Hello everyone! I’m very happy this week as The Color Waves 7″s arrived home! Just waiting for the inserts to arrive home and as soon as I do will start posting all the pre-orders! The sleeves look beautiful and they have received a lot of praise for the beautiful design. Can you guess what sort of bird is in the cover?

But it’s not only the beautiful design on this record, it’s also the beautiful music. One that I loved since the first time I heard these two songs many months ago. For those who don’t know the Color Waves, it’s a transatlantic collaboration between Alison and Garry. She is based in the UK while Garry is in the US. Both were once part of the great band All My Friends from Scotland.

Anyhow, this time around we’ve pressed 300 copies. We hope to sell them fast enough to keep releasing more records! The music as I said is just so beautiful, please have a listen at their Bandcamp.

Also I’ve just updated the website with some more info about Don’t Cry Shopgirl and their 7″ coming out soon. You can now listen to one of the tracks, and as well see a small thumbnail of the beautiful artwork that Amanda Åkerman has done for us. I should be sending the record to press in a week or two. And adding at that time the pre-order button. You can’t miss this one either, you’ll get 4 songs of pure bliss!

What else? Well, we run out of the pink vinyl copies for the My Favorite LP, only blue vinyl now. Then we do have in project the Suncharms release on Cloudberry Cake Kitchen. So it’s not like I’m lazy here! Also I’ve been doing a bunch of interviews for the blog during this last week, so hopefully we’ll learn soon more about many of these fantastic obscure bands I’ve been featuring!

Then I should start planning the next fanzine. I will go back to the blue color and as I said it will be the last fanzine in the 400 series. Any suggestions on which Cloudberry bands you’d like to see on it, please send my way.

And that’s for the moment on the news side. But I do have a request today, if you have discovered lately a band that you think would fit nicely in the label? I’d love to hear it.

PS. I was once again called the indiepop police. I was insulted too. And they tag me. They really want my attention. Must hurt not to like their band?

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Abercorn is a village and parish in West Lothian, Scotland. Close to the south coast of the Firth of Forth, the village is around 5 km (3.1 mi) west of South Queensferry.

I believe The Dancing Bears hailed from Abercorn. So you see, it says on the back sleeve of their one sole single: “Thanks to The Mussy Boys, The Abercorn Crowd and Steve for breaking the ice on so many occasions and also to JAM PA for the sound”.

No clue who The Mussy Boys were, but Abercorn is a town and it might have had a good crowd though on Wikipedia says the population continues to decline.

The Dancing Bears released one single in 1987, on the Big Noise label (BGN 1). It had two songs, one on each side. They were “Got To Get Out of Here” and “She’s My Girl”. I have only listened the A side, sadly I don’t own a copy of the record! In any case, I could find online, thanks to the great From A Northern Place blog the sleeve were I learn that the band was formed by Ritchie on guitar and vocals, Shaver on drums and Dave on bass. The record was produced by POC and The Dancing Bears. Not sure who or what is POC. The photography of the naked person on the cover was taken by Louise Mackay.

I looked a bit on Discogs. There’s not much of course. But I find that the label Big Noise was based in East Calder in Scotland.
East Calder is a small town located in West Lothian, Scotland. It is located about a mile east of Mid Calder and about a mile west of Wilkieston.

The remains of St Cuthbert’s Kirk look amazing there.

It seems they also released a band called Political Asylum, but they seem more punk than the Dancing Bears. Well, way more punk.

On the labels, there’s a credit for a last name, for the lyrics. That’s of Lambert. Which of the band members had that last name?

That’s all I could find about them. Pretty obscure sadly. But a good song. Maybe someone out there knows more about them?

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Listen
Dancing Bears – Got To Get Out of Here”

Didn’t get a chance to blog during the week (I did post an interview though!). It’s already Sunday and to be honest I’m forcing myself to leave a weekly post here before this week is over. Thing is that it’s been very busy at work this week and I expect to continue to be like this during the next weeks. September will be a bit tough to do full fledged posts I’m afraid. Also I think as indiepop it’s been so quiet as of late it’s kind of hard to find topics that matter at the moment.

Of course I could do some sort of summary of new releases, new bands, or news that are worthy to mention. But I’m not that terribly excited about any new releases. Most of my last purchases have been of old records. The last records I got excited about to buy their whole discography were of Star Horse from Sweden. Then I think this week I liked a Facebook page after some time too, it was a band called Boys also from Sweden. It’s not the same Boys from the early, mid noughties, those that sung the amazing song “New Girl Born”, but a female led band. Sounds good though.

Another idea is also try to pick a scene and check what bands are interesting there, like what I did about Peru not so long ago, and what I did last week with the Spanish scene of the early 90s. Don’t know if these posts tend to be interesting to you, in the end they are a list of links and I wonder if anyone has the time to go through all of them. I’ll continue doing these, though every time I end up doing a post like this, I feel kind of empty hearted, I start thinking, damn, this fine collection of songs, why isn’t it released on a physical format?

And that same question is the one that like a ghost inhabits my head. Why are so many good collections of songs are not released anymore. There’s a big void since Firestation decided not to release the Leamington Spa series. Those were the best compilations ever. In the beginning they were all so popular, even released in both vinyl and CD format. Then as time went by, as volumes were released, it seems only the hardcore fans were into them. Without them I would have never discovered so many amazing bands like The Deddingtons or the Thin Gypsy Thieves, and wouldn’t have been able to interview so many bands that have been featured on the blog.

In general I’ve found compilations are much harder to sell than regular albums. Could be because many times the quality varies between bands and songs on them. But in cases like the Leamington Spa series this shouldn’t have mattered. It was more of a document of a time and period, and it included a booklet that illustrated and gave perspective with the bands bio and discography. Not so long ago Cherry Red did something similar with the box set of Scared to Get Happy. Problem with it, is that it was just a one-off and that it included mostly well known bands. Even though it was curated nicely, the rewards weren’t that many. It was a great introduction to indiepop perhaps, but it didn’t dig enough for those who are thirsty for the next perfect pop song.

At the same time the ideas of doing similar sort of compilations with German, Australian and Greek bands started to vanish. First of all because they are difficult to make. If it’s already super difficult to deal with one band, dealing with 20 and at the same time ends up being a headache. Some bands are easy and helpful, others are complicated and forgetful. It requires patience, and it requires for one not to lose hope. With all those difficulties, and having Cherry Red kind of taking your ideas, sales not helping, and of course, the internet, well, these compilations even though they are missed, become a very difficult enterprise to undertake.

I still dream of making one, perhaps the day the blog ends up in book format it could include a first volume compilation or something like that. Who knows. I just miss discovering new bands though compilations. I’m not going to lie, it’s easier that way, than me digging and digging online to find something. Whoever compiled the songs already did the job for me. And that’s awesome, you can only be grateful for that. People like Uwe, who knows so many fantastic bands, that releases the one single, or not even, just a demo tape, are the perfect people to do these compilations. Who knows, perhaps one day music will matter again and it just won’t be bandcamps and soundclouds, and we’ll get to spend a night listening attentively the songs and while doing that, reading about them on the booklet. But that is just wishful thinking.

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I guess then if there was going to ever be a sort of German compilation of guitar pop bands from the late 80s, early 90s, 7 Roberts would be in there for sure.

Even though I know so little about them, and only have heard one of their songs, I know they were quality. You can tell by the sound of a guitar. That song I know is “When You Smile”. How do I know it? Well, it appeared on the tape compilation “Heaven Sent” (catalog HS002) that was released by the Heaven Sent fanzine in Germany. In this compilation we find bands we’ve featured in the blog like The Wilde Plains and The Sohfas and also many other well known bands like The Haywains, The Jesterbells, Remember Fun, The Penny Candles and so on. A true pop compilation, compiled with great taste.

Robert: from the Germanic name Hrodebert meaning “bright fame”, derived from the Germanic elements hrod “fame” and beraht “bright”. The Normans introduced this name to Britain, where it replaced the Old English cognate Hreodbeorht. It has been a very common English name since that time.

