A DIY INDIEPOP VINYL & CASSETTE LABEL

The Just Joans - The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans [12"/CD]

Artist: The Just Joans
Title: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans
Format: 12" album on black vinyl with lyrics insert | CD in digifile sleeve
Cat#: Fika077LP | Fika077CD
Release date: 10th January 2020
Bandcamp | Spotify

 Acerbic yet winsome Scottish indiepoppers The Just Joans return with the dazzlingly maudlin The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans, a deeply personal collection of songs that hazily recall the past and contemplate the futility of the future. 

A titular twist on the classic gothic horror novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by compatriot James Hogg, the new album is the follow-up to 2017’s You Might Be Smiling Now… and contains the kind of melodies and mockery that led Uncut to class the band as the point at which “Stephin Merritt lies down with The Vaselines.”

At the forefront remain the mischievous lyrics and heartfelt vocals of siblings David and Katie Pope, aided and abetted by Chris Elkin on lead guitar, Fraser Ford on bass guitar and Jason Sweeney on drums. Yet it is the recruitment of multi-instrumentalist Arion Xenos and guest appearance of Butcher Boy’s Alison Eales to arrange strings that have helped elevate the band’s music to new heights. 

Their progression is most noticeable on lead single “Dear Diary, I Died Again today”, a painfully beautiful admission of everyday anxiety and “When Nietzsche Calls”, the triumphant cry of a spurned lover revelling in the misery of their ex to a backdrop of trumpets and violins. The juxtaposition of the fragility shown in these tracks with the menace of “Wee Guys (Bobby’s Got A Punctured Lung)” – an observation and understanding of the casual violence that once cast a shadow over the band’s hometown – highlights The Just Joans’ ability to seamlessly flip between sensitivity and danger, and sums up why Highway Queens described them as the “perfect Glasgow kiss.”

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans is a veritable smorgasbord of misery, longing and unrequited love; stories of small town resentments, half-forgotten school friends, failing relationships and awkward workplace conversations. As David explains: “It’s a collection torn from the pages of the diary I haven’t kept over the past 25 years. There are songs about places and people I vaguely remember, feelings I think that I once may have felt and the onset of middle-aged ennui.”

Despite entering new territory with the addition of brass and strings, they have nevertheless maintained the DIY ethos that made them darlings of the underground indie-pop scene, with each song on the album recorded and produced by the band in various gloomy bedrooms around Glasgow.

“Siblings David and Katie Pope have been cranking out charmingly shambolic, twee-leaning but feisty indiepop since the mid-’00s and their biting sense of humor (and thick Glaswegian accents) make for easy comparisons to The Vaselines.” Brooklyn Vegan

“there’s mischief in this miserablism” Mojo [4/5]

“the album fits into a Scottish indie tradition that goes back to BMX Bandits and The Vaselines. Like them, The Just Joans have mastered the art of writing sad songs that are funny and consoling rather than just plain depressing” Record Collector [3/5]

“enjoy the ear-pleasing rotation of boppy and bittersweet tunes” All Music [8/10]

“Another brilliant showcase for their idiosyncratic music and lyrics. Poets of the mundane, The Just Joans are in danger of becoming something of a British institution.” The Morning Star [4/5]

“this is the first best album of 2020” Narc [5/5]

“another wonderfully forlorn and cynical set of world-weary tales from sulky Glasgow siblings David and Katie Pope” Scottish Express [4/5]

“Memoirs is a charmingly introspective record; fun and thoughtful. The Just Joans are  miserablist chroniclers, always looking about, wide-eyed, finding inspiration in the mundane, and delivering with a mischievous wink. They’re already something of a cult band, and this record further seals that status” Music OMH [4/5]

“this blend of the heartfelt and the comically morose sees The Just Joans indulge in a fine tradition of tuneful Scottish miserabilism that is distinctly our own, and might be doing it better than anyone else around at the minute” The Wee Review [4/5]

“The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans, out this month, retains their love for the acidic indie-cabaret of the genre’s acknowledged master Stephin Merritt while presenting their strongest, most accomplished songs yet.” The National Scotland

“the wit and humour here is at the highest level of ironic commentary and makes this a lot of fun” Vanguard Online

“a sparklingly dark-humoured record of people, places and half-memories from songwriter David Pope” God Is In The TV

“For a band whose lifespan now stretches to four albums, it’s impressive that the cynicism, the bitterness and, most damning of all, the optimism of life as an outsider are still felt as strongly. It may say more about this writer’s age than the album, but there’s something reassuring about knowing you’re not the only one having a tough time and The Just Joans capture that feeling just so.” Get In Her Ears

