For Folk's Sake » It Hugs Back

Left With Pictures, It Hugs Back and Stars of Sunday League for My Latest Novel album launch

Lynn Roberts — Mon, 25 May 2009 09:00:09 +0000

For those Londoners going stir crazy this bank holiday weekend we’ve got a last minute gig suggestion for you.

My Latest Novel are launching their second album Deaths and Entrances at Bush Hall tonight, with support from It Hugs Back, Left With Pictures and Stars of Sunday League.

Doors are at 7.30pm and you can get advance tickets from Ticketweb or We Got Tickets for £8.

But we’ve spotted a twitter update from The Line Of Best Fit, (see here) saying you can tweet them with your name to get on a £6 list. And while we’re on the subject, check out FFS’s twitterverse at www.twitter.com/forfolkssake.

Words: Lynn Roberts

Great Escape confirm NATW, Peggy Sue and Sky Larkin

Lynn Roberts — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:28:16 +0000

Noah and the Whale, Peggy Sue and Sky Larkin have been added to the bill for Brighton’s Spring festival The Great Escape.

They join an already stellar line-up for the three-day festival, which includes Mechanical Bride, Slow Club, Lights and It Hugs Back.

The event takes place from 14th-16th May and over 300 acts will perform at 34 venues across the seaside town.

You can see the full line-up here. FFS’s picks include

Ben Kweller
Beth Jeans Houghton
Blue Roses
The Balky Mule
Exlovers
Fanfarlo
It Hugs Back
James Yuill
Lights
Mechanical Bride
The Miserable Rich
Meme Love
Noah and the Whale
Peggy Sue
Slow Club
Sky Larkin
Woodpigeon

A three-day gig pass will set you back £45. They’re available from ticketmaster.

Words: Lynn Roberts

Album Review: It Hugs Back – Inside Your Guitar

Lynn Roberts — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:24:25 +0000

I’m sure I’m not alone in my pre-occupation with this band’s name. What is ‘It’? A kitten? Your drunken Uncle? The monster under your bed? Even more disconcerting then, is the suggestion that whatever ‘it’ is may well be lurking inside your guitar, waiting, perhaps, to catch you off guard before bursting forth and squeezing the hell out of you. Terrifying. But totally untrue, of course, so let me brew a cup of calming herbal tea and relax, for this is a band best enjoyed in a restful atmosphere.

It Hugs Back are four lads from Maidstone who can count Huw Stephens and Rob Da Bank as their fans and call Maida Vale studios their second home, having recorded there three times. Friends since they were adolescent 12 year olds, the band was formed when they made the dutiful pilgrimage to university in London. Their original records were works of art, painstakingly hand-crafted and released on their own label, Safe & Sound (and if time-consuming art’s your bag – check out their video for ‘Now and Again’). And there’s nothing terrifying about the band at all. Their Wilco-esque songs are wistful forays into a dream-like sub-consciousness; sprinkles of electronica adorn low vocals, tinkly guitars form gentle melodies. They’re a warm, comforting quilt of Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and youthful optimism which is quickly being embraced by the shoe-gazing populace (a 15 date European tour partially supporting Fucked Up – yeah, weird – sees them return to eight UK dates and a stint at Bestival).

From Inside Your Guitar’s uplifting ‘Work Day’ to the soothing hand on your brow that is ‘Soon’, it quickly becomes apparent that what ‘It’ is is really something very wonderful indeed.

Words: Rachel England

Single Review: It Hugs Back – Workday

Lynn Roberts — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:51:50 +0000

Indie folksters It Hugs Back have released ‘Work Day’ their first single taken from their debut album Record Room, due to be released at the start of next year.

The sleepy autumnal vocals are juxtaposed with jangly guitar on this end-of-summer release. The 7″ would be worth buying for the artwork alone, were it not also a great track. Which it is.

The b-side ‘Take a Part’ is an altogether darker affair, with its sinister scratchy backing periodically descending into chaotic multi-instrumental cacophony.

You’d hardly believe the two tracks were by the same band, which leaves FFS wanting to hear more from these possible schizophrenics.

See the cute as chips ‘Work Day’ video here.

Words: Lynn Roberts

Giant Cardiff music festival back for triumphant second year

Lynn Roberts — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:19:04 +0000

Roll Up! Roll Up! For the greatest show on Earth! Well, the greatest show in Cardiff at least, as BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephen’s returns with the second incarnation of last year’s hugely successful Swn festival (pronounced soon, just so everyone’s in the know).

Featuring a ton of bands FFS loves such as Cats in Paris, Jay Jay Pistolet, Peggy Sue and the amazing Pagan Wanderer Lu, the four day festival also boasts seminars and workshops with music experts and bigwigs, art, film, DJs and exhibitions in venues right across the Welsh capital.

