Old Gossip
Honeytrap release their second batch of songs on Tough Love Records on January 15th. The four track CD is our first E.P. and due to the number of tracks we've only been able to issue it on CD. The packaging is fantastic and thanks must go to Matt from Dead! Dead! Dead! for his amazing artwork. The wax sealed card envelopes look very classy. Order now from our product page, iTunes or any discerning (or not so) record shop
Honeytrap will also be celebrating the release at a special launch party at Coventry Colosseum on January 13th. Support comes from Sunset Cinema Club and a very special unnamed secret guest.
The Sequins
Das Wanderlust
Honeytrap
Situationists
William
Korova
DON’T MOVE!
Men Diamler
Buzzin’ Flies
Not much more needs to be said about this. Doors open at 2pm and the whole thing comes to a messy, celebratory and blurry-eyed end around some twelve hours later. It’s £5 to get in, which is just over 50p an act, which is the best Christmas bargain I’ve discovered yet. Art School Scum DJ’s will be providing all the songs not available on the Shine series 2 through to 6. Anybody caught in fancy dress, and that includes flares, will be asked to leave.
Tickets available from www.thetinangel.co.uk. We strongly advise you act quick on this one.
Letters and Colours
The Patty Winters Show
The Hearing
Another month, another night of Don’t Go Home… fun and games. Finding themselves lost on the ring roads of Coventry this month are Letters and Colours, who supply a rather fetching line in post punk disco. Expect Ian Curtis-esque existentialism, love versus isolation and Chic good times. As you all own that epoch defining Digital Penetration compilation, it’s not as if you needed telling anyhow... The Patty Winters Show will be bringing their chiming angular riffage to the party on the back of a sold out 7” on Tigertrap. Wry smiles, arched eyebrows and big funking guitars all round. Local post-rock behemoths The Hearing will kick things off with the biggest bang Taylor Johns is ever likely to hear. Late arrivals risk wrath and the loss of kudos in equal measure.
Apart from being on a Saturday, details remain the same. 8:30pm (sharp!) start and £4 to get in. Art School Scum DJs will be playing new-rave, old skool, happy hardcore and an as yet unnamed type of rave to be invented on the night. Glowsticks are optional.
Tickets: tinangeltickets.co.uk
Love Ends Disaster
Popular Workshop
Kotki Dwa
Put this date in your brain and remember it, because this is without a doubt the best line up we’ve had the privilege to assemble and you wouldn’t want to miss out. Not that you need telling, but Love Ends Disaster are only Bloc Party’s favourite new band and have released a brilliant album on Denial Records. Obviously. Popular Workshop will be familiar to everyone who owns our compilation CD, listens to a radio and watches Popworld. Get their early to fight past the photographers. Kotki Dwa are what happened when Postal Service had a big love in with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and a bag of books. Succinct and to the point? Wouldn’t have it any other way.So, the specifics: £4 to get in, a lifetime of regret to not. Doors open at 8:30pm and shut again at 2am. The first band will be demanding your attention at 9:15pm. Art School Scum DJs will bring the noise until the early hours. Buy tickets here: www.thetinangel.co.uk
We have faith that if you’re on this mailing list you already know about the F*ck Art, Lets Dance all day event on Saturday 21st October at Taylor John’s House. We know that you know Metronomy, Pete and the Pirates, Theoretical Girl, Untitled Musical Project, The Ripps, The Tacticians, DON’T MOVE! and The Rrr’s will all be getting steamy and creamy at said event. In fact you’re so knowing that you’ve probably already paid the scandalously cheap £5 entrance fee and will be there at 3pm to party right through until 2am. We’ll be in attendance, but of course you already knew that.
Tough Love DJ’s Art School Scum have stopped making up silly aliases and gone all upmarket, bagging the DJ slot at Coventry’s premier crunk venue, Dogma. From 9pm every Wednesday they’ll be lowering the tone at Indication. Expect free entry and almost free drinks. Have you seen their records? I never did much like Thursday lectures anyhow.
After a month’s sabbatical sampling the various delights of the summer festival season, Don’t Go Home… makes a welcome return to Taylor
John's House on Friday 29th September.