But 7 of them Roberts. Doubt there were 7 band members called Roberts. Wonder where the name comes from. The only thing I know, as I said, was that they released on 7″ that included two songs: “Heaven’s Spell” and “September”. It’s interesting all this “Heaven” associated to them.

Sadly I haven’t heard these songs. Are they as good as the one that appears on the compilation?

They were released by a German label called Sworm Records. There is no catalog number and it seems this was the only release on this label. It was released in 1987.

The cover artwork is very new wave. I wonder then if they consider themselves more of a new wave act than an indie guitar pop band. Also I would like to guess the name of the label is a play on words, as they came from Worms. How did I know that? Well, there was a connection with The Wilde Plains.

Years ago I interviewed Bernd from this great German bands and when I asked them about fellow bands in their hometown they told me:
In the late eighties Worms was crowded with guitar-pop-bands. It all began with “Autumn’s Chant” in 1984 (with later Wide Plains members Bernd and Robert amongst others). When “Autumn`s chant” split up in 1986 “The Blue Eyed Bandits” (Bernd),”The Blue and White collar workers” (Robert) and a little bit later “The 7 Roberts” (Robert) were founded. Around that time Jürgen played in “The Rayn”, Christian formed “Drab Hotchpotch” while Andi joined “The Wallflowers” and later “Sonic Flower Groove”. After all the “Wide Plains” started in 1989.

And that’s all I know about 7 Roberts. Did they have more songs? Did they appear on other compilations? Would love to know a bit more about them!

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Listen
7 Roberts – When You Smile

It’s a bit of a slow week.

At nights before falling asleep I read slowly and with pleasure the book “Pequeño Circo – Historia oral del indie en España” by Nando Cruz. I was lucky that Toni could bring me this book when he visited NYC for NYC Popfest. The book, for those of you who don’t understand Spanish is a compendium of interviews to people that were involved in the Spanish indie scene since the beginning of it in the mid, late 80s.

I’m almost halfway through, I think I’ve on page 350 or so. I thought then, that as I know many people are not aware of this scene, I could introduce you to some of the good bands that appeared on that period, or at least some of my favourite songs. By the page I am now, Elefant, Siesta and Jabalina are just starting. It’s a chronological book, though it is also geographical as the chapters seem to be divided by cities where different indie pockets were appearing. So I won’t be getting into the obvious bands like La Buena Vida or Le Mans that many of the English speaking people know, but into some that may have been under your radar.

Aventuras de Kirlián is a beauty of a band. They went to become Le Mans. They were supposed to release a split record with El Joven Lagarto on the Stamp label. I hope Miguel one day puts it out even if it was supposed to be released ages ago. They released one album and was very hard to find. Their record was reissued this year as part of the Record Store Day. Of course, as like everything that is released that day, I missed it. My favourite song is not “Un Día Gris” (their most famous song) but “Entre Días Largos“.

So I was talking about El Joven Lagarto. Well they were to become another classic and legendary Spanish indiepop band, Family. The sound was already very similar, perhaps a bit more lofi, but that probably has to do with the recording studio. I love their song “Soy un Sentimental“. Shame none of their stuff has been released.

La Insidia is another pre-Family band. Less poppier than El Joven Lagarto, much more post punk. Their songs seem like lost gems from the Cherry Red catalog. Great lyrics. This is “Todavía“.

El Niño Gusano from Zaragoza are a cult band, with 3 albums and a bunch of singles. I would guess everyone in Spain that has a clue about indie knows about them. Though not thoroughly indiepop, there are some great p!o!p! slices in their repertoire. Perhaps you’d like this song called “Pon Tu Mente al Sol“.

Another band that is mentioned is El Viaje de las Flores. I’ve been lucky to interview them in the blog!

Then we have Los Vegetales who appeared on a split flexi that came along the Stamp fanzine. They shared the flexi with none other than Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes! The song they contributed was “Gallinas Gigantes Con Metralletas” which is a good song but not my favourite by them. I think my favourite is their ode to the Silver Surfer, “Estela Plateada“.

Then of course we have Meteoro, a superb and fantastic band that only left us a perfect album, “Chitty Chitty Big Bang”, as legacy. It was released in 1994 and still sounds so fresh! Last year there was a pretty nice tribute album to them too thanks to Rubén Blanco. A super fun sounding band with very ingenious lyrics, this was the sort of music that for me describes perfectly the Spicnic sound. Hard to pick a favourite song, but I’ll go for “El Increíble Mundo Menguante“.

Another great band that gets a mention in the book is Terry IV. I came to know about them thanks to a cover of their song “De Dónde Viene la Nieve” by Los Fresones Rebeldes. One album, “Nuestro Arsenal”, which I believe is more of a compilation, released in 1996, and a bunch of singles, including a split flexi with the Fat Tulips on the Stamp label, is their whole discography. Great lyrics, and always fun to listen to. Hard to pick one song again, but I’ll go by the same pick Los Fresones did: “De Dónde Viene la Nieve“.

Patrullero Mancuso at the end of their career were picked up by Elefant, but before that they had a bunch of releases on Munster Records. 5 albums during the 90s and a handful of singles, and you can see them becoming poppier and poppier since a rockier and more lo-fi start. There are many favourite songs of mine, I remember listening them a lot (even though I actually don’t own their albums, shame on me! I have to admit many of these 90s Spanish releases are hard to come by this side of the Atlantic) back when I was in Miami. I always loved “La Matanza de Lugo” (there’s a promo video for this song, but the audio is not very good).

There are many more bands mentioned in the book so far, some that deserve being skipped to be honest, but I think next week I’ll make a second part. I leave you one last song though, from a not very indiepop band, but that I actually enjoy quite a bit. It’s by Surfin’ Bichos and it’s called “Comida China y Subfusiles“. Another cult band that also after disbanding formed other classic Spanish bands like Mercromina and Chucho.

Second part next week if it’s still slow in indiepop world. In the meantime I’ll keep reading.

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I google for “Penny Priest” And well, it seems there are a few Penny with the last name Priest. There’s one that on Twitter calls herself a mum, clinical psychologist, singer, songwriter, cyclist, that was a runner once and hopes to be a swimmer. For some reason I think this is the Penny Priest I’m looking for, she wears an I Am Kloot shirt on her profile photo. Would this be the Penelope Priest that appeared with the song “Sometimes” on the amazing compilation”Manchester North of England”?

It could be. Think about it. On this compilation Johnny Dangerously from I Am Kloot (and The deBuchias) appears too. There’s a connection here. Other bands that appear in this classic compilation were the super favourite band of mine The Man From Delmonte, The Raintree County, The Waltones, Pepplekade 14, and more.

I sadly don’t  have a copy. The shipping prices for sending one record to the US from the UK at this time are just outrageous. Will have to wait for me to travel to the UK and get it there. Hopefully next year! It feels so strange that I didn’t fly there this year. I’ve been going for so many years straight! Anyhow, it’s not that rare this record, the LP version (originally it was a tape!), that you should get it!

It was released in 1988 by Bop Cassettes (BC 001). This label I knew because of their various Man From Delmonte releases, but also remember they released The Bedflowers demo tape!

The tape came in an over-sized black moulded plastic cassette case (a bit like a miniature VHS box) with with 16-page fold out insert. Black cassette shell with black paper labels. Whereas the LP version was distributed through Revolver and The Cartel and was available by mail order from BOP Cassettes in Manchester. It was presented by BOP Cassettes and City Life Magazine. Contains 14 tracks all of which were unreleased at this time. Limited to 1000 copies. Including an A4 insert with tracklist.

We also know that the title for this compilation comes from the t-shirt designed by Identity Clothing. The 14 tracks were compiled by NME journalist Jane Champion.

I find a clipping online where it says that you could get both Mirrors Over Kiev and Penny Priest’s demos from a John Slater who wrote for City Life Magazine back in 1988.

Another clipping I find on the Manchester District Music Archive is from what I presume is a photo of Penny Priest and an article talking about how Paula Greenwood from Playtime Records was organizing a series of women-only gigs at The Gallery. Everyone was going to be women, the bar staff and the door staff. Wonder if Penny Priest did play there as there’s no mention of her on the article but of two women, Faye Wray and Claire Mooney.

