Day 253.

The Painted Word: so Firestation Records is releasing the unreleased album by The Painted Word. It actually just came out on November 13th. There was a video made for the song “Universal” many many years ago. I am only aware of it even though it has been on Youtube since 2017. In any case, it is a good time to discover it. The album is available on vinyl directly from Firestation and mailorders.

Cinéma Lumière: the debut EP by Xavier Emas new indiepop project is out now! “Dreamcatcher” is available digitally now and I must say I am enjoying a lot the new songs by the Manila based band. There are four songs on the EP and I recommend it highly!

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: more by Glenn Donaldson’s project. There should be many records out by the band with so many songs. And indeed there are a bunch. But of course there should be more! The newest songs in his repertoire are “Let’s Pretend We’re Not in Love” and “Summer at Land’s End”. Good stuff!

Kiwis: this is am gutted to have missed. The Barcelona band released “Vida Exterior” on vinyl, a fabulous 9 song album sung in Catalan. The three songs we can preview on Bandcamp are wonderful wonderful. If anyone knows how I can get a copy of this let me know. Sounds amazing and I need it!

Say Sue Me: the Busan, South Korea, band are back with two new songs on a 7″! These songs are “Your Book” and “Good People” and they are really good (as usual). The 7″ is being released by Optimal Records of Germany and it will be limited to a 1,000 copies!

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Back to the Woking Soundscene Soundcloud for more great obscure pop songs. Today I discovered “Don’t Let Me Down” by The Perfect Circles from Farnham!

Will I find more information about them? I hope so.

This song comes from a tape called “Suburban Overtones” that was released in 1993. It included three other songs, “Unfair World”, “Breaking Away” and “Dirty Streets”. They were recorded at Raven Studios in Camberley, between the 4th and 7th of September of that year with additional help from Jon O’Neill on keyboards.

The band was a three piece. It was formed by Paul Morris on vocals and guitar, Ady Evans on bass and John Metccalfe on drums. They were around from 1993 to 1996.

It doesn’t look like they didn’t get to release any records but they did appear on a few compilations. They had their songs “Cryin’ Out for Love” and “So Much to Me” on the “Sapphire” tape compilation released by Bliss Aquamarine (BLISS 020) in 1995. That same year the song “Fallen Hero” was included in the compilation “Snakebite City Three” released by Bluefire Records (BLU06) and the song “Don’t Let me Down” was included in the “Farnborough Groove Vol. 5”. In 1996 their song “Rainchaser” appears on the “Farnorough Groove Vol. 6” tape and “Cryin’ Out For Love” on the “Snakebite City Four”.

I look at the Facebook page for Woking Soundscene, why not? I have found great stuff there in the past. Here I find some images. One of them show that The Perfect Circles played at The New Inn in Basingstoke in October 7th 1995.

On another Facebook page by Farnborough Groove, I see that the song “Rainchaser” was also recorded by a band called Modern Art Thieves. Was it the same band members in this band? Who’d know?

And yeah, that’s all really I could find about this band. But they sound quite good, especially the song “Don’t Let Me Down”!

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Listen
The Perfect Circles – Don’t Let Me Down

Day 251.

Attention Cloudberry friends We will be out of town starting next Saturday until the first week of January. If you want to place an order for the holidays, please do so before Friday November 20, as that day will be the last time we will be posting records until 2021. We need a little break from this strange year, but fear not, we will still be active in the blog and we will be back in 2021 with a new 7″ release that has already been pressed!

Strawberry Whiplash: “Press 4 For Love” is the new song by the great Scottish duo formed by Laz and Sandra. This song is part of a digital single that also includes the song “A Rainy Day in Glasgow” which is a song that was recorded some time ago. The good news about this new song is that it has been announced a new Strawberry Whiplash on Matinée Recordings next year. Can’t wait for it!

My Darling YOU!: the other news that come from Matinée Recordings is that  this December they are releasing a compilation called “A Dream Come True” by this Swedish duo who I worked with many many years ago on another compilation. This is very cool. The song they are sharing this time around is “We Break Up on Friday” !

