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"Lost" Grover e.p. Copies Discovered!

After the demise of Hong Kong's Teleran Records soon after the release of 2002's 3"CD Untitled e.p. we thought all remaining copies had been sold. However, it turns out that a few forgotten copies have been gathering dust on the shelves of Cargo distribution. They kindly agreed to send them to us, so we have a few to sell to any Grover completists who were disappointed first time round. We're talking single figures here, so if you want one, you'd better hurry! Go to the music page to find out how to buy. Big thanks to Jon from Yellow6 for the discovery...

Krafla Debut Release

Krafla, founded by Steve Hough and Simon Fox, will be releasing their first recording on Static Caravan Records. It will be a lovely, hand-crafted lathe-cut 7" single. More details to come, once they are confirmed...

It's been a busy year for Grover - new album, UK tour, lots of new projects:

Simon Fox and Steve are continuing to work as Krafla, with some excellent results. Initially studio based, Krafla's music is more ambient and experimental than Grover (think somewhere between Locust, Papa M, Múm, etc. etc.) Expect Krafla's debut release in 2004. Experimental Music Collective was unleashed this year. EMC had a major performance at the Fierce! Festival, and there are all manner of plans for the future. Si Rider and Steve have joined Andy Parker (Sally, Katastrophy Wife) and his mate, Smart, to form the krautrock-influenced Einstellung. They'll be playing live soon. Simon Fox has also teamed up with Clair Horton. After the debut gig in December, there are already plenty of requests to bring her stripped-down, intimate, country-tinged ballads to a wider audience.

We'll keep you posted here on the latest news from all of the above.

Simon & Clair Debut

Simon Fox is playing at the Bearos Xmas Special with Clair Horton on 19th December at the Jug of Ale, Birmingham. This will be their debut gig, although they have been in bands together before. Clair provided backing vocals for Grover songs on 414.7 Revolutions e.p. and Tiny Blue Sparks l.p. She has also recently been recording songs for Paul Heaton (Housemartins / Beautiful South) for his latest solo outing. Which is nice.

In a marked contrast to the usual Grover racket (especially the last GRRRRRRover! outing!), Clair's music is a much more quiet and intimate affair. Think Low, Ella Guru and The Toques and you're not far off. Obviously, there'll be the traditional inclusion of festive songs for the occasion, so bring your mistletoe!

Krafla

In the meantime, Simon F and Steve are still busy working on their studio project, Krafla. More experimental and electronic than Grover, there's sure to be a release on some label or other in 2004. There may be gigs too, just as soon as we can afford a decent laptop!

Brighton & Birmingham Gigs

More details about the gigs coming up:
First up it's the newly re-vamped Royal George in Birmingham City Centre. Grover's retrospective album, Past, has been selling so well, we've decided to resurrect some of the old tunes for this gig. Support comes from two touring bands, Locus of Control (heavy post-hardcore) and Skankt (2 Tone ska).

Then a big night out in Brighton during Radio1's One Live in Brighton event. Po Na Na will play host to a Bearos Special night with Grover, The Workhouse (new album out on Bearos now) and Ben Calvert and his band. It's a club night too, with Bearos DJ's taking over until 2am, which is a perfect excuse to stay up after the main Radio1 gigs have finished!

Then the latest of the regular Bearos nights at our spiritual home, The Jug of Ale. This Hallowe'en Special will include an exclusive line-up, featuring members of GRRRRRover and metal masters Sally. It's going to be heavy. That's all you need to know. Support comes from Palomar13 and Leicester's Marc Hibbert.

Grover remix KlusterB

The latest Bearos MP3 is an exclusive remix of KlusterB's Jungle Jangle Sing Sang Sung by Turquoise (Steve from Grover), who's turned it into a major drum & bass noise-feast. It's free to download, so go and have a listen.

