FORTUNA POP! PRESENTS
THE WINTER SPRINTER 2014

7-10 January 2014 – The Lexington, London

featuring Let's Wrestle, Herman Dune, Joanna Gruesome, Withered Hand, Evans The Death, Mammoth Penguins, September Girls, The Spook School, Mega Emotion, Simon Love & The Plastic Yeh-Yeh Band, Flowers and Cocoanut Groove

It's happening again... The 4th Annual Fortuna POP! Winter Sprinter 2014 is Go!

Four nights, twelve bands, DJs... the perfect antidote to the post-Christmas blues with the creme de la creme of the Fortuna POP! roster in a show with everything but Darren Hayman.

2013 has been another incredible year for Fortuna POP! with the runaway success of Cardiff’s noise pop young guns Joanna Gruesome and Edinburgh’s pop pranksters The Spook School, alongside Evans The Death and the soon to be massive Flowers, representing a new generation of bands to go with established acts such as Herman Dune, Allo Darlin’, Darren Hayman and Comet Gain.

2014 looks even brighter for the label with the signings of indie heavyweights Let’s Wrestle and Withered Hand and the re-emergence of former favourites in new guises: Mega Emotion (ex-Bearsuit), Mammoth Penguin (ex-Standard Fare) and Simon Love and The Plastic Yeh-Yeh Band (ex-The Loves), not to mention the debut album from Dublin’s September Girls and a slice of melancholic Swedish pop from Cocoanut Groove.

As always the Annual Fortuna POP! Winter Sprinter showcases the best of the label’s talent over four days in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington, with many of the bands mentioned above involved in this unmissable curtain-raiser to the year.

Full details below:

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FORTUNA POP! PRESENTS THE WINTER SPRINTER 2014
7th-10th Jan 2011, 7:30pm each night
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road N1 9JB
Nearest tubes : King's Cross / Angel
Tel : 020 7837 5387
Web: www.thelexington.co.uk

Four night Season Ticket only £27.50
http://www.wegottickets.com/f/6932

Tuesday 7th January - Let's Wrestle + Evans The Death + Mega Emotion
Tickets - http://www.wegottickets.com/event/250350

Wednesday 8th January - Herman Dune + Mammoth Penguins + Simon Love & The Plastic Yeh-Yeh Band
Tickets - SOLD OUT

Thursday 9th January - Joanna Gruesome + September Girls + Flowers
Tickets - http://www.wegottickets.com/event/250353

Friday 10th January - Withered Hand + The Spook School + Cocoanut Groove
Tickets - http://www.wegottickets.com/event/250354

plus guest DJs from Scared To Dance, Track & Field, How Does It Feel To Be Loved?

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Tuesday 7th January, Doors 7.30pm
LET'S WRESTLE + EVANS THE DEATH + MEGA EMOTION

LET’S WRESTLE
With their witty, wonkily related tales of teenage ennui, thwarted romance and wise-beyond-their-years world weariness, raucous young London trio Let’s Wrestle traffic in the kind of rambunctious, infectious, gloriously untethered indie rock which calls to mind slacker forefathers such as Pavement, Dinosaur Jr and Built to Spill, sending an instant shot of addictive melody straight into your serotonin while also lodging in your cerebral cortex with frontman Wesley Patrick Gonzalez’s pithy way with a lyric. They followed their already classic debut album 'In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s' with the Steve Albini-produced 'Nursing Home' to rapturous applause, and are shortly to release their English pop masterpiece of a third album in February 2014.
“Urban Learesque pop-punk ecstasies that hook cheekily onto the frayed coat-tails of Barrett, Buzzcocks and Neutral Milk Hotel” (Mojo)
http://letswrestleblog.tumblr.com

EVANS THE DEATH
Named after the undertaker in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, Evans the Death comprise of Dan Moss (guitar, vocals), Katherine Whitaker (vocals, keys), Olly Moss (guitar) and James Burkitt (drums). The band document and channel the exuberance of youth via the prism of five pop music obsessives, gleaning inspiration from all of the music with which they grew up. They draw as much from the lyrical dexterity of Morrissey and Jarvis Cocker, as to the scuzzed up melodic exuberance of early My Bloody Valentine and The Pixies. Evans the Death have been given extensive airtime on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6Music, as well being made John Kennedy’s ‘Xposure Big One’ on XFM, and the release of their album saw the music press sit up and take interest, with great reviews in Q, The Fly and Uncut, plus support from This Is Fake DIY and Drowned In Sound. Their second album will be released in 2014.
"Smart and gutsy to: a clatter and pummel underscoring Katherine Whitaker's sweet, yet punchy vocals… Evans the Death make humdrum everyday existence sound quite magical." Q ****
http://www.evansthedeath.co.uk/

