For a start, it’s our 20th birthday! That’s right, back in 1992 a pimply 17 year old Guy Blackman gave birth to Chapter Music with a compilation tape of Perth bands called Bright Lights, Small City. We’ve got a bunch of amazing things planned to celebrate our 20th, so stay tuned for more info in the months to come.

Right now, though, there’s a lot of news we wanna tell you:

CHAPTER CURATES FINAL FRIDAY NIGHT AT EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB

For the final Friday night at the sadly soon-to-close East Brunswick Club, Chapter Music has curated an amazing lineup, a co-headline show for expansive poet-rockers Dick Diver and synthual slink-master Geoffrey O’Connor, who both released fantastic albums on Chapter late last year. They will be joined by relocated Canberra emo-rap visionary Jonny Telafone, and high-cheekboned pop sprites Velcro.

Friday, February 24

East Brunswick Club, Melbourne

Dick Diver, Geoffrey O’Connor, Jonny Telafone, Velcro

tickets $12+bf here

TWERPS DO REAL ESTATE, GIRLS, SXSW, JESSICA ALBA

Twerps have a busy few months ahead of them, after their October debut album turned them into global shamble-pop sensations (including a recent Twerps-endorsing tweet by Jessica Alba to her more than 2 million fans!). In February they’re supporting US heroes Girls at their Melbourne show, then in March they pick up with sunny New Jersey buddies Real Estate for Melbourne and Sydney supports. All this before they head to US music mega-conference SXSW for some boozing and shmoozing, and then stick around until May for a huge US tour. More US details to be announced soon!

Wednesday, February 8

Corner Hotel, Melbourne

Twerps support Girls (US)

tickets $45+bf here

Friday March 9

The Standard, Sydney

Twerps support Real Estate (US)

tickets $42+bf here

Monday March 12

Corner Hotel, Melbourne

Twerps support Real Estate (US)

tickets $42+bf here

GEOFFREY O’CONNOR NEW SINGLE, REMIX EP, LANEWAY ETC

To celebrate the release of Geoffrey O’Connor’s new single Proud (lifted from last year’s celebrated solo LP Vanity Is Forever), Chapter Music has teamed up with Sydney label Yes Please to release a digital EP featuring remixes by YP artists Oliver Tank, Guerre and the Townhouses. The Oliver Tank remix of Whatever Leads Me To You was premiered by Triple J’s Home & Hosed show last week, while Guerre’s take on Proud appeared on Pedestrian TV, and the Townhouses’s So Sorry remix can be downloaded from Sydney blog Life Aquatic. You can also stream the EP in full from Geoffrey’s bandcamp.

Geoffrey is, of course, as busy as a beaver with live shows too, having just come off a series of gigs with glittery pop kids Alpine. Next up he’s doing the national Laneway tour, as well as supporting US crash-pop stars Pains Of Being Pure At Heart in Melbourne.

Thursday February 2

The Hi-Fi, Melbourne

Geoffrey O’Connor supports Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (US)

tickets $45+bf here

Laneway Festival

Saturday January 28 – Brisbane

Saturday February 4 – Melbourne

Sunday February 5 – Sydney

Friday February 10 – Adelaide

Saturday February 11 – Perth

more details www.lanewayfestival.com.au

Friday, February 24

East Brunswick Club, Melbourne

Dick Diver, Geoffrey O’Connor, Jonny Telafone, Velcro

tickets $12+bf here

www.facebook.com/dickdiverband

www.facebook.com/geoffreyoconnormusic

www.facebook.com/twerpsmusic

But now, with their self-titled debut album, there might just be a little bit of growing up going on. It’s definitely the biggest-sounding recording Twerps have ever done. Unlike their early manifestos, Twerps was recorded in a bona fide studio, with the help of engineer Jack Farley (Beaches, St Helens).

But it’s not just the sound, it’s the songs. Tracks like Through The Day and first single Dreamin contain instantly recognisably Twerps elements: the fascination with New Zealand’s 1980s Flying Nun era, as well as US bands like the Feelies and Galaxie 500. But they also contain a kind of Australian pop timelessness that harks back to the Go-Betweens, Paul Kelly and the Sunnyboys. This is something new for the band, and it’s deep and resonant.

