news
news
2012. There are no live shows planned at the moment, but work continues on the next album. We are currently working on around half a dozen new songs, all of which will more than likely appear on the next release, tentatively called You are Here. The new tracks have a distinctly psych-flavour to them at the moment, but who knows how they will turn out? Some of the new songs that will almost certainly feature on the next album are called 'Magic Bike', 'Sunday Best' and 'Oxford' - stay tuned and keep smiling! In the absence of any gigs in the foreseeable future, there are a few full-length videos of our acoustic 'Song and Whispers' shows below, if you're brave enough! Be warned, they are not edited and include duff notes galore, nervous banter and an awful lot of gibberish! Garfields Birthday at Hafen Casino, Bremen (15/11/11) here Garfields Birthday at Tagungshaus Bredbeck Culture Center, Osterholz (18/11/11) here Garfields Birthday at Lox Bar, Bremen (22/11/11) here Garfields Birthday at Townside Hostel, Bremen (25/11/11) here 2011. The acoustic tour of Germany was hugely rewarding, both musically speaking, and in terms of the people we met during our travels - finding nothing but friendly, welcoming faces wherever we went. Around half the songs we played were new to the set, mixing more recent and "classic" Garfields Birthday tracks with material from Simon's new Surrender, Dorothy! album. Si Jubb brought energy and panache to the tour, not only playing his own frenetic solo sets, but also joining us on stage to fill out our sound with retro beats, courtesy of his iPod, and helping out with backing vocals as well. You can see loads of photos from the tour, by clicking here, and below you will find links to videos of a few performances!
Garfields Birthday perform 'Slowing Down' here Garfields Birthday & Si Jubb perform 'Punch and Judy Man' here
In October, Garfields Birthday appeared at the newly re-opened Kings Club in Weymouth as part of this years LupusFest event. Once again Shane was able to join us for half the set and made his presence felt with his harmonies and riff-tastic guitar playing. We are already working on tracks that will likely appear on a new album in 2012; but November will see the focus back on gigging with Simon and Leighton returning to Germany for their second Songs & Whispers tour. They have been busy rehearsing new material; the aim is to have at least half a dozen new songs in the set, promoting the recent More Sense Than Money album as well as Simon's new Surrender, Dorothy! solo release. See below for a full list of the dates!
"Songs & Whispers" 2011 German Tour 14th November 2011 - Big Buttinsky, Osnabruck
(9 pm) Touring with Si Jubb This summer sees Garfields Birthday returning to the live stage, starting with a rare full electric gig at The Queens Hotel in Weymouth. It was our first time at this venue and we were really impressed with the set up and the friendly staff! We have a couple more local(ish) band gigs planned over the coming months, prior to an extensive acoustic tour in Germany later in the year. We had a lot of fun at The Queens and hope to play there again sometime soon! Meanwhile, you can enjoy a short video clip taken during the performance by clicking here.
Set List: Better
Things
"Quickly following up Tea and Sympathy, its excellent compendium of early tracks, Garfields Birthday issues More Sense Than Money, a set of brand new tunes. Now firmly under the control of Felton brothers Simon (bass, vox) and Shane (guitar, engineering), the British quartet luxuriates in winsome melodies, 60s atmosphere and sentiments so sweet as to be almost syrupy, if not for the sincerity with which they’re delivered. “Wandering our way through the market with love on our mind,” Simon sings in 'Cambridge' over a lovely melody for a track that brings to mind the early Bee Gees more than bad romantic poetry. (The Hollies and The Posies seem to be the band’s other major touchstones). Besides, the cuts’ outer sugar often masks a sour undertone – cf. 'Cool Your Jets', 'King Rat' (“What am I supposed to do when I’m killing you?”) and the gently nasty 'Short Straw' (“If I can’t have you,” breathes Simon prettily, “I’ll have someone else”). But even if you pay little attention to the words, you can still be swept away by Garfields’ penchant for beguiling melodies and sweet sibling harmonies on the crunchy 'Carry On Karaoke', the psychedelic 'Normality', the garage-rocking 'Better Things' and the soaring 'Future Song'. With only one misstep – did 'King Rat' really need Autotuned vocals? – More Sense Than Money is once again the kind of excellent record that leaves one wondering why Garfields Birthday aren’t legends in the power pop underground. Written by Michael Toland (The Big Takeover)
