It's finally ready to order &, boy, do they look lush!
Hanya's "Sea Shoes" EP, the first edition of our new C60 Club cassette series, is available to pre-order NOW.
Pumpkin orange cassette with recycled o-card, including liner note card printed on GF Smith archival paper, a die-cut vinyl sticker, digital download & exclusive track "Slice".
Hand-numbered & limited to only 25 copies.
Item to be shipped the week of 06/08/2020.
PRE-ORDER HERE
Following on from last week’s introduction, we are happy to announce the very first participants of our new C60 Club, the magnificent HANYA.
We’ve been big fans of the Brighton garage-gaze quartet for a long time (since the days as a two-piece!) & we could write paragraphs on their incredibly beautiful music, but we’ll let them introduce themselves in their own words:
“Named after the HANNYA mask traditionally worn in Noh theatre, Hanya was constructed by vocalist & guitarist Heather exploring the many faces of a female psyche; consequently enlisting her three closest friends to assemble the group. The result is a heady concoction of 90s-esque dream pop/shoegaze, swirling sunshine guitars, heavy energetic beats & thick-grooved basslines, all spiralling to a heavyweight of impressive growls vs. sweet nothings, inviting the listener into an encompassing headspace to explore the groups' introversions. There's a lot to be said for a group hailed by CLASH magazine as able to ‘create truly a mesmerising & unforgettable experience’.”
Hanya will be releasing “Sea Shoes”, their sophomore four-track EP, as part of our strictly-limited, cassette-only collection on August 06th.
Pre-order info will be announced shortly.
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A lot of us grew up not only collecting vinyl records, but collecting cassette tapes too.
The look & feel, the analogue warmth of the sound, making mixtapes - these were all big factors in those formative years of our music fandom.
With that, we are more than proud to introduce our new C60 Club, a bi-monthly, cassette-only series of releases from artists that we know, love & respect.
The tapes, made from recycled plastic where possible, will come with a fully-printed o-card (& extras) & will be strictly limited to a one-time-only 25 copies per release. No re-issues, no second editions.
Announcements regarding participating bands are imminent.
The COVID-19 crisis has changed everyday life as we know it.
With little sign of the madness slowing down, it’s more important than ever to stay positive & upbeat in the face of uncertainty.
We here at austerity records would like to provide the soundtrack to such an outlook.
Therefore, allow us to introduce “Stay Home”, our isolation playlist that is now available to stream on Spotify here. This playlist, made to be as uplifting & fun as possible, will hopefully introduce people to cracking tunes from emerging artists such as Peach Kelli Pop, The Stroppies & French Vanilla, as well as classics from the likes of The Flatmates, Underworld, Fugazi & The The.
Check the link, turn it up & please, STAY HOME.
We’re disappointed to announce that we have had to postpone the Kanadia Bank Holiday show at The Piper on the 8th May due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
The health & safety of our audiences will always be paramount to us &, although it was gutting to make, this decision was a no-brainer.
Ticket refunds are now being issued automatically through DICE & a re-arranged date with Kanadia, Zooni & HotWax will be announced in due course.
In the meantime, please be safe, look after one another & help flatten the Coronavirus curve.
We are delighted to welcome Kanadia to The Piper in St Leonards on May 8th for a very special Bank Holiday live show!
The Oxfordshire four-piece have been on our radar for a while now, & it’ll be a pleasure to bring their unique brand of alt-rock to a south coast audience for the first time.
Joining them & adding to the atmosphere will be AUS favourites Zooni & local psychedelia from HotWax (formerly known as The Kiffs).
It’s the start of a bank holiday weekend, so stay out late & discover your new favourite bands.
Tickets are available in advance HERE for the super-low price of only £6.00!
We believe that supporting, sharing & shining a light on new music is incredibly important.
With that in mind, we present our updated Spotify playlist for 2020, featuring a plethora of fresh & inspiring tunes from the likes of Hanya, Zooni, CIEL, Drug Store Romeos, Alice Boman, Peach Pyramid, Algiers & much more.
Have a listen (click icon below), let us know what you think of the artists & if you dig it, please buy their records or tickets to a show - the support goes a long way.
We’ve had an incredible time during our first-ever Independent Venue Week. On behalf of ourselves & our roster of bands we would like to send a heartfelt shout-out to Chris & his team at The Piper, Alice & co. at the Wedgewood Rooms, ABH Promotions, Hanya, Chris Tomsett at Innerstrings & our wonderful friends in Penelope Isles. A big thank you also goes to to everyone who came down & checked out the austerity x IVW bash in Hastings on Saturday night. What a party!
This past week has been a blast, & judging by the friendly & passionate characters we’ve had the pleasure of interacting with, we feel it’s safe to say that the future of the independent music scene is in good hands.
All of us here at austerity stand fully in support of everything that the Independent Venue Week initiative does for the grassroots music scene across the country.
With that in mind, we’d like to remind you about our first-ever IVW show taking place at The Piper in Hastings on February 1st! Headlined by the bedroom-pop brilliance of the one & only Penelope Isles & support coming from our very own dream-punks Winter Gardens & garage-gazers Hanya, this night is the definition of unmissable.
Advance tickets are available now for only £8 HERE.
Don’t miss your chance to support the future of your local independent venues, bands & promoters.
