Pocketbooks - a pop group from London

Carousel reviews

2011-12-20T16:35:00.005Z

As 2011 is coming to a close, we thought we’d round up a few of the nice quotes found among the reviews of our recent album Carousel.

Obviously, we’ve picked out just the nicest things people have said, and we’ve also somewhat optimistically tried to translate a couple from the original French and German. Apologies for any poor translations, especially the line about the “cat in front of the fireplace” which is probably a hopeless misunderstanding! Anyway, here goes...

"Excellent indie pop on second album from thoughtful London-based group, Pocketbooks. The album as a whole is laced with fine orchestration ranging from the strings on the aforementioned 'Promises, Promises' to the lovely piano led 'The Sky at Night' and 'Harbour Lights'."
Pennyblack

"'Carousel' is an absolute winner. These 10 tales are full of the wide-eyed abandon of being young, in love and with the world at your feet and the rest of your life to explore it. Pocketbooks have created a thoughtful, uplifting album that sets them apart from many of their contemporaries simply by the quality of their songs."
The Sound of Confusion

"At its best, Pocketbooks' Carousel is catchy indie pop of finger clicking proportions. Indie pop tones, interweaving melodies, poetic lyrics and the heart of a romantic storyteller."
Tuppence

"As you listen to stories and tales expertly woven alongside the lovely tuneful accompaniments it becomes an enjoyable 40 minute ride. "Promises Promises" is one of the best things you are likely to hear this year and if it doesn't get your feet tapping as a bare minimum then I suggest a visit to your GP is due. It's an indiepop dancefloor smash, kids! On "Sound of The Carnival" [Emma’s] melodic voice soars high amongst the stars and you find yourself flying amongst the clouds with gay abandon."
SoundsXP

"Telling tales of heady months picking apples, visits to the cinema and lost love, Carousel forms a soundtrack to the perfect teenage summer. If what you're after is wholesome fun pop amid an avalanche of clever songs (some happy, some sad) then you could do a lot worse than these 11-tracks of shimmering fun."
Derby Telegraph

"A gem of a pop album. With Andy Hudson's twinkling keyboard and Emma Hall's amazing, crystal clear voice to the fore. And this time everything's backed up by some perky strings. It's pleasing to see a band can move on without losing any of their pop sensibilities."
A Layer Of Chips

"A DELIGHT from start to finish. As usual with this lot it's a bouncy pop word-filled thrill ride, but with a marked UPPING on the Production side of things. The lyrics have blossomed into a kind of POINTED DELICACY that mark them out as a style unique."
MJ Hibbett

"Ein großes Pop-Album. Wenn es Dich aber erst einmal erreicht hat, nistet es sich ein, macht es sich gemütlich wie die Katze auf der Decke hinterm Ofen."
[A great pop album. The first time you hear it, it makes you feel as comfortable as a cat at home in front of the fireplace.]
Gutes Hören Ist Wichtig

"Even when the subject matter remains tied to its harkening solitariness, the music itself is surprisingly perky and maintains a real energy throughout."
Subba-Cultcha

"Further listens allowed the real beauty, depth and craftsmanship of both the song-writing and the execution to reveal themselves. I was drawn in so tight that it started to hurt. Suffice to say that ‘Carousel’ is an exceptional album and is now playing more frequently than its predecessor ever managed, which I didn’t think would ever be possible."
Buzzin Music

"Des mélodies simples et fines. Deux voix, l'une féminine, l'autre masculine, douces et légères. Un piano évoquant les vieilles comédies musicales américaines d'autrefois. Des violons discrets et soyeux. Si vous cherchiez un album de pop léger et sans prétention, qui fait pensivement bouger la tête et les pieds en vous nettoyant le cerveau, inutile de chercher plus loin, vous aurez du mal à trouver mieux..."
[Simple and delicate melodies. Soft and light male and female voices. A piano evoking the old American musicals of the past. Discrete and silky violins. If you‘re looking for a light and unpretentious pop album, that thoughtfully gets your head and your feet moving and cleanses your head, look no further, you will not find better ...]
Dans Le Mur... Du Son

"Every track oozes with delirious charm, conjuring images of cinematic summer days, all free-wheeling tandems, hands holding hands on park benches and the dizzy falling into new love. Even when lamenting life’s losses, there is joy to be found in the details – the inherent poetry found in coupling the vast expanse and the minutiae of everyday experience."
Old Fridges Can Kill

"What, essentially, you’ve got in Carousel is a gem of a pop album. If you want to force me to pick a favourite, then it’d have to be Promises, Promises; a flurry of bright harmonies and fast pacing set by the sweeping violins, singer Emma Hall’s lovely shining vocals and bittersweet lyrics about casual promises that never materialise."
Irrelephant

"Beautifully crafted tunes which ooze melodies. Rarely does an album evoke such lovely times, it could easily soundtrack those relaxing lazy summer days or in fact the ethos of the Indietracks music festival. Wonderful way to while away forty minutes of your life, lovely!"
Shadders Online

"I love love love this LP, 'Carousel' is a beautiful POP! record, accomplished songwriting deftly played, with hooks and melodies (probably, I don't really know, I'm no expert, but certainly things that make you pay attention and listen up and whistle to yourself later) a sweetheart deal for any dedicated popkid... a record for keeps, a corker!"
A Fog Of Ideas

"Some of these songs are nothing short of pure pop brilliance. 'Promises Promises' bounces along like a rabbit on a pogo stick. My other personal favourite 'The Beaujolais Lanes' reminds me of a Burt Bacharach style song, which is the highest compliment I can offer. Really all hail Pocketbooks for this is a rather splendid album."
Donkey Rides

Phew! Of course, we could probably compile an equally long list of quotes offering fair criticism about the album, but frankly that would have been a lot less fun! Anyway, the album is still available from Odd Box Records, Bandcamp (with immediate MP3 download) and the usual online distributors if anyone fancies a copy.

Our next show is a Pop-o-matic event in Sheffield on Saturday 14 January with Colour Me Wednesday and Markie Plays Girlpop! It’s our first trip to Sheffield since 2007, so please come along if you’re around.

Andy, Dan, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

London show with violins: Tuesday 15 November

2011-11-11T13:30:00.001Z

We're very excited to say that we'll be joined by four violin players from A Little Orchestra for our show in London on Tuesday 15 November.

