Hello!
We're just getting over the excitement of playing The 100 Club and The Luminaire in London, two fantastic venues!
Anyway, we've just added a few more shows to the list, see below for the full list!
Saturday 9th May
Big Pink Cake @ venue tbc, Bristol
With The Kick Inside, Vanilla Ride
Saturday 30th May
Goonite @ The Wilmington Arms, London
With The Good Gods
Sunday 24th May
San Francisco Popfest @ Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
With Gregory Webster, Let's Whisper, Apple Orchard, Antarctica Takes It!
(Emma & Dan acoustic set)
Buy tickets
Tuesday 9th June
White Heat @ Madame JoJos, London
With The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Trailer Trash Tracys
Tickets: www.ticketweb.co.uk
Saturday 24th July
Indietracks Festival @ Midland Railway, Derbyshire
With Camera Obscura, Emmy The Great & loads more
Tickets: www.ticketweb.co.uk
Friday 21st August
P!O!P Kombinat Berlin @ venue tbc, Berlin
With The Gresham Flyers
Hope to see some of you there!
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Footsteps: our new single
We'll be releasing Footsteps as a single on 15 June!The song's taken from our new album, Flight Paths, which comes out in July. The artwork for the single was designed by our Emma, and the photo was provided by Sonja from Sauerkrautdesign
To celebrate, we're going to be playing two pretty special gigs in London towards the end of April:
Saturday 25 April - The Luminaire
With Butcher Boy + Cats on Fire
A return to possibly our favourite London venue, and a chance to play alongside two of our How Does It Feel To Be Loved? labelmates. Butcher Boy have been receiving some rave reviews for their new album 'React Or Die' and this is a rare opportunity to see them play live.
To find out more and pick up tickets, please visit: HDIF Presents
Tuesday 28 April - The 100 Club
With Darren Hayman And The Secondary Modern + Poppy And Friends
And a couple of days after the Luminaire, we'll be onstage at the 100 Club, possibly the most prestigious venue we've appeared at so far. And we've been fans of Darren Hayman and Hefner since forever, so we're really pleased to be playing alongside him. Apparently this will be his last gig in London for a little while, and he'll be playing some Hefner songs along with his new Secondary Modern ones.
Here’s a link with more details: Pocketbooks at the 100 Club
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In other news, we now have a Pocketbooks Twitter. Come and join us!
And... our song Summertime is appearing on a limited edition compilation put together by A Layer Of Chips. It’s very cheap and there’s some ace bands on there, so you’ll need to be quick!
Hopefully see you at one of the London shows!
Friday, 17 April 2009
Pocketbooks Tour - the write-up!
Here's Emma's take on the Pocketbooks tour with The Loves!
The mini-tour, then. Three dates in three towns over bank holiday weekend. Probably not the best of times to be going on tour given the hoiked-up train fares and absent students, but off we went with high hopes.
Euston station on a Friday afternoon, we all manage to make it on to the train, get our assorted books and ipods out and settle in for the journey to Manchester, only to be told 15 minutes after the train was due to leave that it had been cancelled. Not a good start. Cue lots of running with equipment across the station to catch another train, where we are rightly upgraded to first class. OK, it's not so bad. Two and a half hours later a rainy Manchester slides into view and we catch cabs to the venue, The Black Lion in Salford.
It turns out to be quite a nice, if a little subdued, crowd. Someone points out that everyone has probably been out drinking on the Thursday night, and it does feel like we are playing to a slightly hungover audience. But we enjoy it nonetheless. The Lovely Eggs, The Bobby McGees and The Loves all put in ace sets. Three of us have been staying the night at my sister's place, where we're given endless beer and pizza, and even breakfast and coffee in the morning while Ian and Dan stage a guitar-picking workshop in the front room with my sister's guitar-mad boyfriend while us girls talk about hair. It's a healthy start, and we feel more refreshed than we're supposed to on a rock and roll tour.
