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Nik used to be one half of Moustache of Insanity. Fulhäst makes some sort of electronic, poppy/punky music, using old Casio keyboards, electric guitars, circuit-bent microphones and Game Boys. His debut EP comes out on Fika Recordings on the 18th of June. You can listen and pre-order the cassette here.
This is one of the most exciting things Fika Recordings have gotten involved in so far. We've been asked to put out a super limited edition (100 only) cassette version of Allo Darlin's second album, Europe. I'm busy making them at the moment, and it'll be quite some package. Every cassette will be handmade and hand numbered, and will come with a digital download code, a bag of Allo Darjeelin' tea, a recipe for Elizabeth's mum's Sacher Torte, and a very small 16 page artwork and lyric booklet.
You can pre-order the album on cassette from us now - we'll be shipping when the album is released in Europe at the start of May.
The ever reliable Fortuna Pop will be releasing Europe in Europe on CD, LP and digital; while the lovely Slumberland Records will be putting the album out on the other side of the Atlantic. Thanks to them both for asking us to get involved - it is a delight to be involved in releasing what is a mighty fine record.
Artist: Tigercats
Title: Isle of Dogs
Format: Vinyl LP
Cat#: Fika015
Release date: 9th April 2012
Bandcamp | Spotify
With 11 fantastically catchy, heartfelt and infectious songs, the band are well in to their stride, demonstrating an enthusiastic confidence and a fun-loving charisma.
Hereʼs a bit of history: Tigercatsʼ singer Duncan played in Esiotrot until suddenly he didn't, and after a respectful interval of ambling around for 18 months he asked his brother Giles to join on bass in a new band.
The name Tigercats appeared out of the air and was soon followed by Jonny on drums, Stefan on guitar and Laura on keyboard.
Tigercats have released three singles on Haircut and WeePop! records that have been mostly compared to Orange Juice and Hefner, with the Wave Pictures and Violent Femmes close behind. Steve Lamacq said their longest ever song, "Banned at the Troxy" was "a great little single" and Huw Stephens said "it reminds me of Los Campesinos that, and thatʼs a very very very good thing". This is of course excellent, and perhaps someone will pick up on their love of Chic eventually.
Tigercats have been lucky enough to play some great shows with Allo Darlin, the Wave Pictures, the Lovely Eggs, Dum Dum Girls, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Omi Palone. After one show, Darren Hayman kindly said, "Incidentally, Tigercats are really good. Not [just] in that way that most people say bands are good, but good in a way that means something.." Which is ideal, really.
Following well attended shows in February supporting Allo Darlinʼ and at London Popfest, Tigercats are playing the following:
16 Mar#Ramsgate, Caboose Cafe (headline show)
21 Mar#Manchester, The Castle Hotel w/ Shrag
22 Mar# London, Kibo Kift at Somerset House (headline show)
29 Mar# Brighton, Horse & Groom (headline show)
30 Mar# London, Power Lunches - Isle of Dogs album launch, supported by Omi Palone, Fever Dream & Robert Rotifer w/ Allo Darlin' and Moustache of Insanity DJ's
Tigercats are a very, very good band. The kind of band that make you want to be a teenager again, so they can be your band.
The Sunday Times review of Isle of Dogs
Lauren Lavern, BBC 6 Music on Full Moon Reggae Party
Tigercats are that rarest of bands, an indie-pop act you can actually dance to..
neonfiller.com: ”top ten bands to watch out for in 2012″
it reminds me of Los Campesinos that, and that’s a very very very good thing
as an indie-pop album goes this is as good as it gets. It’s teaming with radio friendly, infectious hooks, [and] the freshest sounds I’ve heard for some time from a UK act. Plus, as we said when we touted them as one to watch this year, they are an indie pop band you can dance to. That’s actually rarer than you’d think.
Neonfiller.com’s 10/10 review of Isle of Dogs
‘Isle of Dogs’ is an album to be adored. Superbly crafted, original and soul-tingly, Tigercats can bring who they want to the party. Just make sure you have a ticket.
