Peppermint is a hybrid mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. The plant, indigenous to Europe, is now widespread in cultivation throughout all regions of the world. It is found wild occasionally with its parent species.

Just a couple of days until I travel once again to the UK. Second time this year. My sixth time overall.

A couple of things.

– I bought a Lonely Planet guide to London and been reading it before going to bed. Why now? I don’t know. On top of it all, I will barely have any time in London this time to do any sort of sightseeing. So what’s the point of me getting this book? I don’t know.

– Also after coming back from London last July, I bought a book about the names of the tube stations of the Undeground. I had seen one of these books for sale at the British Library and caught my curiosity. I stopped myself from buying it there as I assumed (correctly) that it was overpriced. Upon returning to NY, I ordered it online. Quite interesting. Now I could probably tell a story or two to those tourists that ask me, another tourist, for directions.

– I’m going to my second Chickfactor gigs this year. First was here in New York and was during weekdays. Now in London during a weekend. I’ll see for the first time The Pastels and Would-Be-Goods. Would-Be-Goods being one of my favourite bands ever. I admit the only time I’ve chickened out of asking to take a photo with a band member, was with Jessica Griffin who happened to be next to me and my friends outside the 100 Club. To be a success, this time I must get their setlist. At least.

– I’ll see Amor de Dias for the third time. I’ll see Pipas for the third time as well. Can’t have enough of Lupe’s bands.

– Second time for the Aislers Set and the Legendary Jim Ruiz Group. Two favourite bands. And fifth time seeing Tender Trap. I clearly go to many gigs, or what?

– Talking of the Aislers Set the other day I saw Linton walking down Bleecker St. with a brown paper bag. Thought saying hi, but then I noticed I was wearing my green t-shirt that has her name printed on it and thought, that was much of a fanboy already.

– I have grand plans of record shopping during this trip. The question is, how will I carry all my records back to the US if I’m planning to just take a carry on. Mind you, I already bought some records and they are waiting for me at my dear friend’s place.

– I will visit a Peruvian restaurant in London. Been terribly curious about them after they opened this year. I’ve been meaning to invite friends while I was there years ago, introduce them to our rich cuisine, but the restaurants were non-existant. Now there are two by Tottenham Court Rd. Are we the new thai as some Peruvian officials love saying? Not yet, not quite. Someday perhaps.

– Then will take a train to Edinburgh. Spend some hours record shopping, hopefully have haggis for lunch. I have haggis craving. Hearty haggis.

– Next stop Glasgow. For third time lucky Aislers Set. At Mono. Will see Stephen Pastel there for the second time. This time he’ll be DJing, won’t be selling me records. And Camera Obscura will DJ as well. I saw them once playing though. Just once. It seems I only see big bands once, and the smaller bands I see millions of times.

– Taking a bus to Inverness. What to do there? The word Inverness sounds to me like “invierno”, winter in Spanish. I feel just by the name that I will freeze. It’s up north. From there we’ll take a bus to Loch Ness. Fulfill a childhood dream. Visit Nessy’s den. See castle Urquhart. Send some postcards from there.

– A trip for me with no castles is not a trip. So we’ll be heading to Arundel castle. It looks glorious. Everyone has told me it’s beautiful. I hope it is! I just really hope it doesn’t rain, like that time  I went to Tintern Abbey and the weather was miserable. The most “romantic ruins” in Wales had become the most dreary ruins in Wales all of a sudden. So better behave you famous English rain.

– Note to self. My grandma doesn’t want chocolate like last time. Suddenly she figured out that it wasn’t Cadbury powder Hot Chocolate what she wanted but Cadbury Cocoa! She also insists that I have to buy me a sweater at some famous “sweater town” close to London that she visited two decades ago. “It will do you good in the NY winter”.

– There’s also the gig at the Buffalo Bar where Flowers are playing on Thursday. Will go to that. Definitely. Time to see one of my new favourite bands play live after touring with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Hopefully we can sort out the 7″ soon!

– And speaking of my carry-on bag, I feel half of it’s weight is going to be gifts, from mac n’ cheese to records, to friends. I so look forward to see my transatlantic friends. I miss them. Can’t wait to catch up!

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Parlour (or parlor) is a name used for a variety of different reception rooms and public spaces in different historical periods. Parlour derives from the Old French word parloir or parler (“to speak”), and entered English around the turn of the 13th century In its original usage it denoted a place set aside for speaking with someone, an “audience chamber”.

A band from Wales. That Wales I really liked and had a great time in July. That Wales I won’t be visiting this time, but that I do have strong plans to revisit next time I go to Indietracks. The band was Peppermint Parlour and they had one 7″ single but many more songs recorded.

Uncommon to most obscure bands, I could actually find an extensive bio about the band online:

Peppermint Parlour was the brain child of founder Alan Thompson along with his school friend, Clive Widdison. The two met at Llanederyn High School in Cardiff at the beginning of the 1980s. Alan Thompson is an extremely talented songwriter and was soon penning many songs. His musical influences coming through in an intelligent mix of The Beatles, Squeeze, 10cc, The Jam and The Beach Boys.
Peppermint Parlour came together in the autumn of 1984 with the line-up of Alan Thompson, vocals and rhythm guitar, Clive Widdison, bass guitar and backing vocals, Mark Haggart, lead guitar and backing vocals backed up by the newest addition of Simon Davies on drums. St. Martin’s Church Hall on Crwys Road, Cardiff became their rehearsal venue every Monday night. Alan’s friend from childhood, Rhys John used to help out with rehearsals, adding keyboards and some excellent guitar pieces in between him finishing off his degree at the University of East Anglia.
Months of practice, practice and more practice, Peppermint Parlour finally got their first gig at the Joint Students Union, Cardiff University on the 25th May 1985. The group added Rhys John to the line up and by the end of 1985, Mark Haggart left The Peps and Rhys took over the duties of lead guitar. The band were finally on their way. The band developed their extremely tight sound from hundreds of gigs across Cardiff and in London. Several record companies were alerted to them with particular attention being paid by MCA Records, who even came to see them in rehearsals at Simon’s fathers factory in Cardiff and EMI Records.
Being a Cardiff based band and with the capital’s rather stereotyped view of Wales made it hard for The Peps to get to see the right people. It is generally considered that they paved the way for less talented Welsh bands to come into prominence, like the Manic Street Preachers, Sterophonics and Catatonia. Peppermint Parlour made the “hard yards” and the others felt the benefit. The band eventually were pestered to release a best of CD in 2002, called Pet Sounds. Within that CD are 19 musical gems.

Is it really “Pet Sounds” the name of the CD? I have never seen it, and somewhere I’ve seen it mentioned it as “Pep Sounds”. But still no luck. I would definitely LOVE to hear these 19 songs. At least since 2009 when I first heard about this band, I’ve often revisited and listened to a bunch of their songs thanks to Last.fm.. If you head there you can find 7 songs to listen fully: “Gary Sobers Up”, “Playhouse”, ” It’s Wonderful”,  “Evermore”, “Whole Damn World”, “You Are The Drug” and “You’re Gonna Crash”.

What can I say about these songs? They are fantastic! If you like catchy pop, jangly guitars, and smart lyrics, you’ll like this lot. This is a band that I would have loved to release definitely. They remind me a bit to Feverfew and The Chesterf!elds on their more upbeat songs, while in their more “classic” c86 songs you can think of Bob or Reserve. So yes. Pretty good. Pretty amazing stuff.

By the way, did you know that Alan Thompson from Peppermint Parlour is a UK radio broadcaster, presenting on BBC Radio Wales? I just found out.

Here is a little interview I found where he is asked about Peppermint Parlour:

As the popular presenter of the Radio Wales evening show, Alan Thompson has acquired a reputation as a man who enjoys revisiting the ’80s classics.

Haircut 100, Simple Minds, Wham! and Duran Duran have all cropped up on his playlists.

But there’s one nugget from the decade that taste forgot that he won’t play – his own.

In the mid-’80s, Alan was the frontman of Peppermint Parlour, a Cardiff powerpop four-piece which, over their seven-year lifespan, managed to garner a hardcore of devoted fans thanks to tireless gigging around South Wales and one fondly remembered single, Whatever Happened to Pop Songs.

