New Hatcham Social EP

From today, those in London have the chance to be one of only 100 people to own the new Hatcham Social EP, 'Sidewalk'. Each of the limited 10" vinyl copies has different hand-drawn artwork by a fan, a member of the band, or an associate (including members of Electricity In Our Homes and The Horrors); as well as the brooding, shoegazing title track, the EP also features a remix of 'Hypnotised Terrible Eyes', the terrific 'Wild Creatures', the band's lo-fi version of The Beach Boys' 'Surfin' Safari', and a demo of a song called 'King Kong'. (The downloadable version also features a remix of 'Sidewalk' by Tom Furse of The Horrors.) This will sell out quickly; move along to Rough Trade to grab one.

1234 Shoreditch Festival - 26th July 2009

Last summer was a fairly good one, but what it lacked was a whole day in a park in Hoxton experiencing the sound and vision of the foremost pioneers of the London music scene. Luckily, the 1234 Shoreditch Festival returns to Shoreditch Park on 26th July this year to set this right. This year the numbers will be down (about 20,000 people are reported to have turned up in 2007) and the price will be up, but the £15 ticket price is well worth it for the extensive range of music across three stages between noon and 9pm, as well as access to ten aftershow parties in the area.

So, to cut a long story short, the artists already announced include Ulterior, Ipso Facto, KASMs, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, Hatcham Social, Factory Floor, S.C.U.M, Wild Palms, Project:KOMAKINO, Advert, O Children, V.E.G.A.S Whores, Relics, Silhouette, Sunderbans, and CC-SB, as well as New York noise titans A Place To Bury Strangers - and more to be announced. Rumours are rife about the headline slots, but we've heard only good things... all details here. This is one to get excited about.

Full lineup so far...
BANDS STAGE:
ADVERT // A GRAVE WITH NO NAME // AN EXPERIMENT ON A BIRD IN THE AIR PUMP // A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS // BANJO OR FREAKOUT // CC-SB // CHROME HOOF // FACTORY FLOOR // FLASHGUNS // HATCHAM SOCIAL // IPSO FACTO // KASMS // LION CLUB // O CHILDREN // POLLY SCATTERGOOD // PROJECT:KOMAKINO // RELICS // S.C.U.M // SILHOUETTE // SLOPPY SECONDS // SUNDERBANS // TELEVISED CRIMEWAVE // VEGAS WHORES // THE WARLOCKS // WILD PALMS // ULTERIOR // VIDEO NASTIES
ELECTRONIC STAGE:
**K // AUTOKRATZ // BOY CRISIS // DEATH TO THE KING // JOE & WILL ASK // KOOL KIDS KLUB // KRAZY BALDHEAD (ED BANGER) // LUNG ROTTER & SEVEN // MODEL FOR MEMORY // MICRON 63 // THE LOVELY JONJO

Hatcham Social new single.

The next single from Hatcham Social will be 'Crocodile', the first track from their debut album You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil. It's due out on June 1st and will have a new song called 'Dissected' as its b-side.

New Hatcham single.

Monday 9th March: Hatcham Social release their next single, the wonderful 'Murder in the Dark' (watch the video here) on download and limited 7". The b-side is called 'Mimicry', and both were recorded with Tim Burgess.

New Hatcham Social visuals.

Two new eye-ticklers from Hatcham Social, both bearing the hallmark of long-time Hatcham associate Nicola Probert. One: the video for their next single, Murder in the Dark, which is out on Fierce Panda on March 9th.

Two: the album artwork for their upcoming LP You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil, also on Fierce Panda and due, apparently, on March 16th.

As a footnote, it seems that live keyboard/guitarist Jerome Watson (formerly of Bono Must Die) has become a full member of the band just in time for the album release.

Hatcham Social single & album dates.

To confirm the worst-kept secret in London: Hatcham Social will release their next single 'Murder in the Dark' on March 2nd, a week before their debut album You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil hits the shelves. Both are on the Fierce Panda label, and highly anticipated.

REVIEW. Hatcham Social, 8.1.09

The first London outing for Hatcham Social since October 2008 saw the indie pop trio take to the underground stage of the Borderline, off the Charing Cross Road, to perform their forthcoming album You Dig The Tunnel, I’ll Hide The Soil as part of the Fierce Panda ‘Pandamonium’ series. Proceedings began with some formidable support slots from Sunderbans – scuffling uplifting indie, vigorously delivered – and KASMs – showcasing some new material, updating the old, and finishing with a hauntingly subdued bass and vocal coda – but for the waiting crowd, a dose of Hatcham’s unique style was what was necessary, and what was duly delivered.

With an extra pair of hands by the name of Jerome Watson assisting on keyboards and guitar (but not at the same time), the band played their first chord fifteen minutes late and then immersed us totally in their world for just over half an hour. I don’t know if the whole album did get played, but if what was heard is what’s released, it’s certainly, to understate it, an achievement. Veering track by track from dreamily melodic to purposeful and aggressive, and reaching everywhere in between on the way, the melancholy keyboards offset Toby Kidd’s spiky guitar to bring in a hint of shoegazing texture, and Dave Fineberg keeps the whole thing grounded in post-punk roots with a series of intricate but solid bass parts.

