We are the Sand is the eighth album from Peter Lacey and his seventh release on Pink Hedgehog. It's been over ten years since the release of Peter's debut Beam! back in 2000 - the album which Paul Williams (Editor of the legendary Crawdaddy magazine) hailed as "The best ‘child-of-Brian’ album of the many I've heard...". That Brian is, of course, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. Accompanied once again by previous travelling companion, Beach Boys lyricist Stephen Kalinich, and for the first time by David Beard (Editor of Endless Summer Quarterly); an eclectic blend of influences reach the ear – while at the same time never straying far from the familiar tones of Peter's original inspiration and personal Californian dream.

Mondo Jet Set are not from London and are not an art band - it's official! But their new album is called Ha Ha Ha and is without doubt the most musically satisfying, immediate and concise collection they’ve done to date. With fantastic songs and production to match, in a more just world it would be a Mercury Prize nominee for sure! So what have we got? It is a complete set of songs, one after the other, in a context which the musicians would like you to consider an absolute whole. The songs on this album are shorter than those on the last one; twelve in number, idealistic in nature, half undressed by the bathroom window. The album should be played. Oddly.

Quintessentially English, this second solo outing from the Garfields Birthday frontman is sunshine in a CD. It's all the fun of the fair with a carnival atmosphere. Close your eyes and you are basking in the summery sun, dipping toes in the sea. You can feel the water lapping around your ankles as each jaunty ditty melds with your consciousness. The multi-talented Alan ‘Schnauser’ Strawbridge, ably assisted by Californian cult-superstar Anton Barbeau, have hand crafted a gem of a vehicle for Simon’s songs and pure vocal style. This successful team had masterminded his maiden solo release, Failing in Biology, in 2009 and their masterful touch two years on makes Surrender, Dorothy! an absolute joy to behold.

After a lengthy pause to recover from the shock of appearing on Dragon's Den, Hamfatter are back with a fantastic new album paid for by Peter Jones. Their 4th album, Cassiopeia, has been a long time in the making, but it took that long for the band to find their way again after being plucked from the cult indie wilderness. They have experimented a lot more this time around, trying out some totally new sounds including electronica synths, 60’s Hammond organ, Mellotron and some really big string arrangements. A bigger budget allowed them to push the boat out; all the way across the Atlantic in fact, with parts of the album being recorded with celebrated producer Joe Chicarelli (Frank Zappa/White Stripes) in Los Angeles!

Garfields Birthday are now into their 15th year! With guitarist Leighton McGrath on board, they have now completed the follow up to 2008s very well-received Let Them Eat Cake. This brand new album was recorded in Weymouth's own Alien Igloo studio and 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 writing collaboration by brothers Shane and Simon in the album opener ‘Cool Your Jets’! An eclectic album full of their trademark melodies, vocal harmonies and with pop still very much at its core!

Back in the mid-1990s James Laming and Simon Felton were listening to bands like Teenage Fanclub and realised that British guitar music was undergoing a bit of a renaissance; and thinking it would be fun to join in, they formed their own indie combo called Garfields Birthday. Incredibly, they are now into their 15th year and Brit-pop seems an awfully long time ago, but the timing does seem right to take a trip down memory lane and listen to some of the band’s earlier achievements. Prior to the release of their brand new studio album, Tea and Sympathy provides a concise overview of the bands early home and studio recordings and proves they have never been short of a good tune - put the kettle on and enjoy!

Schnauser play melodic pop music awash with unexpected chord changes, harmonies and odd time signatures. Amongst the normal guitar/bass/drums, their sound palette utilises Leslie speakers, 12 string guitars, retro keyboard sounds, fuzz bass, occasional trumpets and strings, stylophone and melodica. Their influences span late 60s British psychedelic pop, early 70s melancholic American pop, a pinch of new wave (a la CBGBs in '77) and lots of movies. Now based in Bristol they have just completed their second album containing songs about the fall and rise of Noel Edmonds and Steven Spielberg's remake of War of the Worlds.