Lost Tapes: a new 7″ coming out soon by our Spanish friends is great news always. This time around the “Quoting Salter” EP is going to be released by other friends of ours, Kocliko Records from Bera Spain. This label has quickly become a true favourite of all indiepop fans. They have the best of tastes and this new release doesn’t seem like the exception. We can preview one of four songs right now “The Attraction of the Opposites (Radio Edit)”.

Adults: 6 new demos by this fun band! The idea behind these demos is to raise money so they can record their new album, and that is definitely a good idea. We don’t know much about this band, we know it is a four-piece, I think from the UK and that’s it. Good, punchy songs.

Traveling with Monika: Bangkok’s Traveling with Monika is one of the best indiepop bands from Southeast Asia. Their new song “Faded” is brilliant, with great female vocals. I hope they get to release a record, and I can get it here in the US. Would be good. I don’t own any Thai records!

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I have been curious about the compilation “The Huge Corporation Presents” since I wrote about This Yabis. I’ve been enchanted by this band, for the few songs I know from Soundcloud. So I went to look for more information about it and found that the blog From a Northern Place had shared one of the songs that appear on this 10″.

The song is “Sun in Splendour” by the band Sister Crow. It is a bit different to what I have heard from This Yabis, a bit darker and less pop perhaps, but it is a fine post-punk song, with good melodies. Catchy even in it’s own way.

I wonder if the bands that appear on this compilation were friends. There was Sister Crow and This Yabis, but also The Days that Shock the World and Land of the Giants. How did they sound like? I need to get a copy of this record released by the Huge Corporation (HCP1) in 1986.

Out of the 4 bands in this comp it was only Sister Crow that appeared on another compilation. None of them had proper releases, so not great. But yes, Sister Crow contributed the song “Purple Bread” to the “Let’s Cut a Rug” compilation released in 1984 by Printhead Records (DWELLS 001). On this compilation I see two familiar names to me, Yeah Yeah Noh and Deep Freeze Mice.

I don’t own this record but it seems that it came with an insert with information about the bands. Maybe someone would know then the names of the band members or where did they hail from?

From the vinyl labels, the A side where the band appears with track 7, it seems that the song is credited to Sharman. Did I get that right?

Now I start finding the right information… in my own blog! So it seems the band Hugebigmassive originally started as Sister Crow! I had written about it, about Hugebigmassive and from the Sound of Leamington Spa #7 I find this information: Formed in 1986 originally as a three piece with surviving members from previous band Sister Crow – Andrew Sharman (guitar/vocals), Stuart Simpson (guitar/keys/backing vocals) and Karl Traae (bass).

Okay, so yes to Sharman. But the year seems off, right? If they had contributed that song in 1984? Or maybe Discogs is wrong?

So we know three names of the band members. The photo from the back cover of the 10″ shows a 4-piece. So we are missing the one name. And we know too that they were from Leicester.

One more thing, on Youtube, the Abbey Park Festival Archive has uploaded a 1984 gig by Sister Crow! We don’t know the song titles, but here are 25 minutes worth of footage.

In the book “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” by Andrew Collins the band is mentioned to have played at the Black Lion with Seven League Red from Market Harborough supporting.

Not much more information… so yeah, hoping someone can help with more details here!

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Listen
Sister Crow – Sun in Splendour

Day 248.

Trashcan Sinatras: the Scottish band is back with a 7″ that will include the new single “Ways” and the previous one, “The Closer You Move Away from Me”. This 7″ is very limited and is being released by Last Night From Glasgow. The record should be coming out in early 2021 but pre-orders are available if you follow the link.

Chavales: the Elefant Records band have a new video for their song “Dame Veneno” where we follow the band members around Madrid. It brings lots of memories of course, seeing the metro, the buses, times when I could visit that great town.

Grubs: “It Must Be Grubs” was the terrific album the band released on Tuff Enuff Records back in 2016. It seems a few copies are available again. Very few copies. I sadly can’t afford 15 dollars shipping and will have to skip this record. But those of you in Europe that can get more decent prices, well, you shouldn’t miss it!! Because it is good (even though the jacket artwork  leaves me wondering…)

Dead Famous People: a long time ago I recommended the new album “Harry” by the legendary Auckland band fronted by Donna Savage. Well, nowadays you should already have the record, I do, but if you want to preview all 10 songs, they are up now on Bandcamp. It is a terrific album. One of the best this year.

