GERMAN SHEPHERD RECORDS NEWS – Dominic Carlton Jones, 2 Lost Souls, Longsight, A Raffle, Charitable Work

Hello

We hope you are all well and coping in these strange times.

Firstly, many thanks to those DJs, Bloggers and websites who have featured us recently. We really appreciate the support and time you are giving to the label and its artists.

This news is for releases on June 26th plus details of a new signing to the label and progress on some of our fundraising activities….

DOMINIC CARLTON JONES

Eccles based singer, songwriter, and troubadour Dominic Carlton Jones returns with a new double A side – Reach Out To Your Far Horizon/German Bombers

Dominic Carlton Jones won the Salford Star Best Band/Act 2018 Award for his debut album Salford Punk Poetry Sadness Death New Life, which judges hailed as “inspired and original”. and his work has been rightly praised. The new single sees the seven minute plus “Reach Out To Your Far Horizon” exploring ambient soundscapes with an evocative and emotional spoken word delivery from Dominic. The guitar focused “German Bombers” provides another side of Dominic’s work with layers of picking and riffs building to create an atmospheric bed for more spoken word developing an epic soundscape where vocals kick in with a heartfelt song.

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2 LOST SOULS

The ever productive 2 Lost Souls duo of Ian Moss and Paul Rosenfeld are back with another charity focused single. The harrowing “Don’t You Call It Love”, which Ian premiered at his virtual Stonehenge festival performance, is a direct attack on child sex abuse and the evil people who perpetrate it. All proceeds from the sale of this single will be donated to Childline.

LONGSIGHT

We are pleased to announce we will be working with Stockport, GreaterManchester band Longsight starting with a single.

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Longsight are a new indie guitar band from Stockport, North West England. Started in August 2019 their first few gigs have caught the imagination of their peers and music journalists alike.

Si Wolstencroft (The Fall/ Ian Brown’s band) “Absolutely love Longsight. They sound like a cross between The Buzzcocks and New Order”.
The Big issue: “Beg, borrow or steal the entrance fee. Longsight are about to go stellar”.
Cassie Delta KBYD radio California: “The songs have a hurting, haunting, heart-breaking echo to them.”
Manchester Evening News, “No wonder current music sounds banal, Longsight have taken all the best songs”.
Chester Chronicle: “Top new band. Every track sounds like a hit single.”
Glasgow Herald. “Beautifully crafted songs delivered in an unnerving style”.

The band comprises of:

Keo (Guitar/vox) formerly in Jez Kerr from A Certain Ratio’s solo band, The Family Bizarre and The Treatment Organisation.
Adam Halford (Drums/vox) formerly in The Trainset.
Johnny Stringer (Bass/vox) Formerly in The Stipe band.

Longsight’s first single ‘These Chains’ is out now on limited edition 7″ vinyl through Discogs. Produced by Jez Kerr from A Certain Ratio. Their first album is due out early next year through German Shepherd Records pending that a new single is coming soon.

Here’s the band live:

Catch them on Facebook

A RAFFLE

Moff Skellington has made available the original artwork for three of his albums plus the poster designed for his gig at The Peer Hat, Manchester. There are four prizes so four chances to win. All punters need to do is purchase one or more tickets for the chance to enter the prize draw. Entrants get a free copy of Moff’s EP Uncle Roy’s Utopian Vision #1
The closing date for the raffle is Monday 22nd June and winners will be notified by e-mail by Friday 26th June when arrangements will be made for Moff to mail the artwork to the winners.

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All proceeds will be donate to The Peer Hat Fundraiser. Tickets can be purchased from this link.

….AND MORE FUNDRAISING

Our recent releases from Four Candles, 2 Lost Souls and Crab Dance GIs are all dedicated to raising money to support The Peer Hat, Manchester a much loved place by everyone at the label and where we hold our annual Meltdown events. We have already raised £265 through these releases but more would help if you are able to support us.

Our recent releases by Moongoose also have a charitable aim with homelessness charity Shelter being the recipient on any income from sales of the EPs.

The Return of The Parish Church Fire

The Parish Church Fire are an Alternative Rock band from Manchester, UK fronted by Sam Smith. As loud as they are soft, the band have carved a unique dynamic with elements of heavy metal, trip hop, punk, jazz and blues. Comparable to Afghan Whigs, Radiohead & Pearl Jam. They have a new single out on May 10th called “Hunger” followed by two high profile gigs at Strummercamp and The Eagle, Salford in May and June.

