CityLife

Indie clubnight of the week: Pull Yourself Together

LOCAL FAVOURITE: Fuel

THE QUIET KIDS OF MANC INDIE CLUBLAND THEN?
Indeedy. If most Manc indie nights are all about bombast and reckless bachannalia, then Pull Yourself Together are definitely the more low-key indie clubbers of the class, quietly lurking on the dancefloor corner swapping rare vinyls of The Smiths and discussing their favourite all-time John Peel broadcast. 

    The brainchild of Dan Feeney and Hannah Bayfield, Pull Yourself Together has been up and running for less than a year, but it's already provided a welcome tonic from the mass of identikit indie hellholes in Manchester. Cool refinement and true indie-pop fanaticism seems to be their main clubbing manifesto – the atmosphere is 'relaxed', the bands are hip and underground, and most brilliantly, Pull Yourself Together even make their own fanzine, so clubbers can take home a souvenir of their indie-tastic world.

HMM – AREN'T FANZINES A BIT OLD HAT? EVERYONE HAS A BLOODY BLOG THESE DAYS.
The Pull Yourself Together team are quick to respond: "The fanzine is a genuine artefact. We're not sure it even ever went away, but there is definitely some revivalism created in part by a backlash against the digital way of life. People like to be able to hold onto something, and have something to look at. You can't read a blog on a bus can you? On a personal level we're both big collectors, and to have something you can hold onto and look back over means a lot."

A CLUB NIGHT FOR THE MORE OLD-SCHOOL INDIE KID THEN?
In a word, yes. Not many Manc clubnights would go to the effort of producing their own DIY fanzine (complete with wonky staples), but then Pull Yourself Together are definitely indie kids in the most savvy old-school sense. Thankfully, there's nothing at all contrived or quasi-intellectual about it – these are just passionate  promoters who've grown tired of the corporate indie hegemony, and want to stage a night which puts back a little DIY romanticism into the world of underground indie.

   Dan says: "I suppose we expect to attract your typical knit-wear clad, shy and retiring indie kid but in practice it's been a lot broader than that. We even had one of Those Dancing Days in last week!"

SO I SHOULDN'T EXPECT ANYTHING TOO DEBAUCHED?
Debauched, but in an under-stated indie sort of way. Previous Pull Yourself Together nights have taken place on Sunday nights in Common, and the emphasis is on a more low-key indie club experience. The DJ playlist will satisfy all diehard indie trainspotters and most crucially, they are one of the few Manc clubnights where you'll hear tunes by newer local music acts like The Answering Machine (who are actually big fans of the night).

    Hannah explains: "We do have an indie-pop leaning - from C86 to Hefner through to the newer indie pop bands like Los Campesinos!. As far as local stuff goes, we're big fans of The Answering Machine, Sir Yes Sir, Modernaire, Dutch Uncles and a whole heap more, as well as local 'statesmen' Elbow, Doves and The Fall."

NICE ONE. LOW-KEY INDIE CLUBBING – THIS COULD TAKE OFF! SO WHEN'S THEIR NEXT EVENT THEN?
That'll be this Monday (December 8) when Pull Your Together will be hosting their special festive bash, entitled 'Rockin Around The Christmas Twee' (see what they've done there?) featuring performances from Nat Johnson, Allo Darling and Jam On Bread. The night takes place at Fuel in Withington, and yes, even though it's a school night, this is one Manc clubnight where you can have immense fun, hear loads of great new music - AND best of all, you won't end up crawling in a gutter at three in the morning.

Pull Yourself Together @ Fuel (Withington), Monday, December 8. For more info visit – www.myspace.com/pullyourselftogethermcr.