Those familiar with the history of Bloc Party and Forward, Russia! may well have heard of I Love Poland. Originally appearing on our radar after featuring on the first Dance To The Radio compilation, they have since released a sold out 7” single to much acclaim. October 2nd sees the release of their debut EP on Denial and we’re proud to have them play for us before they go all Pop World and are never seen without an entourage again. Think a more electro Pulp, Marc Almond-style kitchen sink dramas and Joy Division disco.
Munch Munch are a rag bag bunch (bunch) of DiY electro beat-niks. Expect a mixture of ukulele, shakers and laptop shenanigans. We’re very excited about this one…
Chaos Emeralds featured on our now almost sold out compilation “What Will Survive Of Us…” without us actually having ever seen them play live. From what we’ve heard on record, we’re expecting hyperactive female fronted post punk pop madness. Without getting a little too Everett True, the more hyperactive female fronted post punk pop madness the better in our eyes.
Doors open at 8:30 and close again at 2am and Tough Love DJ’s, Art School Scum will be playing until late.
Tickets are £4 and available in advance from our very own box office www.thetinangel.co.uk .
This is just the first night in a run of monthly gigs leading up to Christmas, culminating in our very special all day event on Saturday 16th December. Keep checking our MySpace and this website for updates.
Let us know if there are any bands you’d like to see play at Don’t Go Home and we’ll endeavour to accommodate them at some point.
Now, despite being fans of the odd emotional montage, we tend to shy away from misty eyed nostalgia, especially given that the unknown possibilities of the future hold far more enticing mysteries than the dead and buried past. But, and there’s always a but, it felt plain wrong to let our first birthday pass by without celebrating the achievements of the past year.
With good grace and a wry smile, we’re not going to bother offering a recap of the past year. You’re either cool enough to know what’s been going on, or you’ve some how managed to scrape on to this website undetected. All you need to know is that The Sequins, Honeytrap, Circus of Death and Little Death will all be playing live on Friday 28th July at Taylor John’s House, Coventry. Entry is a bargain at £4 and doors open at 8:30pm. DJ’s Crunkie B, Liam Crunkley and the Crunk Soul Brother will be crunking up the decks until late.
In a fortuitous twist of fate (or was it planned?), the night will also honour the release of our first compilation CD “What Will Survive of Us…”. Officially released on Monday 30th July, the limited CD features a host of familiar Tough Love names, alongside numerous other artists that have grabbed our attention over the last twelve months. With 19 tracks in total and priced at an embarrassingly meagre £4, it really is like the 80’s never happened, apart from all the brilliant music of course.
Tracklisting:
Tough Love regulars will be familiar with Korova from our Christmas
download. Edinburgh-based four piece Korova, release their long-awaited debut
single on Monday 10th July. “Just Like Peter Cook” and “Microwave
Romance” will be released as a double A-side 7” single and is available
for pre-order now in the product section. The record
will be strictly limited to just 500, hand-numbered copies. Up-and-coming young
artist Lucy May has been specially commissioned to design a number of exclusive
images for the sleeve artwork. Consistent with past Tough Love releases, each
record will come complete with a unique password which, when put into the selecter, allows access to both songs in MP3 format. To celebrate the release
Korova will be playing the single launch night on Friday 7th July, along with
the Khe Sanh Approach and Trainchaser. They’re also touring, so you can
catch them at one of the following venues:
Friday 7th July -Taylor John's House, Coventry
Wednesday 9th August - Studio 3, Bury St. Edmunds
Thursday 10th August - The Fox and Firkin, Lewisham, London
Friday 11 August - The Drum & Monkey, Ipswich
Saturday 12 August - The Portland Arms, Cambridge,
Sunday 13th August - The Wheatsheaf, Bristol
This month’s Don’t Go Home sees the return to Coventry
of the band responsible for the genius of TLV004, Dead!Dead!Dead!.
It’s the first time the Dead! have ventured to this fair city since the
release of their magnificent 7” back in March. We caught them in Bristol
on their last national tour when they literally broke electricity. Three times.
Dead! Dead! Dead! hard.
