On the 16th of May we're hosting Steven Adams & The French Drops, following the release of their new album Virtue Signals on Hudson Records.
Support comes from Mammoth Penguins. Advance tickets are available for £10 from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings.
Steven Adams & The French Drops on tour: Wed 2nd May - Castle Hotel, Manchester Fri 4th May - The Cluny 2, Newcastle Sat 5th May Fulford Arms, York Sun 6th May - The Shakespeare, Sheffield Wed 16th May - Boston Music Room, London
Artist: Math and Physics Club
Title: Lived Here Before
Format: 12" album on heavyweight pale blue vinyl
Cat#: Fika063
Release date: 26th January 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes
Math and Physics Club’s fourth studio album, Lived Here Before, sees the band stretching confidently into new territory while featuring all the carefully constructed pop handicraft we’ve come to expect from these Pacific Northwest lads.
Working from a makeshift studio in the wilds of Snohomish, Washington, with fabled grunge producer Chris Hanzsek (Soundgarden, Green River), the band recorded eleven songs over four days in the company of Douglas firs and Swainson’s Thrushes.
Longtime fans will still recognise the band’s upbeat sound set against often bittersweet storytelling, but there’s also a darker, more world-weary undercurrent that feels earned with the passage of time, or perhaps as a reflection of the “times” themselves.
The lead track ‘Threadbare’ sets the tone with its Shins-esque beat and close-up intimacy, followed by a powerful push-me-pull-you between the verses and choruses, sweet and sad.
‘The Pull of the Tides’ evokes bands like The Ocean Blue and The Softies and sets up one of the album’s more subtle tracks, ‘Like Cinnamon,’ which flips the dynamic between music and lyrics with its brooding backdrop.
Side two’s opener, ‘Dear Madeline,’ is vintage Math and Physics Club with intertwining guitars and soft brushes beautifully set against one of the band’s more poignant vignettes.
The mood shifts to agitation with ‘Take a Number’ which paints a more insidious type of darkness, fueled by its dueling guitar riffs and percussive flourishes. The album’s title is also pulled from one of its lyrics.
The album closes in characteristic economy with ‘Drive to You’ which features an arrangement stripped down to simply two guitars and a lilting melody, accented with subtle organ. It’s a fitting end note that reaches back to the band’s earlier days and leaves us feeling a bit more sweet than bitter, which seems just about right.
Math and Physics Club currently hails from Seattle and Olympia and other parts of the Pacific Northwest. They appeared to burst onto the scene in 2005 with their debut EP Weekends Away that garnered international attention, but in reality the band had been taking shape in the hearts and basements of childhood friends Charles Bert (vocals) and James Werle (guitar) since the mid-1990s. Never in a hurry, it took nearly a decade before they found Ethan Jones (bass), Kevin Emerson (drums), and Saundrah Humphrey (violin) to complete the lineup, but it was worth the wait.
By 2007, parenthood left less time to devote to the band for several members. They still managed to release a third EP ‘Baby I’m Yours’ in the fall of 2007, but only played a few shows in 2008 and none in 2009. Saundrah left the band during this time and moved to Denmark, and later Kevin also officially left to focus on his writing career (though he has continued to record with the band).
In 2016 they released a retrospective (“In This Together”), a collection of the previous 10 years of EPs, b-sides rarities, all available on vinyl for the first time, and their first release with Fika Recordings.
"Folks smitten with the jangle at the core of C86 and the output of Sarah Records will likely be chuffed, and the songs here are so well-conceived that comparisons to the Go-Betweens or Robert Scott’s work in The Bats are right on the money. But hey, if these comparisons leave you stumped, it’s a safe bet that if you dig The Shins and/or Luna, you’ll like this, too." The Vinyl District [A-]
"MAPC's strongest set of songs to date. Put it all together and it's the best record the band has done and some really fine indie pop" All Music [4/5]
"the core of this band's genius are songs that meld endearing melodies with lyrics that hit home, and the eleven songs of Lived Here Before are the strongest overall statement the band has made to date. They have always had the knack for concise and interesting expressions, whether sweet or bittersweet, and are not shy about interjecting self-deprecatory humor. However, the added years have provided a well-earned depth of experiences to layer into the sweet-sounding confections. The result is an album that is richly rewarding for any indie pop fan." When You Motor Away
"Marblemouth sounds like a slowed-down Bluetones and there’s some lovely little Smiths-esque riffs on the poppy Threadbare. The initial utters of love hit a peak on Broadcasting Waves with lyrics like, “I built a radio tower to signal your heart”" NARC [3/5]
"light and airy with lyrical themes that are wistful and nostalgic with plenty of bittersweet lyrics about regret and disappointment. The Go-Betweens may be the most obvious comparison but there's something very-Real Estate about the guitar on tracks like "The Pull of the Tides"" Collective Zine
"The first thing I notice about the new songs is that they carry a softer tone, almost akin to early Death Cab stuff" Austin Town Hall
Artist: Jessica's Brother
Title: Overnight Horror
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika065SG1
Release date: 29th December 2017
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes
We're pleased to announce that we've added Jessica's Brother to the Fika Recordings family!
