Adventure Team
Pop Mutations & Heavenly Creature reccords presents...
Adventure Team
+ Dancer
14/06/2025
The Glad Cafe
18+
Adventure Team are an International Pop Underground band from Berlin. Jonathan, Juan & Ian. “In Giraffe” out now on @heavenlycrecs.
Das Kinn
POP MUTATIONS presents…
Das Kinn
with Ceefax & han
18th June 2025
The Flying Duck
18+
With his first full-length album ‘Ruinenkampf’, to be released via Hamburg based quality label Bureau B, Das Kinn embarks on a musical tour de force through the ruins of our time. An electronic armada and kickbox-phonetics lead us through haunting soundscapes somewhere between DAF, Kosmische Kuriere and Frankfurt Bahnhofsviertel. Beats on full blast. Bones rattle. Warm synthlines played by cold hands. A saxophone ponders the after. Hymns for the demolition. Sonic meditations on decay. Music for the solemn decline.
“Music is the only art form that can tear down and build up at the same time. We have just witnessed this event of simultaneity.“ – Hendrik Otremba
For almost two decades, sound activist Toben Piel has been emitting knocking signs and signal sounds from the catacombs around the bank towers of Frankfurt/Germany. As part of the music-performance duo Les Trucs, as co-founder of the tape label MMODEMM and with works for theater and radio.
His latest coup “Ruinenkampf” will be released on 02.05.2025 via Bureau B.
CALEB NICHOLS, Count Florida & First Wives
POP MUTATIONS presents…
Caleb Nichols,
Count Florida
& First Wives
20th June 2025
The Glad Cafe
18+
Caleb Nichols put himself on the map with Ramon, a critically acclaimed queer Beatles rock opera. Now, he’s tackling something of a more radical proposition — just 11 great songs, full stop.Nichols is out with his new album, Let’s Look Back — his second full-length album on the hallowed indie label Kill Rock Stars. “It’s about the idea that you have to look back and confront stuff before you can move forward,” Nichols says. “It’s about vindication, and reintegration, and trusting yourself.” Produced by Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave, Let’s Look Back’s highlights are everywhere — from the unstoppable power-pop rocket that is “Demon Twink” to the luminous pop of “J’ai Vu La Lune!” to the bold and brassy “Wicked.” “I’m not the good witch/ I’m the bad one!” goes Nichols’ infectiously catchy refrain. But Let’s Look Back is most definitely a good one — one that will send fans of early 2000s indie rock, from the Shins to the Decemberists to Belle and Sebastian, to heaven.
C.O.F.F.I.N
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
C.O.F.F.I.N
+ Special Guests
Sunday 29th June
Stereo
18+
Sydney's very own hard-biting rockers; C.O.F.F.I.N are a four piece, full force, boogie rock ‘n’ roll band featuring snarling lead vocals from behind the drum kit, high voltage lead guitars, and steady rhythms that keep you stomping along.
With an infectious hip-shaking groove, a chaotic, punk live show and a commanding voice of political activism, C.O.F.F.I.N has captivated a passionate following and widespread acclaim across the globe. They’ve clocked hundreds of high velocity performances, countless headline
tours and unforgettable festival appearances, and has shared the stage with iconic and influential bands such as Amyl and the Sniffers, Tropical F*ck Storm, TSOL, Celibate Rifles, Dead Kennedys, Misfits, and the Hard-Ons to name a few.
Exploring song themes on their own Australian experience, C.O.F.F.I.N voice their juxtaposition between the serenity and beauty of the stolen lands we walk and live, as well as the harrowing social injustices and prejudice that is deeply ingrained within Australian culture. Every performance is a platform and an opportunity to voice for positive cultural change and there is
never a stage too large or small to challenge and confront outdated, yet modern Australian-ideals.
C.O.F.F.I.N have recorded and released five studio albums, one live album, and three EPs, all of which have sold out globally. Their most recent LP entitled ‘Australia Stops’, was released through Goner Records (US), Bad Vibrations (UK) and Damaged Record Co. (AU) in September 2023, debuting at #2 on the Australian ARIA Charts, winning ‘Best Hard Rock/Heavy
Album’ at the National Live Music Awards and an end-of-year appearance at the highly cherished Meredith Music Festival. Internationally, the band received higher global recognition and acclaim, reaching #5 in Vive Le Rock’s top 50 albums of the year of 2023 (UK), plus features in Rolling Stone (France) and Visions Magazine (Germany).
With an unquenchable thirst for adventure and discovery, C.O.F.F.I.N have set out on several international tours across the USA, Europe, UK and Asia. They’ve joined esteemed international festival bills such as Wide Awake Festival (UK), Binic Folks Blues Festival (France), Goner Fest
(USA), Palp Festival (Switzerland) and SonicBlast Festival (Portugal) amongst many others.
ESCAPE-ISM
Pop Mutations & Freakender presents:
ESCAPE-ISM
+ Lungleg
Tuesday 1st July
Stereo
18+
ESCAPE-ISM —known as the “found sound dream drama”— is a group specializing in “minimal rock ’n’ roll” led by Ian F Svenonius on voice, beat machine, and electric guitar & featuring Sandi Denton on electric bass guitar, voice, & keyboard.
As art & expression kneels in servility to corporate dictums, ESCAPE-ISM is an outlier. They’re the “rock ’n’ roll animinimalist” that rides the rails with a bindle stick; a “what me worry?” tramp who haunts out-of-the-way watering holes frequented by roughshod holdouts against computer conformity.
Known for their offhand musical insouciance, ESCAPE-ISM has gathered a devout following of know nothing acolytes across the globe. ESCAPE-ISM also hosts a series of evenings at Los Angles’ Zebulon nightclub entitled “Rated Z”, named for their full length album Rated Z (2022, Radical Elite/Monotone records). These rock ‘n’ roll revues are legendary events of simulated excitement.
In 2021, ESCAPE-ISM released “A Protest Against Sound,” a 40 minute silent vinyl record on their own label Radical Elite Records, to register their discontent with the state of music. Tapping into popular discontent, it sold out in mere moments.
The next year, the group released a feature length film THE LOST RECORD (directed & produced by I.F. Svenonius & A Cabral), based on the ESCAPE-ISM album of the same name. It won several awards (Chicago Underground Film Festival, Belgrade Film Festival, et al) and toured the arthouses of the world. The soundtrack to this record will be released on In The Red Records.
ESCAPE-ISM represents our last hope to wreck civilization. All hail Minimal Rock ’n’ Roll!
Autocamper
Pop Mutations & Monorail Music present:
Autocamper
plus Radhika
Sunday 13th July at The Glad Cafe
18+ show
Manchester’s Autocamper are the perfect pop antidote to the city’s predictable post-punk machismo. Like a Northern kitchen sink rendering of The Vaselines’ call and response motif, vocal duties are shared by Jack Harkins and Niamh Purtill—their world-weary reflections on bedroom tiffs and hungover misdemeanors capture the jangle pop spirit of the ‘80s without the C86 revisionism.
Autocamper were formed on a crisp, autumnal evening in October 2022; via a combination of mutual friends, anonymous internet ads and chance encounters at an Umbrellas’ gig (future Slumberland Records label mates). Honing their sound across the ever-dwindling practice spaces of the city, much of the album was thrashed out between the backrooms of pubs, half-constructed studio spaces, and a (now demolished) disused commercial kitchen unit. Though a true DIY sensibility permeates the music and ethos of the band, their debut LP sees them step up a level from previous self-recorded releases.