“this latest album from the Joans is more sublime heartache with many twists of black humour” Is This Music

“a dizzyingly fun pop record about impossibly bleak truths” Balloon Machine

“The Just Joans delivering exactly the sort of thing that this slightly older type of indie-pop excels at, namely achieving a good balance between the onset cynicism that comes with age and the band’s own Scottish heritage, and the smatterings of humour and lightness to temper it and keep anything too bleak at bay” Soundboard

“The Just Joans are indeed writing big pop tunes here, despite the droll lyrics, and the sly heart-on-the-sleeve fake-outs going on in nearly every cut. For that reason, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans is highly recommended for fans of C86 stuff, to anyone who thought Jarvis Cocker or Stephin Merritt wrote great songs. You're likely to take these to heart in the same way” A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed

“sardonic, humorous, self-deprecating, bittersweet, and eminently clever” When You Motor Away

“Walking the line between poignant and sardonic, and with a dark humour that lifts them above most others, the songs are comparable to The Wedding Present, early Pulp, Ballboy, or The Delgados, but they sound like no-one else but The Just Joans, and to have such a strong identity is rare.” Scots Whay Hae

“the ramshackle of C86 and the slightest of jangly lo-fi and timid retro keys to sound like The Pastels lying down with The Vaselines” Jangle Pop Hub

“very much in the spirit of Philip Larkin, Mike Leigh, Alan Bennett, Morrissey and Jarvis Cocker if they had been born North of the border” It Starts With A Birthstone

“If The Beautiful South and Kirsty MacColl made a pact to form a band that fans of the Proclaimers might turn to on a dark and dismal night in December, they may well have created The Just Joans.  Their perfectly constructed, quietly uncomplicated melodies probe the darker side of love, and like melodic Valium, rock you into a state of unruffled languor.” JoyZine

Withered Hand - Ten Years [10"]

Artist: Withered Hand
Title: Ten Years
Format: 10” EP
Cat#: Fika078
Release date: 20th December 2019
Bandcamp
[Split release with WIAIWYA: WIAEP82]

Dan Willson, aka Withered Hand, releases four string-backed re-recordings of tunes from his first album, Good News, on London labels wiaiwya and Fika Recordings.

The Springsteen of self-deprecation celebrates the tenth anniversary of his debut long player by re-working four of the album’s finest tunes. They were handed over to Pete Harvey (who was involved in the genesis of the original recordings) to re-arrange, lovely new string sections were recorded, and Willson re-sang his vocals – effortlessly moving the anti-folk classics towards anti-chamber pop.

I Am Nothing - So i'll try to see the world in your way, The pillow's warm from where your head lay
No Cigarettes - Maestro a drum roll please, This is the golden age
New Dawn - And she said "I used to be beautiful, And now I'm barely pushing plain", Someday you'll be beautiful again
Religious Songs - You stole my heart and I stole your underwear

Based in Edinburgh, Scottish indie folk-pop act Withered Hand is the solo project of singer/songwriter Dan Willson. A veteran of multiple bands in late-'90s and early-2000s Edinburgh music scene, Willson began his solo career after receiving an acoustic guitar from his wife as a 30th birthday gift. Migrating slowly from bandmate to solo artist, he began singing and writing his own loose, jangly songs, eventually releasing his debut EP, Religious Songs, under the moniker Withered Hand. Finding immediate success with the new format, Willson released a second EP in 2009 before teaming up with legendary American producer Kramer to make his first full-length album, Good News, in 2010. With his ragged tenor and often lo-fi, acoustic-based sound, Willson has come to represent a certain standard in the U.K. D.I.Y. scene and was a part of the Fife-based Fence Collective with acts like King Creosote and James Yorkston. Two more Withered Hand EPs appeared in 2012 before Willson returned to the studio to record his follow-up LP. His second full-length, New Gods, was released in early 2014 by Fortuna Pop and Slumberland. The record was produced by Tony Doogan (Mountain Goats, Belle and Sebastian) and features help from Black Tambourine's Pam Berry, Eugene Kelly of the Vaselines, and members of Belle and Sebastian and Frightened Rabbit.