Another mention of the obscure Penny Priest comes from a flyer for a concert were she opens to The Rhythm Sisters at the Green Room (sponsored by Becks Bier). Then again another flyer at the same venue where the bill is: George Borowski, Johnny Dangerously, Bob Dillinger, Penny Priest, and Kevin Seisay. The gig is aptly titled “5 Go to Play Guitar”.

And that my friends is all I can find about her. The thing is, this one song, “Sometimes”, is a true jangly beauty. So I wonder, if anyone out there has her demo or any other songs by her. Would love to know more about Penny Priest, her gigs, her band, her songs and her Manchester. And why she didn’t get to release anything!

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Listen
Penny Priest – Sometimes

A few days ago I got the 3rd edition of Rich Levene’s “Last Train To Eastleigh!” zine. A simple zine, a folded page, printed on both sides and folded 3 ways. But reading it it’s always great. Something so simple, and so cool, that anyone, and everyone, should do. A perfect way to share the music you love and introduce some bands to whoever ends up reading you! On this last issue there are also two articles, ‘Pop Anarchy!’ and ‘Southampton Indiepop City’. Again, a great read!

My friend Vernon got me thinking the other day after a wee chat online. We were both kind of moaning that we weren’t aware about the newer indiepop releases. That we just keep checking and buying old stuff. Stuff we missed from the 90s, stuff we want from the 80s, stuff that were under our radars in the noughties. But from today? We have no clue! I thought that was scary, how can we be good fans or supporters if we don’t get to know what’s going on.

Okay, I do know more or less about new releases. Especially those on labels I follow, like Shelflife, Matinée, and so on. Also the releases that friends of mine are putting out. Facebook seems to be a great tool for that. But for example, those bands that have nothing to do with these labels, or have nothing to do with my friends, well, if I’m lucky I discover them months after, or even years after. And that’s not good. If I could discover them when they are putting out their stuff, perhaps I could spread the word you know? Not that many people trust my taste. But some do!

With the disappearance of indiepop blogs in the past few years, there is no space for indiepop news on the web. I try now and then to show my new discoveries, but I know it’s not even close to be enough. There is the Indiepop Shop Talk group on Facebook were people post about their new stuff, but I feel it’s not the right format for it. A blog, a sort of Tumblr perhaps, would be the best. Maybe a new band a day kind of thing. Or a new release a day even. But who could put something like this together? It’s been shown that a group of people, a team, doesn’t work. It has to be someone with discipline and most importantly good taste! You know, you are going to be receiving a lot of emails, and it’s not going to be only guitar pop, it’s going to be rock, reggae, electronic etc etc. People don’t respect! If it says we only receive indiepop submissions, they never care. They just love the spam. I never understood that.

Anyways, something like that would work so nicely. But to be honest, I see this not happening soon. I think most of us are getting older too and we have less and less time. We have so much on our plate. I will always cross fingers and hope someone in the new generation of indiepop fans would do something like this. But for that, we have to wait.

BUT, perhaps you have a better idea on how to keep all of us in the loop. My trick so far, which is not ideal, is to check the new stuff that Jigsaw Records is carrying in his store. I don’t know how Chris does it, but he always has the latest on his mailorder. That has worked well for me, but it’s not the perfect solution. You can’t really preview the songs there or learn much about the band. Something that has a bit more of curation would be better. What do you think? How feasible is something like this? What platform would work better? How could we have some sort of a small newspaper of what’s going on in the indiepop world. Forums, Facebook pages, and even blogs, all have failed. Is there a solution?

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I stumbled upon the fantastic Brick Supply thanks to another obscure compilation. “Twice Wi’ Scraps For Me Mam An’ Our Lass ….Please” co-released by Confidential Records and Launch Pad included two songs by the Brick Supply. The songs were “Mellow Rape”, this one even opening the compilation, and “Inside a Mattress Van”, closing the compilation. This LP released in 1991 (catalog FILE 015) included some other bands that I would love to check out like Fear of Jazz, Bagpuss, Want and Buzzing Chairs. Wonder if they are as good as Brick Supply!

This compilation, which sadly I don’t have (price seems to be a bit steep at the moment), incuded the Launch Pad Promotions Newsletter No.1 . This was a booklet that contained details on the bands that were included in this compilation. Would be great perhaps if someone helps me with a scan of the Brick Supply page, to learn more about this band.

Well, the thing was that “Mellow Rape” is such a beautiful song, I think it was Uwe from Firestation Records that said: “this very very obscure compilation LP feat. one of the most greatest indiepop-tunes ever: “Mellow Rape“ by BRICK SUPPLY. Think on Ala Pana Fuzo, early Trash Can Sinatras, Bob Hope or Hey Paulette. What an amazing song!!!”

Digging a bit more on Discogs I find that they contributed another song in 1992 to a compilation called “Weird and Wonderful” on Rough Trade (JAC 001CD). The song was called “Grid of Absence”. This compilation has some familiar bands on it, bit more indie rock to be honest, like Pavement, Carter USM or Nikki Sudden among others.

The only other listing on Discogs is the song “Not So Manic Now” that appears on the compilation “Music Couture” released in 1994 on the VMP label out of Singapore. Don’t know much about most of the bands in it, only The Pearly Gatecrashers, a favorite of mine, appear in it.

Anyhow, this song, “Not So Manic Now”, is perhaps their most famous song, but not because of them, but because Dubstar covered it in 1995 releasing it in so many different formats and even recording a promo video. It was even a top 20 UK hit in 1996. Maybe you’ve heard it.

Keep digging. Wikipedia doesn’t give me a hit, but it does show me the band that the members from Brick Supply went to form afterwards. They were called The Boy Tate. The first paragraph already clears many questions:
The Boy Tate, consisting of writer/guitarist David Harling and singer Andrew Tate aka Tat, originated in England in 1999. After the breakup of their previous band, Brick Supply, the duo worked hard to produce their first album If This Is An Answer. With help from a few friends, The Boy Tate continue to create beautifully arranged melodies compared to the likes of Simon & Garfunkel. In The Head Of The Ice Cream Girl followed in 2002. Pianist Tony Wade joined the band for the third album, Flagrante Delicto.

On this same Wikipedia entry there’s a Brick Supply release in their discography! I struck gold. It’s the 1994 EP “Somebody’s Intermezzo”. I look around where to get this record, where can I buy it. Happily I find a decent priced used copy on Amazon UK.

I guess when it arrives home I could check the credits and see if I’m missing anything about them. The only things I know about this release comes from Last.fm. There it says that the label that released it was Rough Cuts. And that it includes four songs: “Not So Manic Now“, “Grid of Absence“, “The Why That Makes Me Anxious” and “Semi Personal Asylum“.

I struck gold once again. There’s a user on Youtube that has uploaded songs from an early tape from the band, perhaps a demo. There’s a very early version of “Mellow Rape” that is glorious! I start reading the comments and people seem to have seen them back in the 90s in a venue called Cellar at Perry’s (that is now called Inside Out). Then another comment mentions that the band recorded the songs in Darlington. Another mentions that there was a sampler tape called “Circulation” that had 4 or 5 different bands included Brick Supply.

Another of the early songs is called “Instant Rebels“. This one sounds really lo-fi sadly. The third song has a cool title, “My Beautiful Kebab House“. Such a good song!! Then there’s even more songs on Youtube, there’s one called “Family Planning”, another called “Mr Cageworthy”, and there’s “Cellophane”. There’s an “Instrumental” too. Enough songs to put together a really good CD retrospective don’t you think? It would be fantastic! And who knows, there might even be more songs. And if they have the quality of all of these, damn!

So anyone remembers them? Did you see them play? Did they have more songs? Were they involved in any other bands? Maybe they contributed to more compilations? Would be great to know more about this fantastic obscure band!

