Clocking in at a lean 38 minutes, Flash Fiktion's self-titled debut album featured 11 polished nuggets of mutant pop, glam-punk stomps, sunny electro-pop and peculiar hybrids. Catch them in Norwich. Plus: Port Isla, The School and Razorlight.
FLASH FIKTION
Open, June 8
Clocking in at a lean 38 minutes, Flash Fiktion's self-titled debut album featured 11 polished nuggets of mutant pop, glam-punk stomps, sunny electro-pop and peculiar hybrids that melted together twinkling psychedelia and tropical rhythms.
The album was the result of two years work by Matt (vocals, guitar, keyboard, samplers), Ollie (vocals, guitar) and Dan (drums, percussion). 'It's a long time to work on something,' admits Matt. 'But it was essential that we spent a while really sculpting it.'
It's certainly not the sort of record you would expect to come from humdrum South London. Flash Fiktion was born from the songwriting partnership of Matt and Ollie but just as big an in?uence is Dan's limber, ?uid drumming coupled with his Latin and Afro-Cuban in?uences. 'I grew up right by the Mediterranean and Latin music was a huge in?uence,' says the drummer. 'Sometimes modern studio tools suck the life out of the music. Cuban music has been around for hundreds of years and remains the most danceable music on the planet.'
For all their talk of Latin beats, the trio are in essence a psychedelic indie-electro act, whose riotous music nods to Klaxons, early Blur, Adam Ant and Simian Mobile Disco.
t Further listening: www.flashfiktion.co.uk
PORT ISLA
Bicycle Shop, June 13
Recently crowned Rocket From The East winners Port Isla make their debut at the Bicycle Shop. Expect classic Laurel Canyon style influenced song-writing mixed up with the kind of soaring harmonies Fleet Foxes would be proud of.
The alt-folk foursome were crowned winners of the inaugural Rocket From The East band competition after beating off the likes of Hemingway, Darwin & The Dinosaur, Cathedrals & Cars, King Laconic, Turning Days and We Can't Dance.
The competition prize meant they were on the bill at last weekend's Playfest, but here they return to a more intimate setting which arguably better suits their baroque-pop and folky sound, which takes in influences ranging from The Beatles to Fleet Foxes, with a little bit of Coldplay thrown in along the way.
Special guests on the evening — making rare, but very welcome solo appearances — will be Rory Hill, better known as one of The Kabeedies, and Graham Horne, a member of The Barlights.
t Further listening: www.soundcloud.com/port-isla
THE SCHOOL
Waterfront, June 13
With heavy influences of 1960 girl pop and the modern indie-pop sounds of Camera Obscura and Belle & Sebastian, Cardiff pop band The School call into the Studio at the Waterfront.
They arrive promoting their second album – Reading Too Much Into Things Like Everything, which has just been released through Madrid's lauded Elefant Records.
It's the follow-up to debut set Loveless Unbeliever which made more than 70 'Best of 2010' lists and was 6 Music's Album of the Day.
Made up of eight members, the outfit is fronted by charming Liz from the also very charming bubblegum psychedelic popsters The Loves.
The School's style is a Brit version of sunshine pop. Sophisticated, happy songs, with a little melancholy thrown in them, inspired by The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Phil Spector and girl bands from the 60s.
The new album has been produced by Dave Wrench who has previously worked with British Sea Power, Bat For Lashes and Norfolk's own Beth Orton. The new songs move from pop dreaminess to tracks with little snips of bitterness and melancholic goodbyes.
If you are young, The School can teach you a thing or two about perky summer pop. If you are older, you'll wallow in nostalgic, but timeless sounds.
t Further listening: www.theschoolband.co.uk
RAZORLIGHT
Thetford Forest, June 14
One of the key guitar bands of the past decade, Razorlight has shifted over four million albums, sold out arena tours, headlined numerous festivals and appeared on the cover of magazines from NME to Vogue.
Currently working on their fourth album, they find time to slip away from the studio to headline the first of this summer's gigs in Thetford Forest.
The band's previous three albums, Up All Night, Razorlight and Slipway Fires, generated a string of hits like Golden Touch, Rip It Up, Somewhere Else, In The Morning, Wire to Wire and the super-catchy chart-topper America.