The festival kicks off on Thursday, November 13 with a launch party and the first of two days of seminars, and gives its last hurrah on Sunday, November 16 after about 130 bands have graced its many stages.

Wristbands are £45 for the event and allow free entry to all the venues involved, including Buffalo, Clwb Ifor Bach and The Point, on a first come, first served basis. Cheapskates among you can just pay on the door for each gig, but you’ll have to make way for those clad in wristbands as they get priority entry. Probably while staring at your shoes to avoid eye contact and turning a flat cap nervously in your unworthy hands.

Check out what Huw himself has to say about it:

“Swn is a three day showcase of some of the best music from Wales and from around the world.

“The thrill of going from venue to venue to see different bands and DJs is unique, and Cardiff is the perfect city to host a festival of this kind.

“The new audiences that bands get and the impact on them and the local economy is a brilliant thing, with the emphasis being on quality and diversity throughout.

“Me and John Rostron were thrilled with Swn 07 and are doubly excited about it happening again this year. We ant everyone to come!”

Right on Huwie.

Get your tickets from sebon.co.uk, and spend about an hour checking out the full line up (so far) below.

Words: Mike Didymus

Swn Line Up so far:

James Yuill
Golden Silvers
Martin Carr
Voluntary Butler Scheme
Skatar
The Big Pink
It Hugs Back
Amazing Baby
The Boy Least Likely To
Rolo Tomassi
The Pipettes
Young Marble Giants
Tubelord
Dananananaykroyd
Cats In Paris
Indian Jewlry
Pete And The Pirates
Legowelt
Thomas Tantrum
Volcano
The Chapman Family
The New Tea Party
Agaskodo Teliverek
Flashguns
The Lovely Eggs
Jay Jay Pistolet
Peggy Sue
Clinic
Serafina Steer
Stephen Fretwell
Das Wanderlust
Ox Eagle Lion Man
Connan Mockasin
Pixel H8
Broken Records
Johnny Foreigner
Chew Lips
Chipmunk
Eugene McGuiness
John Head
Pete Greenwood
King Cannibal (Ninja Tune)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
SJ Esau
Thomas Truax
Skinnyman
Jamie And The Lionhearts
Truckers Of Husk
Gallops
Sweet Baboo
Dufraine
The Last Republic
Rod Thomas
Euros Childs
Future Of The Left
Gwyneth Glyn
Threatmantics
MC Saizmundo
Little Eris
HUW MM
LLWYD
Derwyddon Dr Gonzo
Danblagroyd
Eilir Pierce
Picture Books In Winter
Zwolf
The Ash And The Oak
Butterflies With Beards
Friends Electric
Random Elbow Pain
Lifting Gear Engineer
Pagan Wanderer Lu
Hemme Fatale
Wrightoid
Georgia Ruth Williams
Alex Dingley
High Contrast
Little My
Joy Formidable
Fred Jones
The School
Goldie Lookin Chain
Yucatan
The Muscle Club
Seindorff
John Mouse
Valley Lines
ORCOP
The Hidden Persuader
Acid Casuals
Frederick Stanley Star
Attack + Defend
Genod Droog
Nia Morgan
Lindsey leven
The Afternoons
Y Diwygiad
Yr Ods
MC Mabon (DJ Set)
Zail
Cate Le Bon
Ectogram
Klaus Kinski
The Stilletoes
Evils
PSI
Vito
James St James
The Fuzz Birds
Sild
Yellow Moon Band
Richard James
Camera
Mac
Radio Luxembourg
Blue Wall
Right Hand, Left Hand
Jen Jeniro
Metabeats (DJ)
Beatbox Fozzy
Colorama
Dead Residents
Chrome Kids
Fernhill
Silence At Sea
Mr Huw
Telegram From The Queen
Cyrion

It Hugs Back

Lynn Roberts — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:15:02 +0000

They Say: Matthew, Paul, Dimitri & Jack began making thier soft-centered dream pop back in early 2006. Switching between joyous pop-punk delight and delicate melancholia in a heartbeat, It Hugs Back melt layers of fuzzy vocals and guitars into their reassuring blend of endearing shoegaze and heart-on-sleeves vulnerability.

Band Members:

Matthew – Guitar and Vocals
Jack – Organ and Vocals
Paul – Bass
Dimitri – Drums

For Folk's Sake » It Hugs Back

Left With Pictures, It Hugs Back and Stars of Sunday League for My Latest Novel album launch

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Great Escape confirm NATW, Peggy Sue and Sky Larkin

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Album Review: It Hugs Back – Inside Your Guitar

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Single Review: It Hugs Back – Workday

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Giant Cardiff music festival back for triumphant second year

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It Hugs Back

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