vacuous pop & Rough Trade presents...

Saturday 2 May
vacuous pop @ RoTa
ELEPHANTS, LOAD.CLICK.SHOOT!, PART DINOSAUR & special guests FRIENDSHIP
Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate, London
4pm - 8pm / FREE ENTRY / 18+

www.myspace.com/fullyelephants
www.myspace.com/thegoodfriendship
www.myspace.com/loadclickshoot
www.myspace.com/partdinosaur

www.myspace.com/vpop
or listen to all the bands here: www.myspace.com/vacuouspop

Facebook Event Page
Last.FM Event Page

Ahead of their UK tour in May and Lions, the debut album release on vacuous pop recordings, Elephants are in session for Huw Stephens on his BBC Introducing shows this Wednesday.

Listen from 9pm when one track should be aired on In New Music We Trust:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/innewmusicwetrust/huwstephens

Then listen again from midnight for the remainder of the session and a chat with the band:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/huwstephens

If you miss the live show, you can listen back online for the next week right up until 29 April.

Elephants' tour kicks off on 2nd May with a vacuous pop showcase for Rough Trade's RoTa afternoon at Notting Hill Arts Club (also featuring Friendship, Load.Click.Shoot! and Part Dinosaur) and concludes on 10th May with a slot at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swindon where the guys will play on the Introducing stage!

For further information please see the following links:

http://www.myspace.com/fullyelephants
http://www.myspace.com/vpop

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/bigweekend

This is Elephants first ever interview, with the lovely folks at God Is In The TV zine.

http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/content/content_detail.php?id=3051&type=Interviews

Oxfordshire label, Vacuous Pop has a history of providing bands and artists with their first steps in the dog eat dog world that is the music industry. New signings Elephants, hope that they are set to follow in the footsteps of Youthmovies, the now sadly defunct Help She Can’t Swim and members of The Edmund Fitzgerald and Diego Garcia who have gone on to greater success with Foals and Fuck Buttons respectively.

The four piece from Folkestone, Kent comprises of a mix of old and new friends; Owen (guitar, vocals, keys), Dean (bass, vocals), Tom (guitar) and George (drums). Let’s hand over to Owen to explain the origins of their unusual name. “We were asking friends to suggest names to help us out and someone said, ‘Why don’t you have a name that is opposite to Arctic Monkeys and call yourselves Desert Elephants!’ We thought that was a ridiculous name but we liked the name Elephants, and it stuck.”

On the other hand, their music doesn’t have such an odd foundation, being based on neat time changes and intricate, noodling guitar lines a la This Town Needs Guns and Minus The Bear. But their own take on the post-rock blueprint is driven by galloping riffs and a heavy emphasis on power pop, or what Owen terms “poptastic” sounds that lean towards mainstream acts like Vampire Weekend. There’s even a nod to Wave Pictures’ Dave Tattersall and New Rhodes’ James Williams in Owen’s engaging vocals, keeping the influences dotted all over the musical map. Raw energy and passion are central to the band’s aesthetic, no more so than Alexander, the opening track of their forthcoming Lions EP, that twists and turns with a pounding insistence. They seem intent on creating big music – the faint whiff of Thin Lizzy on For Laika may or may not have been intentional – that tugs at the heartstrings.

With the credit crunch reaching out indiscriminately the band doesn’t appear to be overly concerned by dwindling CD sales, or recent reports that 95% of all downloads are made illegally. Instead Owen holds a great sense of optimism that they and other emerging bands deserve to get the breaks that their hard work warrants. “There are so many bands at the moment that are so exciting and are getting no coverage at all, like ourselves, Bayonets, Load.Click.Shoot, Mathematics, Part Dinosaur; bands that aren’t getting the exposure because people don’t give us a chance. We love writing music at the end of the day and just want people to give us a chance to see how good we are.”