Radhika is a Glasgow based artist of Indian heritage. From an early age, she has been exposed to all forms of music in her creative home. Having spent her younger years immersing herself in the lyrics on the sleeves of her father’s record collection, this is what inspired her to start writing her own songs at the age of ten. She has performed at a variety of venues/festivals including Celtic Connections, The Poetry Club, Glad Cafe, Glasgow Mela and King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut.Her main inspirations are Nick Drake, Cocteau Twins and Strawberry Switchblade.
Hayden Pedigo
Pop Mutations presents:
Hayden Pedigo
+ Special Guests
Thursday 4th September
Mono
18+
FADE IN:
EXT. SPARSE LANDSCAPE – DAY
A topography difficult to imagine in more than two dimensions; ocher
and cerulean in a 50/50 horizontal split.
A kaleidoscopic son of cowboy country — no trendy pretender, but
truly sprung from the sky and soil of the Texas panhandle — steps
into frame, wearing chain mail or a pinstripe suit or at least ten
gallons of hat. HAYDEN PEDIGO narrows his eyes, furrows his brow and
flexes the fingers and pick-ringed thumb of his right hand, before
grabbing for the grip of a dueling pistol which is actually a water
pistol, a balloon sword, or an inflatable guitar.
*
So run the reels of The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored, Pedigo’s sixth studio album (and second
for Mexican Summer) in the cinema of your ear; its script written in steel-string, its starring
director a 28-year-old performance artist, politician, model, and fingerstyling maestro whose
talent is as irrepressible as it is undeniable.
Pedigo has lived many lives, having been homeschooled in Amarillo, Texas by his truck-stop
preacher father; run for Amarillo City Council in 2019, aged 25—as documented by Jasmine
Stodel’s SXSW-premiering, PBS-acquired film Kid Candidate—and struck up pen-friendships
and collaborative partnerships with the likes of Terry Allen, Charles Hayward (This Heat),
Werner “Zappi” Diermaier (Faust), and Tim Heidecker. A move south from Amarillo to Lubbock
in 2020 put a spark to the powder keg of his creativity. “It’s even more flat, desolate, windy and
dirty – like being on Mars,” Pedigo observes. “It’s pushed me to create more because there’s
not really much to distract.” The move produced not only The Happiest Times and its
predecessor Letting Go, but also an Internet presence that showcases a panoply of ever-more
outlandish outfits and an effortless deadpan wit. Both the former and the latter helped parlay
him into the fashion world, too, having walked the runway for Gucci and been photographed by
Hedi Slimane.
Inspired by the tragicomedic legacy of National Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney (in whose
notes the line ‘These last few days are amongst the happiest I’ve ever ignored’ was found
following his mysterious and untimely death), Pedigo embarked upon The Happiest Times with
a no-shit aim: to create “the best instrumental acoustic guitar album of the past twenty years.”
Though canonical works of comedy and music show their influence—the mournful beauty of
Nick Drake, the puckish abandon of John Fahey—Pedigo by no means places their creators on
pedestals; if anything pulling them from their plinths, smashing the alabasters, pocketing some
pieces, gluing others back together upside down, or leaving them floating free.
How might Fahey have played in a Midwest emo band? Pedigo posits on “Nearer, Nearer,”
while the specters of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn float somewhere above “Signal of Hope”
– “the most British-sounding thing I’ve ever written;” an echo in an empty church. Pedigo flits
through the cycle of songs, coiling and uncoiling like the mechanism of a clockwork bird on
“When It’s Clear;” rambling, a tiny speck in the landscape, on “Elsewhere.” “Then It’s Gone”
stands as stark as a leafless tree, guitar spilling a somber tale in its truest voice – and nowhere
more than on the title track is Pedigo’s playing more affecting: regret and optimism balanced
on intimate, intricate arrangement, as carefully poised as raindrops on guitar strings.
Citing a “rigid relationship with guitar” in which he has only slices of time to adequately express
himself (“I have a five minute window to do something meaningful, and if it doesn’t come within
five minutes, then it goes back in the case”), Pedigo wrote each song separately, start to finish,
one by one. When an album’s worth of songs had been written, he undertook an intense
regime of rehearsal, playing and replaying The Happiest Times on a loop, testing his technical
ability, always striving for tighter, purer and more concise iterations.
In June 2022, Pedigo transported the limbered-up record to Pulp Arts in Gainesville, Florida,
where the relentless practice paid off: he played the core acoustic compositions in track order,
beginning to end, and by the evening of the first day, realized he’d essentially nailed the record
in one go. After tracking the main narrative of the guitar, a studio team of producer Trayer Tryon
(Hundred Waters, Moses Sumney) on synths and bass, Luke Schneider (Margo Price, Orville
Peck) on pedal steel, and Robert Edmondson on electric bass and piano painted in a sunset of
sound behind the acoustic parts, lighting them with a warm glow while allowing them to remain
front and center of the scene.
If the rolling strings of Letting Go planted and germinated the seeds, then The Happiest Times
sees Hayden grow the flowers, admire their ruffles, and take newly sharpened scissors to the
stems; turmoil and perfectionism and the gods of chaos driving the hand that holds the shears.
“I want to create something very melodic, and then put it behind a barbed wire fence,” Hayden
reflects. “If you’re gonna get this pretty thing, then you might get cut up trying to get to it.”
Pedigo’s particular brand of barb comes in a variety of shapes: the carousel of internet
personas that prod and jest (one day a 1970s car salesman, the next perhaps a Burger King
attendant or gogo-booted knight); beautiful yet uneasy technicolor album artworks that place
him incongruously corpse-painted at a gas station or glowing in ultraviolet on the parking lot of
a flaming Walmart; or, in the music itself, pauses which verge on the uncomfortably long while
the well-mannered audience member shuffles in their seat, trying to work out whether to clap
yet or not.
At their most profound, Pedigo’s spacious, pristine soundscapes communicate an essential
truth about the pursuit of artistic perfection. Creating The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored was,
he surmises, a process akin to “the dog chasing the mail truck – what do you do when you
catch it?”
*
BACK TO
EXT. SPARSE LANDSCAPE – SAME
As HAYDEN wields his weapon of choice, PAN OUT to reveal that his
dueling partner is his double, standing in mirror image. One laughs,
one cries, each dampening the dirt with a single tear. He is a lone
star in multiple; challenged and challenger both.
FADE OUT.
The Wants
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
The Wants
+ Special Guests
Saturday 27th September
The Flying Duck
18+
An adversarial network of ideas, The Wants welcome the possibility that embracing friction can give rise to something cathartic and unexpected. Formed by Madison Velding-VanDam and Jason Gates in 2017, and with the addition of Yasmeen Night in 2021, The Wants’ sound is defined by the push and pull of its members’ processes: floating rhythms upheaving grounded songwriting, pulsing synths overwhelming live instrumentation. Their new record, Bastard, is an evolution of many of the seeds planted in their debut record, Container (2020), with a refined sense of acerbic emotional urgency and sonic experimentation.
GEE TEE + 1-800 MIKEY + Fruit Tones
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
GEE TEE
+ 1-800 MIKEY
+ Fruit Tones
Wednesday 1st October
The Flying Duck
18+
Carolina Durante
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
Carolina Durante
+ Special Guests
Wednesday 5th November
Stereo
18+
There are intangibles that go beyond the number of headlining shows, the amount of albums sold, or the sum of followers on social media
— objective data that, by the way, confirm the relevance of Carolina Durante as the most important band of their generation.
But we were talking about intangibles — those things that, in times of data tyranny, turn an artist or a band into a phenomenon whose importance goes beyond the sum of their numbers. We were talking about Carolina Durante.
