We kick off the Winter Sprinter on Tuesday 8th January at The Lexington, in London, with Suggested Friends, Peaness and Whoa Melodic.
Advance tickets are on sale now from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings for £7.50.
Suggested Friends Bandcamp tells us they make “bittersweet dad rock for you and your mates”, which is hilarious but, obviously, the London quartet are a lot more than that. They make effervescent and melancholic pop rock songs, with catchy-as-anything hooks and frenetic choruses. Faith from the band probably puts it best: “We are a jangle punk-ish pop group based in London, singing songs about regret, aspiration, and microaggressions. We’re all about the catchy choruses and OTT guitar solos.”
They also have a song with perhaps the best title ever, “I Can’t Roll My Eyes That Far Back”, a tongue in cheek critique of elitist music scenes. They’ve been gigging all over the UK in the illustrious company of the likes of UK DIY bands including KEEL HER, Trust Fund and Spook School. Their self-titled debut album is brilliant and their second LP is in the works for 2019.
Formed in Chester, England in late 2014, three piece indie-pop band Peaness are the kind of instantly likeable, warm and creative people that can get away with having radio DJ’s blush like a peach every time they have to say the band’s name on the airwaves. Lucky really, as it’s a phenomenon that’s becoming increasingly more common with spins racking up at BBC Radio One, BBC6 Music, Radio X and more as this burgeoning bunch of friends grow quickly into the big shoes that the early press-hype has set out for them to fill.
Whoa Melodic is Michael Wood, whom usually shares his multi-instrumentalist talents with various bands including Singing Adams/Steven Adams & The French Drops and The Hayman Kupa Band (with Darren Hayman of Hefner and Emma Kupa of Standard Fare/Mammoth Penguins).
With an unnatural obsession with Paul McCartney, Whoa Melodic also has echoes of Teenage Fanclub, Squeeze, World Party and Elliott Smith. Melody is key yet his lyrics tend reflect what is going on in his life. Nostalgic, tune drenched and reassuring.