Slumberland Records showcase!

 

Upset The Rhythm present a Slumberland Records showcase featuring…

BIRDIE
TONY MOLINA
LIGHTHEADED
HANGOVER LOUNGE DJs
Wednesday 24 July
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, London, N1 9JB
7.30pm | £14.00 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/j163b4c82f7b

BIRDIE’s roots go all the way back to 1992 at Saint Etienne live band rehearsals. Debsey Wykes had been in Etienne (and everybody's!) faves Dolly Mixture and was on board as a backing vocalist, while Paul Kelly had been in the equally legendary East Village and was now part of St Etienne's touring band. The pair became fast friends and then a couple, bonding over a love of the sunshine pop and soft rock music of the 60s and 70s, and began spending hours together strategising a new band, eventually forming Birdie in 1994 and releasing the "Spiral Staircase" 7" in 1997.

In the summer of 1998 Birdie recorded their debut album "Some Dusty" with the estimable Brian O'Shaughnessy (Denim, Moose, The Clientele). It's a deep and beautiful album, with Paul's melodic, sophisticated arrangements providing the perfect setting for Debsey's sweet and soulful soft-pop vocals. Birdie followed up the 1999 release of "Some Dusty" on It Records with a series of essential singles - “Let Her Go," "Such A Sound," and "Sidewalk" -- culminating in the release of their second album "Triple Echo" in 2001. Family life and other artistic pursuits called, and Birdie has only been sporadically active since then. Their brief but perfectly-formed discography has become the stuff of legend, charming savvy pop fans around the world. Summer 2024 will see the long overdue vinyl reissue of "Some Dusty" on US indie label Slumberland Records.
https://www.discogs.com/artist/292344-Birdie-2

TONY MOLINA is a northern Californian native with a restless, multi-faceted musical personality. He got his start playing in hardcore bands, but over time developed two distinct styles that are very far removed from that sound. Initially under the name Ovens, then as a solo artist, he crafts bite-sized chunks of melodic pop that can be broken into two sub-headings: quiet acoustic guitar-led ballads and noisy electric songs that sound like Teenage Fanclub with J Mascis and the Fastbacks' Kurt Bloch spearheading a dual guitar attack. In 2009 Molina released the first music under his own name, the 12-song Embarrassing Times cassette. In 2013, Molina released his second solo album, Dissed and Dismissed, a collection of 12 short and fuzzy tunes that took notes from '90s indie and power pop acts like Weezer, Redd Kross, and Dinosaur Jr. What was intended as a demo caught the attention of fans of melodic guitar pop and hooked two legendary American labels, Matador and Slumberland. The former released the Six Tracks EP later in 2013; the latter signed him and reissued Dissed and Dismissed in 2014.

His next album, 2018's Kill the Lights, came about much more naturally. He worked on some songs with a friend, Jasper Leach, and they decided to make a record out of the demos they had started. Recorded in two studios and a bedroom, the album was again built around Molina's acoustic guitar and winsome pop melodies, but this time featured some folk-rock-ready 12-string electric, a full-band sound, and Leach's keyboards. Molina’s latest album, In the Fade, was released by Summer Shade, an offshoot of Run for Cover, in August of 2022 and was the first of his solo records to contain all the sides of his musical personality under one roof.
https://tonymolina650.bandcamp.com/

LIGHTHEADED from New Jersey have conjured, through some mysterious alchemy, a distinctive flavor of pop that draws as much from 60s Brill Building, garage-pop and folk-pop as it does from the DIY indie explosion of the 80s/early 90s. Their debut EP "Good Good Great!" shows that band core Cynthia and Stephen are clearly students of pop in all its permutations, but they wear their influences lightly - a typical Lightheaded song could have been released in 1966 or 1986, but in fact sounds just right in 2024! Their sound has just right amount of elemental murk, drawing to mind a mythical collab between Phil Spector and Curt Boettcher's Sagittarius, working their way through the Goffin & King songbook. Cynthia's rich vocals are the secret weapon, possessing a depth and swing that can handle with aplomb the sprightliest pop or the tear-jerkingest drama. The group’s debut album titled “Combustible Gems”,  will be released on Slumberland this May!
https://areyoufeelinglightheaded.bandcamp.com/