London Zine of Music, Arts and Miscellaneous Happenings. Monthly updates & seasonal physicals.
/ˈpɪnˌdrɒp/
1) adjective describing the silence produced when a performance leaves the audience speechless (ie: one could hear a pin drop)
2) verb to indicate the location of a particular happening
01
___Stef Kett '55 PLV' Album Launch @ Theatreship £5.74/6.79 SEXMAGIC - The solo work of London guitar experimentalist and math-rocker Stef Ketteringham is mind-boggling to say the least. His career, through avant-rock groups Reciprocate and Shield Your Eyes, has centred around pushing (and pulling) the guitar to its limit, smacking wild melodies in and out of tune, with a faint memory of blues rock technique. The sparse arrangements of his new album don’t shake these foundations; in fact, in moving away from the rhythmic constraints of a band, the album is allowed to be wilder than ever before. Check out support from C Turtle’s Cole Flynn Quirke and the ever-brilliant BossOLa. tickets
03
___Kiran Leonard @ Ivy House £8 Sad Machine - One of Pindrop’s absolute favourite songwriters takes the stage again, bringing his extended band to lay down heartstopping tracks, where an electric guitar and a Lancashire accent pull melodies and crafty poetry from spellbinding chords. For this well-curated all-dayer in Nunhead, check out the like-minded support from Lobby, Kissing Gate, & Sculpture Park! tickets
04
___The (S)KET GALA [MISCELLANEOUS] @ George Tavern £10/12/20/50 WKD40 - The night before the “real thing”, the George is hosting the people’s Met Gala, an opportunity to dress and protest (dress code: Reflect the Mess of Life). A euphoric night of musicians, DJs, drag, and keening (a Celtic funeral tradition), scenes will be brought together, partying til 3 and raising money for Queer and Disabled charities. Skets for solidarity! tickets
06
___Monde UFO @ Shacklewell Arms FREE Baba Yaga’s Hut - Between blanketing chords of organs and mellotron strings, the LA duo exude effortless psychedelia. Twanging exotica guitar and funky drums will give way to whispered melodies and echoing freakouts, but each song finds a way to be subversive and haunting. tickets
07
___Maddie Ashman @ Paper Dress Vintage £10 - Achieving rapid internet success with her mindbending microtonal guitar work, watch one of Ashman’s videos and have your entire concept of music smashed to pieces. This isn’t your droning King Gizzard nor Histustani raga, but a proggish folk where sudden dissonances are ingrained in every line. Sometimes frantic, other times simmering, disconcerting, Ashman’s voice effortlessly catches each line, adding another layer to each song’s unique tapestry. tickets
___Lulu Williams: Princess Diana as Mushrooms [BOOK LAUNCH] @ Pagemasters Studio - Princess Diana as Mushrooms explores the elegance of decay and the flamboyance of both nature and man alike. Come see the late Princess decked out in a variety of Fungi and enjoy a nice mushroom cocktail and tunes at this book launch.
