Return to Ipswich

We're back in Ipswich this month! It's been a few years, but we'll be at The Smokehouse on 16 March, with other German Shepherd Records artists Bouquet of Dead Crows and Umbrella Assassins! Should be a great night, hope to see you there!

Look good, look cheap! New album on 7 December

Nearly there! Our new album 'Look good in cheap clothes' is out on 7 December on German Shepherd Records; with a launch party on 6 December at the Cornerhouse, Cambridge (FREE ENTRY)! CDs will be available on the night!

Says Bob at German Shepherd...
"Cambridge’s highly regarded band The Scissors return with a brand new album replete with their signature swirling keyboard-fuelled psych-pop, horrorshow freakbeat guitars and new wave post-punk basslines. Titled “Look Good In Cheap Clothes” the 7th December release shows a real development from its popular predecessor “Haunted Mirror”. With a dazzling mix of garage punk, otherworldly pop, and some new explorations the band demonstrate a significant shift in their sound whilst retaining the core of their alternative take on music."

German Shepherd Records' new subscription service!

Our lovely record label German Shepherd Records will shortly be launching a subscription service! A great way to get your paws on LOADS of amazing music for a ridiculously cheap fee! Here's more...

'We will be launching a subscription option for our Bandcamp releases in the very near future.

With our subscription, you can get ALL of our new releases for just £40 a year (less than a pound a week!), while supporting our label and our roster of great artists directly. Given we release over 40 items a year this is a great value for money choice.

German Shepherd is owned, operated and funded by us, on a not for profit basis We pride ourselves on being grass-roots, DIY and artist-focused. We started in 2014 and have been slowly growing a fan base and getting the support of a selection of friendly DJs and bloggers who feature what we do.

However changes in the music industry, and price increases, have made it harder than ever for small labels like ours to stay in business in today’s climate. Your subscription will directly help us to continue releasing great music and in turn support some of the best underground artists out there.

When you subscribe you’ll get a load of great music and special offers

• All our new releases will be automatically added to your Bandcamp account and available to download
• A selection of 10 items from our back catalogue will be completely free when you sign up
• There will be Special releases which are only available to subscribers – they will not be sold anywhere else
• There will be special discounts for subscribers on gig tickets, merch and other material
• There will be subscriber only blog updates from us, regular artist updates, exclusive demo material/live recordings and behind-the-scenes stuff

Watch out for the launch date!'

Look good in cheap clothes!

As revealed live on Stagger Indie last night, the next Scissors album will be called ‘LOOK GOOD IN CHEAP CLOTHES’ and will be out on German Shepherd Records towards the end of the year! (and t-shirts featuring the design below, related to the cover art, will be available soon!)

T-shirt design, by www.stewartharrisdesigns.com,

First chance to get your paws on one of the new t-shirts will be 17 July at the Portland Arms, Cambridge, where we'll be supporting the amazing KOLARS.

But you can also catch us live before then this coming weekend at Knackfest (Saturday 30 June, Karma Farm, Isleham Fen, Ely). We're on at 7pm, and you don't actually need to camp over to join the fun - just turn up and catch the set (it's free to get in though donations are welcome)!

It's never too late to Sjhake!

Our three-track EP 'Sjhake!' is still available via those lovely German Shepherd Records people! Sjhake (from award winning album Haunted Mirror) is joined by Electric Line Terminus and Glossy Magazines. Get it digitally from German Shepherd's Bandcamp page, or from all the usual digital/streaming outlets...

Sjhaking all over!

13th October sees the release of a new three track EP “Sjhake” by Cambridge self styled purveyors swirling keyboard-fuelled psychpop with horror-show freak-beat guitars and new wave post-punk bass-lines.

Lead track Sjhake previously featured on the bands second album “Haunted Mirror”, second track “Glossy Magazines” was featured on a German Shepherd compilation and the third track “Electric Line Terminus” is a new release.

 ...and we'll be promoting the single/EP at this gig on 14 October at the Cornerhouse, alongside The Face and The Keepers; not to mention appearing on a local radio show or two (details TBC shortly)!

Sjhaking it with a new single! Words, music and more!

Artwork of our forthcoming single 'Sjhake'

The word is out! We have a new single (or three-track EP if you like) out on 13 October, released through those lovely German Shepherd Records people!

'Sjhake', from our current album 'The Scissors Is The Haunted Mirror' is joined by two other tracks, the cautionary tale of 'Glossy Magazines', and the dystopia-is-upon-us rave-up that is 'Electric Line Terminus'.

And if that's not enough, we're also involved in the 'Ian Moss and Friends' spoken word + music project (a preview of which, not featuring us, can be heard here). More on that soonwards!