Carolina Durante has had to swim against the current since the day, after a Los Punsetes concert, they decided to form a band. And they did it: they divided the roles of the group, and the next day they went to buy instruments — guitar, bass, drums... All of this in a context where urban and Latin music were beginning to dominate the charts and becoming a global soundtrack that cannot be escaped the moment you step outside...
Perhaps that decision to face their own destiny as a band, combined with the group’s ability to maintain the excitement of their first day, are the differentiating factors that have made Carolina Durante the most important band of their generation. They are also largely responsible for the resurgence of rock and guitar- driven pop.
Carolina Durante is a supergroup — the only one in the world not formed by illustrious members of other significant bands. The band wouldn’t be the same without the charismatic voice of Diego, without his ability to strike a chord with lyrics that hover between existential unease and humor. But, of course, the band wouldn’t exist as it does without Mario’s punk-pop spirit on guitar, Martín’s solid sobriety on bass, or Juan’s talent and eccentricity behind the drums. Each and every one of the four members is essential to shaping the sound of Carolina Durante as well as their unique personality.
With these foundations and occasional external collaborations (with Amaia, Jota Planetas, Santiago Motorizado, or Rosalía), the band has developed a career that balances between massive success and the cult following of their passionate fanbase.
These are the intangibles we were talking about at the beginning of this text, as well as the idea that the best is yet to come...
New Candys
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
New Candys
+ Special Guests
Tuesday 10th June
Stereo
18+
Concocted with the darkest deviant rock'n'roll ethos and distinctive melodic distortions, New Candys have established themselves as one of the most compelling bands to emerge from Italy in recent years. Founded by songwriter and singer-guitarist Fernando Nuti alongside bassist and synth player Dario Lucchesi, the lineup is completed by Emanuele Zanardo on lead guitar and backing vocals and Francesco Giacomin on drums and sampler.
Signed to the cult record label Fuzz Club, the band is recognized for its unfiltered artistic approach and versatility, seamlessly blending aggressive, gritty sounds with dreamy, introspective tones. The symbolism of their hometown, Venezia, often permeates their music, which explores surreal and sometimes cryptic themes.
New Candys' live shows have gained them a reputation as a must-see act, growing a fanbase through extensive touring across Europe, North America and Australia. Festival appearances include SXSW, Treefort Music Fest, Psycho Las Vegas, Levitation France, Fuzz Club Eindhoven and Liverpool Psych Fest, as well as headlining the Sydney and Melbourne Psych Fests and recording live sessions for KEXP and Jam In The Van. They’ve shared the stage with icons like The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Dandy Warhols and The Black Angels, performing at historic venues such as the Olympia Hall in Paris, The Roundhouse in London and Huxleys Neue Welt in Berlin. Iggy Pop described them as "kinky", and their songs have been featured in episodes of Showtime’s original series Shameless.
The Veldt + TREMOURS
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
The Veldt + TREMOURS
Monday 9th June
The Glad Cafe
18+
Emerging from the dynamic music scene of North Carolina in the 1980s, The Veldt crafted a sound that seamlessly melds shoegaze and progressive soul, carving out a distinct niche within the first wave of shoegaze bands worldwide. Their music is a mesmerizing blend of ethereal atmospheres, sultry melodies, and irresistible rhythms, establishing them as a standout presence in the genre.
Drawing from a rich tapestry of influences, The Veldt's music embodies a fusion of emotional depth and daring experimentation. Infused with the soulful resonance of Marvin Gaye, the avant-garde spirit of Sun Ra, and the improvisational brilliance of Pharaoh Sanders, their sonic palette is both profound and boldly innovative.
Rooted in the musical traditions of their upbringing, particularly in the church and southern juke-joints, The Veldt's journey began at a young age. A diverse range of inspirations, including gospel, Motown, and the psychedelic sounds of Pink Floyd shaped their musical evolution.
Following their signing to Capitol Records in 1989, The Veldt embarked on a transformative musical journey. Collaborating with dream-gaze luminary Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, they began crafting their debut album, 'Illuminated 1989'. Although initially shelved by the label, their subsequent releases, including the acclaimed 'Marigolds' in 1992 and the seminal 'Afrodisiac' in 1994, garnered widespread praise and cemented their place in the shoegaze
canon. With “Afrodisiac” ultimately found its way onto Pitchfork’s list of the “Top 50 Shoegaze Albums Ever Released”.
Throughout their career, The Veldt has collaborated with an array of influential artists, including TV On The Radio, Mos Def, and Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), while sharing stages with luminaries such as Phantogram, Living Colour, Oasis, Brian Jonestown Massacre, and The Pixies. Their extensive touring history, spanning the US, Canada, and Europe, has seen them grace stages
alongside icons like the Cocteau Twins and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Transitioning briefly to Apollo Heights before reclaiming their original moniker, The Veldt has remained a force of innovation and creativity. Their recent endeavors, including the long-awaited release of 'Illuminated 1989' and their continued exploration of vibrant sonic landscapes, reaffirm their status as pioneers in the genre.
The Veldt's enduring legacy promises to inspire future generations with their boundary-pushing sounds and unwavering artistic vision as they forge ahead.
Kontravoid + Buzz Kull
Pop Mutations presents:
Kontravoid
+ Buzz Kull
Monday 9th June
Stereo
18+
Tickets available at citizenticket.com/events/pop-mutations
KONTRAVOID
Kontravoid’s masked mystique has remained for over a decade. Ever since the release of his self-titled LP in 2012, the Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based Cameron Findlay has perfected dark pop with his oeuvre that teeters between the EBM, electro and goth genres. His productions, such as 2019’s “Too Deep” and 2021’s “Faceless,” dive to the most derelict corners of foggy, strobe-lit clubs: there is no choice but to dance. But there is an uncanny softness and obvious songwriting ability to compose heart-wrenching songs that are both captivating and drenched in melancholy—2018’s “Undone” has been a fan favorite since it came out on Berlin’s Fleisch Records.
Onstage, Kontravoid demands the audience’s attention with his powerful performance that balances his specific concoction of harsh beats with his signature bass line rhythmic patterns. He’s toured alongside Boy Harsher, ADULT., Drab Majesty and Hide, and has remixed the likes of Schwefelgelb and Kris Baha. Truly a man of the shadows, Kontravoid is an unparalleled fixture in the dark electronic arena.
BUZZ KULL
Buzz Kull exists as an enigmatic force in the Australian underground scene, he embodies the raw essence of existential longing and emotional desolation. With a sonic palette that paints in shades of darkness, Buzz
Kull's music unveils the hidden depths of the human psyche with haunting precision.
Drawing inspiration from the fringes of post-punk, coldwave, and minimal wave, Buzz Kull weaves together pulsating synths, relentless drum machines, and haunting vocals that becomes a vessel for catharsis, a
conduit for the unspoken yearnings and existential questions that weigh heavy on the human spirit.
Through Buzz Kull’s exploration in sound, they invite us to embrace our own vulnerabilities, to confront the demons that lurk within, and to find solace in the beauty of misery. In a world obsessed with surface appearances, Buzz Kull reminds us that the true depths
of the human experience can only be discovered by
diving into the darkness.
William Tyler
William Tyler is a Nashville guitarist and composer. He spent years woodshedding and touring with Nashville groups like Lambchop and Silver Jews before breaking away to focus on his own version of instrumental guitar music.
caroline
Pop Mutations presents:
caroline
plus Crosspiece (Theodora Laird & Caius Williams)
Saturday 7th June at Saint Luke’s
Doors 7pm
18+ show
Please note ticket price includes a £1 venue levy that goes to the maintenance and restoration of Saint Luke's.