Perhaps this is why Elephants haven’t exactly been backwards about coming forwards. Whereas lots of bands take their time in the hope that the perfect deal will one day come along, they seem to have made a conscious decision to try and fast-track their way into the minds and hearts of music lovers. “We've given ourselves a year to make some progress as a band. We knew that labels, radio, and fans weren’t going to come to us, we knew we had to get ourselves seen and heard so we put the effort in to do it.” The early signs are promising; they’ve already had Radio One airplay, played the indie haven that is 93 Feet East in London, and are on the roster of a rejuvenated and prolific indie label.

Despite not releasing their debut EP until May, they already have a handful of tracks and ideas for the next release. Apparently the band “don’t mind taking risks” and as a result “the musicianship has definitely improved and these songs have had more input from all members, so we sound tighter as a band.” The band’s main hope is that this is a sign that they can continue to develop at their current pace, and Owen concludes defiantly; “As for fears, we haven’t got any. Our motto is party on or die!”


Elephants debut 5 track EP 'Lions' will be released in May.

Elephants Myspace

So as the snow takes hold of the country we've been keeping busy and are very pleased to announce three new signings to the label as Wise Children, Part Dinosaur and Pickpockets & Skyrockets join Load.Click.Shoot! & elephants for 2009!

Further details on the bands and releases planned will follow soon but for now here are some links for you to check out their music:

Wise Children: www.myspace.com/wisechildrenuk

Part Dinosaur: www.myspace.com/partdinosaur

Pickpockets & Skyrockets: www.myspace.com/pickpocketsandskyrockets

To say that we're absolutely stoked by this news would be an understatement and we look forward to some great releases in 2009.

cheers
Ady

"the bastard lovechild of Test Icicles and Blood Brothers"

"[LCS!] excel at hammering out frenetic slabs of dislocated acrylic art pop boogie that loosely colours in the dots existing between the Fire Engines and Johnny Foreigner"

So Load.Click.Shoot! are heading out on tour next week in support of 'Young Pretenders / The Boy Who...' their debut release, recorded with Rory Attwell (Test Icicles / Kasms) last year.

The band are currently taking part in the Red Stripe Music Awards and played the Exeter heat last Friday night (but strangely don't yet know the result!).

They also played Saturday night as support for the debut live show of La Roux!

The guys are heading into the studio with Rory again next week to record some new tracks for a future release and will be looking for shows - gigs / clubnights / festivals / whatever - in the coming months as they raise their profile, they just want to get out and play some more!

LCS! played The Great Escape, Truck & Offset Festivals in 2008, have received Radio 1 play from the likes of Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens, and are darlings of Artrocker who described them as...

"the bastard lovechild of Test Icicles and Blood Brothers"

and they also...

"excel at hammering out frenetic slabs of dislocated.. acrylic art pop boogie that loosely colours in the dots existing between the Fire Engines and Johnny Foreigner"

Sounds good? Then check them out here:

http://www.myspace.com/loadclickshoot

and please get in touch if you can help!

Here's those dates again so do try and catch them if they're anywhere near you...

Also keep an eye out for the next issue of Artrocker (Feb 5) where the single is reviewed!

In other news we've been keeping very busy setting plans in motion for 2009 and for the first time will be forming a roster for the label and are currently talking with a number of great new bands with the view to them joining Load.Click.Shoot! and Elephants on vacuous pop.

It really is an exciting time for new music and we fully intend to be at the forefront of this new movement, or whatever it is that's currently happening and look forward to the many challenges ahead.

We'll be announcing the new line up of bands for 2009 very soon and I seriously can't wait to do so!

cheers
Ady
x

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vacuous pop - independent record label and live promotions
po box 289, oxford, ox5 1we

www.vacuouspop.com | label: www.myspace.com/vpop | gigs: www.myspace.com/vacuouspop

So the mighty LOAD.CLICK.SHOOT! have been picked as one of the 5 bands playing the Exeter heat of the Red Stripe Music Awards 09!

I've no idea how the competition is judged but it seems pretty damn good, and not just your average, run of the mill (ie. rubbish) 'battle of the bands' type thing that you see so often - hi Emergenza!

Anyway Klaus Says Buy The Record won it last year and he's (they're) pretty cool so it must be good!

