
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.
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.
Winter Sprinter 2020: Thur 9th Jan: Mammoth Penguins + Broken Chanter + Adults
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.
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.
May 6th: Stanley Brinks at The Betsey Trotwood
It’s been a long time since we’ve hosted Stanley Brinks somewhere quite so small and intimate as the beautiful upstairs room at The Betsey Trotwood, but we’re delighted to be doing so again.
It’ll just be Stan, playing a couple of sets of songs, without any support. Its a tiny little room, and we’ve sold over 1/3 of the tickets for the night already, so if you’re planning on coming, get your ticket for £10 from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings sooner rather than later.
Doors open at 19:30, all over by 22:30 - the perfect way to see out the bank holiday weekend.
Winter Sprinter 2019: Withered Hand + Catenary Wires + Mikey Collins
It’s the final of our 4 night stint at The Lexington, and we’re sending you off in to the weekend in style with Withered Hand, CatenaryWires and Mikey Collins!
Advance tickets are on sale now from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings for £11. The Winter Sprinter runs from Jan 8-11th 2019.
Withered Hand is the songwriting output of 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. Currently working towards his third full length album, Withered Hand continues to tour and play one-off dates in venues from concert halls to living rooms.
The Catenary Wires are Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey. Amelia and Rob are best known for making fuzzy, sixties girl-group inspired indie-pop in their previous bands Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Marine Research and Tender Trap.
With the Catenary Wires, they have created something different; gentler and more acoustic, emotive and melancholy, although still fuelled by their great love for pop melodies and harmonies.
Mikey Collins found fame and cult acclaim as the drummer in indiepop behemoths Allo Darlin’. By the time the much loved band parted ways in 2016, Mikey was already hard at work in his Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate, working on the songs that would go on to become his debut album.
Recently released on Fika Recordings, Mikey’s record, Hoick, is largely inspired by his relocation from London to the Kent coast; ruminations on living by the sea and building a new community in a new town. Musically, it keeps the pop-tinged heart of his old band, and, through the addition of disco rhythms and RnB grooves, moves his sound into intriguing new directions. Live he’s backed by a crack team of musical heroes who bring his intricate musical ideas to life.
Winter Sprinter 2019: Haiku Salut + Gwenifer Raymond + Joss Cope
We’re delighted to be able to unveil the line up for the third night of the Winter Sprinter as Haiku Salut, Gwenifer Raymond and Joss Cope. It’s all happening at The Lexington on Thurs 10th of January.
Advance tickets are on sale now from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings for £11. The Winter Sprinter runs from Jan 8-11th 2019.
Haiku Salut are an instrumental dream-pop-post-folk-neo-everything trio from the Derbyshire Dales. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Gemma Barkerwood, Sophie Barkerwood, and Louise Croft. Between them, Haiku Salut play accordion, piano, glockenspiel, trumpet, guitar, ukulele, drums, and melodica. Their music also features electronic elements, which they refer to as “loopery and laptopery”.
Gwenifer Raymond is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist, originally from Cardiff but now residing in Brighton, England. Gwenifer began playing guitar at the age of eight shortly after having been first exposed to punk and grunge. After years of playing around the Welsh valleys in various punk outfits she began listening more to pre-war blues musicians as well as Appalachian folk players, eventually leading into the guitar players of the American Primitive genre. She has since been playing her own moody and often-times manic original American Primitive styled compositions on guitar and banjo around the UK and the US.
Joss Cope is a Midlands born musician with a pedigree stretching back to the Liverpool post punk scene and early Creation Records. He's worked with his elder brother Julian, made videos, campaigned for Greenpeace, and played guitar and bass for a number of bands in recent years before teaming up with some top Helsinki musicians to make this debut solo record.
Winter Sprinter 2019: Flowers + Firestations + Deerful
We’re chuffed to be able to unveil the line up for the second night of the Winter Sprinter as Flowers, Firestations and Deerful. It’s all happening at The Lexington on Wed 8th of January.
Advance tickets are on sale now from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings for £11. The Winter Sprinter runs from Jan8-11th 2019.
There’s something great about a three-piece—think The Cocteau Twins, The Clean, Galaxie 500—and the way that irreducible nucleus takes its strength from its limitations, making a virtue of its purity. Flowers singer Rachel Kenedy's ethereal vocals and Sam Ayres textured guitar is backed by the powerful, metronomic beat of drummer Jordan Hockley. Effortlessly blending pop songs with noise while leaving space for more stripped back elements, the recordings strike a perfect balance between the sweetness of Kenedy’s voice and Ayres’ abrasive guitar stylings. Their musical inspiration from shoegaze, C86 and New Zealand’s Flying Nun label is now evident.
Firestations are Mike Cranny, Laura Copsey, Martin Thompson, Giles Littleford and Tom Hargreaves. They write lyrical alt-pop songs filtered through joyous surges of collective noise-making and bursts of electronic sound from synths and guitars. They released their acclaimed debut album Never Closer at the end of 2014. After much gigging to support it, including festival appearances at Indietracks, Aaaahfest in Germany and Indiefjord in Norway, they hunkered down to record a follow-up. On The Year Dot, Firestations have refined and expanded on their shared obsession – sketching simple pop songs then painting over them with drones, vocal harmonies, electronica and unusual rhythms.
Much as The Year Dot is a true DIY effort in its creation – made over the best part of three years in a small home studio in Walthamstow, the north circular hissing in the near distance – it’s by no means a lo-fi album. “We spent a lot of time obsessing over making it a really absorbing listen” says Mike, “it’s a distillation of dreaming away the days on the outskirts, flickering between dead-end admin jobs, depression, writing lyrics on my phone, running through local woods, recording drums in industrial units, periods of hopelessness and moments of joy.”
Deerful is Emma Winston, a musician based in London, UK. She writes lush, sad electropop about feelings on synthesisers small enough to use on the bus and in tiny live-coding environments, and exists in a perpetual state of being far too excited about making things. Her musical influences include the Postal Service, The Magnetic Fields, Kero Kero Bonito, Emmy the Great, CHVRCHES, Owen Pallett, Grimes, and the DuckTales for Game Boy soundtrack.