Peter's music has always been compared to that of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, due to his ear for harmonies and complex musical arrangements. However, with each new album, Peter is establishing himself as a uniquely talented artist in his own right. Prior to Peter's recent collaboration with Stephen Kalinich, he was already well under way with a new solo album called Behind The Scenes. This is his seventh release and the nearest he's got to the veritable "concept" album, with a theme running throughout which concerns what might be described as the interplay between reality and illusion. Has Peter just recorded his Sgt. Pepper?

The Inexperienced are comprised of some seriously talented and much-practised musicians who blend great pop sensibility with rock, funk and hints of psychedelia. Their debut album was written and produced by Alex Meadows and features Pete Howarth (The Hollies/Cliff Richard) and Simon Jaymes on vocals, Rick Fenn of 10CC on guitar and a selection of London’s other finest musicians who were all happy to work for a curry or two! Alex has recently toured with Tom Jones, playing bass guitar, and was a member of Arista recording artist Electrasy. He can be heard playing on Jamiroquai’s Dynamite album and can also claim to have survived two world tours with Simon Cowell’s creation Il Divo. This is all about the music!

As a songwriter and recording artist, Anton Barbeau is remarkably prolific. His latest release, Plastic Guitar, is his 6th since 2006 and features a variety of styles, from 60s-vibed classic pop to laptop bleep-bop and electro-kraut grooves. While his previous album, The Automatic Door, took the dark themes of global warming, fundamentalism and romantic breakdown and painted them in bright colours with sunny harmonies and folky pop backing, the songs on Plastic Guitar lay bare our hero's anxieties. The album is rich with guest appearances, with Kimberley Rew of The Soft Boys, Gabe and Greg from CAKE, Woodstock legend Barry "The Fish" Melton and Stornoway all contributing to the mix!

Beach Boys fans may have already heard some of Stevie Kalinich's work as he wrote 'Be Still' and 'Little Bird' with Dennis Wilson for the Friends album, as well as the track 'Rainbows' from Dennis’ legendary solo album Pacific Ocean Blue. More recently he's written with his friend Brian Wilson, resulting in 'A Friend Like You' - a duet with Paul McCartney which appeared on Brian's Gettin' In Over My Head album. In 2008, he was invited to Sussex, England to perform a series of music and poetry recitals where he was introduced to Peter Lacey. Within the space of their first meeting a collaborative song was already underway and the two spent the Spring and Summer creating an album entitled South Downs Way,

Simon Felton finally comes of age this year with the release of his first “proper” solo album after singing and playing bass with indie-pop stalwarts Garfields Birthday since the mid 90s. He has joined forces with Californian cult-superstar Anton Barbeau and West Country psych-pop legend Alan Strawbridge to give us Failing in Biology, a concise and punchy collection of shiny pop gems! The album almost sounds like a band that have been performing together for ages, but the truth is the entire set was recorded in six days and on a very tight budget; relying on the strength of the songs and the chemistry of the players to shine through.

Somebody loved Marlowe and so did we; Mondo Jet Set took their place. They lost out because they were lazy and didn’t care, however an album was released called They Would've Hated You Anyway. They didn’t mean to. It was pretty and lo-fi. They made another record after that called No Fun With… but it wasn’t very good and never saw the light of day. They broke up and then got back together. They changed their name and made another good record called Henry After a Nightlife, except nobody bought it, which was a shame. And now we have the London-based duo’s much talked about and much delayed new album... this one is called Girl Action and it’s better than good - in fact this new collection just might blow your mind!

Eye are three English musicians who write and record indie-psychedelia and alternative pop. Rick Hammond sings and plays acoustic guitar, Simon Swarbrick plays acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, mandolin and strings and Andy Trim plays drums. The album also features guest appearances from all of The Lucky Bishops! Don’t Sleep is their debut release and is a classy pop record of the highest order - recommended for all fans of Radiohead, Elbow and The Doves. Sadly, frontman Rick has since passed away, but his music continues to be listened to and enjoyed by people all over the world.

