STILL FLYIN' (Moshi Moshi)

Event information

STILL FLYIN’
The San Francisco-based supergroup Still Flyin' was assembled in late 2004 by singer/songwriter Sean Rawls. By the time he arrived on the West Coast he was already a veteran of various Athens, GA bands, including Masters of the Hemisphere and Je Suis France. After relocating to San Francisco, Rawls asked virtually everyone he knew in his new city to join his new project, and to everyone's surprise the first practice had fifteen people at it.
Whilst 2008 has seen East Coast bands plundering the sounds of Graceland appropriated afrobeat, Still Flyin's sound comes from somewhere entirely different. Theirs' is a sound that mixes the melodies and DIY aesthetic of West Coast indie-pop with the loose grooves of 1960s rocksteady and has converted even the most cynical of hipsters. Released on Moshi Moshi, debut single Good Thing It's a Ghost Town Around Here is like Quincy Jones producing The Lovin' Spoonful. A much needed shot in the arm of unabashed West Coast sunshine and joy. 
The flip-side Rope Burn is no less life affirming: the band's hybrid of rocksteady and indie comes together to create something new, like a Lee Perry inspired Flaming Lips.
What might have begun as a lighthearted nod to good times soon became a juggernaut that no one in the band expected, and before long the group had become a San Francisco phenomenon. The band's joyfully chaotic and infectious live shows have been more like huge parties, than traditional gigs as their own numbers have swelled and they've been joined on stage by the likes of Jens Lekman and various members of Architecture In Helsinki. The band’s debut record, Never Gonna Touch The Ground, is due to be released early 2009.

http://www.takeyourshoesoffyoudontneedtheminthesky.com
http://www.myspace.com/stillflyin

THE GRAVE ARCHITECTS
Born with a broken heart The Grave Architects have picked themselves up, dusted themselves down and written their way to the top, garnering praise from the NME, plays on Radio Nottingham and a mention on the local council website along the way. Since forming in 2005 The Grave Architects are now seasoned hands at the pulling heart strings out, stretching them once around the funny bone and plucking them to the wet crash of tiny tears. Think a hopped-up Jonathan Richman, or maybe the kookier elements of Pavement or Pulp with a dash of Ween and The Moldy Peaches. A bit folk, a bit country, a bit indiepop, the Grave Architects make fun pop. A double A-sided single featuring Highway be True and Love TBC is due out on 7" single on Fortuna POP! in the new year with an album to follow.
“Meet the Coen Brothers of rock – off the wall, touching and very, very funny… From Johnny Cash-esque country jangles to strangely credible old-school raps, whatever genre the Architects dabble in, entertainment remains the blueprint." (New Noise)

http://www.myspace.com/thegravearchitects

BRONTOSAURUS CHORUS
How can you not adore a group called Brontosaurus Chorus? Featuring Pop-Art mastermind Scooby Dom, t'Chorus have a host of instantly lovable songs - traces of B&S, Hidden Cameras, the runaway day-glo pop of Tullycraft, and the sense that here's a band that knows how to leave you smiling. Appearances at IrelandÂ’s Electric Picnic festival and a trip to Berlin were followed by a debut single, and theyÂ’re hard at work on an album for release in March.
“London's Brontosaurus Chorus are purveyors of Technicolor dream pop. They come off not unlike a less mental Los Campesinos jumping around with Arcade Fire's bubblegum pop playing cousins in a parallel universe..." God Is In The TV Zine

http://www.myspace.com/brontosauruschorus