"The alpha and omega from one of Britain's best-kept secrets, these releases demonstrate Britpop is not dead, just tanning on the Dorset beach. Tea and Sympathy combines their late 90s debut single and EP with previously unreleased home demos and studio recordings prior to co-founder James Laming's departure to form Mondo Jet Set. From the jangly, Byrdsy 'Thick Ear' to the XTC goes paisley pop of the Ambulance EP, this is killer acoustic Britpop. And the unreleased tracks are better than most of what did in fact hit the shelves! Elements of The Church ('Better Than Reality'), The House of Love ('Margaret and Stephanie'), Julian Cope during his more lucid moments, Teenage Fanclub and a touch of Billy Bragg ('Old England') combine to create an unbeatable introduction. Fifteen years on, the band release their second full-lengther, and to quote The Ramones - "Second verse/same as the first"! Let Them Eat Cake was my favourite pop album of 2008, and More Sense Than Money is the perfect sequel, delivering the same gorgeous harmonies, catchy as flypaper melodies, melancholic navel-gazers ('Cambridge'), hummable choruses, and jingly-jangly head nodders ('The Garden Wall') as before. An amazingly warm and fuzzy achievement all around, lads. Encore!" Written by Jeff Penczak (Shindig!) 2010. A big warm hug of a hello from a freezing cold but sunny Weymouth! Just when your thoughts are probably turning towards Christmas and the giving and receiving of gifts, I can share with you the joyous news of the brand new Garfields Birthday album which is released on 29th November. It’s called More Sense Than Money and the initial feeback is suggesting that it’s the best thing we’ve done in our long and occasionally frustrating life as a post-Brit Pop melodious indie band. Long-time supporter Don Campau, a DJ and musician based in California, said “Four words: album of the year! (or at least one of them). Incredible” and super-cool Berlin-based DJ and underground troubadour Lord Litter, often referred to as the European John Peel, said “Great! - with this release I became a dedicated Garfields Birthday fan!”; also in the States, music writer Bill Holmes was “very happy to report that their latest, More Sense Than Money, is their best yet!”.
Cool Your Jets MP3 So far so good... step aside Susan Boyle, your role as Queen of the Asda Charts is about to be usurped and Garfields Birthday shall be the ones to take your crown! Seriously though, we have a few early reviews already in, which you can read in full here and get your copy of the album by following one of the links below. This time we have used a great company called Breed Media to manufacture the cds who offer a selection of carbon-neutral products, so we don’t have to feel bad about any negative impact on the environment we might have caused by bringing another new CD release into the world! Please click away below. Download
More Sense Than Money from iTunes or buy on CD from: Occasionally it looked liked it wasn't going to happen, but against all odds, the brand new Garfields Birthday album, More Sense Than Money, is finally here! Now into our 15th year and with new guitarist Leighton McGrath on board, it has taken nearly two years to complete the follow up to 2008s Let Them Eat Cake. It was recorded in Weymouth's own Alienigloo studio and entirely produced by the band. Amongst the new gems are a tribute to the loyal supporters of a weekly karaoke session; a dreamy account of a memorable weekend spent in Cambridge; and the first ever writing collaboration between Shane and Simon in the album opener, a punchy little number called ‘Cool Your Jets’! It's an eclectic album, packed full of their trademark melodies, vocal harmonies and with pop still very much at its core! The official release date is 29th November 2010.
For all our friends, supporters and general well-wishers, we are giving you the chance to order the new album before the release date and at a special price. If you click here it will take you to a ‘Special Offers’ page where you will be able to preview a few songs off the new album and buy a copy for just £5.99 including free postage anywhere! This month also saw the full electric band take to the stage at an annual fundraising event in Weymouth called Lupus Fest, playing an energetic set lasting almost an hour! We have two reasons to celebrate this month. First off, the new album is finished! We had the last of the recording sessions this week and it's done. We are starting to mix now and have given ourselves a deadline of the end of August to have all the tracks ready for the mastering and manufacturing stage. The album will feature a dozen new recordings and is probably our most mature and eclectic collection of tunes to date. Visit the gallery to see pictures of the final recording sessions at Alien Igloo with Shane and Leighton.
Perhaps even more noteworthy, at least for me anyway, is the return of Shane to the live stage! Our friends Freak Circus have just celebrated their 10th anniversary with a party to end all parties! Given that we share a drummer, Ady, we were asked to get up and play a few Garfields Birthday songs. It was great to be playing next to my brother again after nearly three years... hopefully this is just the beginning!