He’s too modest to admit it, and far too modest to actually play it on his show, but there are many who would herald it as a little indie pop classic.

And in Japan – where they’ll always find a place in their hearts for such things – it’s something of a collector’s item.

Alan, 49, remembers his days in the band with nothing but fondness. “We’d first got into a band at school in Llanedeyrn,” he said, “a mod outfit called The Standards – terrible name – with Clive Widdison, who played bass.”

After school, he and Clive formed Peppermint Parlour in 1984 , gigging mainly in Chapter and other venues in South Wales but also as far afield as London.

“The Pepps were a good band,” said Alan. “We were compared to the Housemartins but I thought we were more like Squeeze, melodic pop with a bit of edge.”

Like countless other bands, when real success proved elusive, the Pepps petered out. By 1991 Alan had started work at the BBC and with A&R men loathe to head over the Severn Bridge (this was long before Cool Cymru) they called it a day.

Happily, Alan retains his enthusiasm for music, as his listeners will readily attest, and he continues to write and record in the little studio he has set up at home.

But if his reluctance to play Whatever… is any guide, we can’t expect to hear his songs any time soon.

1984. They were ahead of their time. I can’t believe. Maybe that’s why they are so obscure. Because their songs should have been HITS. It’s always so unfair to read or hear stories like this.

But let’s go back to their one and only 7″. One that I’m still tracking down and I suppose will be impossible for me to ever get my hands on because the Japanese will always have a bigger wallet than mine!

The 7″ included two songs. On the A side “Whatever Happened to Pop Songs” and on the B side “Awkward Girls”. It was released on Apex Records and was the first reference on their catalog. Both songs are credited to Alan Thompson and were produced by Peppermint Parlour and Len Davies. Len Davies seems to have been involved in many releases of the Apex Label. Maybe it was his own label?

The songs were recorded at Apex Recording Studio in Cardiff. The engineers were Davies again and Matthew Butler.

Peppermint Parlour were:
Alan Thompson – lead vocals/guitar
Rhys John –  lead guitar / keyboards / vocals
Clive Widdison – bass guitar / vocals
Simon Davies – drums

On the back cover it’s also written:
Special thanks to Gary Price of “Red Dragon Radio” for his belief and support. He truly is the Hippy King of Mintsville!
The record is dedicated to Johnny L. and to Julie B. And also to all you Pep Cats everywhere.

As a curious cat I went to look for Red Dragon Radio and found out that it changed it name years ago to Capital South Wales and that is a radio station broadcasting from Cardiff Bay. I get flashes of walking down the promenade, next to the sea, in Cardiff Bay. Walking towards that Turkish restaurant on the pier which we didn’t like the prices.

And that’s about all I could find about Peppermint Parlour. It’s more than the usual I find though. So that makes me happy. But I would really love to listen to the rest of their songs. Track that “Pep Sounds” CD is possible. And if anyone has a box full of spare copies that is willing to give a new home, a lovely home, please let me know! And yes, if you happen to have any memories, anecdotes, or know the whereabouts of any of the band members let me know! Their songs deserve to be much more known than they are already!

Edit: I just noticed they have a Facebook page!

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Listen
Peppermint Parlour – Whatever Happened to Pop Songs

Just five days away from NYC Popfest and here I am trying to catch up before I’m swept by four nights of indiepop. Four days of indiepop that will paralyze the city. My city. A fabulous showcase of classic and up and coming bands. I have to say I’m mostly excited for the new-ish bands, as I have already seen the “established” ones! I will always prefer to see something new than seeing something for a second time. Been there, seen that, give me a surprise. My favourite Cindi Lauper is playing again, but then, that’s the norm, she plays every indiepop festival in the world. I must be a masochist, but I’ve seen the ukulele ensemble more times than any other band in my life. How did that happen? I don’t know. I must have a serious talk with all promoters in the world. But it will be hard, now she has street cred. Oakland label you know.

But there are some really exciting bands in my to-see list. Years of friendship and admiration, and good times, and beers, and I get to see Amanda play for the third time. First time as Pushy Parents. I heard their smash-song “Secret, Secret” so many months before it came out. And I was hooked. It made me unhappy not being able to share it. It was too good. And the release date seemed so far away. And then the 7″ was released. And they swore never to play live. I must congratulate Maz from Popfest to convincing Amanda to come and play these songs. I can’t really wait.

What about Cola Jet Set? I’m just thrilled. Sure, they don’t have Anita Dinamita fronting the band anymore, but I’m sure I will adore them. How couldn’t I? It’s Felipe’s band. Felipe from Los Fresones Rebeldes. One of the best bands that Spain has given the world. And Cola Jet Set is not far behind. I wonder if they will treat us all with a cover of “Al Amanecer”. All of my Spanish friends tell me they always play it. But then, here in the US, maybe not many know this classic song! They are also playing this Tuesday for free at The Cake Shop. Seriously, I must go. Songs like “Suena el Teléfono” or “Quiéreme” are indiepop hits in my book.

At last I’ll get to see The Electric Pop Group. A Swedish band I’ve followed since their early days, when they self-released their first and brilliant self-titled album. I was running the Mira el Péndulo blog back then and Martin was kind enough to send me a copy. “Popgirly” was played so many times at home. From that day on, the band started to gather a loyal following, signing to Matinée, and release a couple of EPs and another album. They played many festivals, but none of those I attended for a reason or another. At last, I will be at the front row.

Burning Hearts? Check. When they announced that they had to cancel their Indietracks gig I was bummed. I was looking forward to it. Jennifer was even sadder. I don’t know if the rest was too. Sure, they were replaced by The Parallelograms who were, GLORIOUS, but I wondered and wondered how this Finnish duo would sound live. How would that masterpiece called “I Lost My Colour Vision” sound at the church stage at Indietracks. How. It doesn’t matter now. They will perform here, in my city. I met them back in 2008, Henry and Jessica, when they came with Cats on Fire. Remember chatting a bit back in Union Pool. Jessica and her perfect Spanish. I was impressed. Wonder how will their masterpiece “Into the Wilderness” sound here.

Speedmarket Avenue. I remember back in the day, they had this perfect 7″, way before signing to Elefant, “He’s a Rebel”. What a song that was. And then they were quiet. Very quiet. Suddenly they signed to Elefand and released “Way Better Now”, another smasher. And then an album, and more 7″s. Still, the song for me, is that one, “He’s a Rebel”. Will they play it? I know Amanda is doing backing vocals for them. A nice plus. I’m very curious about how Isak and his gang can pull this one off. It should be great. I’m counting on them.

Dot Dash. I interviewed them not long ago. Perhaps they have the darkest sound among the bands I want tp see next weekend. A bit more angular, a bit more post-punk, but you know, done with a lot of taste. It promises a lot.

Back in late 2010 I released a compilation called “Do You Think It Will Snow Tonight?”. In that little 5-song EP, a brand new band was captivating everyone with their sweet sound: Seapony. At that point their 4 track demo was a common sight in every website and on all my friends’ facebook pages. Soon they released a 7″ and then an album. This Seattle band is one of the best new indiepop bands around, by far. They deserve to get bigger.

Then Pale Lights should be good. Mr Phil Sutton’s new band is jangly jangly, and he sings! If you remember The Soft City EP, he was singing on that, and it was quite fantastic. Then on the album he left singing duties to Dora Lubin, and whereas it was great, truly great, I always wondered why did Phil stop singing, he should do it again. And now he is doing it again, and he does it pretty well! I saw them a couple of months back in Brooklyn, at an art gallery. They were just formed and you could see something good shaping up. I believe they have or will have a 7″ out pretty soon, on their own label Calico Cat. I hope it’s ready for next weekend.

And last but not least, my favourite Canadian band: Sleuth. I’m very thrilled that one of the most talented bands around is playing New York. It’s true, not many know about them. Let’s say they are Vancouver’s best kept secret. And hopefully in the near future Cloudberry will be putting out their first 7″. That’s the plan at least. Very happy to see them after going for beers last September when I visited their city. Now it’s time for them to be in my city. NYC. I’m very excited to hear their new songs. So far, only a tape released, and one song on the compilation that came bundled with my last fanzine, Cloudberry 406. They are wonderful. And I hope they dazzle the crowd.