Claire, Jill, Matthew and Natalie previously joined us onstage at the Indietracks festival back in July. Here's a video of them playing Sound Of The Carnival with us!

And here's the details for Tuesday's show:

Tuesday 15 November 2011
Scared To Dance presents... Shrag + Pocketbooks + Fever Dream
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, London N1

Shrag played an spectacular set at the recent Fortuna Pop! birthday celebrations, and we can't wait to hear some songs from their forthcoming album again. Tickets are £7 in advance from We Got Tickets

Hopefully see you on Tuesday!

Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Bonfire night: London show and free MP3!

2011-11-04T09:47:00.002Z

Just a quick reminder that we're playing a show with The Orchids on Saturday 5 November at The Bowery in London.

It's a rare opportunity to see The Orchids, who are one of the stars from the legendary Sarah Records label. We've been invited to play an 'extended set', so we'll have time to play some old favourites as well as some new album songs.

Tickets are just £4 in advance from Pebble Records, or £6 on the door.

To celebrate the gig taking place on Bonfire Night, we're making our firework-themed song Sparklers available as a free MP3 download for this weekend only. It's available free from our Bandcamp page until Sunday night: Pocketbooks - Sparklers

Sparklers by Pocketbooks

Hope you can make it along on Saturday!

Brighton and London shows: autumn 2011

2011-10-06T11:58:00.008+01:00

Just a quick post to let you know about a couple of shows we've got coming up this autumn.

22 and 23 October: Brighton Indie-pop Weekender
The Horse & Groom, 129 Islingwood Rd, Brighton, BN2 9SH

This will be our first visit to Brighton since autumn 2006, when we played at a small harvest festival organised by Stars of Aviation. This year's weekender is organised by The Bobby Mcgee's and features lots of ace bands including The Lovely Eggs, Tigercats, Anguish Sandwich, MJ Hibbett, A Little Orchestra and The Give It Ups. And entry is completely free!

The music starts each day at 4pm, and we're playing at around 7pm on the Sunday evening. Here's the full line up:

Saturday 22 October: 4.00pm The Bobby McGees; 4.30 Tourists; 5.10 Dave; 5.50 Quiet Choir; 6.30 M J Hibbett; 7.10 A Little Orchestra; 8.00 The Beautiful Word; 8.30 Candy Panic Attack; 9.15 Stars Down To Earth; 10.00 Tigercats

Sunday 23 October: 4.00pm Into by The Bobby McGees; 4.30 2 Lezzers & A Loop Machine; 5.10 Domonic Von Trapp; 5.50 Jack Lattimer; 6.30 The Give It Ups; 7.10 Pocketbooks; 8.00 Larry Pickleman; 8.30 Tigercub; 9.15 Anguish Sandwich; 10.00 The Lovely Eggs.

Links: Songkick / Last.fm / Facebook

Saturday 5 November - The Bowery, London
Pebble Records presents... The Orchids + Pocketbooks
36-38 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1EP

A rare London gig for The Orchids, who were stars of the legendary indie label Sarah Records, and who have now recently signed to the ace Pebble Records. We've never played at The Bowery before, so we're really looking forward to it!

Tickets: £4 in advance from Pebble Records
Links: Last.fm / Songkick

Tuesday 15 November - The Lexington, London
Scared To Dance presents... Shrag + Pocketbooks + Fever Dream
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, London N1

We're pleased to be returning to The Lexington for this show with our friends at Scared To Dance. Shrag are one of the most exciting bands around at the moment and we can't wait to hear some songs from their forthcoming third album. We're also looking forward to seeing Fever Dream again, after they played a great show with us in Notting Hill back in June.

Tickets: £7 in advance from We Got Tickets
Links: Songkick / Last.fm / Facebook

Thanks very much to everyone who's picked up a copy of our new album. If you haven't got a copy yet, you can hear six songs in full on our Bandcamp page. And of course, CDs are available from Odd Box Records!

Hope to see you at one of the shows!
Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Carousel: new album released today!

2011-09-19T11:06:00.003+01:00

Our new album is officially released today!

The CDs come with a lovingly-prepared 12-page booklet with all the lyrics and some wonderful carousel-themed spiral designs, as created by the excellent Krister Bladh. They're available in Rough Trade, HMV, Amazon, Play, Norman Records, Pebble Records, and other carefully selected shops. And, of course, you can also pick up a CD directly from the friendly folk at Odd Box Records: Pocketbooks - Carousel (Odd Box Records)

Alternatively, if you prefer your music instantly and digitally, the album is now available on iTunes, Amazon MP3, emusic, Rhapsody, Tradebit and various other digital places.

You can listen to the whole thing on the Pocketbooks Bandcamp page or by using the player below:

Carousel by Pocketbooks

Thanks very much to everyone who's picked up a copy already!

Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Carousel cupcakes!

2011-09-12T11:49:00.005+01:00

We've created some special Carousel cupcakes for our launch gig on Friday 16 September. The photo above is the sample version we made this weekend. They're 100% delicious, completely free and strictly limited edition, so please come along early if you'd like one!

Friday's gig in London will be the launch party for our new album Carousel, which is officially relased on Monday 19 September. Here's the full details for the show...

Which Way Is Up! presents...
Friday 16 September
Pocketbooks + Cancel The Astronauts + Anguish Sandwich
The Wilmington Arms, 69 Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4RL
Tickets: £5 advance from WeGotTickets / £6 on the door
Links: Last.fm / Facebook / Songkick / Anorak

Hope to see you there!
Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Album launch show: Friday 16 September

2011-09-01T11:30:00.002+01:00

We're having a launch party in London on Friday 16 September to mark the release of our new album 'Carousel'.

Which Way Is Up! presents...
Friday 16 September
Pocketbooks + Cancel The Astronauts + Anguish Sandwich
The Wilmington Arms, 69 Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4RL
Tickets: £5 advance from WeGotTickets / £6 on the door
Links: Last.fm / Facebook / Songkick / Anorak

Cancel The Astronauts are a big guitar pop band from Edinburgh / Markinch. They've two EPs under their belts and an album on its way. The band also have a new single 'Seven Vices', which is officially released on 12 September. They've already played a BBC session for Vic Galloway and this is their very first trip to London, so please make them feel welcome!

Anguish Sandwich are Northampton's finest, and feature the familiar face of Chris East (AKA Winston Echo!) They're fresh from playing amazing sets at the Indietracks and Reading festivals - possibly the opposing ends of the indie spectrum! They are described as a riot in a teacup, and if you're not sure what that means, please rest assured that they're ace!