No tracks are introduced, but details stand out to mark the new ones: here’s a chorus of ‘I’ll hide under the pillow’; here’s a perfect marriage of New Order keys with Orange Juice vocals; here’s Toby (replete with moustache and kiss-curl) muttering ‘tick tock’ to introduce a return to a sharper sound. Last year’s single ‘So So Happy Making’ gets thrown into the mixture mid-set. If it’s an albatross – there’s a certain sense that Hatcham would rather be playing newer material, and Toby abandons the microphone halfway through the second chorus – it’s a golden one, which any band would kill to have hanging around their necks: the chord changes, the harmonies, and the instrumentation (listen to the keys chime around the guitar!) are still sheer pop genius, and the title is as relevant as ever.

As if to prove that the band have got more, though, Finn Kidd launches into a breakneck rhythm as soon as the last chords have died, and a shredding guitar weaves in and out of a breathless ‘what’s mine is mine’ chorus – a confrontational follow-up to the obligatory hit single. The set takes a turn for the darker from there on in: ‘Jabberwocky’ broods and threatens, and Lewis Carroll’s nonsense rhymes and a maniacal laugh get wrapped rhythmically around the instrumental to make the recitation more nightmare than dream. ‘In My Opinion’ adopts a similar intensity, with Toby Kidd staring menacingly across the audience while Dave Fineberg wrestles the bassline into submission, and, at the conclusion of ‘Give Me The Gift’ - already a standout track with its intimately epic builds and peaks – there’s a muttered thanks and the indie pop crusaders disappear, leaving the audience bewitched, bothered, and bewildered, but certainly not begrudging the entrance fee – a paltry six pounds for the first truly great concert of the year.

* * *

You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil is out on 9th March on Fierce Panda.

Hatcham gig on Thursday: album to be performed in full.

Hatcham Social are playing London's Borderline this Thursday (8th), and have promised to perform their forthcoming LP You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil (out on 9th March or thereabouts) in full. It's Hatcham's first London gig since October, support is from KASMs and Sunderbans, and the age limit is 14+, so it's a must go for younger fans as well. Tickets are available here.

Happy New Year to everyone who read TNT in 2008, and wishing you a prosperous 2009.

Hatcham Social covers EP.

Hatcham Social are due to release Party, a download-only EP of cover versions, some time in the next couple of weeks as a final release before they put out their next single and album (due in the first two weeks of March). The EP features covers of songs by Shocking Blue (via Nirvana), The Jesus and Mary Chain, Lou Reed, The Beach Boys, and Pavement, and will be available from the Hatcham Social forum A Clearing In The Woods on December 8th, along with accompanying artwork designed by the band which can be folded into a CD booklet.

Hatcham Social album.;

News on Hatcham Social's debut album: it's been recorded and mastered, it's called You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil, it's produced by Tim Burgess and Jim Spencer, it'll be released in February or March 2009, and there'll be a single out before the end of the year. The band are also set to play the South By South West festival in Texas next year as part of a wider American tour, possibly taking in the Coachella festival. Good news all round. Also, keep your eyes on their MySpace for a new track in the next week or so...

Hatcham Social free track & update;

Stirrings from the Island of Doctor Moreau, where Hatcham Social are reputedly preparing to record their debut album. An official announcement is imminent, but we hear that recording will start within the month, with Tim Burgess of The Charlatans producing, and that there'll be a new single announcement soon.

A taste of things to come is offered in the form of the new track 'Superman', available now as a free download from the A Clearing In The Woods forum. A synth line (a Hatcham first as far as we know) lends it a certain shoegazing air, but it's still got the barrel of delicate pop melodies and fitful rhythm section from earlier singles, and it's definitely worth the trouble of signing up to the forum. Also on offer are early ticket releases, more free downloads, and frequent updates on the band's activity, so sign up now and brighten up your day.

Hatcham Social..::..NEW SINGLE

Hatcham Social have announced preliminary details of their next single. The follow-up to the hugely successful 'So So Happy Making' has already been recorded with Faris Badwan and Andy Savours sharing the producer's chair, and the B-side is reputed to be a Beach Boys cover. More information on the upcoming single will appear here as soon as it reaches our ears, but in the interim you can have a butcher's at the brand new Hatcham Social forum, A Clearing In The Woods, and catch the band live as they support The Charlatans on their British tour next month, with Electricity In Our Homes and Ipso Facto also playing one support date each.

Hatcham Social;; NEW SINGLE//

Hatcham Social are busy. Only last week they posted a new track to their MySpace, an accompanied reading of selections from Lewis Carroll's poem 'The Jabberwocky'. Now they have announced the release of a new single on 18th February on Loog Records (home of The Horrors). The track, entitled 'So So Happy Making', is another typical Hatcham song: post-punk indie-pop, with influence from Josef K and The Smiths. It's produced by Faris Badwan, it's very good, and you can listen to it here right now. (The b-side of the single will be classic Hatcham track 'Berlin'.)