The Story: the slow-moving cats at fierce panda records love a party. When they first stumbled into life on February 24th 1994 they celebrated the launch of the ‘Shagging In The Streets’ EP by throwing a sold-out bash at the Islington Powerhaus. The Powerhaus is now a branch of Halifax but the party spirit has carried on with notable panda birthday boogiedowns over the past two decades starring Death Cab For Cutie at ULU, The Walkmen at The Scala, and Keane and The Maccabees at the Bull & Gate (although not both at the same time), right up to 2011’s celebratory hoedown with Goldheart Assembly and The Crookes back at The Scala.

In fact, you can add to that list a wee trip up the A140 to Norwich Waterfront where, on February 24th 2012 The Kabeedies hosted and indeed hostessed a wee East Angularian bash for us furry sorts. Barely a month later however we find ourselves lost and pining for some cockney strife, and so it is that on Tuesday April 17th the panda posse will be decamping to Cargo for some more eighteenth birthday fun in the company of the monumentally sociable Hatcham Social and friends, and that birthday fun sounds something like this:

HATCHAM SOCIAL (onstage 10.00pm) are a London Town-based alternative quartet who are returning to the fray with a new album, a revamped line-up and a zestily rewired leftfield pop attitude. The band release ‘About Girls’ – the follow-up to their (he)artily acclaimed debut ‘You Dig The Tunnel, I’ll Hide The Soil’ – on April 2nd 2012, with the ‘Dance With Me’ single arriving a week later. To celebrate this edifying event the band headed to SXSW in the middle of March and will tour the UK from the day of the album’s release, including this very London Cargo headline show here. The new Socialites are David Claxton (guitar) and Riley Difford (bass), who join the centrifugal brotherly song writing force of Toby Kidd (vocals, guitar) and Finn Kidd (drums, vocals). The new album is called ‘About Girls’ because it is kinda about the girls they have loved and lusted after over the last few years, while a "guitar heavy" sound sees them move away from the synth-dappled sheen of 2009's 'You Dig The Tunnel…'. Hatcham Social themselves consider 'About Girls' to be "less layered with more concise lyrics which are more playful and honest and from real life." Catch Hatcham off guard and they might even say this is their "party" record. Seems like the perfect place to launch it then…
www.facebook.com/HatchamSocial

YOUNGHUSBAND (onstage 9.15pm) are another London Town-based alternative quartet who’ve released singles on panda label friends as wild and as varied as Too Pure and Sonic Cathedral. They describe themselves as ‘psych pop’, and judging by the blissfully lovely five minute groove of ‘Reunion Message’, which is melodic and droning and drowsy-but-forceful, they aren’t wrong. As you may or may not expect from people who name check Stereolab, Wire and Yo La Tengo…
soundcloud.com/o-younghusband-o

DINGUS KHAN (onstage 8.30pm) is / are a sixteen-legged groove machine from Manningtree at the very tippity top of Essex. They incorporate three drummers and three bassists into their colossal progpunkpop sound which was hurled into the public eye with the recent release of their ‘Knifey Spoony’ single on fierce panda spin-off Label Fandango and which found a very warm welcome on the hillside of BBC 6music.
www.facebook.com/dinguskhanband

www.fiercepanda.co.uk