We'll be playing some songs from our new album, Carousel, and some of our older songs too. The new album's in the shops and available as iTunes /Amazon downloads from Monday 19 September. However, you can also pick up a copy right now directly from Odd Box Records.

Hope to see you on the 16th!

Andy, Emma, Daniel, Ian and Jonny x

New album 'Carousel' and free single

2011-07-17T15:33:00.016+01:00

Our new single 'Promises, Promises' is now available as a free download from the following links:
Pocketbooks - Promises, Promises (Box.net)
Pocketbooks - Promises, Promises (Bandcamp)

It's taken from our second album, 'Carousel', which is available on Odd Box Records. The official release will be in September, but the label is sending out advance copies now. They're available now from the following link: Pocketbooks - Carousel (Odd Box Records)

The album was recorded during the winter of 2010 in Soup Studios under the Duke of Uke ukulele shop in east London’s Brick Lane. It would have been a wintry record anyway, but the snow and the dark nights definitely played their part. The album begins and finishes with a bleak, distant piano, but inbetween there’s a mix of bright harmonies, shimmering guitars and gorgeous strings.

The violins on the album and the single were played by Matthew Walker and Claire Hadidjenar from A Little Orchestra. It was recorded by Simon Trought (The Wave Pictures, Allo Darlin’, Fanfarlo and Darren Hayman). The album artwork was created by Krister Bladh.

We've had some nice reviews of the new single, including:

"An ecstatic, dizzy slice of pop, with beautiful vocals and harmonies from Emma Hall. It's music that makes you want to be young and in love again"
The Metaphorical Boat

"All the qualities of a summer hit!"
Beautiful Sounds

"This is the song that would come on whenever I tune the radio to Radio 2, the song that would make me believe the world is a welcome and lovely place, warm and wonderful, irresistible and happening, the sort of world you open the curtains to and let the sunshine in for."
A Fog Of Ideas

"A lovely popsong, as always from Pocketbooks"
Eardrums

"The main course should be delicious if this sample is anything to go by"
SoundsXP

"Adorable"
The Zookeeper's Buoy

We hope you enjoy the free single and new album!

Promises, Promises: new single, 18 July 2011

2011-07-01T12:10:00.014+01:00

The first single from our forthcoming album will be available as a free download on Monday 18 July.

'Promises, Promises' is a flurry of sweeping violins, girl group harmonies and bittersweet summertime lyrics about casual promises that never materialise. The violins were played by Matthew and Claire from A Little Orchestra, who also play on several other songs on our new album. Have a listen here:

Promises, Promises by Pocketbooks

Advance copies of our new album 'Carousel' will also be available to order from Monday 18 July. The album will be officially released by Odd Box Records in September 2011.

We're playing a few shows in July alongside the releases:

14 July 2011 - Apple Eyes single launch
With Apple Eyes and Wolventrix @ The Wilmington Arms, London
(£5, or £3 with this flyer)

27 July 2011 - Spiral Scratch
With Math and Physics Club, Very Truly Yours and The Sweet Nothings @ The Windmill, London

28 July 2011 - A Layer Of Chips
With Math and Physics Club, Very Truly Yours and The Sweet Nothings @ The Chameleon, Nottingham

29-31 July 2011 - Indietracks festival
We're playing at 7pm on the Friday night with Jonny (Norman Blake and Euros Childs!) and Suburban Kids With Biblical Names @ The Midland Railway, Derbyshire

Also, on Friday 15 July: Andy will play a song with A Little Orchestra at a fundraiser for the Duke of Uke. The evening will be headlined by Darren Hayman, and tickets are available here: Duke of Uke 15 July tickets

See you soon!

New song 'Sparklers' / free Rough Trade show

2011-06-13T11:21:00.008+01:00

Our first new song in over two years, 'Sparklers', is available now on the Indietracks 2011 compilation. It's taken from our forthcoming album 'Carousel' which will be released by Odd Box Records in September.

The dowload compilation includes 40 fantastic tracks from artists playing at the festival, including songs from The Hidden Cameras, Herman Dune, Jeffrey Lewis, Crystal Stilts, Butcher Boy and Math and Physics Club.

You can set your own price for the compilation, 100% of which will go directly to the Midland Railway charity who host the festival.

It's available to download here: Indietracks 2011 compilation

The Indietracks festival takes place on 29-31 July at a steam railway in Derbyshire, hosting around 50 fantastic indiepop bands. Headliners this year include Edwyn Collins, Herman Dune, The Hidden Cameras, Jonny, Jeffrey Lewis, Crystal Stilts, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and Math and Physics Club.

You can find further information (line-ups, tickets, how to get there etc.) on the festival's website: http://www.indietracks.co.uk/

Free Rough Trade show: Saturday 25 June

We've been invited to play at the Rough Trade Shops Afternoon (RoTa) at the Notting Hill Arts Club, London on Saturday 25 June. The line-up has been put together by Odd Box records, and features rock 'n' rollers MFC Chicken, the off kilter psyche pop of Baaneex and post punk tunes from Fever Dream. It starts at 4pm and it's all over by a very sociable 8pm.

It's free entry, and theres further details here: Odd Box / Rough Trade Afternoons

We're also playing Indietracks warm-up shows on 27 July (London) and 28 July (Nottingham) with Math and Physics Club, Very Truly Yours and The Sweet Nothings.

Hope to see you at one of the shows, and enjoy the Indietracks compilation!

Indietracks 2011 and summer shows

2011-04-16T13:09:00.013+01:00

We're very excited to say that we'll be playing at the Indietracks festival this year. The festival takes place on a steam railway in Derbyshire on the weekend of 29-31 July 2011. Bands confirmed so far include Edwyn Collins, The Hidden Cameras, Jeffrey Lewis, Jonny (Norman Blake and Euros Childs), Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Math and Physics Club and loads, loads more!

Cheaper early bird tickets are available before Friday 6 May by visiting: www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets.html

We also have a few dates in the diary ahead of the festival, including a very mini-tour in July!