Co-release label Underwater Peoples was recently listed as one of the “50 best indie labels in America” by Billboard Magazine, and is home to releases by the likes of Real Estate and Mountain Man. The album follows a 2009 EP for Chapter, plus subsequent singles on Underwater Peoples and New York label Group Tightener, and a cassette for Iowa label Night People.

Now the month of musical madness is beginning to wind down, but there are still a bunch of shows left to play out, including the cherry on top, Chapter’s label showcase night for Melbourne Music Week inside the incredibly spooky Old Melbourne Gaol.

Here’s a list of what’s left to come:

Friday November 18 – Sydney – Geoffrey O’Connor and Twerps joint album launch – Goodgod Small Club – tickets here

Friday November 18 – Brisbane – Dick Diver joint album launch with Royal Headache – Woodland – tickets $10 on the door

Friday November 18 – Brisbane – Laura Jean album launch – Black Bear Lodge

Saturday November 19 – Melbourne – Dick Diver album launch, with the Harpoons and White Woods – Phoenix Public House – tickets here

Wednesday November 23 – Melbourne – Chapter Music showcase for Melbourne Music Week, with Primitive Calculators, Essendon Airport and Fabulous Diamonds – Old Melbourne Gaol – tickets here

Saturday November 26 – Adelaide – Twerps album launch with Hit the Jackpot, Old Mate and Matt Banham – Metro Hotel – tickets $10 on the door

Friday December 9 – Sydney - The Apartments single launch with Peter Fenton (Crow) – the Factory Floor – tickets here

www.facebook.com/chaptermusic

To celebrate, Chapter is offering a special two-for-one deal. For a limited time, Australian customers who buy Vanity Is Forever on CD from the Chapter webstore will receive a free copy of Geoffrey’s 2007 CD Liquorice Night, released under the name Sly Hats!

Also check out this great remix of Vanity’s second single So Sorry, by Melbourne producer Hidden Suns.

Geoff’s tour dates are as follows:

Friday November 4 – Melbourne – Northcote Social Club – with Super Wild Horses, Forces and Evelyn Ida Morris – tickets here

Friday November 18 – Sydney – Goodgod Small Club – joint album launch with Twerps + Holiday Sidewinder – tickets here

You can hear Twerps tracks Dreamin and This Guy via Pitchfork. The album is a co-release with US label Underwater Peoples and will be released in the US on Tuesday October 18.

As of today, you can stream Dick Diver’s entire album New Start Again on Mess+Noise.

And you can get both albums now from the Chapter webstore!

Both bands are kicking off their album launch tours in Melbourne with instores at Polyester Records’ city store. Twerps’ is this evening at 6pm, while Dick Diver will play a stripped-back set next Friday, October 21.

TWERPS ALBUM LAUNCH DATES

MELBOURNE

Today, 6pm

Polyester Records instore – 288 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

all ages, free

MELBOURNE

Saturday November 12

Tote Hotel – 67-71 Johnston St, Collingwood

with Terror Of the Deep (NZ), Darren Sylvester, Peak Twins + DJ Dry White Toast

tickets $12 on the door

SYDNEY

Friday November 18

Goodgod Small Club – 53-55 Liverpool St, Sydney

joint album launch with Geoffrey O’Connor + more TBA

tickets $12+bf from Moshtix / 1300 438 849

ADELAIDE

Saturday November 26

Metro Hotel – 46 Grote St, Adelaide

supports TBA

tickets $10 on the door

DICK DIVER ALBUM LAUNCH DATES

MELBOURNE

Friday October 14, 6pm

Polyester Records instore – 288 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

all ages, free

ADELAIDE

Saturday November 5

Format – 15 Peel St, Adelaide

tickets $10 on the door, supports TBA

SYDNEY

Saturday November 12

Goodgod Small Club – 53-55 Liverpool St, Sydney

with the Harpoons and Max & Ella (Songs)

tickets via Moshtix / 1300 438 849

BRISBANE

Friday November 18

Woodland – Coniston Lane, Fortitude Valley

joint album launch with Royal Headache + more TBA

tickets $10 on the door

MELBOURNE

Saturday November 19

Phoenix Public House – 133 Sydney Rd, Brunswick

with the Harpoons and White Woods

tickets via Moshtix / 1300 438 849

www.facebook.com/twerpsmusic

www.facebook.com/dick.diver

New Start Again, the debut album by Melbourne foursome Dick Diver, is warm and understated, shot through with casual grace and supported by real backbone. It’s an intriguing combination of widescreen Australian sweep, 70s New York edge and 90s indie-rock scratch that transcends its influences to become truly honest and exciting.

