Thanks, Fountains!

Jody and Brian of Fountains of Wayne

We've been long term fans of the majestik Fountains of Wayne, and in recent times have become acquainted with two of their incredibly talented members, Jody Porter and Brian Young. It's an amazing kick for us that not only have they listened to our latest album Soak Up The Gravy, they both love it!

"Your album is dope - love Hello Picasso..." - Jody Porter

"It's brilliant, I really like it! Very well done and enjoyable to listen to, hats off!" - Brian Young

Approval for the music you produce from your heroes is the best. Thanks, boys

Merci pour le bon review!

Here's an attempt at translating what appears to be a very flattering review we received for the album Soak Up The Gravy from the French website Jazz, Blues & Co.

http://jazzbluesandco.over-blog.com/…/emperor-penguin-soak-…

Released in December 2018, Walnut Fascia, the previous album by the London group Emperor Penguin, despite a positive critical reception, unfortunately did not bowl over the masses ... Too late for the 'best of' lists of 2018, too early for the tops of 2019. And yet, in the power pop genre, we have rarely done better in recent years.

Probably a little frustrated, the musicians set out their stall again in 2020 with Soak Up the Gravy released from January 10. Perhaps a little early to impact on sensibilities still clouded by the end of year celebrations. We will see...

Anyway, Soak Up the Gravy compares very well with its predecessor and offers us an ultra dynamic pop sound that invokes brilliantly the spirits of XTC, The Beatles, Sweet, ELO, Traffic, Big Star, The Kinks, many jangle-pop bands and even a little Pink Floyd on Hello Picasso , the introductory track... Only mixing with the best company!

In short, Soak Up The Gravy, has the quality to cast a large, very large net. "Ne vous arrêtez pas à son immonde pochette!" (I can't figure out what this phrase means. Literally, it's something about 'Don't stop at its foul pocket', but that can't be right. Can it?)

Anyway, foul pockets and all, we salute you, Jazz Blues & Co.

News and Reviews

9th February 2020

We had a great night at The Hope & Anchor in Islington on Friday - thanks to all who came. We really appreciate it.

Meanwhile, great reviews have been coming in for the new album. This one from Beverly Paterson at Something Else Reviews particularly tickled us. She says:

Not only does it take special skills to play a variety of genres within a single song, but to make it work is a challenge in itself. Yet Emperor Penguin is capable of such a task, and the London, England band‘s latest album – Soak Up the Gravy, from Kool Kat Musik – is proof in the plum pudding they have mastered their mission in full force.Smothered in sheets of nerve-jangling chords, “Hello Picasso” initially comes off as a rowdy power popper before lowering the tempo and entering a vortex of foggy-brained, Pink Floyd-inspired flashbacks. A reverence for psychedelia also arrives on the shimmering surge of “Burning Man,” where “Katie’s Only Trending” rushes forth with lightning-speed punk styled licks, followed by weird and whirling time changes.

Echoes of Traffic’s 1967 favorite “Hole In My Shoe” are heard on “Hole In Your Soul,” which contains a similar paisley-flavored bubble-gummy essence. “Speedball Blue” plugs in as a soothing jazz piece, and “Go Guitargonauts” delivers an explosive cocktail of quirky surf riffs, a howling chorus and bobbing rhythms.

Progressive vision aside, Emperor Penguin actually never wanders too far from their pop origins. The band totes a talent for striking harmonies and beady-eyed hooks that regularly reference the likes of the Kinks, Big Star, XTC, Electric Light Orchestra and even the Bay City Rollers.

Unique and exciting, Soak Up the Gravy pushes the envelope in all the proper places. Here’s an album that offers something for everybody.

We’ll take that! Thanks, Beverly.

A new album for a new decade

6th January 2020

Album release: January 17th 2020
Emperor Penguin are back! We are excited to announce that our new album Soak up the Gravy will soon be available on CD via Kool Kat Musik and to stream and download from all the usual online outlets

The album comprises 14 original tracks and the new songs are as eclectic as ever, with inspiration ranging from Japanese kids' cartoons to the philosopher Thomas Aquinas. There are noisy guitars, catchy tunes and some more elaborate arrangements and productions than on previous EP releases. The album opens with art rocking pop tune 'Hello Picasso', features a live brass section on the anthemic 'Hole in Your Soul', has a guest lead vocal from 'Queen of Power Pop' Lisa Mychols on the jazzy 'Speedwell Blue' and closes with curry-flavoured psych-pop epic 'The Burning Man'. It’s a selection box of delights with something for everyone.

Full track listing

01.  Hello Picasso

02.  Go Guitargonauts

03.  What’s Come Over Me

04.  Katie’s Only Trending

05.  Hole in Your Soul

06.  Brand New Yesterday

07.  Flaming June

08.  You’ll be the Death of me

09.  Unman, Wittering & Zigo

10.  Memoria Magdalena

11.  Public Information

12.  Speedwell Blue

13.  A Person From Porlock

14.  The Burning Man

Guest appearances on Soak Up The Gravy

Burning Man - Keyboards by Ross Hunter
Hole in Your Soul – Brass by The Smite Lazy Workers! Brass Band (Trumpets: James Aylmer-Hall & Ed Smith; Cornet: Ruby Thorne; Logic Trumpets: Mikey Wilson)
Guitargonauts are Go! – Backing Vocal by Kaede Ose 
Speedwell Blue – Vocal by Lisa Mychols

The Zetor Super 50 Tractor is powered by a 4.2L Diesel engine. It was manufactured in Brno, Czechoslovakia between 1960 and 1968

“Youth to the tractors, smite lazy workers, forward to victory, soak up the gravy!”