The Yellow Melodies: Rafa Skam’s project has been going for years, decades, now. He is one of indiepop’s most fervent enthusiasts, you can see him at every pop festival, playing in bands, writing fanzines and blogging reviews. His latest release is going to be the “Sunshine Pop EP2”. It will have 5 songs and will be released on CD on December 4. Right now the first song is available to preview, “Follow the Sun”.

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Another great find in the Fanning Sessions blog! What a great place to find great pop songs from Ireland!

There is not much info about this band but it is worth checking them out and their song “Million Miles” that was shared in that post.

We know that the band hailed from Derry and was a 4 piece formed by Colum McKeever on guitar and vocals, Tony Morrison on guitar and vocals, Paul Edwards on bass and vocals and Tommy Alford on drums.

I don’t think they released any records, but they’d must have recorded some demo tapes. Would be good to find out about them.

The band formed sometime in the mid 80s. And in 1986 they moved to Belfast. In 1985 they had already won the Smithwicks Rock & Pop Award and played the Sense of Ireland Festival in London in March/April 1986. They were going places it seemed. So what happened?

In 1986 the band also recorded a session for Radio Foyle. Which songs were recorded for it? That would also be great to find out. Then they appeared on TV, on Channel One on the program Visual Eyes. There they performed the song “Million Miles” on August 20, 1986. From comments in the Youtube link we know that Colum McKeever is a teacher.

The band also used to have a Myspace back in the day. We can’t play the songs there but we know at least some song titles: “A Million Miles Away” (was this the right name of the song? or just “Million Miles”?), “It’s So Hard”, “No Place to Hide”, “Pride Unseen” and “Bite the Hand”. According to Irishrock.org other songs of theirs included “Perfect”, “Tell Me Now” and “So Hard”.

Now through Google I find that actually Noel Burke from St. Vitus Dance, when I interviewed him he recommended me the band! How funny. I should have explored all his recommendations then.

The only other detail about the band is that they played The Savoy Theatre in Limerick on May 30th, 1986.

And that’s it. Very little information on the web. Maybe we’ll get to know more about them soon.

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Listen
Kitsch is Rich – Million Miles

Day 246.

Las Ligas Menores: perhaps my favourite Argentinean band of the last decade is back with a new song called “Hice Todo Mal” and they even have made a promo video for it! It is great as usual and I wonder of course if it will be released in a record in the near future. I hope so!

The B-Team: the classic London mod band that were interviewed on the blog not too long ago have just published on Bandcamp a new live EP! They are four songs recorded live at the Wood Green Community Centre in North London in 1986!

Midden Heap: who are Eric and Blake, the two guys behind this great sounding EP titled “Do You Think It’s Not the Other Way Around?” We know they hail from Baltimore and that the 5 songs on the EP were recorded this year between May and September. Right now we can preview two of them, “Girl on a Train” and “Lower Ground” and expecting to hear the rest on December 11th!

The Permits: we hop now to Melbourne, Australia, one of the hotspots of guitar pop these days. The band formed by Tristan Davies, Tam Matlakowski, Dusy Anastassiou and Rob Remedios are releasing a 10 song album on tape! The album is called “Time Permits” and right now we can preview two songs, “It Takes a Long Time (To Be Free of Society)” and “World in Numbers”.

Flower Maze: and lastly just the one song, “Divided Shades”, from this Pomona, California, band. There is no other information available, but the song is nice! It looks like their first ever song too?

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I was looking at my Liechtenstein collection the other day and noticed I was missing a cassette they had put out in Japan. It was actually a split tape from 2011 with the Japanese band Twinkle Twinkles that was called “SWE & JPN Girls Unite”. It included two songs by Liechtenstein that I have never heard, “The Book” and “The Angel in the House”. That was something that bothers me. I was trying to burn me a CD with all Liechtenstein songs that weren’t in their album. I was thinking a singles and B-sides compilation would be nice. Maybe I should ask them? Maybe I could do it?

