The Smittens - City Rock Dove [12"]

Artist: The Smittens
Title: City Rock Dove
Format: 12" album on heavyweight black vinyl, pressing of 400
Cat#: Fika067
Release date: 3rd August 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

The Smittens are a 6-piece indiepop band that make upbeat and introspective tunes, tinged with vulnerability and optimism. While sonically the elements of multi-layered harmonies, countermelodies and ba-ba-ba singalong hooks still play a large part in The Smittens’ approach to songwriting, as each of the 4 main songwriters has grown, the overall perspective of the songs seems a bit moodier, and more serious. They’ve long since left behind the label of being a ‘cute’ or ‘twee’ band since their debut album 15 years ago.

City Rock Dove is instead an album of transition, ennui and nihilism; honing in on personal politics and gender queerness. The album contends with the turbulent changes of modern America serving only to cement the status quo - and it’s not just the outside world that’s changing either: The Smittens are also singing about the changes in themselves and taking a hard look inside. Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor) returned to mix the new album, having been instrumental in helping develop the richer textures first seen on 2016’s Love Record Breaker EP.

The album opens with the coming-out anthem Three States, Dana’s very personal tale of change. His vocals for the song were recorded over 2 years during the course of his gender transition. It’s a window into vulnerability, fear, determination and growth: there’s beauty in complexity. Gender and sexuality are behind Cats for Cats, taking a gay dating app cliche (“masc. for masc.”) as the opening refrain, and contemplating being 40, in a long term relationship and how freedom of experimentation always comes with its own costs.

Infinity Pools is a homage to Spanish tontipop, and also inspired by Max’s longstanding love of tropicália. It’s a heady mix of pretentious experimentation and the most basic, simple, silly, absurdly infectious pop. 

Missy takes the lead on album closer Prince of Sweden, a love letter to Scandinavia. “I love Cole Porter’s song “You’re the Top” because it’s a rolling list of things that are the best-of-the-best and being the Prince of Sweden seemed like it could be one of those… at least as good as being compared to cellophane. No political innuendo intended.”

The band is friends first and open-hearted indiepop revolutionaries after that. Max Andrucki, Missy Bly, Colin Clary, Dana Kaplan, Holly Chagnon, and David Zacharis switch up instruments, song-writing, and singing to create catchy, harmony-driven pop anthems and queer love songs—always brilliantly lyrical, and often brazenly political. They’re based in Burlington, Vermont and in New York City. City Rock Dove is their 6th studio album, and third release with Fika Recordings.

“Whilst old white men argue that boys will be boys and that women can be cast aside in the pursuit of power, the Smittens show us that life goes on outside of the mainstream” PennyBlack Music

“City Rock Dove shows that the Smittens are as sharp as ever, fully attuned to each other's needs and still finding new ways to express themselves.” Seven Days

“an easy listening joy of a listen reminding you of everyone from Belle And Sebastian to The Seekers, from Saint Etienne to Peter Paul and Mary” I Don’t Hear A Single

“This dreamy jingle jangle pop gem colored with delightful harmonies sticks instantly” Turn Up The Volume

Mikey Collins - Anchor in the Sea [Digital]

Artist: Mikey Collins
Title: Anchor in the Sea
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika068SG3
Release date: 3rd August 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

"Anchor In The Sea" is the new single to be taken from Mikey Collins' forthcoming album Hoick, due out on Fika Recordings on 17 August. The track was premiered by For The Rabbits, who described it as; "the sound of a pulsing bassy shuffle and bright synth tones, Mikey narrates a tale of how the effect of a single, seemingly insignificant moment can affect your life so greatly and pull you back to it, 'like an anchor in the sea'". They go on to try to pinpoint Mikey's sound; "Perhaps the nearest touchstone to the Mikey Collins sound comes in the music of Spacebomb head honcho, Matthew E. White, although unlike White and his gargantuan houseband, Mikey is doing almost everything himself, playing almost every instrument on the record."

To celebrate the release of the album, Collins headlines a show at London's Paper Dress Vintage on 14 August (with support from Simon Love and Babii). This follows a triumphant set at the Indietracks Festival in July, where he headlined the Church stage on the Sunday night, which ended in a standing ovation and hardly a dry eye in the venue.

Although the making of the record was a solo endeavour, live he is joined by a crack-team of musicians. Whilst he plays guitar and sings, in addition to the aforementioned Laura Kovic, and lifelong friend, guitar maestro Paul Rains, he is joined by drummer Ian Button (Death In Vegas, Papernut Cambridge) and Tom Parkinson on bass.