Jessica’s Brother first started playing together in October 2016 when Jonny Helm (drums, also of The Wave Pictures) asked Charlie Higgs (bass, previously of Ramshackle Union Band) to come and play some songs written by Tom Charleston (Jessica’s Brother). The trio clicked immediately, and just 9 months later recorded the album with Laurie Sherman at The Cube and with Darren Hayman. A few friends joined them in the studio, including Dan Mayfield on violin (Enderby’s Room) and Paul Rains on guitar and slide guitar (Allo Darlin’ / Tigercats).
There's a single out now to give you a taste of what to expect from them in 2018, but if you're a fan of Silver Jews, Jason Molina, Richard Thompson or Neil Young, we think you'll find something to love in their gothic country.
Tom Charleston describes Overnight Horror as “a fever-dream about the corruption of greed and the ill-fated pursuit of material over family and friends. It is a dark story, told by a delirious man who’s left haunted by what he’s done”.
Presented by
Fika Recordings, WIAIWYA and Gare du Nord
Tues 2 January - Fri 5 January at The Lexington, London, N1
4 day early bird passes available for £34.50 and individual day tickets for £11 adv at www.wegottickets.com/fikarecordings
Tues 2 Jan: The Surfing Magazines Pete Astor Jessica’s Brother
Wed 3 Jan: Steven Adams & The French Drops Fever Dream Charmpit
Thurs 4 Jan: Laetitia Sadier The Leaf Library Enderby’s Room
Fri 5 Jan: Darren Hayman Ralegh Long Picturebox
Four nights, three labels, twelve bands, DJs… the perfect antidote to the post-Christmas blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington. Thanks to Track & Field and Fortuna POP!; without their previous stewardships of the Winter Sprinter, we'd all be sat at home feeling glum the first week of January.
The Surfing Magazines
The Surfing Magazines are a new garage-rock group consisting of two thirds of The Wave Pictures and one half of Slow Club. Consisting of David Tattersall and Franic Rozycki of The Wave Pictures, Charles Watson of Slow Club and drummer Dominic Brider. Not content with their already ferocious work rate, with three album releases in 2016 alone and over twenty in total between them; members of The Wave Pictures and Slow Club’s 11-track debut as Surfing Magazines is an intriguing and exciting mishmash of musical styles – soundtrack surf, weird pop and Americana. Pulling in influence from all of the great surf music of the 60s and the band’s musical inspirations of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, the band are professedly ‘at war’ with today’s pretentious prog-indie-rock millionaires and bongo pop demigods. They intend to ‘rock out and blow your mind, and then mellow out and soothe your mind, then rock out again’.
Pete Astor
Pete has made records as part of The Loft, The Weather Prophets, The Wisdom of Harry and Ellis Island Sound on Creation, Matador, Heavenly and more. He released Spilt Milk on Fortuna Pop in 2016 and has now signed to Tapete Records, home of The Clientele, Lloyd Cole and The Monochrome Set. Pete has been recording a new album with with James Hoare (Ultimate Painting, Proper Ornaments, Veronica Falls) on guitar and The Wave Pictures’ rhythm section of Franic Rozycki on bass and Jonny Helm on drums.
Jessica’s Brother
Jessica’s Brother are singer songwriter Tom Charleston, bass player Charlie Higgs (formerly of The Ramshackle Union Band), and drummer Jonny 'Huddersfield' Helm (of The Wave Pictures). They make rock music with strong Americana influences, and a twist of English gothic darkness.
