Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the German Shepherd newsletter. This time around:

• New Single from Umbrella Assassins
• German Shepherd Tea Party in London
• New bands joining the label
• Gig News

UMBRELLA ASSASSINS

Haverhill’s finest Umbrella Assassins are back with a potent new single “Sweat it Out” releasing in digital format only on 14th June. Moving on from recording in the Shed the trio have now their own recording studio in drummer Garry McKervill’s garage.

This song, about an 87 year old neighbour called Pauline who broke her leg and spent 4 months in a hospice. No family, no phone, no telly. She had to sweat it out, she changed, who wouldn’t? …it’s the first recording from Garry’s garage, now known as Tiny Eyes studios, and the first single from the upcoming album Zoo Planet.

The band support Adventures of Salvador on June 28th at the Castle Hotel in their first visit to Manchester. Electric Cheese are also playing. Tickets are £5 for the gig only or a special pre-order priced at £10 which includes a digital version of the new Adventures of Salvador album  “Welcome To Our Village” on its’ release date as well as CD copy of the album which can be collected at the gig.

Other gigs coming up

13th July – Smokehouse, Ipswich
20th July – Dublin Castle, London with Adventures of Salvador and The Get
27th July – Pim Jam Festival, Rose and Crown, Haverhill

GERMAN SHEPHERD TEA PARTY IN LONDON

As mentioned above 20th July sees one of our rare visits to London with an afternoon gig between 2pm and 5pm at the famous Dublin Caste.

The line up is Adventures of Salvador, Umbrella Assassins and The Get

Tickets are available from HERE

NEW RECRUITS

We are pleased to announce we will be working with two great bands in the coming months….

First up another addition to our Cambridge branch we are pleased to welcome Ember Rev to the kennel.

The band came together early 2016 to play the nervous & neurotic accordian-driven tunes of Cambridge singer-songwriter Dan Ecclestone. Initially ploughing a folk-rock furrow, debut album …it was all fields around here was all ukuleles and autoharps. Last year’s critically acclaimed Premonition & Ruin shifted the sound up several gears and the complex asymmetrical rhythms heard in their current set are pushing the band in a darker direction. Reworking and re-purposing familiar forms that recall the percussive Africana of Talking Heads and the accordian-led romance of Arcade Fire; alternately rattling and stuttering then piledriving at breakneck speed, it’s a sound that demands you keep coming back.

We are re-releasing Premonition & Ruin with digital distribution in July and also promoting the band. A third album To The City To The Sea will follow in August.

The band have the following dates lined up

19th June – Johnny Wright’s Wednesday Sessions at The Brook, Mill Road Cambridge
22nd June – Knackfest in Isleham, Ely,

The bands releases to date can be found on Bandcamp

Our second new band is legendary Manchester 90s group Harvey’s Rabbit.

Guitarist Mick Pullan sums up the early history of the band as follows – “Harvey’s Rabbit were around for most of the 1990’s and based in Manchester. I think we first got together in 1992 and played our last gig at the Night and Day Cafe on Oldham Street, Manchester in the Autumn of 1998. We were never really part of a scene but had a few ideas and a good DIY work ethic. 1994 was a busy year. Tired of the process of recording demos, sending them off and being rejected, we decided to be a bit more ambitious and record an album “A Place For Beginners” at Studio Studio near Rochdale. We released it (Cassette only) on our own Rain Soaked label. Releasing it meant getting a few copies on the shelves of Piccadilly Records, selling some at gigs and giving a load away. Around the same time we managed to get some dates supporting The Fall – 2 at the Roadhouse in Manchester, followed by Penzance, Exeter, Basingstoke and Oldham Queen Elizabeth Hall. And a memorable week spent commuting to Liverpool to play at the Lomax Club. One thing leads to another and no doubt it was this connection which led to us coming to John Peel’s attention and getting us a session.”

On the strength of the Peel Session the band got a deal with Rotator Records and released a handful of singles and an album, got wider national radio play, and got into John Peel’s festive fifty in 1995. In Autumn 2009 Harvey Rabbit played live together for the first time in 10 years in honour of guitarist Dave Thom’s birthday. They gigged semi-regularly since then picking up the pace over the last two years.

Often described as the English Go-Betweens the band have a unique melodic pop sound with elements of klezmer and other european folk oriented genres folding into the mix.

The band got back in the studio earlier this year to record some new tunes and we will be releasing a four track EP in September

The band play the annual tribute to the legendary Jon the Postman on June 8th at The Peer Hat Manchester with Sandells and The Distractions.

GIG NEWS

Our updated gig guide reads as follows

2019
June
5th – The Junta plays West Street Live, Sheffield
7th – The Parish Church Fire and Four Candles are playing The Eagle, Salford
7th – Inferior Complex play The Alexandra, Southampton
8th – Keltrix play Pride!, Jesus Green, Cambridge
8th – Inferior Complex play The Red House, Yeovil
13th – Inferior Complex play Angola ’76 , Shaftsbury
13th – Adventures of Salvador and Matthew Hopkins play Hannah’s Bar as part of Liverpool Fringe Festival…FREE
15th – The Mind Sweepers supporting JD Meatyard at Leith Depot Edinburgh tickets are £5 with £1 going to local homeless charity.
19th – Ember Rev play Johnny Wright’s Wednesday Sessions at The Brook, Mill Road Cambridge
20th – Inferior Complex play The King Charles, Poole
21st – Weimar play The Eagle, Salford
22nd – Inferior Complex play King Charles, Poole
22nd – Ember Rev play Knackfest in Isleham, Ely,
24th – The Junta plays The Peer Hat, Manchester with Lucky + Love.
26th – Dominic Carlton Jones plays Cuckoo Calling (Featured Artist) Bury New Road, Prestwich
28th – Adventures of Salvador play The Castle, Oldham Street, Manchester with Electric Cheese and Umbrella Assassins.
28th – Inferior Complex play The Alexandra, Southampton
28th – Mark Corrin’s Elastikbande play The Old Abbey Taphouse, Manchester
July
5th – Mark Corrin’s Elastikbande play The Railway, Didsbury
5th – Inferior Complex play The Shooting Star, Southampton
6th – The Mind Sweepers play Electric Fields Festival, SWG3, Glasgow
13th – Umbrella Assassins play The Smokehouse, Ipswich
13th – Electric Cheese play Indiefest 2019 at The Boulevard, Wigan
19th – The Scissors and Adventures of Salvador with Moonstrips at Blue Moon Cambridge
20th – Keltrix play Whoosh Festival, The Missing Sock, Sto-Cum-Quy
20th – Adventures of Salvador with Umbrella Assassins and The Get play Dublin Castle, London – 2pm to 5pm show!
27th – Umbrella Assassins play Pimjam festival at the Rose and Crown, Haverhill
28th – Monkeys In Love celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing at The Klondyke Club, Levenshulme – afternoon show between 1pm and 5pm
31st – The Junta plays The Peer Hat
August
9th – Mark Corrin’s Elastikbande play The Railway, Didsbury
10th – Weimar play Scarborough Apollo
16th – Keltrix play The Green Man, Granchester
25th – Toska Wilde plays It Came From The Sea II at The Centre, Margate
October
12th – Scissors play The Six Bells, Cambridge
26th – Toska Wilde plays CULT 13 – Underground Alternative Night at The Venue Southend.
26th – Poppycock play the Castle Hotel, Manchester
2020
February
1st – The Junta will be supporting TRUE ORDER at Sunbird Records, Darwin