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Listen
Brick Supply – Mellow Rape

Is it me or the indiepop world has gotten very quiet after Indietracks? There are really no “current topics”, are there? From this month until perhaps next year we won’t be seeing any other indiepop festival. Berlin Popfest is no more right? Wait, there is Manchester Popfest next month. But then after that, that’s it. The year is over for the indiepop fan we all have inside.

I’ve been feeling like having a bit of a vacation too. From the blog and the world. I usually take a vacation during the summer but I’m not this year. I feel restless. My next vacations are in October and November. I should have spaced them out a bit better. In the meantime I should work on the next releases. The 7″s that are in the pipeline, with The Color Waves having a release next month, and also the Cloudberry Cake Kitchen series.

In the next few weeks I’ll start planning the next and final Cloudberry fanzine set to be released next year. The podcasts stopped all of a sudden and I’m very sorry about that. I haven’t got the helping hand for putting together the different bits and pieces of the audios no more. I don’t have the time or the skills to do this by myself and so, unless some good Samaritan out there wants to take care every month of putting 35+ mp3 snippets together, well, let me know.

The last week also saw a sudden surge of activity in the indiepop-list. Topic being, once again, vinyl vs. CD vs. Mp3. Throw in the discussion some ‘capitalism’ and ‘comfort’, and well, it all felt like I was getting spam every couple of minutes. It’s a discussion that never ends. I believe the conversation started with the idea that this vinyl ‘resurrection’ of the last few years was just a fad and that it was only the big labels that were taking advantage of it. I tend to agree with this. I love vinyl, but I know all of what has been happening, all those articles saying “the comeback of vinyl”, “vinyl sales are up this year”, etc, etc, are just a fad that will pass in a couple of years if not less.

Collectors will be collectors. And so we will continue to buy records, in any format, it doesn’t matter really. We just want to interact with our music, have the whole discography, order tidily our shelves. In a nutshell, be happy. Then the rest, that are buying vinyl because it’s cool to have the latest reissue of whatever 70s band to decorate their hip apartment’s living room, with a vintage turntable and all, well they’ll move on to something else. Candles perhaps. Or whatever.

Collectors are an species in extinction. We are being told that less is more for the last decades. To have less at home is good. The term hoarder is so popular now. So you need to feel good. Feng shui, and all that nonsense. So yeah, this trend will continue. The brainwash will continue. Spotify playlists will continue for the regular music lover, who are by far the majority. And that’s how it will be. Everyone knows this.

Paying $35 for an LP is outrageous. Still, I do it. I shouldn’t though. I’m supporting a wrong model. I would be cool to spend $10 on a CD including the same songs. Makes more sense. But some labels try to milk the fad by releasing on vinyl. They copy the big label model. There are some excellent labels though that still release in both formats, like Shelflife or Slumberland, making it all very fair.

I think indiepop should be more about the ideals of economy, of what’s right for the fans. That was the whole Sarah revolution, wasn’t it? Releasing 7″ singles instead of fancy glossy 12″ singles that sold for double the price or so with the same amount of songs and perhaps a stupid remix.

It’s a difficult topic this. We don’t know what will happen next week aside that there will be less and less sales, less and less collectors. Should we think outside the box? Surrender to the digital format? I wonder. Every year we question the status of the music industry. In the end all discussions seem to be worthless. Everyone says they love and prefer vinyl records, but you know what, it’s about supporting and buying the records, not just saying it.

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I’ve been checking the past two weeks compilations that I want to have in my collection. Some of them very obscure that I have no idea they existed a month ago. Many of them listed as indiepop just because one or two tracks in them will fall in that category whereas the rest of the songs are just random. Online sellers are very tricky.

There are other compilations that I can’t really judge. That I haven’t heard the rest of the songs but because of the name of the bands I have big doubts that the whole of it is indiepop. For example the compilation called “Humber Beat” that doesn’t even appear on Discogs.

Rateyourmusic does have it listed. It was a 1987 release on Criminal Records (catalogue CRTWR 001). It includes 14 songs, and one of them is from this band that I want to introduce you today, That Noble Porpoise.

Okay, so it’s not a noble purpose. But a porpoise. What is a porpoise?

Porpoises (also called mereswine) are small cetaceans of the Phocoenidae family; they are small toothed whales very closely related to oceanic dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word “porpoise” has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen. The most obvious visible difference between the two groups is that porpoises have shorter beaks and flattened, spade-shaped teeth distinct from the conical teeth of dolphins.

Kind of strange to name your band because of an obscure animal. The song on this compilation was “Hand in My Head”. Other bands in the compilation are Treasure Berries (sounds like an indiepop band, no?), The First Time, Billy Earth, Product of Reason, Fandango, Taboo, Mike Bawn, Armoured Heart, Chatterland, Kestrel, Radio, 12 Guilty Men, and The Diseased. Well, to be honest, I’m not familiar with any of these bands. Any help would be appreciated here!

There is an old SoundCloud page though, owned by Evan Barryman, where the whole “Extended Play” by That Noble Porpoise  is uploaded. There are then four songs, the aformentioned “Hand in My Head”, “Trip”, “Someone came to The House”  and “Drowning Inspiration”.

The artwork of the tape does have a porpoise for you wondering.

If you click on each of the songs you’ll get the full lyrics for them. Also we learn that all of the songs were penned by Evan Barryman. Would be nice to get in touch.

Keep digging. I find another band member’s name: Jonah Lacey-Hatton. Wikipedia lists him as part of the Hull band The Planet Wilson, that included members from the Red Guitars. Does this mean that the band hailed from Hull?

Then on 2012 article on the Scunthorpe Telegraph I find another band member’s name: Alex Ogg. It says that because of a book he co-wrote called The Art of Punk he was going to have a space in the Tate Gallery. In the same article it mentions he used to be part of That Noble Porpoise as a bassist and mentions that the band was actually from Winterton.

Winterton is a small town in North Lincolnshire, England, 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Scunthorpe. The 2011 census found 4,899 inhabitants, in 2,001 households. Major north-south/east-west streets of Winterton are Market Street and Northlands Road. Winterton is near to the banks of the Humber and is 8 miles (13 km) south-west of the Humber Bridge which can be seen from many parts of the town.

On an interview on the Mudkiss fanzine, Alex says: “ I think I played three gigs as second bass player in a group called That Noble Porpoise (taken from the line in the original Batman film) and a couple of gigs in a college band called The Men Who Couldn’t Play. That was it. I was terrible. If I’d been any good, I would have been a musician. I wasn’t, so I decided to write about it. You don’t have to tune a keyboard.”

Okay, so it wasn’t because of the animal the name of the band, but because of Batman. That’s two posts in a row that have a Batman connection!

Then, heading to Google Maps, it’s easy to notice that from Winterton to Hull there’s only 30 minutes drive. It’s all starting to make sense here. To get there you need to cross the Humber river. Okay, then it all makes sense, the compilation where they appeared was called “Humber Beat”. Safe to assume that all the bands in this compilation are from the area?

I end up in a page called MusicLincs. There are a bunch of Scunthorpe bands featured. I search for That Noble Porpoise and I learn they played the 1986 Scunthorpe Rock Open.

I couldn’t find any other information about this obscure band. So, if anyone out there could help me, with more info on the rest of the members, if there were any recordings or releases, even other gigs they played, that’d be great! Always good to learn more about these forgotten guitar pop bands!

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Listen
That Noble Porpoise – Someone Came to the House

While I watch Indietracks’ gigs on Youtube and I feel a terrible nostalgia when I see photos of my friends being washed by the English rain, I try to keep calm. So many summers in a row that I attended, that by skipping this one, my indiepop world feels very strange at the moment, like I’m missing a limb or something. There won’t be hundreds of photos to sort and post, there won’t be setlists to scan, or new records to listen. There won’t be extra pounds in my wallet to exchange at the bank. There won’t be any memories of warm beer or beans for breakfast. None of that. This is an odd summer.