Saturday 7 May - London
Librarians Wanted presents...
Stars in Coma + Pocketbooks + Hella Better Dancer + Corporal Machine and the Bombers and Haiku Salut
Tickets / Last.fm / Facebook

Wednesday 27 July - London
Spiral Scratch present an Indietracks warm-up show...
Math and Physics Club + Very Truly Yours + Pocketbooks + The Sweet Nothings
Tickets / Last.fm

Thursday 28 July - Nottingham
A Layer Of Chips presents an Indietracks warm-up show
Math and Physics Club + Very Truly Yours + Pocketbooks + The Sweet Nothings
Last.fm

Read and Shout 2011

2011-03-07T13:57:00.009Z

We're delighted to say that we've joined the bill for the Read and Shout mini-festival in at the Nettlefold Hall (above West Norwood Library) in London on Saturday 19 March.

Read and Shout has been arranged to help raise awareness of the cuts facing libraries. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) estimate that up to 20% of library service points face closure, and that library staff may be reduced by up to 6,000 people across the UK.

The Read and Shout event forms part of the Save Our Libraries campaign, which held a nationwide day of action in February. The aim of the event is to show local authorities and the wider world how much local communities love and depend on their libaries, and hopes to influence those who are making plans to close these resources.

There'll be a mix of live music and speeches, and the impressive list of bands playing is:

Jens Lekman + Darren Hayman + Pocketbooks + Leaf Library + Horowitz + A Fine Day For Sailing + A Little Orchestra + The Sweet Nothings + The Give It Ups + The Sunbathers + Scared To Dance DJs + Big Pink Cake DJs

Tickets sold out within a minute of going on sale, so we're sorry if you don't have one already. However, we're also playing in London on Friday 18 March with The Felt Tips and Falling And Laughing. If you'd like to come to that, tickets are just £5 and are available from We Got Tickets.

And, sticking with the library theme, we're also playing at Librarians Wanted on Saturday 7 May in London, with the amazing Stars in Coma, Hella Better Dancer, Corporal Machine & The Bombers and Haiku Salut. Tickets are just £5 from We Got Tickets.

In other news, we've a new video for our song 'Fleeting Moments', made by 400 Blows, who also made our 'Footsteps' video. It was filmed at the Luminaire in London back in 2008. Sadly the Luminaire has now closed, despite being one of the best places for gigs in London. Here's the video - enjoy!

Shows in early 2011

2011-01-04T11:52:00.012Z

Happy new year! Just a quick post to let you know about our first gigs of 2011.

Saturday 22 January - Birmingham
Autumn Store 5th Birthday @ The Victoria, 48 John Bright Street, Birmingham B1 1BN

Ace Bushy Striptease + KateGoes + Horowitz + Pocketbooks + LookIMakeMusic + MJ Hibbett and his Dinosaur Planet + Vom Vorton + My Autumn Empire.

This will be our first trip to Birmingham since 2007, and we’ll be helping celebrate the fifth anniversary of Birmingham’s finest indiepop night. They’re promising an action-packed all-dayer with bands, zines, dancing, sugary food stuff and dinosaurs!

It’s £5 entry and we think there’s no need for a ticket, just stroll up on the day! It starts at 3pm and we’ll be on early evening sometime.

Facebook / Last.fm / Songkick / Autumn Store blog

Sunday 13 February - London
The Loves Retirement Party @ The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JB

The Loves + Comet Gain + The School + The Lovely Eggs + The Vinyl Stitches + Pocketbooks

Sadly, after 11 years The Loves are retiring, and to mark the occasion they'll be holding a retirement party the day before Valentine's Day. It looks like it'll be an all-day event, featuring lots of bands that The Loves have played with over the years.

Tickets are £8.50 from We Got Tickets.

Facebook / Last.fm / Songkick

Friday 18 March - London
Which Way Is Up? @ Wilmington Arms, 69 Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4RL

The Felt Tips + Pocketbooks + Falling and Laughing

Which Way Is Up! is a new night from our friends at Odd Box. It takes place every third Friday of the month at The Wilmington Arms. The first WWIU! is on 18 February with This Many Boyfriends, Lisa Bouvier from Stars in Coma and The Give It Ups. Then in March we're playing a show with Falling and Laughing and The Felt Tips, whose fantastic album was a highlight of 2010.

Tickets are just £5 and are available from We Got Tickets.

Facebook / Last.fm / Songkick

Hope you can make it to one of the shows. We'll be playing a bunch of new songs and hope to have some new recordings available later in the year.

Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Big Pink Cake Weekender

2010-10-25T12:13:00.004+01:00

The Big Pink Cake Weekender takes place on the weekend of 5-7 November 2010 and is split between London (Friday 5 Nov) and Bristol (Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 Nov).

Bands playing over the weekend include The School, The Garlands, The Blanche Hudson Weekend, The Sweet Nothings, Standard Fare, Hong Kong In The 60s, The Sunny Street and loads, loads more.

We're delighted to be playing at the London night on Friday 5 November with The Garlands, The Electric Pop Group and The Kick Inside. It's at the Betsey Trotwood in Farringdon, London and the last time we checked there were only about a dozen tickets left. Information and tickets are available at: www.wegottickets.com/event/93785

This is the only gig we have in the diary at the moment, although Andy will be playing at MJ Hibbett's Totally Acoustic in London on Tuesday 21 December.

In other news, there's just a few days left of the HDIF label's October sale. This month, all their albums are just £5, including our debut and albums from Butcher Boy, Cats On Fire, Saturday Looks Good To Me and Antarctica Takes It!: www.howdoesitfeel.co.uk/hdiflabel.html

Hope to see you at one of the shows.

Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Edinburgh Popfest

2010-08-30T12:39:00.003+01:00

We'll be playing our first ever show in Scotland at the inaugural Edinburgh Popfest on Saturday 23 October.

There's some fantastic bands playing over the weekend, including Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Ballboy, Darren Hayman, Bearsuit, The Just Joans and loads more, and we're really looking forward to it!

The full line up for the weekend is as follows:

Friday 22 October @ The Wee Red Bar
Ballboy, Withered Hand, The Leg, Randolph’s Leap

Saturday 23 October @ The GRV
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, The Just Joans, Kid Canaveral, Internet Forever, Pocketbooks, Be Like Pablo, Red Shoe Diaries, Bearsuit

Sunday 24 October @ The Lot
Darren Hayman, The Bobby McGees, Bobby Baby, Eagleowl, Gordon McIntyre

Tickets can be bought for individual days or as a weekend pass (limited number only) and are available now from Avalanche Records in Edinburgh and online from WeGotTickets. You can also follow the festival on Facebook and Twitter.

Hope to see you there!

