Allo Darlin free gig Sunday December 20

Allo Darlin, or half of them in the form of Elizabeth Morris and Paul Rains, are returning to the Hangover Lounge on Sunday December 20. 

Fresh from 2 gigs the day before, the hardest working band in indiepop are playing an afternoon gig at 3pm at the Betsey Trotwood.

It's free to get in, so get there in good time to catch this intimate performance. If you've seen any of their previous gigs for us, you know how special they are. Here's a reminder, or a taster, of them playing Europe at the Lounge Allo Darlin' - "Europe" at The Lexington, London, 27 May 2012

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This Sunday: November 8th 2015

Headline: this Sunday, November 8th, we'll be having a Hangover Lounge at the Betsey Trotwood, from 3pm to 9pmish, as usual. It'll be us quietly playing brilliant records, hanging out and having a pleasingly relaxed time.

Bit more detail: we'd planned to host a launch do for our friend Michael White's Popkiss book about the history and aftermath of Sarah Records, which was to feature some Sarah-related groups playing live. Sadly, we have had to postpone that event, which we hope to host sometime early in 2016. So Sunday's a Hangover Lounge, pop along anyway, and if you want to talk to someone about Sarah Records there'll surely be someone there who'll chat to you about them. 

As I understand it, the Q&A at Rough Trade East on Thursday 5th is going ahead, so do pop along for that. 

If you're wondering what is going to happen to the Hangover Lounge in the longer term, well, we're not completely sure at this point. We'll use Sunday to gauge how much interest there's likely to be in a Betsey-based Lounge without live bands (all our afternoons there so far, which have been fun, have had groups playing). And then we'll have a little think. We'll let you know ASAP. 

The next four weeks in full

So! Four more Hangover Lounges until we leave the Lexington for pastures new. Gotta catch 'em all. Or at least some - please come along at some point to say cheerio for now and help us celebrate the end of an era.

Over the next month or so we'll be posting up some reflections and some thanks from the last six years.

Here are the details.

Sunday August 16th: the final Stolen Wine at the Hangover Lounge at the Lexington, though all being well not the last Stolen Wine at the Hangover Lounge because we're a TEAM now:

Sunday August 23rd: guest DJ Alan Hake, an old friend of ours who has excellent stories to tell about Creation Records, amongst other things:

Sunday August 30th: Tim's last Lexington bow, he* can't be with us on the 6th, so it's time for the Lexington to hear that Rita Lee record with the duck noises in one last time. Maybe two last times. 

Sunday September 6th: this is it, and we're going out in style with the last installment in our Gare du Nord residency, which has been pretty effing stellar so far. This one promises to be just as amazing and we wouldn't want that to be missed in the kerfuffle of our departure.

It's a ridiculously strong bill: if you know the Hangover Lounge you surely know about Rotifer and the Left Outsides: they are both long-term friends and comrades of ours, as well as being brilliant in their own right. They are joined for this show by a genuine enigmatic legend, John Howard. Just in case you're uninitiated, here's a taste of John's work:

And that's that, for a bit.

 The rest is noise.

*If you're reading carefully you'll probably be able to see that "he" is actually writing this, so that's a bit weird, but you get the idea.

Big news: last days at the Lexington

WHAT? The time has come! After a very happy six and a bit years at the Lexington, we will be moving. 

Where? We're not sure yet, we're working on it. There's a chance that we'll re-think the hours or the format or something but we will be back, rocking gently with sweet sounds and occasional amazing live acts. 

When's all this happening? 

The last Lexington Lounge will be Sunday 6th of September. Here's the plan: 

This Sunday (16th August) will be the last Stolen Wine at the Hangover Lounge at the Lexington. To prove it, here's a flyer: 

Then we've a couple of old-fashioned Hangover Lounge Sunday afternoons on the 23rd and 30th. The 30th, it turns out, is a Bank Holiday Sunday, which promises to be epic and possibly rather messy. 

On September the 6th itself our farewell will coincide with the last date in our Gare du Nord summer residency. So mark such a momentous occasion it became clear that we needed TWO flyers, look:

After that we've a couple of one-off events planned, probably at our new home, more of which very soon. Stay tuned for news of them, and confirmation of our new permanent home. 

Why's all this happening? 

The Lexington has big plans for live music in the downstairs bar on Sunday afternoons, which I'm sure they'll tell you all about by and by. There isn't really any room for Hangover Lounging in those plans, so we're moving on with no hard feelings and plenty of happy memories. And a few blank patches where happy memories may have been, but beer and whiskey washed them away. 

Having a party with the Hangover Lounge

Would you like 10% off your drinks bill? Or a free bottle of fizz?

Well, you can have that at the Lexington. If you book a table over the summer you'll get 10% off your drinks bill. If you book a table for 15 or more people you'll get a free bottle of fizz.

Book by email info@thelexington.co.uk or phone 020 7837 5371

The Lexington opens at noon on Sunday and closes at 2am. We're DJing from 3pm to 9pm. See you there.