Back in October 2013 I was interviewed by Mark Zonda for the Italian page Loft80 (here’s the Italian version). I want to share this interview here today. It’s summer, and it’s all so quiet that I kind of want to take a break on writing about indiepop news (there’s very little anyways). Hope you like it if you haven’t checked it out yet:

++ Hello Roque. You’re some kind of legend in the realm of indie-pop, but introduce yourself to all the other Italian readers of Loft80

Hey Mark! Thanks a lot. How are you doing? I’m not any legend at all. Indiepop is so tiny to have any legends. I’m just a big fan and a big supporter of the scene. Happy to answer any questions you have.

++ I’ve been to Gothenburg last year, and my greatest disappointment was not being able to find any Cloudberry Jam bottle. How did you decided to name your label after that delicacy

I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t like the taste of Cloudberry Jam much! I remember having it with pancakes in Stockholm and I had to go back to the lingonberry jam as I liked that much better. But just to keep the story straight I didn’t call it because of the jam, but just because of the berry. I thought the name was ace, Cloudberry. Most people don’t even know that sort of berry exists. Also, you know I’m a big fan of the band Cloudberry Jam, right? So, that had a lot to do with it. But the jam itself, nope.

++ So I was pretty safe from delusion not finding any in Sweden. Which are your favourite all time international dishes so far? Do you like cooking?

That’s a very difficult question. I’ll start by the end, I don’t like cooking. I don’t cook. I do love eating though. So, my favourite dish is called Ceviche. And it has to be Peruvian ceviche, because some other countries make it, but it’s not the same at all. That I could eat every single day and never get bored. I love many other dishes, like the Nepali momo, the Afghan manto, the Thai kua kling, the Yemeni fatah, the Malay sambal stingray, and so on. I could go on and on. I love food! And New York is great for that.

++ What did Cloudberry Records represent in the history of indie pop? Would it be appropriate to make comparisons to Sarah Records?

I can’t say what it represents. That would be very biased. I would prefer if you or any other fan tell what it represents. I do hope it represents something and that it has been inspiring in a form or another. I mean, it’s been almost 7 years running the label and there have been more than a hundred releases so, some sort of impact it must have had. Also many of the most beloved bands in indiepop in the last decade or so have had a connection with Cloudberry I think. So I would love to think it has a part in indiepop history. But as it’s a label that it is still alive it’s very hard to pinpoint what kind of place it has in such a history. So I leave that for you to answer 🙂

Comparison with Sarah? I don’t think that would be appropriate. No. Sure, fans will always compare this and that, and that’s cool. But every label is different. They have a different sound, a different perspective, different expectations, different people running them, and especially let’s say Cloudberry and Sarah, they’ve been around in different times. I don’t know how Cloudberry would have fared in the late 80s early 90s, or Sarah in the late noughties and early this decade. The times have changed so much that is hard to compare. I love Sarah records and they have been an inspiration in their aesthetics, so there might be some similarities, but I also love other labels like Heaven Records, Yay! or Fabulous Friends, to who I feel a bit closer to be honest.

++ Cloudberry have always been the main reference to tell what was good indie pop or not. I discovered (and collaborated) with a lot of artist thanks to your ability to find out new quality musicians and bedroom talents. Which was your favourite release so far?

I’m glad that I have helped in that way! I can’t say what’s my favourite release so far. I love them all. Though a special place in my heart have the Celestial 3″, the Twig 7″ and the Feverfew retrospective album, as they were the first I released in each of those formats.

++ Many years has passed when I first interviewed you. It was so cool meeting Kip from The Pains at Indietracks 2010, get to talk to him and telling me he read the interview we had on SleepWalKing Mag. You were telling me right from the start that The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Twig were the two main artists from your label that had the chance to make it. What happened ot Twig and which are your favourite nowadays?

That’s cool. I remember that interview too. It was fun.

What happened to Twig? Well, Henrik, the vocalist, lives in London now, and before he lived in New York for a year, while the rest of the band lives in Stockholm. So it became very hard for them to keep rehearsing and playing, and even recording. There is an album worth of songs written though and I hope at some point they get properly recorded as I know they are FANTASTIC. Hope that answers the question. Sometimes life gets in the way.

My favourite bands? Well, it’s usually the bands I have just released or will release in the near future. So lately I’ve been loving The Occasional Flickers, Boyish, Pale Spectres, Lost Tapes, Don’t Cry Shopgirl, and some more.

++ What’s your vision on independent music and trends nowadays?

I don’t follow much the rest of independent music, I’m mostly familiar with indiepop. So I can talk about that. I think it hasn’t changed much since last time we talked on the SleepWalking interview. I do think people got hurt with the raise of postage prices in the US and UK this year. So mailorders have become a bit more important. How I wish there was one in Italy for example. Indiepop festivals seem to still be pretty successful, and Im happy to know that Indietracks will still go for at least one more year. So I think it’s a healthy scene still.

Trends? Well, Spotify has become a major player it seems, especially in Europe. Sadly Spotify is no help really for bands or labels. So that’s kind of a bad trend haha. Platforms like Bandcamp and Soundcloud are much more fair. And I’m glad these are also used heavily. There are less and less blogs and pages that cover indiepop too. That’s a trend that is not that happy for all of us, on the other hand there are more and more indiepop Facebook groups where people are sharing their discoveries and any sort of questions. I’m not so sure what will happen next. Many thought digital would be reigning by now, but that hasn’t happened. I think music lovers still love their records.

++ Thank you so much Roque. It’s always a pleausure to talk to you. I hope to meet you at some festival sooner or later. And just one final tip: who shall I interview next?

Thanks to you. Yeah, come to NYC Popfest 2014 or Indietracks 2014. I plan going to those for sure. Who to interview next? Why not interview Firestation Records that have just released their 100 release celebrating 15 years of the label. They deserve the attention!

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Very obscure band today. One that I can’t find anything at all online. Who could help me?!

Even the page Irish Rock asks for help on this one. Yes, the Bruce Wayne Experiment were Irish and were around in the late 80s. I don’t even know if the rest of their output is indiepop! Though the one song that I’ve heard, “Turn Back”, does sound like one of those classic non-hit songs from an indiepop album from the mid, late 80s. A song that you wouldn’t be surprised to hear on a retrospective compilation of any of the bands featured on the Leamington Spa series.

Where does this song “Turn Back” come from? It was on Youtube. The only song I know they actually released was called “Midnight” and appeared on a compilation called “Something New… Something Blue” released in 1990 by the label New Eclipse Records (NE 007-2). It seems it was released both on tape and vinyl LP.

Well, at least people that have sold this record on eBay has marked it as indiepop/C86. We all know they kind of lie a bit sometimes, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. I haven’t heard all of the songs on the compilation (just one, and actually wasn’t indiepop).

On Irish Rock there’s a small blurb saying that all the bands in the release were unsigned at the time and that some of them aren’t all that new, that they had been playing for a few years. It also says that there’s pop and rock on the A side, while blues on the B side. Well, the Bruce Wayne Experience have the last song on the B side. Perhaps they were into blues after all?

The other bands that appeared on this compilation were Big Orange Peel, Local Contract, Dressed to Get Messed, The Quest, Red Hot Remembers, Dirty Tricks, Raw Novembre, Silverstreak, International Blues Band, Blue Ocean, Oliver Brothers Incorporated, Missing Digits and Mary Stokes Band.

Now, for those of you who are really clueless about everything and need to figure out who the hell Bruce Wayne is, well, he is not Superman, but he is Batman, alright?

Batman’s secret identity is Bruce Wayne, an American billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and owner of the company Wayne Enterprises. Having witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, he swore revenge on criminals, an oath tempered with a sense of justice. Wayne trains himself both physically and intellectually and crafts a bat-inspired persona to fight crime.

Safe to assume they liked comic books?

That’s all. I just ended up liking this song. Thought it makes for a good Monday song.

If you know anything else about them, please let me know, I’m always curious.