08
___Sunglasz Vendor @ The Stags Head £9 - The Bristol trio turn away from their experimental projects (Bingo Fury, Ex-Agent, & GRANDCHILD) to bridge the gap between witty slacker-rock and midwest-emo catharsis. Celebrating the release of their debut album Unwinding, they take on the N1 pub. Between furious choruses, creative guitar pulls each song down hairpin turns that never feel out of place; raw vocals describe confusions and blunders through multisyllabic mouthfuls. This is a band that isn’t afraid to be wonky and wild. tickets
___Tiernan performs The Ribbon Songs @ Bow Church £14.69 Eat Your Own Ears - The perfect venue to carry the weight of Tiernan’s music, where he’ll perform intimate songs from his recently released debut album. An excursion from his band deathcrash, the record focuses on the songwriting and lyrics as opposed to the space between sparse vocals, like what Giles Corey is to Have A Nice Life (who deathcrash will be supporting in the UK this summer). tickets
___Ugly @ Village Underground £18.54 Bad Vibrations tickets
08m-07jun
___Best In Show [ART] @ Jealous FREE - Jealous presents an exhibition curated from an open call that centers around the singular theme of pets. Friends of other species will all be featured, both big and small. A playful exhibition to kick off the spring, stop by for the opening on the 8th of May. info
09
___Sarah Meth & Mary in the Junkyard @ Theatreship £11.01 Wishbone - Ever wanted to catch intimate acoustic sets from two of London’s indie-folk best? Did I mention it’s on a boat? tickets
10
___Tony Kofi Tentet Plays Thelonius Monk @ Vortex £12.5/17.5 - London jazz icon Tony Kofi started his recording career by paying tribute to Thelonius Monk with his album All Is Know; decades later, he comes to the Vortex jazz club with an ensemble of up-and-coming young jazz musicians to play Monk’s 1959 classic “Thelonious Monk Orchestra at the Town Hall”. The night consists of two sets of legendary pieces by an amazingly talented band. tickets
12
___Rabbitfoot @ Windmill Brixton £6.5 - Rising stars Rabbitfoot stop off in SW2 before heading further south for Brighton’s Great Escape festival. Although championing the synth and cello trimmings that is often demanded of London bands, the chamber-pop group maintain a lean (and mean) quintet, carried by the charisma of their theatrical frontperson. tickets
14-15
___Acid Mothers Temple @ Corsica Studios £20 Baba Yaga's Hut - If you’re looking for some midweek face-melting fun, you’re in luck: get down to Elephant & Castle, as for a two-day stint at Corsica, one of the seminal Japanese psych-rock bands are in town. In their umpteenth configuration, AMT continue their search for “extreme trip music”, concocting a lysergic blend of kosmische, hard rock and music concrète. Long form jams, led by guitarist and mad scientist Kawabata Makoto, warp time and shake buildings. tickets
16
___Mark Fry @ Stone Nest £12.5/25 Broadside Hacks - The British acid folk legend celebrates the release of his new album Not On The Radar in the Soho performance space. After reissues of his ‘72 record Dreaming with Alice prompted a dedicated cult following, the Normandy-based painter and songwriter got back on the horse. Stepping away from the droning, sitar-embellished sound of his debut, Fry’s new direction is sparser, but more poignant and honest. Who else should support but Daisy Rickman, of course! tickets
17
___Tom Sheen Quintet, E.T.C & Sula @ World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens £15/20 - Trinity Laban’s finest jazz students play the hidden gem of London jazz venues in Nine Elms. Three exhilarating sets from talented young bassist Tom Sheen’s quintet; E.T.C, a trio featuring Sheen as well as Ethan Sweeting and Chris Outhwaite; and the new exciting trio Sula, by Miranda Radford, Aleks Dimitrova and Kezia Abuoma. tickets
19
___Pindrop Presents: TBC @ Windmill Brixton £6 - We're working on it! Keep the date open.
21
___Garden Centre @ The Greyhound £6.12 Sad Machine - Hop down to Peckham’s Greyhound to catch one of London’s most tender bands around. Garden Centre blends worlds of indie power pop, performing songs of an innocent yet daring sensibility that get you twirling and swaying across the venue. With twangy guitars, wonky keyboards and the unique helium-filled vocals of frontman Max Levy, this band is a must-see for fellow frolickers who embrace the oddities of life. tickets
22
___Dinosaur Jr. Celebrating 30 Years of ‘Without A Sound’ @ Troxy £44.01 Communion One - With a back catalogue stronger than most bands’ hits, the legendary Massachusetts alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. bring their frantic fuzzed-out bangers to Troxy. Although inspiring generations of grunge, indie and noise-rock bands, it’s the signature whine and OTT guitar solos of frontman J Mascis that make them stand above the rest. tickets
23m-15jun
___Burn the Sheets, an exhibition of trans domesticities [ART] @ House of Annetta FREE - A group show featuring 8 different artists, in an intimate exposure of the home and how different Trans artists make it their own and occupy private space. info
29
___mclusky @ EartH £29.87 Club The Mammoth - Legends of UK post-hardcore and frequent Steve Albini collaborators, Cardiff’s mclusky celebrate the release of their first album since 2004 with a live set full of gritty bass and witty lyrics (“Take up tai chi, now your favourite pet has died. We had crazy fucking times, til her her visa card expired”). With no time for political optimism, the trio spit jaundiced humour and spray wild, discordant fury. tickets
30
___caroline [LIVE & SIGNING] @ Rough Trade East >£12.5 tickets
all month
___Tulani Hlalo: Silly Bitch [ART] @ Soup Gallery FREE - While the dog days of summer are still some way away, Tulani Hlalo brings us some dog day afternoons in the gallery. Her playful tufting and textile work addresses themes of competition and pedigree while maintaining tongue-in-cheek humour. Ends June 8th.
