I Ludicrous at New Cross Inn

Coming up this Friday 20th July at the New Cross Inn, the first London gig this year by I Ludicrous. The Crystal Palace-supporting indie outfit started out in the  mid-1980s with a sardonic comic style similar to Half Man Half Biscuit or The Fall. 

Their biggest 'hit' was John Peel favourite 'Preposterous tales' ('I once saw the Palace score four goals away from home'). They also did what The Great Wen has suggested may be the greatest football song of all time, We Stand Around (you can watch a whole documentary about them too)

Also on the bill on Friday are Now, Matt Finucane  and Marshall Milk.

Edit/Select

Edit/Select are an energetic young SE London band. I saw them a few weeks ago at the Toe Jam Christmas party at the Bussey Building in Peckham and they were pretty good (Toe Jam is a club night that the band help promote, it started out at the New Cross Inn). Now they are looking for a new bassist:

'We are an indie / punk / reggae / ska / pop rock band. We have played venues such as IndigO2, Barfly, Scala, Dingwalls, Goldsmiths SU, Astoria 2, etc. We have supported Art Brut, Toploader, The Holloways and more. We regularly go on tours in Holland as we have a buzzing following out there and a lot of contacts. Currently making an album too!

We are looking for a bass player who is enthusiastic, experienced, someone who is up for having fun and really wants to make a go of this. Must be willing to work with image too! If this sounds good to you then drop me a reply!'

If you are interested you can contact them via their facebook page.

Here they are with their track Your Fire, the video seemingly filmed in the Old Police Station (Amersham Vale, SE14). Warning to would-be bassists - this was a couple of years ago and they've got more musically sophisticated, maybe bit more Vampire Weekend, bit less Hard Fi. So you will need to be good!

More Venue Flyers

I've put some flyers from the Venue in New Cross 1990s indie heyday here before (and here), here's some more courtesy of their Facebook site where there's even more. I was there fairly regularly, getting two buses from Brixton to make it and usually having a drink at the New Cross Inn or Dewdrop Inn before heading in. Clearly some amazing bands played there and sometimes I was present, but it was never just about the bands. Half the time I was dancing in the smaller bar upstairs or standing chatting on the stairs when some group who later headlined Glastonbury were playing.

Some of the line ups too look incredible now, not just headliners but some of the support acts. Look at this from 1994 - Oasis, Shed Seven and Cast all on the same night in May. Love them or hate them but all three became pretty big. Similarly Ultramarine, Transglobal Underground and Dreadzone. Or Prolapse supporting Heavenly. I saw Heavenly at the Venue, but think it was before this gig in '94.

Napalm Death in 1990:
November 1991 I was at that Chumbawamba gig I think, certainly saw them there. Also saw Spiritualized there, but again not sure it was that night (think when I saw them they were still called Spiritualized Electric Mainline with Laika supporting)

I was at that Monochrome Set gig in December 1991:
Jonathan Richman played there in 1992:



Pulp supported Lush in the same year:

Blur supported Ruff, Ruff and Ready in 1990 (see also Canadian punk band DOA's final gig in UK):

If I had a time machine, I'd probably choose to go back to 1992 and see disco divas Kelly Marie and Tina Charles:

Beware of Trees

Beware of Trees is a new blog by Matt Haynes, editor of Smoke magazine, which in a way paved the way for a certain kind of blog-like idiosyncratic writing about London, albeit on the printed page.

Matt is now based in Greenwich so the new blog promises 'an outsider's take on the mysterious world of the SE postcodes, centred on Greenwich but occasionally straying further afield into Charlton, Deptford and... beyond'. Early posts include one on the National Maritime Museum as 'a gallery of nothingness, a miscellany of despair'.

In a previous life, or rather earlier in this one, Matt was one of the people involved in famed late 80s socialist indie-pop label Sarah Records. I haven't knowingly met Matt, but have definitely been in the same room as him. I remember going to one of their nights in a pub in Kings Cross with The Field Mice, back in the days when I was hanging out at the Camden Falcon in a daze of Talulah Gosh and the Razorcuts. On which score, see:

- Twee as F*ck - Indie-pop at the Fountain in Deptford (now Noodle King)

- 2000 Troubled Teenagers - Belle & Sebastian fan night at the Paradise Bar (now Royal Albert).

How does it feel to be loved? C86 Special

If you like a bit (well a lot) of jingly jangly indie-pop, you might want to join me and others of that ilk tonight at The Canterbury Arms in Brixton for How Does in Feel to be Loved? This month it's a C86 special - a cassette compilation issued with NME in 1986. They say:

'As this year marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the seminal C86 compilation, we thought it would be a nice idea to hold a night to celebrate the songs of the C86 era. We'll be playing a ton of classics from 1986 and 1987, as well as songs from C86 itself.

Expect to hear:

Another Sunny Day * The Bodines * The Brilliant Corners * The Close Lobsters * The Clouds * The Corn Dollies * The Farmer's Boys * The Flatmates * The F...ield Mice * The Go Betweens * The Groove Farm * The Haywains * The Hit Parade * The House Of Love * The Housemartins * James Dean Driving Experience * The Jasmine Minks * The June Brides * Kitchens Of Distinction * The Loft * McCarthy * Monochrome Set * The Motorcycle Boy * My Bloody Valentine * The Orchids * The Pooh Sticks * Primal Scream * The Sea Urchins * The Shop Assistants * The Siddeleys * Strawberry Switchblade * The Trashcan Sinatras * The Wake * The Waltones * The Wolfhounds * 14 Iced Bears

Please note: This is an indiepop special, so for one night only we won't be playing any soul or sixties stuff.

Guest DJs: Emma and Ian of Pocketbooks'.

Check facebook event for further details.

Metros - Talk About It (Another Peckham Video)

The Metros were hotly-tipped indie hopefuls a couple of years ago, with three singles under their belt in 2008. The following year though the band split up. The Metros lived in Peckham with members meeting each other at Dog Kennel Hill Primary School and the Charter School in East Dulwich (Southwark Weekender, June 2008).

The video for their final single, Talk About It, was filmed in Peckham, featuring among other locations Rye Lane, Peckham Library and the multi-storey car park (also used by Roll Deep last year).

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There's actually another film documenting how this video was made with even more Peckhamness if you're interested.

How does it Feel? this Friday

This Friday at legendary Indie Pop club How Does it Feel? in Brixton the guest DJ is Amelia Fletcher, of Tender Trap and Heavenly and Talulah Gosh fame.


They say 'Amelia used to live opposite the Canterbury Arms and was our semi-regular resident DJ for the first few years of the club in Brixton, so it's always a pleasure to welcome her back. As usual, she'll be playing a set of female fronted artists and bands'.

I had a great time when Amelia was DJing there a while ago, as reviewed here.


How Does It Feel To Be Loved?, Friday Oct 1st, Canterbury Arms, Canterbury Crescent, Brixton, SW9 7QD, 9pm-2am. £4 for members, £6 for non members. Membership is free from http://www.howdoesitfeel.co.uk/