15.05.08: The Hot Puppies + Arctic Circle + Bucky

Tickets

Advance tickets are available online from WeGotTickets.com.

Press info

If you require some fancy-dan hi-res images you can click the following links to download such things (Warning: possible large file sizes):

15.05.08 poster (2.9Mb pdf)

15.05.08 press release (162Kb pdf)

Hot Puppies promo pic (4.9Mb)

Arctic Circle promo pic (290Kb)

Bucky promo pic (1.5Mb)

Panthergirls promo pic (3.1mb)

Listen to the bands - Purr MySpace

You can hear tracks by each of this week's forthcoming bands, plus the headliners of the next show on the Purr Live MySpace site. Updated after each show.

The Hot Puppies

Becky Newman – vocals
Beth Gibson – keyboards, vocals, theremin
Luke Taylor – guitars, vocals
Ben Faircloth – bass
Bert Wood – drums

Tonight the Purr favourites will be performing a specially-prepared acoustic set of tunes, previewing tracks from their soon-to-be-released 2nd album Blue Hands, along with forthcoming Purr single "Somewhere". A truly excellent and not-to-be-missed live band.

Normally, cool and slightly quirky boy/girl punk pop from Cardiff. NME, Artrocker, DiS and The Observer are all firmly behind them, with plenty of radio play backup from the likes of Huw Stevens and Marc Riley. Their style radiates energy and their songs are executed with equal measures of sugar and spite. The band cite Devo, Add N to (X) and early Blondie as influences.

“With song titles, band name and label name all scoring high on this cool-o-meter. The Hot Puppies are as fantastic as waking up in a sea of Oreo cookies with no option but to eat your way to safety. Terry is pummelling smack-disco, but it’s the B-side that makes off with the garlands, being a truly terrific, vitriolic suicide waltz, full of withering put-downs (‘if you tell me that you love me one more time, I shall be sick on your guitar’) and going-home-alone-at-the-end-of-the-night-sadness.” - NME

“Sharp pop – a combination of Blondie’s punk kitsch and the Shirelles’s harmonic lift.” - The Observer

“The main song on this single release, The Hot Puppies first for Fierce Panda – containing mid-eighties style ping-pong drum effects – is a tale of a very good-looking young lady who writes to Marielle Frostrup, in her agony-aunt guise. The most striking track on this three-tracker, though, is final track, ‘Under The Crooked Moon’, and it’s worth buying, if only for this particular track – a Whirlitzer-spiked, twisting, irresistibly melodic classic. Recently providing the main support for Art Brut on tour, the Puppies eerily magical keyboards, theremin, trangy guitar and haunting/striking vocals (courtesy of equally striking singer, Becki Newman) are living, vibrant proof that the band are ripe for big-time success.” - Artrocker

“Should have teenage girls and housewives choking back the tears every time its played on the radio this time next year. Because mark my words, in twelve months time, everyone will have heard of The Hot Puppies. - DrownedInSound

“Their dark zombie girlband surf tunes ooze that seductic danger scent that made you want to snip locks of mullet off of Nick Cave - the waltzer-pop harpy-wail of new single, ‘Terry’, that sounds like Throwing Muses at a satanic hoedown…puppies, like cujo then. And hot, like brimstone.” - Mark Beaumont, NME

“The Hot Puppies are a hard-rocking band with balls, who still manage to sound like they should be playing a smoky jazz club somewhere. Or even a honky-tonk: plenty of tremelo guitar and a closing number ‘How come you don’t hold me no more?’ that recalls Hank Williams’, ‘Why don’t you love me like you used to?’, gives the set that country tinge.” - Artrocker

“Standing at the lip of the stage, barefoot and looking like a young Tori Amos, I’ts Becky and her gorgeously yearning voice that makes The Hot Puppies the heartbreakingly cool band that they are. Black cocktail dresses, romantic decadence and sounding like David Bowie singing the ‘grease’ soundtrack are quite clearly pointers to the way forward.” - Gigwise

“The Hot Puppies are possibly one of the most outstanding bands of the year. Their sound ranges from sugary 50’s American diner to stomping Yeah Yeah Yeahs post- punk, via Aretha-style soul. Becky’s sultry vocals and feline onstage demeanor make you feel like there’s no one else in the room. She harmonises with Beth, creating a sound that is painstakingly heartfelt and mature beyond their years as a band.” - Neily Alimohama, Glasgow University Guardian

“With the mad-eyed eccentricity of Kate Bush, the wide eyed faux innocence of the 60’s girl groups and an eager infusion of garage hammond, ‘Terry’ is just the slinky ticket.” - Vanity Project

“The Hot Puppies are confident to kick off with new single ‘Terry’, it’s glistening keyboard lines chiming with impressive singer Becky’s powerful warble…this could be the start of something impressive.” - Charlie Ivens, The Fly

“The Hot Puppies are one of the most outstanding bands of the year. Their sound ranges from sugary ‘50s American diner to stomping yeah yeah years post punk, via Aretha-style soul. Becky’s sultry vocals and feline onstage demeanor make you feel like there’s no one else in the room. She harmonises with Beth, creating a sound that is painstakingly heartfelt and mature beyond their years as a band.” - Neily Alimohama, Glasgow University Guardian

“Fierce Panda boss Simon Williams’ new label Fandango launches with the sound of Karen O fronting a Spector girl-group. Hugely promising, and a superbly messy racket to boot.” - Teletext

“The Hot Puppies are a band of the moment and one every music lover should check out. Take the chance, roll the dice and enjoy one of the most accomplished, brilliant, vibrant bands to emerge in 2005.” - music-news.com

“So boys and girls, get out your sparkly glad-rags, slap on the eyeliner and lip-gloss, head for the nearest dance hall and insist that they play The Hot Puppies all night long.” - Whisperin & Hollerin

Website: www.thehotpuppies.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/thehotpuppies

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Arctic Circle

Rosalind Leyden, Kasper, George MacKenzie, Matthew Chenney, Nina Wyllie, Liam Kirby and Tom Kirton

Based in Bristol, Arctic Circle are a 7-piece multi-instrumental pop band led by professional daydreamer Matthew Cheney. Their brittle, yet beautiful, pop sound is steeped in Nick Drake, Syd Barrett, C86, Felt, psychedelic folk, analogue electronics and ‘60s psych euphoria. They play like a school orchestra abandoned by its conductor, left alone with the key to the instrument cupboard.