___Valentino Cortazar & Daisy Dodd-Noble: Dialogues [ART] @ LAMB Gallery FREE - Dialogues reexamines the age-old landscape and its historic relationship to colonialism. This reimagination of the relationship that the viewer, painter, and landscape share with one another allows for something more playful and intimate with the natural world. Ends June 28th.
For even more crucial dates that couldn't fit on the list...
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by MLT
It’s Wednesday night in the dingy basement of Jaguar Shoes, and it’s Lau’s third birthday of the year. How is that even possible? I thought only the queen had two birthdays. Over the last couple years, promoter Laura Pacifici has been using her birthday as an opportunity to put on some really exciting gigs, bringing bigger acts back to the underground venues where they rose through the ranks. Last year, Wunderhorse played packed secret set at the George Tavern, whilst this year, a pleasant Sunday all-dayer, two of Pindrop’s favourite bands, C-Turtle and deathcrash, played for Lau’s bash. Now, it’s clear she’s got a taste for it, regularly setting up nights around East London.
An audience piles into the infamously small Shoreditch basement, opting to sit or stand, lit blood-red by the stark lighting, as the first of tonight’s two bands wander onto the stage. Tuske, a brooding slowcore trio led by man-about-town Tommy Barlow, hunch over two guitars and a violin, initiating low drones of sound. As their set begins to pick up, subby electronica trembles through the room, making the very clothes on your skin shake and creating an emotionally rich wall of sound. The shaggy-haired singer’s voice gruffly laments, “Would you ever need me?” as scratchy violins layer and twangy guitar notes reach deep beneath lofty pulsating beats that continue to grow in firmness. The opening song tapers out into silence, leading into their next tune that continues the heartbreakingly earnest feeling of longing. As subtle notes of harmonica ring out, Barlow’s voice suddenly splits into two; electronic manipulation twists demonic undertones under the warm vocals, where his lyrics of confliction are screwed into something narcotic. Tuning whilst violin screeches up and down, Tuske’s grunge is fragile; their roughness comes from fuzzy guitars and eerie violin melodies, yet the songwriting is delicately moody. Their songs are dynamic, washing in and out like lapping waves growing more intense as a storm brews, yet they never reach that assumed impending chaos. It’s apt music for a damp basement; the singer wipes his face, seemingly fed up and tired of chasing someone. As Barlow’s mellow voice winds through wispy trip-hop grooves, pieces of prior melody fall into place and bloom into a song perfect for late-night highway cruising. The final song brews, the violinist bows the strings vigorously; as Barlow huddles in front of his amp, feedback leads us into the silence, wrapping up Tuske’s set.
What follows Tuske is a short-but-sweet set from the romantic indie hyperpop group, Aki Oke. Glitchy beats melodically thump through the speakers, whilst snappy hi-hats hiss, encouraging audience members to swag out. Aki Oke blissfully takes our hand and leads us into the group's house party as their vocals chip over the skitty mix. Recounting their experience of a sad, soggy Starbucks sandwich, all is forgotten when they launch into a hyper-pop remix/cover of the 00’s Brooklyn hipster anthem ‘A-Punk’. Heavy, woofy bass rumbles out, as it dawns upon us that Aki Oke has taken us back to 2015 with high-pitched, echoey vocals. It feels like scrolling through Tumblr, wishing we had the essence of King Kylie. Sadly, the set ended on such a high that the audience is left jonesing for more, looking around at one another, trying to confirm that the set is indeed over. Aki Oke are definitely ones to catch again if you’re seeking a sleazy swaggy party, let’s just hope they can keep the party going next time!