Here is a recent interview with band front man Sam Smith carried out by German Shepherd co-owner Bob Osborne.

Hi Sam, can you give us a brief history of The Parish Church Fire?

I put together the band in July 2014 after the disbanding my previous outfit ‘Sam Smith & Company’. Although The Parish Church Fire has solely been a studio project for the last 5 years an original live band was assembled upon formation but were only together for just 21 days. The line-up was myself, Chris Gilman & Rick Jarvis (and also Dave Wooley, Jack Farnworth and Peter Toner briefly). In that time Chris, Rick and I rehearsed relentlessly almost every day to get the wealth of material I had written up to standard for a busy gig schedule which had been booked for autumn of 2014. We had even managed to complete a studio session, recording 5 songs. Unfortunately, shortly after the sessions, the band split very abruptly due to the sudden departure of Rick Jarvis and my own ongoing health problems.

What have you been up to since 2014?

In 2015, I signed to German Shepherd Records and adopted the moniker ‘Franco Bandini’ as a result of increasing discomfort using my birth name due to the global rise of Universal Music Group artist Sam Smith. I released a solo EP as Bandini, entitled ‘2014 Was a Bad Year’ and supported Australian rock legend Dave Graney at The Eagle Inn, Salford. I also did a radio session with Stephen Doyle at Salford City Radio and that was also released by German Shepherd. The ‘The Parish Church Fire EP’ which contained 3 of the 5 songs recorded with the original Parish Church Fire line up was self released at around the same time.

You pursued your vision of the Parish Church Fire band though?

The idea of assembling a band of musicians to represent the vision of The Parish Church Fire and also the desire to perform the songs written specifically for that band never went away. Whilst continuing to work as Franco Bandini, I met drummer Joe Roberts when we both rehearsed with a metal band which sadly never quite got off the ground. We stayed in touch after that band disbanded and we would occasionally meet to discuss the downfall of Manchester United, brewing methods and music production whilst sometimes exchanging demos via email. In 2016, we released the first Parish Church Fire single ‘Locamente’ on German Shepherd Records which was largely well received and we discussed putting together a live band, however as a result of personal circumstances for both of us getting in the way, this would not happen for another 2 and a half years.

Things picked up a little in 2017 though?

Yes! I returned to using my birth name in early 2017, releasing two singles and a live album along the way whilst performing live as a solo artist across the UK with just a guitar and piano. However I always felt that the Parish Church Fire band would come together as a live entity when the time was right. I was booked to appear at Strummercamp Festival in 2019 on the strength of my solo material and the time seemed right to assemble a band. I contacted former Sam Smith & Company bassist John Bardsley, who is currently one of the key forces behind The Ombudsmen, and asked him if he would be interested in joining the band in its early stages of rebirth. Joe contacted friend and former Confucius Saint guitarist Timothy Hughes to see if he was interested and an initial rehearsal was soon set up.

So where are we up to now?

From the get go, due to various difficulties each of the four of us was dealing with in our personal lives, the rehearsals took place on the provision that they would always remain light hearted, humour would be at the forefront, and ,that a large amount of beer would be drank during each session! Building on this foundation, a bond was carved between the four of us and despite the alcohol, professionalism ensued and a set of new material I had written was soon ready to perform, leading to a second gig being added for summer 2019 at The Eagle Inn in Salford.

On Initial listening to the new release we found a newly reborn Sam Smith, an artist with the potential we always knew was there, bursting through With this new band drawing on the strengths of each individual member whilst always respecting the composition of Sam’s songs, there is a unique dynamic sound, emerging through this rebirth, which can be as heavy as it can be soft. We took the view that there was a perfect marriage of the rock and punk ethos, exciting!

German Shepherd Records Newsletter #24 – Matthew Hopkins, Mistletoe, Sam Smith, Lizard Brain, Bouquet of Dead Crows, m.t.scott subscriber offer and gigs!

Hello and welcome to this weeks edition of the German Shepherd Newsletter.

In this issue:

Matthew Hopkins release first single – with a special deal for subscribers
Ian Moss teams up with Mark Corrin for a new Mistletoe Release
Sam Smith launches new single on Sunday
Cambridge band Lizard Brain join German Shepherd for their new album
Bouquet Dead release a new video from forthcoming album
Special subscriber offer for new m.t.scott single
Some new gig announcements!