Gare Du Nord residency

There's a special series of Gare Du Nord gigs this summer. They're free, they start at 3pm and you should come. You can pick up a free 16-page magazine written by Gare Du Nord artists, largely explaining why they love each other's music. Some of their reasons may be the same as yours. Some might help you see them in a new light.

July 5: Ralegh Long, Citizen Helene, Jack Hayter

August 2: Papernut Cambridge, Rapid Results College, Picturebox

September 6: John Howard, Rotifer, The Left Outsides

The Left Outsides are, you've noticed, not on Gare Du Nord. But they share a spirit. As Jack Hayter says in the magazine:

Alison Cotton and Mark Nicholas make a chilly haunted moorland sound, combining the rock psychedelic with folk balladry in such a way that you just don’t see the joins. They both sing, and Alison’s viola is a third voice. The lovely instrumental Stargazer must surely be the best one minute space movie soundtrack ever.

Dave Callahan, The Left Outsides: acoustic gig, Sunday 28th June

Time for another Sunday afternoon acoustic show, we reckon. This coming Sunday, the 28th of June starting at 3ish and ending at 5ish we will be delighted to welcome both The Left Outsides and Dave Callahan of The Wolfhounds.

The Wolfhounds started up in the early-mid 80s; in a time when it seemed that independent music in the UK was either crunchy or pop (let's not think about the goths), The Wolfhounds were a rare example of an act who won friends and admirers on both "sides". That all seems a bit parochial now, but through the course of an initial run of three LPs the Wolfhounds went further out and became ever more fascinating. After a long hiatus, during which Dave was seen in the marvellous Moonshake amongst many other things. The Wolfhounds reconvened a couple of years back and are just as noisome and downright bloody excellent as ever. In all that time Dave has never played a "solo" show - this will be his first. We're not sure exactly what to expect. History in the making at the Hangover Lounge.

The Left Outsides are Mark Nicholas and Alison Cotton, a husband and wife duo based in London, England whose atmospheric, hypnotic songs echo Nico's icy European folk, pastoral psychedelia and chilly English fields at dawn. Over the course of a few years they've quietly made a series of remarkable records, most recently the uneasily gorgeous LP "The Shape Of Things To Come", which you should think about catching up with if you haven't already. This is a welcome return for them, we're used to being amazed by their too-rare plugged-in full-band shows but my personal favourite TLOs moments have been in the quiet of a Hangover Lounge Sunday afternoon.

Can you tell we're excited? Come and join us on Sunday. Sweet music and idle chatter downstairs from 3-9 as usual. Don't say we're not good to you, even if we're not good for you.

Haiku Salut, Owl & Mouse, Two White Cranes: all ages gig, Sunday August 9

How Does It Feel are presenting 3 ace album launches in one afternoon on August 9:

Haiku Salut - Etch And Etch Deep ("instrumental post-folk that isn't afraid to tear up the rulebook and begin fresh")
Owl & Mouse - Departures ("open-hearted yet delicate songs from the same school of Australian songwriting as The Go-Betweens, The Triffids and Courtney Barnett")
Two White Cranes - Raddison Blue (Roxy's now in Joanna Gruesome; her stripped-down bare bones outsider folk rock is its own special treat)

Tickets are £8 or £4 for under-12s.

Doors open at 2pm. The music's finished by 5pm. The Hangover Lounge will be DJing as usual downstairs (roast dinners available) in the afternoon and evening until 9pm.

The Would-Be-Goods and Charm Bracelet: free gig Sunday 31 May

It's our 7th (SEVENTH) birthday so we're celebrating with a free afternoon gig starring our friends and favourites The Would-Be-Goods and newcomers Charm Bracelet.

You know The Would-Be-Goods, creators of refined and quality pop music since 1987. Every release has been vintage. They first graced our stage in 2009, we released a record by them in 2012 and they're always welcome back.

Which is why they're back.

Charm Bracelet are two ladies from Austin, Texas on a mission to "bring back the sweet & sad indiepop hits you never heard of, one tug of a heartstring at a time". You probably have heard the indiepop they play because you, dear reader, have lugholes of taste and distinction. Their repertoire numbers bands like The Clientele, The Softies, Daniel Johnston, Camera Obscura and The Magnetic Fields:


The live music starts upstairs at the Lexington 3.30pm. Stick around in the evening and watch Fever Dream, Hacia Dos Veranos and The Great Electric. We're putting that on as well.

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Fever Dream, Hacia Dos Veranos and The Great Electric gig 31 May, The Lexington

In America they call it shoegaze; in Australia they call it roogaze; and in twatland they call it nu-gaze. Here we call what Fever Dream do brilliantly skewed, fuzzy pop music. The blizzard of noise that is Serotonin Hit is one of the year's very best songs from one of the year's best albums, Moyamoya.