Withered Hand - Ten Years merch.jpg

“The world is better for songwriters like Willson” – The Scotsman

“A refreshing lager beer of a record” – Julian Cope

“Willson is a one-man Fleet Foxes with a voice that, one moment, sounds on the brink of collapse; the next, is filled with humour, emotion and self-knowledge” – The Herald

“Thank fuck for Withered Hand” – Malcolm Middleton

“Willson’s quavering vocals and acoustic eulogies elicit heavy-hitters Bright Eyes (on woebegone porch-swing opener ‘Providence’) – and even Neil Young at times.” – The List

“at times on this impressive debut Dan Willson’s alter ego attains the celestial lustre of that holy grail of lapsed evangelical folk nouveau, the first Palace Brothers album.” – MOJO

“Bummed-out folk with the saddest, most beautiful wistful sparkly banjo jams and the most hilarious, and yet totally heart-melting, lyrics ever, sung with a grizzled UK croak that’s hard not to love.” – WVKR radio, New York

“Killer melodies… wobbly folk grooves…as melodic wimps go, he’s up there with fellow Scots Belle and Sebastian; his tunes full of warm, woozy singsong charm” – Rolling Stone Magazine

THE Just Joans - Wee Guys (Bobby's Got a Punctured Lung) [Digital]

Artist: The Just Joans
Title: Wee Guys (Bobby’s Got a Punctured Lung)
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika077SG3
Release date: 13th December 2019
Bandcamp | Spotify

Gloomy Glaswegians The Just Joans announce their new album The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans, due out on 11 January via Fika Recordings, by sharing the first single "Dear Diary, I Died Again Today". This painfully beautiful admission of everyday anxiety explores the trauma of awkward conversations with colleagues and vague acquaintances. With a different spin to their usual jangle pop, the inclusion of strings, arranged by Butcher Boy’s Alison Eales, create a dazzlingly maudlin depth to the track.

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans is a deeply personal collection of songs that hazily recall the past and contemplate the futility of the future. At the forefront remain the mischievous lyrics and heartfelt vocals of siblings David and Katie Pope, aided and abetted by Chris Elkin on lead guitar, Fraser Ford on bass guitar, Arion Xenos on keyboards and Jason Sweeney on drums.

A titular twist on the classic gothic horror novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by compatriot James Hogg, the new album is the follow-up to 2017’s You Might Be Smiling Now… and contains the kind of melodies and mockery that led Uncut to class the band as the point at which “Stephin Merritt lies down with The Vaselines.”

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans is a veritable smorgasbord of misery, longing and unrequited love; stories of small town resentments, half-forgotten school friends, failing relationships and awkward workplace conversations. As David explains: “It’s a collection torn from the pages of the diary I haven’t kept over the past 25 years. There are songs about places and people I vaguely remember, feelings I think that I once may have felt and the onset of middle-aged ennui.”

Despite entering new territory with the addition of brass and strings, they have nevertheless maintained the DIY ethos that made them darlings of the underground indie-pop scene, with each song on the album recorded and produced by the band in various gloomy bedrooms around Glasgow.

“glorious pop number from the Just Joans. Just imagine if Arab Strap wanted to be a proper rock band” Austin Town Hall

Fortitude Valley - Wreck [Badge]

Artist: Fortitude Valley
Title: Wreck
Format: 35mm black enamel pin badge on polished silver metalwork, on hand numbered backing card
Cat#: Fika076
Release date: 6th December 2019
Bandcamp | Spotify

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.

Badge for Bandcamp.jpg

Laura explains a little more: “Over the last couple of years I’ve started to feel musically restless and I wanted to try my hand at being the songwriter in a band, but had been going through writer’s block for a couple of years, so I bought a guitar in February 2018 to see if doing something different would help me...and it did! I sent some tracks to Nathan and he told me I should start my own band. I asked him if he’d be in it and he was like “obvs”. I already knew that I liked playing in a band with Greg, so that was easy and I wanted someone on guitar who could shred, so Daniel was an obvious choice. We managed to have a few practices before recording (but only one with all 4 of us, because we live in different cities), but everyone is very good at what they do and it worked out surprisingly well.”


Fortitude Valley - or just The Valley if you’re from Brisbane - is the heart of the city’s music scene; at least it was during Laura’s time playing in bands in Australia 13 years ago, before moving to the UK. It was a place that objectively felt mythical, a suburb with a special meaning, looking back from the other side of the world and many years later. Completing the circle, Fortitude Valley is also named checked in the Martha song Brutalism by the River (Arrhythmia).

Wreck was recorded with Tigercats’ Giles Barrett at Soup Studios in London and mixed and co-produced by Allo Darlin’s Mikey Collins at Big Jelly in Ramsgate. Fortitude Valley will be playing their first show in January 2020 at The Winter Sprinter at The Lexington. They’re finishing their first full length record to be released in the summer of 2020.