MATTHEW HOPKINS

As trailed last week North West Trio of Julia Nelson and Anne & Max Calderbank release their first single on German Shepherd Records on November 2nd. General distribution via the usual digital outlets will be provided for lead track “Something” – two additional tracks “Hey Joe” and “Lachrymose” will be subscriber only releases via Bandcamp.

MISTLETOE RELEASE NEW EP

Ian Moss is back with a brand new EP called “Made To Break” this time in partnership with famed Manchester area musician and DJ Mark Corrin. Ian says “Accidents will happen and plans go awry , a Moss/Corrin live summit had been bubbling and then evaporated but from the plume of steam signifying the end of that project the idea of a recorded project was trapped in a bottle and given a shake.
Unscrew the top carefully and see what is released back into the air”.

Corrin backing tracks and Moss vocals were glued together by the Auster Boys to produce three pieces where Moss’s intriguing spoken word is coupled with atmospheric sounds.

The EP is released on November 2nd.

Moss and Corrin’s previous collaboration “Ali Baba” was a bit special….

SAM SMITH LAUNCHES NEW SINGLE ON SUNDAY

The much trailed new single from Sam Smith – formerly of the Parish Church Fire and alter ego of Franco Bandini – gets released on Sunday 29th October complete with video. A special newsletter will be released on the day to celebrate this event.

LIZARD BRAIN JOIN GERMAN SHEPHERD

Increasing our Cambridge band count to five we are pleased to announce we will be releasing the new album from Lizard Brain in the new year. The melodic quartet have had two album releases to date and are recognised as one of the most exciting bands coming out of Cambridge. The band appeared on Cambridge Calling Volume 1.

Watch this space for more news.

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DEAD CROWS LAUNCH ANOTHER VIDEO

In preparation for the release of new album “Motus Octo” Bouquet of Dead Crows have launched another video from the album with track 2 “The Devil’s in the Detail” – also featuring guest miming from Stewart of The Scissors and Garry from Umbrella Assassins it’s a strong indicator of the quality of the forthcoming album.

SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL

The new single “Don’t Mention The War” from m.t. scott is released on 9th November. In a one-off special gift our first ten subscribers will receive a unique signed print of one of ten images created by Michael. With subscription places going fast signing up to the service is strongly recommended if fans want to claim their free gift. Here is an example of one of the prints.

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GIGS

A number of new gigs have been announced since our last newsletter and these are highlighted in bold in the list below

2018

October
24th – Umbrella Assassins play Pim Jam Festival Fundraiser at the Haverhill Arts Centre
25th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play The Pepys, Huntingdon – acoustic gig
27th – Pearl Divers play Red Wall, New Victoria Mills, Bury

November
1st – Bouquet of Dead Crows play The Dublin Castle, London
2nd – The Strays play Zombie Shack, Manchester
5th – Weimar are playing The Peer Hat supporting Madmoizel.
14th – The Junta is invading Lock 91, Deansgate Locks, Manchester
15th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Esquires, Bedford
17th – Drink and Drive and Four Candles play The Railway, Greenfield
17th – The Mindsweepers play The Riverside, Dumfries
18th – Four Candles and Matthew Hopkins play The Eagle, Salford
22nd – Inferior Complex play The King Charles, Poole
24th – Bouquet of Dead Crows launch new album Motus Octo at The Blue Moon, Cambridge
24th- Keltrix play The Crown & Pipes, Fenstanton.
29th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Gringos, Norwich
29th – Four Candles play “Free Rock & Roll” at Sound, Duke Street, Liverpool
December
1st – Toska Wilde plays Saks Southend on Sea as part of Cult 13 Showcase
1st – Bouquet of Dead Crows and Umbrella Assassins play Smokehouse, Ipswich
1st – Moet the Poet is back on the Independents Tour with JD Meatyard and others as MC at Bar 39 in Darwen.
2nd – Moet the Poet is back on the Independents Tour with JD Meatyard and others as MC at Sound, Liverpool
6th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge, Stamford
6th – The Scissors (plus Ember Rev and Goddammit Jeremiah) at Cambridge Cornerhouse.
8th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play The Horn at the Half Moon, Bishops Stortford
8th – Boz Hayward and Keltrix with Misharlo play The Peer Hat, Manchester
8th – Poppycock support Vic Godard at Yes (The Basement) on Charles Street, Manchester with ASBO Derek
8th – Øre will be playing their debut gig at the TA in Dumfries
22nd – Drink and Drive play Strummercamp Fundraiser and Oldham Rugby Club
28th – Drink and Drive play Whittles, Oldham