Later, we take the train across the Pennines to Hull, a journey which starts out with lush green valleys and rows of red brick chimneys and clock towers, and ends in dull grey nothingness as we approach Hull. We find the hotel and as we approach reception to check in, I think we cause a bit of excitement as the lady on the desk clocks our musical equipment.
Are you playing here tonight? she enquires, eyes lighting up.
Yes, I reply proudly, at The Adelphi.
Oh, says the woman disappointedly, I don't know it. Then after reading out the terms and conditions of the stay to me robo-style, she suddenly lights up again and says: We had a proper band here a while ago - they had demos up on Myspace and everything!
Impressed, we take the chlorine-scented lift up to our room, wondering what pop history might have come before us.
A cab is called to take us to the Adelphi and, having been there a few times in my teens to see bands I no longer recall, I think I might even be able to recognise it despite it looking like a regular house from the front. I don't. The cab pulls up and the toothless driver (having been freed from The Goonies) does a sort of grunt, nods in the venue's direction, and then gives me a look that I'll be having nightmares about for weeks to come. I hastily hand over four golden coins and we stagger out of the car into a waterlogged entrance to the "New" Adelphi, although once inside I am happy to see that it still looks exactly the same as in 1990.
Soon the others arrive in various states of sleeplessness, and we chat to members of The Rocky Nest who are promoting the night and have kindly laid on a rider including salad items grown in their very own gardens. There is a tense moment as Andy realises he has mistakenly put his dreaded coriander into his brown roll, but this is luckily detected before consumption and a disaster is averted. It's a nice atmosphere, and I am happy to be at a scene of my youth. People arrive and hi-5 at the door (this being the done thing at this night, hence the name DIY Hi-5). I have been practicing mine and I manage to impress some people with my strength and aim.
The Rocky Nest play a lovely, but too short, acoustic set and I'm glad they're playing Indietracks in the summer. Our own set seems to go down well. It's a nice friendly crowd and people seem enthusiastic. I wonder what my 17 year old self would have made of it? I think I was probably more interested in watching boys than bands back then. It was fun to play The Adelphi and we made some nice new friends there.
After the show we nip back to the hotel to drop the gear off, then meet up with the other Pocketbooks and The Loves at a nightclub called Chi-Chi (despite my telling everyone we should've been going to Spiders, but would they listen?). After the initial discomfort of being surrounded by barely dressed young rubbery people dancing to rubbish 'guitar bands of the moment', we discover a small empty room playing more bearable tunes, and take over this room for a couple of hours. We make our own fun. Once everyone starts heading off, Me Dan and Ian think it a good idea to get a late-night tandoori pizza from the takeaway next door. We miss our cab as a result and have to order another one (cab, not pizza). The Chi-Chi staff lock up and go home, and we wait outside on a street corner while another toothless man tries to nick our pizza. Dan has noticed by now that all men in The North are top-heavy. We eat the amazing tasty pizza in the hotel and fall asleep.
The next morning I sample the previous night's leftover pizza and decide it's horrible. We go out in search of breakfast. The only thing open is a Wetherspoons, and we congregate there with our luggage. My sausages are horrible and I leave them on the plate and drink a pint of coke instead. It perks me up a bit and soon we're on our way, but not before someone steals Nat's suitcase from beside her table. Thankfully she gets it back as someone has witnessed the whole thing, and the suitcase has been abandoned by the thief near the bar. Nothing has been taken from it, but it doesn't leave a good last impression of Hull. There is also a funny unidentifiable smell everywhere, which we're later told is the river Humber. Euw! We get on the train. I take a couple of pictures of the Humber Bridge (which I swear triggered off my fear of bridges from constantly being dragged across it as a kid), plus this nice one of our Ian through the hole in a train ticket. We fall about laughing, then fall asleep.