Berlin festival and summer shows

2010-06-20T17:00:00.006+01:00

(The Kreuzberg Wasserturm. Photo: Beschty)

On the weekend of 3-5 September 2010, we'll be playing at the Indie Pop Days festival in Berlin, as organised by the city's fantastic Let's Kiss And Make Up club night. We're playing on Saturday 4 September night in the Kreuzberg Wasserturm, which is a water tower built in the style of a middle ages castle!

The festival's line up includes an ace selection of bands from across Europe including Lucky Soul, The Sunny Street, Labrador, The Felt Tips, Le Man Avec Les Lunettes, Labrador, Still Corners and Leaving Mornington Crescent.

Here's a selection of links if you'd like to find out more:
Let's Kiss And Make Up / Facebook / Last.fm

We'll also be playing and DJing in London and Leicester this summer. Here's the details:

-------------------------------
London - Saturday 26 June 2010
Scared To Dance

With guest DJs Emma and Ian from Pocketbooks
@ Kings Cross Social Club, 2 Britannia Street, London
Last.fm / Facebook

A first birthday party for this fantastic London indie pop club night, with our Emma and Ian DJing and a chance to pick up the Scared To Dance summer 2010 fanzine.

-------------------------------
London - Thursday 22 July 2010

HDIF Presents...

Tender Trap + Shrag + Betty and the Werewolves + Antarctica Takes It! + Pocketbooks

@ Jamm, 261 Brixton Road, London, SW9 2LH
Tickets / Last.fm / Facebook / HDIF Presents

HDIF presents a pre-Indietracks spectacular to help raise money for Antarctica Takes It!, who are travelling from Santa Cruz to play at the Indietracks festival this year. Tickets are just £5.

-------------------------------
London - Tuesday 10 August
Pic'n'mixx

Lucky Soul + The School + The Lodger + Pocketbooks DJ set + How Does It Feel To Be Loved? DJ set
@ Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, 2-4 Hoxton Square, London N1 6NU

Tickets / Last.fm

Our Dan will be stepping up to the DJ decks at this ace Pic'n'mixx night. Don't forget to bring along a compilation CD to swap at the door.

-------------------------------
Leicester - Friday 24 September 2010
Twesta presents...
Pocketbooks + The Gresham Flyers + The Screenbeats

Firebug, 1 Millstone Lane, Leicester LE1 5JN
Twesta / Last.fm

Our very first gig in Leicester, presented by our friends at Twesta.

-------------------------------

Nottingham - Sunday 26 September

Nottingham Indiepop Weekender

Emma and Ian from Pocketbooks (acoustic set) + Scumbag Philosopher + tbc
@ Chameleon, 17 Angel Row, Nottingham, NG1 6HL

Info

Emma and Ian will be playing an acoustic set at the second day of this indiepop spectacular. Bands playing the previous day include Allo Darlin, The Pete Green Corporate Juggernaut, Horowitz and Betty and the Werewolves.

Hope to see you at one of the shows!

Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

May and June 2010 shows

2010-04-22T11:46:00.001+01:00

Sadly we didn’t make it to Copenhagen Popfest because the Iceland volcanic ash meant that our flights were cancelled. This means that our UK shows in May and June will be our first gigs in six months. We’ll definitely be playing some new songs, so please come along if you can.

Thursday 13 May - London
Scarlet's Well + Vatican Cellars + Pocketbooks
@ Bull and Gate, 389 Kentish Town Road, London, NW5 2TJ
Tickets / Last.fm

This will be a first chance to hear lots of our new songs and possibly some neglected songs from our past. We’re dead excited to be playing with Scarlet’s Well, who are fronted by Bid from the legendary Monochrome Set. We actually played with them at our first-ever gig back in 2006 so this will bring back some memories. We’re on first, so please arrive early!

Saturday 29 May - London
Pic'n'mixx presents
Pocketbooks + Cola Jet Set + Foxes! + The Cavalcade
@ Buffalo Bar, 259 Upper Street, London, N1 1RU
Tickets / Facebook / Last.fm

This will be more of a Saturday night kind of set with more of our familiar songs and just a couple of upbeat new ones. The idea behind Pic’n’mixx is that you bring a compilation CD with you and swap it at the door for a different one. It’s an ace line up and their last night was really fun, so please come along and have a dance!

Saturday 19 June - Nottingham
A Layer Of Chips presents
Standard Fare + Allo Darlin’ + Pocketbooks + Mascot Fight
@ Chameleon, 17 Angel Row, Nottingham, NG1 6HL
Info / Facebook / Last.fm

We’re playing with this year’s two new indiepop sensations, Standard Fare and Allo Darlin’, plus the fantastic Mascot Fight. A perfect gig if you can’t wait for the Indietracks festival in July!

Hope to see you at one of the gigs.

Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Roadside Poppies and Pocketbooks in Copenhagen

2010-04-20T12:03:00.003+01:00

Sadly, due to pesky volcanoes, a very disappointed Pocketbooks didn't make it to Copenhagen this weekend to play at the Popfest. We'd like to thank the lovely peeps behind it for inviting us, and we hope it was a fantastic weekend despite the disruption!

Special thanks to Roadside Poppies, who covered one of our songs, 'Cross The Line' in homage! Yes, that is our drummer Jonny on drums, who cleverly decided to travel to Denmark a few days ahead of us before the flight ban kicked in. As far as we know, he's still there!

Copenhagen Popfest

2010-01-21T18:28:00.009Z

Edit (16 April): We're sorry to say that due to the Iceland volcanic ash flight cancellations we are unable to travel to Copenhagen for the popfest. We're really sad to be missing out and hope to make it over to Denmark soon.

--------------------------------

We'll be playing at the first ever Copenhagen Popfest, which takes place from Friday 16 April to Sunday 18 April 2010.

The festival will be three days filled with international and Danish indiepop acts, and we can't tell you how much we are looking forward to it! The line up is as follows:

Friday:
NoMoreHeroes, Labrador, Liechtenstein, The Electric Popgroup, Pocketbooks

Saturday:

Ampel, The Boombox Hearts, Gregory Webster Trio, Leaving Mornington Crescent, Death Valley Sleepers, Compute, Rose Elinor Dougall, Horowitz, Northern Portrait

Sunday:

Roadside Poppies, Tellus About The Moon, Iiris Viljanen, Cats On Fire

The Popfest will take place at Råhuset - right in the heart of Copenhagen. More details will be unveiled shortly, and we'll post all the information up here. You can also keep up to speed with the festival through its various links: official site, facebook, last.fm, myspace, twitter.