I feel that’s half of the bands playing Popfest? So, quite positive. Then of course there’s Comet Gain and Pooh Sticks which I’ve seen before and I love. So should be one of the best weekends of this year. For sure.

And I don’t feel the same way with Indietracks sadly. A friend said that it’s perhaps I’m getting old. But I don’t think that’s it. I feel promoters are getting old. Maybe that’s wrong to say. But I don’t feel old. I still crave for new music and new bands. But some still stick to the same old. But more on that on my next post. This is pretty long already.

But before we move to the obscure band of the week, let me tell you that I have brand new, and very limited, Cloudberry Records tote bags! Postage is included in the price, just heads up. And The Deddingtons release date is June 1st. Also you can now pre-order Earth First’s debut 7″. Many more news will be announced soon. A new fanzine for example. Yes! And a Strange Idols retrospective on Cloudberry Kitchen! And more. More. Much More. Just keep in touch, and I will keep you in the loop.

A flashback in time. I remember NYC Popfest 2007. Up the stairs to the second floor of Europa, in Brooklyn. Pants Yell! are playing. I don’t care much about them. “Heartless”,  I thought. I walk towards the merch table. And there are these tapes inside a briefcase. I know the band name. I’ve heard some of their songs. My friend Johanna shared with me some MP3s years before. Those were the times when we were on Soulseek and she was the mysterious ‘rascalette’, way before she wrote songs with Mr. Dan Treacy. I recognized most of the tape’s songs. But I never imagined they had a US release. The band name was Crime Time. They were Swedish. And they have been forgotten.

OK, not completely forgotten; I’ve actually tried in vain getting in touch with them a couple of times. I want to include them on The Sound of Starke Adolf compilations. No reply though.

The songs on the self-titled tape, released by Rub-A-Dub Tape Club,  include:
A1. 18 & Waiting
A2. A Dizzy Day in May
A3. I’m Just Waiting to Hear You Say You Made a Mistake
B1. We Need to Talk
B2. No Time
B3. What Would It Be?

Songs A1, A3, B1 and B2 were originally released on a CD-R titled “Serenghetto” back in 2004 I believe. In this CD-R their “hit” song was included: “Stop Playing Football”. I assume this CD-R was self-released. A1, A2, A3 and B3 were recorded in Lenken’s basement in February 2004 and also in Apelangen’s kitchen and garage in June 2004. They were mixed by the great Mattias Malm (Everyday Mistakes, Horsechimes). I wonder if this Lenken is the same as Victor Lenken, my good friend from Second-Hand Furniture. I wouldn’t be surprised. He has good taste.

B1 and B2 in the other hand were recorded in July 2003. So all in all,  that’s 7 songs total. I do know there is another song recorded, a superb cover of the Television Personalities’ “Smashing Time”. So that makes it to 8. Were there any more? Any clues?

The band was formed by Peter Moller on vocals and guitar, Molly Streijffert on vocals and guitar, Terese Nordstrom on bass and trumpet and Mikael Ellingsen on drums. When did they split, I don’t know. What are they up to, who knows. All I know is that they made fantastic crash pop songs, ramshackle greatness, something the Swedes were doing perfectly back in those early days of the past decade. Pure fun, youthful tunes, and guitars that crackle. Those were the days when I fell in love with indiepop. And later, that was the time when I fell in love with NYC Popfest. Always a bag full of surprises.

Oh! And one last thing, I’m DJing on the Saturday show of NYC Popfest. Say hello!

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Listen
Crime Time – Stop Playing Football

My bus ride from Brixton to Elephant & Castle was entertaining to say the least. It was quite rainy and my super sized chicken sandwich was struggling not to get wet in the brown paper bag. My fries were kind of soaked but still tasted like heaven. Actually everything tasted like heaven and felt like heaven. It was uplifting to see The Andersen Tapes again, this time with an all-star cast. And the pounding dancefloor setting The Windmill on fire to the sounds of Felt and the Sea Urchins. It was heavenly. Even the stupid people left the venue after the bands to go all the way to Stoke Newington. It was so close to perfection. But…

That night I met at last Scared to Dance’s Paul for the first time. Even though we’ve emailed couple of times before and offered me beers everytime I was in London, he managed to ignore my presence. This I find very hard as I don’t look very English and I’m much taller than your average indiepop person. But he did. I started to think his ‘friendship’ was more about spamming me with his endless Scared to Dance promotions and clubnights even though I can’t attend any as I live on the other side of the pond. Maybe I was some sort of important contact. He really insisted in me carrying his fanzines. I am no mailorder I told him and politely declined his request. But he insisted, telling me that I may like the bands on it. But no, I didn’t. I support proper indiepop, not Cindy Laupers with ukuleles.

Anyways, our differences were put on a side that Friday. Well, my differences, I’m not sure if he has any with me. He approached me and said hello. I think what triggered this was a cheeky response of mine on the anorak forum. He was asking for song requests for his DJing set on the Saturday night at Popfest. I asked him to play: “Belle and Sebastian – Century of Fakers”, “Television Personalities – Posing at the Roundhouse”, “Boyracer – Post Modernist Retro Bullshit”. This because I have serious doubts about his indiepop militancy. I didn’t think he is faithful to the cause. I felt he is in the scene for his own selfish goals.

I was already uncomfortable with him taking over Saturday night party at Popfest. The way he was promoting it, as it was his own gig, as if he had organized it all by himself in the 100 Club, was provoking to say the least. His flyers were misleading. It felt like he was the main event, not London Popfest. It felt he was doing a favor to team Popfest to DJ. Nowhere on his flyers or promo sheets -yeah, he has all those because he is very professional about these things- there was some sort of honest gratitude to the Popfest people. On top of that, he had managed a sweet deal: after all the bands have played people could come in for his club for the sum of 3 pounds. It all didn’t feel very indiepop. It was really shady. Why didn’t So Tough So Cute get the same treatment for Friday for example?  Wonder what the politics behind this were.

I was actually asked to DJ between the bands on Saturday. Of course I said no. I didn’t want to be associated to this shady dealings. Imagine if in his next fanzine it says Cloudberry DJed for Scared to Dance. Wouldn’t be nice to be associated that way, would it? I know for a fact that when invited to DJ at different places our friend Paul, not the alien from Simon Pegg’s new flick, takes all the credit, even doing it in far away places like Norway! I don’t know why. Whenever I’ve been invited to DJ, I feel very flattered and honored. All the credit goes to the organizers if the things go right, and if the dancefloor gets empty, well then that’s me to blame. But then, I have no agenda on building a name for a club. Though, if your goal is that, why don’t you do it with your own effort, not from other people? Don’t be a leech.

Anyways, fortune made me take that bus ride from Brixton to Elephant & Castle with dear Paul. After seeing two indiepop kids losing themselves in passionate kisses and leaving hastily on a double decker, and saying by to Joanny and Clemence, our bus arrived towards Thamesmead. He was heading to his girlfriend’s house. A Swedish girlfriend, something I can never have of course. Good for him. Anyways, the conversation was really nice and polite. He gave me some pointers about the area, some directions. I appreciated that. I don’t think he is a bad guy whatsoever, just doing things the wrong way, or perhaps just doing them clueless. I had to challenge him. I asked him what were his expectations with the club, and what was so different about it with How Does it Feel. He said that of course the music is different, that he doesn’t play 60s, and that the crowd is different. The model is very similar though, with the members club. “No bands in Scared to Dance” he said. He was convinced about this. It’s either bands or club, but not both. I thought that was a good point and agreed with him.

I asked him what was he playing tomorrow. He didn’t know yet. I requested to stick to indiepop, as it was Popfest, and people want to listen to it’s pop music. I certainly do. Popfests are the only time I’m treated to dance to the music I love. We don’t have indiepop clubs in Miami. And I think lots of the international crowd attending feel the same way as me. He agreed with this point. He said not to worry, that I was going to like what he was going to DJ. For the next 20 or so hours I hoped and trusted him. Then it was Saturday night. And the Monochrome Set had just put a brilliant show. It was the turn to see if Scared to Dance was going to keep the promises of a proper POP party.