Twominutemen now on CD

Two double 7" ep's and two unforgettable Peel Sessions down the line and those lovely Jonson Family Records chaps have done the decent thing and put together the whole lot on one CD, even adding an extra 7 tracks to boot. Now there really is no excuse for not buying it, and pronto. To be fair to people who have already forked out for the vinyl, go to Jonson Family HQ and answer a couple of easy questions, to get the 39-track CD for the knock-down price of £4! How's that for value? As for what 2MM is and why, we think the sleeve notes sum it up just about perfectly:

"Yeah, the name is derived from The Minutemen, the seminal SST band from San Pedro...That's kind of what it started out as being, some form of 'worship at the altar of a classic band' type deal. That band, along with many others from that era, had a work ethic that most of us in bands nowadays would run screaming from. We started with the Grover track, it arrived in the post and we loved it, had to have it, use it in some form. The idea was born, a 2x7", 16 bands, no song over 2 minutes comp. Things took off, band after band kept coming up with their best works...if you tell a band they only have two minutes, watch them sweat, boy they get on with it, no messing. All the bands on this compilation are coming from the same 'side of the fence' as us JFR chaps, they all have a DIY ethic. They all just do it because it's what they have to do."

Bearos Releases

Bearos Records is 5 years old! Who'd have thought it, eh? To celebrate, The Doc is bringing out Bearos 40, a compilation of exclusive tracks from the Bearos roster. Grover have recorded Another Tunnel (an exclusive remix/re-recording of Tunnel Boat Song from Tiny Blue Sparks) especially for the compliation. The full CD will be available from Bearos pretty soon, and we hear that subscribers to the Bearos mailing list will get one free, so you'd better sign up if you want one!

Plus: All year, Bearos Records have been putting an exclusive track online at mp3.com each month. Now there's a year's worth available, they've been released on CD. The Grover track is a previously unavailable remix of Silver Surfer from the Husk album. You can get more details from Bearos HQ.

Next Gigs

Two gigs tbc for the autumn. One should be in Brighton on 30th October. We'll post details as soon as we get them. The other one is the next Bearos Special at The Jug of Ale, Birmingham. To celebrate Hallowe'en, bands playing will include Palomar 13, Buick 666 and GRRRover! (possibly featuring a special new line-up). More details to follow...

New Review

Another nice review of Tiny Blue Sparks has surfaced. This time it's from the USA's premiere review magazine, Shredding Paper. They like us and they hate George W Bush. Can't say fairer than that...

Summer Gig

Grover's only gig of the summer, and the first since the recent UK tour, will be on Wed 6th August at the Flapper & Firkin, Birmingham. Support comes from Leicester's Solfar and Manchester's Burnst. This is the only one booked, so don't miss it.

Twominutemen 2 Peel Session

On 23rd July, Jonson Family Records will be returning to the hallowed halls of the BBC's Maida Vale Studios for the second live Twominutemen session. The last one was a fantastic night and this one, with Joeyfat, I'm Being Good, Twinky, Bilge Pump and Charlottefield promises to be just as good. Naturally, Grover will be down there giving their beloved labelmates the support they deserve.

EMC News

Experimental Music Collective's debut performance of Calling Every Angel went spectacularly well at the patrick centre, making an immense racket in the process, with some simply stunning images projected all over the place. EMC will soon be squeezing themselves into a recording studio to commit the whole piece to a less ephemeral medium. Once the music is recorded, the piece will be edited together with visuals and released on a DVD! Oh yes.

Calling Every Angel sat 17th may @ the patrick centre

Grover are involved in the UK premiere Experimental Music Collective at this year's Fierce! Festival. EMC are a new group dedicated to promoting and performing experimental and innovative music. As well as Grover, This one-off performance features members of dark breakbeat masters PCM and grunge noise-niks Baxxter, all working together to make one huge improvised, loop-fed, noise-laden behemoth of a performance. Completing the spectacle are stunning, improvised visuals by Oli-vation (X>Y), featuring Nerys and Catweasel (Tokyo Lucky Hole, Awkward).