by MJR
London crowds are no stranger to Cameron Winter, despite this April spate of shows being his first solo performances in the city. As the frontman of young NYC country-inspired art-rock favourites Geese, Winter has already established himself as a capable performer, but an intimate solo gig with just a piano for accompaniment puts his abilities to a new test. The crowd is hushed, bowed into pews after buying merch with the tagline “God Is Real,” which a bit uncreative to say when performing in a church, but credit has to be given when credit is due: Winter’s melodic and emotive approach to his solo material cuts to an emotional core difficult to find in places outside a church or perhaps a music venue. Indeed, the church venue is the perfect choice, forcing the audience to piously absorb music that is fragile and tender enough to have the potential to be cut through by an uncaring crowd.
It becomes clear the moment Winter plays the first notes of “Try as I May” that the audience is in for something special. Instead of attempting to recreate the nuanced instrumentation of the album, Winter produces such a full sound from the piano that it creates an entirely novel experience. “Drinking Age” is a song which in recorded form, relishes in small production embellishments, and yet the way Winter deftly manipulates even the silence between the notes, waiting between parts of the song to force the audience into a sort of stillness which is rare to find anywhere, let alone at a gig. “Cancer of the Skull” is a particular highlight of the set, performed with the guarded sincerity that could bring someone to tears. While there are some flourishes of Gen Z irony – a lyric suggesting that Winter was beat with ukuleles, for example – they are balanced out with sufficient sobriety that one is left with an impression of a particular emotional truth.
Winter finishes the first part of the set with “Take It With You,” off of his first solo release Singles, before standing up to hide before an encore. The demeanour with which he rises from the piano contrasts strongly with the chutzpah with which he had played just minutes prior – he shyly waves, and says a small thank you before leaving. This is in keeping with the entire set, which has been so clearly about the music with barely a word spoken from Winter the entire time. And yet, this lack of audience interaction doesn’t hinder him at all: the songwriting is so strong and sure of itself that it propels the set forward without the need of any explanation or intervention on Winter’s part. There is something profoundly powerful about it, the notion of live music distilled into its most essential components, which allows for an experience which feels transcendent in every meaning of the word, including the spiritual.
After it’s clear there’s going to be an encore, a sole heckler shouts for “Nausicaä” repeatedly. The crowd shushes him, but Winter is evidently in the mood to appease as he begins a blues-tinged version of the song. He builds to an epic climax, bashing the piano with flat hands in order to produce a particularly pounding sound from the instrument. Indeed, while Winter doesn’t play with the form of a recent Juilliard graduate, it’s been evident from the moment he sat at the bench that none of this has mattered. Somehow, there is more power to be found in this simplicity than there is in all of the noise that a rock band could ever hope to produce. Winter’s live show taps into a deeper sort of truth, one that is often elusive when it comes to live music. All there this – all that there probably will ever be – is the music and our capacity to connect with each other on some deeper level because of it.
GKA
___Everyone Loves You by Glasshouse Red Spider Mite (UK, 2025)
___The Peter Criss Jazz by Don Caballero (US, 2000)
___Gunshow by Stratford Rise (UK, 2025)
MLT
___Trying to Get to You by Elvis Presley (US, 1956)
___Concerto by Pizzicato Five (Japan, 1998)
___Piss Up A Rope by Ween (US, 1996)
MJR
___True Love Waits (Live in Oslo) by Radiohead (UK, 2001)
___Trains Across The Sea by Silver Jews (US, 1994)
___Stateside by Pink Panthress (UK, 2025)
SE
___What I See by Dirty Projectors (US, 2007)
___Curami by CCCP Fedeli alla linea (Italy, 1986)
___Life Is A Minestrone by 10cc (UK, 1975)
Pindrop is GKA, MLT, MJR, & SE
Contact us at @pindropzine (instagram) and pindropzine@gmail.com (email)