But it didn’t last long until The Stooges started coming out from the speakers continued by all sorts of crap music. It felt Popfest was a joke. It felt there was no respect to the pop attendees. I felt tricked. Maybe this music was intended to those who came after paying their 3 pound?. I don’t know. Only the drunk were dancing and the dancefloor quietly started to empty.

I have a very strong opinion about the hipsters ruining our little scene (see the Oh! Custer and Gold-Bears inserts for my whole rant) and I think it’s time to unmask them. I feel Scared to Dance is fine as a club for hipsters, and it should do it’s own thing apart from indiepop. It’s clear for me that there is no connection between both. I do believe Paul loves the music he plays, but that music is not indiepop. I believe he loves his club, he loves DJing, but I want his club far away from me, it may scare me to dance for life!

We should support DJs and clubs that truly and kindheartedly support our music. So the cycle works and never ends. Don’t give slots to people that are going to laugh on our faces with music that is an insult to taste. Scared to Dance is the McDonald’s of indie clubs. They’ll play you the ABC of what hipsters love. No filters. No pop. No taste.

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Listen
Television Personalities – Posing at the Roundhouse

Back in February 2008 I spend two weeks under the warmth of the Peruvian summer. The humidity and the lack of a/c, that I’m so used by now, was painful to the point of having sleeping problems. It was a good time nonetheless. Those were the days when Plastilina Records was becoming a party of two, instead of four. It wasn’t a harsh break-up, I think our friends Jose and Sete had their own good reasons to leave and Jalito and me thought it made more sense to run the label just the two of us. We could be more productive that way. This brought a breeze of fresh air to both of us to keep the label afloat first, and make it a well known indiepop label. A respected label. We had (and still have) a big debt with our home country though. Our main mission since the start was to be able to create and support an indiepop scene in Lima. We figured out that by having some bands under umbrella we could be able to do this, by organizing gigs, releasing their records, doing merch, and well, the list can go forever. You get the point. We wanted followers in Lima, not just in UK or Japan.

During these early days of 2008 there was a buzz in town about a band of 4 girls called Las Doñas. I remember being at Jose’s house while some football game was on with the volume turned off. The boombox was playing. “I’m going to show you something you are going to like” he said. He grabbed a CD called “No Hit Wonder”, a compilation of Peruvian bands that came along with a magazine called Freak Out!, and swapped it in the boombox player for the Stone Roses CD that was playing. He skipped all songs, all the way to number 08. Suddenly a band that sounded like a very rough version of Los Fresones Rebeldes was playing. La-la-las, wo-oh-ohs, and poppy guitars. This was a true discovery.

I should attribute the discovery to Iván, the guy that was behind Internerds Records who released this CD compilation. He loved Spanish indiepop lots, especially Family and early Mirafiori, but also late 90s American bands like Holiday, which was his favourite. He even made some nice instrumental songs himself, in the vein of Daily Planet, under the name Callahan. But Las Doñas had already made an splash before this underground discovery, they played at a rock contest in 2007. This contest is called Rock in Bembos and happens every year as far as I know. Bembos is a Peruvian hamburger chain that is quite popular, more than McDonalds or Burger King even, that because they have tastier hamburgers, they serve Inca Kola and have yellow hot pepper sauce! And I believe they have stores in many countries, even in India. Anyhow, they organize these rock contests were bands from different high schools are allowed to participate. I remember when I was growing up in Lima and enjoying the juicy hamburgers, that the paper tray liners in Bembos, around November or so, would have photographs and names of the bands that were going to the finals of the contest. I always thought it was a great initiative.

Las Doñas didn’t win this contest sadly. But it was the start of a very short run playing in many bars around the bohemian district of Barranco in the coming year. It was actually in one of these bars, the Bernabé, that I catch them live once, just a couple of days after Jose showed me their song. I was convinced that they could be the force that would inspire more kids to start indiepop bands and finally have some sort of scene in Lima. The song had great lyrics and an unusual charm. And you could tell they had great influences. Of course, the production wasn’t the best, but I was already thinking ahead, and thinking this would sound glorious with proper production. So I told my partner Jalito, let’s go to the gig, and sign them. Just like that. We come in, we see them, if they are any good, we sign them to Plastilina. He grinned and agreed.

Upon arriving to this small bar/venue, we found out that the summer heat was going to kill us. There were a couple of fans, but the body-heat of the packed venue was going to be way more powerful than them. We ordered some Pilsen Callao beers. The tall ones. And sat down for a bit until the gig started. We didn’t have a clue on how the girls looked, so we had to wait after the gig to talk to them. The gig was heroically shambling, everything was like falling apart, but they managed to charm everyone with a great attitude. I wasn’t wrong about their love for Los Fresones Rebeldes as they dared to cover, and with success, their indiepop anthem “Al Amanecer”. It was shocking to say the least. And the crowd, they knew the songs, they sang along!

After the gig was over, we approached them, all the way to the room that was acting as a backstage, where guitars and cases were scattered all around and you had to be careful not to step on them. I stopped the lead singer Susana on her way out, “hey, I’m from Plastilina Records, do you have a minute?”. It was the first time I’ve done that. It kind of felt good, like, you know, a proper label. That you go to gigs and sign bands instead of finding them online. Suddenly the rest of the girls swarmed around and we had a chat. I remember we offered them to release an EP, 5 songs. We would pay for the recordings even. We really believed them. We trusted that they could spearhead a new scene. They said “yes!”. That they would record some demos for new songs in the upcoming months, and then we would choose the best and try to find some time for recording the EP. We had time and patience, so why not.

Sadly time passed and things never came around. We had too big expectations perhaps, and didn’t consider that the band would surrender to the lack of support to an indiepop band in Lima. They did record some songs before breaking up like “La Vaca” or “Penelope Cruz”, but still without the production we hoped for. Nowadays the girls have a rock and roll band that I can’t recommend listening to. Whatever happened to their joy, to the innocence of their songs? It all went down the drain somehow. I always longed to see an indiepop band tagged Peru in Twee.net. I thought this one would be it, that we would make it happen with Plastilina. It didn’t happen. We had some shots before, but never as close as this one. We even introduced ourselves as serious indiepop entrepreneurs at their gig, right? I thought this was our chance to fulfill our Peruvian mission. But they lost hope in guitar pop somehow and by consequence  I lost hope in Peruvian indiepop.

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Listen
Las Doñas – Aeorosol (demo)

It’s already December. That means that the Twee.net poll is open. Remember to vote. Let’s not leave it to Series Two to boycott it again and again. By the way, do they still exist? Our scandalous friend Chris seems to be quiet. Maybe he found inner peace in a retreat. Also December means that everyone starts posting their top 10, top 20, even top 100 records of the year. As if I care. As if anyone cares anymore. Everyone nowadays believe they are tastemakers because they have a blog or even a facebook profile, when in fact I feel they are embarrassing themselves with their choices. Did they even buy those records? Right, those are their top picks, the records they loved so much this year, but they couldn’t spend 10 dollars on them. There’s something wrong with the picture. Don’t you see? It’s also very funny that everyone that do these lists always add the disclaimer: “This is by no means a definite list”. What does that mean? Why do people like doing incomplete stuff? If it’s not definite, why not wait, make up your mind, have a definite list and then publish it? Why the urge of publishing something you are not sure of? On top of that it’s 2010. Decade-worth lists also coming up.

I’m not sure which records came out in 2010 but one of my favourite was “Dansette, Dansette” by Tender Trap. It wasn’t really a comeback, but it felt like one. It was the most powerful version of Tender Trap ever heard. Strong lyrics, great songs, and lots of pop hooks. For some reason, I know this record will be forgotten by many year end lists. They always forget the good records. They only remember the hyped ones. Anyways, it felt natural for me to be happy when I learned that Tender Trap were replacing Love is All at Indietracks. So after having my life defined by The Orchids and their mighty set, with a knot on my throat, I walked (or floated?) all the way from the Indietracks main stage to the shed. Second time seeing Tender Trap in three days. Third time in the year. I knew by hear that they always start with “Suddenly” and end with a cover of Talulah Gosh’s “Best Friend”. A raucous cover that the three times transported me back to 86 even though I didn’t live it!

