aaamusic | On 16, Feb 2011

Another year and another chance to brush up on your indiepop trivia with the London Popfest 2011. Ok, so the 4-day passes have already sold-out and the All-dayer at the 100 Club is sold out, but we will have some press lists places available should you want to review or check out your new/old favourite band. The line-up this year is truly top-notch with appearances from indiepop legends the like The Pooh Sticks (with their first London show for god knows how long), 14 Iced Bears as well as The Monochrome Set. Also excited about seeing Eux Autres from California. Films will be screened on the Friday at The Miller near London Bridge Station with showings of The Lucksmiths: Darkening Doorways and Strange Powers – Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields.

To highlight a couple of other bands playing, let’s draw our attention to Manchester’s Help Stamp Out Loneliness as they’re playing Saturday’s All Dayer. They’ll be releasing their debut album via the Where Its At Is Where You Are label in May as well as a special single for Record Shop Day in April, entitled (appropriately) Record Shop.

Help Stamp Out Loneliness are a gender symmetric 6 piece from Manchester, England.  Their cosmopolitan mix of krautrock and indie-pop coupled with the striking presence of lead singer D. Lucille has drawn comparisons to The Organ, The Au Pairs and Nico. They sound like Trevor Horn producing Stereolab covering New Order’s Technique, had it been written by Morrissey and Marr. They truly are one of the most exciting new British bands around.

Norwich’s Bearsuit will be playing the all-dayer as well , whose new album The Phantom Forest is out in March and is an off-the-wall disco-punk-pop masterpiece. The single “When Will I Be Queen” is out on 28 April and here’s the fab new video for the track:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4VIZ0JpDD4. You can find out more about them here: http://www.bearsuit.co.uk/ andhttp://www.myspace.com/bearsuit

POPFEST LINE-UP here!

Thursday 24 Feb (Bush Hall, evening): The Pooh Sticks, Tender Trap, The Understudies + 1 more tba (tickets here)

Friday 25 Feb (Brixton Windmill, evening): The Andersen Tapes, Sourpatch, Town Bike, The X-ing School (only for 4-day pass holders)

Saturday 26 Feb (100 Club, all-dayer): Bearsuit, Evans The Death, Eux Autres, The Felt Tips, Help Stamp Out Loneliness, The History of Apple Pie, Humousexual, The Monochrome Set (sold out)

Sunday 27 Feb (The Lexington, afternoon): 14 Iced Bears, The Notes, Youngfuck + Girls Names (tickets here)