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Listen
Bruce Wayne Experience – Turn Back

It feels very strange not traveling to London this week. It doesn’t feel right. For the past four summers I’ve been going to Indietracks and this year I’m not. The festival starts this Friday, and I have all these mixed feelings going on. It’s odd. Very strange that I won’t be there, meeting with friends and having warm beer while catching some good bands. Good conversations, dancing over rocks and dust, and trying to survive the rain. The Alfreton Travelodge and it’s picnic table. The red taxicabs and the huge Tesco where one would stock with diet Irn Bru. I don’t know, but I will miss it very much. I’m very jealous of all of you. Believe me when I say it was a difficult decision to skip this year.

If I’ll go next year? I hope so. Every year the prices for traveling has been rising. Summer trips to England seem to be very popular. If I can afford it, and have the days off, I’ll do my best. I hope it keeps being organised too. I guess that’s my biggest nightmare, that suddenly they announce that this year was the last. I can’t miss the last one ever. That’d be such a heartbreak.

Last time around I said I wasn’t going to be talking about it anymore. Some friends and some other people got a bit offended by my criticism. That was sad. I was trying to point out some things that could be done better. Maybe I’m no one to be having an opinion, or just people don’t like listening to these sort of things. Anyhow, this year, many friends that are attending have been asking me what bands to check out. So forgive me, as this festival always makes me very passionate about indiepop, I’ll talk about it once more. I’ll do it briefly though.

So I suppose my friends haven’t had the time to check them all out. I have and gave them some pointers. I thought I could share my recommendations with you today. Surely we all have different taste, but I think these are the bands that are worth seeing. I don’t think it’s that difficult this year though I haven’t even checked if any of these clash! Maybe they do!

Friday is just pretty good. I don’t remember an Indietracks Friday were you’d say you wanted to see all bands. It was mostly a day for hanging and catching up. This year, the three bands are worth seeing. For me, the important band would be Cinerama. I’ve seen Wedding Present twice, but never Cinerama. So that’s a given. It’s definitely one of the most exciting bands in the whole festival lineup. The other two bands I’ve seen before and I totally would have loved seeing them again: The School and Fever Dream. It’s a strong start for all that are going.

Saturday, if I was going that is, would most probably start with Cristina Quesada. Sadly at the same time Chorusgirl will be playing too. I guess you could catch the first 20 minutes of Chorusgirl. I really like their song “No Moon”. Cristina I wouldn’t miss as also Andreas from Alpaca Sports will be supporting her. Two good friends, in the church stage sounds great to me. Then I would stay at the church, perhaps get a better seat in the front, to catch Rémi Parson. I saw him before playing this same stage with The Sunny Street. Now solo, must be a treat. But at the same time everything already started to clash.

So, to make it easy, in a parallel universe, because I’m glad I don’t have to make this decision of choosing which band to check, I could: at the same time of Cristina’s gig I would be heading for Los Bonsáis. A superb band, that I think is one of the best this festival. I couldn’t miss them. And then Evans the Death play at the same time as Rémi. Oh dear! These are terrible clashes! I feel for you all. It’s a tough decision!

Other Saturday bands not to miss will be just three. Desperate Journalist, The Haywains, and then at the end The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Those don’t clash, so they can’t be missed.

Let’s see Sunday. I think I would start with The Hi-Life Companion, who made a lovely Cloudberry release back in the day, released an album on Plastilina and even participated in one of my first indiepop projects, the C-06 tape. Can’t be missed! Then I’d go for The Catenary Wires. Amelia Fletcher is one of my heroes. The Fireworks, who everytime I see, get better and better, and on top of it all the members in the band are ace. You have also The Darling Buds, who were so excelent at NYC Popfest. The Tuts who are quite good too. Colour Me Wednesday have great catchy songs even though I don’t agree with their vegan politics.

Other bands on Sunday to definitely check out are The Luxembourg Signal whose album on Shelflife I played a lot the last month at home. Then Grubs, whose flexi was awesome. I’d be very curious to hear more songs as I only know two. And then I’d be super curious to see Frida & Ale as I was such a fan of The Rough Bunnies. Maybe they even play some covers of her old band! Pete Astor, on a quiet Church stage to end the Sunday could be also a good ending for Indietracks.

So that’s what I would try to go and see. I’m not though, but maybe my suggestions help you decide what to do. I think it’s pretty hard, especially those early Saturday slots. Have fun! I’ll be very jealous this side of the Atlantic!

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Today I have a band that I only discovered some days ago. I was just checking to new sounds on Youtube and suddenly I stumbled onto the Perfect Garden, from Dunedin, New Zealand.

The song I found was called “End of The Perfect Sunshine” and I loved it immediately. Great female vocals, it reminded me so much to another favourite of mine, Number 4 Joystreet! And I started wondering, where did this come from?

Google didn’t give me any results. But I was lucky that the person who uploaded the song to Youtube used a lot of memorabilia from the band so I could learn a little about them.

It seems they released one tape, with the songs: “Into the Ground”, “End of the Perfect Sunshine”, “Amelia” and “Swirl”. On the tape it says on big letters “Glorious Pop!”. That makes me happy. The tape EP was called “A Place Not Far From Here”. And it was recorded in Christchurch on the 17th and 18th of March 1990. It was mastered by Kevin Stokes for Failsafe Records.

The band was formed by Kieron Flaherty on rhythm and lead guitar, Karen Hewitt on vocals and tambourine, Aaron Ives on drums, Martin Quinn on bass and Shane Walker also on guitars.

The song is gorgeous. I really hope I can listen to their other songs. On the description it says: “The Perfect Garden were an indie band from Dunedin N.Z who were active from 1988 until 1990. They were influenced by the English/Scottish indie scene of the time which included such acts as The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Razorcuts, Primal Scream, The Primitives, The Shop Assistants, Sarah Records and C86.”

When I read that sort of thing, when they have all the right influences, for some reason it makes me happy. When I see the haircuts, call me vain if you like, and I see the right haircuts it makes me happy too.

They seem to have played with The Bats at the Burgundy Bar in the European Hotel. The press clipping says that the Perfect Band is a young band that sadly plays pop! What a dumb journalist who wrote this. They even say that their main problem is that they not only wear their influences on their sleeves but also on their haircuts! Oh dear. This person doesn’t know what he’ is writing!

I catch a glimpse of a poster saying “Indiepop Ain’t Noise Pollution”, announcing a gig with the Perfect Garden, Black Spring and Dolphin. Another with the Perfect Garden supporting The 3D’s at the Empire. Yet another playing along the Black Spring and The Holy Toledos. Then another again with the Black Spring and Dolphin playing at the Savoy. Seems the

Then there’s another flyer where it mentions that Kieron and Aaron are off to England to become rock stars. That this was going to be their last ever gig with Perfect Garden. I wonder what bands did they play in while in England.

And that’s all I really could find about them. I wonder if anyone out there remembers them and can tell me a bit more. Also if anyone happens to have that tape, oh please, can you be nice enough to let me listen to the rest of the songs? I really love this one!

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Listen
Perfect Garden – End of the Perfect Sunshine

I don’t remember who I was talking to at Indietracks, and there was this question that was hard to answer. What has happened to Sweden? Once upon a time a country that was exporting a massive amount of great indiepop bands. Today, you can count the bands with your fingers. What happened then? Care to take a guess?

I don’t live there, so it’s hard for me to pinpoint the issues. I would guess that many people moved to other hobbies, to other interests. Some are dedicated in full to their families. You know, life caught in the way. Indiepop became a 2nd, if not a 3rd, passion.

Sure, there are still some good bands, I look forward to listen to The Sun Days album very much for example, but it’s definitely not the same amount you were used to back in 2004 or even in 2012. It’s been a long decline.

What’s popular there now? I’m so out of touch.

I think an era ended this year. And it kind of did it quietly. I think it was one of the saddest news and not many stopped and thought about it.  Fraction Discs closed it’s web shop in February, and the silence became bigger.

Fraction Discs lasted more or less 7 years. It was the premier indiepop mailorder in Sweden. The only one really. With great taste they picked the best new releases from select labels. I was lucky to work with them for all their lifetime. And it was always a pleasure to work with both Jörgen and Renée. They were always accommodating, helpful and very diligent. I never had a problem.

