New albums from Darren Hayman and The Wave Pictures!

The musicians are long-standing friends who often collaborate and play gigs together, so it seems only natural that they're releasing records in the same week. Darren's album is from his new bluegrass band, Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee, which features - who else - Dave Tattersall from The Wave Pictures. The self-titled record, released on Fortuna Pop tomorrow (May 6th), includes covers of songs by Townes Van Zandt and The Mountain Goat, as well seven of the band's own songs - ukeletastic! For the unitiated among you, Darren formed the band with Dave Watkins back in 2005, as an antidote to their "career bands", with the idea that this would be a band with as little ego as possible, with everybody taking vocals and submitting material.The album was recorded in two days at Darren's house, and on a diet of fruit and teacake. Judging by their recent live performances, it looks set to be a stormer of a record - so get it while you can!

Instant Coffee Baby, the new album from The Wave Pictures, is released on Moshi Moshi records today (May 5th). We're mightily excited about seeing this Loughborough three-piece at Indietracks, and we'll be listening hard to the new record to ensure we're prepared for the inevitable festival sing-along! Although the Wave Pictures have only recently released their first proper single, they're not really a new band, having been playing together in various incarnations since 1998. This forthcoming album, ostensibly their debut, is in fact their sixth or so record, the others having previously been recorded on CD-R and sold at gigs. Combining the lyrical nouse of Jonathan Richman with the melody sensibilities of Herman Dune (who various WP members have also played with), they have already built up a devoted cult fanbase and are nothing short of fantastic - we heartily recommend you snap up this record asap!

You can catch Hayman, Trout, Watkins and Lee playing live at the What's Cooking night on May 23 at The Sheep Walk in Leytonstone on May 23 and at the Buffalo Bar on May 28. The Wave Pictures are playing around 20 dates between now and September, so check their Myspace for details.

In the meantime, you can download a track from the new Hayman, Trout, Watkins and Lee album completely free from the following link: Sly And The Family Stone (right click to download).