Get In Her Ears Live @ Shacklewell Arms w/ A Void, 13.04.2023

On Thursday, we were back at Shacklewell Arms with a truly immense line-up! Huge massive thanks to headliners A Void, as well as Collars and Banshi for being amazing! Thanks too to Sofia on sound, and to everyone who came down to support the bands, dance the night away, and help us raise £100 for Rainbow Migration, who do vital work to support LGBTQI+ folk seeking asylum.

Kicking the night off, Cardiff band Banshi treat us to their swirling rock anthems, each delivered with a unique sparkling energy as front person Yasmin’s incredible vocals soar alongside catchy funk-fuelled hooks.

Next up, Cambridgeshire duo Collars offer an utterly unique live experience. As Kane simultaneously pummels the drums whilst blasting out whirring hooks on guitar, Dan exudes a captivating charisma as the soaring power of their vocals fills the venue with a fierce, dazzling energy.

Headliners A Void fill the venue with their immense, grunge-fuelled anthems. Oozing a frenzied visceral energy, they treat the bouncing crowd to 45 minutes of wonderfully raging offerings as Camille Alexander’s raw, sultry vocals blast out with a captivating allure.


Massive thanks to the three amazing bands who played for us on Thursday and to everyone who came out to support them and us! We’ll be back at Shacklewell Arms on 19th May with Brighton band Hypsoline, plus support from The Ethical Debating Society and Rom Coms – nab tickets here!

Words: Mari Lane / @marimindles
Photos: Jon Mo / @jonmophoto

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Get In Her Ears Live @ Shacklewell Arms w/ Me Rex, 10.02.2023

For our first gig of 2023, we were lucky enough to host a beautiful sold out night at The Shacklewell Arms, filled with the best music, best people and best vibes. Huge massive thanks to headliners Me Rex, as well as Dream Phone and Jen Denitto for being amazing! Thanks too to Sofia on sound, and to everyone who came down to support the bands, dance the night away, and help us raise £200 for vital organisation, Gendered Intelligence.

See below for some fantastic photos of the night, courtesy of our photographer Jon Mo…

Kicking off the night, London DIY legend Jen Denitto and her band deliver a career-spanning range of scuzzy indie-pop offerings. Covering themes from narcissists to the power of friendship, it’s a wonderfully uplifting set, oozing a unifying sense of joy throughout the crowd.

Next up, Oxford duo Dream Phone (aka my new favourite band) take to the stage. An utterly unique experience, their set offers voice augmentation and synth-driven glitch-pop soundscapes, all fuelled by Jen and Hannah’s sparkling charisma and vibrant energy. With the set lasting just under 20 minutes, every single second is a truly entertaining spectacle (a highlight being a swirling rendition of Papa Roach’s ‘Last Resort’), and I cannot wait to see and hear more from this exciting duo.

Headliners Me Rex take to the stage amidst a sea of adoring fans, treating them to 45 blissful minutes of indie-pop goodness. Oozing a swirling emotion alongside jangling melodies and luscious harmonies, each and every song flows with the band’s stirring lyricism, glistening musicality and impassioned energy; and I can’t help but lose myself in the rich, soothing catharsis that ripples throughout. Having been a mega fan of Me Rex for a few years now, it really is an honour to have them play for us – an experience that exceeded all expectations.

Huge thanks again to the three INCREDIBLE bands who played for us on Friday – what a dream of a night! Next up, we’re at Sebright Arms on 31st March for Gold Baby’s single launch, with support from The Other Ones and Argonaut – nab tickets here!

Words: Mari Lane / @marimindles
Photos: Jon Mo / @jonmophoto

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WATCH: Emily Magpie – ‘Hotline Bling’

Having been supported by the likes of Tom Robinson on BBC 6Music and supported bands such as This Is The Kit and Let’s Eat Grandma, Bristol based Emily Magpie has been charming us with her whimsical dream-pop soundscapes for some time now, with her latest single ‘Last Train‘ receiving over 90,000 plays on Spotify. Now, with funding from Help Musicians, she is set to release a new EP this Spring.

Ahead of the EP’s release, Magpie has shared a brand new live video – her own rendition of ‘Hotline Bling‘, a unique fusion between Drake and Tame Impala. Oozing her crystalline, celestial tones and majestic ethereal splendour, she adds her own shimmering grace to the original. Flowing with a soaring, twinkling allure and soulful energy, it offers a beautifully uplifting interlude; a blissful, sunny respite to these cold February days.

Of her decision to record the track, Magpie explains:

“I’d come across an Erykah Badu cover of ‘Hotline Bling’ and it felt like such a different vibe to the original which got me thinking, I love covers that are unexpected or flip the original song. I feel like there’s a darkness and sadness to the track and lyrics – this jealous ex who’s being a bit desperate and unreasonable, but the song itself sounds like this catchy pop-bop. So we joked we should make a doom-pop cover of it and started jamming it and totally loved it, then found it could slide into Tame Impala and that was that. People always love it when we play it as a surprise at live shows.“

Watch the charming new video here:

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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New Track: Alien Chicks – ‘Cowboy’

A riotous fever dream of a song, ‘Cowboy‘ by GIHE faves (and ‘Ones To Watch‘ for 2023) Alien Chicks has themes of regret, confusion and self blame holding up its foundations. The track has a surreal feel to it that echoes the way these feelings surface in the subconscious; amorphous and jarring.

The song begins with a mellow vibe. Soft, low vocals float over music that complements them, but it’s already moving at a fast pace. The beat is quick, with a sense of tension coiled within it that hints at what awaits as the song ramps up to the chorus. The repeated “I am nervous” gets neither louder nor faster, but you can feel that tension growing within it – subtly but still noticeable, until it crashes into the discordant clash of the chorus.

The structure echoes the feelings that the song captures – regret and blame and self-doubt often creep up on you. The way they fester under the surface until it feels like they’ve been triggered by the most insignificant of misfortunes – a cut lip becoming the final broken straw that allows a broiling and chaotic eruption of emotions to burst through. The lyrics are chaotic; they take you on a bizarre journey that sucks you into the weirdness of it until, seemingly spontaneously, it makes its own unique sense. It captures that dreamlike feeling of reality being visible but not quite within reach. 

The juxtaposition of the gentler verses, versus the hectic instrumental clashes in the chorus, throws you around. The theme of intense confusion is as much baked into the tortuous lyrics as they are the cacophonous sounds.

‘Cowboy’ ends abruptly, jolting you sharply out of the journey it’s on and back to reality. It feels like you’ve lurched out of its dream, left alone to recalibrate with just threads and whispers left behind. Throughout the track, you can feel the way that a wide variety of different genres have influenced Alien Chicks’ music style; they’ve been combined in ways that jar, but with obvious intention. It’s a carefully constructed and instantly immersive song that knows exactly how it wants you to feel and nails it. A perfect example of the relentless funk-fuelled punk-rock that this unique South London trio are able to create.

‘Cowboy’ is out now via Slow Dance Records. Make sure you catch Alien Chicks live sometime soon – it’s an incredible experience! Details on their UK April tour below, and tickets for their Lexington headline show on 19th April here.

Kirstie Summers / @ActuallyKurt
Photo Credit: Lauren Cremer

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