Fortitude Valley are Laura Kovic (Tigercats, Mikey Collins, Ski Saigon), Daniel Ellis (Martha, Onsind), Greg Ullyart (Night Flowers, Mikey Collins) and Nathan Stephens Griffin (Martha, Onsind).

“On Wreck, citing influences from The Beths to The Pixies, the sound is one of deliciously driving indie-pop, or in their own words, “awkward power-pop”. The track enters on an easy strum of guitar and Laura’s instantly compelling lyric, “it’s in the silence that I start to fall apart, I hate the way you’re running rings around my heart”. From there the rhythmic hum of bass and drums crashes into place along with a wonderfully meandering lead-guitar line.” For The Rabbits [Wreck video premiere]

“I was charmed right away, but the big hook comes around the 2 minute mark when extra backing vocals are included to really pull on your pop strings. As of right now, the band are wrapping up their debut, so here we are on proverbial pins and needles.” Austin Town Hall

“This is a stimulating and vivid track to start a new project with! ‘Wreck‘ is an amplified pop tune with a highly catchy melody, sweet vocals, and glowing guitars, reminding me of Dinosaur Jr.‘s slacker electricity. The lively and compelling cadence turns this debut into a sparkling humdinger” Turn Up The Volume

“a spritely slice of driven indie pop with melancholy lyrics and harmonies along the way” Collective Zine

“a true indie-pop delight” Indie For Bunnies [Italian]

“a dream group” Mindies [Spanish]

“power-pop at the crossroads with The Beths, Weezer or even Pixies” Fanfare Pop [French]

The Just Joans - The One I Loathe The Least [Digital]

Artist: The Just Joans
Title: The One I Loathe The Least
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika077SG2
Release date: 15th November 2019
Bandcamp | Spotify

Gloomy Glaswegians The Just Joans announce their new album The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans, due out on 11 January via Fika Recordings, by sharing the first single "Dear Diary, I Died Again Today". This painfully beautiful admission of everyday anxiety explores the trauma of awkward conversations with colleagues and vague acquaintances. With a different spin to their usual jangle pop, the inclusion of strings, arranged by Butcher Boy’s Alison Eales, create a dazzlingly maudlin depth to the track.

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans is a deeply personal collection of songs that hazily recall the past and contemplate the futility of the future. At the forefront remain the mischievous lyrics and heartfelt vocals of siblings David and Katie Pope, aided and abetted by Chris Elkin on lead guitar, Fraser Ford on bass guitar, Arion Xenos on keyboards and Jason Sweeney on drums.

A titular twist on the classic gothic horror novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by compatriot James Hogg, the new album is the follow-up to 2017’s You Might Be Smiling Now… and contains the kind of melodies and mockery that led Uncut to class the band as the point at which “Stephin Merritt lies down with The Vaselines.”

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans is a veritable smorgasbord of misery, longing and unrequited love; stories of small town resentments, half-forgotten school friends, failing relationships and awkward workplace conversations. As David explains: “It’s a collection torn from the pages of the diary I haven’t kept over the past 25 years. There are songs about places and people I vaguely remember, feelings I think that I once may have felt and the onset of middle-aged ennui.”

Despite entering new territory with the addition of brass and strings, they have nevertheless maintained the DIY ethos that made them darlings of the underground indie-pop scene, with each song on the album recorded and produced by the band in various gloomy bedrooms around Glasgow.

“Dipped in black humour and tenderness ‘The One I Loathe The Least’ is a bittersweet seesawing ode to friendship and finding someone who hates the same things that you do” God Is In The TV [single premiere]

“Everything they do is witty, and often self-deprecating, but it’s also the finer details in their craft that make their songs so lovable. Here, it’s the sort of forlorn sentiment of the track that brings that wry smile to your face when you discover it truly is a love song. I think the vocal interplay is quite successful too, balancing out the narrative approach of the tune. Fans of orchestral pop and clever lyricisms will surely feel right at home with this tune” Austin Town Hall

The Just Joans - Dear Diary, I Died Again Today [Digital]

Artist: The Just Joans
Title: Dear Diary, I Died Again Today
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika077SG1
Release date: 25th October 2019
Bandcamp | Spotify

Gloomy Glaswegians The Just Joans announce their new album The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans, due out on 11 January via Fika Recordings, by sharing the first single "Dear Diary, I Died Again Today". This painfully beautiful admission of everyday anxiety explores the trauma of awkward conversations with colleagues and vague acquaintances. With a different spin to their usual jangle pop, the inclusion of strings, arranged by Butcher Boy’s Alison Eales, create a dazzlingly maudlin depth to the track.

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans is a deeply personal collection of songs that hazily recall the past and contemplate the futility of the future. At the forefront remain the mischievous lyrics and heartfelt vocals of siblings David and Katie Pope, aided and abetted by Chris Elkin on lead guitar, Fraser Ford on bass guitar, Arion Xenos on keyboards and Jason Sweeney on drums.

A titular twist on the classic gothic horror novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by compatriot James Hogg, the new album is the follow-up to 2017’s You Might Be Smiling Now… and contains the kind of melodies and mockery that led Uncut to class the band as the point at which “Stephin Merritt lies down with The Vaselines.”

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans is a veritable smorgasbord of misery, longing and unrequited love; stories of small town resentments, half-forgotten school friends, failing relationships and awkward workplace conversations. As David explains: “It’s a collection torn from the pages of the diary I haven’t kept over the past 25 years. There are songs about places and people I vaguely remember, feelings I think that I once may have felt and the onset of middle-aged ennui.”

Despite entering new territory with the addition of brass and strings, they have nevertheless maintained the DIY ethos that made them darlings of the underground indie-pop scene, with each song on the album recorded and produced by the band in various gloomy bedrooms around Glasgow.

“The track tackles struggles with anxiety and the trauma of making small talk, taking on a maudlin honesty, a theme which is matched in the music via the additions of some undeniably gorgeous string arrangements. The track see’s Katie Pope, one half of the sibling vocalists who front the band, taking centre stage, accompanied by the sort of orchestral backing that made Monkey Swallows The Universe so utterly charming.” For The Rabbits [single premiere]

“It’s just a perfect little nugget; there’s no need for any percussion, as Pope carries the song in striking fashion; I will admit to being drawn to the horn work hanging out in the distant background” Austin Town Hall

Suggested Friends - Turtle Taxi [12"/CD]

Artist: Suggested Friends
Title: Turtle Taxi
Format: 12” LP on sky blue vinyl / digipack CD
Cat#: Fika075
Release date: 4th October 2019
Bandcamp | Spotify

Suggested Friends are an indie rock quartet with a firm grounding in queer identity, fusing DIY punk roots with the interweaving guitars of 90s indie and a sometimes tongue-in-cheek take on the performative masculinity of 80s rock. There’s a tenderness to their songwriting, with lyrics reflecting on cultural malaise, trauma recovery and the banal absurdity of everyday life. Personal politics can come with an incisively dry sense of humour too.

Turtle Taxi is their second album and demonstrates just how far they’ve come from the raw, scuzzy sounds of their DIY debut; unrepentant in letting the pop hooks loose. The choruses are big, harmonies frequent, and guitar solos abound - this is a lush, textured leap forward. 

Suggested Friends are more confident, acknowledging emotional pain and exploring how this affective space elides with a more expansive sense of injustice in the world.

On Pretty Soon Your Grave Will Be A Landfill the earnestness and absurdity of gaslighting politicians is laid bare, through to the futility of naming social ills and not acting on them on At Ease. The album’s title track, Turtle Taxi, talks about the relationship between love as a labour and the focusing in on life as an opportunity for that to flourish in all directions – (‘teach ‘til I die, let this all pass by…’).

The quieter numbers on the record, such as At Ease or Blooms, recall folkier inspiration such as The Weather Station and Hiss Golden Messenger, through to the alt-pop oddness of Nilufer Yanya and Blood Orange. But for parallels as a socially conscious, high-energy and vulnerable punk pop band, think Martha or Charly Bliss - though they’d argue for that perfect sweet spot between Weezer and Abba!

Recorded in rural Norfolk over two separate sessions a year apart, album was able to flourish into a more collaborative effort, incorporating Faith’s wife Meghan on percussion and Sickroom Studio's Owen on trumpet - plus plenty of time to experiment with overdubs and piano flourishes to up that classic-rock vibe that simmers just under the surface.

Suggested Friends formed in late 2015 following a chance meeting at a gig between Christabel (drums) and Faith (guitar and vocals). They were soon joined by Jack on guitar, who had met Faith through an activist group in London. Mammoth Penguins’ Emma Kupa is the most recent addition on bass, having worked with Faith on a number of projects over the past four years.   

“it’s indiepop with an emphasis on “pop,” as their new album Turtle Taxi, just released on HHBTM/Fika Recordings, is ultra-catchy, harmony-forward, and crunchy. (They’re not afraid to drop a flashy guitar solo, either.) Singer/guitarist Faith Taylor has a clear, powerful voice — she really belts it out — and you could imagine Suggested Friends being huge in the early ’90s (or the ’80s). Popular tastes may change hourly, but music like this is pretty evergreen.” Brooklyn Vegan

“There are some beautiful guitar licks here that you wish were longer and make you press replay. More folk-pop than punk-rock, this album deals with love, loss, death and landfill. Turtle Taxi has personality and humour and I was hooked from the very first track” Buzz [5/5]

“Suggested Friends have a delivered a melodic album that includes more flavours than upmarket ice cream parlour, DIY punk, emo, country, twee-pop, indie rock, folk and even posturing 80’s rock are all present in a sound that is underpinned by a firm grounding in queer identity and political awareness.” The Punk Site

“Standouts like "Cygnets" and the title track are rife with sweet vocal harmonies, a sharp melodic sense, and thoughtful guitar work that veers from subtle dreampop voicings to chugging classic rock riffs and guitarmony breakdowns.” All Music

“Suggested Friends interweave tongue-in-cheek masculinity with their generous blend of country, jangle pop and folk-rock. It’s a collection of ten bombastic, hook-filled bangers… Suggested Friends have made an infectious records with lyrics an entire generation can identify with – a winning duo.” Balloon Machine

“I genuinely can't tell if Suggested Friends are more likely to have listened to classic AOR like Fleetwood Mac or Boston or whatever you hear on mainstream daytime radio, than they are to have listened to DIY contemporaries Personal Best and Muncie Girls and Sheer Mag. But Turtle Taxi's songs share a common ground with all of these artists in sounding like they were written for car journeys and drunken parties and romantic recriminations.” Did Not Chart

“It's laden with quality songs from the opening pairing of the wistful “Imminent” and the nostalgic imagery of “Cygnets” which are both excellent slices of power pop through to the closing pairing of the resilient “For Jokes” and the slower but no less powerful “Magnolia”. Likely to be listening to this one a lot this year.” Collective Zine

“Across the record there are melodic references to the best of power-pop with the Martha-like bouncing guitar of ‘Cygnets’, and of indie-rock with the Weezer surf jangle of ‘G.N.A’, and even the prosaic MOR of Fleetwood Mac is lifted in the subtle melody and cutting lyrics of ‘Bloom’. With Turtle Taxi Suggested Friends have honed their sound and in their honesty found even greater strength. You can hum these tunes and dance along and hear the joke but not what was suffered, as with the very best pop music, but it’s when you let yourself really feel as much as hear what’s going on that this album becomes really great.” Popoptica

“Suggested Friends have again tackled important issues with wit and wondrous melodies. You’ll want to take a ride in this particular Turtle Taxi” Spectral Nights

“This record is loaded with gorgeous hooks and melodies, and I can’t come up with enough superlatives to keep writing, so I’m just going to tell you to buy this record while I go listen to it for the sixth time in a row” Keep Track of the Time

“Turtle Taxi is an album for outsiders and insiders. With its on point observations, lo-fi but effective sound it's destined to be an underground favourite, an epithet that is a guarantee for longevity.” Here Comes The Flood

“a really incredible listen that captivates from the beginning to the end” Thinking Lyrically

“beaming confidence and radiant with classic indie melodies” The Autumn Roses

“The playing is inspired and the vocals are absolutely gorgeous. This album is bound to be a hit among fans of underground pop all around the world. Well-crafted music with a cool consciousness.” BabySue

“brilliantly distinct, wrapping their varying influences in to one rabid burst of lofi indie-rock” Gold Flake Paint

“frighteningly good in a way that most stuff called frighteningly good just isn’t” Everett True, The Friendly Critic

“a bright, fun, sparkly album with raw and to the point lyrics – there’s no hiding from the wit. Check it out; you’ll be hooked” Loud Women

“SF borrows from punk, power pop and 80's alternative, seamlessly blending the styles to create a unique identity for each of their songs” YKeep

When The Horn Blows [interview]

Suggested Friends - For Jokes [Digital]

Artist: Suggested Friends
Title: For Jokes
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika075SG3
Release date: 13th September 2019
Bandcamp | Spotify

Queer DIY punks SUGGESTED FRIENDS have revealed a feline-fan-pleasing new video for their latest single ‘For Jokes’ that follows a day in the life of front woman Faith’s cat, Clarice. 

The single is out now, the latest to be taken from their new album Turtle Taxi which is released on 4th October 2019 via Fika Recordings, with the record available to preorder now.

Alongside the single, the quartet are delighted to announce an extensive run of November 2019 UK headline ‘Turtle Taxi Tour’ live dates (see below for listings) with tickets on sale now. 

