FRANKIE & THE HEARTSTRINGS / HOOKWORMS / THE VACCINES DJ SET (POP SEX LTD NIGHT) - SOLD OUT
Friday 24th February, 2012
Shacklewell Arms
71 Shacklewell Lane, London, E8 2EB
7:30pm / £9
Map /
Sunderland's finest purveyors of pop, Frankie & The Heartstrings bring their infamous indie club night Pop Sex to the Shacklewell Arms, London on Friday 24th February. The band themselves will be performing a headline live set, and will be performing a selection of new songs mooted for their second album, they're in the process of writing. Also appearing live are much-discussed Leeds newcomers Hookworms who have recently performed with the likes of The Men and Peaking Lights. In addition, special guests The Vaccines will be manning the decks and keeping the party going after the live performances have finished.
The North East of England is seen as a particularly fertile breeding ground for a certain type of band: passionate, literate, pop-savvy groups of gentlemen hawking their well-dressed wares and spritely, arch guitar-driven pop music. Inevitably, there is always one band who rise to the top of their scene by virtue of being that bit better than the rest - a small but notable increment in quality that ensures excitement and longevity, and an ability to permeate the wider consciousness of the music world.
Frankie & The Heartstrings are a five-piece from Sunderland, Great Britain, a town noted for its down-at-heel introspection that more than occasionally veers into self-loathing. In a way it’s not surprising that it pushes up bands who, musically, seem the very opposite of that. Comprised of Frankie Francis (vocals), Michael McKnight (guitar), Mick Ross (guitars and keys), Steven Dennis (bass) and Dave Harper (drums), Frankie & The Heartstrings are a heart-racing, foot-stomping traditionally brilliant British guitar band.
www.frankieandtheheartstrings.com
Hookworms formed in late 2009 at a time when most of the group’s members were also playing together in a snappy punk group. The punk and garage background is important, because it has a lot to do with the energy that makes Hookworms so noticeable. The singer and keyboard player delivers his vocals like The Gun Club’s Jeffery Lee Pierce on Fire of Love - frantic and impassioned. The guitars colour in and around the lines, informed just as much by Flipper’s Ted Falconi as ‘Sister Ray’. Bass grooves lead the way, sage in their wisdom over which path to take. This is tidy stuff, a purposeful and fully conscious journey into the realms of Zoss. It’s also a journey taking place on increasingly large stages, where they’re just as confident at filling the sonic space as at the small venues where they started out.
All tickets for this show are now completely SOLD OUT
