The Sundays, Camera Obscura, The Housemartins, The Supremes, Felt, Tindersticks, Belle and Sebastian, Simon and Garfunkel, Ooberman, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, The Carpenters, Delgados, Nick Drake, The Pastels, The Go! Team, Orange Juice, The Go-Betweens, Teenage Fanclub, The Magnetic Fields, Hefner, The Beach Boys, The Pipettes, The Ronettes, and many other bands from pop, indiepop, northern soul and Motown to much more...
Sounds Like
"Sweet pop gems" Plan B magazine
"Love 'Cross The Line'. It's pure snowshaker pop, and more dressing-table than kitchen sink." Simon Armitage
"Some of the finest songwriters in indiepop today" Skatterbrain
"Spring ushering tingle some guitars, softly shy eyed lilting melodies and hopelessly lovelorn boy / girl harmonies - how could we resist. " Losing Today magazine
"Memorable for all the right reasons, their blend of summer feel good melodic riffs and sweeping choruses were certainly infectious..." Efestivals
"Everything about Pocketbooks is perfect, from the obvious world-weariness to the pretty, pretty music, to Emma Hall’s voice." Tasty Fanzine
"Pocketbooks are the best kept secret of the thriving London indiepop scene right now." Indie MP3
"...giddy timeless bedroom dramas... a hunger and cloistered dreams are all theirs. Glorious majesty, given time." Planet Sound, C4 Teletext
"If you love melodies and infectiously catchy tunes then this is your album." Russell's Reviews
"Spritely piano, spiraling guitar and semi-operatic diary entries; a twenty-four carat toe-tapper" Coke Machine Glow
"Precious sounding songs about the simple things, sung in an incredibly earnest way. There's also a great little knack for pop culture references here too." Another Form Of Relief
"A stream of hummable, always likeable stories, bubbling with lyrical imagination, rippling with a determination to encompass all of London life into a series of vignettes." In Love With These Times, In Spite Of These Times
"They’re Indie. With a capital ‘aaah!’ This debut shows great things possible - if a slight breeze doesn’t blow them away." Die Shellsuit Die
Pocketbooks are a pop band from London, combining melodic boy/girl harmonies, spiralling guitars and delicate piano lines. Expect a sprinkling of dazzling 60s soul alongside some sparkling indiepop charm!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Flight Paths: our debut album, released 13 July
Our debut album, Flight Paths, is available now on the How Does It Feel To Be Loved? label.
It's available on CD from all the best record shops, and you can also pick up the CD or MP3s from a host of online distributors, including iTunes, Amazon, HMV, Play.com etc.
The CD is also available directly from How Does It Feel To Be Loved?, which is by far the coolest way to buy it and will mean less of your money goes to The Man!
We've made one of the songs from the album available as a free MP3 download:
Fleeting Moments
----------------------------------------------------------------- Footsteps: our new single, out now!
Our new single Footsteps was released on 15 June. The song's taken from our debut album, Flight Paths. Here's the artwork for the single, as designed by our Emma. The photo was provided by Sonja from www.sauerkrautdesign.com
----------------------------------------------------------------- A brief history
We first introduced ourselves to the world by appearing on the 2006 compilation 'The Kids At The Club' (How Does It Feel To Be Loved?) alongside indiepop favourites such as Voxtrot, I'm From Barcelona and Lucky Soul.
Since then, we've played gigs across the country, including headlining the first ever Indietracks event on a 1950s steam railway in Derbyshire in April 2007. This event has now turned into an annual two-day festival each July, which several of the band now help to organise. We’ve also been fortunate enough to play shows with some fantastic bands, including The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Fanfarlo, The Wedding Present, Butcher Boy and Monica Queen.
In 2008 we even hit the summer festivals, including the Rip It Up festival (Sweden), Offset festival, The Mix festival in London, and, of course, a return to the Indietracks festival.
Our debut single, Cross The Line (Atomic Beat Records, 2007) was described by Simon Armitage as “pure snowshaker pop, and more dressing table than kitchen sink”. This was followed by an EP, Waking UP (Make Do And Mend Records, 2008), which Losing Today described as “Spring-ushering tinglesome guitars, softly shy eyed lilting melodies and hopelessly lovelorn boy / girl harmonies.”
