Indietracks Lineup Announcement Later

At 7pm today, the first announcements will be made for this year's Indietracks. I'm pretty excited.

They have a new rule in place this year stating that no band who played the festival last year is allowed back this year. I'm not sure how I feel about this - it'll rob the festival of some of the bands who I regard as pretty intrinsic to the whole thing, such as MJ Hibbett (who has been pretty vocal about this move on his twitter and blog) and the Smittens, as well as huge swathes of the UK indiepop scene. Pretty much daily I think of brilliant bands who I'd expect to play, but who won't get the chance this year, and I'm reminded just how good the lineup was last year (Allo Darlin, Shrag, Standard Fare, the Felt Tips, Ballboy, Specific Heats, Blanche Hudson Weekend, etc. etc. etc. etc., not even counting the headliners).

Then again, this will mean a hell of a lot of new bands get to play. Bands that I haven't necessarily seen multiple times in London pubs! Also, quite a few bands who didn't play last year could be back, such as Pocketbooks, Cats On Fire and Help Stamp Out Loneliness. There are still going to be a lot of familiar faces, onstage and off.

Apparently they have a very exciting headline announcement too. I have genuinely no idea who it could be - in the past, they seem to have gone for one older band and one newer band (Teenage Fanclub/Camera Obscura, Primitives/POBPAH, Wedding Present/Los Camp!) so, barring a return for anyone who has played the festival before, here are some possible combinations, ranging from the distinctly possible to the crazily optimistic.

  The Vaselines / Jens Lekman

The Vaselines are pretty certain to play at some stage, in my opinion, with Indietracks pretty much made for them. They'd be a fairly unexciting headliner, though - I'd expect them to take the Pooh Sticks / Art Brut place headlining the indoor stage. Jens Lekman is more of a possibility, being a fairly big name who is still at home in the indiepop scene. I'm not his biggest fan, but I can't deny that he'd go down amazingly on the outdoor stage.

  Tullycraft / Aberfeldy

I really love both these bands, and Tullycraft would definitely fit the bill as headliners, being one of the few bands that would unite pretty much everyone at the festival. Aberfeldy I'm not so sure of - they're brilliant, especially on their debut album, but I'm not sure if they're big enough for a main headlining slot.

  Television Personalities / The Aislers Set

I saw the TVPs supporting Titus Andronicus a few months ago and Dan Treacy was still surprisingly sprightly. They're also very much in the same bracket as the Wedding Present, previous headliners. A decent shout, as are the Aislers Set, a band most indiepop fans seem to love.

  Hefner / Belle & Sebastian or Yo La Tengo / Magnetic Fields or Pastels / Apples In Stereo

We can dream. Plus, if B&S play then Daniel Kitson will probably do a set. And that'd be AMAZING.

My personal prediction is Tullycraft / Jens Lekman. But then again I have no basis for that whatsoever.