This summer will see Electrasy release a digital only single from their album Wired For Dreaming. The track is 'Roll It Up', having proved itself to be a favourite at their live shows, never failing to get the crowd bouncing up and down and joining in with the infectious chorus. This track is currently the only song on the album to be made available as a download, so you'll have to buy the album on CD!

"To put not too fine a point on it, Si Jubb set a new benchmark for the standard of composition in the area with the The Dirty Sleeves. Si and the band have both since parted company, of course, but both sides continue to make vital visceral music. Demonstration is just Si and a guitar - or Si and a piano, on 'Her Indoors', and it fair crackles with immediacy and urgency. On the face of it, upon hearing opening track 'State of My Union', the most cogent comparison seems to be with Billy Bragg. Si dispatches his songs with a similar passion and pride, sings with blunt honesty and favours a crunchy, heavily-reverberated electric guitar sound. However, as a songwriter Si's narrative voice is very much his own." Dorset Echo, UK.

Cambridge 3-piece Hamfatter are set to release their charming new reggae-tinged pop nugget ‘Do Something Stupid Tonight’. It’s the second single from their recent album What Part of Hamfatter Do You Not Understand?. Previous single ‘Sziget (We Get Wrecked)’ reached number 54 in the singles chart and number 13 in the indie singles chart. The CD version features 3 brand new and exclusive tracks: 'Down Tonight', 'My Great Grandfather' and '21st Century (Electro Remix)'.

It's certainly been a long time coming, but 2008 finally sees the release of Let Them Eat Cake, the new album from Garfields Birthday. They have been promising it for ages now, in fact the first tracks were recorded back in 2005! 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 a set of stunning pop gems that are certain to put a smile on your face. The CD features ten big helpings of perfect melodic indie pop, complete with jangly guitars, harmonies and hooks galore!

It's taken a few years, but Electrasy can finally let their fans (old and new) hear the almost mythical third album that was recorded for Arista in the USA back in 2001 and Pink Hedgehog have the privelege of letting it loose on the world. All it took was a handshake and a sack full of bream and (like the fish) it was in the bag! The album is called Wired For Dreaming and it's only available from our online store. Please click here for details on how to order the CD. Music Without Industry.

Cambridge 3-piece Hamfatter release their third album What Part of Hamfatter Do You Not Understand? this summer. Their songs possess an evocative biographical element, with ‘Dancing Shoes’ and ‘At Home Here’ painting a picture of life in their home-town's bohemian quarter. While ‘This Day Won’t Die’ was written on top of a mountain in Southern France during a thunderstorm, when the band had taken off in their beaten up old tourbus and "spent a week jamming tunes, cycling over mountains drinking, eating, smoking weed, canoeing, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and jumping off rocks into lakes".

Cambridge 3-piece Hamfatter release ‘Sziget (We Get Wrecked)’ as a lead-off single from their third album What Part of Hamfatter Do You Not Understand?. Its very much a single of two halves, with the first track concerning the positive side of the band’s experience of playing at the Sziget Festival in Budapest and second song detailing some darker aspects of that same summer.

"I can't let the day pass without congratulating Dorset's most talented practitioners of the dark arts, Freak Circus, on the release of their unreasonably bracing new album, which the Wolf Man and Aquafibio pressed into my hand the other night following a spirited and commendably varied display on the Rendezvous dance floor (they truly are The Greatest Dancers). Straight from the first track, it's like being present at a punk/new wave masterclass: Buzzcocks accessibility married to the guitar sound of early Wire, topped off with the surf 'n' scurf aesthetic of The Ramones, performed with the intensity and intelligence of Pavement or The Temple Cooper Clause."

