Sneaky Pete's

” Ripper puts spikes back in folk music. ” VANCOUVER PROVINCE.

Join Eugene Ripper, Canadian punk pioneer as he marks the Edinburgh release of a new single “ Ride The Northern Train/Dark as a Dungeon” AND the launch of his wee book of “Rock n Roll Poetry”  featuring select illustrations by Edinburgh’s own Ross Craig (Black Cat Bone)

From his roots with Canadian first wave punk rockers Stark Naked and the Fleshtones and throughout an enduring solo career featuring a mashup of punk, folk, roots and rock n roll, Ripper continues to nail it down with his unique multi style vibe – it’s all well represented on these latest recordings.

” One of the first acts I saw at the Sidewalk Cafe was
Canadian Eugene Ripper playing with the inestimable Billy Ficca (Television)  and seeming to be the very epitome of AntiFolk – Johnny Cash meets the Ramones ” ANTIMATTERS NYC 

“Toronto’s underexposed gem Eugene Ripper has been honing his unique brand of fast-folk with a punk rock ethos since the early ’90s. Don’t miss a chance to be transported to his noir universe.” POP MONTREAL

” Ex guitar slinger for Stark Naked & The Fleshtones, now playing barbed, fast n furious folk, with a punk stance and a lyrical nod to Johnny Cash and film noir. Great stuff.”  SMASH LA

Based in Edinburgh, swim school are a 4 piece, indie-pop band made up of Alice Johnson (Vocals/Guitar), Lewis Bunting (Guitar), Nairn Milne (Drums) and Matt Mitchell (Bass).

Announced in 2019, but having originally formed at the end of 2018, swim school already host an eclectic collection of songs featuring the inspired tones of The Cure, PALE WAVES and Wolf Alice.

swim school dived into Scotland’s burgeoning indie scene with their debut single ‘sway’ which was released on the 22nd February. The release of ‘sway’ turned heads, attracting the attention of TENEMENT TV, The Modern Record, The Sun newspaper and radio DJ, Jim Gellatly.

It’s been an exciting start for the foursome as they have already played some of Scotland’s biggest music festivals such as TRNSMT Festival, Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, XpoNorth and King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut Summer Nights to name a few. Alongside a trio of sold out shows with Indigo Velvet, Dancing On Tables and Scottish pop-rock giants The XCERTS.

“Edinburgh has another great indie guitar band in the making – so much potential” – Up and Coming Edinburgh

The Edinburgh indie-pop rockers’ released their second highly anticipated single ‘take you there’ on the 21st of June which has since been accredited by both Vic Galloway on BBC Radio Scotland and The Afternoon Show with Janice Forsyth & Grant Stott with multiple plays on BBC Radio Scotland.

It’s exciting times for swim school as they join forces with The Xcerts for a second time on their 10th anniversary tour of ‘In the Cold Wind We Smile’ across the UK in November/ December.

swim school continue to write and record music in their studio as they prepare for the headline show at Sneaky Pete’s in February

Follow Deep are a young, emerging indie/alternative rock band from Hull. The band has a heavy yet unique sound – mainly due to having a saxophonist in the mix – that brings an energetic quality to every stage they step foot on.

Dalkeith high school are putting on an event to fundraise money for their school musical, Rock of Ages. They have a range of age and acts performing. This is going to be a great night with a performance from Edinburgh band Cherry Red.

£6 tickets on the door.

Heartbreaking ballads and foot stomping indie bangers, Nothing is off limits when it comes to there sonic manifesto. With a focus on a visceral live experience, every live show is more of an ‘experience’ than a gig and every song is an invitation into the lives, emotions and characters of the band.

Friday 28 February 2020
Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
16+ | £8

The Gentle Invasion & Olive Grove Records present: Randolph’s Leap Year Show

Celebrating 10 years of Randolph’s Leap

Plus very special guest Hailey Beavis

Happy anniversary to us! 2020 is a special year as it’s 10 years since our very first musical release which came out way back in November 2010. Rremember 2010? Coalition government, Chilean miners and Randolph’s Leap’s Battleships & Kettle Chips EP, in a nutshell.

2020 will also see the release of a brand-new Randolph’s Leap album and, fittingly enough, this year is a LEAP YEAR so we’re celebrating this quadrennial calendar quirk with a couple of full-band gigs in Glasgow and Edinburgh on 29th Feb and 1st March. Expect to hear tunes from the forthcoming album and some old favourites. Get your song requests in now!

TEMPERS are a NYC-based duo comprised of Jasmine Golestaneh and Eddie Cooper. The duo’s dark, ice-cold electronica blends a sinister slow static disco with danceable beats, a hinting of pop sensibility imprisoned in an almost gothic, industrial soundscape.

Their previous singles, ‘Eyes Wide Wider’ b/w ‘Hell Hotline’ produced by Damian Taylor (Bjork), ‘Strange Harvest’ and ‘Killing for Company’ (Swans cover) received coverage across the US and UK blogs including Pitchfork, The Fader, Noisey, V Magazine and Interview. Their debut album “Services” was released in October 2015, and their EP “Fundamental Fantasy” was released via The Vinyl Factory Feb 2017.

In November 2018 Tempers released JUNKSPACE, feat. Rem Koolhaas on BMG. A unique concept album based on the ground-breaking essay by visionary architect REM KOOLHAAS about the architecture of consumerism. On the following EU/UK tour they sold out shows in London, Berlin and Warsaw.

