MONDAY 14th DECEMBER in London town!!!

Christmas time again – what joy! So we thought that it was probably our duty to throw a nice festive bash in London town – and make it as damn sweaty as we can! So we invited 4 of the finest bands this good nation has to offer, grabbed a piece of intimate venue (The Social, W1) and prepared some pretty tasty goodie bags for the first 20 people through the door.

Expect snow, Christmas decorations and general loveliness too – as well as a lush 7 track Alcopop sampler free for every person who comes through the door. 

Where else do you get all this for a fiver?



(Father) Tellison – need no introduction! And this is their only London show of what remains of 2009…. Indie pop deliciousness from utter legends! 



(Rudolph the red nosed) Stagecoach – Seminal popstars from deep within the Surrey hills, and even deeper in the Alcopop heart. Imagine Americana pop lavished in melody, harmony and rock n roll sensibilities.

(We wish you a merry) My First Tooth – Prettier than a whole barrel of peaches and dearest siblings of Team PoP, My First Tooth will treat your heart to its biggest workout since Bambi. Folk-kissed indie pop you will literally die for. 



(Frosty the) Aspen Sails – Newest kids on the block, Aspen Sails are a lush duo who pedal lovingly crafted folk pop, ideally enjoyed with a sherry or two. 



Plus Alcopop DJs will be battling excellent online music boys The 405… Expect bombs dropped from all sides!

Would be delicious to see you… You can pre-order tickets (that will be a smidgen cheaper than on the door) here! It’s gonna be a cracker! Tellison have rocked up already see!

Ah – who says good things can last forever! It is with great sadness that I must announce the departure of Alcopop Records and Stagecoach, due to a significant change of direction. You see, in love as we are with these charming Americana indie gents from the rolling hills of surrey, we just couldn’t commit to releasing their new single – which their drummer, Matt, dropped on our doorstep today (video can be seen by clicking here, still below), before flexing a sinewy bicep and thrusting himself powerfully away.

We loved a bit of dub-step, acoustic was awesome with us, and pop is of course much loved in the Alco quarters… But the ‘sexy fun’ direction they had taken just didn’t quite lay entirely in tune with our current roster.

In better news however, The Coach have signed up with former early 90’s dance star, and one-time muso Ray Slijngaard, formerly of 2 Unlimited, and failed record label owner Kevin Campbell, and are working on a disco/ R&B album of anthems. A change in direction perhaps, but expect it to be topping the charts pretty soon….

ps: Hehe Back in real life, look for a new release from Stagecoach a-coming (albeit with less biceps and more guitars) muy, muy soon… You’re seriously going to love it!

I try not to write about spam, partly because Kev does it so well – but obviously sick of offering me cuts of obscene fortunes if I simply email them my red hot Alcopoppin’ deets, I’ve had this glorious new piece of junkmail today – inexplicably inviting me to a Red Cross conference on the Global Economy and Human Welfare…. It’s OK though, because they found me on “The Google website.”

Brilliant.

I wonder what they searched to pick Alcopop as prime entrants for this one. ‘Essential Reggae’, ‘race horse alcopop videos’ and ‘tom selleck mustache‘ (sic) have generated their own hits today – so who can deny the fact that I’ll be kicking it with “prominent speakers of the humanitarian industry”.

Fear not the down-trodden and victimized masses of the World – Alcopop is here to help! Ole…

In all seriousness though, it’s all sorts of unimpressive that spammers have taken to piggy-backing the name of one of the world’s genuinely worth organizations in order to try to thieve a little bit more money from the ignorant pocket. Weak…

Go get ‘em G. Amwel Jones!

Ah music industry biased events – how I doth love you… The booze always seems to continuously flow, I never see enough bands, and proud ideals of going to all sorts of fascinating in-depth discussions from fascinating types often seem to go by the wayside. That’s not to say we don’t usually have a super time though. Just the other week Kev and I visted Manchester’s In The City. It was fun; Stagecoach and My First Tooth partied like animals and we joined in, although the event itself didn’t really seem that vibrant.

But I blather on – if you fancy reading a full account, and my poorly educated take on the event, pop over to the ever-delicious Rock Midgets where my third column has just gone up.

Meanwhile, I won’t go too much into it yet, but keep your eyes peeled over the next week or two for some announcements. We’ve got T-Shirts on the way, 3 new CDs to be released before Christmas and a few must-go-to gigs a coming (specifically in December time). Shit, actually, looking at the schedule, December is going to be insane.

Ah well, at least an Alcopop themed Christmas is well on the cards…. Rudolph was clearly always on the Hooch Lemon, and he came off all sorts of good. Prime, prime. Meanwhile, here’s a picture that somehow surfaced off the back of the great Coach/Tooth/Pop takeover of Manchester just the other week.  Props to anyone who knows who the blonde girl is, though it looks like we were all getting on famously…

Hope you’ve had a good weekend!

Anyone who knows co-owner of Alcopop Kev, will rightly be aware he’s currently sunning himself (well, shivering) in the big apple – following The Gat Up Kids on tour, hanging with Morgan Freeman and shimmying down cocktails at 10am. This is rightly making me very jealous – although I can bring myself to revel in his joy.