2019

March
2nd – Four Candles play the Peer Hat, Manchester, a benefit for Macmillan nurses as a memorial for Modal Roberts

AND FINALLY WE HAVE JUST HIT 750 LIKES ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT. CHECK US OUT HERE

German Shepherd Newsletter #10 – Umbrella Assassins, Moff Skellington and Positronik

Hello and welcome to the German Shepherd Newsletter for releases on August 3rd

This week-

Haverhill purveyors of Shed Punk – Umbrella Assassins – join German Shepherd
Positronik deliver their pop stylings with a Summer EP
Moff Skellington is back with the first of two new EPs
Gig News
What’s in the pipeline

UMBRELLA ASSASSINS JOIN GERMAN SHEPHERD

Haverhill based and self-styled Shed Punk trio Umbrella Assassins have moved from the confines of their usual recording set-up in The Shed to a fully fledged studio for the release of a new three track EP “Live at The Crunch” in late August.

As long admirers of this band, who already have a massive back catalogue of 24 releases via Bandcamp we were extremely pleased when they agreed to join us on the label.

Recorded at new studio “The Crunch” in Norwich, the band – Steve guitar/vocals, Bunge bass,vocals, and Garry – Drums – have delivered some of their best material to date. Recorded by Mr Jason in a location which was an Operations Control Centre during the Battle Of Britain. and built in 1939, they played live onto 7 tracks of a vintage 8 track reel to reel tape machine, using vintage mics, vintage drums, and 70s little 5 watt WEM guitar amp to create a gutsy earthy sound. Look out for more news on the band who play PIM JAM Festival Haverhill on 28th July and Rugfest Haverhill on 25th August, in the near future.

FACEBOOK @Brollys1

POSITRONIK POP PICKS FOR SUMMER

Greater Manchester’s finest purveyors of electro-pop, Positronik, return with a four-track EP “Summer” featuring two new tracks, and two reworkings of classic material from their first album. Featuring Nathalie Haley – Vocals , Monty – bass and Captain Black on guitar and keyboards, the trio’s powerful pop is perfect for those long hot summer nights bringing back memories of classic chart hits from the 60s onwards. This is a digital only release which comes out on August 3rd via Bandcamp, Spotify, I Tunes, Google, Amazon and lots more platforms.

Here is a sneak preview of lead track “Caged Bird”

FACEBOOK – @positronikband

MOFF AND UNCLE ROY

The ever-prolific Moff Skellington is back with a new six-track EP which looks at the life of the mysterious Uncle Roy and his Utopian Vision. Uncle Roys is a shadowy figure from Moff’s childhood who was partially inspired by the work of legendary science fiction writer James P Blaylock. In the first of two EPs with the same title, Moff delivers his usual unique and thought-provoking music examining the nether regions of life at the edge of your imagination. Moff’s music is described as Eddodi which is best explained as a form of music which has no boundaries and is not constrained by what has gone before or indeed may happen in the future. If you have not heard Moff before the best comparison we can is that of a surreal version of Ivor Culter who has been infested by post-punk.