The Tesla Coils are going to be Hanging Around Sneaky Pete’s. AND PLAYING MUSIC TOO!

Our comrades The Victor Pope Band and Dr Salad will also be Performing their Usual Pleasantries at this event too.

Entry: £5 on the door

£4 via Eventbrite link-

PREGOBLIN are one of the most exciting new acts to watch out for in this year, and they’re coming to Sneaks as part of their 2020 tour!

According to Fat White Family ‘Alex Sebley and Jess Winter of PREGOBLIN are the most under-appreciated songwriting partnership of our era. That being said I’ve always been of the opinion that fame might actually kill Alex, and I love him more than words, so please don’t go see this band”….

We think maybe you should risk it?

Featuring members of Gareeda and Hair Of The Dog, Deaf Mountain release their debut album ‘If…’

With support from Paper Rifles.

Glasgow’s Spinning Coin are a ramshackle quartet who make a singular indie pop sound. Since playing for us in 2016, they released belter album ‘Permo’ from Domino-affiliated label Geographic Music, run by The Pastels, and have supported Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks, Real Estate and Alvvays.

We can’t wait to have em back! Tickets on sale now.

?Join us as we celebrate the release of our new song ‘Johnny’ into the big bad world!?

To mark it’s launch we headline our favourite venue Sneaky Pete’s for the first time ??

We are supported by two of the absolute best new Scottish bands!

??Gelatine – A gelatinous psych-garage trio from Glasgow. They may well be our favourite new band from the West!
Listen ?? https://open.spotify.com/track/1zdBdtnyi3LIil3TxZ6okP?si=pzM-HjGQRE6sb9vgrcCRew

??Bikini Body – Edinburgh based friendly post-gutter-skunk-funk. “Punk, but not shit”, Nick from Sneaky’s.
Listen ?? https://open.spotify.com/track/0fu674VOz9ednYu39M39EW?si=WYLGcnVHSeiIvj4adrL07w

Doors – 7pm
Tickets ? – £6

A first show of the year for Edinburgh’s electronic noise makers Future Get Down.

Support TBA

“techno-pop krautrock wizards who craft dark, stylish earworms” – Drowned in Sound

“Sharpened techno pop aligned to brittle electronics, Future Get Down’s new ‘EP2’ finds the band surging into dark new arenas.” – Clash Music

“a diatribe to nights out…wonky electro genius” – Nemone, BBC Radio 6Music

Close Quarters DIY is an exciting new gig night in Edinburgh, Scotland celebrating local DIY music. It is a chance to see some of the best new and up and coming acts the Scottish music scene has to offer in an intimate and friendly environment.

Come and see some of Scotland’s finest; Velveteen riot plus support from Eat The Friek and The Homoromantics on Sunday March 15th at Sneaky Pete’s. Tickets are £6.

NIMMO are two best friends from London, a queer pop duo, event curators and a fully independent female partnership. They work with a DIY ethos that is rooted in the foundations of community and the power of collaboration.

NIMMO have independently become an integral asset in the platforming of queer female talent, presenting to a wider audience. Combining punk roots with strong influence from the mid-90’s euphoria of their childhoods, NIMMO’s music reflects a nocturnal escapism.

At the end of 2018, NIMMO released their first EP featuring a collaboration with Maya Jane Coles and a remix from Shura. This in turn lead to the release of their debut album “The Power” in June 2019. NIMMO exhibited their new stripped back, high energy and extremely intimate live set at a sold out headline show in London.

This new set up will be taken on tour globally, including a stop off at Sneaks!

Litany is the alias of 25 year-old songstress Beth Cornell from Harrogate, England.

Described by The FADER as making “Icy pop that will make you dance and cry” Litany has created a unique brand of effortlessly cool alternative pop.

Formerly working with producer Jake Nicolaides, the duo created a sonic catalogue with a real ode to adolescence and had a stream of successful cult hits including Bedroom, taken from their debut EP, 4 Track. This saw Litany rocket to popularity with it’s whimsical synth melodies and candid lyrics being heralded by the likes of BBC Radio 1, Sirius XM and Beats1.

Now in Litany’s 2.0 solo venture, Cornell is back with a string of ear-worms, My Dude, Go Out and Love Letter; feel-good anthems for when you feel sad, narrating the clash of feelings that arise when meandering through young love. Complete with nostalgic references from Magic 8 Balls to MSN Messenger and 90’s-esque soundscapes, it’s trademark Litany with added punch.

Whitey are a 4 piece alternative band from Perth.
Their live shows can be described as sweaty with energetic precision.
Loud and straight to the point, they don’t hold back.

The Orange Tiles hail from Edinburgh, their setlists composing of dreamy, psyche filled goodness, which your head gets lost in.

Logan Gilmartin is an upcoming acoustic artist from Perth. combining catchy lyrics and jangly type guitar courtesy of Finn Freeburn Morrison.

Glasgow alt-rock band, Nieves, released their debut album ‘Exist & Expire’ in 2018 to much critical acclaim. That album saw the band play to sold out crowds across Scotland. With hints of new material in the pipeline, this tour is set to be a rare chance to catch one of Scotland’s finest bands in action.

Vintage Society Live comes to Edinburgh! We team up with our old friends in Pleasure Heads for shows in Aberdeen and Edinburgh respectively. On Saturday 21st March the group return to Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh for a headline show following two sold-out appearances at the venue last year.

