24 October with RJ Archer & The Painful Memories / Nautband

We're thrilled to be back at the Blue Moon Cambridge soon! Will be in the illustrious company of Nautband and RJ Archer & The Painful Memories, both of whom are fantastic! 24 October. Get tickets!

Pic by Dom H-S

Next gig: Eddie & The Hot Rods, Department S!

Don't forget, On 27 December we'll be supporting not only punk/new wave legends Department S, but also pub rock/proto punk legends Eddie and the Hot Rods, at Cambridge Junction.

We have a small allocation of cheap tickets too, so message us via Facebook if you want to get direct from us...

What better way to round off your Christmas fun, eh?

It's Monster Time! New single out 27 October

It's been a while since we've released new music... but here it is! Our new single, out this week, 'Monster Time'! A heady glam/punk-stomper full of Hallowe'en-shaped fun (although it's pretty much always Hallowe'en here at Scissor HQ), with a retro horror video to go with it!

https://thescissorsmusic.bandcamp.com/track/monster-time

KOLARS!

We're thrilled to be supporting KOLARS at the Portland Arms in Cambridge on 17 July!

KOLARS is a Los Angeles duo that blends rockabilly, disco, glam, and mod sounds with modern rock through minimal instrumentation: guitar and a tap-dancing drummer. As Rob Kolar sings and strums his rollicking guitar, Lauren Brown uses her whole body as a percussive instrument, tapping out the hi-hat rhythm with her feet atop a bass drum while simultaneously playing a stand-up kit, using dance to transform rhythms into natural extensions of her movement. It’s quite the workout and undeniably mesmerizing to watch.

Get tickets!

19 April alt-rock night, Cambridge Cornerhouse!

We're thrilled to be back at the Cornerhouse again with some mighty Cambridge bands of the alt-rock flavour! Our good friends Bouquet of Dead Crows, who are busy recording their new album, plus the fabulously tuneful Shyer, who are definitely a band to watch!

It's 19 April at ye good olde Cornerhouse, Newmarket Road...

Back at the Cornerhouse (with Wild Hope and Goldblume)!

We're back at The Cornerhouse, Cambridge soon! With the fantastic Wild Hope and a special acoustic set from the mighty Goldblume! And it's free entry... so put 10 March in your diary and get ready with your garage-psych dancing socks!

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.

Machismos, Moonstrips and more!

We're proud to be playing with amazing psychedelicists Moonstrips, and the legendary Machismos on 30 July at Cambridge's Portland Arms! The night will be compared by Virgil deVoyde, and all proceeds go to Down Syndrome Association.
£3 entry on the door

Interviewed by Jude Clarke for Cambridge News

We're interviewed by Jude Clarke for today's Cambridge News! Read the full interview.

This week we meet The Scissors, who love rock 'n' roll outsiders, hope their best song is yet to be written and would like to be covered by The Fall.

1: How long have you been together as a band?

We've been going in various forms for 10 years, come this December! But the current line-up's been together since 2010.

2: Talk me through the band members: what do they do and what are they like?

Stewart (second right) sings and plays bass. Loves cats and cookery, though not at the same time.

Toby (second left) plays guitar. Loves ephemera, pop art and ancient megaliths.

Simon (far left) plays organ and homemade electronic contraptions. Likes making mechanical greetings cards.

Huw (far right) plays drums. Likes walking and cycling, loves Emily.

3: What's your favourite thing about Cambridge?

The way the river meets the trees meet the pubs.

4: What's your best song?

We've not written it yet, hopefully! But Phone Calls from the Dead (a cautionary tale about not believing everything you hear, driven by a severely off-kilter guitar riff) always seems to go down well, as does Your House has Ghosts (garage-psych stomper about being trapped by one's own memories).

5: Best local show?

Our recent album launch gig was great to play. It was fun to curate the evening, with punky-folkpop singer-songwriter Helen Robertson and local punk pop legends Rubber Dux supporting. We decorated the Boathouse gig room with hanging cut-outs of esoteric Victoriana (cats' heads, medicine bottles, haunted mirrors) to create the right atmosphere.

6: Who are your musical heroes or heroines?

We love rock'n'roll outsiders, like maverick record producer Joe Meek (The Tornados, Screaming Lord Sutch), Brit-rock/glam/punk legend Jesse Hector (Crushed Butler, Hammersmith Gorillas), neo-music hall poet Viv Stanshall (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band), or 90s psychodramatic lounge legend Paul Hofner (Gretschen Hofner).

7: Which bands or artists would you pick to play your perfect festival?

The perfect festival is one where none of the good bands clash at the same times, so you get to see them all. Huw would have The Mars Volta, circa 2003-2005. Simon loves the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, but The Demon Barbers are probably his favourite festival band. Stewart loves Dreadzone at festivals – they're perfectly suited to that environment and never fail to unite a crowd in a nonstop dancing frenzy. Toby would love the original line-up of Thirteenth Floor Elevators, but that's not likely to happen on these shores any time soon.