As of 7th June 2010, Tea and Sympathy, the first of two lovingly remastered collections of long-since unavailable Garfields Birthday tracks, is available to buy, enjoy and lavish with attention. Essentially a digital release, we have just 100 professionally made CD-R copies available for a limited time. Full details and previews are now available here! By way of bypassing the usual music industry channels and the likes of iTunes for a change, we are trying out a true alternative in the shape of Stone Island Records, a completely independent site dedicated to connecting people to cool music. My brother Shane has been using his Alien Igloo studio as a place of therapy during his recovery from three major operations on his back, remastering all of the old Garfields Birthday demos and early recordings from the 1990s - many recorded on our old 8-Track recorder!
Ambulance Work on the new album continues at Alien Igloo! The plan is to concentrate on two tracks which will be released as a single; serving as a taster, ahead of the new album which will follow soon after. In the meantime, festival season has arrived and Garfields Birthday (Leighton and Simon) took to the stage for a fun acoustic performance at the Big GroveSummer Festival on Portland in Dorset and the weather was on our side!
After a change in venue (and date!), the Pink Hedgehog Label Night went ahead at the Old Town Hall in Weymouth this month. Those that were in attendence enjoyed a great solo set by Si Jubb, a semi-acoustic performance by Garfields Birthday and an extended headline set by The Steve Wilson Band. We were also lucky enough to be invited on Wessex FM to talk about the event and to play a song live in the studio. Hopefully this will be the first of many similar musical nights in this wonderful venue!
Garfields Birthday should soon have their new studio album finished and may well be embracing the current anti-digital backlash with a brand new single or ep on vinyl, yes vinyl! Shane has been battling with incredible pain following several operations on his back but, fingers crossed, he has turned a corner and we hope to be back in Alien Igloo Studio over the next few weeks! The tracks are almost there but we have decided they are worth getting right and would benefit from a bit more tweaking! We are at the start of a brand new year and what better way to begin 2010 than with news of a brand new album! Garfields Birthday have now finished putting the final touches to the new release which will be called More Sense Than Money. Sessions began back in November 2008 at Atlantic Audio in Weymouth and continued at Alien Igloo until January 2010; Shane is just about to start mixing and mastering!
In the meantime, the Songs & Whispers label in Germany are getting ready to release the Tea and Sympathy compilation which brings together the high points from our early recording career! The collection will include studio tracks and early demos from 1995 onwards; basically all the best stuff up until James left the band and before we reformed as a trio in Bristol to record the Mr Newton EP in 2005. 2009. Garfields Birthday have been unusually busy lately, both in terms of live gigs and new music. We were invited to perform at Portland Marina on Halloween night as part of the 'Countdown to 2012' celebrations organised by the Revive project; plus a few other local gigs which saw the current live band expand to a 4-piece with both James Laming and Si Jubb joining in the fun. All the while, work is continuing on our new album which is nearing completion and should be ready for release early in the new year. The album is almost certainly called More Sense Than Money!
Our Tea and Sympathy collection, which features newly remastered tracks from the archives is now coming out on the Songs & Whispers label in the new year. Songs from the album are already up at the Pink Hedgehog site for your enjoyment!
Garfields Birthday had a wonderful time in Germany; we ended up playing a total of thirteen shows over just nine days - and they couldn't have gone better! Everyone we met was extremely welcoming and we're hoping to go back as soon as we can. You can see a few video clips taken at one of our performances by clicking here. And see some of the best photos from the tour in our picture gallery starting here. We had only just got over the jetlag of our two hour flight (!) and we were gigging again, this time back in our hometown of Weymouth at The Lounge. We were joined by James for this one and there are already plans for a repeat performance very soon.
Garfields Birthday are heading over to Germany in a couple of weeks time for the Songs and Whispers tour! Some of our older tracks have been remastered and will soon be getting released by a new German label called Lost In Music. We have been appearing at a few open mic sessions around Weymouth recently, getting in as much practise as we can before we go! Wish us luck, the dates are below!
19th Sept 2009 - Kulturgut Ehrenburg, Region
Diepholz. We'll be playing a whole bunch of songs that we’ve never attempted live before, so if we’re coming along to a town that’s anywhere near you, please do say hallo and maybe even buy us a Becks! One of the songs we’ll be performing (which is actually off Failing in Biology) is called ‘Neptune’s Fountain’ and I’ve posted up a little video for it on MySpace, if you fancy watching it. It’s not exactly award winning stuff; I’ve basically put together a lot of video clips that were recorded recently in Taiwan and now I’m trying to pass it off as a promo! You can find it here! I shall leave you to marvel over my video editing skills!