The second volume Uncle Roy’s Utopian Vision will follow in September

FORTHCOMING GIGS

Here is our latest gig list

25th July – Mesmer Disciples play Santiago Bar, Leeds
26th July – Pearl Divers play Jimmy’s, Manchester
27th July – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge in Stamford
28th July – Drink and Drive and Poppycock play Peer Hat, Manchester
28th July – The Strays play Fuel, Manchester
28th July – Bouquet of Dead Crows and Umbrella Assassins play Pim Jam Festival, Haverhill
29th July – The Strays play Red Lion, Chesterfield
17th August – The Junta and Special Friends Live At The Peer Hat, Manchester – album launch
25th August – The Mind Sweepers play the Carlisle Fringe Festival
25th August – Umbrella Assassins play Rugfest, Haverhill
26th August – The Mind Sweepers play Solfest – Cottage Stage
27th August – Four Candles play The 2nd annual Pressure Drop summer gig (private by invite only)
27th August – Taser Puppets play Glaston-Bury, Bury
15th September – The Scissors and Charlie Marshall play The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
15th September – Mesmer Disciples play Music Lounge, Stockton on Tees
16th September – Mesmer Disciples play Museum Vaults Sunderland.
21st September – Four Candles, Poppycock and Charlie Marshall play The Peer Hat, Manchester
27th September – Inferior Complex play Ferndown RBL
27th September – Electric Cheese support Tom Hingley at Preston Guildhall
28th September – Inferior Complex play The Shooting Star, Southampton
5th October – The Scissors are at Oxford Wheatsheaf (Klub Kakofanney).
5th October – Shaun Maxwell of Taser Puppets plays a solo acoustic set at Chorley Live
14th October – Taser Puppets play TNT Punk Fest at The Peer Hat
19th October – Taser Puppets play Old Courts, Wigan
2nd November – German Shepherd Records Fundraiser at The Peer Hat, Manchester – with Drink and Drive, Taser Puppets, The Strays and Flea
8th December – Boz Hayward, Poppycock and Ketrix play The Peer Hat, Manchester
22nd December – Drink and Drive play Strummercamp Fundraiser and Oldham Rugby Club

IN THE PIPELINE – WHAT’S COMING NEXT IN THE RELEASE SCHEDULE

The release schedule is hotting up as summer moves into autumn with the following in the pipeline

10/08/2018 The Junta – Network : brand new album – check out the launch gig at The Peer Hat in the list above
10/08/2018 Loop -Aznavour – Requiem for a mouse : a new single
17/08/2018 Toska Wilde – Oscar In Earnest : a new EP
17/08/2018 Poppycock- Iggy Pop/Magic Mothers ; the long awaited second single and a taster for next years debut album
24/08/2018 Four Candles – Chastity BeltDipping A Toe -: the third pairing from the Spiritual Rapture album
24/08/2018 Inferior Complex – Reflections : a new EP
31/08/2018 Umbrella Assassins – Live at the Crunch : see above
31/08/2018 Various Artists Cambridge Calling Vol 3 : a new compilation from Dave Hammond – this will be a Bandcamp only release
07/09/2018 The Screaming Love Collective – Imola : a new album
14/09/2018 The Strays – new EP
21/09/2018 Moff Skellington – Uncle Roys Utopian Vision #2 : the second volume!

Mesmer Disciples to release debut EP

Leeds based Mesmer Disciples release their debut EP “The Big O” via German Shepherd Records on 20th April.

Mesmer Disciples formed relatively recently and they have had many comparisons suggested to them by their audience members, including Can, Captain Beefheart, Butthole Surfers and Edgar Broughton band.

Mesmers
Not wishing to be constrained by genres, Mesmer Disciples have no intention of recreating a sound from a by-gone era, or a desire to sound like anybody else.
With a constantly evolving sound, and set-list they will continue to jam, play and record for as long as it seems appealing.

The band is

Stewart Kinloch – vocals lap guitar percussion and Tanpura simulator
Dave Royston – guitar
Mike Smith – drums
Mark Stainton – guitar

Check out their full biography elsewhere on the site.

Here is a taster from the EP the mesmerising Preetam Bobo…….

Daniel Clarke joins German Shepherd

Well known Manchester Music stalwart Daniel Clarke joins German Shepherd for his debut solo single.

Known for his work with bands The Moods and Death to the Strange, as well as his active involvement in developing open mic nights for local talent, Daniel has produced a great new song which echoes the art of Brecht and Weill as well as capturing the spirit of Tom Waits.

Titled “Trampin’ Stampin'” the new single is released on February 9th gets one of its’ first airplays on Stephen Doyle’s Sonic Diary Show on Salford City Radio tonight.

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Introducing PrunX

We are pleased to announce the addition of Berlin based band PrunX to German Shepherd Records. Introduced to the label by Cannonball Statman, the band were formed in 2000 and have gone through several line-up changes.

The current line up of the band is :

FrankOz Pfeil – Guitar, Vocals; Mikado K. Schütt -Keyboards, Vocals ; Joushi Schütt – Guitar, Vocals; Stilgar T. Krennrich – Bass, Vocals, and Tom Schneider – Drums

The ep “vol.III” released on June 19th 2017 and features three tracks – The Iron Dream, Sick of it All, and Welcome To Your Nightmare. Special guest metal percussion is provided by N.U.Unruh, of Einstürzende Neubauten on The Iron Dream.