Support comes from:
The Vanities
Weekend Debt
Angry Man Car Park

Tickets £6

In association with Shelter Scotland

All profits go to Shelter Scotland

Donation Link:

Headlining

Mike McKenzie

Mike McKenzie creates an eclectic combination of old meets new with extensive songwriting influences from Elton John to Brandi Carlile, Billy Joel to Tobias Jesso Jr. Growing up in a musical home Mike began writing on a banged-up piano, passed down over the years, as soon as his mother taught him the basics. Throughout high school and college he began his discovery of the music scene as a drummer for Edinburgh band JAKIL.

In 2010 he threw himself into songwriting and production behind the scenes, working with other singers he’d encountered along the way. It was after being influenced by his long distance partner in 2018 that he began to explore the possibility of releasing material as a solo artist and found himself back at the piano where it all began. Some people keep a journal to process their lives. Some work out or take long walks to clear the air and reset their minds. Mike’s way of navigating his labyrinth of thoughts is to pour his thinkings into his songs, writing truthfully and honestly about his life.

In September 2019, Mike awarded the inaugural BBC Radio Scotland Singer/Songwriter of the Year by judges Fran Healy (Travis), Geoff Ellis (DF Concerts), Horse MacDonald (Horse), Karine Polwart and Dee Bahl after playing his debut single “Love Like This” LIVE at St. Luke’s, Glasgow.

Kicking off the new year with a headline show on January 8th at the legendary King Tut’s, 2020 is set to be an incredible year for this emerging Artist.

“Love Like This” is set for release Nov 22nd 2019 and was recorded at the prestigious Abbey Road Institute.

Stefan Clarkin

28 from Livingston, currently residing in Edinburgh. A musician that experiments with musical styles. Stefan’s style is a mixture of Indie folk with desert blues overtones, with various loops involved.

Stefan has been travelling in the past but has decided to remain in Scotland and pursue his music as “There’s nothing better than doing what you love, to a bunch of sound folk, who don’t even ken your name . bliss”

Kate Harris

A 23 year-old Singer/ Song-writer from Perth, Scotland whom has had a passion for music since an early age. She takes inspiration from artists such as Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone. Kate’s voice has been described as “angelic” and has the ability to grab the attention of an audience from the outset.

Gary Taylor

A 26 year-old Singer/Songwriter from Angus, Scotland currently residing in Edinburgh. He takes inspiration from artists such as Bombay Bicycle Club, Bon iver, Lord Huron and many many more

Gary’s style is a modern/indie folk with loops integrated into his sets
Gary has returned to music after a 6 year hiatus

Mouldy Soul Promotions bring Glasgow’s hottest property VLURE to Edinburgh for their debut show in the capital.

Having played at Stag and Dagger, The Great Escape and The Great Western festivals, Vlure have built themselves a highly impressive reputation with their memorable and energetic live shows. We promise you this is not one to miss, and it will sell out.

You won’t be disappointed with the supports either.

Tickets from £7 online.

ALL TICKETS BOUGHT WILL BE HELD UNDER THE BUYERS NAME ON THE DOOR.

14-17 year-olds must be accompanied by an adult. No refunds will be given for incorrectly booked tickets. We reserve the right to breathalyse anyone under the age of 18. Refusal or failure of the test will result in entry being denied

“Heartfelt, infectious melodies”

For fans of Homeshake, D’Angelo, Shuggie Otis, Conan Mockasin.

Cool kids outta Brighton making woozy pop of the cool and danceable variety. We saw them at The Great Escape festival this year and were very impressed – one to see live!

“Ambient Zen Americana” – Mojo

Tony Dekker’s music spans nearly two decades as the lead singer and songwriter of Great Lake Swimmers. Over eight albums, multiple EPs, live broadcasts and reissues, the Toronto based singer-songwriter has established himself as a beloved indie folk artist in his native Canada and beyond.

2013 marked the release of his first solo album, Prayer Of The Woods, which is described as “Folk music that sounds like it was recorded on the periphery between the living room and the surrounding woodland … a humble and traditional folk work, focusing on lyrical analogies and aphorisms” (Norman Records UK).

Dekker’s latest release as Great Lake Swimmers, “The Waves, The Wake (Acoustic)” is a solo acoustic rendering of his band’s most recent album, pared back to acoustic guitar and vocals. No weighty production, no frills, just a haunting voice, lush acoustic guitars, and 12 songs presented in their most stark, minimalist forms.

An upcoming split 7″ single of new material is also planned with long-time collaborator Liz Hysen of Toronto band Picastro. “Getting To The Heart Of It” with “Where Are You” and “Thursday” will be released in March 2020. Dekker also provides vocal support on the latest Picastro release, “Exit.”

As the lead singer and songwriter for Great Lake Swimmers, Dekker has been nominated twice for Canada’s Juno Awards, shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Prize, and won a Canadian Indie Award for Favourite Folk/Roots Artist/Group. They have shared the stage as support for such musical luminaries as Robert Plant, Feist, Daniel Lanois, and Calexico, and have appeared as headliners at many of Canada’s major folk music festivals. The CBC has called them “a national treasure” with a sound that is at once familiar and distinct, using the tools of folk music as the starting point to delve deeper.

Hailing from the northern tip of mainland Scotland, Neon Waltz are a six-piece indie band with a psychedelic flair and rich, melodic sound calling to mind ’60s-influenced forebears like the Stone Roses and the Coral.

