By Kat Dibbits »
SUPER Furry Animals-influenced Boltonian pop troubadours Merchandise will release their new album, For The Masses, on Monday.
To celebrate they will be playing the Octagon theatre bar the same night, with support from Moore Marriott and Alex Hulme.
Five years in the making, the band promise that For The Masses will “bring a skip to the beat and a smile to the face.”
The 13 songs on the album include the soon-to-be-released single Lies Like These, plus the darker-tinged Prescription and Enemy.
The core of Merchandise’s collective revolves around Brad B. Wood and Conrad Astley, and live shows are performed on acoustic guitar, mandolin, melodica and cajon… though from time to time they will recruit friends and “rock out” a little. In a gentle manner, mind.
Tickets to the launch night cost £5, with a limited number of tickets free to under 26s. To book, ring the Octagon box office on 01204 520661.
The album is released on the band’s own Cityscape records, and distributed through Universal.
Support act Alex Hulme will be showcasing songs from his EP, The Wood. Just 19 years old, Alex has grown up with music. His grandfather was an opera singer, his older brother Laurie is in Manchester band Beat the Radar (signed to Akoustik Anarkhy) and his cousin Ed is in fellow Manchester band Working for a Nuclear Free City (signed to Melodic).
Alex’s prolific live outings have recently seen him perform at Liverpool Sound City and Sound Control in Manchester, with gigs booked at Blackpool’s Tommyfest, Silverdale Concert for Haiti and Garstang Summer Acoustic Festival.
• Cityscape presents For The Masses launch gig at the Octagon, Howell Croft South, Bolton, on Monday. Tickets £5. To book, ring 01204 520661
Original Article : http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/leisure/boltonmusic/8195345./