Newcastle's a different story altogether. I had been before, but the place is really quite breathtaking. It's a complete contrast to the flat greyness of Hull. There's a definite feeling that this night will be the best of the tour. As we hoik our gear across the road towards the Head Of Steam, the car that has stopped to allow us to cross starts honking. It is The Loves, arriving at the exact same time. We unload en masse then disappear for feeding and watering.
We take a walk down to the riverside and take some pictures. Spirits are high, but some of us feel more nervous than usual. A combination of tiredness, rail madness, it being the last night, and a collection of family members and friends about to arrive. Before the gig I have to lock myself in toilet cubicle and give myself a good talking to. No matter how easy it is once you're up onstage, you can never talk yourself out of nerves. The minutes leading up to this gig seem like hours, and everyone mills about looking at their watches. Finally we're given the nod and it's time to go on. There's a good crowd now and we want to make this a good finale. The first two songs seem really slow, or are we just tired? But then we start to get into it and it turns out fine. Halfway through Paper Aeroplanes I realise I've got a hair in my mouth, and I sing the rest of the song with a lisp. Eight songs flash by, and then the set is over.
The Loves play their best set yet. It's a real end-of-tour feeling. They're a lot of fun to hang out with and it's one big Pocketbooks/Loves love-in at the disco afterwards. Before long it's only the bands and DJs left at the club, it's 2am and a cab has arrived it's time to go. Hugs and CDs are exchanged with The Loves, and we're all on our way.
The train journey the following day takes forever and all I can do is stare into the countryside and think about the weekend. There's a lot to think about. We get home in time for 24 and suddenly everything is back to normal and it's like it never happened. It's all over!
Until the next time...
The mini-tour, then. Three dates in three towns over bank holiday weekend. Probably not the best of times to be going on tour given the hoiked-up train fares and absent students, but off we went with high hopes.
Euston station on a Friday afternoon, we all manage to make it on to the train, get our assorted books and ipods out and settle in for the journey to Manchester, only to be told 15 minutes after the train was due to leave that it had been cancelled. Not a good start. Cue lots of running with equipment across the station to catch another train, where we are rightly upgraded to first class. OK, it's not so bad. Two and a half hours later a rainy Manchester slides into view and we catch cabs to the venue, The Black Lion in Salford.
It turns out to be quite a nice, if a little subdued, crowd. Someone points out that everyone has probably been out drinking on the Thursday night, and it does feel like we are playing to a slightly hungover audience. But we enjoy it nonetheless. The Lovely Eggs, The Bobby McGees and The Loves all put in ace sets. Three of us have been staying the night at my sister's place, where we're given endless beer and pizza, and even breakfast and coffee in the morning while Ian and Dan stage a guitar-picking workshop in the front room with my sister's guitar-mad boyfriend while us girls talk about hair. It's a healthy start, and we feel more refreshed than we're supposed to on a rock and roll tour.Later, we take the train across the Pennines to Hull, a journey which starts out with lush green valleys and rows of red brick chimneys and clock towers, and ends in dull grey nothingness as we approach Hull. We find the hotel and as we approach reception to check in, I think we cause a bit of excitement as the lady on the desk clocks our musical equipment.
Are you playing here tonight? she enquires, eyes lighting up.
Yes, I reply proudly, at The Adelphi.
Oh, says the woman disappointedly, I don't know it. Then after reading out the terms and conditions of the stay to me robo-style, she suddenly lights up again and says: We had a proper band here a while ago - they had demos up on Myspace and everything!
Impressed, we take the chlorine-scented lift up to our room, wondering what pop history might have come before us.
A cab is called to take us to the Adelphi and, having been there a few times in my teens to see bands I no longer recall, I think I might even be able to recognise it despite it looking like a regular house from the front. I don't. The cab pulls up and the toothless driver (having been freed from The Goonies) does a sort of grunt, nods in the venue's direction, and then gives me a look that I'll be having nightmares about for weeks to come. I hastily hand over four golden coins and we stagger out of the car into a waterlogged entrance to the "New" Adelphi, although once inside I am happy to see that it still looks exactly the same as in 1990.