Support is provided by The Cure-go-HiNRG-disco stylings of Camp
Actor and Coventry’s own insurrectionists, The
Escape. Camp Actor have drawn praise across the music industry thanks to
a consistently excellent run of 7” singles on Press Industries. Steve
Lamacq can’t get enough of it. A review for last single “This is
Not New York” noted that ‘Camp Actor are a pair of right rum buggers.
Always a good thing, that.’ Do they mean bum ruggers?
Promoting recent single “Lost and Found”, The Escape bring their
unique brand of Sonic Youth style angular rock to Taylor John’s House.
They rarely play live in Coventry, so it’s a privilege to have them on
the bill.
DJ’s ChickenBeefLamb and the Beautiful Nigerian Princesses will be entertaining
the crowds into the wee small hours of Saturday morning. Entry is £4 and
the show begins at 20:30. Advance tickets are available from thetinangel555@hotmail.com
or by calling in at The
Tin Angel.
The parts of the Tough Love back catalogue not already sold out will be available
to buy on the night. If you can’t wait that long, go here
and invest wisely.
Are you our friend? Make it official: myspace.com/toughloveonmyspace
It’s all smiles around here, as we’re pleased to announce the release of TLV005. William, purveyors of the finest angular artrock this side of Minneapolis, release the 7" double A-side single 'Five Minute Wonder' and 'Aperture' on Monday 1st May. As (almost) always, the single is limited to 500, hand numbered copies. For all the trendy iPod types, we have supplied each copy with a unique code which, when input into our Selecter system, allows access to the songs as MP3 files. Now stop calling us retro fetishists.
To celebrate our fifth 7” release (calm down girls), we have organised a launch party on Friday 28th April at Coventry's newest live venue, Taylor John's House, situated in the Canal Basin. Alongside a live performance from William, more than admirable support is provided by Swedish troubadour, Boy Omega and fellow London Fall enthusiasts, Popular Workshop. DJs One Eyed Willie and the Serious Siblings will be dusting down their 7”’s in the hope of impressing some girls. Good luck with that.
It costs the same as two items from the McDonalds pound saver menu. It starts at 8.30pm. If you're not there, you're likely not worth knowing. It's not where you're from, it's where you're at. Remember that...
Tough Love Live goes electro pop at the Coventry Colosseum on Thursday 30th March.
Circus of Death are a bastardised amalgamation of early Depeche Mode darkness and Public Image sneering. Couple this with a glamorous intensity all their own and, to these ears, you have one of the best unsigned bands in the country. So good is the demo that they sent to us, the band is literally fending labels off with sticks. Prepare yourself by visiting myspace.com/nightsatthecircus. We have.
Regrettably, I Love Poland have cancelled their scheduled appearance, but Honeytrap have admirably agreed to assume the vacant slot. DJ Chickenface will also be playing great records you should know all night. There will also be the opportunity to buy copies of all of the Tough Love back catalogue for all those too lame to have not done so already.
Doors open at 22:00. Although we would like to keep the night free of charge, the Colosseum has a staple cover of £2.50 (£ concs). It's worth at least double that.
Bad news reaches us from the pressing plant that the Dead!Dead!Dead! 7" will be delayed for a week. Apparently a misplaced master and the Czech postal service are to blame. You can rest assured that disparaging sideway glances have been sent in their direction. However, we will have all pre-orders sorted by next week and you can still order from the site. Teletext has been the first to lavish praise on our Dead! friends new single:
“Dazzling Arcade Fire-in-training mix of epic yearning and a massive clattering percussion.” Launchpad – Teletext
“Front man Neil Dunsire screeches like a madman on the loose taking us on a ride across a whole host of guitars scuttling over each other in a race to be catchier, louder and more jubilant. Witty and ambitious, at the moment there seems to be nothing holding D! D! D! back.” Gigwise.com
The Sequins continue to draw sychophantic screams of critical delight from all quarters for their latest single ‘Patients’. Not ones to blow their own trumpets, let these people do it instead:
“With sharp jangling rhythms that swoop and soar, they have produced four more spangly gems for this release.” - SoundsXP.com
"This one song can nearly end my mourning for Sarah Records. 9/10" - Drowned In Sound
"Single of the week is from our favourite foppish Northeners, The Sequins, whose second single on Tough Love is another delightful romp with some of the nicest packaging since, er.. the last Sequins record." - Pure Groove Records
The Sequins record release party is this Saturday at the Coventry Colosseum. Support comes from William and Zil, entry is free and it starts at eight. Who can skate?