Tickets are available from the following link: Copenhagen Popfest tickets

Hope to see some of you there!

(Last edited: 14 March 2010)

Rough Trade Shops Indiepop 09: compilation and launch night

2009-11-04T12:47:00.004Z

We’re delighted to say that our song Fleeting Moments will appear on the forthcoming Rough Trade Shops Indiepop 09 compilation.

The CD is released on 16 November, and we’re playing a free instore gig at Rough Trade East that evening to celebrate!

About the compilation…

The CD features 25 tracks, with a mix of new and established names and a few familiar faces who we’ve been playing gigs over the last few years. We loved Rough Trade’s Indiepop 01 compilation which came out a few years ago, and we’re really thrilled to be on this new instalment.

You can find out more about the compilation here: Rough Trade Shops Indiepop 09.

The tracklisting for the compilation is:

1. Tullycraft - The punks are writing love songs

2. The Faintest Ideas - Nosebleeders on the track

3. Love Is All - Wishing well

4. Girls - Morning light

5. Vivian Girls - Moped girls

6. The Girls At Dawn - Never enough

7. Veronica Falls - Beachy head

8. Cause Co-motion - You lose

9. Betty and the Werewolves - David Cassidy

10. Pocketbooks - Fleeting moments

11. Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!

12. Shrag - Hpelessly wasted

13. The Boy Least Likely To - The summer of a dormouse

14. The School - And suddenly

15. Play People - Goes out

16. Celestial - Somedays we are

17. Moscow Olympics - No winter, no autumn

18. Liechtenstein - Security by design

19. Minisnap - Leave it to you

20. Sad Day For Puppets - Marble gods

21. Dum Dum Girls - Longhair

22. The Legends - Seconds away

23. The Manhattan Love Suicides - Clusterf__k

24. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart -103

25. The Bobby McGees - l.o.v.e/: a masonic youth

Launch night: Monday 16 November

On 16 November we’re playing at a launch night for the compilation at Rough Trade East in London.

We’ll be playing with Veronica Falls, Betty and The Werewolves and Sad Day For Puppets. Ian Watson (How Does It Feel To Be Loved?) and John Jervis (Where it’s At Is Where You Are) will also be spinning some tunes.

The launch night is completely free to attend. Please check the Rough Trade website nearer the time to see whether you need to collect a wristband or anything. The event starts at 6.30pm and the first band is on around 7pm. We’ll be playing a short set at around 8.15pm.

Hope to see you there!

Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Show with God Help The Girl / Japan album release

2009-10-20T16:53:00.003+01:00

We're just writing with a few pieces of news from Pocketbooks HQ...

100 Club show with God Help The Girl

We’re really, really excited to let you know that we’ll be playing a show with God Help The Girl, the musical/film side project of Stuart Murdoch from Belle and Sebastian. It will take place at the 100 Club in London on Saturday 21 November and is being presented by How Does It Feel To Be Loved?

Tickets go on sale at 5pm today and we think they might go pretty quickly. They will be available from: www.wegottickets.com/event/62466

Further information is available from How Does It Feel To Be Loved?

Album release in Japan

This Wednesday our album 'Flight Paths' will be released in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau by the Japanese label Happy Prince. The release also includes the songs from our Waking UP EP and our free download track Summertime.

We are their 16th release, and they’ve also released albums by God Is An Astronaut and The Bird Ensemble. There's more information on the Happy Prince website.

The album is also available from Universal Records in the Philippines and from How Does It Feel To Be Loved? everywhere else in the world.

Other bits and pieces

We’ve a song on the upcoming Rough Trade Shops Indiepop 09 compilation, which is coming out next month. More information about that will follow when we have it...

We’ve done interviews for the Stereopathic and ZMEMusic websites.

And finally, the Indietracks festival has been shortlisted in two categories in the UK Festival Awards: best small festival and the critic’s choice award for La Casa Azul. If you get a chance, it would be wonderful if you could please pop over and vote for the festival at www.festivalawards.com before 4 November.

Hope to see you at the 100 Club!

Lost album sleevenotes

2009-10-11T19:40:00.004+01:00

Earlier this year, when we were sorting out the artwork for our album, we tried to write some sleevenotes. We tried to write something that would fit nicely alongside this photo of Primrose Hill which Kris took and then adapted for the final album cover.

We then realised that there wasn't actually enough space in the booklet for these sleevenotes, so we sadly had to drop the idea. Here they are now - enjoy!

"Primrose Hill is 256 feet high, 50 acres wide and perhaps offers the best panoramic view of London, from sunrise to sunset. While other views bear down on the city, Primrose Hill is the one place that looks out across the horizon and the highest points of its skyline. From there, almost all of the capital’s landmark buildings – St Paul’s Cathedral, the Palace of Westminster, the London Eye, the British Telecom Tower and Canary Wharf – are clearly visible. If you look closely, you can just about see the British Telecom Tower on the cover of this record.

"The fact that we can see all these landmarks from Primrose Hill is more than just a happy coincidence, of course. Since the 18th century, there’s been a whole network of protected sightlines across the city, designed to make sure we can enjoy the occasional fleeting joy of a striking view on our journeys home.

"These sightlines are almost teasing in their simplicity though. Back down on the pavements, the opportunity to see a straight line between where you are and where you want to be rarely happens. In the daily rush of work or college, evenings out and unopened post, sometimes the books stay on their shelves and Bank Holiday plans pass by unrealised. There aren’t always any clear paths, just a series of steps.

"Last November, Primrose Hill was full of impromptu firework displays, kids playing music on speakers, couples drinking mulled wine and police cars happily keeping a low profile. We hadn’t really planned to be there beforehand, but enjoyed being part of it. The same’s probably true of our involvement in this record. We hope you enjoy it, however you got here."

Pocketbooks take over HDIF this Saturday!

2009-09-16T12:20:00.002+01:00

Due to Ian Watson being out of town this weekend, he's asked yours truly to step in en masse and take over DJ duties for the night!

First up will be the guest DJs John & Chris from The Orchids, who will be playing between 10.30 and midnight, then the Pocketbooks gang will take over and play 'til the bitter end.

We're chuffed to be asked, and we're really looking forward to it! Of course, we'll still be taking requests as usual so come and say hello.