Stereopod deliver “Cinematopoeia” via German Shepherd

Stereopod are a Scottish instrumental studio based duo who grew up together,
loathing mediocrity. They are inspired by a love of guitars and synths,
and the focus of melody in music.Influences primarily include
Mogwai, John Carpenter, Boards of Canada, Alessandro Cortini, James
Holden, and Vessels to name a few. Ideally thier music is aimed at
perhaps capturing the attention of film makers, its sound tracky and
that was our plan when they began, hence the name of the album “Cinematopoeia”.

The album will be released later in 2016. Here’s a taster

Night Operations joins German Shepherd – Single and Album due

Kit B keyboard player Mike Powell will be joining us to release new material from his project Night Operations. A single “Remember” drops in September and a full album “Mantra” follows in October.

Introducing The Screaming Love Collective

The Screaming Love Collective is the solo project of Mind Sweepers drummer Bryn Thorburn. We will be releasing material in early August from this purveyor of psychedelic punk rock grooves – here’s a taster….

Introducing Four Candles

Ian Moss and Jon Rowlinson the vocalist and bass player from Hamsters have got together with Mark Taylor (Guitar) and Phil Peak (Drums) to form a new group called Four Candles.

Taking inspiration from Krautrock , post-punk and no wave the band are currently pulling together a set for their first gigs. One of those first appearances will be at The Eagle in Salford on 12th August as part of a German Shepherd Showcase with Bouquet of Dead Crows, Saint Lawrence Verge and Poppycock.

Here are some early rehearsal recordings from the band.

Welcome to The Mind Sweepers

We are pleased to announce we will be working with Dumfries based band The Mind Sweepers. Describing themselves as “Genre Defying” the band comprises Paul Winter (vocals/rhythm guitar/lyrics) John Mcinally (Lead Guitar) Jack Trainer (bass/harmonica) Gareth Mcintyre (keyboards/piano, bass), and, Bryn Thorburn (drums/percussion/photography).

Here’s a taster of what to expect:

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Introducing The Scissors

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Once again Cambridge provides us with a band that we are very pleased to be associated with. The Scissors deliver swirling Hammond organ fuelled psychpop with horrorshow freakbeat guitars and new wave post punk synergy. Read more about them on our artists page.

We will be releasing their excellent second album “Haunted Mirror” soon. Pending that have a listen to their excellent debut album “Daylight Cinema” which has recently been re-released with a new master.

Kit B join German Shepherd

We are pleased to announce that Salford/Manchester/Chester band Kit B will be releasing an EP with us this year.

Featuring our very own “The Junta” aka Monty on bass as well as other local music legends Danny Cusick (The Hidden Gem), Mike Powell (Exchange, Night Operations) and Peter Slater (Vee V V, Tunnelvision) the band deliver cutting edge Manchester indie and are gaining a growing reputation since their self-released EP “Be Your Own God” from 2015. It will feature this track “It Always Rains (On Sunday)” – watch this space for more news.

Check out their website.

ec2fe8_73466472da394dd58db985da3fac3ecd — Mike, Danny and Monty

Upping our Chorley Contingent

We are pleased to announce that we will be releasing Chorley based band Taser Puppets forthcoming EP “Fossil” in the New Year. Recorded at 6dB Studios in Salford with Simon “Ding” Archer the new four track is currently being mixed.

This is our second band from Chorley on the label and there is a link as Jason from The Electric Cheese was formerly a member of the Tasers.

Formed in 2008, Taser Puppets are a big four-piece ball of loveliness, noise, melody and contradictions. Vocal driven music laced with dark humour like a evil ‘Treat’ or ‘Minstrel’, depending which chocolate generation you come from.

The EPs Twisted Pop and Fuzzy Felt can be found in the British Library Sound and Moving Image Catalogue.

Having played most of the North’s top venues supporting the likes of The Primitives, Yeah Yeah No’s, Bez (Happy Mondays), Interrobang (Chumbawamba) and Tom Hingley (Inspiral Carpets) to name just a few, more high profile gigs are on the way.

With regular national and international radio airplay, plus slots booked at various festivals, 2016 is looking good for the band.

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Mark, Terry, Shaun and Bob of the Taser Puppets

Introducing The Sideshow

The Sideshow are forging a formidable reputation as one of the most dynamic and engaging bands in the UK

Whether playing at a packed Albert Hall or an intimate venue in their native Cambridgeshire, The Sideshow deliver their catchy, heartfelt, and sometimes geeky songs with sincerity and humour.