"Calling every Angel cuts into the nexus of occult, eroticism and psychedelia, defined by Kenneth Anger's seminal film works Invocation of my Demon Brother and Lucifer Rising. EMC use improvised electronic sound and vision to attempt a ritual reclamation of the new age from the saccharine smothered tongues of its self-proclaimed torch bearers".

And it's going to be fantastic...

Grover Tour

The Tiny Blue Sparks tour took us to some great venues all around England. As it winds down to the final show on 18th May, it would be a fine time to say thanks to everyone who made each and every gig a memorable experience. You know who you are and we are indebted to you all...

New Album Reviews

We've started getting the first reviews through for the album. There's a nice one from HMV in Fused Magazine and the venerable Mike Davies in Birmingham 101 which you can read on the appropriately titled reviews page.

Grover have also been recommended as one of the top ten bands to see in the launch issue of Bang magazine, a new national music monthly from Future Music publishing.

Tiny Blue Sparks Now Available!

The first pressings of the new Grover album, Tiny Blue Sparks, are now ready! The official launch gig is Friday 11th April, and it will be available in the shops from Monday 14th April, distributed via Cargo. Go to your nearest record store and demand a copy now. However, if you can't wait, you can get them directly from us or Bearos Records for the measly sum of £5! Follow the music link for details on how to do this.

Grover's Past

To support the new album, Bearos Records are also releasing a limited edition retrospective CD of a selection of Grover tracks. Entitled Past, the CD covers the period from the very first Grover recordings (way back in 1993!) to the last Bearos single, 414.7 Revolutions (2000). All the tracks have been digitally remastered (otherwise it would sound like a right dog's dinner). Most of the tracks are either from records that have sold out or aren't available anywhere else - unless you happen to have a couple of the old cassette demos knocking about! A definite must for all you Grover completists...

Update: "Past" is available now via Bearos Mail Order, but order your copy soon, 'cos they're going down to All Tomorrow's Parties and may well sell out...

Ra! Ra! Ra!

A vaguely surreal night was had by all at the Oxford Union on 16th Feb. Grover played the launch of The LIP Magazine, a new student-based national publication. In the cold, austere debating hall, looked down upon by busts of famous alumni (Michael Heseltine, Harold MacMillan and Roy Jenkins, to name a few) and cheered on by Oxford undergrads, sporting dufflecoats and college scarves, all pissed up on free red wine, Grover "played up and played the game", proceededing to shake the hall to its very foundations. Retired colonels were queueing up to complain about the noise before we'd even finished tuning up, and Si made a rather splendid drum riser out of the speaker's podium. Rock n' Roll.

Jonson Family Gig Back On

The launch of the 2Minutemen2 compilation on Jonson Family is back on in a new venue! Problems with the Arts Café meant that it had to be re-arranged, but with a sterling effort, a new venue has been arranged. It'll now be at The Betsy Trotwood in Farringdon. We're told that this is more "intimate" venue, but this'll give everyone a chance to get to know each other even better.

Peel's Record Box

Grover's album has been included on John Peel's recommended albums in his Record Box entry for December 2002. It's down as "white label" because he's only got a promo version of it at the moment. He's already played track from it on his BBC Radio1 show. Just imagine how much he'll like it when he actually gets a proper copy...

Album Released in January...?

The Bearos production line is now running smoothly once more. The official launch for the album is the gig on April 11th, but it may well be available at gigs before that.

The new Grover album is called Tiny Blue Sparks. All of the 10 songs on the CD are either brand new, or are newly recorded versions.

The full track listing goes like this:
1. Meltdown (intro), 2. With My Eyes Wide Shut I Can See the Universe, 3. I Await Your Letters & Sendings, 4.Tunnel Boat Song, 5. Hamfist, 6. Longitude:Latitude, 7. Half Life, 8. Ma, I Failed, 9. A Simple Misunderstanding, 10. Supersonic Sonar Radar/Meltdown (outtro).

Grover will be playing gigs around the UK to promote the release. Also, there will be an exclusive Bearos "MP3 of the Month" by Grover to coincide with the album launch. More details to follow.