Born in Salford and raised on romance, The Lottery Winners blend momentous guitar pop melodies with a humorous and wistful lyricism.
The band has built an extensive and loyal fanbase through consistent touring, earning a reputation for hugely entertaining, blisteringly loud live shows.

Recent support slots include Catfish And The Bottlemen, Blossoms, We Are Scientists, Madness, The View, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, The Futureheads, James Veck-Gilodi, Jamie Cullum, The Charlatans, Sleeper, The Wonderstuff, The Wedding Present and The Enemy.

The Lottery Winners have completed work on their debut album – recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales with producer Tristan Ivemy (Frank Turner, The Holloways) and mastered at Abbey Road by the legendary Frank Arkwright (Coldplay, The Smiths, Arcade Fire) and will release the first singles later this year.

“Although they haven’t been together long, The Starlight Magic Hour have attracted a great deal of attention for their genre-defying depictions of ne’er-do-well wastrels. And while their penchant for NSFW lyrics makes them fitting signees to London label ‘Permanent Creeps’, there is a perverse pleasure to be found in the Starlight Magic Hour’s music. Not least because the 7-piece certainly have an ear for a tune.

On their debut EP ‘The End of The Party’, The Starlight Magic Hour deliver strong choruses throughout which serves to anchor an EP that has little fidelity to a consistent sound. Even within songs, the band veers into unexpected territory with varying degrees of success; the pavement-lite of ‘Song to Jonny’ fits like a glove while the super-funky coda to ‘The Child of Rage (I want to feel love)’ is more like a borrowed identity. The main thrust of their music does however bring certain indie touchstones to mind. To give you some idea, imagine a more folksy Fat White Family or if Lou Reed was lead singer of The Fall.” – So Young Mag

“The best club in the UK for future rock & roll stars” Noel Gallagher

LIVE
The Rah’s
+ more TBA

Tickets on sale 31st Jan, 10am.

Doors 7pm / curfew 10pm

Headline : Jake Roberts
Support : Sintide & Indoor Foxes

Tickets £5;
– Available on EVENTBRITE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/jake-roberts-sintide-indoor-foxes-sneaky-petes-tickets-94146379355
– Message any band for a ticket

Ages 14+
Venue Policy – “14-17 year olds must be accompanied by an adult. No refunds will be given for incorrectly booked tickets. We reserve the right to breathalyse anyone under the age of 18. Refusal or failure of the test will result in entry being denied”.

We present Quelle Chris, live, for the first time in the Scottish capital, at Sneaky Pete’s!!!

Support to be announced.

Part of the proceeds going to local charities…bless!

TENEMENT TV DISCOVER TOUR
EDINBURGH, Sneaky Pete’s
w/ Medicine Cabinet + WEB + The Roly Mo + AVAERA
………….
Doors: 7pm
Age: 14+

Tickets on sale now >> http://bit.ly/3840LA9

In our opinion, Alex Rex’s Otterburn is the best Scottish album of 2019. Its songs of love, loss and loathing meld genres unfathomably across swoonsome country balladry, primitive psychedelic funk and swampy cajun boogie.

Alex uses his uncommon and extraordinary voice to lyrically delve in the murky depths of bereavement, kink and cruelty. Alex ‘Rex’ Neilson is Trembling Bells’ drummer and songwriter and has toured and made albums with Bonny ‘Prince’ Billy. Alex’s songwriting and delivery is every bit that great man’s equal.

Juniore are a French indie pop quartet from Paris led by singer/songwriter Anna Jean.

Before forming Juniore in 2013, Anna Jean collaborated with Samy Osta in an indie folk duo called Domingo, who released one LP in 2008. In the following years, her mysterious, sultry vocals would lead her to collaborations within the Parisian electro scene, appearing as a guest vocalist for artists like Jackson & His Computerband and Bot’Ox.

Working again with Osta, she formed Juniore originally as a duo, later expanding into a quartet. Mixing modern indie pop sensibilities with elements of retro French pop, dark, twangy surf guitar, and a vocal style that falls somewhere between Cat Power and Françoise Hardy, Juniore released their debut 7″ single, “Christine” b/w “Dans le Noir,” in late 2013 on the Parisian Enterprise label.

The Leg launch new album Chromatic Perversion (Tenement Records)

Support from Andy Brown

Cameo Habitat Headline Sneaky Pete’s on the 23rd of April 2020.

Get your tickets from www.cameohabitat.bigcartel.com

Walt Disco
Over 14s (under 16s with an adult)
_______

Walt Disco are a band whose influences derive not from just music itself, but much more so from love, glamour and androgyny. Crooning vocals, angular guitars, dark shimmering synths – their music is a gateway to a space of lust, loss and everything in-between.

After their breakthrough year in 2019, the band look forward to increasing their already relentless touring schedule, bringing their unpredictable and drama filled live shows to new grounds, including the USA where the band will perform at iconic new music showcase SXSW in Austin, Texas. The band’s glamorous post-punk
has received praise from the likes of DIY, NME and Gigwise and has also earned strong support from the likes of BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders and Annie Mac with the band set to perform at the latter’s AMP 2020 festival this March.

The band’s strong androgynous look has led them to working with renowned photographer and former creative director of Dior and SAINT LAURENT, Hedi Slimane, with frontman James Potter starring in his “Polaroids of a British Youth” menswear campaign for fashion house CELINE as well as walking in the brand’s FW19 fashion show. The band also brought their energetic live performance to the SS20 afterparty in Paris.