In the last year they have shared the stage with artists as diverse as Feeder frontman Grant Nicholas, and UK rock favourites The Subways.

Whilst The Sideshow’s music shares some sonic territory with Weezer, Ryan Adams, Oasis and Ben Kweller, their disarming blend of naïve charm and acerbic wit – and keen ear for a killer hook – always provide something fresh and exciting.

Frontman Mark is a multi-instrumentalist who enjoyed turbulent success early in his career as drummer of Hamfatter, including a top 3 hit on the UK indie chart, British and European tours and several national TV and radio appearances. The Sideshow is indeed his brain child writing and recording all the songs before deciding to form the band for real.

New single “How It Goes” is set to put The Sideshow on the map, it has been described as a “thumping, rolling song from a ﬁercely true rock and roll band” by Steven Loftin at gigsoup.com. From the ﬁrst beat to the last your ear will be hooked as the song constantly crescendo’s.

The band are in the midst of recording new material and look to be bringing a compelling rock album to the table in 2016.

You can hear “How It Goes” on Bob’s Aural Delights Podcast 152

Watch out for release news early in the new year.

Ice Cream for Crows

We are very pleased to advise you that we will be working with Cambridge band Bouquet of Dead Crows to release their forthcoming single and album.

The band comprises Toni Cooper – vocals, Neil Bruce – guitar, Graeme Clarke – bass and Andrew Coxall – drums.

They described themselves as “A female fronted Bluesy, Rock/Pop band that likes big riffs, but also likes acoustic finger picking!”

An initial single “Don’t Panic” will be available at the end of August will a debut album to follow.

The band previously self-released an EP “Together We Fall” in 2013.

The next gigs for the band are 28th August at the Cornerhouse, Cambridge and 29th August at The Pig In Falcon, St Neots

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The Electric Cheese join German Shepherd

Chorley based psychedelic pop trio The Electric Cheese have joined up with German Shepherd to release their first EP “Lactose Intolerant”.

The band were formed in March 2014 after former Taser Puppets bass player Jason went back to playing guitar and singing.

Via the magic of the internet, bassist Tom and drummer Matt were recruited to form the tight power trio that is The Electric Cheese.

Since their first gig at Salford Music Festival in September 2014, they have been purveying their particular brand of funky/punky psych pop around venues in Manchester, Salford and Liverpool as well as their home town of Chorley.

Jason Gorgonzola – Guitar and vocals

Tommy Brie – Bass and vocals

Matt Crumbly Lancashire – Drums

Here’s a preview of one of the tracks from the forthcoming EP – “Gold Divers : Under The Ice”

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KP2 morphs into Ion-Morph

To mark the end of 2014 KP2 has announced that he will be working under a different name from 2015 onwards.

New material under the name Ion-Morph will be forthcoming – a range of collaborations are being developed and exciting new partnerships will be let loose in the forthcoming months.

Watch this space

German Shepherd gets Gettitude!

11th July will see the re-release of The Gets “Gettitude!” album on German Shepherd.

German Shepherd releasing EP by Scratchings, No Gravy

We are pleased to announce that we will be releasing a four track EP by the band “Scratchings, No Gravy”.

The band consists of Tom Wilson – vocals, drums, percussion and David Holmes – bass, rhythm guitar with the EP including guest appearances by Jim Boyle on guitar and Alison Sands on saxophone.

Tom and David were members of Manchester band The Parody. Tom says

“……we were always influenced by bands like The Stooges, The Sex Pistols, Joy Division, Roxy Music, The Stranglers, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Fall, MC5, Magazine, Killing Joke, and some prog rock and blues really. We left Manchester to gig in London around 1987, spent a mental year in Slough, and did gigs in Windsor and Slough, and then came back to Salford. since then myself and David have continued writing and doing gigs. The EP was recorded in York at three different studios….”

We will be releasing the EP in August which will include the following tracks:

These are the dogs I’ve known
People are snapping
Salford on a Saturday night
Precocious Diplodocus

West Coast Sick Line join German Shepherd

We are pleased to announce that we will be releasing music from West Coast Sick Line on the lable.

The band comprises Dusty Moonan and Stacey Anne Bates and we will be releasing re-mastered versions of their two first albums and also their brand new waxing in the summer. Singles and remix EPs are also on the list for release.

Based in North Wales the band are currently putting together a live band for performances across the North West of England.

Watch this space for details: