I Am The Avalanche Perform "Brooklyn Dodgers" Acoustic

A video of I Am The Avalanche performing a stripped down version of, 'Brooklyn Dodgers' at Banquet Records in Kingston, UK can be viewed by clicking read more.

The Story So Far Announce UK Instore Acoustic Performance

The Story So Far have announced they will be perform an acoustic set at Banquet Records in Kingston, UK on Saturday, February 4th, prior to their sold out show with Man Overboard later that night at legendary Fighting Cocks venue.

The instore performance kicks off at 6pm. More information can be found here.

We Are The In Crowd UK Instore Date Change

We Are The In Crowd have pushed back their instore performance at Banquet Records in Kingston to February 6th.

More information can be found here.

We Are The In Crowd Announce UK Instore

We Are The In Crowd have announced details of an instore performance at Banquet Records in Kingston on February 1st.

More information can be found here.

Taking Back Sunday Announce Kingston Instore

Taking Back Sunday have announced details of an acoustic instore at Banquet Records in Kingston on September 8th.

The performance kicks off at 6pm.

More information can be found here.

Free Blitz Kids Song from Banquet Records

A free song from Blitz Kids called 'Orion' can be downloaded from Banquet Records.

'Vagrants and Vagabonds' is released through Hassle Records on July 11th.

The Wonder Years Announce Banquet Records In Store

The Wonder Years have announced details of an in-store performance at Banquet Records in Kingston on Saturday, September 17th.

Further info can be found here.

Album Review: Fireworks - Gospel

I’m going to let you into a secret: pop-punk in 2011 isn’t doing it for me. Something that I should logically be enthused by (the revitalisation of my favourite teenage genre) has left me a little cold. So it was then, that when Fireworks’ new record 'Gospel' crossed my path, I approached this review with some trepidation. Quite aside from my own views, the band’s previous output is already hailed as classic by many and this, only their second full-length, has much to live up to.

No further dilly-dallying though, it’s an outstanding record. There’s a lyric in stand-out song ‘Summer’ that references classic 80s coming of age film Stand By Me: “...I wanna find dead bodies with my closest friends.” It seems to sum up everything that they stand for, everything that bands aim, but often try too hard to portray; camaraderie and making the best of shitty situations. Lyrically, the album is full of such knowing touches, always heartfelt and often nostalgic, but never cheesy.

New Against Me! 7" Pre-Order from Banquet Records

Against Me!'s forthcoming 7" release, 'Russian Spies' is now available to pre-order from Banquet Records.

1. Russian Spies
2. Occult Enemies

Pre-Order Cynics' New Album from Banquet Records

Cynics' new album, 'Don't Need Much' is now available to pre-order through Banquet Records.

1. Home Measures
2. Nightcaps
3. Dave & Angela
4. Stones I've Thrown
5. Moorhen
6. Twenty Five
7. All The Time Every Time
8. Cider For Breakfast
9. Not Saying Sorry
10. My Quiet Lunch Breaks

'Don't Need Much' is released on June 13th through Household Name Records (CD) and Kind Of Like Records (LP).

Banquet Records Announce Fireworks/TheSwellers/The Wonder Years Triple CD Pack Details

Banquet Records are offering the forthcoming releases from Fireworks, The Swellers and The Wonder Years as a triple CD pack for £20.

Click here to pre-order.

The Wonder Years New Album UK Pre-Order

The Wonder Years' new album, 'Suburbia I've Given You All And Now I'm Nothing' can be pre-ordered in the UK through Banquet Records who are offering a CD and Postcard set.

'Suburbia I've Given You All And Now I'm Nothing' can be pre-ordered here.

Iron Chic and Pacer 7" Split Announced

Iron Chic and Pacer have announced they will be releasing a split 7" together through All In Vinyl Records.

The vinyl is set to be releasing in May and will feature two new songs from each band.

Pre-orders can be made through Banquet Records.

1. Iron Chic - Those Heads Are Our Heads
2. Iron Chic - Climate Is What We Expect, Weather Is What We Get
3. Pacer - Throwback
4. Pacer - Bricklayer

New Fireworks Album UK Pre-Order

Fireworks' new album, 'Gospel' can now be pre-ordered through Banquet Records, who are releasing the album in the UK.

The label will have two special vinyl pressings of the record:

Banquet Exclusive Colour - Coke Bottle Green (Limited to 200) with CD
UK Retail Exclusive Colour - White / Clear split (Limited to 300)

To pre-order visit Banquet Records.

The Swellers Banquet Records Pre-Order

The Swellers' new album, 'Good For Me' can now be pre-ordered through Banquet Records.

Banquet Records Short Record Store Day Documentary Video

A short documentary about this year's Record Store Day at Banquet Records, can be viewed by clicking read more.

Banquet Records still have some stock remaining from Record Store Day. A full list can be found here.

Banquet Records To Release New Fireworks Album In The UK

Fireworks' new album, 'Gospel' will be released through Banquet Records in the UK.

Further details to be announced soon.

Feature: The Importance of Record Store Day by Jon Tolley (Banquet Records)

Tomorrow music fans around the world will be celebrating a special day, Record Store Day. Its the one day of the year where the music buying community stands proud and is rewarded by bands/labels by releasing something special and rare. While for independent stores its a celebration for standing strong and still existing in the age of piracy and illegal downloading. In addition it gives stores like Banquet Records to give back to its customers with special, one-off releases. They do this because like their customers, they really care about supporting music thus creating a close community feel.

Alter The Press! asked to the owner of Banquet Records, Jon Tolley to tell us why Record Store Day is important and what it means to Banquet Records.

"Did you see that NME blog entitled “Why I Don't Care About Record Store Day”?

I thought it was embarrassing to the NME. An incredibly poorly written article, from someone who sounds like he isn’t informed enough to be a voice on such a thing. The one good thing about it tho was the amount of disagreement on it from every level of the music world. The positive words on record stores and physical releases in general were passionate and spontaneous. A great sight.

We’re not anti-downloading, we’re just pro physical releases. Of course downloading exists today in a way it didn’t 2 years ago, 5 years ago and certainly ten years ago. I’ve been working here for well over a decade. I remember us selling tapes, before they were a novelty idea. I remember people telling us CDs would never catch on. Then people telling us vinyl was dead. I’ve always said that we don’t need to know what the future holds necessarily as long as, as a business we can adapt to it. There’s a couple of things that have remained true tho throughout the music world’s constant and necessary, evolution. 1) The passion and desire of music fans. 2) The importance of the record store.

The Dangerous Summer Matinée Kingston Show Announced

The Dangerous Summer will play a headline matinée show at The Fighting Cocks, Kingston on June 4th.

Tickets are £6 and are available from Banquet Records.

Further details can be found here.

The Steal Announce Self-Titled Vinyl Release

The Steal's self-titled album has been pressed on vinyl for the very first time by US label My Parents Records. The vinyl run is limited to 300 (100 Clear / 200 Blood Red) and is up for pre-order now through Banquet Records (in the UK) and MyParentsRecords.com (in the US).

The LP will include a 12 page full colour photozine chronicling The Steal's 4 years of activity, including tours, shows and the recording of each of album.

1. Breakout
2. Little Dip
3. World Wide World
4. Libidon't
5. Waiting for the Simple Life
6. The Steal
7. Clothing Rack
8. Strength in Community
9. Living for the Weekend
10. Up in Smoke
11. Mr Door to Door
12. New Friend
13. Loudest Voices
14. Wonderstuff