This is pretty exciting news and the guys play Exeter Phoenix next Friday 23rd January.
It would be really good if any of you folks down in the West Country could make your way there and show the guys some support!  They really deserve it and will pay you back by playing an absolute blinder of a show, making you want to dance and spazz out like a monkey on crack!

Then on Saturday 24th they're back in Exeter at The Cavern playing with hot new electro pop star in the making La Roux, and if you get down there before 9pm it's apparently free which sounds like a bargain to me.

The guys are also heading out on the road during February so do try and catch them if they're playing anywhere near you...

FEBRUARY 09

● Mon 02 | LONDON | 93 Feet East ●
● Tue 03 | LONDON | Brixton Windmill ●
● Mon 09 | LONDON | Camden Purple Turtle
● Thu 12 | BASILDON | Castlemayne ●
● Fri 13 | SOUTHEND | Saks ●
● Thu 19 | LONDON | New Cross Inn ●
● Fri 20 | CANNING | Bridge House
● Sat 21 | CANTERBURY | House Party! ●
● Sat 28 | TAUNTON | Venue TBC ●

Also keep an eye out for the next issue of Artrocker (Feb 5) where the debut single 'Young Pretenders / The Boy Who...' is reviewed!

Stay tuned for more news on the single(s) coming real soon!

cheers
Ady
x

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vacuous pop - independent record label and live promotions
po box 289, oxford, ox5 1we

www.vacuouspop.com | label: www.myspace.com/vpop | gigs: www.myspace.com/vacuouspop

So we've now dropped the Attack! Attack! name for the clubnight as people kept thinking we were putting some Welsh band on!   So no new name as yet but we're working on it!

Anyway, these nights will be fun, there's no bands this Saturday but we're back in February with a cracking line up - see below!

So come down and blow out the post new year blues, or just come down when the pub shuts!

cheers
Ady

vacuous pop presents...

Saturday 17 January

w/ guest DJs Richard L & Alexander T (electro/minimal) and DJ Duff Cakes
The Cellar, Cornmarket St, Oxford
Doors 9pm - 3am / £4 / 18+

plus vacuous pop/Silent Running DJs with an ever eclectic mix of indie/rock/electro & much much more

---|---

There's also been an addition to the 21st February show and I'm really pleased to say that Swound! are now finally playing Oxford...

vacuous pop presents...

Saturday 21 February
Oxford Collapse (Sub Pop), Swound!, Phantom Theory & Elephants
The Cellar, Cornmarket St, Oxford
8:30pm - 3am / £6 / 18+

plus vacuous pop/Silent Running DJs with an ever eclectic mix of indie/rock/electro & much much more.

Oxford Collapse

'Oxford Collapse cruise effortlessly from shoegazey dream pop to classic college rock to Schilitz-soaked Americana.' Alternative Press

'When Oxford Collapse pull off the throttle, the results are remarkable' Prefix Magazine

http://www.myspace.com/theoxfordcollapse
http://www.subpop.com/artists/oxford_collapse

Swound!

‘Swound! are more bonkers than Amy Winehouse on a crack binge. If this band of brothers isn't hooked on some weird fucked up mushrooms I want to know what they do take.' Punktastic.com

http://www.myspace.com/swound
http://www.swound.co.uk

Phantom Theory

“A two-piece whose musical ambition shames those around them… a band with a whole skipload of talent and potential.” Nightshift Magazine

"Made to be played loud." - BBC Introducing Oxford

http://www.myspace.com/phantomtheorymusic


Elephants

"It was like an earthquake. Utterly confusing beats. Guitars were immense, drumming was energetic enough to cause technical faults and the bass was grounding." - Sea Tea Zine

http://www.myspace.com/fullyelephants

Last.FM Event: http://www.last.fm/event/880687

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vacuous pop recordings – upcoming releases:
Cutting Pink With Knives / 10lec6 - split 7"
Load.Click.Shoot! - X-Ray Specs EP
Elephants - Lions EP
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www.vacuouspop.com | label: www.myspace.com/vpop | gigs: www.myspace.com/vacuouspop