“Mikey’s music is something of a sonic departure from his old band; the upbeat pop atmosphere remains, however into the mix comes a rhythmic freedom, and an expanse of intriguing sounds. Perhaps the nearest touchstone to the Mikey Collins sound comes in the music of Spacebomb head honcho, Matthew E. White, although unlike White and his gargantuan houseband, Mikey is doing almost everything himself, playing almost every instrument on the record.” For The Rabbits

“a shimmering blend of low-key electro and 80s pop” The i

Jessica's Brother - Jessica's Brother [12"/CD]

Artist: Jessica's Brother
Title: Jessica's Brother
Format: 12" album on black vinyl | CD in digifile sleeve
Cat#: Fika065LP/Fika065CD
Release date: 20th July 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

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Jessica’s Brother is the eponymous debut album from London trio Jessica’s Brother, comprised of songwriter Tom Charleston, Jonny Helm (drums, also of The Wave Pictures) and Charlie Higgs (bass, previously of Ramshackle Union Band). 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. The trio clicked immediately and just nine months later they recorded the album with Laurie Sherman at The Booze Cube in Stoke Newington, with input from Darren Hayman. A few other friends joined them in the studio, including Dan Mayfield (Enderby’s Room), who added a dose of Bad Seeds/Dirty Three vibes on the violin and Paul Rains (Allo Darlin’/Tigercats) lent a hint of country twang on guitar and slide guitar.

With Jessica’s Brother, we see Tom Charleston’s songwriting blossoming in to a tour de force. Influenced more by poets than other musicians, he cites John Ashbery, T.S. Eliot and Philip Larkin as inspirations. He is drawn to how they can be irreverent, unassuming and playful, as he explains; “I suppose I wanted to offer something lyrically engaging and hopefully different.” His modestly lofty ambitions have paid off, with ten startling individual vignettes telling their own stories from a variety of narrator’s points of view. 

He tackles difficult subjects such as gender equality and the destructive nature of masculinity. These can be seen in tracks such as “One Of The Guys”, about the toxic nature of being one of the guys in a predatory pack, lamenting the masculine essentialism owned and largely perpetuated by the male sex. The single “Overnight Horror” revolves around the macho-masculine nightmare where, as Charleston explains, “the world has gone head-over-heels shitward and the narrator is reduced to selling his daughter or his wife to stay alive.”

Album opener is the Silver Jews-esque “Getting Obscene”, which sprang from a sense of going nowhere fast, acknowledged in a repetitious revolving chord which becomes an immersive rock’n’roll meditation. The tone completely changes with the next track “All The Better”, which is a hushed, eerie folk song exploring the melancholy and optimism of breaching adolescence and the limbo before adulthood; a simple tale of growing up. 

“Humdinger” is perhaps the one song on the album where the narrator is at ease with himself and the world. Though there are moments where this tranquility is nudged by outside tremors, so we know this moment is ephemeral.

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.

“You can tell there’s no blatant worship by the way the tunes roll out one after the other, akin to a pile of logs falling out the back of a lorry, as songs such as Getting Obscene, One of the Guys, Humdinger, Overnight Horror, and Cold White & Blue Day gain momentum as they roughly tumble.
Charleston’s song topics range from hurtful masculinity to gender equality. All told, downbeat music with traces of ragged glory.” Irish Times

“A lyrically deep debut from a young group beginning to find their sound as a band” Americana UK

“All in all a near perfect debut album that borrows from all the right bands, while making the sound their own given their individual skills coalescing in all the right spots. Long may they run.” Soundblab [9/10]

“These are finely crafted songs with great melodies, played rough and raw and with a lot of heart and soul. A great debut.” Crackle Feedback [4/5]

Getting Obscene video from Jessica's Brother

We've got a new video from Jessica's Brother for you, taken from their forthcoming album out tomorrow!

Jessica’s Brother is the eponymous debut album from London trio Jessica’s Brother, comprised of songwriter Tom Charleston, Jonny Helm (drums, also of The Wave Pictures) and Charlie Higgs (bass, previously of Ramshackle Union Band). 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.

You can catch up with their recent session for Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Music show too via the iPlayer too!

“All in all a near perfect debut album that borrows from all the right bands, while making the sound their own given their individual skills coalescing in all the right spots. Long may they run.” Soundblab [9/10]

“The album’s swansong, ‘Cold, White and Blue Day’ marches Jessica’s Brother to it’s solemn conclusion as fast-paced vocals tell us all which remains. A fitting ending through the light and shadows of wandering minds in a debut which grabs it’s listeners and pulls them down a looping rabbit hole.” [7/10] The405

Jessica's Brother - Getting Obscene [Digital]

Artist: Jessica's Brother
Title: Getting Obscene
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika065SG4
Release date: 13th July 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

A week ahead of the release of their debut album, Jessica's Brother release Getting Obscene, the Silver Jews-esque opening track, which sprang from a sense of going nowhere fast, acknowledged in a repetitious revolving chord which becomes an immersive rock’n’roll meditation.

Jessica’s Brother is the eponymous debut album from London trio Jessica’s Brother, comprised of songwriter Tom Charleston, Jonny Helm (drums, also of The Wave Pictures) and Charlie Higgs (bass, previously of Ramshackle Union Band). 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. The trio clicked immediately and just nine months later they recorded the album with Laurie Sherman at The Booze Cube in Stoke Newington, with input from Darren Hayman. A few other friends joined them in the studio, including Dan Mayfield (Enderby’s Room), who added a dose of Bad Seeds/Dirty Three vibes on the violin and Paul Rains (Allo Darlin’/Tigercats) lent a hint of country twang on guitar and slide guitar.

The Smittens - Three States [Digital]

Artist: The Smittens
Title: Three States
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika067SG3
Release date: 13th July 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

Three States, the new single from The Smittens is out today!

“Three States is a coming out/transition anthem, I wrote this song amidst a need to capture the complexity of identity, politics, and everything so many of us get caught in between. There’s pressure on all of us to conform to certain standards, and it’s nearly impossible not to internalise the toxicity. The idea of three states came to me while driving back to Vermont after being at NYC Pride. It’s a window into vulnerability, fear, determination, growth, and ultimately, better living through modern day medicine. There’s beauty in complexity. What’s holding you back? What worlds are you caught between? May we all find the spaces in which we belong. Fuck the binary, baby.” The Smittens’ Dana

Pre-order the 12″ LP City Rock Dove now or listen to the new single on Spotify.

Mikey Collins - Falling [Digital]

Artist: Mikey Collins
Title: Falling
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika068SG2
Release date: 29th June 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

"Falling" is the second single to be taken from the forthcoming debut album by Allo Darlin' drummer Mikey Collins.  Hoick is due out via Fika Recordings on 17 August. The song is a bright, upbeat pop number with call and response vocals provided by Laura Kovic from Tigercats. It is about Mikey proposing to his wife, something he swore blind he'd never do.

The video was shot on a summer's day in London, bringing the track to life, adding colour and movement, featuring the dancer Dessy Adesuwa, who choregraphed the piece herself.  As Mikey explains; "London always shows it's best side on a sunny day and we shot the footage in ten hours around Little Venice, Fitzroy Square and St James Park... much to the joy of many onlookers."

Mikey explains further about the song; "This is about the process of proposing to my wife. About how I changed my opinions on marriage and how I changed my mind from it being something that I never wanted to do to being something very important to me!"

Freschard & Stanley Brinks - Midnight Tequila [12"]

Artist: Freschard & Stanley Brinks
Title: Midnight Tequila
Format: 12" album on pale blue vinyl
Cat#: Fika066
Release date: 29th June 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify

Following on from 2014’s Pizza Espresso, Freschard and Stanley Brinks come together for 12 brand new tracks.

Midnight Tequila is an irresistibly charming collection of late night tales, woozy ballads and uptempo sing-alongs. 

Clemence Freschard’s beautiful vocal tones lend this a rich, French indiepop/chanteuse vibe, complemented by Stan’s wistful timbre and characteristic warm instrumentation. Perfect accompaniment for that late night tequila.

Stanley Brinks is renowned for his unique anti-folk style: both playful and suggestive, insightful and entertaining. Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York. By the late 90s he’d become a full time singer-songwriter – André Herman Düne – as part of three piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne. Several albums and Peel sessions  later and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks. Under this moniker he has recorded more than 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on several occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.  

Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. Aged 18 she moved to Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Stanley Brinks wrote a few songs for her to sing. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP, "Alien Duck". Her second album, "Click Click", recorded in 2006, features electric guitar by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, she plays the drums herself. On her fourth “Shh...” she also plays the flute, and she breaks out the washboard on her fifth “Boom Biddy Boom”. On Midnight Tequila, Freschard brings it back to just drums and vocals.

The Smittens - Love is a Word [Digital]

Artist: The Smittens
Title: Love is a Word
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika067SG2
Release date: 29th June 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

Love is a Word is the second track taken from the forthcoming City Rock Dove from The Smittens.

The Smittens’ Missy Bly says: “This song came after I heard the buzz and learned personally, that love is and requires action. This one could potentially be written forever because the list of love metaphors is never ending. Love is potential, love is forethought, love can be cruel, exalting and regular and love is definitely fun to sing about!”

Freschard & Stanley Brinks “Going to the Bar” video

We’ve got a new video from Freschard & Stanley Brinks for their track Going to the Bar, taken from the forthcoming LP Midnight Tequila.

“Clemence Freschard’s beautiful vocal tones lend this a rich, French indiepop/chanteuse vibe, complemented by Stan’s wistful timbre and characteristic warm instrumentation. A perfect accompaniment for that late night tequila.” Folk Radio premiere

“They craft a blend of playful indiepop and folk that fans of either genre will find endearing; they even manage to capture that playful air in their performance in the video for this single” Austin Town Hall

Buy Midnight Tequila on pale blue vinyl or digitally from our shop.