“ Currently four singles deep, Walt Disco’s music is deliciously melodramatic .” – i-D

“ Theatrical and aesthetically-minded, Walt Disco aren’t just thinking about making brilliantly weird pop music –
they’re concentrating on the whole expressive package .” – DIY

“ Whether in fashion, music or film, the quintet have carefully carved their own unique space in Scotland’s
creative scene that is entirely of their own devising .” – TENEMENT TV

“ Miss this lot at your peril, before you’ll have to form an orderly queue…” – Gigwise

Mouldy Soul Presents
Beta Waves
+ Support
————
30.04.20
Tickets £7 (+50p booking fee)

Following their highly successful winter tour which included a sold-out hometown show in Dundee, Mouldy Soul is happy to announce we are bringing one of the most exciting Scottish acts BETA WAVES to Edinburgh.

We have 2 excellent support acts for this show to be announced soon.
—————_————————–
ALL TICKETS BOUGHT WILL BE HELD UNDER THE BUYERS NAME ON THE DOOR.

14-17 year-olds must be accompanied by an adult. No refunds will be given for incorrectly booked tickets. We reserve the right to breathalyse anyone under the age of 18. Refusal or failure of the test will result in entry being denied.

STAG & DAGGER EDINBURGH 2020
Saturday 2nd May
Various venues in Edinburgh

Sneaky Pete’s is proud to present Edinburgh’s newest multi-venue festival and new music showcase debuting on Saturday 2nd May 2020. First wave announcements coming soon!

Limited early bird tickets ON SALE NOW!

Tickets > https://www.seetickets.com/event/stag-and-dagger-edinburgh-2020-early-bird/various-venues/1470306

Stag & Dagger Glasgow previous guests include Lizzo, Ed Sheeran & Mac DeMarco to Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Courtney Barnett, DMA’s, Jungle, Glass Animals and many more.

Sara n Junbug are heading to sneaky petes as part of their 2020 “Vision Tour” 14+ early bird tickets on sale Wednesday 19th February.

Support to be announced

S’N’J are an independent, 4-piece pop band from Scotland with ear-worm choruses, a Glaswegian charm and vibrant, energetic performances.
Sure to get you in that summer mood, they are the perfect soundtrack for those afternoons spent partying, drinking and getting sunburnt. The band was established in 2015 originally by Sara and Junbug (hence the name of the band) but with new members being introduced over time and drawing influence from pop, country, folk and rock music, the sound of the band has developed into an original and exciting take on modern pop music.
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The band pride themselves on creating music that comes from the heart – writing meaningful and emotional songs inspired by real-life experiences that connect with listeners of all ages – as well as being entirely responsible for their own successes with no input from management or labels.
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In October 2019, Sara and Junbug from the band featured on ‘Emeli Sandé’s Street Symphony’ on BBC Scotland and BBC One, performing Emeli’s recent single, ‘Shine’, alongside her and the BBC SSO as well as performing their own recently released single, ‘Piece by Piece’. This feature led to them supporting Emeli during the Scottish dates of her ‘Real Life’ UK tour – near sold out shows taking place in Usher Hall (Edinburgh) and the SEC Armadillo (Glasgow).
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Line-up: Sara Rae (Vocals/Guitar/Songwriter), Junbug Nicoll (Guitar/Songwriter), Daniel Scott (Bass/Violin/Keyboard/Viola) & James Gilmour (Drums)

Due to demand, we’ve added a second date for Bambara, over from NYC.

One thing you won’t be able to avoid on Bambara’s Stray is death. It’s everywhere and inescapable, abstract and personified – perhaps the key to the whole record. Death, however, won’t be the first thing that strikes you about the group’s fourth – and greatest – album to date. That instead will be its pulverising soundscape; by turns, vast, atmospheric, cool, broiling and at times – on stand out tracks like “Sing Me To The Street” and “Serafina” – simply overwhelming

Bambara – twin brothers Reid and Blaze Bateh, singer/guitarist and drummer respectively, and bassist William Brookshire – have been evolving their midnight-black noise into something more subtle and expansive ever since the release of their 2013 debut Dreamviolence. That process greatly accelerated on 2018’s Shadow On Everything, their first on New York’s Wharf Cat Records and a huge stride forward for the band both lyrically and sonically.

The album was rapturously received by the press, listeners and their peers. NPR called it a “mesmerising…western, gothic opus,” Bandcamp called the “horror-house rampage” “one of the year’s most gripping listens,” and Alexis Marshall of Daughters named it his “favorite record of 2018.” Shadow also garnered much acclaim on the other side of the Atlantic. Influential British 6Music DJ Steve Lamacq, dubbed them the best band of 2019’s SXSW, and Joe Talbot of the UK band IDLES said, “The best thing I heard last year was easily Bambara and their album Shadow On Everything.” The question was, though, how to follow it?

To start, the band did what they always do: they locked themselves in their windowless Brooklyn basement to write. Decisions were made early on to try and experiment with new instrumentation and song structures, even if the resulting compositions would force the band to adapt their storied live set, known for its tenacity and technical prowess. Throughout the songwriting process, the band pulled from their deep well of creative references, drawing on the likes of Leonard Cohen, Ennio Morricone, Sade, classic French noir L’Ascenseur Pour L’Echafraud, as well as Southern Gothic stalwarts Flannery O’Connor and Harry Crews.