“Coventry’s sweet popsters The Sequins have not disappointed
with their follow-up to last year’s sparkling debut Nobody Dreams About
Me. With sharp jangling rhythms that swoop and soar, they have produced four
more spangly gems for this release. Jumble the tracks and it would be difficult
to name the A-side, such is the quality on show, and the influences read like
a Who’s Who of quality 80s indie guitar bands: The Smiths (Patients,
the nominal A), The Wedding Present (Wife), Talking Heads (Afraid of the Dark)
and The Housemartins (Happy Chappie). With only 1000 copies, split evenly
across 7” and 3” CD formats, you’d better get your skates
on.”
Paul M, SoundsXP
Tough Love Live is back with a bang this month on Thursday 23rd for The Tacticians, Wolf Tracks and The Buzzin’ Flies.
Then the following night Jeffrey Lewis with Don’t Move! and fresh from snow ball fights and skiing in New York the quite wonderful HONEYTRAP!
Available for pre-order now are new singles by both The Sequins (on 7" and 3" CD) and Dead! Dead! Dead! (on 7" only). The record will also be available in these fine establishments:
Acorn Records, YeovilClick on the Product heading below for more information on how to get your ears around these aural delights before the masses catch on.
Rumours circulating that Tough Love are going back to the Tin Angel can now be confirmed as we announce two nights at the end of February. Join us on Thursday 23rd for Wolf Tracks and The Tacticians and then on Friday 24th for The Jeffrey Lewis Band, Honeytrap and Don’t Move.
In further news The Sequins' second single, a 7” and separate CD with 4 songs split over the two formats, is very very very nearly with us and details of a launch night at the Coventry Colosseum will be with you as soon as they emerge.
In further further news Southampton’s finest Dead!Dead!Dead! will be the next band getting the Tough Love 7” treatment, find out who they be in Glitterati and stay tuned for more details.
This month's Tough Love Live has been cancelled, but do visit The Tin Angel on Saturday (21.01.06) for Don't Go Home. Tough Love DJ's Casey B, Manlove and Stephen will be dropping bangers and clangers 'til 23:00. Expect everything from New Order to Joy Division to Monaco to Electronic. Entry is free of course. Then it's all down the Colosseum for The Sequins!
Tough Love Live
February 23rd - The Tacticians, Wolf Tracks @ The Tin Angel, Coventry (Free Entry)
February 24th - Jeffrey Lewis, Honeytrap, Don't Move @ The Tin Angel, Coventry (£5 advance tickets)
March 30th -I Love Poland, Circus of Death and TBC @ Colosseum, Coventry (£2.50/£1.50 concs.)
April 28th -William, Popular Workshop and TBC (new, undisclosed venue)
The Sequins
January 21st - Colosseum, Coventry
January 25th - Loud & Quiet 1st Birthday Party @ Madame Jojo's, Soho
January 31st - Ravensbourne SU, Chislehurst
March 1st - SoundsXP Party @ The Purple Turtle, Camden
Honeytrap
February 12th - 169 Bar, New York
February 13th - Antihoot, Sidewalk Cafe, New York
February 14th - Lakeside Lounge, New York
February 15th - Sidewalk Cafe, New York
February 23rd - Club Fandango, Birmingham
March 31st - The Folkhouse, Bristol
Pictures are now up from the Honeytrap release party under the sound & vision section. Thanks to Brett Skinner for the photographs - they're not all of half-naked boys. Happy New Year!
Being the season of goodwill and all that, we’ve decided to treat you lucky people to seven of the finest free downloads that money can’t buy. To download the exclusive tracks, simply access the Selecter and enter the code ‘toughlove’.
Artists included in the seasonal giveaway include The Sequins, Honeytrap, Das Wanderlust, Korova, The Empty Set, The Chemistry Experiment and Wolf Tracks. Some of the songs are especially festive, while the others are just especially fantastic.
If you like what you hear and want to find out more about the featured artists, there are band biographies and contact details listed in the Selecter.
