new music from London's STRICKEN CITY

When Iain Pettifer (guitars) and Rebekah Raa (vocals/keys) first met in maths class they were wearing exactly the same clothes and quickly coupled over a mutual appreciation of introverted, romantic guitar music; not to mention a palpable sense of detachment from the cool kids. Rebekah spent her entire student loan on a guitar and 8 track recorder while Iain educated her with his extensive music collection including of a full set of Twisted Nerve 7”s and the complete works of Richard Hell. Soon joined by Kit Godfrey (drums) and Mike Hyland (bass), our heroes holed themselves up for hours on end, making and breaking songs about life and loss, love and desperation, hatred and hunger.


Defined by their clattering guitars, the scattergun pounding of the drums, basslines bursting with hooks and the strikingly voiced melodies of otherworldly front woman Rebekah Raa; SC produce an indie-pop of hitherto untapped gems drawn from influences Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, Young Marble Giants and The Slits as well as those lost sources of alternative melodica Life Without Buildings, The Sundays and Bow Wow Wow. Having recently been invited to tour the UK with Maximo Park, Stricken City last year clocked up playlists at XFM and NME Radio – as well as support from Radio 1 and 6Music. The band makes their US debut this fall including an appearance at CMJ.

They release their long awaited debut Songs About People I Know stateside on The Kora Records on November 3rd. The album – variously produced by Jeremy Warmsley (Killing Time / Small Things), IanDavenport (PS / Five Metres Apart / Pull The House Down), Andy from Tin
Can Telephone (Terrible Things), and the band themselves (Gifted / Sometimes I Love You) - encapsulates Stricken City’s early development into fine purveyors of alternative art-pop. The US version also includes two bonus tracks, Tak o Tak and The Traveller and will be out on 180 gram color vinyl and CD.

check out the live video from Stricken City for "Five Metres Apart"
and the MP3 for "Pull the House Down"