Clickmusic.com’s 5/5 review of Isle of Dogs
there’s something unconsciously authentic about Tigercats... this could be a band to listen to obsessively
drownedinsound.com's review of Isle of Dogs
Tigercats have written a record that is full of personality, vitality, and even youthful rebellion, the sort of record that very well might reinvigorate indie pop
YPOIW’s 9/10 review of Isle of Dogs
this superbly crafted debut album… [features] bouncy Orange Juice-style dance-pop, with boy-girl vocals, bustling percussion and an endearing sense of wonder. Along with recent tourmatesAllo Darlin’, Tigercats are continuing to find a place for heart-on-sleeve indie pop that defies shifting fashions.
eMusic.com review of Isle of Dogs
Maybe the unique thing about Tigercats is that they are not just making great indie pop that catches your attention immediately because it’s hugely vibrant and captivating, but that the band is also telling stories with every chord they’re playing and every note their voices sing.
It’s All Happening’s review of Isle of Dogs
Tigercats are one of those bands who live and breathe their music… when their hormones take control they produce some of finest nuggets of indiepop since Allo Darlin’ first appeared on the scene.
MusicOMH.com’s 4 star review of Isle of Dogs
Tigercats [are] a heap of fun, especially as a live act. Barrett yaks and yelps his way through a rattling run of floorshakers, among which the opener, the deeply cynical, highly topical ‘Coffin For The Isle Of Dogs’, takes its half-spoken, half-sung, passionate sloganeering lead from Spearmint’s epic Sweeping The Nation.
For Folk’s Sake review of Isle of Dogs
a great little single
Steve Lamacq, BBC 6 Music on Banned at the Troxy
Incidentally, Tigercats are really good. Not in that way that most people say bands are good, but good in a way that means something. I mean to say, they can actually play their instruments and everything & the words make you feel the way you’re supposed to.
Without pose, additives or preservatives, Tigercats play a fresh, freestyle indie pop which is less obvious than it looks. It’s these types of offerings that make the Primavera Club festival so special. Bravo for that!
Their songs betray no alterior motives of forced cool, only an enthusiastic young band in love with making songs. Excellent, alive, and bright.
What Tigercats has come up with is a manifesto for what it means to be alive, to be in London and to be living life… if I was 16 right now I’d think this album was sent to save my life.
They made a joyous noise and I just wanted to dance.
Comprised of former members of Esiotrot and Hexicon, and with EP tracks entitled Konny Huck and Stevie Nicks, there’s no cloak and dagger going on here. They’re a studied version of indiepop; the product of 30 years of jangly guitars and heartfelt post-punk. Slices of Orange Juice, Hefner and Violent Femmes blend to make a sound that, despite the band’s infancy, is considered, confident and utterly infectious.
Their straightforward guitar pop perfects the art of tight, compact melodies.
TIGERCATS write songs about Stevie Nicks and Whitechapel, all delivered atop a cloud of shimmering dream rock. Drums twist and guitars bloom like fireworks, whilst a plaintive vocal sounding eerily like Pete Shelley underpins their sound.
this single could only be any better if it came with free drugs cellotaped to the cover.
Leeds Music Scene Review of Easter Island
Tigercats’ debut LP Isle Of Dogs (or I Love Dogs as it is known in my house) is one of those rare albums that on first listen clears a space inside your brain and makes itself comfy because it knows it’s going to be sticking around for quite a while. Neon Fillerwebsite recently gave the record 10/10; the only other album they have ever awarded a perfect score to is London Calling, and despite the 35 year gap, the difference in production values and the fact that one was by one of the biggest bands in the world and the other by a small indie outfit led by the bloke from Esiotrot, the two are comparable; both are a vital slice of life in the capital with not a single wasted second, so vivid you can almost smell the petrol fumes
Following on from their great (and brilliantly timely) Konny Hucksingle, the band are back with a new release that was apparently only finished up last week. Gone are the days when you waited months for a release to be sorted out, now they are with us a few days after a band finishes them. Anyway, Easter Island doesn’t really deviate from what the standard set by Huck, which is fine as the band are sounding increasingly assured in what they are doing.
Tigercats are the product of mating Hexicon with Esiotrot; the resultant sound is a bastardised Bo Diddley beat chained to an indiepop set up (part Orange Juice, part Hefner). They have songs about “Konny Huck” and Stevie Nicks, which should just sound sweet but have an angry intensity and buzzing loudness that makes them not only catchy but a lot more interesting.