I was a customer too. I bought some Swedish releases that I had missed first time around. Also some of the newer releases when they came out.

Parallel to the mailorder they started a label, with the same name and they released a string of perfect records. All of them being essential to any indiepop collection. From all the Liechtenstein discography (how I wish I had released just one 7″ by them, it was a dream of mine) to Moscow Olympics, to Twig, to The Andersen Tapes, and to that pretty reissue of Happydeadmen. It was all so good. And you could tell they were doing it with love. I felt connected to this label.

I met them a couple of times, at festivals mostly. I’m happy to call them friends since the first time we met, at a kebab place in Berlin. I remember talking with Jörgen about obscure bands many times. He recommended me Alfie, among others.

That same time they brought their clothes in carry-on, and they checked in a whole big bag of records to sell at the Indiepop Days festival. That was so cool. It was all about indiepop those days. Renée even spontaneously filled in a spot on Friday, playing Liechtenstein songs solo.

I saw them many more times afterwards. Good conversations, and lots of beer. Good indiepop times.

Last time I saw Jörgen was last year in Göteborg. We went for some macka and then some beer. He told me about the plans though I think it wasn’t sure, 100%, back then. Of course it was kind of sad to hear. Didn’t think it was going to be this soon. But it made sense too.

I don’t know how connected the close down of the store has to do with the current situation of indiepop in Sweden. To me it feels like an end of an era. There are no more dedicated stores for indiepop there. Perhaps, someone will take over. I hope so. But in any case it would be dumb not to recognize the importance and passion that Fraction Discs professed. The high aesthetics of their record sleeve design, the good choice when picking up releases, and their up-front work ethics, will be sorely missed.

I know these days they are embarked in another “project”, a much more important one, and I hope the best for them.

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2002. The one and only indiepop compilation released in Serbia thanks to our friend Nikola. It was called “A View of Our Dreams”. And I sadly have lost touch with Nikola.

It was another Nikola who introduced me to this compilation. It was during the Soulseek years. The label who released this record was named On a Balcony. The catalog number was (OaBCD001). 17 songs including many classic indiepop bands. We have La Casa Azul, Niza, Aquadays, even Hydroplane. A true international compilation with bands from Greece and Hungary as well. No Serbian bands though, but well, can’t ask that much.

I have a digital copy of this compilation. Sadly I never got around getting a physical copy. And now it feels awful. I look on Discogs and this year a copy was sold. I guess I should keep an eye.

There was one band that always caught my eye (and my ears) on this compilation thanks to it’s cool name: The Grindcore Poppies.

They even contributed two songs to the compilation. No other band had 2 songs on it. Must say a lot. The songs were “This Light Will Always Shine” and “French Cars”. What else I knew about the band? Well, that they were Germans. I think Nikola G, no the label Nikola, told me that.

On the credits it says that both songs were written by a Sebastian Voss. That’s it. I found though these two songs and yet another 3rd song on a Soundcloud account. I find that “French Cars” was actually recorded in 2000. Aside from the credits to Sebastian, we learn that on this particular song Sebastian Haas contributed with backing vocals and drums.

The third song, the one that didn’t appear on the “On a Balcony” compilation is called “Fallacious Falling Star” and it seems to have been dedicated to Paddy MacAloon.

I wonder if it’s safe to assume that the person behind this account is Sebastian Voss? I wonder. If that was true, we could think that they hailed from Münster. It also seems that he takes credit for all the recordings in it. Aside from Grindcore Poppies there are songs by other outfits, unknown to me until this day, like Stars Play Music (pretty nice indiepop), The Fisherman & his Soul (gentle dreampop), or Stars of Track and Field (indiepop too, sounding nice!), among other. I need to do a further investigation into these bands!

In any case, I wanted to introduce you today to the Grindcore Poppies, especially to the song “This Light Will Always Shine” as it’s so good!! Classic sounding indiepop, with great and shiny guitars. Catchy chorus and great lyrics. How come this wasn’t a proper release, how come this didn’t get it’s own 7″!!

Oh yes, any further info about the Grindcore Poppies would be appreciated. Anyone knows of any other songs by them?

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Listen
Grindcore Poppies – This Light Will Always Shine

News: You can now pre-order the next 7″ on Cloudberry: The Color Waves!! It’s should be coming out in September.

Today I’m doing a special post. In the last months I’ve noticed an exciting crop of bands coming out from Peru. Guitar pop bands, with what seem the right influence. I don’t know much about them, I haven’t been in touch either. It’s true that I’ve been championing the band Eva & John for a couple of years now, but there is a new generation of people bringing an exciting and fresh sound to a scene that I remember being really bland. From far away, in NYC, I have a look into these newish bands and recommend them to you.

• Almirante Ackbar:  so far they have released a split CD last year. They have a video for one of their songs, “Cientos Truenos“, which is perhaps their best. The band is formed by Kevin, Richard, Diego and Danimon. From what I gather they seem to be the band that is making a bigger splash at the moment. I hope there’s another release coming up to carry on the momentum. Their still unreleased song “Fiebre de la Amplitud” sounds pretty cool.
• Serto Mercurio: another very young band formed by Emiliano, Bronto, Piero and Alonso. They have released a digital album called “Recuerdos de Cuando Aprendí a Nadar” this year. 9 songs that have not only pop influences, but a bit of shoegaze here and there. They have released a video for the song “Hacia el Mar” but “Buenas Noches Romulanos” is my favourite song of theirs.
• Dan Dan Dero: my latest find. Really nice indiepop from this one-girl band named Valeria. There are 4 cool songs on her bandcamp. Her song titles are a bit long, but clever.
• Los Lagartos: luminous guitar pop from this new band. Formed by Renzo, Raúl and Lucíathey have a CD out that was just released on June 22nd. It includes 6 songs. There are 3 in English and 3 in Spanish. Skip the English ones, and stick to the Spanish ones that are pretty good.
• Fútbol en la Escuela: Sayo, Edgar, Carlos, Blanca and Ricardo, have recorded a bunch of songs that I feel are closer to the 90s indiepop sound. They have a digital album called “Cancionero para Víctimas de Siniestros” that includes 11 songs. A pretty strong debut.
• Ciudad Gragea: all the other bands hail from Lima, but this one hails from Trujillo, a city north of Lima. No releases as far as I know, but this young band has a bunch of catchy songs on their bandcamp heavily influenced by La Movida Madrileña. They participated in last year’s Lima Popfest.
• Las Tetris: the last band in this review is a pure punky pop all-girl band and perhaps my favourite so far (sans their English song, I don’t know why, but I’m not liking the English songs by the Peruvian bands!). With clear influences of like-minded Spanish bands from the early noughties (I was thinking of Galactica, do you remember them?), the four songs on their bandcamp shine bright. A friend told me the girls in the band are still underage.  Claudia, Angiela, Majo and Grecia have a promising future then. Hoping that they release something proper soon!

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Some months ago, through a comment on my blog, I was introduced to a tape named “Move Over Manchester”. It was a collection of of Birmingham and Black Country indie bands from the late 80s early 90s. On the A side we find bands like Innocent Bliss, The Raree Show, The Honey Turtles, Dan Dare’s Dog, The Cantels (who have been covered in the blog) and The Love Hysterics. On the B side we find Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, The Zone, The Sandkings (a favourite of mine), The Mossbacks, The C’Zone Farm, Elisabeth Jane and The Kilbanes. Sadly the name of their songs is not included in the sleeve. After some searching I found out about some info about The Honey Turtles song, it was titled “Never Never Again” and that lead me to find more about them.

They had one release, a 12″ back in 1991 on the label Pulse-8 Records (12LOSE4 is the catalog number). The songs included were “Don’t You Know” (which you can actually find on Youtube), “Don’t You Know (Radio Mix)”, both on the A side, and “Love Me” on the B side. On Discogs aside from the regular 12″ release, there are also listed two white labels. One that is single sided, and one that is not. Someone on Youtube commented saying there was a 7″ also for this song that included remixes. But I can’t certify that it existed.