It’s funny to remember Amelia asking me where I got their CD from, that she hasn’t seen it yet. It was just a promo one, on cardboard sleeve, but still. It was May in New York City and the record wasn’t out yet. Tender Trap were headlining the Friday gig at Mondo at “Don Hill’s”. A painful lineup for me to get through that day. Happily Allan kept the night a happy one, giving funny names to anyone he pleased. So I got through it. I really wanted to see Tender Trap for the first time. And even though everyone was leaving early because Peggy from the Pains was having a 90s disco party somewhere else, I stuck around. Tender Trap came last that night. I knew a couple of songs from the new album, Girls with Guns and Fireworks. Both had already been given a video treatment for their youtube fans. Also I hoped them to play Oh! Katrina, which they did. But I wasn’t ready for their new arsenal, for their new songs, especially for that popstatic bomb that is “Do You Want a Boyfriend?”

After the gig Sean Fortuna Pop set up his merch table. “Sean, what’s going on? You don’t have anything by Tender Trap?” I asked. Sean, grinned. From a secret stash below the table he got some promo CDs in cardboard sleeves. One was The Pains’ “Say No to Love” single, and the other was Tender Trap’s album. He had brought these promos to give away at radio stations in NYC. Dedicated record label boss! Of course, I borrowed a pen and went outside the venue. Amelia signed it: “Hi Roque. This is the 1st I’ve seen”. Geeky moment. Happy moment. It was nice to chat with Amelia then. They were leaving the next day though! What a trip, just for one gig! Also got to meet Rob for a bit, asked him about the Five Year Plan. He pointed me out to the myspace of his old band, and that’s how that interview I published on the blog in August, came through.

Thursday in London. The day before Indietracks. I arrived to London at 11am and had been hanging around with Jennifer around Greenwich. Had my first mutton hamburger. Was good. Then we met with Christin and Emelie just outside the Windmill at Brixton were the HDIF gig was happening. Pocketbooks, Betty and the Werewolves and Tender Trap were playing. A fantastic lineup. Jennifer and Me were djing between bands. We had some terrible hamburgers from a shop across the street. We were early, so we sat just outside the tables at the Windmill. We saw the bands start coming for soundcheck. First were Betty and the Werewolves, then Pocketbooks. Suddenly Peter Twee.net arrived on his bicycle. We had trouble finding a suitable place for him to lock it. Then Amelia and Rob came on a blue station wagon. It was nice to see them again. She was surprised to see me again after just two months! And on different sides of the Atlantic! Anyhow, the gig was great. Now Sean did have some Tender Trap records. I got “Dansette, Dansette” on LP. I didn’t get it signed this time. Actually it is still sealed in plastic wrap. The CD is the one getting the heavy rotation. I don’t trust my turntable needle you see!

The Indietracks gig was as good as the other two. The same songs, but I don’t complain. Sometimes you don’t need surprises. Their selection works and in what a way!  Jennifer tells me that she hopes that tonight Amelia does shout when she sings “does he have to tease you gynecologically?”. Well, she doesn’t.. I tell Jennifer that they never do. She insists, she says they always do. Then the band throw some t-shirts to the crowd! My meter and ninety come in handy and I jump higher than little Eric in front of me. I get the t-shirt. It’s a navy blue one, it says Tender Trap – Fireworks. And it has a nice design with fireworks exploding. I always play the lottery and I never win. That Saturday, I got two t-shirts by mere luck, The Orchids earlier and now the Tender Trap one. But there is one detail. One issue. It’s a female medium size!!

But somehow, when I’m at Indietracks, when there’s indiepop around, luck is on my side. While making the line to eat for the second time the tofu curry, I meet a girl that has a Tender Trap t-shirt too. Hers is a male large size. It seems reasonable to swap right? For once things seem to go my way. If I was going to make a list, it wouldn’t be the top ten albums that every square person does. But what about a top ten list of t-shirts I got this year? Feels more interesting. To start, the Tender Trap one will definitely be there.

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Listen
Tender Trap – Do You Want a Boyfriend?

It’s only obvious that at 19:40 I was going to be on the front row at the main stage of Indietracks. Me, the fence, the stage, in that order. On top of the stage five great gentlemen: Ronnie, Chris, James, John and Keith. The atmosphere was perfect. The day was dawning, there was a cool bliss blowing, and our normal nap time was over, we were quite awake. This was the first time I got this close to the main stage, this was the first time a band really deserved to be there. As soon as the first chords of Apologies chimed, it all was like a kind of eden.

The first time I saw The Orchids was back in 2008, at the NYC Popfest. It was a rainy Saturday in Brooklyn and took us hours to get to the Music Hall of Williamsburg. I wasn’t that impressed by The Orchids that time. I wonder why. I do have a couple of theories. The first being that I wasn’t as wise as I am today, meaning my taste wasn’t that good and I couldn’t acknowledge their brilliance. I did have their reissues on LTM and thought they were good. Nowadays I think they are among the finest songs ever written. It could be that, that The Orchids grew on me after the years. My second theory involves the amount of beer I was having with Joe Pinefox. Plastic cup after plastic cup, beer dripping to the floor, and talking loudly. Paying attention to anything aside from any cute girls walking around the venue was impossible. My third, and last theory, was that I was kept afar from the stage because some bands playing that night, especially Mahogany and Ladybug Transistor, had been so bad and I was afraid to be close and be disappointed by these Glasgow legends. Perhaps it was a combination of the three theories. Thing is that I didn’t really appreciate the gig. I can’t remember which songs they played at all and I have a very good memory. Marianthi, who was in NYC making everyone happy, was so thrilled after it and told me it was one of the best gigs ever. She might have been right. Actually, she must have been right. I missed it.

NYC Popfest 2010. The Wake just played at The Bellhouse. Ronnie and Chris have joined Caesar and Carolyn to support them live. It’s only been months since I’ve seen The Wake at the London Popfest. That evening at the Lexington, The Wake were astounding, and I was hypnotized by Ronnie’s pounding bass. One of the best gigs ever even though I wished The Wake played some songs were Carolyn sings. It was again a Saturday, not a rainy one though. It was again in May and NYC was warm. It was again in Brooklyn and again the bands playing that evening weren’t that good. But The Wake were great again. After the gig, Victoria who used to lead The Concretes was up for DJing, and well, she emptied the whole room playing moody music. Then the dance party was moved to the front room were the new DJ wasn’t any better. It really gets on my nerves when at a Popfest I get to listen any other sort of music other than pop. For god’s sake, it’s a Popfest, not an Indiefest. Sean convinced me to stay longer when I wanted to leave.

Anyways, before The Wake gig I went in to the backstage room were lots of canned beer sat on a metal bucket full of ice. I saw Chris and Ronnie there.  I also saw Drew getting his Factory era Wake records signed. I grabbed a beer, even though I shouldn’t have, and asked Chris and Ronnie to save me a setlist of the gig. You know me, I like saving these little things. It’s important memorabilia. After the gig I approached them again, for the setlist. They had given the setlist to that second DJ who barely knows who The Wake are. But that’s how life works, nothing is fair. Chris and Ronnie promised me that next time I was going to get my setlist, two setlists. Next time was coming up soon, at Indietracks, when The Orchids were playing. Sounded fair, so I totally agreed. After that it was a succession of  jokes in thick Scottish accent and thick Peruvian accent. It was lots of fun to properly talk to two of the nicest and humblest people in indiepop. And also talented!! It was dark already and we were there, against the brick wall of the Bell House, surrounded by yellow cabs. Sean joining us and throwing some more jokes. How I like these guys!