Thanks for all your support this year. 2006 promises much
more from Tough Love, so keep checking the website for details of future releases
and gigs.
Have an over indulgent Christmas and a very merry new year.
Peace and tough love,
Stephen and Ryan.
We are pleased to finally announce details of the slightly belated, but highly anticipated Honeytrap single launch party. Where, when, why, who I hear you cry. Well…
Date: Saturday 17th December
Place: Left Wing, Colosseum, Coventry
Time: 20:30-23:00
Bands: Honeytrap, Dead! Dead! Dead!, The Walk Off.
Cost: Zero pounds (including entry to main room after 23:00)
In case you’re not indie enough to have heard of the other bands on the bill, here’s some information for the uneducated:
The Walk Off - Truck fest veterans. Conveniently, they have no biography or home page but an excited Big Dan Danvers of Honeytrap claims they have a ‘bear suit and jump about and stuff’. Check out their social networking skills on My Space here: myspace.com/thewalkoff
Dead! Dead! Dead! - All the way from Southampton, the ‘Dead! have been causing a bit of stir in the last year. Their slightly insane baroque waltzes and ADD induced rhythms may turn us all to sycophantic wrecks. Championed by Zane Lowe and pretty much every single music related website in cyberspace, your slightly shaky indie credibility can’t afford to miss them.
Honeytrap have promised us something very special. The boys have requested an unhealthy amount of stage props and made some frankly disturbing suggestions. There may be a booze fountain. There may be wrestling. There certainly will not be any under 18 girls. And there will definitely be a single available to buy.
You may even get your hands on a code that will enable you to hear the future sounds of Tough Love Records.
We’ll take it as a personal insult if you’re not in attendance. Now if you don't mind, I have a record label to run.
Queue fanfare and celebrations, as we are now pleased to announce the launch of TLV 002. Honeytrap are the second band to be given the Tough Love 7" treatment. Andy The Freefaller is Honeytrap's debut release and is a addictive slice of pure pop magic. Limited to 500 copies, the 7 vinyl also includes live favourite Death Before The Silver Screen. Both songs are also made available as free downloads for all those that purchase the single. Each single comes with a unique code, written on the inside sleeve, that when input into Tough Love Records' Selecter, allows access to both songs, plus bonus track You Have Nothing to Apologise For in MP3 format. The songs are great, the concept is great, what are you waiting for!
The Sequins 7 Nobody Dreams About Me is now available in Japan. File Under have kindly purchased 30 copies of the vinyl record and almost wiped out our remaining stock. We literally only have about 30 copies remaining, so if you want to avoid inflated eBay prices in two months time, we recommend you get your skates on.
Photos are now up from the October Tough Love Live night in the Sound & Vision section, featuring Das Wanderlust and also documenting the moment Mawda officially became Honeytrap (waistcoats are the giveaway).
It’s that time of the month again. On Thursday 24th November, the Tin Angel once again plays host to another thrilling Tough Love Live shindig. Label stalwarts, The Sequins, return harder, stronger, better, faster. In what may prove to be the last opportunity to see Tough Love live in its spiritual home, we are pleased to welcome back The Sequins and celebrate the success of our joint ventures in the venue where it all began.
As always, we endeavour to provide the best support our non-existent budget can muster. Nottingham-based Indie mavericks The Chemistry Experiment are this month’s visiting heroes. They’ve released literally thousands of records over the years. If you’re an Indie fan boy/girl/god/geek, then you’ll be kicked out of the Cool Club for admitting you haven’t heard of them already. Kudos is provided on the door. NME had this to say about their most recent long player:
“Strange, gargantuan rhythms, weird instrumentation and a singer who sounds like Kurt Wagner trapped under two feet of snow. Hurrah then, for The Chemistry Experiment, who are as beautiful and crazy as The Arcade Fire bopping hopelessly out of step at an intermediary salsa class. 8/10”
Hyperbole? Honest appraisal? Come down and decide for yourself.
Joining the star-studded bill are local boys, Soul Weighs Three Quarters. Fantastic Elbow-esque laments on all the big themes are guaranteed. They’re giving away free CD’s too, so get down early to avoid disappointment.
It's free, it starts at 8:00pm and like the best things in life, it could all be over far too soon. We really mean it.