Featuring boy/girl vocals, accordion, clarinet, glockenspiel, effects pedals, pan lids, melodica and analogue electronics, Arctic Circle pride themselves on only once having been told to keep it down by neighbours. Instead a pair of feet usually appears underneath the garage door where they practice. Those feet are at the end of a pair of legs. Those legs head north up to a neck, and that neck leads to a mouth. And the words waiting in that mouth are, "can I join?" This is how there came to be 7.

Arctic Circle are currently working on their third album.

"The perfect perk for that inevitable Sunday morning grogginess. Like a more lo-fi Belle and Sebastian, or a slightly less up-tempo Bearsuit, they have an infectious charm." - DrownedInSound

"Thumping post-Belle And Sebastian paeans to escape from popular culture’s arid planes." - Venue

MySpace: www.myspace.com/arcticcircle

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Bucky

They're a two-man guitar and drums garage rock revelation. If the only album Jonathan Richman ever owned was by the Sonics, you'd be halfway to defining their sound. They boast a set of melody-charged breakneck-speed songs that tackle some very strange subject matter (horses, The Beatles, Mary Wilson's demise after falling out with Diana Ross).

They made an album, 1998's 'We Can Only Apologise', that's bursting with raw, feedbacking joy and recorded a good few years before even the most pedantic of indie anoraks had heard of The White Stripes. They are Bucky and they rock.

Their music salutes the greats of US garage punk and country ("The Standells, Loving Spoonful, The Sonics, Creedence Clearwater Revival…"), but there's a huge dash of eccentricity that can only be described as English, too.

Recently voted one of the top three local bands in the Venue Readers' Poll, their 2nd album ‘All The New Mistakes’ is another must-have and confirms Bucky as true (local) legends.

Simon - guitar and vocals
Joff - two-piece drumkit and hollers

"Sheer, unadulterated pleasure." - Venue

"Bucky is a band of no future, no past, of the moment ­ and what a brilliant moment! They are cool beyond cool and you can't not love 'em. We love you, Bucky!" - Charley Dunlap

"Bonkers!" - Venue

"Another novelty is Bucky’s inventive use of a water barrel as drum and indeed the drummer’s utilisation of his handless arm as stick. It’s a fascinating performance, the two man a joyous, sweaty combination of Tenacious D and The Ramones at a comedy night. They crack constant jokes, banter with the audience and with each other, sing about obtuse normally unpunkrock subjects such as loving libraries ("lots of CDs and OAPs…"). "Have you ever been out with a boy who is classically handsome but would rather go out with himself than you?" they ask, and every female in the audience gives a pensive knowing sigh before they go into another speedy punky number while lurching and frolicking around the stage doing clumsy star jumps." - Venue

"Can I have a bit more guitar?", asks Simon. “Can I have a bit more cake?”, asks a wildly enthusiastic Joff. Bucky are a bumper value meal, with a top notch comedy routine sandwiched between short skiffles about ponies, dogs, libraries, The Beatles and how Pete's mum used the trust fund left by his deceased father to build a conservatory. The two-piece fill the audience with their enthusiasm and rapport, and I suspect that if we weren't enjoying ourselves so much we'd have noticed that they're very talented song-writers, and not just great entertainers punching above their weight." - The Fly

Website: www.buckytheband.com

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The Panther Girls

Purr’s fabulous in-house dance-troupe cut some floor shapes to the stylish tunes of the bands and the Purr DJs. The Panthergirls dance to punk and glam and 60s girl groups and bang-up-to-date modern music and whatever they want to! They’ve danced with Los Campesinos! Circulus, Remi Nicole, Friends Of The Bride, The Hot Puppies, Crystal Castles, Help She Can’t Swim and many more.

They’ve appeared in Bath, Bristol, London, Cardiff, Margham Deer Park and on tables in Paris. They are the fabulous Panther Girls and have moves too myriad to put into words. Be warned, they’ve got claws as well as ears!

Check out the video links from here.

"Those glamorous, naughty all-dancing Panthergirls." - The Guardian

"The Panther Girls twirl, shimmy and kick their way through cute ‘n’ kitschy dance routines." - Kitten Painting

"Synchronised moves come from the Panthergirls, the uber-glam in-house dance troupe at Bath's Purr night." - The Guardian

"A kind of cross between Pan’s People, the Radio City Rockettes and a cheerleading squad entertain us dancing about, cat-ears waving, to cool tunes, including, thanks to Panther girl choreographer and Purrista Delia, a great dancing track from the previously unknown Frank Popp Ensemble." - Charley Dunlap

"I’m convinced Purr is one of the best clubs going! Two words: "Panther Girls" rrrrrooooaaar!" - Piney Gir

"They've got tails, they've got attitude - and they've got the moves to make any party go with a swing" - Bath Chronicle

MySpace: www.myspace.com/thepanthergirls

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