MEGA EMOTION
Mega Emotion released their debut track ‘Brains’ in September and it’s already created quite a stir, scooping singles of the week in both The 405 and The Music Fix, alongside airplay on BBC 6 Music (Steve Lamacq) and BBC Introducing. The trio began working on material earlier this year – taking inspiration from bands like New Order, Metronomy, CHVCHES, Sleigh Bells, Depeche Mode, The Pixies, Kraftwerk and Sonic Youth. The result is a reverent blend of post punk, stark electronics and synth pop hooks.
“Brains starts like Blondie and soon becomes something different. Part Pixies noise-fest, part 80s synth sunset. I fucking love this song. It makes me want to rip out my shitty broken spine and flop around on a dance floor having fun.” – The 405 (single of the week)
http://megaemotion.co.uk

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Wednesday 8th January, Doors 7.30pm
HERMAN DUNE + MAMMOTH PENGUINS + SIMON LOVE & THE PLASTIC YEH-YEH BAND
DJ Paul Wright (Track & Field)

HERMAN DUNE
A decade ago, brothers David-Ivar and Andre Herman Dune and drummer Cosmic Neman let go of their secular life and created the band Herman Dune. Out of Paris, all across Europe and all the way to New York City, they gained a formidable Cult Status with the help of UK DJ John Peel. Without stepping out of the DIY network, with tape and 7” releases and devoted bedroom labels, numerous albums were released. In recent years founder member Andre has left the band, but David and Neman have continued relentlessly, their first album without Andre, ‘Giant’, in 2006, attracting wider recognition. In 2011, the roaring success of the single "Tell Me Something I Don't Know", and its fantastic road movie video featuring Jon Hamm from Mad Men and a strange little blue yeti, was followed by the release on Fortuna POP! of ‘Strange Moosic’, the band’s most timeless and accessible album to date.
"Herman Dune's 10th album is undoubtedly their best, and there's no earthly reason why singer/ guitarist/ songwriter David-Ivar Herman Dune and drummer Cosmic Neman shouldn't be accepted as a different kind of pop star." BBC
http://www.hermandune.com

MAMMOTH PENGUINS
Mammoth Penguins are the new band formed by Emma Kupa of Standard Fare no less, so you know it'll be ace, but if you need more convincing take a trip to their Soundcloud page and take a listen to their demos. Yup, infectious indie rock with a touch of genius and Emma’s incredible voice. Business as usual then folks.
“More raw and cocksure but with the questioning heart intact. Just a set of demos for the time being but they sound confident and ready for battle.” (Sweeping The Nation)
https://soundcloud.com/mammoth-penguins

SIMON LOVE & THE PLASTIC YEH-YEH BAND
Formerly the leader of the legendary Cardiff-based psych-pop collective The Loves, whose fusing of Nuggets-style garage pop, bubblegum fuzz, sugar sweet indiepop, and hand-clapping, hip-shaking rock'n'roll made them firm favourites of Marc Riley and John Peel, Simon Love now returns with a fantastic new band and a pocketful of brilliant new tunes.
“A truckload of chugging pop with wistful lyrics. Visually though, imagine the cast of the Big Bang Theory without the eye candy. Entertaining, with a Capital E.” (Louder Than War)
http://simonlove.bandcamp.com/

***************************************************************************************Thursday 9th January, Doors 7:30pm
JOANNA GRUESOME + SEPTEMBER GIRLS + FLOWERS

JOANNA GRUESOME
Thrilling Cardiff-based noisepop five-piece Joanna Gruesome released their terrific debut album Weird Sister to much critical acclaim in 2013. Produced by MJ of the much lauded Hookworms, the album was brimming with irresistible pop melodies and spiked with dissonant fuzzy jangle, all shot through with loud discordant feedback and super-fast, hardcore punk drumbeats. Drawing inspiration from DIY scenes such as Riot Grrrl / noisepop / C86 / K-Records as well as post hardcore like Drive Like Jehu/Converge and the art rock of The Velvet Underground and My Bloody Valentine, 
Joanna Gruesome comprise Alanna on vocals, Owen on guitar, Max on bass, George on guitar and Dave on drums. They have built-up a phenomenal live reputation, blending obnoxiously loud guitars with a high energy performance dispersed with quieter reflection, boy/girl vocals and teenage angst.
 