—
Returning with 'caroline 2', the eight-piece collective embrace a bolder, more expansive sound. Going beyond their debut's explorations of repetition, slowness and space, the new album pushes further into dynamic contrasts — organic and electronic, raw and refined. Launched with the striking single ‘Tell me I never knew that’, featuring Caroline Polachek’s unmistakable vocals, caroline 2 showcases a fearless interplay of layered instrumentation, warped vocal processing, and moments of both euphoria and melancholy. Intentional and immersive, this next chapter solidifies caroline as one of the most innovative voices in contemporary music. Catch their powerful live show on tour.
‘Crosspiece’ is the duo project of Theodora Laird and Caius Williams. Through both composed and improvised material, they examine the tensions and fragility of dualism.
Theodora Laird is a vocalist and multidisciplinary artist. Releases under her solo project ‘feeo’ have received critical acclaim. Theodora’s practice has involved in tandem with an interest in situating narratives within freely improvised music, specifically through frequent involvement in the GRAIN residency.
Caius Williams is a musician working within experimental and improvised music. He has a collaborative duo with Theodora Laird (‘Crosspiece’), solo projects working with both double bass and baritone guitar, has played bass in Lifetones (a project of Charles Bullen of This Heat), and plays baritone guitar in Theodora’s project ‘feeo’. Caius also regularly works with many of London’s notable improvisers, including Steve Noble, Tara Cunningham, Maggie Nicols, Tom Challenger, Mark Sanders, and others.
Recent releases include ‘Gwannach’ (OTOROKU), ‘Crosspiece’ with Theodora Laird (Cherche Encore), and ‘Worn’, in trio with Tara Cunningham and Will Glaser.
Trace Mountains
Pop Mutations presents:
Trace Mountains
+ U.S. Highball
+ Dropkick
Sunday 1st June
The Flying Duck
18+
Trace Mountains is the music project of American indie rock musician Dave Benton. Benton has released four albums and one compilation of demos as Trace Mountains and is a member of the lo-fi band LVL UP. His latest record, Into The Burning Blue came out in September of 2024.
Patio
Pop Mutations presents:
Patio (NYC)
plus special guests
Friday 30th May at The Glad Cafe
—
New York’s Patio formed when non-musician Loren DiBlasi met actual musician Lindsey-Paige McCloy, and a joke about outdoor day drinking turned into a real-life band. The duo was soon joined by Alice Suh, a college friend of McCloy's who had recently started learning drums. Instantly, the trio developed a signature sound of sparse, melodic post-punk, signing with Fire Talk Records and releasing acclaimed debut Essentials in 2019.
On latest album Collection, new sonic influences like disco and 2000s NYC indie evoke freedom and euphoric joy — maintaining the band’s signature minimalism, but with newfound confidence and control. Produced by Nate Amos (Water from Your Eyes, This Is Lorelei), Collection was named one of the best indie rock albums of 2023 by Rolling Stone.
LEYA + Vanessa Bedoret
Pop Mutations presents:
LEYA
+ Vanessa Bedoret
Friday 23rd May
The Flying Duck
18+
LEYA, the avant-pop duo of harpist Marilu Donovan and vocalist/violinist Adam Markiewicz, have defied expectations throughout their career, obtaining a singular, legendary status for their unmistakably beautiful and disturbing work. Through two studio albums, two EPs, a mixtape, a porn, and a flurry of collaborations, they have traced almost every genre of contemporary music. The duo’s long list of cohorts includes Eartheater, Actress, Ecco2K, Brooke Candy (via PornHub), Sega Bodega, Varg2TM, claire rousay, Okay Kaya, and many more.
***
LEYA, the avant-pop duo of harpist Marilu Donovan and vocalist/violinist Adam Markiewicz, has long inhabited a beguiling world, blending medieval-sounding origins with modern folk, classical, and more. From deep roots in the NYC underground to international recognition as a crossover force, their work has found its way into spaces ranging from fashion runways to Pornhub, and beyond.
The basis of LEYA is the unique tuning system of the harp, designed by Donovan for the project, which pairs with the distinctly wide, operatic singing range of Markiewicz, and further blends with his processed violin tones. The template for this sound is found on their 2018 debut The Fool and further developed on their 2020 breakthrough follow-up Flood Dream, which The New York Times called “the auditory equivalent of awakening in the fog of a bad dream only to discover you’re still trapped in the nightmare.” This sense of unease has become a distinctive tone for the project, a collision of beauty and calamity that both soothes and disturbs its listeners.
LEYA’s distinctive sound has drawn collaborative attention from artists across genres and mediums. Following the release of their very first single in 2018, they were approached by rapper Brooke Candy to provide scoring and live acting for her adult film I Love You, which was produced by Pornhub for its Visionaries' Directors Series, and featured sound design by Sega Bodega. After an initial feature on The Fool, LEYA followed with 2019’s collaborative EP Angel Lust with Eartheater, with whom they have continued a close working relationship. Following the release of Flood Dream LEYA released remixes with Actress, Drew McDowall (Coil/Psychic TV), and Christina Vantzou, and an additional single with Liturgy. In 2022, they unveiled a fully collaborative mixtape, Eyeline, which featured nine guests. Additional notable musical collaborations include Ecco2K, Chanel Beads, Varg2TM, Julie Byrne, Okay Kaya, Claire Rousay, Martha Skye Murphy, Deli Girls, James K, and many others. LEYA have also worked with fashion designers Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein x i-D, Acne Studios, Elena Velez, HoodbyAir, Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen, and many more, video artists including Charles Atlas, choreographers including Loni Landon, and a myriad of others in varying modes of performance, scoring, and installations.
LEYA’s latest full-length release, I Forget Everything, marks their first return to the studio since 2022’s Eyeline. It is their first solo record containing elements of electronic production, sourcing from home-recorded to high-fidelity sounds, tracing the bounds of new experiments, while remaining rooted in harp, strings, and voice as the sole source of these sounds. The work regards a “haven scorned,” shifting in perspective between the larger world and one that is private, even imagined. A reaction to calamity, it imagines that abandonment is necessary. The release will usher in a new era of work for a duo already known for the unexpected.
Sorry Girls
Pop Mutations presents:
Sorry Girls
+ Special Guests
Thursday 22nd May
The Glad Cafe
18+
Montreal’s fever dream pop duo, Sorry Girls, returns with their third album Dreamwalker out via Arbutus Records. Their eccentric blend of nostalgic 70s power ballads and 80s kitsch breaks through new thresholds, dismantling futile illusions to brave the cold and ask what lies ahead.
Is a love interest a bridge or a tightrope? When does the desire for a fantasy slip into a twisted fate? Dreamwalker is a time capsule of being stuck in a transitional space—an emotional in-between filled with longing and tension. You’re aware of where you want to go, but you’re caught between desire and reality. Dreamwalker is deliberate, self-aware and ironically self-effacing. Trapped in the reflection of the window, you just need to slide the handles to get to the other side.
Shifting from their more structured pop influences and drawing inspiration from Fleetwood Mac and The Blue Nile’s glittery production style, the band set up camp at Montreal’s Two Sisters Recording Studio. With an emphasis on collaboration, swift artistic decisions and a self-imposed time constraint, Sorry Girls fostered a spontaneous, atmospheric sound that stayed true to the essence of the record.
The lyricism toys with idyllic visions of love objects, fantasies of future utopias, and the obsessive edging for an ease and newness to sweep in. With a playful sonic palette, the emotional confusion is conflated with a swimming sense of lucidity.