July 2010. It’s only obvious that Chris and Ronnie gave me two setlists after the Indietracks gig. They played in this order: “Apologies”, “It’s Only Obvious”, “Me & the Black & White Dream”, “Sadness of Sex”, “A Kind of Eden”, “Bemused, Confused & Bedraggled”, “She’s My Girl”, “Beautiful Liar”, “Something for the Longing”, “Another Saturday Night”, “Caveman” and “Frank de Salvo”. Okay, now that you’ve read this, won’t you agree that it is a dream set? They couldn’t have chosen a better list of songs, maybe “Tiny Words” or “I’ve Got a Habit” is missing, but, hey, this is fabulous enough!! What can I tell you, The Orchids delivered. I can’t get out of my head the picture of Marianthi and Pete Green dancing to every single song, even not all of the songs are danceable! Or Pierre climbed on the fence awe-struck with his mouth wide open. Jennifer next to me taking photos, liking James’s classy jacket. Or my Spanish friends behind me, all of us singing like a choir “who needs tomorrow…”.  Something happened that evening that made the world a better place. For 45 minutes, or whatever it lasted, we were transported and nothing mattered anymore. The Orchids bewitched us.

I do wonder what was Chris doing with a handy-cam recording the whole crowd. Did any notice that? He just stopped playing drums. sat down next to the drum-set and started filming from back there. I wonder if we’ll ever get to see that. Must be a great document. I’m sure the whole crowd was spellbind. Oh! and that moment when Ronnie made the whole Indietracks trip worth for me? Ah! He reached for an Orchids t-shirt he had up there behind his bass case, and threw it to me, from the stage to the crowd! I’ve never seen anything like that. Is it not true that usually brassieres are the ones that fly from the crowd towards the stage? Anyhow, this made my day, my week, my month. It was such a nice gesture, I’m eternally grateful. Funny enough, I turned around, with my new white and light blue logo t-shirt, and I see two girls wearing the same exact The Orchids t-shirts! They were his daughters! Of course, they must be so proud! Only one thing I’m curious of, how did Ronnie know what size of t-shirt I wear? It fits perfect!

What else can I say, it was life affirming. That show in NYC 2008 is a blur now. My biggest Orchids treasure is already the Indietracks experience. I love their records, but this gig I was lucky to attend is bigger than that. It made me believe in friendship, in love for pop music, in talent, in creativity, in so many things. Seeing the whole Orchids gang hanging around the whole Indietracks weekend, all of them camping together having fun, after so many years together was inspiring. On top of that. they put on the best gig of the whole festival. They are immense. And still, they are humble. If I was there I would only headline festivals. They have the songs to do that. And they have the musicianship to do that. And the passion. Yes, that’s what it is all about, the passion. If any of the bands that are so hyped today had a third of the passion of The Orchids… if only…a fifth…

Today I’m listening to their new album “The Lost Star” for the eight time in a row. You should all order it from Pebble Records or your favourite mailorder. The passion is still here, on their fifth album on the span of more than 2o years. Sounds as fresh and smart as Lyceum. It is classy and elegant as Striving for the Lazy Perfection. It’s a little piece of art, that perhaps will not get the recognition it deserves, because most bloggers and critics are really ungrateful. We should not throw pearls before swine. But if you want to grab one of the album’s that matters, one of the best this year, grab this one. It won’t disappoint. The Orchids always deliver.

“Who needs tomorrow/ when all I need/ all I need was you”. The memory of all the train passengers chanting these lines upon arriving to Butterley station later that night just proves how impacting this gig was for all of us. Those who missed it should be dead jealous. It wasn’t just Another Saturday Night!

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Listen
The Orchids – It’s Only Obvious

Today, a Sunday at work replacing a sick colleague, has been quite painful. The air conditioning’s temperature has been terribly low. Winter came too early in the newsroom and my fingers are chilling while I type and keep them in shape. Who takes care of the air conditioning central system? No one knows. It’s one of the biggest mysteries in this building. It’s winter and a boy. But it is also a boy that has rediscovered that music can keep him warm. A boy that has rediscovered the tales of a fine lyricist. A boy that wants to hear Imogen Velouria’s Lean Tales.

February 2010: Lean Tales split up. The Glasgow band is no more. Some lucky people have seen them live, not me. My chances are reduced to 0% unless 20 years from now, in true c86 fashion, they regroup for Indietracks 2031. But they were not even as big as Mighty Mighty, so perhaps I shouldn’t even hold my breathe. Whatever reason they had to split up, is not reason enough for me. This is a late tribute to a band that tasted of superglue.

Superglue should have been what kept them together. Lean Tales formed during the winter of 2007, with Imogen Velouria on vocals, Chris Harvie on guitar, Erika Sella on bass and Craig Patrick on drums. Most probably a colder winter that the one I’m experiencing in my office. A snowy Glasgow, dufflecoats and wet sidewalks. They took their name from an anthology of short stories written by Scottish authors Alasdair Gray, Agnes Owens and James Kelman, with author illustrations by Alasdair Gray. They never changed their lineup. They got praises and good reviews on their EP. They deserved more, they deserved people going head over heels.

They have no Myspace these days and that’s understandable. Myspace is crap nowadays. But I’m sure that’s not their reason. Must be one tied to the demise of the band. Anyways, I’ve had their EP on massive rotation this weekend, and I’ve understood a couple of things, firstly, the lyrics are genius, secondly, they are troubled, and thirdly, something as immediate as this music, is hard to keep it up for years. It makes sense they broke up for whatever reason it was. That ramshackle spirit of theirs, that immediacy, is the same of all of those bands in the indiepop pantheon that recorded one single and broke up. The “Flesh and Paper” CD-EP, beautifully presented in red and black digipack, released on Bubblegum Records, was one of the finest releases of 2009. It included 4 songs, “The Taste of Superglue”, “Penny on the Floor”. “Money Smile”, and “Days are Quick”. All recorded at the Green Door Studios in Glasgow. How I wish I had an autographed copy. Their songs sound very different to anything that was currently being done in indiepop mostly due to Imogen’s particular vocals. A fair dissection of their music would make the Golden Pathway label proud. Lean Tales sound uncannily close to Number 4 Joystreet in many of their songs. And throw in some Chesterf¡elds-like guitars in their most poppy songs like Money Smile for example. Haunting, beautiful, smart.

A year before they had put together some songs and included them in what they called the “Displaced Persons” demos. On here they had two unreleased, but downloadable from last.fm, songs: “Winter and a Boy” and “Running Birthday Cake”. The latter included in the “Pic’n’Mix” compilation released on Bubblegum Records. Must have been more around this time that I heard from them for the first time. We emailed for a couple of times. They had nice words for the Cloudberry too. They wanted to send me a CD with demos of their new songs. Upon receiving the marker written jewel case, I played it, to be blown away by “Money Smile”, a song so in your face that, I believe, should have been a single by itself. I like it so much that I’ve given myself the treat of DJing it twice, once in London and once in Malmö. Can I say I’m very jealous Gary Bubblegum that you were the one to release it?

Today came to my surprise that they had two songs slated for a 7″ release: “Come Take Me” and “Laundry Pills”. Who was going to release this and bailed out? I’d love to know, so I could cut their head off. Both songs are downloadable at the Lean Tales’ bandcamp. A bit less shivering than their previous efforts, and even “Come Take Me” having a quite summery feel! Ah! could it be the warmth of that violin?! Lean Tales was getting better and better as it also shows on the videos from the Bubblegum Records gig of last December (where they sang two unreleased songs, “All on You” and “Maybe”). Wonder when this ‘single’ were recorded. Should have been a bona fide contender for single of the year. The bandcamp also has the “Flesh and Paper” EP to download entirely, which makes me think of the band losing all interest in their songs. Because they are worth more than just a simple click. I highly suggest buying the copy from Bubblegum Records. I believe they are limited to 500 copies.

I never heard back from them. We’ll never hear from Lean Tales again probably. Though I could always try the Erika’s phone number on the sleeve of the demo CD when I’m in Glasgow next February. I hope in a way or another, they make music again. There is some genius in these songs. Genius enough to keep us warm in the coldest winter. Thank you.

