Griff says; Allo Darlin'

This is quite extraordinary - when I sat down to start writing this I thought I would begin by saying; Allo Darlin' need no introduction to readers of the Streetlamp, having featured before in...
and that's when I realised that we've not written about them before.
This seems like an extraordinary oversight as they tick all the Streetlamp boxes - you know, twee jangly indiepop with explicit overtones of C-86, early Creation, Sarah Records, Postcard Records etc. Basically, all of the things that saw our Gordon through the 80s (well all that and lots and lots of red wine). I also know for definite that Ray is a fan. Anyway, for some reason we've never written about them before, so I'm going to remedy that right now.

Allo Darlin' are a London-based four-piece led by smart and quirky Australian song-writer Elizabeth Morris, who also plays the guitar and the ukulele and sings. The remainder of the line-up is:

Michael Collins (not that one obviously, Irish history fans) -  plays drums and sings

Paul Rains - plays guitar and lapsteel and sings, and

Bill Botting -  plays the bass and sings

The foursome got together at the beginning of 2009 and released their first single, the magnificent, and magnificently-titled, "Henry Rollins Don't Dance" on WeePOP! Records that summer. They were signed to Fortuna Pop! shortly thereafter and their self-titled debut album was released in June 2010. They spent much of 2010 and 2011 on the road in the UK, Europe and America before releasing their second album "Europe"  in May of this year on Fortuna POP! in Europe and Slumberland Records in America. This week sees the release of the third single from that album, the quintessential Allo Darlin' jangly pop singalong Northern Lights. Have a listen:


Allo Darlin' - Northern Lights by Slumberland Records
 
As you can see, Slumberland Records are offering a free digital download of the track but I hope that you'll like it enough to check out the band's two excellent albums, which are available from either the Fortuna Pop! or Slumberland Record sites.

To finish off, and especially for our Ray, here's the aforementioned Allo Darlin' twee-pop classic Henry Rollins Don't Dance:



Griff
xx

Griff says; It's the bear who would share.

Now that Christmas is well and truly over, it's nice to get back down to the straightforward business of bringing you the best in the world of indie releases with one we almost overlooked. Just before Christmas, Bearsuit, quirky, Norwich-based exponents of electronic, indie-pop released their brilliant new single A Train Wreck. You can download it as a free MP3 either from the band website or from the Fortuna POP! website. If you visit the latter you might also want to have a look at the other free MP3s that they currently have available from the likes of Crystal Stilts and The Pipettes. Hell, you might even consider buying some muic when you're there too; after all Fortuna POP! is the label that brings us music from the sublime Allo Darlin' and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart.
Fortuna POP! also have Bearsuit's new album 'The Phantom Forest' scheduled for release in February 2011.
Anyway, here's the video for Bearsuit's A Train Wreck:



We enjoyed that so much that we also wanted to bring you a personal, long-time favourite Bearsuit track; Foxy Boxer, released in 2007. Unfortunately, no video existed for it. Well, until now anyway. So, enjoy below, courtesy of Ray, Bearsuit's brilliant Foxy Boxer.



This track is featured on Bearsuit's 2007 album oh:io, released by Fantastic Plastic records, if you're interested. And yes, it features more songs in the same energetic and insanely catchy vein, so you shouldn't be disappointed. If you just want to download it as a free MP3 then you should be able to find it here.

Griff
xx