22/11/2004

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been rushed off my feet orgainsing the Damn You! Know It's Christmas festival in Nottingham. It will be a right chuckle, I'm sure. Quick Gringo news - the Soeza album is almost complete, as is the Wolves! (of Greece) 7". Lords will start recording their album sometime soon. Polaris are polishing off the vocals for their record. We're very very happy to be working with The Unit Ama with a view to releasing an album early next year. A new Singles Club 7" will be with subscribers by Christmas.

Watch out for Wolves! (of Greece) articles in upcoming issues of the excellent Artrocker and Loose Lips Sink Ships magazines.

01/10/2004

CLAMBAKE!!! The Bros' Barker have been booked in for a live session on Resonance FM for Friday 5 November. Joe Cushley, thepresenter of the excellent 'Balling the Jack Show' has very kindly offered the Bake a live session on the show. The show starts at 3pm (pre-watershed!) and Clambake will be on for about 15 minutes. You can listen in at work at www.resonancefm.com. Clambake also have shows booked with Bob Log III and will finally be appearing at the legendary Dirty Water Club in London on Friday October 8th.

16/09/2004

Fear and Loathing in Sneinton... much has been happening. I'm excited about tomorrow night, Smog and Joanna Newsom, what promises to be gig of the year. Then on Saturday I get to go to Newcastle for the incomparable 9x9 festival. It is weekends like this that fill me with joy and I can hardly wait to see the horses of Northumberland.

And what of Gringo? Much is happening. Three Gringo bands have reawakened from a slumber. Heck, we even thought one of them was dead. San Lorenzo are planning on playing together again. And not before time, I might add! Eska and Empire-Builder are also on the breadcrumb comeback trail. Eska are even playing a gig in Glasgow. Empire-Builder have gone one better, they're going to be releasing a record. We have the track for their half of the fifth Gringo Singles Club 7", which they will share with Olympia's Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! This little beauty will be sent off for manufacture in a matter of days. I'm so fucking excited to hear a Scottish twang on a Gringo release again! Really, it has been too long.

Also up on the Gringo chopping block will be seven inches of pleasure from thee mighty Nottingham types Wolves! (of Greece) and Clambake. Recorded tracks are in the bag and it is just a matter of mastering and artwork polishing then they go off to that magical place. I'm not quite sure if I'm meant to be telling anyone, but Gringo is supposed to be doing an album by Lords. Two Wolves and a Twinkie making party rock and roll with a hint of Beard and Beef. Provisional title "This Ain't A Hate Thing, It's a Love Thing".

Soeza have a title for their album, drum roll, "Why Do You Do?". I'm itching to have this one in my paws. Not long now. I'm not sure what Polaris are up to, other than performing at something called Troutfest and getting their guitar amps covered in water when the tarpaulin they were playing under gave way due to torrential rain. Designer Babies may be touring with The Apes in November. Seachange just went down a storm in Germany and might be off to Japan. Kill Yourself are rocking in a European cultural centre near you as I type.

Gringo would like to bid a fond farewell to Hirameka Hi-Fi. Four fine upstanding young men who gave me immense pleasure. Like a well scripted novel, they finished off where they started, in front of a home crowd at Colchester Arts Centre.

We've updated the Gringo Distro with sugary treats from Lightning Bolt, Hella, !!!, Red Monkey, Erase Errata and the usual suspects.

Gringo fans in the US of A!! you can get most Gringo releases from these fine establishments - Tonevendor, Insound and Stickfigure. If you are just after the Wolves! (of Greece) 10" you can also try Revelation, Level Plane and Ebullition.

Gringo out.

19/08/2004

European tour dates added for Seachange and Kill Yourself. Lots of other news and updates coming soon!!!

11/06/2004

Seachange are going on tour with Mission of Burma around the UK and Ireland. Thats when I reached for my tour dates...

09/06/2004

Summer is here! I am in Sacramento so it is officially hot. My nose got burned and turned scabby. Hella attractive.

There are a bunch of great festivals / all dayers happening around the UK this summer, a chance to dust down the glad rags and go visit another city. Have a look at our features page for Gringo recommendations.

We're slowly adding new things to the website. The promotions page has been updated and is now easier to rid. More info is being put up on the band pages to, with links to reviews for Wolves! (of Greece), Bilge Pump, Kill Yourself and Designer Babies.