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Listen
Lean Tales – Money Smile

Linda Guilala were on stage at last, 30 minutes late. They had found a keyboard in the backroom and seemed to be in working condition. At that moment I don’t think no one knew who the owner was. Iván and Eva were still stressed after spending the last hours on the motorway trying to be on time at the festival grounds. I wonder if it was their first time playing in UK, I think so, or did Juniper Moon ever played there? Anyways, we were there, first row again. Most people were at the chapel at this time, already making a queue worthy of a strike, waiting to see Betty and the Werewolves. I had seen them on Thursday and decided to skip them this time. Their poppy songs are fantastic, Paper Thin may be one of my top five singles this year, but I can’t handle their punky side. And then I couldn’t miss Linda Guilala, my long time friends, of long conversations about science fiction, the Japanese fans, indiepop, Aerolíneas Federales and how great Vigo is.

They played a nice set playing the songs from their debut album “Bucles Infinitos”, with the highlights “Nadie Se Dará Cuenta”, “Saber Perder”, “Te he Cambiado”, and more. The strong keyboard melodies of Eva’s, Iván’s poppy guitar hooks, succeeded in England. I was a bit worried that the crowd was going to be a bit alienated with Linda Guilala’s Spanish lyrics, as it usually happens in the USA, but that wasn’t the case. The crowd embraced it, and everyone was bopping their heads. It was then the time for their last song. They had prepared something special for everyone, they were becoming a 4 piece just for this final effort. Both Adria and Paulita from Papa Topo sneaked behind the metal fences that separated the wild crowd and the bands, and joined Linda Guilala. Iván stayed loyal to his guitar, Eva switched to a bass guitar, Adria picked up the Roland keyboard, and Paulita, well, she was going to give us backing vocals, the sweetest ones. They delivered a fabulous version of “Torremolinos”.

Now, Indietracks organizers, next year you have to book Papa Topo, and hopefully Iván and Eva can join for a 4-piece “Oso Panda”. It’s a very smart idea.

The gig was over, and what do people do when a gig is over? They head to the bar. And so we did. We stocked ourselves with beer, asked for glasses with ice and headed to the chapel. Betty and the Werewolves were almost done and in 30 minutes The Parallelograms were on. We didn’t want to miss them, and we assumed this one was going to be packed. So we better be early! The Parallelograms had been added to the bill just some days before after some band decided not to play. I don’t remember who it was. It all came into place. The Parallelograms hadn’t split but Markie had moved to New Zealand. Luckily for all of us, he decided to have some vacations in UK and come to Indietracks. Smart move! What a shame though, their drummer couldn’t play Indietracks, but who came to the rescue? Claire from Slow Down Tallahassee! She came up and filled in just fine on the drums. Later I would ask her, how did she learn the songs so fast? I was going to learn she dates The Parallelograms drummer, and she knows the songs by heart!

Upon entering the chapel, we could see that not many left the small venue after Betty and the Werewolves. People were going to save their precious spots, especially those on the front rows of seats. I found a space in the middle. Not so close, not so far. And there we waited with our beer with ice cubes for 20 minutes. Quietly The Parallelograms walked in to the stage: Meriel, Markie, Toniee, and stand-up drummer Claire. First thing that came to my mind is that Meriel has the nicest dresses in indiepop and that I longed for Markie’s Hello Kitty guitar that I had seen on photos. They shyly said hi to the crowd. They were the sweetest. You could see how much they were enjoying themselves, you could tell that the band means a lot to them, but above everything else, they are very good friends and they were here to just have fun. No ambitious and pretentious poses, just play some great pop! And so they did, one by one, all their songs, all of them proper indiepop hits. And I was enjoying all of this like a child, singing along to “1,2,3 Go!” and to “Making Faces”, and the proud moment of listening “Dream on Daisy”, the song they let me release on 7″ as a single! It was perfect. After every song, they would all jump at the same time, being their secret code that the song was over. Making me blush twice, dedicating me songs. The gig must have lasted 10 minutes or 30 or an hour for what I care, it was just perfect, and it could have continued for 24 more hours and it would have been perfect. It was the moment when going to Indietracks became a the right decision. Every penny spent on traveling there and paying for hostels, eating tofu curry and drinking warm beer, was worth.The Parallelograms were mighty, on a league of their own. I remember my Spanish friends standing up feeling groggy after the gig. It was a explosion of proper indiepopness!

Elisabeth trying out Markie’s guitar. Alex getting his Parallelograms 7″ signed. Me, taking photos with the band. Andrew from The Felt Tips joining up for a chat. Jennifer telling him that she had already seen the artwork of The Felt Tips that I was supposed to have kept secret. Me saying that The Felt Tips album was the best album of the year. Andrew don’t believing me. These are the memories after The Parellelograms gig. It all feels blurry. There was too much joy. I really hope this is not their last gig ever. Markie, here’s an advice, please take more vacations to UK!

We had 40 minutes in between to the next life-affirming gig, The Orchids were on the main stage. I went to the merch stall to check out at last what had happened to my records. Horror. They were nowhere to be found on the tables. Trevor wasn’t there anymore. Someone was boycotting the sales or someone thought that it was dangerous for people’s health to listen the records I had released. Or something else. My USPS Priority flat box was sitting lonely on the grass behind the merch tables. Full of records, but not full of life. But as you all know, you can always count with John Jervis to save the day. We moved all the flyers, moved some records by some questionable bands, and made some space for our records, just next to John’s WIAWYA stuff. And to tell the truth, he is a way better seller than me. He made more money in 2 days that Cloudberry makes in a week! John, don’t you want to run this label too?

6:40 pm now. The first chords or “Apologies” are chiming. I’m on the front row, and Marianthi has already started to dance. The Orchids are next!

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Listen
The Parallelograms – Dream on Daisy

A little white bunny outside our Travelodge window was the first sight of Saturday morning. Long day ahead. It was only 10 am. But we didn’t have any signs of getting tired. The excitement was still there. One by one to the shower, and then to our own little breakfast, consisting of diet coke and some cookies. By noon we met with the rest of the gang outside the hostel, on our usual spot, the big wooden picnic table, where also the smokers gathered.

We arrived just on time for The Hillfields. They put such a great show in the shed. Sadly there were not many people around to enjoy their elegant pop that takes the best of the Flying Nun stable. It was too early perhaps and most people were still suffering from the hangover. Or maybe they had terrible taste and went to see the other bands playing at the same time? I want to think it was the first option. For some reason I didn’t have much trouble during the festival with bands I wanted to see clashing in the schedule. Consider me lucky. Most friends did had to make decisions on the fly about where to go and who to see.  I had made a schedule, before traveling to the UK, of bands for Saturday and Sunday, so I never had this problem. Planning always pays off. Though, I would have had a big clash if Pale Sunday were to come to Indietracks as they were announced. They were playing at the same time as The Pooh Sticks. Tough one! But in the end the Brazilians didn’t come and well, Pooh Sticks it was. And that was such a treat, that show, I’m glad I didn’t have to make a decision in the end. The only other clash I would have had, was that between The Orchids and Stars in Coma. But I was going to see Stars in Coma in Berlin, in September, so the mighty Orchids it was.

Just after The Hillfields played I left the shed with them for a bit and went up to the merch tent. I bought their album and their EP for a good deal of 10 quid! And there was the great Mr. John Jervis. At last I get to see him. So of course, I asked what to do with my records that I had brought for selling. He asked me to bring them here and that we’ll figure it out. Again through the sandy and muddy patches all the way to the backstage room behind the shed. Got my box full of records and back to the merch tent. There wasn’t much space on any of the tables for my records. John told me to leave them next to the Odd Box stuff, while I was gone watching the Felt Tips, and when I came back, we’ll find a place for my stuff.

What can I say about The Felt Tips. First time I see them live and they were fabulous. I recorded on film most of their gig. And it was pure bliss, the great crooning vocals of Andrew, Miguel’s classy and luminous guitar playing, the striped-shirt Neal’s bouncy bass and Kevin banging the drums. And we were there, dancing in the front row, with Jennifer, Adria, Paulita and Kat. May I say that this November 15 we are releasing The Felt Tips album on our sister label Plastilina Records. I said it since the first time I heard it: “it’s the best album of the year. This is a defining album for these last wave of indiepop we’ve been going through. Brilliant really.