April Circus

Looking ahead to April, we're delighted to be playing with the fantastic Moscow Circus, whose album 'Resounding' was one of Stewart Scissor's favourites from last year. If you like Psychedelic Furs, XTC, early solo Julian Cope or House of Love, they'll be up your street.
We also have The Get, all the way from Southend-on-Sea, whose current EP on German Shepherd Records is a veritable delight of Magazine-influenced post-punk! It's a free entry evening at Cambridge's Cornerhouse, and promises to be a blast!

'Malawi' charity album out!

German Shepherd Records' new charity album, fighting famine in Malawi, is out now (and features a brand new track from us)!

Here's more about it...

'Malawi is in a state of emergency and facing its worst food crisis in many years. Parents are unable to feed their children and millions are going hungry.

A horrible combination of floods and drought throughout Southern Africa has devastated crops, leaving many families on the brink of starvation. It’s only set to get worse over the coming months. During this time of crisis a daily meal is a vital lifeline for vulnerable children in desperate need of nourishment.

In April, the President of Malawi declared a state of national disaster. 6.5 million people are facing chronic hunger. Severe droughts have left the country short of one million tonnes of maize needed to feed its people in the months ahead. The government of Malawi estimates that more than eight million people – half the country’s population – could need food aid by the end of 2016.

£12.20 is all it costs for the charity Mary's Meals to feed a child for a whole school year. We are asking you to donate a minimum of £3 for this album which will include music we have previously released as well as brand new tracks - all money raised after Bandcamp and Paypal fees will be then sent via Mary's Meals to Malawi'

Get it here

Salford Music Festival! and Malawi!

We're thrilled to be playing at The Eagle in Salford this Friday (30 September) as part of Salford Music Festival! Now in its seventh year, this grass roots, no-nonsense event, is part of the musical life blood of the city. Bob of Aural Delights has more info on his blog...

We're on a great bill alongside The Junta, Cambridge's Bouquet of Dead Crows, and Kit B. And it's free entry!

We'll also be promoting the forthcoming 'Malawi' famine-busting charity compilation out on 1 October on German Shepherd Records, which features (among other delights) a brand new track from ourselves, 'Glossy Magazines'. It's a song you might be familiar with if you've been to any of our gigs this year, and we're very proud to have it included on this worthwhile album.

Pre-order 'Haunted Mirror' album, get 'No go the lowdown' track now

You can now pre-order our new album from German Shepherd Records - and when you do you'll get 'No go the lowdown' to enjoy in advance!

The Scissors launch 'Haunted Mirror' album at Cambridge Boathouse, 12 March!

We'll be launching our new album (which will be released on German Shepherd Records) at a special gig at Cambridge's The Boathouse  on Saturday 12 March!
Special guests will include the fantastic Helen Robertson, playing her electrifying punk-folk songs in a solo set, plus more TBC...

Advance tickets are available! We're so excited to finally unleash 'Haunted Mirror' on the world!

German Shepherd to release Scissors' new album 'Haunted Mirror'

We're thrilled to announce that German Shepherd Records will release our new album 'The Scissors Is The Haunted Mirror' later this year!

German Shepherd Records is a Greater Manchester based record label who release cutting edge new music plus historical archive material from some of the legendary bands from the Manchester Music Scene and elsewhere in the UK - and we're really excited to be working with them on our latest release!
'The Scissors Is The Haunted Mirror' will be available on download and streaming services from all the usual outlets, plus a limited quantity of physical CD copies.
Watch this space for the release date!

Bouquet of Dead Crows album launch a triumphant night!

Big thanks to everyone who made Friday night such a great time! We supported Bouquet of Dead Crows for their album launch, alongside Gavin Chappell-Bates and Cherry White.
Cambridge Music Reviews were there to review the whole evening, and had these nice words to say about our set:

'An exuberant performance from Cambridge stalwarts The Scissors impressed the growing audience, their sharp pop songs a riot of colourful Hammond organ flavoured keyboards, edgy guitar, crescendos of drums and punching bass, with some interesting lyrical twists. Hopefully a new CD is due soon, to include the dark blues of ‘Why Don’t You Cry?’ currently one of the standout songs in their live set.'

Read the full review for more about the whole evening! We had a fantastic time playing to a great crowd alongside awesome acts. What more can one ask for?

(pic by Jude Stephens)

Bouquet of (Un)Dead Crows video features a certain Scissor...

It's great to see our chums Bouquet of Dead Crows going places with their new single released on German Shepherd Records! Here's a nice article about it.
And here's the fab video for it (watch out for a familiar-looking zombie...)!