Fire Records is proud to announce the signing of a band that has been thrilling our ears all year. New Zealand's Surf City will be releasing the jaw-dropping kiwi guitar buzz masterpiece 'Kudos' on the iconic label this November.

We might be biased but this is clearly the finest six string pop haze we have come across in quite some time. Joining the long line of Fire masters from Spacemen 3 to Teenage Fanclub, and sprinkling in that beloved New Zealand flavor, Surf City are the perfect pack of young chord slashers to take their place on our wall of guitar mavens.

Updating the psych haze of the Spacemen with the circular drone of Animal Collective and the off kilter melodies of The Clean with the drive of Interpol, Surf City is the perfect mix of everything you loved about the early 80's New Zealand jangle and the 60's blur of Velvets and Zombies with the shapeshifting songwriting of today.

Formed by Davin Stoddard and Josh Kennedy, they quickly stared banging out catchy nuggets with the aid of Josh's brother Jamie on bass and Logan Collins pounding the drums, and the foursome were off and running. Eventually settling on the Jesus and Mary Chain inspired name, they arrived with their Steve Keene (hunted down for his previous work for Pavement and Silver Jews) adorned self-titled debut EP. Keene's art will feature on the long player as well!

Hotly tipped as a band to watch, the group played some manic shows at both home and showcase gigs abroad. Stereogum praised their 'impressively assured sound' and 'perfect 2-minute pop storm.' All Music was taken with the 'sheer energy and ragged happy sound' and gushed 'the whole is just a delight.' Pitchfork noted that 'their punky psychedelic pop is impressive' and admitted 'Surf City's pleasure for pleasure's sake approach already has me pining for more.' The buzz was building and with the release of 'Kudos,' it is time for it to be realized.

The latest installments of Fire Records "Embers" Re-issue series have both been picking up the praise in the monthlies. Smudge (pictured above) picked up 4/5 in this months UNCUT magazine and AC Acoustics picked up the same score in this months MOJO.

"Ac Acoustics may lack the kudos of other peers restored in Fire Records "Embers" series (Spacemen 3, Teenage Fanclub) but Peelie called them "Truly Brilliant". " 4/5 MOJO

"Manilow is a wonderful sequence of tuneful vignettes. Its brisk, domestic, cute and as we would have said at the time "slack" somehow, too. " 4/5 UNCUT

2010 marks the 25th anniversary of Valley Of Rain - the debut album by Giant Sand, the ever-shifting alternative rock band overseen by 'the Godfather of Alt. Country' Howe Gelb. With that in mind, the band are celebrating in the only way they know how: with a flurry of great music. This year will see a special one-off show at The Barbican in London on July 22 and a new Giant Sand album, Blurry Blue Mountain, released in October.

Fire Records is also proud to announce the start of a Giant Sand/ Howe Gelb series of rolling reissues from September 2010, which will see the re-release of roughly 30 albums starting with the re-release of Valley Of Rain and culminating in two box sets to be released next year.

'Giant Sand is a mood,' says Howe's of Giant Sand, as if trying to offer a low-key explanation for his dizzying array of artistic exploration that includes a back-catalogue of some 40 albums as a singer, band-leader and producer. After growing up in Pennsylvania in the 1970's, it wasn't until he moved to Tuscon, Arizona that he met his musical soul mate, the guitarist Rainer Ptaceck. The two formed Giant Sandworms and issued only a handful of recordings before the worms were put to rest: since then, Giant Sand have released 24 albums - an impressive haul when considering Howe's equally prolific output under other projects including Black Ranchette and Arizona Amp & Alternator as well as his solo releases.

Howe, though, is definitely not content to rest on his laurels. Giant Sand's 2000 album Chore Of Enchantment has been declared one of the Best 1000 Records Ever Made and scooped up plaudits from NME and The Guardian amongst others, with the former insisting the record cemented his reputation as 'a founding father of modern Americana'. His most recent solo project, meanwhile - 2006's 'Sno Angel Like You - earned a 5 star review in Mojo and was described by Q as 'showcasing an immense generosity of spirit and poetic warmth'.

Rather than retrospect, then, this is a time for celebration. Howe and his band will be marking the 25th anniversary of the release of Valley Of Rain by hosting a very special evening of brand new collaborations and performances. As they play some of their choicest cuts from their back catalogue, they'll be joined by Kristin Hersch, guitarist and founder of the seminal art-rock band Throwing Muses. 'I'll jump at any chance to be on stage with the wild and wacky, kooky and cozy Howe,' says Hersch. 'With Howe, I never know exactly what will happen, but it's always great to be a part of it.'

As well as The Barbican show, there are three other UK dates scheduled for July in Winchester, Brighton and Gateshead, before the release of the new album Blurry Blue Mountain in October. And with the re-issues and Giant Sand box set still to come from Fire Records, 2010 will certainly be a celebration to remember for Howe and all of his fans.

Fire Records is to release a 3 x CD best of of over 100 songs spanning the career of Jad Fair and Half Japanese. "Beautiful Songs" will feature liner notes from Everett True and artwork by Jad himself. Photo Credit: Brian Birzer

Smudge return to the UK to play a run of shows starting with Colchester Arts Center tonight, Manchester Sound Control on Saturday and the Windmill in Brixton on Monday.
Tom Morgan dropped by the Fire Records studio and recorded a version of fan favourite "The Outdoor Type".

You can download it HERE

Mathew Sawyer returns to Cafe Oto next Friday (May 21st) to promote the release of his new album "How Snakes Eat". Support comes from David Christian (Comet Gain) & The Left Outsides

'BUY TICKETS HERE '

We are esctatic to announce the signing of Mathew Sawyer and his Ghosts and the forthcoming release of their new record "How Snakes Eat" (released May 16th!).

We will be celebrating with a launch party at Cafe Otos on Thursday May 21st.



CLICK TO DOWNLOAD 'MYNAH BIRDS CALL'

Sonic pioneers Bardo Pond will be performing live at the Sydney Opera House on 1st June as part of Lou Reeds VIVID Festival. Bardo have also just announced the release of a new record - due out in September on FIRE entitled "The Transmissions Are True".

We are pleased to announce the re-issue of one of our favourite 90s bands Smudge. The Australian trio will release both the bands classic Manilow and Real McCoy Wrong Sinatra as part of our ever growing Fire Records Embers re-issue series.

Manilow (the Blue edition!) includes a free 14 track live album recorded in Cologne in 1994. Real McCoy includes previously unreleased demo tracks from the original sessions.

Both re-issues are super limited edition so get them while they're hot!

Fire will be partying like its 1995 at the Windmill in Brixton on the 24th of May as the band return to these shores for the first time in aeons. The original line up will also be performing at Colchester Arts Center on the 21st and Manchester Sound Control on the 22nd.