Hacia Dos Veranos' Limay is one of the greatest albums of the last 10 years. The Clientele's Alasdair MacLean said: "Their guitarist is a maestro: economical, precise, lyrical. His rolling, arpeggiated style will remind you of Felt’s Maurice Deebank or Vini Reilly, but he also possesses a faint echo of Johnny Marr, in that for all his sense of space and harmony he’s playing tunes first and foremost."



The Great Electric number members from Hefner, Kenickie, Go-Kart Mozart, and Mum and Dad. They have a song that sounds like Buzzcocks' Everybody's Happy Nowadays played by Kraftwerk (Jump Over The House) and another that finds the midway point between Roxy Music and Can (Music & Colour). They own more Hawkwind records than you do.



Buy your tickets.

Grant McLennan tribute gig May 3 2015

We're marking the life and music of Grant McLennan, a songwriter closer to our hearts than most, by getting some of Grant's friends and fans to play at the fifth annual tribute gig on Sunday May 3.

David Westlake is playing because he has to and because we want him to. You do, too. The Popguns impressed our John by covering Head Full Of Steam last year, so we immediately cajoled them into practising some McLennan numbers. Fortunately, they didn't need any persuasion. Bill Botting of Allo Darlin' - you remember Elizabeth Morris' warm, touching set 2 years ago - is playing, and I'll be very surprised if some of his equally talented pals don't join him in tribute.

The music starts at 3pm. You'll likely find a jazz band playing downstairs. Get your drinks and move on upstairs where the good stuff is happening. The bands finish by 5pm, at which point we'll man the decks until 9pm.

Entrance is free, kids are welcome. It's at the Lexington.

What's that? You want a special guest? We're working on it, trust me. These things take time. In the meantime, a reminder of a very special guest:

Lost Weekend 24 and 25 January

Mark 24 and 25 January as red letter days in your 2015 calendar because the Lost Weekend is back and it’s star-studded.

On Saturday 24 January at the Union Chapel, Darren Hayman is launching his new album, Chants for Socialists, a powerful new collection of songs based on William Morris's writing featuring a choir of left-leaning locals. The music will please anyone who’s ever thought, correctly, ‘early 70s Kinks were rather good’.

The Papas and the Mamas
These mamas are Sarah Cracknell and Debsey Wykes. The papas are Martin and Paul Kelly. You know them as, variously, members of Saint Etienne, Dolly Mixture and East Village.

These two sets of parents will be playing some Mamas & The Papas songs as well as songs by their older bands (I *think* this means East Village songs; I certainly suggested to them it does and even prepared a set list they could use). This is their debut gig as The Papas & The Mamas. We are, understandably, very excited.

The Catenary Wires were formed in 2014 when Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey (Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Tender Trap) moved out of London.

They started playing songs on their daughter's 3/4 size acoustic guitar, and are still refusing to give it back.

The Catenary Wires function as a simple two-piece, but will often feature guest musicians when playing live. Their first ever show was on 3 May 2014 at the Arnolfini in Bristol. Their songs are quiet and (mostly) sad.

The Union Chapel opens at 12pm. It’s free, but please donate at the door as all money goes to the bands and running the venue. All money from cafe sales goes to the Margins Homelessness Project based at Union Chapel so do enjoy a coffee and cake.

The Union Chapel gig finishes by 2.30pm, at which time we'll be going to the pub. See off your hangover in style the following day, Sunday 25 January, at the Lexington, where the live music starts upstairs at 3pm sharp, featuring:

eagleowl are "a lethargic pop band from Edinburgh" who've averaged one release a year over the past 6 years, each one exquisite and just-so. Of course it's a pared-down version of the band playing acoustically. It will be low-key but not lo-fi.

Their music is slow and sad like Low. It's sepulchral and bewitching like Galaxie 500 and it's rich and earthy like Alasdair Roberts. You need to see this gig.

Rozi Plain, Bristolian folk chanteuse whose spectral shanties have graced the Hangover Lounge's decks (many times) and our stage (not enough times), returns. We are, naturally, delighted.

Recent single Jogalong showed Rozi at a career high - a dusty folk groove warmed by a distant heat -that suggests her third album will be her best. We look forward to hearing her new songs.

Robert Rotifer is a Robert Wyatt- and Edwyn Collins-endorsed, Frankfurt Kitchen-loving, Canvey Island-referencing, Austrian-born songwriter. Robert spent most of his musical 2014 moonlighting as a guitarist on albums by Alex Highton and Papernut Cambridge, as well as writing and recording with seventies legend John Howard and plotting the next album of his own band, due out in 2015. The Hangover Lounge gig is the perfect opportunity to introduce some of his new material.

Jazz warning
The bands we have playing are upstairs at the Lexington, and start at 3pm - the Lexington have a live jazz band (the Acoustic Nomads) playing downstairs in the bar from 2-5, so don't be surprised when you come in - it's not Robert Rotifer's new direction, and you are in the right place.

We’ll be DJing downstairs from 5pm where our usual rule apply (keep it quiet, play music to heal hurting heads, your new favourite tunes), so stay a while and chat with your chums.