ROME HAUL 2013

As much as I like shopping, I usually try to stave off of buying clothes until I return to Rome. Anyway, there is always this crazy amount of cheap second-hand clothes that nobody seems interested in at the market and usually sells for €1.00 a piece. I'm not really sure if it's a change in styles across the continent but this is usually the case in the majority of central European countries. Nevertheless, I shouldn't generalise Italy's fashion because, back in the day, these people had some great outfits (which are now mine, HAHA!).

In the top picture you can see an overdose of denim. It's a bit of an obsession for my pops that I always have a good strong pair of jeans, hence the black Levis, which I could not be more grateful for. These jeans have become one of my wardrobe staples in a matter of days,  if I could wear them everyday I would - no joke, they are that comfy. They're from the CurveID range and retail for around €77 (£63/$100), which is what I expected really, but it's not really an item I would usually buy for myself. The rest of the Levi jeans were either bought at the market or handed down to me. The crewneck sweater came from this amazing superstore in Piazza Vittorio called MAS. Words cannot begin to describe my love for this shop, there are about three floors of mismatched clothes that only goes up to around €20 max. The sweater I bought was only €2.00 and it's super soft and comfy which is what I need for those days when I don't want to get out of pyjamas but I have to.

I only bought a few tops this time which kind of sucked, but the ones I did get were so so so good. I think the best piece was the black bejewelled top (upper left corner of the second picture), I got it for €1/€2 which is just the best. This top is so convenient, especially with the monochrome trend for spring, I think it add a bit of pizazz to the boring-est of clothes and it means I don't have to look around my jewellery box for a cute necklace. The rest of the tops are pretty basic (not the prints - just the tops) and are just fun things to have in your wardrobe.

I hope this post has given you an idea of the clothes I tend to buy and their pricing etc. B.x

SUPER CUTE SUMMER/SPRING WISHLIST

blue yellow spring by wewantshops 

pink/blue by wewantshops 

Although it might not seem necessary right now to be creating a spring/summer wishlist considering that there is literally torrential rain going on outside my window, I'm hoping that by thinking about spring and summer 24/7 will somehow change the rain into hot sun. The really bright granny pants and yellow booties are great, because they let you embody sunshine (even if its only seeing the sun). Anyway,  I'm totally sick of seeing black and grey clothes/skies e v e r y w h e r e, so I think it's about time I brighten up the world by looking cute(er than I already do). B.x

THE DEATH OF POP - INTERVIEW / REVIEW BY LOLA.

*Before you start reading and get confused - this is a new part to wewantshops where my friend Lola reviews new bands - all that was written below was by Lola, not me - ENJOY!B.x*

As a group, how long have you been making music together?
We've been friends for a couple of years now. We were both in separate bands but we had occasionally played together and started demoing tracks. In November 2012 we decided to finally do something seriously together and we got to work at Christmas 2012 and started writing songs. We uploaded two tracks on the 2nd January which got some interest and that was the start of the band. We have got some good friends and old bandmates to join us to form the live band. People who we enjoy playing with and have the same musical influences. 


Why did you decide to start recording/releasing tracks?
Probably a combination of having very similar influences and discovering together we formed quite a strong songwriting partnership. We'd enjoyed demoing songs together as little side-projects but we both decided that we should work at something bigger and more fully realised. We work at quite a fast rate and just want to continue to release consistent material for people to enjoy.


What are your musical influences?
It would take too long to list them, the last 50 years of pop music really. If we had to boil it down:
McCartney II (the album)
Carly Simon's "Why" (the track)
Howard Jones (the man)
The Smiths
Chris Rainbow
The Cure
Emitt Rhodes
McCarthy
The House Of Love
my bloody valentine
Ride
The Boo Radleys
Ash

What has inspired your latest singles? 
"Clear Sky" was about the light shining into our home studio and it hurting our eyes.
"Kiss Me Quickly (Kill me) is about a lost opportunity.

Which genre of music would you say best describes the The Death Of Pop?
shoe-pop

Will your band be going on tour any time soon?
Lots of dates planned for the summer. Gig on the 4th April at The Waiting Room in Stoke Newington, London.
How long has it taken for you to get to the point you are at now? 
3 months


What sort of media attention has your latest single brought you?
We've been really fortunate with all of our releases so far to have been met with some attention - getting blogged about, being featured in the NME Radar section of the magazine, and responses from people wanting to put our records out. We've got a 7" coming out in April with Manic Pop, a 10" out at the end of April with Pictogram, and we'll be featured on a School Of Abuse compilation tape released this summer.

The Death of Pop are a well-put-together mix up of ideas. They pretty much sound just like their influences – sunny, dreamy indie-pop. They seem cute – the album artwork is all in pale pastel colours (pretty pink and blue designs sat next to song titles like “we’re gonna get fucked”) and their singing style is really relaxed. It’s the usual indie thing – little groups of English boys singing about girls. It’s honest music – they don’t play about with stupidly confusing metaphors and apparently don’t bother to put deep inner meaning into all of their songs, if one is about the sun hurting their eyes. That’s where you can hear they’ve been listening to the Smiths, who wrote plenty of songs without taking themselves seriously, which is what makes them so likeable. As well as that kind of lazy humour they’ve got a weird contrast of depressing or dark lyrics sung in a really soft, happy way. The Death of Pop do this too, and impressive riffs and standout guitar stop them straying too far into super-cute summer pop. 

Lola x