This date amid the Thetford trees is among a number of outdoors shows the band are doing over the summer before return to the confines of the studio to complete the album. Expect to hear some new material among the more familiar hits.
Frontman Johnny Borrell said: 'We are very pleased to be doing a gig in Thetford Forest. We like the ethos behind these shows and it will be great to perform our hits alongside new material.'
t Further listening: www.razorlight.co.uk
SOUNDS IN THE CITY
JUNE 8
Flash Fiktion (electro/punk/pop) — Open
Norwich Blues Explosion: feat. Dove & Boweevil + more (blues/folk) — Arts Centre
Guns 2 Roses + Metallica Reloaded (metal/tribute) — Waterfront
Mike Hall — Classic Clapton (rock/tribute) — Maddermarket
Aftershock (pop/rock) — Brickmakers
Electricity (blues/rock'n'roll) — Brewery Tap
Foundation Sound (reggae/dub) — Kartel
King Dinosaur (rockabilly) — Walnut Tree Shades
Punk Is Not A Crime: feat. The Devil Wrays + more (punk festival)— King Edward VII
The Planks (soul) — The Leopard
Wypeout (50s/60s) — Royal Oak
No Secrets (pop) — Silver Road Cottage
Music House: feat. Babelfish Quartet + more (acoustic) — Wensum Lodge
Norwich Folk Club — Christ Church Centre
Bluegrass Forum (roots) — Murderers
Doozoot (pop/rock) — Lakenham Cock
Mark Anthony — Perseverance
JUNE 9
Gilles Peterson + more (world/jazz/dance) — Open
Luis Lema Latinissimo! (Latin) — Arts Centre
Artificial 2: feat. Bispatial + more (electronic) — Epic
Total Stone Roses + Oaysis (tribute) — Waterfront
Punk Is Not A Crime: feat. Overload + many more (punk festival from 12pm) — King Edward VII
Worlds Apart (rock) — Brickmakers
Low Volume Eclectiff (1pm-4pm) — Arts Centre Caf�
Johnny Jump Band (blues/country) — Golden Star
Lee Vann — Old Catton Maids Head
Trex (rock 'n'roll) — Arkwrights
Wreck Age (rock) — Steam Packet
A13 All Stars (acoustic) — Micawbers Tavern
Vikki H — Angel Gardens
Alan Ley — Bread & Cheese
Tony Cann — Heath House
John Grahams — Keir Hardie Hall
Barrys White — Quebec Tavern
Tom Baxter — Sprowston Social Club
JUNE 10
Skinny Lister (folk/indie) — Waterfront Studio
Dumfoundus (acoustic/pop/2.30pm) — Brewery Tap
One Night of Queen (rock/tribute) — Theatre Royal
Egypt (blues/rock) — King Edward VII
Lee Vasey Big Band (12pm) — Brickmakers
Time Travellers: feat. Julie Dee (60s-80s) — Arkwrights
The AJ Experience — Lakenham Cock
JUNE 11
Brickie Session (open mic) — Brickmakers
Jazz Jam — B2
Jazz Jam: feat. Rich Buddie — Walnut Tree Shades
JUNE 12
Brickie Blues Club: feat. The Jimmy Roe Trio (blues) — Brickmakers
Gabrielle Ducombie + Simon Brown Trio (jazz) — Rackheath Green Man
Live & Direct (acoustic) — Rumsey Wells
Johnny Jump Band (blues/country) — Friends Meeting House
JUNE 13
The School (indie/pop) — Waterfront
Port Isla + Rory Hill & Graham Horne (acoustic) — Bicycle Shop
Little Red Kings + Dusty Soup (indie/rock) — B2
Lee Vasey & Friends — Trowel & Hammer
Pure Acoustic (open mic) — Brickmakers
JUNE 14
Razorlight (rock) — Thetford Forest
Mor Karbasi (world/pop) — Arts Centre
Bad Manners (ska) — Waterfront
James Toseland + more (acoustic/indie) — Epic
Dog Days of Summer (bluegrass/folk) — Rumsey Wells
Freeload (rock/pop) — Brickmakers
Blues Situation (blues) — Walnut Tree Shades
Soothsayer Promo (metal/rock) — B2
Johnny Jump Band (blues/country) — Micawbers Tavern
Midnight Blue — Rose Tavern
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