The respectively wry and poetic songwriting of guitarists Rupert Edwards and Alistair McKay lobs Dick Diver up alongside Go-Betweens heroes Forster & McLennan, while their often epic fretwork bears echoes of Television and Yo La Tengo.

But bassist Al Montfort’s impeccable punk pedigree (UV Race, Total Control, Straightjacket) roughs up the band’s bookish proclivities, while drummer Steph Hughes brings a similarly frayed-edge appeal. Her background in bands from Children Collide to Boomgates gives the band an offhand, subtly swinging charm.

Their first EP, 2009’s Arks Up, enjoyed Triple J rotation and community radio thrashing, and brought shows with Stephen Malkmus and a Boogie Festival appearance, amongst other plaudits.

Rupert and Al Mc hogged the songwriting duties on the EP, but New Start Again, recorded with Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s Mikey Young at an old homestead in country Victoria, is a much more even-handed affair. The band share songwritng, swap instruments, and introduce new sounds like pedal steel, piano, and slide guitar. Steph and Al Monty’s title-track duet, especially, provides a laidback, cheeky counterpointo their bandmates’ more considered efforts.

Rupert, meanwhile, provides lovelorn-but-snappy first single Through the D and sook-pop classic On the Bank, while Al Mc displays impressionistic lyrical flair on tracks like Hammock Daysand Seagulls. And on closing trackHead Back, the four loosen their collars to create probably the funnest five minutes of music released in Australia this year.

New Start Again, the debut album by Melbourne foursome Dick Diver, is warm and understated, shot through with casual grace and supported by real backbone. It’s an intriguing combination of widescreen Australian sweep, 70s New York edge and 90s indie-rock scratch that transcends its influences to become truly honest and exciting.

The respectively wry and poetic songwriting of guitarists Rupert Edwards and Alistair McKay lobs Dick Diver up alongside Go-Betweens heroes Forster & McLennan, while their often epic fretwork bears echoes of Television and Yo La Tengo.

But bassist Al Montfort’s impeccable punk pedigree (UV Race, Total Control, Straightjacket) roughs up the band’s bookish proclivities, while drummer Steph Hughes brings a similarly frayed-edge appeal. Her background in bands from Children Collide to Boomgates gives the band an offhand, subtly swinging charm.

Their first EP, 2009’s Arks Up, enjoyed Triple J rotation and community radio thrashing, and brought shows with Stephen Malkmus and a Boogie Festival appearance, amongst other plaudits.

Rupert and Al Mc hogged the songwriting duties on the EP, but New Start Again, recorded with Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s Mikey Young at an old homestead in country Victoria, is a much more even-handed affair. The band share songwritng, swap instruments, and introduce new sounds like pedal steel, piano, and slide guitar. Steph and Al Monty’s title-track duet, especially, provides a laidback, cheeky counterpointo their bandmates’ more considered efforts.

Rupert, meanwhile, provides lovelorn-but-snappy first single Through the D and sook-pop classic On the Bank, while Al Mc displays impressionistic lyrical flair on tracks like Hammock Days and Seagulls. And on closing track Head Back, the four loosen their collars to create probably the funnest five minutes of music released in Australia this year.

But now, with their self-titled debut album, there might just be a little bit of growing up going on. It’s definitely the biggest-sounding recording Twerps have ever done. Unlike their early manifestos, Twerps was recorded in a bona fide studio, with the help of engineer Jack Farley (Beaches, St Helens).

But it’s not just the sound, it’s the songs. Tracks like Through The Day and first single Dreamin contain instantly recognisably Twerps elements: the fascination with New Zealand’s 1980s Flying Nun era, as well as US bands like the Feelies and Galaxie 500. But they also contain a kind of Australian pop timelessness that harks back to the Go-Betweens, Paul Kelly and the Sunnyboys. This is something new for the band, and it’s deep and resonant.

Co-release label Underwater Peoples was recently listed as one of the “50 best indie labels in America” by Billboard Magazine, and is home to releases by the likes of Real Estate and Mountain Man. The album follows a 2009 EP for Chapter, plus subsequent singles on Underwater Peoples and New York label Group Tightener, and a cassette for Iowa label Night People.