We keep digging on Youtube. If I seartch for Honeyturtles altogether, I find a video for the “Don’t You Know” song. The sound is very low sadly, and the quality of the image is not the best either. But it’s a great document of the time. It says that this song was the only single they ever released after successfully touring with The Charlatans in 1990. We also learn that the band was formed by Marc Newey on vocals, Nick on bass, Steve Greaves on guitar and Nigel on drums.

This same user has uploaded some live performances of the band. There are three of them, for “Never Never Again” and “Love Me” (both recorded at Wovlerhampton Poly when supporting Ned’s Atomic Dustbin) and for “PML” (a song written after The Charlatans tour).

I keep googling and I find that Marc is (or was?) managing a band called Of Kings and Captains who have toured with Bon Jovi. Time changes indeed.

Steve Greaves appears on Tim Burgess’ autobiography. It’s documented that he almost became The Charlatans guitarist. On the book, “The Charlatans We Are Rock” I also find some interesting stuff. It says: “… the Honey Turtles, a Midlands-based outfit originally called The Mock Turtles who had to change their name so that they wouldn’t be confused with the Manchester band“.

And that’s where I hit a wall. Anyone remember anything else about this band? Any other compilation appearances? Other recordings? Perhaps demo tapes? I’m quite curious! I should try to get a nice copy of their record now.

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Listen
The Honey Turtles – Never Never Again

Last post of my four-part Popfest adventure special. Hope it was a bit interesting.

So what did I do throughout the Sunday of Popfest? I remember waking up very tired but not too late. The plan was meeting around 2pm the guys from Wallflower at the Ethiopian restaurant, Ghenet, that is a couple of blocks away from Littlefield, the venue for the day. This has kind of become a tradition for me, I always have lunch here before heading to the Popfest. Love, love, love Ethiopian food. No surprise that the Wallflower guys also loved it even though it was a novelty for them eating with their hands, picking the meat and vegetables with the injera.

I think we arrived a bit early to Littlefield anyways. Think we were too hungry and ate so fast. So we hanged, very tired and quietly, in the front area of the venue. Then it started to rain. Lucky we were to be inside. Kind of annoyed that I had forgotten my umbrella. I usually check the weather forecast before leaving home, but I didn’t that day.

Friends started arriving and with the help of Chris Jigsaw some Cloudberry records were set up in the merch table.

The first band was Sapphire Mansions. I’m not into them, but my good friend Hampus is drumming for them now. It made me happy to get to see him again. He is a busy father now. My excitement was waiting for Cold Beat. I had discovered this band some months ago and really liked their tunes. I had already bought all their releases beforehand too.

The San Francisco band was really thrilling, great guitar pop. I expected a hipster kind of look, but they seemed down to Earth, a bit of a miss match look between the members that made me like them more, they were natural you know. Pete Bee was telling me he was loving them. That he had never heard of them before. And so, many more people started bobbing their heads. “Rain”, “Mirror”, “Worms”…. simple titles for great songs. The set felt so short, but it was so good. They were to play some more dates after Popfest. I wanted to go, but for a reason or another, I ended up missing them. Hope they come back to NYC again.

Next up was another band that I was looking forward so very much: Starry Eyed Cadet. Their songs on bandcamp, if you haven’t heard them yet, are true pop candy. And with that strength they introduced their classy and elegant sound to Popfesters. I think this was the best gig for any up and coming band that came to Popfest. They are a newish band and they already sound this good! I thought. Sweet vocals, and the right influences when you hear the guitars and keyboards, made this band a delicate and perfect gig. I bought their EP, on CD-R, and brought me so many good memories of the mid 2000s when every band was releasing in this format their first songs. I just felt, this is such a right band. I hope they get the attention they deserve.

Eventually on the way to the bar, after the gig, I met with one of the members, Ron. He was talking to Wallflower in Japanese! Very cool I thought. Anyhow, we talked for some good time and eventually it was time to get food! There was a new pierogi place around the venue, like three weeks. After being introduced to the whole Starry Eyed Cadet band, them, plus Wallflower, me, Victoria and my friend Alex, headed to this pierogi restaurant under the light rain.

It took a bit to get the food. The restaurant was new, and it seems they haven’t figured out so many things. They had even ran out of some of the pierogi fillings. Anyhow, the food was excellent. But it had already gotten pretty late and so we had to get going because we wanted to see, and couldn’t miss, Club 8!

Upon arriving to the venue I spot Johan from Club 8 with his girl (wife?). I said hello and told him I was very much looking forward to the gig. It was just a short introduction, but I was being very honest. I think Club 8 is my favourite band of his, and I’ve raved about them for long, even defended their last record here on the blog when so many people were bashing it (I still can’t believe people did that).

The gig was going to be perfect. The full band was ready to get everyone dancing and singing along. I was once again a pop fan. I felt like being a kid again, watching a favourite band playing so many favourite songs. Having a pop crush with Karolina was only normal I thought. Such a voice! It was probably the happiest gig for me at Popfest.

They started with “Western Hospitality”, but perhaps the coolest moment was when Johan said they were going to cover, but cover another band of his. They played “Call it Ours” by The Legends and everyone went nuts. Same happened with “Saturday Night Engine”. And I was so thrilled with “Whatever You Want”, “Cold Hearts”, “I’m Not Gonna Grow Old”…. well, all of their songs really!

I waited after the gig to get a photo with them, but well, I didn’t see them haha. I got the setlist though, and that was nice enough.

And then what always happens at the last day of Popfest. The sadness of farewell. Saying bye to so many friends that I won’t see until next Popfest, or until who knows when. That’s how it is.

Now, looking forward to Popfest 2016!

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Exuberant: filled with or characterized by a lively energy and excitement.

I have a 12″ by The Exuberants. I like it. I can’t remember why I bought it. It was many years ago. I think it was because it was released on Play Hard Records. Could that be the only reason?

The EP is called “Yeah and Yeah and Yeah and Yeah”. It was released in 1990 on the aforementioned label (DEC 3312) and included three songs:
A – Yeah and Yeah and Yeah and Yeah
B1 – Delicate Call
B2 – Have You Tried White Trousers

The engineer and producer for the record was Nick Garside. It was recorded at Out of The Blue, Manchester. All songs written by Spencer/Walker. The sleeve design was by Muffin and Peek Design. That’s all the information on the back of the dark blue flowered sleeve.

You can find this record for a good price on Discogs. I guess not many people know about it.

On Discogs I find they released a CD mini-album on Native Records. This label is pretty well known to indiepop people as they have released the Raintree Country, Treebound Story and even The Darlin Buds among others. The mini-album was titled “Led The Way” (Native 073) and seems it was going to be released also on a 12″ but only white labels seem to exist.

I haven’t heard the six songs included in this 1992 release. The tracks are:
1. Who Knows How Many Tonight
2. You Awful Thing
3. Unnatural Too
4. Led The Way
5. Honey, I Recant
6. We Were Born to Conquer

On a Facebook page called Morrissey-solo I found a post saying:
This is an answer to a post by someone asking if anyone knew anything about The Exuberants, a band Morrissey listed in his top ten bands. They were made up of Muffin Spencer, vocals; Dave Walker, guitar; Stefan Gordon, bass; Jonny Barrington, drums. They had minor success releasing a flexing disc free with debris magazine, appred on the playhard compilation hand To Mouth a single Yeah, Yeah, Yeah and Yeah and a mini lp, Led The Way. They later went on to become Brassy without Dave Walker, Stefan Gordon moved onto guitar, a new bass player, Karen Foster and went in the direction of hip hop.

From there I end up in Wikipedia, where the band Brassy has an entry. From that we know that Muffin Spencer was American, from New Hampshire actually, and that The Exuberants were all based in Manchester.

I found this article too talking about Muffin and the band Brassy.

Someone says on Youtube, on a Waltones video actually, that they remember The Exuberants as a three guys and a dog audience kind of band. Seems they never made a splash then. Shame really. I wonder what are they doing now and if they left unreleased Exuberants recordings. Now, I will get into listening to Brassy, I’m kind of curious.

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Listen
The Exuberants – Delicate Call