"A brilliant band from Cardiff who love their fuzzy melodies and songs dripped in scuzzy reverb." Huw Stephens, Radio One. 


http://joannagruesome.bandcamp.com

SEPTEMBER GIRLS
Named after a Big Star song as covered by the Bangles, September Girls comprise Paula on bass and vocals, Sarah on drums, Caoimhe on rhythm guitar and vocals, Lauren on keys and vocals and Jessie on lead guitar and vocals. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Phil Spector, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain, the five-piece play reverb-soaked noise-pop of the finest order, with distant layered harmonies, swirling organ and distorted guitars once described as “sounds from a transistor radio abandoned in a rural cinema.” Their debut album “Cursing The Sea” is released on January 6th.
"Like a dark Bangles, a Bangles doused in some of the noise-dust sprinkled on My Bloody Valentine's early music." (The Guardian)
http://septembergirls.tumblr.com

FLOWERS
Having already toured Europe with The Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart and supported Young Marble Giants, fittingly Flowers draw a line between the joyous fuzzpop of the former and the minimalist brilliance of the latter.
The trio is comprised of Sam (guitar), Rachel (vocals, bass) and Jordan (drums) and together they create a wall of sound larger than the sum of their parts, catchy pop songs hidden in noise. And Rachel possesses one of those beautiful pop voices to die for, with echoes of Elizabeth Fraser, Hope Sandoval and Harriet Wheeler. Their live shows have created a lot of chatter in indie circles, where audiences are blown away by their intensity, surprised by their noisiness and compelled by their sparse beauty. The band recently played in New York for the first time at the indiepop fest, which was rapturously received by critics.
"The high point of NYC Popfest, and certainly the most pleasant surprise... the music they conjured was nothing short of magical. A little Jesus And Mary Chain, a lot of Black Tambourine, and one hell of a voice. We can’t wait to catch these guys again." (DoNYC)
https://www.facebook.com/flowersdomusic

***************************************************************************************Friday 10th January, Doors 7:30pm
WITHERED HAND + THE SPOOK SCHOOL + COCOANUT GROOVE
DJ Paul Richards (Scared To Dance)

WITHERED HAND
Withered Hand is the music of Dan Willson. Dan came late to singing and songwriting. He found his voice at age 30, in a period of reflection somewhere between the death of a close friend and the birth of his first child. The moniker Withered Hand encompasses Dan's activity as a songwriter, a solo performer and also exists in a band form. He has toured widely in the last 5 years to acclaim both nationally and in mainland Europe, playing his first shows in the USA in 2012. Withered Hand has recorded several BBC radio sessions and played various festivals as well as collaborating with the likes of Pam Berry (Black Tambourine), Darren Hayman and King Creosote. Having released Good News to widespread critical acclaim in 2009 and followed that up with the Inbetweens and Heart Heart EPs, his long awaited second album New Gods is set for release in March.
“Killer melodies ... wobbly folk grooves ... tunes full of warm, woozy sing-song charm” ('Artist to Watch' - Rolling Stone – 2011)
http://witheredhand.com

THE SPOOK SCHOOL
The Spook School play very noisy guitar pop songs about gender and identity, inspired by the post-punk-pop of The Buzzcocks, Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer’ and the films of Buster Keaton. They pen love letters to other DIY bands which have been described as “charming”, “hilarious” and “terrifying”. Their drummer Niall will remove his t-shirt and give it to one lucky member of the audience. You do not want to miss these guys live. Their brilliant debut album “Dress Up” was released in 2013 to much critical acclaim.
“Fortuna POP are a label that always smear the words “FUN FUN FUN HAVE FUN!” over a noisy Grrrl and growl, but in signing The Spook School they have excelled.” (Drunken Werewolf)
http://thespookschool.com

COCOANUT GROOVE
Cocoanut Groove are a pop group from Umeå, in the north of Sweden. Originally the solo project of Olov Antonsson (ex-The Tidy-Ups) they are now a four-piece consisting of Antonsson (guitars and vocals), William Andersson (drums), Josef Ringkvist (bass guitar) and Gunnar Lantz (violin and piano). They draw their influences from the lush orchestral pop of the Zombies, Love and The Left Banke, and folk singers like Donovan and Vashti Bunyan, as well as the drowsy indiepop of The Clientele. The band released their debut album, the highly acclaimed “Madeleine Street”, in 2008. Following a 10" EP called "Colours" on Fraction Discs they are set to release their new album “How To Build A Maze” on Fortuna POP! this January 20th.
"Reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkel fronting the Left Banke as reimagined by the Clientele... Cocoanut Groove have done something special here." (All Music)
http://cocoanutgroove.bandcamp.com