A brand new band featuring members of Esiotrot and Hexicon, east London’s Tigercats reimagine The Wave Pictures and Violent Femmes as spiky, infectious post-punk anti-heroes. We haven’t heard a new band sound this perfectly-formed for quite some time
Ice & Snow, the lead single from Red Shoe Diaries' 10" EP, is out now! It is available as a free/pay what you can download from the Fika Recordings webshop.
Since before they knew how to talk to girls, guitarist Ashley and singer Thomas have been writing songs and playing music together, and now, years down the line, these teenage bedroom rumblings have matured into a sophisticated blend all of their own. The missing links were added gradually, with long time college friend, Michael playing drums and adding musical direction. Singer Leanne came next, introducing herself at an early gig as “what you need”. They needed bass too, and Rob didn’t have one yet, but he had what they wanted, so, he got this guitar and he learned how to make it talk. They were complete. So they started gigging more seriously, playing with the likes of The Wave Pictures, Ballboy, Allo Darlin, Nouvelle Vague, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, and playing at festivals such as Indietracks, Edinburgh Popfest and Summer Sundae.
“Nottingham favourites Red Shoe Diaries make sophisticated indie pop that joins the dots from Jacques Brel to Darren Hayman in epic, Morricone-esque broad strokes. Possibly the most exciting glittery-literary indie pop band to come from Nottingham since Tindersticks”. - Fists
“Outside of The Melons Nottingham hasn’t really had a great pop band. But that might change with Red Shoe Diaries getting everyone’s hearts a flutter” - A Layer of Chips
Red Shoe Diaries have a few gigs coming up. Catch them here: Feb 27th - The Musician, Leicester, w/ Allo Darlin, & Tigercats March 26th - The Chameleon, Nottingham, w/ The Wave Pictures June 1st - Ireby Music Festival, Ireby, Cumbria
Artist: Tigercats
Title: Full Moon Reggae Party
Format: digital single
Cat#: Fika014
Release date: 2nd April 2012
Spotify | Bandcamp
Excited for the release of Tigercats' album Isle Of Dogs on April 9th? Looking forward to their appearance at London Popfest this weekend and their tour with Allo Darlin' next week? Need a sneak preview of the lead single from the album to keep you going? Yeah? Well you're in luck.
We're letting you download Full Moon Reggae Party totally for free! It will be coming out properly on April the 2nd as a 3 track digital single (available from all the usual digital outlets to stream and to buy) with two brand new b-sides: one a Tigercats original featuring Owl & Mouse, the other a cover of their favourite Fleetwood Mac song. We'll be unveiling the animated video for Full Moon Reggae Party shortly too... "Full Moon Reggae Party" was written in one day after an enforced absence from the studio, and recorded just a couple of days later. It's about going on the run ("I heard you stole a van, we've got some fake Gaugin's, let's go and get the cash, dance to Two Sevens Clash") but it's also the most direct love song they've ever done. A lot of Tigercats' lyrics are constructed out of fleeting, disconnected imagery, but "Full Moon Reggae Party" speaks straight to it's subject. Unlike earlier songs, it was written by Duncan with Laura's voice in mind: the exuberant verses that he sings solo contrast with the richness of the chorus. To download Full Moon Reggae Party go here.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
25 Feb London Popfest, 100 Club w/ Allo Darlin', Comet Gain and others
26 Feb Leeds, Brudenell Social Club w/ Allo Darlin'
27 Feb Leicester, The Musician w/ Allo Darlin'
29 Feb Cardiff, Buffalo Bar w/ Allo Darlin'
02 Mar Norwich, Norwich Arts Centre w/ Allo Darlin'
16 Mar Ramsgate, Caboose Cafe (headline show)
21 Mar Manchester, The Castle Hotel w/ Shrag
22 Mar London, Kibo Kift at Somerset House (headline show)
29 Mar Brighton, Horse & Groom (headline show)
30 Mar London, Power Lunches - Isle of Dogs album launch, supported by Omi Palone, Fever Dream & Robert Rotifer w/ Allo Darlin' and Moustache of Insanity DJ's
Tigercats - Isle Of Dogs out 9th April 2012 12" vinyl on Fika Recordings (fikarecordings.com) CD on Acuarela Discos (acuareladiscos.com)
This time last year Fika Recordings HQ was a flurry of cutting and folding, getting our first four cassettes ready for our launch in the middle of February. A year on and 12 releases later, we're still a buzz of frantic and somewhat chaotic activity. All in order to bring you a bunch of fantastic releases this year, the first of which comes from Red Shoe Diaries.