Looks like Gringo will be releasing the second album by Bristol's Soeza. They have been a favourite of ours for a long while. Polaris is also still to come.

19/04/2004

thunder! thunder! thunder! now have a website. Go over there and listen to some mp3s.

New tour dates added for Soeza, Kill Yourself and That Fucking Tank.

15/04/2004

I am about to move to Sacramento for 10 weeks. I will be back at the start of July. In the meantime my trusty housemate will be looking after Gringo mailorder operations so please continue to spend your hard earned money.

Designer Babies 7" is available in our shop now!

We only have a few copies left of the Wolves! (of Greece) 10". We are at the moment looking into a repress.

Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! are finishing up their first e.p. which Vern Rumsey recorded for free (because he is a saint) in his own house. They are set to tour late June all over the american west coast and record a full length mid-summer when they get back. Here's hoping I get to see them in Sactown.

Polaris are just finishing off their album for Gringo, recording vocals and neatening it up. No gigs on the horizon unfortunately but they planning a UK tour in the summer when the album should be out.

Neil from Bilge Pump is no longer suffering from deep vein thrombosis and following a negative result after a thrombophilia screen no longer has to take Warfarin and he is feeling much better, thankyou. Bilge have been busy writing new songs. None of which have been played live yet. I'm trying to book them a Us tour for the autumn.

Last but not least... the relentless touring noise machine of Kill Yourself is currently contradicting this statement by taking some well-earned time to write material for their debut album. Since the release of their acclaimed 'Soft Touch of Man' E.P, the three intrepid performers have disturbed and dazzled audiences on two European Voyages and three U.K tours. But the hard work is paying of for these lads as their new material is certainly their best work to date; a noisy rock template is still their basis but the forthcoming album features a much more harrowing vocal assault through a gas-mask. A sample of Kill Yourself's developing sound can be heard on their latest split 7" (w/This Ain't Vegas) on Jealous Records where they cover the Devo song 'Too Much Paranoias.' Right now, Kill Yourself have finished 4 songs for an album which will be completed this Easter. In May the band will play a few shows on Chinese Stars' UK tour, and a two week European Tour is set for September which will see the band visit Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Croatia. James and Andrew from the bands rhythm section will be releasing an EP (on Jealous Records) shortly under the guise That Fucking Tank. They will be keeping their hand in by touring Ireland and Spain in May and June respectively. Phew.

No one else gave me any news.

19/03/2004

Hella European tour dates are now up!

16/03/2004

Wolves! (of Greece) records are here!! Hurry up and get them, I think we are going to run out fast. You can pay via paypal through our online shop or send us a cheque. You can listen to an MP3 of the first track here. Wolves! have upcoming gigs with Lightning Bolt, Mogwai and Part Chimp. John Peel has already been playing tracks from the 10".

The Designer Babies 7" should also be with us in a few weeks.

Seachange are currently in the USA playing at South By Southwest. They are returning in April to tour with Guided By Voices. Their album, Lay of the Land', is out now on Matador. The artwork features some gringoboss photography.

Kill Yourself have a split 7" with This Ain't Vegas out on Jealous Records very soon. Both bands perform Devo covers.

Hella are coming over to the UK for two dates next week!!!! This is madness, and I'll miss them, they should do a proper tour.

We've changed host for the website which means we have a lot more space for interesting content. All the band MP3s are back online after an enforced exile. We're going to try and get a Bilge Pump music video and possibly some Wolves! (of Greece) live footage available for download soon.

As promised a Damn You! website is now here. At the moment it only features information on our gig promotion activity. There is a nice list of every gig we've put on and I'll be adding posters, photos and anecdotes in the coming weeks.

Owen Tromans of San Lorenzo has just released his third solo album on Bearos Records. Chris Mack from Eska has been touring with his excellent other band, Maxton Grainger.

10/02/2004

Yikes, I'm late again with news. We finally have test pressings back for the Wolves! (of Greece) 10". I'm hoping that withina couple of weeks this will be done and dusted. Wolves have upcoming shows with Lightning Bolt and Oneida!

The latest two instalments of the Gringo Records Singles Club are back from the pressing plant and we just have to screen print the sleeves. Subscribers can expect these by the end of the month or I'm a monkey's uncle.

The next release after Wolves will be a 7" by Designer Babies entitled 'Baghdad Boogie'. This is getting sent off very soon and is beauty.

I'll remember more tomorrow...