It was a good thing that most of the bands were not only playing their gigs at Indietracks but also staying for the whole weekend, enjoying it as fans even though most of them did the not so smart thing of camping. This was a very positive thing for the festival as there was always time to chat with the bands about the gig, their records, their fans, their dreams, and of course the gossip. This may be the most interesting topic of them all. Hear from bands about gigs and their organizers, the odd people they’ve met during their time as a band, and the silly anecdotes. Isn’t this one of the most beautiful things of indiepop? that bands, labels, gig organizers, clubs, and fans are almost at the same level, we all blend into one community? Everyone is a piece in the puzzle. Bands as fans, fans as bands, and everyone doing it to have fun! Doing it for the kids!

Next up was lunch. My options weren’t that many. The only place that served some sort of meat only had hot dogs (the bastard child of a good German wurst) and some very greasy hamburgers. I found this a bit annoying, as I love meat, but I don’t like greasy, unhealthy meat. There’s this believe around many popkids that meat is murder, and, whatever, they don’t have a clue of what they are talking about. Oh, dear Morrissey, the dumb things you’ve taught them. They think meat eaters, as most of them are vegetarians, are like pigs and we eat all sort of trashy stuff and we won’t have any problems eating a hamburger that sweats car oil. We’ve been demonized. This I do hope changes next year at Indietracks and we have some sort of decent place that serves nice chicken, beef, lamb, or fish. For the sake of all of us. I think the vegatarians had more options in general at Indietracks this time around. Quite different to reality though, when vegetarians have much more trouble finding a place to eat. No problem with that, that’s great actually, but don’t forget about the rest. Anyways, after a very short line, and for five pounds, I got a very nice curry at the stall. Rice, tofu and some red curry. It was quite tasty. This became my main meal through the festival. Eating it 4 times during the weekend!

Suddenly Paulita and Adria came by, and told me that Ivan and Eva from Linda Guilala, had just arrived. They were playing in 30 minutes and they needed urgently a keyboard. Where to find one? What to do? Can I save the day?

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Listen
The Felt Tips – Dear Morrissey

So here I am, in the promised land of Derbyshire. It’s almost 7:30 in the evening, and the noise coming from the stage welcomes me as I get down the steam train. There’s a small queue waiting to get in and I join it. Pete B, Rocker and Colm, go through the express lane, the band members queue, and I go through the slow not so special people queue. I had already paid in advance for my ticket, many months ago, so it was just matter of telling them my name. They don’t need an ID, which in these times it’s nice to know people believe in one’s honesty. As I’m leaving the counter with my Indietracks schedule/fanzine, they stop me. They say I have to pay for it, 2 pounds. I politely return it. I thought it was included with the festival ticket. I think it should be. All of this information was online, I had it printed. Sure this zine looked nicer, but for 2 pounds I can have a beer and my ugly printouts.

Anyways, now I’m walking by myself, with a big box of 7″s that I’m supposed to sell somewhere and someday during the festival. Beforehand Mr. Jervis had already sent spreadsheets with the schedules for when the bands will be able to sell their stuff, but not for when the labels were supposed to do so. I wasn’t sure when was I intended to sell them then, and especially because this year they had agreed that everyone who was selling records had to be behind the counter for at least 1 hour. I didn’t know when was my turn, and I wasn’t really looking forward to know that either. I was a bit annoyed carrying around the heavy box, holding fifty five 7″ records, with no certain direction, when I see Maria, now a volunteer for Indietracks. Great! Maria is here to save me! But she doesn’t have a clue.

I met Maria earlier this year, at London Popfest. She was one of the few Spanish speakers in the festival along with the guys from Aplasta tus Gafas de Pasta. It was nice to chat with her then, and then I stumbled upon her at Rough Trade, at another gig after Popfest and at the underground escalators. And she was always sweet. This time at Indietracks it was no exception. Even though she didn’t know anything about selling records or merchandise at  the festival, she went around asking trying to help. She asked the moronic Dan to see if he could help but of course she didn’t get any positive answers. “Let’s leave them backstage for now” she said. That was a good idea. So she took me to a small and cold room next to the shed, where guitars and drumsets were piling. Then there was even another room inside this one. A room within a room. Behind the big corroded door, there was nothing. Just a couple of empty shelves. I left my box there hoping they will be safe until the next day when Mr. Jervis arrives. As I was leaving the backstage room, Ronnie and Chris from The Orchids were walking it. It was nice to see them again after meeting in NYC Popfest just a couple of months before.

The evening was to continue in this same fashion, meeting old friends and new friends. Veronica Falls were playing their last songs when I approached the main stage to find Jennifer and Martin. There was Elisabeth too, making me faces. At that moment I get to meet my Spanish friends Cristóbal, Madidi, Javi and Alex. I know them online for years, since I was doing my Spanish language blog, probably in 2004. Cristóbal I know from soulseek, perhaps from 2002 or 2003. So many years, and now, for the first time I get to meet. They are great, and we make jokes and take photographs. Javi doesn’t believe me that I don’t like Veronica Falls. What can I do? I don’t get them. He says it’s been such a great gig. I had seen them three times now, and still not impressed. I can say they are one of the best looking bands around though, if that helps. Probably they’ll get big. I think they lack “romanticism”.

Also in the crowd is the great Mark Freeth, who has now joined the Spanish Armada from the Premier Inn. Nana and Andreas, fresh from their supermarket experience, also show up a bit late to the festival. We head to the bar, it’s time for beer. The distance from the main stage to the shed, where the bar is, shouldn’t take more than three minutes to walk. But it took us, no kidding, twenty five. Every four steps we were stopped by friends to say hello and talk for a bit. Isn’t that beautiful? On this trip to the bar the highlight was meeting Danielle and Stefan. Why haven’t I met them before I thought? They are just the kind of people that make the indiepop community worth it. I like them a lot.

Eventually we got to the bar, and to our despair, this was going to start our hate relationship with the warm beer they served. It all went to the point when we had to ask a glass with ice to cool it down. What’s the deal of drinking beer as if it was soup?

The night was dawning, and we kept on gossiping and drinking beer; I’m afraid I missed the next two bands while doing so. On another trip to the bar, over that sandy and muddy path, I met Kajsa, wearing her detective cloak, and invited her a beer. Then while talking about how Swedish people dress we notice that all of our friends are in that carriage in front of us, next to the shed. Let’s go! How did everyone ended up there? It was a bit cold outside perhaps, and most of us didn’t have coats or jackets. I didn’t bring any at all to the UK this time. It’s summer I thought. This is one of the nicest memories I have from the festival, the whole gang in the carriage, making silly videos and taking awkward photos. Emelie telling for the hundredth time the story about mouchak, Christin running away from the camera, meeting Tim for the first time, Jennifer having no beer, Anders speaking some sort of Swedish that I couldn’t pick up but the Swedes could, and Eli who still kept making faces to me.

When we got out of the carriage, the music was already over, and everyone was going to start heading to the discos or back to their hostels. Just outside the disco tent I met with Brian from The Understudies and he introduces me the rest of the band for the first time. I had already met Brian last March at a How Does it Feel dance party where he impressed me with his dancing skills, which still makes me wonder if the rest of the band can come close to his talents when it comes to dancing. The rest of the band seemed very nice, I joked with them and told them that it was a shame that are not playing this year. I’m not sure but later, when it felt as if they were avoiding to say hello again, I got the feeling the rest of the band weren’t that happy to have met me. Was it because I had too many beers and talked lots or maybe because it was too much for them to kiss the band’s only girl on the hand? Which I did, because it thought it was a nice detail. According to Wikipedia it is a gesture of extreme politeness. And I’m the epitome of politeness of course. Didn’t you know that?

As the clock approached one o’clock Jennifer got all of us, Travelodge guests, and said that it was time to go, that the last train was leaving. This was the first time that I was going to feel this recurrent void inside of me. I didn’t want to leave. I just want to stay for a while…

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Listen
The Baskervilles – Staying There for a While