Steven Adams & The French Drops
In the wake of critically acclaimed solo album, 2016's intimate 'Old Magick', and several years of one man shows, Steven Adams has a new band. He's joined by Daniel Fordham and David Stewart, rhythm section with psych-folk oddballs The Drink, guitarist Michael Wood (Singing Adams/The Leaf Library/Hayman Kupa Band) and a rotating cast of guest musicians. Steven Adams, aka, The Singing Adams, aka Steven James Adams, was in The Broken Family Band.
Fever Dream
Fever Dream play dark, fuzzy, menacing music that blurs the line from noisy shoegaze to angular post-punk. Intense, melodic and expansive, they are a real treat live and have really good hair.
Charmpit
Originally from California but now based out of South-East London, self-described ‘pop punk anarcuties’ Charmpit mash up sugary sweet melodies, lo-fi production and semi-serious subject matter to take a stab at society’s injustices whilst still keeping everything suitably fun. The band formed for the First Timers festival at DIY Space For London last year, a festival where every band on the line-up is playing their first show.
Laetitia Sadier
Lætitia Sadier has arguably one of the most recognizable voices in music. Since arriving on the European indie scene back in 1991 with the first Stereolab EP, Super 45, Sadier’s vocal and lyrical approach has remained consistent: She applies her crystalline alto to lyrics that explore philosophy and political inequality through a Marxist lens. In Stereolab and as a solo artist, Sadier’s musical tastes have tended to skew nostalgic, mixing influences of 1960s pop from the U.S. and Brazil, easy listening, and German kosmische.
The Leaf Library
The Leaf Library make droney, two-chord, pop that00!0!00s stuck halfway between the garage and the bedroom, all topped with lyrical love songs to buildings, stationery and the weather.
Enderby’s Room
Enderby’s Room is fiddle player Dan Mayfield, once from rural Lincolnshire, but he has now found home living in London. His folk tinged songs reflect on his traditional folk upbringing. Mayfield has played violin for many artists including Daniel Johnston, Darren Hayman, The Wave Pictures, Allo Darlin’ and the Belles of London City morris dancers.
Darren Hayman
Darren Hayman is a thoughtful, concise and detailed songwriter. He eschews the big, the bright and the loud for the small, twisted and lost. Hayman has taken a singular and erratic route through England’s tired and heartbroken underbelly.
Formerly the singer-songwriter of Hefner, Darren Hayman has developed an increasingly idiosyncratic solo career. In recent years Darren has released four albums under his own name - Chants for Socialists where he set William Morris’ words to music; the sister remix album Dubs for Socialists; the album Florence, recorded in Italy; and an album for children called Folk Lullabies for Children and the Childless. As well as writing and recording as himself, Darren has also recorded an album with the band he’s formed with Emma Kupa of Mammoth Penguins (The Hayman Kupa Band), played drums for Papernut Cambridge, keyboards for The Great Electric, and released an EP with his experimental electronic duo Brute Love.
Darren has also has been working on an ongoing, hugely ambitious folk project called Thankful Villages, visiting all fifty four 'Thankful Villages', a village in Britain where every soldier returned alive from World War One. Darren visited each of these and, focusing on village life, made a piece of music, a painting and a short film for every one. Some take the form of instrumentals inspired by the location, some are interviews with village residents set to music, others are new songs with lyrics or found local traditional songs.
Ralegh Long
English Songwriter Ralegh Long released his recent album Upwards of Summer earlier this year, which won the Help Musician's UK / PledgeMusic Emerging Artist's Award. There is a marked change of pace from his previous records Hoverance and We Are in the Fields, with the jangle of chorus guitars, mandolins and anthemic hooks calling to mind bands such as R.E.M, The DB's, and the Go-Betweens. Written during a time of personal change, when Long was unsure if he was going to continue making music, Upwards of Summer is a revelation.
He released his debut album Hoverance to critical acclaim in 2015. Leaving his adopted London, Long returned to his childhood home to write an album of singular grace and simplicity, steeped in natural imagery and "Spooky pastoralism" (MOJO). Hoverance and its follow-up E.P We Are in the Fields (2016) won praise from The Guardian for their “twilit ambience and demented beauty” and from Sky Arts as "calling to mind the atmosphere of Nick Drake".
Picturebox
Melodic indie pop music from the cathedral city of Canterbury. Songs about girls, animals, football, anything, everything, nothing. They’ve released two albums on Gare Du Nord and are currently finishing off their third. Leader Robert Halcrow is also involved in the FXU2 project with Jack Hayter and Citizen Helene, and also plays bass for Papernut Cambridge and more recently Twink & The Bare Nodes.