Ice & Snow is the lead single from their EP on Fika Recordings, "When I Find My Heart...". It'll be available to download from the Fika Recordings website on a pay what you like basis (and we're happy for you to download it for free). You can still buy their 5 track 10" EP from us here.
Artwork for the single comes courtesy of Amy Blackwell.
Red Shoe Diaries
A1 Ice & Snow
B1 Driving Blind
B2 Saturday Love Rocket
Available to download from February 27th
Artist: Darren Hayman
Title: Christmas Advent Calendar
Format: Digital Compilation
Cat#: Fika012
Release date: 1st December 2011
Bandcamp
In December 2011, Darren Hayman and Fika Recordings joined forces to compile a Christmas compilation. We both asked friends and bands we loved, and released the tracks for free download every day through December until Christmas day.
Artist: Darren Hayman
Title: Christmas in Haworth
Format: 10”
Cat#: Fika011
Release date: 14th November 2011
Bandcamp | Spotify
'Let's go away for Christmas', we said. We never go away for Christmas and Christmas never looks like Christmas. Christmas did look like Christmas in Haworth in 2010: a blanket of snow, tinsel, all that stuff. It made me nostalgic for for cheap, flimsy cards that hung on string on my parents' wall. When I think of Christmas, I don't think of snow, I think of my Uncle pushing a shaving foam pie into my face until I choked. I think of my Mum crying over Monopoly. I think of cold fatty meats and a broken James Bond Lotus Espirit.
Christmas gets in the way, so we got out of the way of Christmas. We went to Haworth in Yorkshire. We walked out into the countryside and got lost in the snow.
Four of these songs were written and recorded in Haworth, West Yorkshire, during Christmas 2010 and later overdubbed in London and Newcastle. 'Branwell' was written and recorded in London July 2011 and 'Ruby's House' was written and recorded in Ruby's house in Lancashire in June. David Watkins played the banjo and Rebecca Evans played the bass clarinet. The band on Branwell is Jonny Helm (drums, vocals), David Tattersall (banjo, vocals), Franic Rozycki (mandolin, vocals), Robert Rotifer (guitar, vocals), Bill Botting (bass, vocals) and me (piano, vocals).
Recorded by Ian Evans and myself.
Darren Hayman - August 2011
Thanks to everyone that came to the Album Of Death launch party at the Dogstar, finely hosted by Librarians Wanted. We hope you didn't get too covered in blood, and those night bus drivers let you on, bloody and sweaty, once the dancing had stopped! You can still pick up a copy of the album on 12" blood red vinyl from here. More pictures from the night available here.
It is now less than a week to go until the official release of Moustache Of Insanity's Album Of Death! Come down to the Dogstar in Brixton for a very rare opportunity to see a full super-group five piece incarnation of Moustache Of Insanity and to pick up a copy of the LP on Fika Recordings (or the CD on Pull Yourself Together). For full details of the Librarians Wanted show, see go here.
You've still got time to go pick up the free download single from the album here, to watch the video here and to stream the album in full here.
The LP version comes on 12" blood red transparent vinyl, with hand painted inner sleeve, a tea bag of death and horror, a recipe to bake love yummies from hell and an individual photo scribbled on by the band. All for a ridiculously cheap price of £7 at the show. Come, it'll be AWESOME.
After this, we'll be taking a bit of a summer holiday, so if you want to BUY any cassettes or records from us, do so before the weekend, otherwise you'll have to wait a couple of weeks until we're back. We've only got two of Lisa Bouvier's and Lost Summer Kitten's EPs left before they sell out like the Moustache Of Insanity and Horowitz tapes have. Click on the artwork to the right to listen to all our releases and buy them.
We'll be announcing in September an EP I'm tremendously excited about from an artist I've had a soft spot for for a long time. There's a few other equally exciting things in the pipeline too for the autumn and into the new year too!
