Now something of a fixture on the calendar for South Walian music fans, Wales Goes Pop! is an annual (indie) pop event that takes place in Cardiff over the Easter bank holiday weekend. With a range of acts performing between Friday 3rd – Sunday 5th April at The Gate, a wonderful 400-capacity converted church situated in Roath.
Previous years have seen the likes of The Wedding Present, The Primitives, Joanna Gruesome and comedian Josie Long grace their stages, and this year’s event looks primed to be another special one, with a range of acts – old and young – gathering in Cardiff in sweet celebration of the power of pop.
To celebrate we have a PAIR of Weekend tickets to give away! To enter simply tell us who you are looking forward to seeing most at this year’s Wales Goes Pop!? Email your answer to [email protected] by midday Monday 30 March 2015. Winner will be chosen at random and notified via email.
Here are our five picks for this year’s Wales Goes Pop:
Martha
North East’s Martha is one of the most smile-inducing new bands to clamber overground last year. Special brand of fuzzy harmony-driven punkiness, laced with a distinctive northern wit and giddiness, belies the bittersweet lyrics that speak of loves lost and dead-end situations.
Jessica Pratt
One of the most distinctive new voices to emerge this year. Her second album On Your Own Love Again released a the start of the year is tightly woven with delicate instrumental flourishes that allow her unique vocals the platform to paint accomplished cinematic vignettes. Jessica’s quivering, almost jazz-inflected sound exists in a nowhere-time between heartbreak and loss, and inhabits the haunted romance of tragedy.
The Lovely Eggs
Lancastrian odd-pop mainstays The Lovely Eggs are back with the bizarre psych-pop of Magic Onion that intersects the strange meeting points between the Fall, Helen Love and, oddly, Captain Beefheart. The Lovely Eggs are brilliant eccentrics, with a craft for off-kilter songwriting that catches you off-guard and has you grinning from ear to ear.
Alpaca Sports
This delightful boy/girl duo from Sweden emerged in 2012 with a series of self-released singles including the swoonsome ‘She’ll Come Back for Indian Summer’ and ‘I Was Running’. Utterly gorgeous bittersweet lilting boy/girl jangle pop.
Tuff Love
Tuff Love is a DIY Glaswegian duo consisting of Julie Eisenstein (guitar, vocals) and Suse Bear (bass, vocals). They write subtle-yet-rippling, jangly pop songs with clever, heart-on-their-sleeve lyrics and wide-eyed melodies. What sets them apart is their unfussy ability to cut right to the heart of a song and their explosive combination of guitars, bass and sparring vocals that creates a rush hitting your solar plexus.
Full live line-up:
EMMY THE GREAT, THE POOH STICKS, THE LOVELY EGGS, BALLBOY, PINS, FEATURE, DUGLAS T STEWART (BMX BANDITS), JESSICA PRATT, TRUST FUND, THE DRINK, MARTHA, OSCAR, THE SCHOOL and TUFF LOVE, CAVE GHOSTS, MOWBIRD, TIGERCATS, EMMA KUPA (ex-Standard Fare), THE CATENARY WIRES (Amelia Fletcher), JEN SCHANDE, OH PEAS!, TWO WHITE CRANES, FRESCHARD, TRWBADOR, THOMAS TRUAX, ALPACA SPORTS, LITTLE MY, BAREFOOT DANCE OF THE SEA and TRAMGIRL KARAOKE CLUB feat. EDINE & MASKOPET.
The festival is free for under 12s but spaces must be reserved.
For tickets and further information click here .
Tickets are also available from Spillers Records (Cardiff) and Diverse Music (Newport).