Once the building blocks were set in place, they met with producer Drew Vandenberg, who mixed Shadow On Everything, in Athens, GA to record the foundation of Stray. After recruiting friends Adam Markiewicz (The Dreebs) on violin, Sean Smith (Klavenauts) on trumpet and a crucial blend of backing vocals by Drew Citron (Public Practice) and Anina Ivry-Block (Palberta), Bambara convened in a remote cabin in rural Georgia, where Reid laid down his vocals.

The finished product represents both the band’s most experimental and accessible work to date. The addition of Citron and Ivory-Block’s vocals create a hauntingly beautiful contrast to Bateh’s commanding baritone on tracks like “Sing Me to the Street”, “Death Croons” and “Stay Cruel,” while the Dick Dale inspired guitar riffs on “Serafina” and “Heat Lightning” and the call-and-response choruses throughout the album showcase Bambara’s ability to write songs that immediately demand repeat listens.

While the music itself is evocative and propulsive, a fever dream all of its own, the lyrical content pushes the record even further into its own darkly thrilling realm. If the songs on Shadow On Everything were like chapters in a novel, then this time they’re short stories. Short stories connected by death and its effect on the characters in contact with it. “Death is what you make it” runs a lyric in “Sweat,” a line which may very well be the thread that ties these stories together.

But it would be wrong to characterize Stray as simply the sound of the graveyard. Light frequently streams through and, whether refracted through the love and longing found on songs like “Made for Me” or the fantastical nihilism on display in tracks like the anthemic “Serafina,” reveals this album to be the monumental step forward that it is. Here Bambara sound like they’ve locked into what they were always destined to achieve, and the effect is nothing short of electrifying.

One thing you won’t be able to avoid on Bambara’s Stray is death. It’s everywhere and inescapable, abstract and personified – perhaps the key to the whole record. Death, however, won’t be the first thing that strikes you about the group’s fourth – and greatest – album to date. That instead will be its pulverising soundscape; by turns, vast, atmospheric, cool, broiling and at times – on stand out tracks like “Sing Me To The Street” and “Serafina” – simply overwhelming

Bambara – twin brothers Reid and Blaze Bateh, singer/guitarist and drummer respectively, and bassist William Brookshire – have been evolving their midnight-black noise into something more subtle and expansive ever since the release of their 2013 debut Dreamviolence. That process greatly accelerated on 2018’s Shadow On Everything, their first on New York’s Wharf Cat Records and a huge stride forward for the band both lyrically and sonically.

The album was rapturously received by the press, listeners and their peers. NPR called it a “mesmerising…western, gothic opus,” Bandcamp called the “horror-house rampage” “one of the year’s most gripping listens,” and Alexis Marshall of Daughters named it his “favorite record of 2018.” Shadow also garnered much acclaim on the other side of the Atlantic. Influential British 6Music DJ Steve Lamacq, dubbed them the best band of 2019’s SXSW, and Joe Talbot of the UK band IDLES said, “The best thing I heard last year was easily Bambara and their album Shadow On Everything.” The question was, though, how to follow it?

To start, the band did what they always do: they locked themselves in their windowless Brooklyn basement to write. Decisions were made early on to try and experiment with new instrumentation and song structures, even if the resulting compositions would force the band to adapt their storied live set, known for its tenacity and technical prowess. Throughout the songwriting process, the band pulled from their deep well of creative references, drawing on the likes of Leonard Cohen, Ennio Morricone, Sade, classic French noir L’Ascenseur Pour L’Echafraud, as well as Southern Gothic stalwarts Flannery O’Connor and Harry Crews.

Once the building blocks were set in place, they met with producer Drew Vandenberg, who mixed Shadow On Everything, in Athens, GA to record the foundation of Stray. After recruiting friends Adam Markiewicz (The Dreebs) on violin, Sean Smith (Klavenauts) on trumpet and a crucial blend of backing vocals by Drew Citron (Public Practice) and Anina Ivry-Block (Palberta), Bambara convened in a remote cabin in rural Georgia, where Reid laid down his vocals.

The finished product represents both the band’s most experimental and accessible work to date. The addition of Citron and Ivory-Block’s vocals create a hauntingly beautiful contrast to Bateh’s commanding baritone on tracks like “Sing Me to the Street”, “Death Croons” and “Stay Cruel,” while the Dick Dale inspired guitar riffs on “Serafina” and “Heat Lightning” and the call-and-response choruses throughout the album showcase Bambara’s ability to write songs that immediately demand repeat listens.

While the music itself is evocative and propulsive, a fever dream all of its own, the lyrical content pushes the record even further into its own darkly thrilling realm. If the songs on Shadow On Everything were like chapters in a novel, then this time they’re short stories. Short stories connected by death and its effect on the characters in contact with it. “Death is what you make it” runs a lyric in “Sweat,” a line which may very well be the thread that ties these stories together.

But it would be wrong to characterize Stray as simply the sound of the graveyard. Light frequently streams through and, whether refracted through the love and longing found on songs like “Made for Me” or the fantastical nihilism on display in tracks like the anthemic “Serafina,” reveals this album to be the monumental step forward that it is. Here Bambara sound like they’ve locked into what they were always destined to achieve, and the effect is nothing short of electrifying.

Ever since we hosted this New York four-piece in Independent Venue Week with Heavy Rapids, we knew we had to have them back!

Public Practice harness the coolest funkiest bits of CBGB proto-punk with an astonishing textural awareness and sass. We are THRILLED to have them back in the club.