Washy production techniques and punchy bass lines pair with softer piano trills and gentle drums, recreating the lyrical push-pull between two worlds. The organic elements represent the honest feelings—while the synth layers represent the dreams, the idealized version of the future, the fantasy world that is out of reach.
“There’s beauty in a breakdown. Trying to find acceptance in things that aren't complete or final, healing the part of myself that believes that it can look that way. Living inside that world, and using that world to create the next world.” says Heather.
The potential of life choices dangle outside the window. Restless and ambiguous feelings draw us to the wrong pleasures. What leads to the most fruitful turn, but the vulnerable singing voice that knows the way to the right place.
Earth Tongue
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
Earth Tongue
+ Special Guests
Sunday 18th May
The Old Hairdresser's
18+
Earth Tongue is a heavy psych rock two-piece from Wellington, New Zealand. Guitarist Gussie Larkin is a master of the fuzz-smothered riff, and along with Ezra Simons’ off-kilter drumming, they’ve been sending punters into transcendental states since their emergence in 2016. Their debut
album Floating Being (Stolen Body Records, 2019) quickly became an underground hit, seeing them embark on multiple tours across Australasia and Europe in the years since its release. Along the way they’ve picked up high praise from BBC Radio6, Bandcamp and headbangers all over the world.
After touring with American multi-instrumentalist Ty Segall, the duo caught the attention of iconic Los Angeles based rock' n' roll label In The Red Records - an imprint that has released albums from the likes of Thee Oh Sees, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Wand and Ty Segall himself. In The Red
promptly signed them, and released their second album Great Haunting in June 2024. Written during the pandemic lockdown era while holed up binging on 1970’s and 80’s horror movies, the nine-track album is a doom-soaked overload — conjuring vast sonics from just guitar, drums and yowls.
Earth Tongue have hit the road time and time again, playing over 50 shows throughout Europe and the UK in 2024 and sharing stages with the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, IDLES, Ty Segall, Acid King, Brant Bjork and Kikagaku Moyo. Earth Tongue’s live show is a powerful, cult-like experience - the perfect mix of throw-your-horns-up heavy, and can’t-stop-listening catchy. Their third studio
album is set for release in September 2025.
Quade + Milkweed
Pop Mutations present:
Quade
plus Milkweed
Friday 16th May
at The Glad Cafe
18+ show
--
Quade are Barney Matthews (Bass, Vocals), Matt Griffiths (Hardware), Tom Connolly (Violin/Guitar) and Le Fini (Drums), four musicians from Bristol. Signed to the influential AD 93 label the group semi-jokingly describe their sound as “doomer sad-boy, ambient dub, folk, experimental post-rock”. The band released debut album ’Nacre’ in 2023 and found support from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Mary Ann Hobbs and Trevor Jackson. Of Nacre Bandcamp Daily said “Quade’s formula (or , perhaps, lack thereof) is ultimately singular and casually baffling” . They have subsequently supported Moin, Squid and Caroline as well as perform at festivals such as Re:Wire and Arctangent . 2025 sees them release their second album The Foel Tower.
Milkweed are a London-based 'slacker trad' duo, consisting of banjo, guitar, vocals and cut and paste tape extracts. They're forthcoming album is due out this April via Broadside Hacks.
Mekons
Pop Mutations presents:
Mekons
+ Special Guests
Sunday 11th May
Stereo
18+
Sonic adventurers, punk rock fundamentalists, exuberant luddites, willing outcasts.
“The Mekons are the most revolutionary group in the history of rock ‘n’ roll” – wrote rock critic Lester Bangs
The genre-defying Mekons formed in Leeds, England in 1977. Born from the emerging British punk scene, they progressed from art students with no musical skills to the prolific, raucous progeny of Hank Williams. This current classic line-up has remained intact since the mid-1980s, continuing to regularly tour and release new music through to now. Theirs is an improbable history – a surprising and influential embrace of folk and country music with occasional forays into the art world. They have always worked collaboratively and collectively with all work credited to the band, never to individuals. Their mind-boggling output consistently blurs the lines between high art and low and has included exhibitions in the UK and US, a deranged pirate musical recorded and staged with Kathy Acker, an art performance with Vito Acconci, and several books including the unique art catalog/unfinished novel Mekons United. "Revenge of the Mekons", a documentary about the band received nationwide release in 2015 on Music Box Films. The Mekons continue to make bold, unpredictable music while staying true to the punk ethos. Their mind-boggling output consistently blurs the lines between high art and low and they remain one of the truly great live bands.
Their last album "Exquisite" was recorded completely remotely during the early months of lockdown and released on Bandcamp in June 2020. The band are working with Fire Records on their new album which comes out in 2025. The single from that album "You're Not Singing Anymore" will be released on Fire Records in early November 2024.
Jack Name
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
Jack Name
+ Special Guests
Saturday 10th May
The Old Hairdresser's
18+
Jack Name is an enigmatic musician and songwriter from Los Angeles.
His songs have been covered by Cate le Bon, White Fence, and U.S. Girls. His experimental music has been performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and his list of collaborators ranges from folk hero Cass McCombs to punk innovator Don Bolles of the Germs, among many others from across the musical spectrum. He's released records on Drag City, Castle-Face, Mexican Summer, and Maple Death.
He is currently working on a new full length LP while performing a rare solo tour this summer in the UK and EU.
Good Sad Happy Bad
Pop Mutations presents:
Good Sad Happy Bad
plus support
live at The Glad Cafe
Saturday 10th May
18+ show
—-
Good Sad Happy Bad are a London-based band featuring CJ Calderwood, Marc Pell, Mica Levi and Raisa Khan.
Previously known as the moniker Micachu & The Shapes, Good Sad Happy Bad named themselves after their last album, Good Sad Happy Bad.
Their latest album 'All Kind of Days' was released on 8th Nov 2024 via Textile Records.
Monde UFO
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
Monde UFO
+The Chop
Thursday 8th May
The Glad Cafe
18+
In a downtown Los Angeles warehouse, on 7th Street, Ray Monde began writing songs on an old Yamaha church organ for a project to eventually become Monde UFO. Utilizing the organ for bass, keyboards and a drum machine he began making demos on a four track cassette recorder adding only vocals and guitar to the organ songs. He explored making haunting and optimistic sounds while living in the neighborhood of Skid Row as a one man band. Heavily influenced by the musician Sandy Bull, sonically landing in a similar no-mans land of Worldly Jazz and Psych Folk. The music he began creating experimented with the themes mostly of meditation and UFO lore.
In time Ray moved in with the artist Kris Chau. With little crossover in musical tastes, they exclusively started listening to jazz, ambient and new age music in the house. Increased interest in sound baths and experimental music led to seeing music in a different light. Ray thought it would be interesting to add Chau into his slow burner music project envisioning something that would sound like Don Cherry making a record with Yo La Tango. Chau with no previous musical experience would play a sacral singing bowl mic’d up though various guitar pedals and singing. Ray would write songs that fit these 436hz drones and in addition to the old drum machines, samples of the household Jazz records, added modal jazz alternatives to the more limited song structures. By incorporating Kris a non musician, there was an added emphasis on simplicity and an innocence akin to Beat Happening and K records. Along side a Community-College taught conservatory-rejected jazz musician the duo reached back to a more youthful punk foundation than schooled. Without over rehearsing, they empathized more on creativity than virtuosity.