However, those who know Kev even better will know he’s also a big Reading fan, and being of the Sky Blue persuasion (Coventry City indeed) myself, today’s match which pits the two sides together is bloody massive. Despite mis-firing all season, resembling half cut, crippled mules trotting around a football pitch whilst sporting extremely thick blindfolds – Reading are still a threat, and if they beat Coventry today, it will be a disaster. A disaster unparalleled.

So today I call upon all poppers who are pure of heart and fresh of soul, to pray to the gods of football that today doesn’t end in disaster. Because despite the fact that my estememed business partner, and all round charming pal is thousands of miles away – just won’t stop the mock if we lose….

This is a massive game! Feel for me Team PoP!!!

At the turn of 2008 I, with a million others no doubt, found Spotify, and since then we’ve all been tear-stained on our grass stained knees, wringing our hands in humble awe – thanking them for bringing x billion songs to our unworthy ears via the joy of streaming. Songs that we can then discard as over-hyped balls, or trot off to our nearest online e-tailer to purchase (maybe anyway)…

Well now, it is with great delight that I can announce that Alcopop related tracks are a-headed up thick and fast. No that’s not to say that the whole back catlogue is up there, far from it (although that’s not to say it won’t happen in the future) – but what I can tell you is that I’ve created a nice, none-to- imposing Alcopop playlist ‘Alcopop Tarts’ featuring some of the magnificent bands of the last year or so who have done us the service of releasing with us…

And you and your pals can now stream it, simply by clicking this link  – if you have Spotify of course (if not, get it, it’s great!)

Every now and then, you’re sitting in a little music venue, and between bands the conversation will turn to Andrew WK. “Have you seen that ‘destroy, build, destroy’ trailer” someone will say – which will be replied immediately with something like “no, but how about that piano battle set up via video in the interview”, or maybe “did you see him vomit at that Queens College show the other day”.

Well here’s another BRILLIANT Andrew WK moment – this time, settling once and for all the age old, ‘who would win in a weather off – WK or Michael Fish’ debate… Move over Mickey, Andrew’s got it down!

We don’t get much Alcopop coverage on drowned in sound… Not a lot indeed. But it is with proud faces and handsome grins that I’d like to point to their most recent single of the week column (occupied by the Candle Thieves), point an outstretched thumb at the offending article and say – y’know, we’re on wotcha.

The review is nice enough, with the reviewer feeling “confident it will appeal to those of you mourning the likes of Aberfeldy. Or those with a fondness for perky ditties what are darker than they first seem”. She goes on, “because this song is actually all about how we’re all going to die. So not quite as cute as it sounds.”

But kinda cooler than the article itself is the way it happened… Step forward Andre Wonder (PR guru helping le Candle Thieves) who responded to reviewer Wendy Roby’s power-hungry offer to make a track ‘single of the week’ if “it was sung down the phone to her” – by bloody doing it (video below)! His voice is not quite as heart-achingly beautiful as TCT Scott’s, but fair play on the effort old chap.

For his next trick Andre will be burping Stagecoach’s We Got Tazers to Jools Holland for a slot on next weeks show…. Maybe

It wouldn’t be an Alcopop show if everything went to plan, and despite last Saturday (and a bit)’s show at RoTa being quite a remarkable rock n’ roll orgy of ace (busiest RoTa’s been in months according to the organiser – get in Team PoP ) it was not without it’s teething problems. Gigjunkie will explain from their point of view….

“After searching for forty minutes [for the venue], I received a text from Scott McEwan of The Candle Thieves; informing me they had broken down on the M25 and might not be able to make it at all – a rather bad start to the day!
However, despite the initial problems, all turned out well. The RAC rescued The Candle Thieves, and the venue [which we'd walked past dozens of times] opened it’s doors as if to say sarcastically “Yes, I’m here – you haven’t looked foolish trying to find me at all.”

But despite the difficulties – with a generous double fisting of free beer bottles, it was plain sailing… And as the all-Alcopop line up took the stage, and the punters poured in, we were rockin’. The Candle Thieves, fresh from the busom of the RAC, delighted the crowd with honey sweet melodies, delicious faces and hand claps galore, My First Tooth launched into a veritable marathon of folk-fused modern day classics – do you dance? Do you laugh at the lush melodies or cry at the bitter sentiments hinted at? All three at respectable levels (perhaps simultaneously) recommended.

Then it was time for Stagecoach, who showcased a new stage show which really rocked – with crowd pummeling Nick furiously thrashing within the crowd while Tom became perhaps the first Mandolin player to pull a flying leap from atop a bass drum ever… In short, breathtaking… On decks Nathan T Pyle kept the punters entertained with a smattering of The Candyskins and Arrows of Love, whilst Richard from Ten Speed Photography took marvelous photographs.

All in all, a splendid day – and a favourable setting for the launch of the Stagecoach We Got Tazers EP… Strong times ladies and gentlemen, strong times…. Oh, and cheers so much for coming y’all!

We’ve just got back from a startlingly fine weekend at ITC, and unbelievable tiredness is tearing at my eyes like a rake to leaves… Therefore, this will be a short post. More to come tomorrow, but for now let me delight and entertain with this magnificent video of Stagecoach, playing Good Luck with Your 45, live in Dorking.

Now – terrorists and big chefs…