“I decided to feature my cat Clarice in the video because she's been a long term stabilising presence in my life,” says Taylor of the video, “and is someone that I learn a lot from about taking small steps to counter fear. The video documents her struggles on a day where there was a dog in our front yard—she cycled through so many phases of venturing outside and then running back in, and I think her process of resting and rewarding herself after each attempt is very relatable.”

Commenting on the track itself, she continues: “This song is about trying not to give too much power to negative interactions or past situations. It's also about reclaiming an authentic or sincere understanding of the ways things have affected you. When I sing ‘it wasn't all for jokes, those were genuine words I spoke’, I'm describing efforts to liberate myself from the habit of making stuff into a comical anecdote rather than acknowledging its importance.”

Ahead of the newly announced run of live dates, they will also be supporting Camp Cope on 26th September in Nottingham alongside Witching Waves, appearing at Nottingham Pop All-Dayer 2019 and Weenfest 2019, and will be playing a special album launch show at The Shacklewell Arms in London on 9th October 2019. 

Previous singles ‘Cygnets’ and ‘Turtle Taxi’ went down a storm with fans old and new, scoring coverage from magazines and blogs including UPSET, Vulture Hound, Austin Town Hall, When The Horn Blows, Balloon Machine and more. The band previously received a surge of early praise from the blogosphere including GoldFlakePaint, Too Many Blogs, The Grey Estates, For The Rabbits, Get In Her Ears, Loud Women, GigSlutz, and Spectral Nights, alongside early radio support from BBC Wales.

Turtle Taxi is released 4th October 2019 on Fika Recordings

Suggested Friends live:

26.09.19 - Nottingham - Metronome (w/ Camp Cope)
09.10.19 - London - The Shacklewell Arms (album launch show)
12.10.19 - Nottingham - The Old Cold Store - 2019 Nottingham Pop All-Dayer
27.10.19 - London - DIY Space For London - Weenfest 2019
09.11.19 - Bristol - The Exchange
10.11.19 - Cardiff - The Moon
11.11.19 - Oxford - The Library
12.11.19 - Sheffield - Cafe Totem
13.11.19 - Leeds - CHUNK
14.11.19 - Liverpool - Craft Taproom
15.11.19 - Bradford - 1in12
16.11.19 - Edinburgh - Brig Below
17.11.19 - Glasgow - Glad Cafe

Suggested Friends - Turtle Taxi [Digital]

Artist: Suggested Friends
Title: Turtle Taxi
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika075SG2
Release date: 23rd August 2019
Bandcamp | Spotify

Queer DIY punks SUGGESTED FRIENDS are pleased to reveal a homemade video for their latest single ‘Turtle Taxi’, which is out now, and is the title track from their forthcoming second record. The band are set to release their new album Turtle Taxi on 4th October 2019 via Fika Recordings, with the record available to preorder now.

Commenting on the new single, guitarist and vocalist Faith Taylor said: “This song is about enjoying the ways that time stretches out when you’ve allowed yourself to be in nourishing relationships. It’s a celebration of rest and healing, and how a supportive and mutual bond can help to dismantle the urge to be constantly productive. Plus it’s a little bit about collecting jars and liking dogs. The song’s refrain—”I’ll be your honest turtle taxi”—is a reference to a ridiculous game I play in swimming pools with my partner. It’s all about finding that space for recreation and play as an adult, basically.”

The band recently announced they will be supporting Camp Cope on 26th September in Nottingham alongside Witching Waves, and will also appear at Nottingham Pop All-Dayer 2019 and Weenfest 2019, and will be playing a special album launch show at The Shacklewell Arms in London on 9th October 2019. Further live dates TBA (see below for listings).

Previous single ‘Cygnets’ went down a storm with fans old and new, scoring coverage from magazines and blogs including UPSET, Vulture Hound, Austin Town Hall, When The Horn Blows, Balloon Machine and more.

The band have previously received a surge of early praise from the blogosphere including GoldFlakePaint, Too Many Blogs, The Grey Estates, For The Rabbits, Get In Her Ears, Loud Women, GigSlutz, and Spectral Nights, alongside early radio support from BBC Wales.