In June 2019 the duo began playing live shows usually in odd locations throughout LA. Hotel Lounges, a Surf Shop, a garden center, and not shockingly, an Alien thanksgiving at an animation studio. Aside from developing a live show, Monde UFO spent time recording their first full length through 2019 at home. Releasing a 45 single of “A Pale Horse in Roswell 1947” in Dec of 2019 and eventually finished recording their first full length in March of 2020 just before the pandemic hit. Plans to mix and master with Jackson Browne producer and engineer Kevin K. Smith got pushed back from April to October due to the worldwide pandemic. The final result became a mixture of the lo and hi-fi sounds which really have opened a path forward for where the band will go. “7171” was released in October 2021 via Universal Freeing Object. The duo eventually added drummer Kern Haug who added his great improvisational skills to the band. Over the last few years Monde UFO recorded their second LP “Vandalized Statue to be Replaced with Shrine” again working with Kevin Smith. In the Spring of 2023 Monde UFO signed with Fire Records.
Hachiku
POP MUTATIONS presents…
HACHIKU (Australia)
Plus support
18+
Years into her career, Anika Ostendorf – the voice and producer behind Melbourne-via-Germany-via-Detroit indie-rock/alt-pop outfit HACHIKU – is embracing a new level of vulnerability on their second album, The Joys of Being Pure at Heart. The album’s marks a journey toward self-compassion, openness, and embracing life’s ups and downs featuring members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and harpist Mary Lattimore.
Hachiku first entered the global scene via Courtney Barnett's Australian queer-run label Milk! Records where Ostendorf found a home in its community-minded ethos and DIY values. Through the release of their self-recorded and self-mixed EPs Hachiku (2017) and 99 Dreams (2020) and critically acclaimed debut LP I’ll Probably Be Asleep (2020), Hachiku has steadily built a loyal global fan base hinged on catchy melodies, shimmering walls of sound, and their praised live performances. They have seen consistent support and acclaim from NPR’s All Songs Considered, Bandcamp, DIY Magazine, Clash Magazine and NME and are continuously invited to support household names around the UK, Europe, U.S. and Australia including Courtney Barnett, The Breeders, José González and Snail Mail.
Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band
PM & Freakender present:
Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band
+ Special Guests
Thursday 1st May
The Glad Cafe
18+
At the frayed bottom-edge of Indiana – just a moderate bike ride north of Louisville, Kentucky – multi-instrumentalist, artist
and songwriter Ryan Davis’ Americana-noir soundwaves have been emanating for years in a myriad of forms. As driving
force for the lauded State Champion, long-running member of Tropical Trash, administrator of the esoteric and excellent
Cropped Out festival, and lone proprietor of the Sophomore Lounge label, Davis lays down his first proper ‘solo’ release with
Dancing On The Edge – a rich, 2-LP tapestry of tunes that absolutely glows over seven expansive cuts. It’s a pure collage of
modernity and heritage.
After a period of introspection spent re-immersing himself in his drawing & painting practice, as well as his newfound
delvings into instrumental music, Davis’ sea change was imminent. “I wasn't sure I would ever make another record of ‘song’
songs,” he says, “but last year I started writing again and it eventually took the shape of the record at hand. I worked
painstakingly hard on the material. It felt virtually impossible to complete for a bulk of the time I spent trying to enter into it,
but the process pulled me out of a strange place. I was eventually able to live inside of the songs enough to understand the
world within them – to ultimately help shape them into what I understood them to be.” Indeed, there’s a load of inspiration
captured in the grooves with Ryan’s unfiltered, folk-traditioned approach to poetic twists-of-tongue meeting head on with
sublime instrumentation.
Recorded in early 2023 with help both in-studio and remotely from peers like Joan Shelley, Catherine Irwin (Freakwater), Will
Lawrence (Felice Brothers, Gun Outfit, John Early), Jenny Rose (Giving Up), Christopher May (Mail the Horse), Elisabeth
Fuchsia (Footings, Bonnie "Prince" Billy), and Aaron Rosenblum (Son of Earth, Sapat), 'Dancing on the Edge' draws backup
perhaps primarily from Davis' tight-knit drinking buddies-cum-cast of collaborators in Equipment Pointed Ankh (records on
Astral Editions, Bruit Direct Disques, Torn Light) – a five-headed hive-mind from which he drew impetus for his own foray into
more abstract and improvisational terrain these past few years under the Roadhouse alias. The results herein are
melancholic, gentle, minimal yet colorful in mood: a lilting highway accompaniment of crisp instrumentation and a relaxed,
amiable approach to vocals with rhapsodic wordsmithery. Fans of the aforementioned artists as well as those of Souled
American, David Berman, Kurt Vile and ‘Comes A Time’-era Neil should all easily find bounty.
While bare-boned and uncluttered in presentation, many of these pieces track over 6 minutes allowing a fair amount of
expansiveness. “Flashes of Orange” percolates with synthetic and organic percussion while Davis ruminates on how “a
steady drip falls from the ceiling to my forehead / a pitter-patter of my past mistakes” as a Cale-esque violin chatters through
impressionistic fields of pedal steel. It’s got an absence of recurring verses, replaced by an ever-unfolding story, words
spotlighted by tasteful flanging synths and lovely key shifts as finally the titular hook lifts its proceedings up into the clouds.
Other times the humor shines: tales of a jukebox that “only plays ‘Sultans of Swing’” in “Junk Drawer Heart,” ruminations like
“soon I’ll be seen as a problem for the neighbors / soon I’ll be seen as a trophy for the precinct” in “Free From the Guillotine,”
and of course the simple proclamation of “A Suitable Exit” being “I never asked to be born / I was only wondering where the
door went to.”
Tracked & mixed by Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets (Pawtucket, RI) and mastered for vinyl by Tohru Kotetsu at
Tokyo’s legendary JVC Mastering Center, Dancing On The Edge stares down into the navel of the American Experience
underbelly with a fair amount of outward reach. Besides the Kosmische-synth and violin stabs reaching into a European
element, stately organ swells build a musical bridge between 1969 Southern California and Felt’s latter era smooth moves,
with layers of intelligent gesture taking this well beyond the realm of its archetypal indie troubadour/acoustic songwriter tag.
Music and mint juleps never went down so well together.
Heatsick
Pop Mutations presents:
Heatsick
plus Cru Servers
Friday 25th April
at The Glad Cafe
Heatsick is the project of musician and visual artist Steven Warwick. Heatsick’s entrancing live show is created in real time based upon loops that are moulded, stretched and reduced to interlink, nestling and merging with one another in a similar way to his visual artwork, where objects and media combine and coalesce in an environment inviting the viewer’s participation. Combining a palette of sources from early Chicago house mixtapes through to musique concrète and psychedelia, Heatsick proposes a live dance music that expands and unlocks the senses: his use of limited resources to produce an immersive, maximalist sound environment has been favourably received at venues, clubs and festivals across the world including Berghain/Panorama Bar, Unsound, MoMa and Novas Frequencias in Rio. His albums have been released on PAN, and EPs / tracks also on Sounds of the Universe, Rush Hour Distribution and Cocktail D'amore.
Ora Cogan
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
Ora Cogan
+ Special Guests
Thursday 24th April
Stereo
18+
Tickets available at citizenticket.com/events/pop-mutations
Ora Cogan's smoky, psychedelic approach to gothic country merges with post-punk, psych-rock and traditional balladry. Cogan is known for her singular voice and cinematic compositions. She has collaborated with a multitude of artists while touring extensively throughout Europe & North America, sharing the stage with the likes of Grouper & Mazzy Star. Her latest album, Formless, came out to critical acclaim in 2023.