8: If you had to cover one song, what would it be; if you could pick any band or artist to cover one of your songs, what would it be?

We'd cover Garden of my Mind by The Mickey Finn, a classic UK psych-rock track from 1967. It'd be nice if The Fall covered one of ours. We once covered The Stooges' I Wanna be Your Dog in the style of The Fall, with Stewart shouting out random breeds of dog in the manner of Mark E Smith…

9: Who would you get to play you in a video?

Huw – Jim Dale

Stewart – Terry Scott

Simon - Bernard Bresslaw

Toby – Sid James

10: Can you suggest another local band or artist that we should feature on this page?

Think most of our favourites have been featured! (The Seven Twenty, Bouquet of Dead Crows, Beverley Kills), but maybe you've not featured Moonstrips, a fantastic Cambridge garage-psych trio who have just released a cracking three-track EP (facebook.com/moonstrips)?

Read more: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Introducing-Scissors/story-29186872-detail/story.html#ixzz476qj4WYD
Follow us: @CambridgeNewsUK on Twitter | cambridgenews on Facebook

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!

Gigging for Facepalm!

For the next gig in our calendar we're proud to be back at our local Cambridge haunt The Cornerhouse, with our chums Bouquet of Dead Crows, and the fantastic Finding ANA.
Poster design by our very own Stewart Scissor. Now we know what Cthulhu listens to.

Groovin' the Grape!

It's been a little while since we've been in live action (though it was a very busy summer, with a few mystery private gigs between the scheduled ones), but we're back!
Friday 17 October we'll be playing Cambridge's The Grapes (19 Histon Road, CB4 3JB), with our fantastic chums Bouquet of Dead Crows and Trouser Crisis!
The perfect end to your week - and free entry too!

Supporting Raglans tonight!

Want to work off those Easter eggs? Then head along to the Portland Arms, Cambridge, tonight and bounce around like a mad thing as we support the mighty Raglans!
It's gonna be a great night...

Psychrock and blues!

We're playing in March back at Cambridge's legendary Cornerhouse (home to a lot of Cambridge's local indie/alt scene), with the lovely Bouquet of Dead Crows (alt acoustic bluesrock), and fresh from Brighton, Jackdaws (howling garage bluesrock).
A bit different, a bit awesome, we reckon!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1389902261269306

Wish you were here!

We're looking forward to playing Cambridge's awesome annual multi-venue knees-up, Wish You Were Here, on 13 October. It's become Cambridge's answer to the Camden Crawl and should be a fantastic day of live music.
There's an awesome line-up, so far featuring:
BO NINGEN http://www.myspace.com/boningen
TURBOWOLF https://www.facebook.com/turbowolf
BROTHER AND BONES http://soundcloud.com/brotherandbones
HEY SHOLAY - https://www.facebook.com/heysholay
FUZZY LIGHTS http://fuzzylights.bandcamp.com/
MODEL VILLAGE http://modelvillage.bandcamp.com/
TOM COPSON http://www.tomcopson.com/
ANNIE DRESSNER http://anniedressner.bandcamp.com/
THE LAST DINOSAUR http://thelastdinosaur.bandcamp.com/
ILL MURRAY http://illmurray.bandcamp.com/
PRINCE AMONG THIEVES https://www.facebook.com/thievesuk
TWELVE CLAY FEET http://soundcloud.com/twelveclayfeet
THE SCISSORS http://www.thescissors.co.uk/
BOMB FACTORY http://bombfactory.blogspot.co.uk/
UNIT 9 http://www.reverbnation.com/unitnine
VICTORY POINTS http://victorypoints.bandcamp.com/

We're playing at Legends Bar at Cambridge City Football Club, about 10.15pm - come see us! And as many other bands as you can! 

The Scissors on monster new compilation album!

The Scissors feature alongside 11 other bands on 'Rocket to Romsey', a crackin' compilation put together by Cambridge's long-time champion of punk, indie and agit-pop, R*E*P*E*A*T promotions. Proceeds from sales are going to support Love Music Hate Racism.
Release date is TBC, but will be soon! Watch this space!

Full line up features:
Beverley Kills - Dirty Cousins - DoNotResuscitate - Four Undercover Kings - The Great Mistakes - Johnny Panic - Rats As Big As Dogs - The Scissors - Spaghetti Faction - Volunteers - We Are Godzilla - Ten City Nation - Miss Black America

(...and the sleeve art was designed by The Scissors' very own Stewart Harris, at stewartharrisdesigns.com)

14 October at Cambridge Man On The Moon

Our next gig is this Friday (14 October, Cambridge Man On The Moon) supporting the mighty Jakil, from Scotland, and also Toronto's Low Level Flight.
It's gonna be a great (international!) night of melodic indie/alternative rock. Be there!