Then my mind went the other way. The band that shared that split tape was called Twinkle Twinkles. I actually own a CD by them. But I honestly know nothing about them! So, I went back to the tape page on Discogs.

This split tape was released by my friend Sumire who ran the lovely shop Violet and Claire. At some point the store started releasing records and called their label the same way, Violet and Claire. The catalog number for this tape was V&C008. The store and label was based in Tokyo and for a few years it was a beacon of indiepop in Japan. Thanks to them I was introduced to a lot of great music. One day I should try and ask Sumire to do an interview for the blog. Would be great to hear from her, her take on indiepop during the 2000s.

Anyhow, on this tape Twinkle Twinkle had the B side and contributed three songs, “Vintage Boys and Girls”, “His Presents Were Tons of Daughnuts” and “Strawberry Heavenly”.

The year after, 2012, the band released a CD on their own. It was self-titled with 7 songs, “Secret Love”, “Cinderella”, “Will be Happier Girl Song”, “Strawberry Heavenly”, “Vintage Boys and Girls”, “His Presents were Tons of Doughnuts” and “Sukissukissu”. This is the CD I have. Sadly there is no other information on the simple cardboard sleeve it came on.

4 years later, in 2016, the band would release another EP. It will be called “Take Me to the Star”. I just found a copy of it on Discogs and I am happy about it. This CD was released by 2670records from Japan with catalog number TSSO-1021. I am not that familiar with the label but noticed that the label had released some great bands including Old Lacy Bed, Gingerlys or Babaganoüj.

This CD had 6 songs, “Too Pure”, “The Hill”, “Burst into Tears”, “Merry Go Round”, “Summer” and “I Can See”. I find in Youtube that the band made a trailer for the album! It includes some photos of the band and I recognize one of them…. one of the guitar players was in Betty and the Werewolves! Even cooler the label has uploaded to Youtube another video, a proper promo video for the song “Summer“! And then another video, for the song “Merry Go Round“!

Thanks to this video I end up on a Bandcamp page where you can stream all 6 songs. There is also some information about the band! This is what it says:  Twinkle Twinkles is an all-girl twee/indie/pop band led by Nana(G&Vo). They performs with many overseas artists such as Sea Lions(USA), Razika(Norway), as well as NIGHTS(USA), Colleen Green(USA), and Cassie Ramone(ex:Vivian Girls) under the solo name of Nana. They released their first self-titled album in 2012. They also released a split cassette tape with Liechtenstein from Sweden. Released their 2nd mini album “take me to the star” created in London in November 2016. For 2017 ‘Record Store Day’, their 7 inch “CRUSH” is going to be released for the first time. 

Ok, now we know the name of one of the band members, Nana. It is not much. But what leaves me very curious is this “Crush” 7″? Was it ever released?

So it was released for record store day on May 10 of 2017. It came out on the same label, 2670records with catalog number TSSO-2003. I want a copy of this! It included two songs, “1:28” on the A side and “A Piece of a Broken Red Heart”. How can I find a copy? The two songs can be streamed here on Bandcamp.

I continue digging and find a live video of the band playing “Vintage Boys and Girls” on February 26, 2012 at Vio. I see that at this point the band was just 2 girls! This same user has uploaded more live videos. We have “Cinderella” live at Zoot Horn Rollo on February 25, 2012. “Strawberry Heavenly” on November 20, 2011 at Amp Cafe. “Vintage Boys & Girls” on November 18, 2011 at Echo. “Cinderella” on November 12, 2011 at Bar Ripple. “Vintage Boys & Girls” and “Sukissukissu” on August 7, 2011 at 地下一階. Then “Will be Happier Girl Song” and “Strawberry Heavenly” and another video at Para-Dice on March 16, 2011.

Other users have uploaded more videos. I find one live at Day in Day Out at Bar Ripple. I think this is their full gig that day on November 12, 2011. Then I find the band playing  many songs in Fukuoka. These include “Theme, Secret Love“, “Michel“, “Cinderella“, “Will Be Happier Girl Song” and “Sukissukissu“.