KUUNATIC
mono & pop mutations present…
KUUNATIC (Japan)
Plus support.
18+
KUUNATIC is a thrilling tribal / experimental / rock trio bolstered by diverse global sonics and powerful female vocals. Drawing on the members’ different musical and cultural perspectives, their music explores ritual drumming, pulsing bass lines, atmospheric keyboard sounds, and Japanese traditional instruments.
In 2021, they released their debut album “Gate of Klüna” on Glitterbeat Records, produced by Tim DeWit (Gang Gang Dance). The record garnered widespread acclaim for its mesmerizing soundworld that transcends genres and hemispheres, succeeding in being both boldly experimental and wildly catchy. They have performed across Europe, the UK, and Asia, including appearances at festivals such as WOMAD, Roskilde Festival, Le Guess Who?, and Levitation France, to name a few.
They are coming back with their new album “Wheels Of Ömon” in 2025. It places a stronger emphasis on their musical concept of sci-fi mythology with their stories set on fictional planets, and using more traditional Japanese instruments. The album will be released from Glitterbeat Records on 11 April 2025.
KUUNATIC are Fumie Kikuchi on keys and vocals, Yuko Araki on drums and vocals, Shoko Yoshida on bass and vocals.
URIN + Operant
Pop Mutations presents:
URIN
+ Operant
+ Kute
Friday 18th April
The Flying Duck
18+
URIN -
With four releases under their belt since 2018, the four-piece hardcore
punk/noise outfit feature songs in Polish but a universal visceral energy.
While they incorporate experimentation into their sonic practice and aim
to be as chaotic and noisy as possible, the tight execution of their songs
and intense energy levels – especially live – have won them a devoted
following worldwide.
Past shows include tours in Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, USA, UK & Europe, and appearances at a plethora of cutting edge festivals like:
CTM (DE), Berlin Atonal (DE), Bad Bonn (CH), Static Shock (UK), Creepy Teepee (CZ) or K-Town Festival (DK). The band has played
around 130 shows to this date.
URIN have released on internationally renowned record labels, e.g.: Never Sleep (DE), Iron Lung Records (USA) or Static Age (DE).
OPERANT -
Berlin based live duo and production unit, OPERANT, have progressively carved out their own space in the European electronic scene with boundary
-
defying sonic explorations, fueled with tension and obscurity. A collaborative project between Instruments Of Discipline founder, Luna Vassarotti (IT)
and August Skipper (AUS) (Agency, YANWYTYA ), OPERANT brutally morphs as it pleases, devouring and absorbing all in its path, from extra-
terrestrial black-metal, singularity - sludge, proto - psy- trance, anime noise -
core techno to auto - tuned trap - folk.
Fresh from a transformative five -week residency in Uganda with the pan -
African label Nyege Nyege — which included a blistering performance at the world -renowned Nyege Nyege Festival
—
OPERANT’s ceaseless evolution continues to unfold on the global stage.
Following the release of their debut LP,Traumkörper, the duo now prepare to tour in support of their latest EP,Vape N Bleed , a split release on Total Black and Instruments Of Discipline.
Already having played shows in Tokyo, Melbourne and Sydney, OPERANT will return to Europe in support of Brainbombs, marking the start of OPERANT’s next chapter in uncompromising sonic experimentation in 2025.
OPERANT’s live shows are a collision between the body and machines, encompassing gestural noise, power tools, mic’d metal fragments, and dual vocals distorted to the point of surreality, conjuring an intense performance that is at times ecstatic, terrifying, overwhelming, and absurd.
Ex-Vöid
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
Ex-Vöid
+ Special Guests
Tuesday 15th April
The Old Hairdresser's
18+
Ex-Vöid - featuring Lan McArdle (Joanna Gruesome, Lanny) and Owen Williams (The Tubs) - returnwith their second LP: In Love Again. Joined by Laurie Foster (bass) and George Rothman (drums), therecord sees the band ourish from a chaotic power punk group into a fully edged pop behemoth.Taking in elements of shoegaze (Pinhead), country (Outline), 90s indie rock (In Love Again) and prettymuch the entire history of guitar music, In Love Again reveals McArdle and Williams to be truestudents of perfect pop.The pair have been collaborating for a decade now, having played in Joanna Gruesome as teenagers, and InLove Again sees them both building on the sound they’ve honed together and embracing a new, unapologeticattitude towards songcraft. “We wanted to stop being cringed out by the idea of writing pop music. We’re a bitolder now and not trying to remind everyone we come from hardcore/DIY scenes. It’s still there in our DNA butwe wanted to see what might happen if we write the biggest bangers possible” says Williams. Backed by thetight-yet-raucous rhythm section of Foster and Rothman, In Love Again delivers as a huge pop album withoutsacricing any of the hardcore propulsion that characterised the band’s rst album.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the Ex-Vöid sound is the sublime blend of McArdle and Williams’ vocals:close, folk-indebted harmonies which guide the listener through an onslaught of hooks. And while this isutilised to full effect on In Love Again, the album also sees McArdle make full use of their vocal range. Tuneslike July and Sara reveal a set of pipes and knack for chorus-writing rarely heard in today’s indie scene. Inkeeping with their new sound, McArdle and Williams have taken a more autobiographical, nuanced approachto lyric writing this time around, a move inuenced by touring with Waxahatchee. (The band also cover LonelyGirls by Lucinda Williams - one of Katie Crutcheld’s heroes). The hints of folk and country embedded in thetunes also stretch to this new lyrical approach- storytelling and heartbreak abound.This was helped by the fact both members had recently experienced a breakup while writing the album.“Obviously a super catastrophic breakup is useful to have,” McArdle says, “It means I can still be selfdeprecating and not super sincere. But also be like: I’m in pain.” Williams agrees: “It makes you go mental andwhile this is a cliche - it's denitely good for the band. And it’s interesting to compare, say, my breakup songDown The Drain to Lan’s July, because it’s two quite different perspectives but we’re each there on eachother’s songs, harmonising or ripping guitar solos.”
The band’s rst LP, Bigger Than Before, received positive coverage in Pitchfork, SPIN, Stereogum and others.It received airtime on BBC Radio 6, and saw the band support/tour with acts such as Waxahatchee, SpeedyOrtiz and Alvvays. Williams also fronts The Tubs - whose 2023 debut saw them touring internationally andreceiving plaudits from Pitchfork, The Guardian and Iggy Pop. Previous to forming Ex-Vöid, Williams andMcArdle played in Joanna Gruesome who toured the US with bands like Speedy Ortiz and Perfect Pussy, wereb-listed by BBC 6 music several times and won the Welsh Music Prize. Williams and McArdle are part of theGob Nation collective - the London-based network of bands, writers and promoters who were recentlyproled in The Guardian.
Kulku
Pop Mutations x Phase Group x A Cut Above presents:
Kulku
+ Special Guests
Tuesday 15th April
Stereo
18+
Kulku embodies an exhilarating Happening, a profound ceremony of raw music. Organic, driven, grounded yet floating. Kulku was founded by Johanna Riska and Andreas Riska alias Wenzlovar. The roots of their music grew out of influences from early minimal music (Moondog, Steve Reich), ritual music and art rock legends of the 60s. In the tradition of German Krautrock bands such as Can and Faust, the band is characterized by a sound whose raw material is made up of Orff instruments. With this special collection of instruments: metallophone, drums, orchestral timpani, xylophone, clarinet, saxophone, cello and an assortment of self-made instruments a universe of metaphysical stories is created. Stories about enlightened dogs or lost visionaries in the urban jungle full of light and shadows. An acoustic perpetuum-mobile that is fed by concentrated absorption. Exploring the sound spectrum of wood, metal and the human voice. Kulku calls their music No Age, a mix of un- kitsch spirituality and the raw energy of punk/no wave.