Soon the others arrive in various states of sleeplessness, and we chat to members of The Rocky Nest who are promoting the night and have kindly laid on a rider including salad items grown in their very own gardens. There is a tense moment as Andy realises he has mistakenly put his dreaded coriander into his brown roll, but this is luckily detected before consumption and a disaster is averted. It's a nice atmosphere, and I am happy to be at a scene of my youth. People arrive and hi-5 at the door (this being the done thing at this night, hence the name DIY Hi-5). I have been practicing mine and I manage to impress some people with my strength and aim.The Rocky Nest play a lovely, but too short, acoustic set and I'm glad they're playing Indietracks in the summer. Our own set seems to go down well. It's a nice friendly crowd and people seem enthusiastic. I wonder what my 17 year old self would have made of it? I think I was probably more interested in watching boys than bands back then. It was fun to play The Adelphi and we made some nice new friends there.
After the show we nip back to the hotel to drop the gear off, then meet up with the other Pocketbooks and The Loves at a nightclub called Chi-Chi (despite my telling everyone we should've been going to Spiders, but would they listen?). After the initial discomfort of being surrounded by barely dressed young rubbery people dancing to rubbish 'guitar bands of the moment', we discover a small empty room playing more bearable tunes, and take over this room for a couple of hours. We make our own fun. Once everyone starts heading off, Me Dan and Ian think it a good idea to get a late-night tandoori pizza from the takeaway next door. We miss our cab as a result and have to order another one (cab, not pizza). The Chi-Chi staff lock up and go home, and we wait outside on a street corner while another toothless man tries to nick our pizza. Dan has noticed by now that all men in The North are top-heavy. We eat the amazing tasty pizza in the hotel and fall asleep.The next morning I sample the previous night's leftover pizza and decide it's horrible. We go out in search of breakfast. The only thing open is a Wetherspoons, and we congregate there with our luggage. My sausages are horrible and I leave them on the plate and drink a pint of coke instead. It perks me up a bit and soon we're on our way, but not before someone steals Nat's suitcase from beside her table. Thankfully she gets it back as someone has witnessed the whole thing, and the suitcase has been abandoned by the thief near the bar. Nothing has been taken from it, but it doesn't leave a good last impression of Hull. There is also a funny unidentifiable smell everywhere, which we're later told is the river Humber. Euw! We get on the train. I take a couple of pictures of the Humber Bridge (which I swear triggered off my fear of bridges from constantly being dragged across it as a kid), plus this nice one of our Ian through the hole in a train ticket. We fall about laughing, then fall asleep.
Newcastle's a different story altogether. I had been before, but the place is really quite breathtaking. It's a complete contrast to the flat greyness of Hull. There's a definite feeling that this night will be the best of the tour. As we hoik our gear across the road towards the Head Of Steam, the car that has stopped to allow us to cross starts honking. It is The Loves, arriving at the exact same time. We unload en masse then disappear for feeding and watering.We take a walk down to the riverside and take some pictures. Spirits are high, but some of us feel more nervous than usual. A combination of tiredness, rail madness, it being the last night, and a collection of family members and friends about to arrive. Before the gig I have to lock myself in toilet cubicle and give myself a good talking to. No matter how easy it is once you're up onstage, you can never talk yourself out of nerves. The minutes leading up to this gig seem like hours, and everyone mills about looking at their watches. Finally we're given the nod and it's time to go on. There's a good crowd now and we want to make this a good finale. The first two songs seem really slow, or are we just tired? But then we start to get into it and it turns out fine. Halfway through Paper Aeroplanes I realise I've got a hair in my mouth, and I sing the rest of the song with a lisp. Eight songs flash by, and then the set is over.