It's at The Phoenix, Cavendish Square, from 9.30pm.

Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133686219547&ref=mf

See ya there!

Indietracks Festival

2009-07-30T20:57:00.004+01:00

Our show last Thursday at Jamm was pretty hard to top - we played with the excellent Northern Portrait, Standard Fare and Moustache of Insanity and had the most fun doing so, but as ever the Indietracks Festival was the most well spent weekend any pop group could ever dream of. There's plenty of photos and video on the internet already, but we've picked out a nice one of us doing 'Fleeting Moments' to show you:

And there's two more videos here:
Falling Leaves at Indietracks
Cross The Line at Indietracks

We've got a few more shows coming up, then we're having a bit of a rest, so catch us while you can!

Friday 14th August

Twee As F**k @ tbc, London

With Half Sisters, Noughts and Crosses Band, and Scraps

Friday 21st August

P!O!P Kombinat Berlin @ NBI, Berlin

With The Gresham Flyers

Saturday 26th September

A Fog Of Ideas @ Hand and Heart Gallery, Nottingham

With Horowitz, Of Mice And Mental Arithmetic and Half My Heart Beats DJs

We're also going into the studio next week to record a very special song for an exciting covers project - more of which at a later date!

See you soon!

Flight Paths - out now!

2009-07-12T22:39:00.010+01:00

Hi everyone,

It seems like ages ago when we were in a studio below a ukelele shop in Brick Lane spending a couple of weekends recording our first album. So we're now very excited to say the album is now in the shops. Here's a picture!

It's available on CD from all the best record shops, and you can also pick up the CD or MP3s from a host of online distributors, including iTunes, Amazon, HMV, Play.com etc. And it's also available on Universal Records in the Philippines.

However, by far the coolest way to buy the CD is directly from How Does It Feel To Be Loved?, which would mean less of your money goes to The Man!

Thanks so much to everyone who picked up an advance copy of the album. We've had some lovely responses, some airplay on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music and Xfm, and also some really nice reviews. I hope it's okay to post a few of the reviews here, partly because some of our parents read this blog, and also because some of the reviews made us really happy!

"All at once demurring, flighty and flirty, bright eyed and bushy tailed, still calls to our minds the chirpy cosiness of Heavenly and the willowy hushed innocence and romance of Belle and Sebastian’s ‘Tigermilk’ whilst simultaneously found on this occasion nodding ever so slightly to Martha and the Vandellas and the Supremes ‘You can’t hurry love’"
Losing Today magazine

"This is Bacharach, and this is Bob Stanley. This is all those 60s pop groups who never aspired to be as cocky or salacious as The Shangri-La’s. This is 6pm practice for choral song after school. This is The Pale Fountains. This is Dickon Edwards. This is Sarah Records without any delusions of inadequacy. None of these might seem to be recommendations to you.... I know what I like, and I like this."
Everett True (founder of Plan B and Careless Talk Costs Lives magazines)

"With better tunes than the over-hyped Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, they know whether it's little boy lost Andy Hudson or Emma Hall's summery delights that are required to sing each line.Sounding like a lost Sarah Records gem, it's endlessly cute and beguiling, not sickly like their peers." 8/10
Planet Sound, Channel 4 TV teletext

"Their girl group-inspired pop nuggets glisten at every turn, laden with harmonies and a keen melodic nous which hints at a fast-approaching songwriting maturity.... Plenty here to thrill and invigorate fans of earnest indie-pop. At times Flight Paths is wonderfully enchanting, and with songs like this it’s hard to resist Pocketbooks’ charms"
Bearded

"A stream of hummable, always likeable stories, bubbling with lyrical imagination, rippling with a determination to encompass all of London life into a series of vignettes"
In Love With These Times, In Spite Of These Times

And our favourite, from a south coast town...

"Perfectly sweet indie pop that makes young boys and girls in hooded windcheaters skip along merrily in time to their own racing jingle jangle heartbeats. It's Belle & Sebastian without the undertone." 4/5
Bournemouth Echo

Ahem, that's probably enough reviews, sorry. There's a full set of reviews on the following thread if you want to see any more(!): Pocketbooks - Flight Paths reviews

Hope to see you at the Indietracks festival later this month!

Andy, Daniel, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Footsteps now released!

2009-06-15T12:25:00.001+01:00

Our new single, 'Footsteps' has now been released! It's available on iTunes, or to download for free from here.

The single is taken from our forthcoming album 'Flight Paths' which is released in July, but advance copies are available now from How Does It Feel To Be Loved?

Enjoy!

Pocketbooks in San Francisco!

2009-06-02T09:22:00.003+01:00

Dan and Emma recently went all the way to San Francisco Popfest and played a short acoustic set. Here's a video of them doing a cover of Strawberry Switchblade's 'Since Yesterday' at the Dolores Park picnic on 24th May, shortly after Jonathan Richman had walked past with his dog and stopped for a look!

May/June gigs and Indietracks festival

2009-05-19T21:52:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update to let you know a couple of shows over the next couple of months, and to let you know about this year’s Indietracks festival in July.

-----------------------------
Saturday 30 May
Pocketbooks + The Good Gods! + The Noughts and Crosses Band
The Wilmington Arms, 69 Rosebery Avenue , London EC1R 4RL
Nearest tube: Angel or Farringdon
Doors 8pm - Tickets £6
www.myspace.com/gooniteclub

We think this will be the 50th Pocketbooks show, so we hope you’ll join us to celebrate the occasion. It will also be a kind-of launch for our single and album, and it will be a ‘welcome home’ gig for Dan and Emma , who will be arriving straight off the plane from their holiday in the States.

If you’d like to come along for a cheaper price of £5, please email your name (or as many names as you like!) to pocketbooks@gmail.com

-----------------------------
Tuesday 9 June
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart + Trailer Trash Tracys + Pocketbooks
Madame Jo Jo’s, 8-10 Brewer Street , London W1F 0SE
Tickets are sold out, but a limited number will be available on the night.
www.myspace.com/whiteheatmayfair

We’re very excited to be playing with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart again. The atmosphere at their Lexington gig last week was electric and they sounded amazing.

------------------------------
Friday 24 July to Sunday 26 July
Indietracks Festival

This year’s Indietracks festival will be headlined by Camera Obscura, Emmy The reat, Au Revoir Simone and another headliner to be announced shortly.. The festival tkes place on a 1950s steam railway in the Derbyshire countryside, and festival-goer can ride the steam trains, visit the farm and watch bands playing on the outdoor stage, in a locomotive shed, in a church and on the trains themselves!