Have yourself a lonesome cowboy Christmas

Attention, music lovers! Prepare your festive stockings: “A Kool Kat Kristmas Volume 3” is out now and Emperor Penguin are on it! We've revived and recorded a new version of our old novelty nugget 'Lonesome Cowboy Christmas' for the occasion.

Also included in this sensational seasonal collection are Everet Almond, The Decibels, The Junior League, The Season’s Greeters (featuring Kurt Baker), Nick Frater Music, Athanor, Richard Turgeon, @TheStanLaurels , Stephen’s Ruin, @TommyandTheRockets, Ed Ryan and Steve Somerset’s @ShadowKabinet.

You can listen to or download (if that’s your preference) “A KOOL KAT KRISTMAS VOL. 3” here: https://tinyurl.com/y6mmdg8e

And you can order the CD here: http://shop.koolkatmusik.com/mm5/merchant.mvc…

$5 from the sale of every copy will be donated to The American Cancer Society – so this is a wonderful collection of great music for a fine cause. So get a copy for the cowpoke under your Christmas tree.

New single out today!

The new single from Emperor Penguin: Brand New Yesterday

 “We all have our time machines, don't we? Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams.” - H.G. Wells

 Greetings, music lovers.

Our new single, Brand New Yesterday, is out now!

 You can stream it on Spotify, Bandcamp and Soundcloud. You can download it from Amazon, iTunes and Google Play. You can watch the video on YouTube. You can fill your earholes, your inbox and your playlists with it. Treat yourself – it’s what H.G. Wells would have wanted.

Brand New Yesterday is a taster for the forthcoming album, Soak Up The Gravy, currently nearing completion.

Pay attention to pop music!

L.A. Weekly Album of the Week

International Pop Overthrow, Volume 22 , featuring your very own Emperor Penguin, is LA Weekly’s album of the week. Here’s what they say:

When David Bash founded the International Pop Overthrow traveling festival in 1997 to pay tribute to Jim Ellison, singer with power-pop band Material Issue, he couldn’t have known that it would still be going strong 22 years later. After all, it’s a bit of an oddball event. The “pop” it refers to in the name doesn’t have much to the music we consider pop today — the boy bands and manufactured stars of the world. Rather, it’s going back to earlier definitions — ’60s beat groups and psych-rock, and of course the power-pop inspired by the likes of Big Star and Cheap Trick.

Every year, they put out a compilation album featuring many of the performers from that year’s tour, usually unsigned and underground artists with a few exceptions. This time, those exceptions include fine tracks from Jason Falkner (Jellyfish, The Three O’Clock)’s band Bird Street, Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Dave Rave, The dB’s main man Peter Holsapple, power-pop veteran Van Duren (who recently was the subject of an excellent biopic), and The Tearaways (featuring Blondie’s Clem Burke).

The latter contribute one of the album’s best songs, “The Wrecking Crew” — a tribute to the L.A. session musicians responsible for some of the most iconic music in history. This song does them justice, expertly executed and the hook is relentless.

“Hooks” are a big theme here; bands are artists with names that will be alien to most contribute unforgettable songs. Young L.A. band the Velvet Starlings’ “Bitter Pills” is certainly one, but there are many. It sometimes feels like they’re trying to outdo each other — Brooklyn-born, L.A.-based Michael Faherty’s “Clark Gable” is a Marshall Crenshaw-esque slice of poignant power-pop. Blake Jones & the Trike Shop’s version of the James Bond theme “Goldfinger” sticks out because it’s so damn weird, but even that is wonderful.

We could go on, but this is a three-disc album that you just need to tear into and discover amazing new things. Then track down the previous years’ albums. Then get yourself to a show next time IPO tours.

The album is available here.

Be prepared! New single on its way

We are gravid with the promise of new music. Our single ‘Brand New Yesterday’ is coming to a tomorrow near you, soon…

EP on IPO CD

This year's IPO compilation, Volume 22, is now available for pre-order on the Omnivore Records home page athttp://omnivorerecordings.com/shop/ipo-22/ and once again it features your very own Emperor Penguin, along with many other fine artists .

Here’s what they say about it on the site:

Omnivore Recordings and The International Pop Overthrow Music Festival are proud to present International Pop Overthrow: Volume 22, a 3-CD compilation featuring 69 tracks by artists from all over the world who have played the International Pop Overthrow festival—along with some who haven’t.

The IPO compilation series goes back as far as the 1998 when Volume 1 was a single disc. Since then, the compilation had expanded to two discs the following year, and then three discs in 2002 for Volume 5, and it has remained a three-disc set through 2019. International Pop Overthrow: Volume 22 showcases artists from 10 different countries, doing just about every sub-genre of pop music, including power pop, pop/rock, folk/pop, psychedelic pop, garage, indie-rock, modern rock, etc., making it one of the most well-rounded compilations available to the general public.

Set the controls for track 15, side 2: ‘Brand New Yesterday’ by Emperor Penguin. It’s a preview from our next album, ‘Soak Up The Gravy’.

Free three track E.P release

We are delighted to announce the release of a free three track E.P.
Just give us your email and we’ll send you the E.P. It features Half Way to Havana, Jensen Interceptor and an exclusive track Invisible Man, not available on any other release. Plus the bundle comes with a promo video for each song. Click on the button at the top right of this page to sign up for your free stuff.