Suggested Friends live

Sep 26 - Nottingham - Metronome (w/ Camp Cope)
Oct 9 - London - The Shacklewell Arms (album launch show)
Oct 12 - Nottingham - The Old Cold Store - 2019 Nottingham Pop All-Dayer
Oct 25 - London - DIY Space For London - Weenfest 2019
Nov 9 - Bristol - The Exchange
Nov 10 - Cardiff - The Moon
Nov 11 - Oxford - The Library
Nov 12 - Sheffield - Cafe Totem
Nov 13 - Leeds - CHUNK
Nov 14 - Liverpool - Craft Taproom
Nov 15 - Bradford - 1in12 Club
Nov 16 - Edinburgh - Brig Below
Nov 17 - Glasgow - Glad Cafe

Suggested Friends - Cygnets [Digital]

Artist: Suggested Friends
Title: Cygnets
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika075SG1
Release date: 2nd August 2019
Bandcamp | Spotify

We’re delighted to announce the second album from queer DIY punks SUGGESTED FRIENDS is coming out on Fika later this year, with Turtle Taxi set for release on 4th October 2019. .

The band recently announced they will be supporting Camp Cope on 26th September in Nottingham alongside Witching Waves, and will also appear at Nottingham Pop All-Dayer 2019 and Weenfest 2019, and will be playing a special album launch show at The Shacklewell Arms in London on 9th October 2019. Further live dates TBA (see below for listings).

To celebrate the news, the band are streaming lead single ‘Cygnets’ in full today, accompanied by a hometaped video filmed in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia on the band’s recent 2018 US tour dates: https://youtu.be/dRQxXn8T5_I 

Commenting on the new single, guitarist and vocalist Faith Taylor said: “This song documents the uneasy process of learning to trust yourself and therefore also trust other people. It refers to ‘digital birds’ because my bird-sound alarm clock mixed in with the sounds of the actual dawn chorus and became a metaphor for discerning which messages and voices to believe. The song was written in ten minutes because I forgot I’d promised to bring some new material to a rehearsal. It ended up being one of our favourites ever!”

Suggested Friends are an indie rock quartet with a firm grounding in queer identity, fusing DIY punk roots with the interweaving guitars of 90s indie and a sometimes tongue-in-cheek take on the performative masculinity of 80s rock. There’s a tenderness to their songwriting, with lyrics reflecting on cultural malaise, trauma recovery and the banal absurdity of everyday life. Personal politics can come with an incisively dry sense of humour too.

Turtle Taxi is their second album and demonstrates just how far they’ve come from the raw, scuzzy sounds of their DIY debut; unrepentant in letting the pop hooks loose. The choruses are big, harmonies frequent, and guitar solos abound—this is a lush, textured leap forward. 

Suggested Friends are more confident, acknowledging emotional pain and exploring how this affective space elides with a more expansive sense of injustice in the world. 

On ‘Pretty Soon Your Grave Will Be A Landfill’ the earnestness and absurdity of gaslighting politicians is laid bare, through to the futility of naming social ills and not acting on them on ‘At Ease’. The album’s title track, ‘Turtle Taxi’, talks about the relationship between love as a labour and the focusing-in on life as an opportunity for that to flourish in all directions—(‘teach ‘til I die, let this all pass by…’).

The quieter numbers on the record, such as ‘At Ease’ or ‘Blooms’, recall folkier inspiration such as The Weather Station and Hiss Golden Messenger, through to the alt-pop oddness of Nilufer Yanya and Blood Orange. But for parallels as a socially conscious, high-energy and vulnerable punk pop band, think Martha or Charly Bliss—though they’d argue for that perfect sweet spot between Weezer and Abba!

Recorded in rural Norfolk over two separate sessions a year apart, the album was able to flourish into a more collaborative effort—incorporating Faith’s wife Meghan on percussion and Sickroom Studio's Owen on trumpet—plus plenty of time to experiment with overdubs and piano flourishes to up that classic-rock vibe that simmers just under the surface.

Suggested Friends formed in late 2015 following a chance meeting at a gig between Christabel (drums) and Faith (guitar and vocals). They were soon joined by Jack on guitar, who had met Faith through an activist group in London. Mammoth Penguins’ Emma Kupa is the most recent addition on bass, having worked with Faith on a number of projects over the past four years. 

The band have previously received a surge of early praise from the blogosphere including GoldFlakePaint, Too Many Blogs, The Grey Estates, For The Rabbits, Get In Her Ears, Loud Women, GigSlutz, and Spectral Nights, alongside early radio support from BBC Wales.

Further live dates TBA.

Turtle Taxi is released 4th October 2019 on Fika Recordings

Suggested Friends live:

26.09.19 - Nottingham - Metronome (w/ Camp Cope)
09.10.19 - London - The Shacklewell Arms (album launch show)
12.10.19 - Nottingham - The Old Cold Store - 2019 Nottingham Pop All-Dayer
25.10.19 - London - DIY Space For London - Weenfest 2019