Artist: The Just Joans
Title: You Might Be Smiling Now...
Format: 12" album on heavyweight black vinyl | CD in digifile sleev
Cat#: Fika062LP | Fika062CD
Release date: 1st December 2017
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes
Cult Scottish miserabilists The Just Joans are delighted to be releasing their first new album in more than a decade, following the band’s signing to Fika Recordings.
Formed in Glasgow in 2005, The Just Joans have evolved from a shambling two-piece to an accomplished sextet that embraces rivalry and relationship in the vocals of siblings, David and Katie Pope.
Once described as ‘the missing link between The Magnetic Fields and The Proclaimers’, the band have used self-awareness and self-deprecation to continuously explore themes of angst, heartbreak and detachment in their songs.
From their 2006 debut album Last Tango in Motherwell through a series of successful EPs, to 2012’s compilation Buckfast Bottles In The Rain, the acerbic wit in David Pope’s observational lyrics have helped make the band a firm favourite of the indie-pop scene. Their rise has seen them play a plethora of international festivals, such as Wales Goes Pop, Indiefjords, NYC Popfest, and of course the Indietracks festival, of which they have been long-standing cult favourites since their first appearance in 2008.
The band are excited to release You Might Be Smiling Now…, a self-recorded and produced collection of new songs. The release offers more of the same cynicism, but from an older if not necessarily wiser perspective as evidenced on lead single No Longer Young Enough and You Make Me Physically Sick (Let’s Start Having Children) is a jaundiced slice of toybox pop that crosses The Human League and Harold Steptoe.
Complementing this shift in tone comes a more polished electronic sound on tracks A Matter of Time and Someone Else That You Like More Than Me while O' Caledonia sails along at a blistering pace like no Just Joans lament before it.
Despite the band’s obvious maturity, You Might Be Smiling Now... still manages to maintain all the emotional charm and whimsical melodies that led The List to view The Just Joans as ‘a lovable blend of sleepy acoustic guitars, Brian Wilson-esque harmonies and West Coast sarcasm.’
Discussing the new album, singer-songwriter David Pope:
“You Might Be Smiling Now... could be considered a loose concept album. The songs detail the confusion in my teenage years, the horror of my twenties and the terror of my encroaching middle age. It's somewhat self-indulgent, but I hope that these wee stories about small town boredom, drunken romance and misty-eyed nostalgia resonate with the other overgrown teenagers out there in their mid-thirties.”
The Just Joans are David Pope (vocals and guitar), Katie Pope (vocals), Chris Elkin (lead guitar), Fraser Ford (bass guitar), Doog Cameron (keyboards) and Jason Sweeney (drums).
"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. They're at their best on Big Blue Moon, Katie Pope's voice soaring above bathos like the stars coming out over Sauciehall Street." Uncut [6/10]
"it’s a refined downer, enriched by self-lacerating wit (I Only Smoke When I Drink), indie-boy piss-takes (Sleeperbloke), story-song skills (unwanted-pregnancy tale Johnny (Have You Come Lately)) and briefly off-guard touches of synth-pop wistfulness (Big Blue Moon). Best of all is Spector-on-a-budget shimmy No Longer Young Enough, a wise-up call for middle-aged dreamers with just one caveat: the Joans’ own cynicism has improved with age. But don’t tell them, or they might go cheering up." Record Collector [4/5]
"You Might be Smiling Now… is a sharper, on-the-nose take on indie pop, proving the Just Joans may be older, but, in their own whimsically nostalgic way, perhaps no wiser, and for that we can only be glad." The List [4/5]
"You Might Be Smiling Now... is lyrically smart, funny, and terrifyingly relatable. The Just Joans might not be universally understood, but for those of us dealing with the grievances of getting older while simultaneously not feeling ready for adulthood, this is our affirmation." The Skinny [4/5]
"The similarities with Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura in procuring breezy pop melodies combined with intelligent wordplay exist, but on their second album The Just Joans draw more similarities to the American counterpart of all of the above [Leonard Cohen] - Stephen Merritt and his band The Magnetic Fields." Soundblab [8/10]
"They’ve dredged up their youthful feelings and animated them in both honest and affectionate tones, and it makes You Might Be Smiling Now… a joyous rummage through swathes of bleary nostalgia." The 405 [8/10]
"Their latest record continues their tradition of smart, cynical and relatable sing-alongs, but injects some musical playfulness that’s been missing until now." Music OMH
"The Just Joans new album You Might Be Smiling Now... is funny, poignant, sometimes sad look back into the bands memories. And its rather lovely." Backseat Mafia [8.2/10]