Fabric Bear are a 4-piece indie band from Scotland consisting of Ryan Hunter, Callum Jones &
Matt Graham who all knew each other as friends in the Scottish music scene and decided to come together to deliver infectious indie pop songs with catchy choruses and memorable melodies.

“I don’t know what’s in the haggis or Irn Bro up there, but it’s making some superstars. This is an ANTHEM!”- Abbie Mac (BBC Radio 1)

“That’s an absolute monster of a track! Really accomplished musicians as well. That stood out immediately when I first heard it. I cannot wait to hear more from those guys.”- Vic Galloway (BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Music Introducing)

“ARMED with a highly-strung and robust sound that mirrors the youthful exuberance and undeterred ambition that they clearly have at their disposal, Edinburgh-based upstarts Fabric Bear are here to capture your imagination and deftly expands its horizons.”- TENEMENT TV

Formed late 2014 in Chester university digs, the three-piece band Peaness write catchy, fuzzy, harmony driven indie-pop songs about love, friendship, frustrations, Brexit and food waste.

The trio have been playing together since summer 2015, and their fun, friendships fuelled live performances have been winning the hearts and minds of people up and down the country. They have secured nationwide and international shows with bands such as The Beths, Kero Kero Bonito, The Cribs, We Are Scientists, The Big Moon & Dream Wife. They have performed at many festivals including Green Man, Benicassim, Truck, Great Escape, 2000 Trees, Kendal Calling & Indietracks. Peaness have received backing from across the BBC, including a live 6music session with Marc Riley, multiple plays on Radio 1, 2, 6music and have become firm favourites on their local BBC Introducing stations BBC Radio Wales and Merseyside. The band have also received support from Radio X with a live session with John Kennedy, as well as a multitude of press coverage from Kerrang! Magazine, Rolling Stone, Dork, Clash, Drowned in Sound and The Metro. The band have strong roots in the DIY scene, self-releasing their first EP ‘No Fun’, and releasing their critically acclaimed EP ‘Are You Sure?’ with UK independent label royalty Alcopop! They often make their own music videos, have close creative friends doing press shots and art work, and even have their mum’s making handmade squeaky peas for merchandise.

With their debut album due early 2020, the band are cited as ones to watch for the year ahead.

The third studio LP from kosmische folk-rock four-piece Modern Studies opens with a photograph, and closes with a shape of light. In between what slowly develops is a heady, heartening album that charts love, loss and life, as the Glasgow-via-Lancashire group reflect on landscape, the elements, intimacy, distance, sunsets, moonlight, and the blues.

The Weight of the Sun sees principal songwriters Emily Scott and Rob St John further their warm, esoteric field studies with Pete Harvey and Joe Smillie, as previously reconnoitred on Swell To Great (2016) and Welcome Strangers (2018). Largely recorded at Harvey’s home-run studio Pumpkinfield in rural Perthshire, this third outing makes for a glorious compendium of haunted disco hallelujahs (‘Spaces’); mercurial krautrock chorales (‘Heavy Water’); cosmic pop adagios (‘Corridors’; ‘Back to the City’) and euphoric, resilient, anthems (‘The Blue of Distance’).

“I found that phrase, ‘The Blue of Distance’, through Rebecca Solnit,” says St John, who lives in Lancashire’s Forest of Bowland. “She writes, ‘The world is blue at its edges and in its depths. This blue is the light that got lost’.” Those ever-shifting shades and shadows permeate on The Weight of the Sun: itshues of the sky and the ocean; of heartache and arteries; of absence and of everything. Blue is light-years away, and it’s painfully close, not least on the aching, ‘Northern Sky’-invoking gospel of ‘Shape of Light’ (“blue-blood tributaries just below the skin”). There are traces, bruises, wakes.

Welcome Strangers gently revelled under a ‘Young Sun’, but there’s a sense that the heavens are heavier this time around. Is The Weight of the Sun a meditation on time, on life, passing? Glasgow-based Scott acquiesces. “A lot of life was lived in the last two years,” she says. “Perhaps we’re showing a rawer, truer connection to things. I feel, and hope, when listening, that the overriding sense is joyful, though.” That sentiment strikes a chord with St John. “This is an attempt to weave something hopeful from it all.”

And so they do. The Weight of the Sun is uplifting, enlightening, and — on various occasions — eminently danceable. Smillie’s galloping percussion conjures a primal rodeo hoe-down on ‘Spaces’; there’s an insatiable bass groove on ‘Brother’ (“the ear finds what the eye avoids”); and even a hip-swaying high-noon undertow amid the dizzying psych-folk of ‘Photograph.’ It might well be heavy, it might well go down, there might well be darkness, but the sun also rises.

They are at once star-struck and down to earth — quite literally, on the latter front, as Harvey notes. The band, he says, delighted in seeking and appropriating “everything we could that would clang: garden implements, including rakes, shovels and hoes; fire extinguishers; and a pristine fire pit which made haunting bowed shimmers before being relegated to the garden.”

There is a strange familiarity, and a welcome strangeness, in the quiet alchemy of Modern Studies.

‘The Weight Of The Sun’ will be released on 8th May via Fire Records on LP and CD.

