The 5 rascals from London's Chapel Club have been working on songs since 2008 (some of which have already seen the light of day in the form of singles) and they'll now be compiled on their debut album, to be released in early 2011. What's more, those same singles are earwigs, as evidenced by ‘All The Eastern Girls’, ‘O Maybe I’ and ‘Five Trees’. As far as their sound goes, it's not unusual to hear echoes of early Smiths and Echo & The Bunnymen and, what's more, producer Paul Epworth (see also: Primal Scream, Florence & The Machine, Maxïmo Park) has given it all a tight contemporary touch that leads you to make references to bands like Editors and White Lies. The band had a cunning live-strategy in London: every two weeks they'd play a concert with other musician friends and in unusual locations: an Indian restaurant, an a deserted art gallery, you name it. So it was that Chapel Club turned up on the radar of major A&M Records and they toured Europe with Two Door Cinema Club. Now the band is announcing its own headline shows and that also includes an ABClub on Friday 1 April.

De Staat is a top act in The Netherlands, of course. Their album ‘Wait For Evolution’ was worshipped in their homeland: ‘Extraordinarily classy adventure’ (**** De Volkskrant). ‘A masterpiece on which gut-feeling and common sense meet’ (3VOOR12). On 4 March their new album ‘Machinery’ will be released and the first single ‘Sweatshop’ is certainly a damn good song. More than enough reason to ask this impressive live band back to the AB stage once again.

Chapel Club - O Maybe I (Official Video) from Chapel Club on Vimeo.