This will be the fifth album of Peter Lacey's impressive solo career - four of which have been proudly released by Pink Hedgehog. Click on the mp3 link for a clip of 'Hey Rose'. The new album will initially be available as a professionally duplicated CD-R with colour artwork and limited to just 100 copies. It will also be available from most digital music providers, such as iTunes from 29th January 2007.

This is the second album from Steve Wilson, featuring eleven brand new recordings which showcase his warm and sophisticated style of song-writing. Starting off with a nod to The Mamas and The Papas, Steve invites us on a highly enjoyable musical journey which takes in Randy Newman and The Band along the way, blending American West coast pop, blues and soul. Influenced by The Byrds and Bob Dylan to name but two, Steves’ songwriting style creates the perfect setting for the vocal and musical talents of the band to shine. With various members past and present working with the likes of Norah Jones, Paul McCartney, Billy Bragg and Steely Dan, this is a group of genuine musical pedigree!

Anton Barbeau has recently finished work on two new solo albums. The first, In The Village Of The Apple Sun, is a Beatles-meets-Julian Cope-meets-Joe Meek psychedelic pop odyssey featuring Cake's Gabe Nelson and Oxford folkstress Sharron Kraus. This sister disk, Drug Free, mixes traditional American and English pop structures with Kraut-inflected space rock stretchiness. It features crowd-pleasers such as the title track and 'Leave it with Me, I'm Always Gentle'.

Schnauser play a mixture of psychedelic and progressive pop/rock and were formed in Armenia in 2003 by two soldiers sick of being shot and injured on a weekly basis. Schnauser are hugely popular in their native country and regularily play in front of crowds of people at the disused slaughterhouses which constitute Armenia's music venues. The band's first album Kill All Humans was completed in 2005 and is available from our own online store and iTunes.

Pink Hedgehog Records reluctantly present an album by Mondo Jet Set entitled Henry After A Nightlife. It is the first album by Mondo Jet Set. Mark is the tall statesman-like guitarist who shops well and writes and produces. Under threats of physical and emotional torture, he may even sing. James is the other one. He has long hair and sings and writes the songs with the obvious chord changes. Neither of them can drive. Both may have been a band called Marlowe, who produced an album entitled They Would've Hated You Anyway way back when. Craig is on drums. Now he does drive. And look, over there is Bob. He plays the bass very nicely indeed and has been known to drink alcohol. The album is good.

Girls In Graz is the Cambridge-based band's second album which stabs you with its full-energy, almost-live sound. The musical depth of the eleven songs is presented with refreshing ease. The skilful blend of various styles including pop, folk and jazz is a true work of art; a unified sound that calls for a new definition of Brit-Pop! This music has guts and you can feel the sheer joy which Hamfatter take in performing.

Thirteen brand new tracks from The Black Watch, possibly “the most criminally under-appreciated indie band in America.” Arguably their strongest set of songs to date and certainly a modern day pop classic. This is the bands first UK album release and will hopefully go a long way to helping them achieve the same reputation and adoration in Europe as they have enjoyed for so long now in the states.

This is the first ever UK release for The Black Watch. The new EP contains two tracks from the forthcoming album The Hypnotizing Sea, together with two exclusive B-sides. They are one of the most tenacious and "criminally under-appreciated" indie pop bands in America - whose leader, you may well find, is at the top of his game in the songwriting department. Their music has often been compared to Robyn Hitchcock and My Bloody Valentine, but also to a "sadder Beatles"!

This classic pop album from Anton Barbeau first came out back in 1995. On it's original release, it was only available in America, but now a decade later, we are putting that right with a very special 10th Anniversary issue of the CD. This version of the album has been re-mastered and has a revised track listing... it also comes with some amazing new artwork by Grammy award winning artist Rachel Gutek.

Songs From a Loft is Peter Lacey's fourth album and his third for Pink Hedgehog. Possibly his strongest collection to date, it is sure to put a smile back on your face and some extra warmth in your heart!