Thanks to everyone who came down last Thursday. Despite the unwelcome finale, I trust everyone in attendance (and there were a lot of you!) had a good enough time to come back later this month (make a note of 24th November now).
Due to the cancellation of Winston Echo, much love must go to Coventry’s most popular man™, Brendan Casey, who stepped from behind the bar to treat everyone to a number of his country soul gothic masterpieces. He might well be the reincarnation of Johnny Cash. Das Wanderlust, who are quite possibly the best band we’ve put on so far, were lightening quick, pop mavericks from Middlesbrough. Guitarist Andy took a commendable amount of abuse from singer Laura. Are they married? Now that we can spell their name correctly, I’d like to point you in the direction of their website (www.daswanderlust.co.uk).
The night, however, belonged to Honeytrap. They shed their moniker of the last few years and blew everyone away with a swift costume change, some waistcoats and quite possibly the last ever performance of Capitalism-baiting punk pop prog masterpiece “Money Is Your God”. They have a new website that they would like me to tell you about. Visit www.honeytrap.org for a slice of the action. I think they are a .org as some beekeepers have nicked .co.uk, but they might be starting a charity. You never can tell when Big Dan’s involved.
Keep visiting this here website, as later this month we have both a record release party and, as a record release party would suggest, a record to tell you about. All very soon we promise…
Mawda are dead...This month's Tough Love Live is historic in the fact that it has the honour of hosting Mawda's last ever gig. In this age of nostalgia, can you really afford to miss it? Be there, or be lying about it in years to come.
Hold back the tears though, as we still have Winston Echo: a man with a guitar who we know very little about. He's a riddle wrapped up in a conundrum. We wouldn't have our pop music any other way.
Joining Winston Echo and Mawda are Das Wanderlust, a little band from a little corner of the north-east of England, where pastoral beauty sits alongside grotty chemical works or Middlesborough as it's more commonly known. They play 100mph Fischer Price pop, like Mark E Smith watching Pokemon.
It's free at the Tin Angel and we really can't see why you haven't got your Converse on in preparation. Great poster this month too.
After a rip-roaring gig in Brixton last Friday Pure Groove have made Nobody Dreams About Me single of the week despite it coming out two months ago! They have however sold out and we are desperately trying to get more copies made up and sent down to them. In the meantime, you can still get copies from our site.
In other news photos from our last night at the Tin Angel are up on the site under Sound & Vision.
Spotlight – Strong enough to be a single in its own right, but as the band have even better songs waiting to be recorded, we’ll let you listen to it for free. We’re nice like that.
Not Shopping – A quirky little number that I’m sure was written about my girlfriend. Also makes me think of the Lion King, which is a good thing
We have also included a biography in the Glitterati section. It’s about as helpful as a chocolate teapot but what do you want, hype?
See you all at the Tin Angel on Thursday or come down on Saturday when Peachy will be spinning the wheels of steel at a night called Don’t go Home with A Hard On.
This month sees Tough Love Live continue to grow with what promises to be our strongest line up yet at the Tin Angel. In an item not stolen from anywhere else, here's a rundown on each of the bands performing...
Sheffield's Smokers Die Younger, create a violent sound stuck somewhere between new-wave, disco and punk.
Post Mogwai, Post Rock, all the dynamics, none of the tedium.
Postwaryears are a bunch of jazzy popsters from Leamington, they write songs about wildlife and mathematical formulas.
Last night saw the launch of the Tough Love Sessions at the
Tin Angel, Coventry.
Holy Smokes, Pictures Paint Words and the newly formed Dirty 77s blew the
roof off an absolutely packed bar. Thanks to everyone that came down and made
the night special. The next Tough Love organised night will be on Thursday
29th September and promises to be even greater. Bands confirmed so far are:
Post War Years
Smokers Die Younger
Tired Irie
In further news, as well as being available from this site, The Sequins record is now on sale in a number of shops around the country:
Tempest Records - Birmingham
Virgin Megastore - Coventry
Jumbo Records - Leeds
Rockaboom Records - Leicester
Probe Records - Liverpool
Puregroove - London
The record is continuing to sell very well, so if you haven't bought one yet be sure to grab one soon to avoid disappointment.