Has it really been a whole year since our very own Winter Gardens graced the REDS stage on that gloomy Saturday afternoon in Bognor back at Rockaway 2019? Absent from this year’s line-up but austerity were in attendance nonetheless.
This is now the fifth year this fantastic boutique festival has taken place &, as has been the case for the previous four years, the line-up for 2020 was an absolute belter. Day One (Friday) kicked off at 16:00 in REDS &, after a stress-free journey and a pain-free check-in at our lodgings, we found ourselves lost in the dreamy guitar-laden beauty of Indian Queens; the sisters O’Neil treating us to note-perfect harmonies drenched with layered guitars that sent us to a different relm. A truly special start the Rockaway weekend. The evening festivities took us to a busy Centre Stage where we were treated to the most amazing show from the swirling Cambridge seven-piece Black Country New Road. These guys & gals really are one of the most important new bands around today. Our Friday was completed by a spell-binding performance from Bridie Monds-Watson, better known as SOAK. Atmospheric & heart-rending, her effortless vocals - complemented by the most beautiful ‘gaze-drenched guitar - left me (and those close-by) absolutely speechless. A delectable set that was truly a highlight of the entire festival.
Day Two (Saturday) found us back at REDS for Scrounge. Admittedly, I had not heard a great deal of their material prior to the festival but left feeling far richer for discovering them, an electrifying post-punk band that I shall definitely be keeping an eye on. Early afternoon saw one of the most fun performances of the weekend, as AUS favourites & great friends Penelope Isles took to the stage. Their set, later described as “a bit rusty” by vocalist/guitarist Jack Wolter, was an absolute riot with bassist Lily even crowd-surfing her way through "Gnarbone" without missing a single note. If Jack had thought that not playing live since their sell-out show at Brighton's CHALK back in December had left the band a bit rusty, it was very quickly apparent that this was a view not shared by the packed crowd that watched them. Whilst handing out flyers for the AUS x Independent Venue Week x Penelope Isles show (tickets available HERE) after the set, there was nothing but praise for what I would say was the perfect way for the band to start a big year. I loved it! A scintillating performance by noise-pop trio The Sweet Release Of Death followed, & my afternoon was completed by an incredible show from Nova Twins. austerity’s very own SNAYX were lucky enough to support the young London act at The Hope & Ruin in Brighton a few months ago, and it was a pleasure to see them owning a main-support slot at one of the most up-&-coming festivals in the country. The duo, fusing equal parts punk & grime, put on a performance that has guaranteed some serious attention to come. Rest assured, these guys will be massive. Up next was alt-rock classics The Jesus & Mary Chain - the reason why back in January '19 I purchased an early-bird ticket to this year’s event prior to even leaving the site. As expected, they did not disappoint. The Creation legends pulled out one of the most electrifying sets I have ever witnessed (and I’ve seen a few) in their Centre Stage headline slot. Needless to say, that’s the way to finish a day of discovery & enlightenment.
The morning of Day Three (Sunday), after a suitably heavy Saturday night, found me bouncing around our chalet to the tunes of Irish boys Fonatines D.C in preparation for their festival-closing slot on the Centre Stage that evening. I could hardly contain my excitement for what was sure to be the crowning glory of Rockaway Beach 2020. However, we still had hours to fill & some fine acts ahead of us. The Vegan Leather thrilled us with their unique art/indie/pop, with their album "Poor Girls, Broken Boys" being taken to a new level being performed live. Following on from this was perhaps the most frenetic & energetic performance of the weekend. LIFE blew away any remaining hangovers, finishing on a version of "Popular Music" that saw lead-singer Mez being paraded around the crowd on a willing audience member’s shoulders. Stunning! The catchy, synth-driven pop tunes of International Teachers Of Pop completed our afternoon in REDS. A most-entertaining performance, I can now understand why Jim had these guys listed as his top live act of the year in the austerity review of 2019. A fantastic set by indie cult-heroes The Wedding Present - full of all the crowd-pleasers & a gratifying mix of old & new - drew us back to the main stage, & I can confirm that I will never tire of David Gedge’s jangly guitar chords & thick Yorkshire accent. I feel blessed to have witnessed one of the greats of the genre perform once again.
And thus, the end was upon us. It was finally time to experience Fontaines D.C. live for the first time. One of the most talked about bands of the last 12 months & an album of the year for many discerning people (including myself) in "Dogrel", it was so strikingly evident that these five lads from Dublin City know their craft. Beautiful, moody & utterly captivating, we left safe in the knowledge that we had just experienced something very, very special.
So, another year’s Rockaway Beach over & another success for what is fast becoming one of the most important weekends of the year. We departed with ideas of who we believe should be on the line-up for the festival’s return in 2021. Dare I finish on these three words: My Bloody Valentine?
Fingers crossed.
Garry.
THANK YOU!
Our sincere thanks & gratitude to each & everyone of you - those who have attended a show we have promoted, purchased vinyl or digital, streamed, viewed, taken photos, producers/engineers/promoters we have worked with & anyone who has shown interest with a follow or a like on the socials. We have been overwhelmed with the positive support we have received & feel incredibly accomplished within our first year as an independent record label.
We have made many new friends as well as discovering the many, many unique talents on our doorstep.
Next year will bring us even more, including the debut EP's from both Winter Gardens & SNAYX - both dusting the finishing touches as I type.
Here's to 2020!
All our Love,
Jim & Garry x