The Loves play their best set yet. It's a real end-of-tour feeling. They're a lot of fun to hang out with and it's one big Pocketbooks/Loves love-in at the disco afterwards. Before long it's only the bands and DJs left at the club, it's 2am and a cab has arrived it's time to go. Hugs and CDs are exchanged with The Loves, and we're all on our way.
The train journey the following day takes forever and all I can do is stare into the countryside and think about the weekend. There's a lot to think about. We get home in time for 24 and suddenly everything is back to normal and it's like it never happened. It's all over!
Until the next time...
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Popshows!
Friday 10th April
Pull Yourself Together @ The Black Lion, Manchester
With The Loves
Buy tickets
Saturday 11th April
DIY Hi-5 @ Hull Adelphi
With The Loves
Sunday 12th April
Fake Indie Label @ Head Of Steam, Newcastle
With The Loves
Saturday 25th April
How Does It Feel To Be Loved? @ The Luminaire
With Butcher Boy, Cats On Fire
Tickets: www.wegottickets.com/event/46661
Tuesday 28th April
Carrot And Stick @ 100 Club, London
With Darren Hayman, Poppy And Friends
Tickets: www.wegottickets.com/event/45689
Saturday 9th May
Big Pink Cake @ venue tbc, Bristol
With The Kick Inside, Vanilla Ride
Saturday 24th July
Indietracks Festival @ Midland Railway, Derbyshire
With Camera Obscura, Emmy The Great & loads more
Tickets: http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/
Friday 21st August
P!O!P Kombinat Berlin @ venue tbc, Berlin
With The Gresham Flyers
Pull Yourself Together @ The Black Lion, Manchester
With The Loves
Buy tickets
Saturday 11th April
DIY Hi-5 @ Hull Adelphi
With The Loves
Sunday 12th April
Fake Indie Label @ Head Of Steam, Newcastle
With The Loves
Saturday 25th April
How Does It Feel To Be Loved? @ The Luminaire
With Butcher Boy, Cats On Fire
Tickets: www.wegottickets.com/event/46661
Tuesday 28th April
Carrot And Stick @ 100 Club, London
With Darren Hayman, Poppy And Friends
Tickets: www.wegottickets.com/event/45689
Saturday 9th May
Big Pink Cake @ venue tbc, Bristol
With The Kick Inside, Vanilla Ride
Saturday 24th July
Indietracks Festival @ Midland Railway, Derbyshire
With Camera Obscura, Emmy The Great & loads more
Tickets: http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/
Friday 21st August
P!O!P Kombinat Berlin @ venue tbc, Berlin
With The Gresham Flyers
Flight Paths: our debut album
We're very excited to say that our debut album, Flight Paths, is available from How Does It Feel To Be Loved?. The official release date will be in July, but the label is posting out advance CD copies now. You can order a CD from: www.howdoesitfeel.co.uk/shop.htmlOne of the songs, Fleeting Moments, is available to download for free from here.
All the artwork was designed by our friend Kris, who, among other things, writes the fantastic Heaven Is Above Your Head blog.
The album was recorded over five days at Soup Studio, which is located under a ukelele shop near Brick Lane in London. It was recorded by Simon Trought, who has also recorded albums by The Wave Pictures, Darren Hayman and loads of other bands that we love. We're really pleased the album is coming out in the spring, as it feels like a springtime album. As you can imagine, we were really excited to be recording these songs in the studio, and we hope this comes across on the record.
We picked mostly new songs for the album, some of which you might recognise from our last few gigs. There's also a couple of our favourites which stretch back to when we first started out as a band.
The full tracklisting is:
1. Footsteps
2. Fleeting Moments
3. Camera Angles
4. The Outskirts Of Town
5. Cross The Line
6. Skating On Thin Ice
7. Sweetness And Light
8. I'm Not Going Out
9. Every Good Time We Ever Had
10. Paper Aeroplanes
11. All We Do Is Rush Around
We had a fantastic time recording it, and we're really looking forward to playing these songs at gigs over the next few months. We really hope you enjoy the album and the free download!
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