Pop Recs Ltd isn’t your average record shop. It’s owned by a band, for starters: Mackem darlings Frankie and the Heartstrings. Earlier this month Frankie Francis eagerly talked about the the store’s opening. ‘I love records, and to be able to become part of that community of people who sell records in the UK is exciting and in some way a bit of an honour,’ he said.
Over the next few weeks Frankie and co. will be providing updates on the shop’s health, from the nitty gritty beginnings to the grand unveiling, right up to the most important aspect: Selling goodness knows how many records. Here’s Frankie’s second update, documenting tons of special guests who’ve come in to play instores during the shop’s opening week. Catch up on the first update here.
We did it: it’s finally up and running. Pop Recs LTD is open for business and it seems to be doing well!
We opened on Saturday with guest appearances from The Cribs’ Ross Jarman and guitar tech Shippo, who proceeded to DJ while the public came in, had a wander around and bought records and coffee.
On Monday our new album came out - it’s available from all good record shops, including our own! - and to celebrate we played our own instore gig on Monday night to a packed out crowd. We managed to shift loads of our record and our coffee, which I have to admit was a bit weird. My pre gig routine has never included making 10 lattes and 6 americanos before.
Tuesday evening saw Martin Stephenson play in the store. He’s a favourite of ours and will be probably best remembered for his stuff on Kitchenware in the 80’s. Martin was in top form and we noticed that we attracted a completely different demographic of people down for this one and it worked - another packed out, fun gig.
Last night we were away on tour and played in Manchester, but with the help of friends and family and some very kind volunteers the shop stayed open and our friends and saviours of Sunderland pop The Futureheads played to another sell out crowd. We got back home at 3am but opened the shop at 10am this morning. Tonight we host Bernard Butler, Field Music, Jackie McCewan and Warm Digits as they attempt a one off Krautrock special.
Here’s a playlist of the songs played throughout the past week in Pop Recs Ltd on Fawcett Street, Sunderland:
Featuring Yard Act, Death Cab For Cutie, Graham Coxon, Maisie Peters and more.