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“Setting the standards for intelligent pop” Record Collector

“Melancholic magic… recalls Johnny Marr’s hazier reveries and the febrile, electrified folk of Polly Harvey’s Let England Shake.” UNCUT

“The exact point where Fairport Convention meet Jim O’Rourke at a remote Scottish railway station.” – Tim Burgess

Rosalie Cunningham (mastermind behind psychedelic prog band Purson) released her debut solo album in July 2019 to overwhelming admiration from fans and critical acclaim. She is now embarking on a Spring Tour with select dates in the UK, before heading over to Europe and the US later in the year.

“A remarkable fusion of the soothing and the shocking” – CLASH

“Unmistakable, bold and confident” – KILLING MOON

Last year the band were personally invited by Robert Smith to play the prestigious Meltdown festival alongside My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails and The Libertines.

Having already played their first show of 2020 at Rockaway Beach Festival earlier this month, London 3-piece Indian Queens return with their brand new single ‘Bubblewrap’ on January 24th.

The single is taken from their forthcoming debut album ‘God Is A Woman’, due to be released on Cool Thing Records later this year. ‘Bubblewrap’ is a pounding, hypnotic track, dreamlike harmonies harking back to early Portishead and Massive Attack, while lyrically it centres on the ongoing climate crisis – singer Jennifer O’Neill lamenting – “a million years from now, fighting for air to breathe”.

Consisting of sisters Jennifer (guitar/vocals) and Katherine (bass) O’Neill, along with lifelong friend Matthew Dudan-Bick on Drums, Indian Queens were born and raised in Hackney Wick and have been making music together since their school days.

AGP presents

OpenPlan
plus support

Friday 29 May 2020
Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
7pm
14+ (u16 to be accompanied by an adult)

Tickets skiddle.com

432 Presents
Born Ruffians
Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
06.06.20

Midland-born, Toronto-based indie rock band Born Ruffians—guitarist/vocalist Luke Lalonde, bassist Mitch DeRosier, and drummer Steve Hamelin—are proof that a group of friends with a tireless work ethic and fierce, grassroots commitment to their labour’s integrity and vision can still go a long, long way. 15 years into their career, the trio isn’t slowing; instead, they’re doubling down on those designations with JUICE, their 6th full-length record. It’s a hyper, earnest, and affecting collection of rock and roll songs, written and polished over a three-year span then sewn together into a cohesive and uniquely enjoyable experience. It’s Born Ruffians as they’ve always been: on their own terms, heads against the wind until their work is done.

“Here’s the thing: you get further as a band when all members embrace the strength of their creative relationship, keeping the external demands and pressures at bay” says Lalonde. “JUICE kind of reflects that as a title. We’re squeezing more out of this bond that we’ve forged over so many years.”

JUICE, due on April 3, 2020 via Yep Roc Records, embodies the band’s longstanding history, exhuming Born Ruffians’ early days in Toronto, while dissecting their relationships with that time and the memories they hold. “Was it all the way it seemed? How I wonder what you see/In that wavy haze,” Lalonde belts on the chorus.“ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” Lalonde explains with a grin. Those days were marked by equal doses of anxiety and excitement, living hand to mouth in a basement in downtown Toronto. “That anxiety will exist forever, I think,” says Hamelin. “But the more you take your life into your own hands, it alleviates some of that anxiety.”

JUICE evokes this simplicity: the desperate appreciation for, and necessity of, major key melodies and camaraderie that’s prompted when your back is against the wall. Heard on their own, each single is a neon bolt of energy and storytelling, but placed alongside and tumbling into one another from start to finish, they’re recontextualized as interlocking pieces in a puzzle.
Our collective 21st century spiritual malaise requires a salve, and JUICE is just that: a sweet, delectable nectar from a band that’s lived longer than most. It’s bright and punchy, from the brass section blasts opening the breathless rock and roll sprint of “I Fall In Love Every Night” to the playful throb of Hamelin’s drums on “Breathe.” The plucky gait of “Dedication” completes this opening trio with whistles and percussion blocks framing Lalonde’s sardonic reading of dogged devotion to capitalism, rhyming off would-be Extremely Online listicles: “12 ways to die in a fire, 10 ways to be consumed by desire, 8 things you didn’t know about the all-consuming shadow of this empire.”

This beginning three-track suite is mirrored on the back end by the final three songs, an adventure capped off with “Wavy Haze.” It’s a four-minute wander through Lalonde’s foggy recollections of the band’s beginning hemmed in by cotton-candy guitars and rumbling drums. “Miss the stuff you did not need: attention headaches, nicotine, alcohol, and some amphetamines,” Lalonde declares on the verse. It’s almost like taking stock, counting chips before the next bet. “There’s a bit of pride in what we’ve done, and looking back and looking forward all at the same time,” says DeRosier.

In the end, JUICE is a testament to where Born Ruffians have come from, and a bold, pulpy mission statement for the future. However weird and overwhelming things get, Born Ruffians close out the record by reminding us that they’re in this for the long haul, as Lalonde sings, “You see a light come shining from behind, reminding you that kid is always on your back.”

Frankly, The Smiths are a Scottish Smiths tribute act. The band have been together a short time, but have established themselves as Scotland’s premier tribute to The Smiths, playing regular shows across the country. The four piece delve deep into the indie legends’ back catalogue, performing lengthy shows that are sure to please both the casual and devoted fan. The band have gained a dedicated following, all of whom agree that this is the only tribute act to see for the ultimate Smiths experience. This will be their fourth appearance at Sneaky Pete’s, the last two of which were near sell outs, so be sure to book your tickets in advance to avoid disappointment!