Elefant Records are curating one of the stages this year to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Other bands playing include Lucky Soul, La Casa Azul, BMX Bandits, Butcher Boy, The School, The Frank and Walters , The Smittens, Cats on Fire, Rose Elinor Dougall and ourselves!

Last year’s festival was a wonderful experience and we’re really excited about this year’s line-up. There’s more information at www.indietracks.co.uk

-----------------------------

Thanks very much to everyone who’s picked up our album so far and also to everyone who’s come to see us play recently.

Hope to see you at one of the shows!
Andy, Dan, Emma, Ian and Jonny x

Footsteps: the video!

2009-05-12T16:43:00.002+01:00

New shows added

2009-04-30T22:26:00.003+01:00

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!

Footsteps: our new single

2009-04-19T18:50:00.016+01:00

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

_________________________________________________

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!

Pocketbooks Tour - the write-up!

2009-04-17T11:01:00.012+01:00

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...

Popshows!

2009-04-07T14:31:00.005+01:00

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

Flight Paths: our debut album

2009-04-07T12:42:00.003+01:00

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.html

One 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!

January 2009

2009-01-01T14:23:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

We've got a couple of gigs in January after taking a short break for Christmas. The first is a How Does It Feel? Presents night at The Luminaire on Friday 9th, along with The Ballet + Help Stamp Out Loneliness. The second is a Guided Missile night at The Buffalo Bar, with Fanfarlo, The Laurel Colective + Honeytrap. See our gigs page for more details and how to buy tickets.

Hope to see you there!

Emma and Dan have also appeared on a Sarandon single, which is available now on Little Car Records - head over there and bag yourself a copy - it's ace!

October 2008

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We played our last London gig of the year on 24 October, and we really couldn't have enjoyed the night more! We'd just like to thank Lostmusic for asking us to play, and everyone who came along - it was lovely to see so many of you dancing and singing!

We'll be playing one more show in Nottingham on 16th November, then we'll be taking a little break before our album comes out next year. Watch this space!

There's also a little interview with Andy and Emma on the All That Ever Mattered blog. Pop on over and have a look!

September 2008

2008-09-01T14:27:00.000+01:00

Well it's officially Autumn now, so to provide you with the perfect soundtrack as you step on the crunchiest leaves in the street, we've decided to make our song 'Falling Leaves' available for free download for a short time only!

It's taken from our last EP, which you can still buy from Make Do And Mend Records.

We're about to head off to studio now to record our album, and will be back soon to tell you all about it!

August 2008

2008-08-01T14:27:00.000+01:00

We're disappearing for a while…But don't worry – we will be back, hopefully with eleven newly recorded songs in the form of our first album!

We'll be shutting ourselves away in a Brick Lane basement from the end of September, but will come out and tell you all about it once we've finished, and hopefully do some more shows then too.

In the meantime, if you haven't picked it up already, you can still download our last studio recording, 'Summertime' completely free from here!

Pocketbooks mini-tour

2008-07-29T14:28:00.000+01:00

We kicked off the mini-tour in July with our first international show at the fantastic Rip It Up festival in Sweden, which was possibly the most fun Pocketbooks had ever had! We'd like to thank everyone who came to see us, put us up, and drove us around – we hope to come back soon! You can read a little write up here.

Before we even had time to unpack, we were off again to do some warm-up gigs in London and Nottingham, and then on to the Indietracks festival where we played our favourite show in Pocketbooks history! Despite the sweltering heat, we were joined onstage by several audience members who danced away to our last song – thanks to all of you for making it so much fun, and again to everyone who came along to see us! Again, there's a little write-up of our experience of Indietracks here.

To round off the mini-tour, it was back to London for a gig with fellow Indietracks bands Ballboy + The Smittens at The Luminaire, a show we were really excited about for ages. Thanks to Spiral Scratch for providing the perfect finalé to our tour!

We did a little set at The Mix festival in Southwark. Organised by young people in the area, it was really great to see them using their talents and spreading the message that not all kids are up to no good! We hope the festival was a great success for the borough and beyond. Here's the write-up for that too.

June 2008

2008-06-02T14:29:00.000+01:00

We've got a couple of especially exciting festival appearances in Derbyshire and Sweden as well as a string of gigs in June and July.

First up though, you might be interested to read this interview with Dan and Ian on the Indietracks Festival blog. As well as finding out which Pocketbook appeared in a Faithless video, you can also download an exclusive new song 'Summertime' completely free!

Rip It Up festival - 18-19 July in Saffle, Sweden
We're really excited to be playing at this years Rip It Up festival, which will be held on July 18th and 19th in a small town called Saffle, located a couple of hours by train north of Gothenburg.
The line-up so far includes The Clientele, Another Sunny Day, Pipas, The Tidy Ups, The Dreamers, Twig, Cocoanut Groove and a DJ set from The Honeydrips. For full information, please visit www.rip-it-up.tk

Indietracks festival - 26-27 July, in Ripley, Derbyshire
Indietracks looks like it's going to be even more fantastic this year! It takes place on a 1950s steam railway in the Derbyshire countryside, and as well as enjoying the bands, you can have unlimited trips on the railway, visit the museum and farm and enjoy late-night indiepop discos!
There's over 60 bands playing this year including The Wedding Present, Los Campesinos!, Darren Hayman, The Bobby McGee's, The Kabeedies, KateGoes and The Wave Pictures. Hope you can come along! There's further details at www.indietracks.co.uk

***
For a round-up of all our upcoming gigs, go to the shows page.

And of course, our Waking Up EP is still available if you would like to pick up a copy. It's just £2.50 plus p+p from Make Do And Mend Records.

Hopefully see you at one of the gigs. It's going to be a great summer!

New track 'Summertime' appears on two compilations!

2008-06-01T14:29:00.000+01:00

Heaven Is Above Your Head 'A Summer Spelling It' - This lovingly compiled compilation of summer songs is available to download for free together with the artwork from here. Choose from two volumes, but here's a tip: we're on the second one!

Eardrums Music 'Summer's' Here' - Once again, a two-volume compilation of summery loveliness which is available to download, along with the artwork, absolutely free from here.
We're really pleased to have our newly-recorded track 'Summertime' included on both of these. Enjoy!