Just when we all thought it was never going to happen, it gives me the greatest of pleasure to announce the arrival of the brand new Cheese album Enlarge Your Johnson. Given that Let It Brie was a compilation of early tracks and demos, you could argue that this is there first "propper" album. The band has matured over the last few years, at least it's fair to say their music has - the incredible melodies, lyrics and hooks are still there, but their sound has evolved into a far more sophisticated brand of thinking mans pop!

This album is really very good indeed! Ant music fans won't need me to convince them, but for those of you who don't have an Anton Barbeau album in their collection, this is a good place to start. This set of new songs has a really nice "homespun" feel about it and there's one great track after another. Taking inspiration from artists like The Beatles, Robyn Hitchcock and Bob Dylan, Anton adds his uniquely twisted perspective and ends up with a sound that is highly individual and incredibly addictive. Have a listen to the clip and you'll find he's a little bit country and he's a little bit rock'n'roll!

Hamfatter seem to be influenced by bands they've never or hardly heard of, such as The Violent Femmes, XTC, Ben Folds Five, The Go-Betweens or early Belle & Sebastian. But all of these comparisons are purely academic, as contrary to current convention, Hamfatter don't make music to recreate their record collections. Three things hit you when you listen to their debut album... it's fresh, it's interesting, and it's good. Great tunes and good singing! One journalist compared it to "Gorky's Zygotic Mynci around the time they threatened to become successful". Enjoy the super melody-charged eclectic indie Brit-Rock sound of Hamfatter!

Anderida is Peter Lacey's third album and his second for Pink Hedgehog. The title refers to the name given by the Romans, to the giant forest that stretched from the east coast of England across Kent, Sussex and into Hampshire. Looking north from the Downs, all you'd see were trees. Roads, settlements, villages and towns were created over the centuries, and where Peter lives is part of all that. Peter loved the idea that it was all once a density of trees, and this became the concept and theme of his new album. Treat yourself to fourteen brand new helpings of Brian Wilson and Beach Boys inspired pop!

On this debut release, Steve Wilson shows us that he is a singer-songwriter of great talent. It is a very mature album, and contains a wealth of intelligent and sophisticated pop songs. His studio band, The Innocent Bystanders, features both Robbie McIntosh, a former member of The Pretenders and The Paul McCartney Band, and Chas Dickie from the legendary Van Der Graaf Generator. Some of you may know them from their more recent roles in Gordon Haskell's band. With musicians of this calibre and songs of an equal quality, it's no surprise that we end up with such an impressive album.

This album has been a long time coming, but just seconds after hitting the play button, you will realise that it has defenitely been worth the wait. This is the band's debut release, and once again proves that there is something very special about the music coming out of the often over-looked music scene in Dorset. This is more than just intelligent pop, but if comparisons have to be made, then think along the lines of early R.E.M. and The Cure. We are talking about uniquely creative guitar work, infectious melodies and observational lyrics that are both witty and inspired. An amazing album, for all fans of quality pop music.

This is the greatly anticipated follow up to Beam!, which proved to be a huge success for Peter Lacey back in 2000. Once again he has chosen to record the album in his "loft" studio at his home in West Sussex. Thru A Glass Brightly continues on from where Beam! left off and contains twelve beautifully crafted new songs. Peter's music is often compared to The Beach Boys because of his wonderful harmonies and arrangements, and to Paul McCartney's early work, with it's strength of melody and warm homemade production values. However, this album will no doubt establish Peter as a uniquely talented artist in his own right.

This album is a must for all power pop fans. If you take all the best things about XTC, Big Star, Teenage Fanclub and Television; and then add Marco Rossi's own brand of clever pop, you arrive at a band called Cheese. Featuring Rich Murphy and Alan Strawbridge from The Lucky Bishops, together with the powerful and creative Chris Page on drums, the band have come up with a wealth of brilliantly crafted pop songs. This debut CD release collects together all their best tracks, many of which have helped in making Cheese a household name.