Index For Working Musik (Glasgow)
Pop Mutations present:
Index For Working Musik
+ Special Guests
Friday 11th April
The Glad Cafe
18+
Index for Working Musik emerged from the depths of an East End bunker in 2023 with Dragging the Needlework for the Kids at Uphole (Tough Love), a "Heroin Country" affair, followed by the experimental Indexe'e. 2024 saw the release of Purple Born, an 8-minute track that channels the likes of John Fahey and Polvo—leather boys, leather girls, and silly cuckoo clocks—and serves as the first signal of the future to come in 2025.
“Sexy and contagious” –– Sounds of violence
“It’s original and atmospheric stuff that sounds like something that might have been recorded in The Factory and discovered decades later in a dusty corner of Warhol’s archive; all that’s missing is a surprise visit from Valerie Solanas...” –– Tim Cooper
“Their sound brings to mind John Cale’s drone effects on the early VU albums and the pink noise of the Jesus and Mary Chain” -– Louder than War
Index For Working Musik (Edinburgh)
Pop Mutations present:
Index For Working Musik
+ Special Guests
Thursday 10th April
Leith Depot
18+
Index for Working Musik emerged from the depths of an East End bunker in 2023 with Dragging the Needlework for the Kids at Uphole (Tough Love), a "Heroin Country" affair, followed by the experimental Indexe'e. 2024 saw the release of Purple Born, an 8-minute track that channels the likes of John Fahey and Polvo—leather boys, leather girls, and silly cuckoo clocks—and serves as the first signal of the future to come in 2025.
“Sexy and contagious” –– Sounds of violence
“It’s original and atmospheric stuff that sounds like something that might have been recorded in The Factory and discovered decades later in a dusty corner of Warhol’s archive; all that’s missing is a surprise visit from Valerie Solanas...” –– Tim Cooper
“Their sound brings to mind John Cale’s drone effects on the early VU albums and the pink noise of the Jesus and Mary Chain” -– Louder than War
Pure Adult
Pop Mutations presents:
Pure Adult
+ Special Guests
Monday 24th March
Stereo
18+
Pure Adult is an experimental rock band from Brooklyn, NY. Originally a solo project of
multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Snyder, Pure Adult later expanded to be a collaboration between
him and contemporary dancer and visual artist Bianca Abarca. They have toured internationally
with Gilla Band, Mdou Moctar, Bambara and Thank, shared bills with A Place To Bury Strangers
and Mclusky as well as headlining their own shows in both the US and UK.
In 2023, they released their first LP, II, on Fat Cat Records, two years after self-releasing their
first EP, I.
“Pungent chaos that serves no pomp, instead it throws around dark innuendo like a rag doll to
the cadence of fury and fucking. The best album I’ve heard in ages. The best band you haven’t
seen. Go dig, it’s beautiful at its worst.” - Joe Talbot, IDLES
“A furious piece of work.” Steve Lamacq
“Blown-out, hyperactive, aggressive, and danceable rock informed by punk and post-punk.” –
Brooklyn Vegan
Midding
Pop Mutations presents:
Midding
+ Special Guests
Sunday 23rd March
The Glad Cafe
18+
With the release of debut EP Nowhere Near Today on 7th February, Tough Love welcomes Cardiff-based five-piece Midding to the family. The idea for the band was originally conceived by singer-guitarist Joe Woodward whilst writing and recording songs in his kitchen on a 4-track recorder, and over time eventually found help from like-minded friends, Elliot Roberts and Cam Wheeler. The three of them would spend their nights experimenting with cassette recording with the admirable if not challenging aim to recreate the symphonic sounds of Phil Spector on a DIY budget. With growing confidence and having amassed a small catalogue of songs, a few aborted attempts were made to get a live band together before they found help from a second guitarist, Eli Allison, who had recently relocated from Cornwall. As necessity would dictate, the first shows as a quartet made use of a drum machine, but the ideal formation for the band wasn’t truly complete until meeting Nia Abraham, whose live drumming would add a more physical quality to the band’s sound.
At the beginning of 2024, they began working more purposefully towards an end goal with the writing and recording of the five-song Nowhere Near Today EP. Though retaining some of their home recording practices, they also made use of a studio facility based in a disused shopping centre basement that was made available through SHIFT, a local artist collective connected to the band. The acquisition of an 8-track Tascam 488MKII, along with the natural reverb of SHIFT’s empty concrete space allowed for further opportunity to experiment with both cassette recording techniques and their still developing live sound, the two environments permitting an all-too-rare creative freedom. The process was transformative for the group, their Spector-inspired ambitions now taking on a more defined shape that skirted around the edges of psych, noise-rock and industrial-pop in a way that increasingly became their own.
For a debut EP, the results are impressively realised, a confluence of expansive tremolo guitars, a deliberately primordial rhythm section and a contrasting vulnerable vocal performance that’s both melodic and bracing. It’s a record born both of private experimentation and public performance, who they are on stage and what they express on record informing the other but still distinctly each their own thing, shifting then dovetailing like the waves of feedback that wash through Nowhere Near Today. Still a young band, it’s tomorrow they feel a lot closer to.
Faux Real
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
Faux Real
+ Special Guests
Saturday 22nd March
The Flying Duck
18+
Tickets available at citizenticket.com/events/pop-mutations
It's hard to pin down Faux Real. The Franco-American art pop duo, comprised of brothers Elliott and Virgile Arndt, have been steadily broadening the scope of their project. Their high-octane DIY performances, involving matching costumes, synchronised dance routines, and crowd-splitting high-kicks, are taking on a more established and ever more unhinged form — think Iggy Pop meets Eurodance boyband. Toeing the line between undeniable pop potential and an off-kilter flair lies at the core of everything they do. The contradictions between order and chaos, between the visceral and the artificial — that’s where Faux Real truly shines. That said, no one really knows what is real and what is faux, and that’s the magic of it all.
The Tubs
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
The Tubs
+ Special Guests
Friday 21st March
The Rum Shack
18+
London-based Welsh band The Tubs announce their debut album, Dead Meat, out 27th January via Trouble in Mind. Owen “O” Williams and George “GN” Nicholls, the primary songwriters from the group Joanna Gruesome, formed the band in 2018 following a trip to Llawr-Betws caravan park.
The Tubs are also 3/4s of the “evil” Sniffany & The Nits, as well as the decidedly less evil Ex-Vöid. Despite three bands' sonic differences, there's a similar derangement at play beneath The Tubs' jangle. The Tubs make music that incorporates elements of post-punk, traditional British-folk, and guitar jangle seasoned by nonchalant Flying Nun pop hooks and contemporary antipodean indie bands.
Delivery
Pop Mutations & Freakender present:
Delivery
+ Special Guests
Tuesday 4th March
The Flying Duck
18+
Advance tickets available at citizenticket.com/events/pop-mutations
‘Really cool band from Australia’ - Henry Rollins (KCRW)
Top 10 Albums of 2022 - Rolling Stone Australia
8/10 - “...each track has its own fingerprint and yet it’s fair to say there’s not a bad track on the record” - Jazz Hodge (Clash Magazine)
'All the way from Melbourne, Australia, Delivery are returning after they played my favourite gig of 2023' - Ben/Delicious Clam
'a proper ripper' - Andy Hughs (Big Hands 2023 review)