Helen Love, The Wave Pictures and The Lovely Eggs are among 26 bands who have been added to the line-up for Indietracks, an indiepop festival held on July 26-28 at a picturesque 1950s steam railway in Derbyshire.
Also joining the bill are Haiku Salut, Monnone Alone, Alpaca Sport (Sweden), Anaesthetics, Big Wave, The Brilliant Corners, Cars Can Be Blue (USA), EXPENSIVE, The Fenestration, Finnmark!, Jupiter in Jars, Lardpony, Making Marks (Norway), The McTells, The Middle Ones, The Mini Skips, Northern Spies (Sweden), Pale Spectres (France), Seabirds, The Soulboy Collective (Germany), Tunabunny (USA), Without Feathers and Woog Riots (Germany).
More than 50 bands are due to play the festival, held at the Midland Steam Railway, including Camera Obscura, The Pastels, Bis and Still Corners.
Helen Love’s bubblegum pop band formed in Wales in 1992, and have a cult following in indie circles with songs including “Long Live The UK Music Scene”, “Shifty Disco Girl” and “Does Your Heart Go Boom?”. The band, who are signed to Elefant Records, have previously recorded a session for John Peel and also had three songs in his Festive Fifty. Their songs have been covered by numerous bands, including Ash and Tullycraft, and they also composed the theme for fan Phill Jupitus’s Breakfast Show on BBC6 Music. Joey Ramone invited the band to play in New York and sang a duet with Helen on the album version of the song “Punk Boy”. This is the first show Helen Love has announced for over 10 years!
The Wave Pictures have been described by The Guardian as writing “charming, witty pop songs shot through with Jonathan Richman’s gawky glee and Suede’s doomed provincial romanticism.” Since forming in Leicestershire in 1998 they have released 12 albums, including last year’s Long Black Cars, on Moshi Moshi Records. They have collaborated with a number of artists including Herman Dune, Darren Hayman, Daniel Johnston and Jeffrey Lewis.
Lancaster indie rock band The Lovely Eggs consist of married couple Holly Ross (former Angelica singer) and David Blackwell. They have released three albums and recorded sessions for BBC Radio One, BBC 6 Music and XFM. Last year they were tipped as one of Huw Stephens’ “ones to watch”, and have worked closely with comedian John Shuttleworth. Their album Wildlife, released last year, included the Gruff Rhys-produced single Allergies, which won the BBC 6 Music Rebel Playlist and was also voted best single on Steve Lamacq’s 6 Music Round Table.
Tickets for Indietracks are now available at an early bird discount price of £65 (weekend) and £35 (day). These cheaper prices are available until 5pm on Saturday 11 May. After this date, prices will be £72 (weekend) and £38 (day). Weekend tickets for children aged 5-15 are £10, or £6 for a day ticket. Children under 5 get in free.
Around 50 indiepop bands from across the globe will be playing across four stages: the outdoor stage; the indoor stage, the church and on the steam trains themselves. The festival will also host a range of art and craft workshops and a selection of discos after the bands finish.
This is the seventh annual Indietracks festival, which takes place at the Midland Railway in Ripley, in the heart of the Derbyshire countryside. The site houses a whole range of lovingly restored steam diesels and locomotives. Festival goers are able to have unlimited rides on the steam railway over the weekend and full access to other railway attractions and museums.
Previous headliners at Indietracks have included Teenage Fanclub, Edwyn Collins, Allo Darlin’, The Hidden Cameras, The Wedding Present, Los Campesinos!, Summer Camp and The Vaselines.
Tickets are available by calling the railway direct on 01773 747 674 or visiting www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets.