Our debut album, Flight Paths, was released on 13 July 2009 on the How Does It Feel To Be Loved? label. This was preceeded by a single, Footsteps, on 15 June. Songs from the album have picked up radio play from Huw Stephens (BBC Radio 1), Gideon Coe (BBC 6Music) and John Kennedy (Xfm).
"Skating On Thin Ice" on my radio show, The British Breakfast on WRIR 97.3FM Richmond, Virginia USA and streamed live on wrir.org Saturday (today) between 2-4PM.
p!o!p kombinat berlin & Pop Assistants presents: The Lucksmiths (AUS) A Smile and a Ribbon (SWE) The Ladybug Transistor (USA) - Gary Olson live with members of the The Lucksmiths Uni & her Ukelele (USA)
Sa, 11.07.2009 @ Bang Bang Club Berlin Doors: 20 h Cost: 10 €
I have just spend a happy weekend in London with my best friend and what better soundtrack then the Pocketbooks album ? Whenever I listen to the album my heart aches a little for a life in London!
FLEETWOOD MAC Jigsaw Puzzle Blues VIVIAN GIRLS All The Time MARS VOLTA Cotopaxi POCKETBOOKS Footsteps JIM LOCKEY & THE SOLEMN SUN Friendly Fire JULIE DOIRON When Brakes Get Wet JULIE DOIRON Heavy Snow RIDE Leave Them All Behind TWIGS Divulge YOUNG REBEL SET Drink Problem DEBBIE LEGGO Love Travels On A Tightrope PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART Young Adult Friction GANG GREEN Lie Lie TOY FIGHT The Punch Line MORRISSEY I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris MAJOR LAZER Hold The Line M.A.S.S. Live A Little --------------------------------------------------------------------- WEBSITE : www.popscenewithjalal.com MYSPACE SITE : www.myspace.com/popscenewithjalal --------------------------------------------------------------------- POPSCENE with J*A*L*A*L Radio Weser [Bremen/Germany] 92.5 FM [antenne] / 101.85 FM [cable] Fridays at 18 hrs [since 1994]
Have got the album on constant repeat ! I am totally exhausted from having worked way too hard the last few months, but listening to your album never fails to put a skip in my step and a smile on my face. It's also a great testament to the fantastic time I had with my friends at the London popfest. Whenever I listen to your songs the memories come flooding back.
By the way, it's also a long time since I have given so much attention to the lyrics on a record. Your lyrics are absolutely ace !
Just a quick note to let you know that our debut EP, "Willow Pattern Songs" is now available as a digital download from Amazon (UK, US, Germany etc.), iTunes and other good mp3 stores, as well as a limited edition CD from Rough Trade, HMV Japan and Proper Songs.
Everyone at indiecater records would like to wish you a happy summer and let you know that there is an indiepop song from the Very Most available to download FREE from our site!
BLACK KEYS Do The Rump POCKETBOOKS Cross The Line PROCEDURE CLUB Leave Me Out NOVEMBER FIVE Closure EMILY SCOTT Pageant Queen BUTCHER BOY Sunday Bells BUTCHER BOY A Better Ghost LOOP Vapour MUGS Slow Curve LOVETONES Journeyman PROJEKT A-KO Nothing Works Twice EMBRACE My Weakness Is None Of Your Business CRYSTAL STILTS Love Is A Wave PJ HARVEY The Chair BILLY HOLIDAY What Is This Thing Called Love MANIC STREET PREACHERS Jackie Collins Existential Question Time --------------------------------------------------------------------- WEBSITE : www.popscenewithjalal.com MYSPACE SITE : www.myspace.com/popscenewithjalal --------------------------------------------------------------------- POPSCENE with J*A*L*A*L Radio Weser [Bremen/Germany] 92.5 FM [antenne] / 101.85 FM [cable] Fridays at 18 hrs [since 1994]
We've a new single out NOW through Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation. It's a split 7" single featuring our song "Dancing". The single also features fellow SPC band Slow Down Tallahassee.
We've have some great reviews for it & radio play on XFM and 6Music.
You can order the 7" single (or buy the digital download now) from Thee SPC website at www.theespc.com or from our profile.
If you buy the 7" vinyl, you get a special code to access the digital download for free.
Online Now!