Well, it's good and bad news for Garfields Birthday as we head into the Summer. Unfortunately my brother and guitarist Shane has had to undergo another serious operation and it looks like he will be out of action for another few months at least. So we have recruited a new guitarist called Leighton who will take to the stage for the first time on 7th July 2009 when we take part in the Weymouth Beach Live Festival, closely followed by a set at The Big Grove Summer Festival on the 11th July 2009. Click here to take a look at pictures from the rehearsal sessions. There are plans to head over to Germany in the Autumn for a series of acoustic gigs and we hope to have Shane back in the band as soon as possible!
The latest album from Garfields Birthday, Let Them Eat Cake, continues to hit the right spot for those in the know and featured in a couple of notable 'Best of 2008' lists including those compliled by the legend Gary ‘Pig’ Gold and power pop expert David Bash! The album has finally gone 'digital', if not platinum, and is now available to download from many online retailers.
Molly's Eyes Buy from iTunes 2008. Good news everyone... my brother Shane has finished the last of his six hydrotherapy sessions and is feeling heaps better thanks to his many benefactors amongst you! Anyway, such is the extent of Shane’s recovery, we had our first propper band recording session at Atlantic Audio this weekend - a new Garfields Birthday album is defenitely on the way!
Over the last few months I have often mentioned Shane's illness/problems with his back and how it has limited what we've been able to in terms of gigs and recording during the summer. Well, the good news is that Shane is recovering well from his recent operation and he's agreed to let me share with you this x-ray of his back which shows how serious the procedure was and how he is now part machine!
On an equally positive note, there is a fab review of Let Them Eat Cake in the latest (Sept/Oct) issue of Shindig, go to the reviews page to have a read. Also click here to read a great new review of Let Them Eat Cake by Jeff Penczak! As many of you will know, Garfields Birthday have taken part in several of the International Pop Overthrow festivals over the years, and always look forward to heading up to Liverpool for the UK leg. One of the strengths of the festival is the variety of bands from all over the world who all come under the umbrella term of "pop". To celebrate this diversity, organiser David bash, together with Bruce Brodeen at Not Lame, put together an annual IPO compilation cd which does a fantastic job of highlighting this diversity and showcasing many of the amazing artists that appear at the event. Well, Volume Eleven is with us and Garfields Birthday are very proud to be one of the featured bands... read all about it! "Massively wonderful value of 3 CDs, 66 bands for $18. Each year gets better too. Why? The quality of pop bands has really taken a creative leap in the last few years. As in years past, it's 3 CDs in our totally unique packaging with 66 different bands inside this CD of pop luv! Take a chance at discovering a lot of great talent on the indie power pop and rock scene, always a lot of fun." (Bruce Brodeen, Not Lame)
Click here to visit Not Lame Recordings, for more info on this release! June 2008 saw Garfields Birthday triumph over adversity and once again make it onto the stage at The Big Grove Summer Festival on Portland for a rare live performance! Guitarist Shane was unable to play on the day as he was recovering from a rather painful operation on his back... with his doctor forbidding any Pete Townsend style shenanigans or rock'n'roll behaviour of any kind. For a while it looked like we would have to pull out of the festival and let all three of our fans down, but fortunately James and Mark from Mondo Jet Set offered to step in and saved the day with their fine musicianship and gung ho attitude!
Set List: Bastion of Teenage Garfields Birthday have been promising this new album for ages now, in fact the first tracks were recorded back in 2005, but two and a bit years later it's finished! It has been quite a sporadic project, at different stages the three band members were living in Weymouth, Bristol and Canada; so getting everyone in the same place for long enough to get anything done was a challenge in itself! Despite this, they have come up with ten stunning pop gems that are certain to put a smile on your face. The album will be released on 26th May 2008, more details here!
Garfields Birthday kick off the new year in style with the release of their brand new Molly's Eyes EP, featuring four tracks taken from their new album called Let Them Eat Cake. This digital only EP will be released by Pink Hedgehog on 28th January 2008, followed by the physical release of the cd album by Pink Hedgehog in the Spring. Listen to a clip here!
Molly's Eyes 2007. Garfields Birthday will be playing at Retrogression! The
Borough Arms, Dorchester, Dorset, UK
Set List: Bastion of Teenage Garfields Birthday will be taking part in The Big Grove Summer Festival! The
Grove, Portland, Dorset, UK
Set List: Bastion of Teenage |
Garfields Birthday News | Biography | Discography | Music | Pictures | Press
More Sense Than Money (Listen
to tracks from the album 
Shindig! (Jan-Feb 2011)
More
Sense Than Money (LP)
Tea and Sympathy (LP)
Let
Them Eat Cake (LP)
Molly's Eyes (EP)