"a charming slice of downbeat indie pop, inhabiting a similar musical world to their label-mates The Hayman Kupa Band and Belle and Sebastian." Morning Star
"The Just Joans are kind of like the Krankies set to indie-pop. They peddle sweet melodies that make the BMX Bandits sound like Slayer and sing on top of them with Scottish accents as thick as a porridge on a winter's morning. But if their winsomeness is sometimes set to 'grate' then their saving grace is a clutch of lovely songs that recall the timeless miniature pop of the likes of the Magnetic Fields. The standout is 'Steal the Keys (1996 Tears)' a future indie-pop classic in which it occurs to me that the Scottish pronunciation of 'six' sounds a little like 'sex' making the closing chorus contains sound like '1990's sex tears' which pretty much sums up my '90s. It's not an anomaly though - there are other treasures here - 'A Matter of Time' in particular is near perfect electronic indie with a chorus so catchy that I've just emerged from the clinic for treatment." Norman Records [7/10]
"You Might Be Smiling Now… is a deliciously twisted treat from start to finish. The Just Joans are a perfect Glasgow kiss not to be missed." Highway Queens
Today we're releasing your final preview from the new record from The Just Joans! David Pope of The Just Joans had this to say about the track: "it is an ode to the tragicomedy that is the weekend. TFI Friday quickly evaporates to be replaced by FML Sunday, and the perpetual search for someone to stay in with inevitably ends in heartache and hangovers".
You can listen to it on Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes
The album is out on the 1st of December, and we're shipping all pre-orders out now to ensure you get your copy ahead of the official shop date. So if you're after the heavyweight vinyl or the CD, then head over to the Fika Recordings shop and buy your copy - you'll get an immediate download of all 4 tracks we've released so far too. Buy The Just Joans "You Might Be Smiling Now..." on vinyl, CD or digitally.
"an exploration of angst, heartbreak and detachment, delivered with a flash of humour from the bottle of a whisky bottle (or should that be a Buckfast bottle). Their sound is classically indie-pop, coming across like Belle and Sebastian’s less well-to-do cousins, or Morrissey if he spent like time trying to look poetic and more time trying to impress the opposite sex with knee slides." For The Rabbits [I Only Smoke When I Drink premiere]
Following on from last year's (long since sold out) 10 year retrospective from Math and Physics Club, we're chuffed to announce they'll be releasing their fourth studio album Lived Here Before in January 2018. We'll be working alongside our good friends at Matinee Recordings for this one, and we'll have a heavyweight blue 12" vinyl version ready for you in the new year. But in case that's too long to wait, there's a digital single from the album out today too. All the Mains are Down is available from all the usual outlets, and you can pre-order the LP from our shop now.
All the Mains are Down - Math and Physics Club Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes
We've another new track from The Just Joans' forthcoming album You Might Be Smiling Now... for you! O' Caledonia is the opening song on the album, and David Pope from the band describes it like this...
"‘O Caledonia’ is a song inspired by my four-year-old niece who is, as yet, completely oblivious to the pain, misery and heartache that lies in wait just around the corner. This is our message to the young: You Might Be Smiling Now... Perhaps it’s the legacy of John Calvin and strict Northern Presbyterianism. Perhaps it’s the miserable weather and shite football. Either way, there feels a peculiar doom-laden cynicism at the heart of the Scottish psyche. Life is long and hard and filled with sin and guilt, and that’s the way it’s meant to be. Enjoy the song - or, actually, don’t enjoy the song. Just set your face against the wind and endure it."
"The Just Joans are back, bigger and better than ever… The band is now a sextet, and the multitude of instrumentation and melodic input has inflated their sound to grander and weightier size, without losing any of the charm, bitterness or dynamism that makes them a noteworthy, humorous and thoroughly enjoyable listen in any situation." The 405
Fika Recordings, WIAIWYA and Gare du Nord proudly present the return of annual Winter Sprinter!
Four nights, three labels, twelve bands, DJs… the perfect antidote to the post-Christmas blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.
Thanks to Track & Field and Fortuna Pop; without their previous stewardships of the Winter Sprinter, we'd all be sat at home feeling glum the first week of January.
A limited number of super early bird 4 day passes are available now for £32 from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings. Keep an eye on the website, our Twitter and Facebook pages to keep up to date on the line up announcements!
