Girls Names are a K Records-loving three piece from Belfast who apparently stick out in their home town like the weird kid at school. Maybe everyone else sounds like Snow Patrol in Belfast, I dunno? Must be pretty tough anyhow. Thank God, then, for ferries and planes and tour vans that allows these guys to bring their fuzzy slice of C86 indiepop to other parts of the world that the internet just can’t reach. Like York and Nottingham and London.
Embarking on their first ever proper tour promoting their debut release on Captured Tracks, and accompanied by the effervescent party girls from La La Vasquez, we equipped main man Cathal (that’s a silent ‘t’, by the way) with a disposable. He sent back lots of pictures of girls being drunk and dicking about with Jimmy Carr. Sounds like a rad tour.
He also sent me a track to download from Girls Names forthcoming mini-album You Should Know By Now, alongside a mixtape of songs I’ve never heard by bands I have. And all I had to do was sit in my room and write these three paragraphs.
Girls Names – “Graveyard”
DOWNLOAD: GIRLS NAMES TOUR MIXTAPE (RIGHT CLICK, SAVE AS)
00:00 – The Fall – “Psykick Dance Hall”
03:42 - The Sticks – “On the Run”
05:03 – Blank Dogs – “Blaring Speeches”
08:03 – Fire Engines – “Candy Skin”
10:51 – La La Vasquez – “Hello!”
13:36 - Happy Refugees – “Falling For You”
16:04 – Television Personalities – “This Angry Silence”
18:38 – Black Tambourine – “Throw Aggi Off The Bridge”
21:46 – Cause Co-Motion – “This Time Next Year”
23:29 – Spacemen 3 – “Losing Touch With My Mind”
BELFAST
The first night of tour in the Menagerie. The La La Vasquez girls are with our friend Deadmeat(!), who helped put them up. They couldn’t get over how great the show went. It was a proper party night, lots of dancing.
BELFAST
This is what happens when you introduce English girls to Buckfast.
DUBLIN
Larking about somewhere in Dublin before playing. It was a really late show, way after midnight, and we had to hang about for ages. I was driving, so no drink for me. My sobriety really does show.
DUBLIN
Catching LLV off guard as they look on in amazement during Logikparty’s set in Dublin. Great band!
GLASGOW
Jimmy Carr was spotted on the street while bar hopping in Glasgow. Freya asked could we get our photo taken with him, as you do. I don’t think he was too impressed. Still, that’s an impressive pout he’s perfected.
YORK
The wildcard of the tour. Actually provided a very fun night. I’ve no idea, nor can I remember, what Claire and Rachel are at here.
MANCHESTER
On our way up to the 23rd floor of the Hilton in Manchester. We had a night off and decided to go to the bar in the Hilton which has this unbelievable view of the city. It was full of horrible people, but we made the most of it and had our joint-unofficial-Captured-Tracks-record-release drinks. Fancy.
NOTTINGHAM
The Chameleon was pretty cool, a bit like an old café with a big room upstairs for bands to play. Freya was sick as a dog that night. You can so see it in her eyes. That would’ve been the green dodgy excuse for a curry the night before then.
NOTTINGHAM
Pop Confessional in Nottingham. Funny that all the hip, young Nottingham indie kids went round to this cheesy disco after our show. I suppose if it’s the only place in town for a late drink. Needs must. They did play some Orange Juice and Aztec Camera! Neil was not impressed. At. All.
SOMEWHERE ON THE WAY TO LONDON
I Like this. This was at some service station. You can make you own video in one of these machines, a bit like that Tenacious D video. I wish they had have actually used it.
