New album 'Carousel' and free single

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

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:



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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