Then I finally find that the band was formed by Nana on guitar and vocals, Natsuki on drums and Emily on guitar and vocals. They played in the UK too, at The Underbelly on Wednesday October 5th, 2016 alongside Community, Nikki Loy and Val Maugenest.

Then what else? It seems Nana was in other bands like The Harriets and Sylvanias!

Wow, now it all makes sense. I have written about The Harriets not too long ago! And loved them. And will be interviewing them soon! I’ve sent questions to them at least. Now this is really great. I can ask her to do a Twinkle Twinkles interview afterwards! That’d be fantastic!

Who remembers this band that sounded so good, a twee mix of The Primitives, Lush, Talulah Gosh and more. Anyone saw them when they played in UK? What about in Japan? I think they should have been much more known. So good!

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Listen
Twinkle Twinkles – Summer

Day 244. Back in New York City. 14 days of mandatory quarantine for anyone entering this state. The laws changed a few days before I was returning, where you could get a PCR test before traveling to NYC and then another when returning. I thought about getting it, just for the sake of it, but as my insurance wouldn’t cover it when being abroad decided not to. Now I think it would have been a good idea as I would have been able to resume my life much sooner. No symptoms, not feeling bad at all. It is a bit stressful and not as enjoyable going to the airport and flying, but it is totally manageable.

Love, Burns:  one of the records no one should miss this year is the two-song 7″ released by Love, Burns on Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten just a few weeks ago. For those in the US the band will have records to sell on their Bandcamp and they should start shipping pretty soon. I had recommended the band in the past, but now with a 7″ on their pockets it is a imperative to recommend them again. The songs “Gate and the Ghost” and “It’s a Shame” sound amazing. The solo project of the Pale Lights frontman Phil Sutton is a treat. On the record he gets his friends Kyle Forester, Gary Olson, Hewson Chen and Hampus Öhman-Frölund to help with the instruments. I am sure this will sell out pretty fast.

Typical Girls: Happiest Place Records from Gothenburg will be releasing a record that seems to be a must! The Typical Girls’ self-titled EP, formed by Hugo, Julia and Felix, comes with three pop songs, “Las Palmas”, “Tension” and “Girl like You”. At this time we can only preview the last one! The record is going to be released on December 11 on vinyl.

Astragal: the Houston band has been a favourite for a long time and here they are releasing a tape with Donna Hayward on Miss Champagne Records. The three songs the band is contributing, “Brightfellow”, “Miles” and “Crescent” are available to stream on the band’s Bandcamp. And they are really good!

Skittle Alley: There is a new compilation by this superb French band! It is called “Memories” and it includes a whopping 25 songs in it! The release seems to be only available on digital format and is being released by Barcelona’s Discos de Kirlian!

Cotton Range: this Chinese band is a favourite of mine. Their latest release is a cassette that comes with a cat lovers comic. The release is coming out on Small Animal Records from Changsha and includes 3 songs. There are t-shirts for sale too. Very nice!

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Back to the great Soundcloud page for the WokingSoundscene to discover more jewels. This time around I have discovered the band Twister, a duo that worked at Workhouse Studios in Aldershot.

The band released an eponymous cassette album released by Music & Elsewhere in 1993 (M&E 224). It included 12 songs in total. 8 were from the album and included were too 4 songs from their 1st demo. On the A side we find “Never Die”, “Bloodrush”, “Shining Star”, “Get Rid of the Fear”, “See Me Here” and “Die”. The B side has “Soar” and “Babylon’s Burning”. The 4 songs from the first demo appear on the B side too and these were “You Don’t Know”, “Sleeping in the Sun”, “Signal” and “You Never Notice”.

We know that the band was formed by Inga Leru and Neil Buckingham and they were based in Crangleigh in Surrey. The  songs were recorded at C.A.N. Recording Studio in Farnham. I also believe this tape included an extra song, “These Days” that was actually recorded by Three Times the Crow the band that Inga used to sing previously.

The band also featured two tracks on the first “Guilfin Benefit Tape” in the summer of 1992. This was also released by Music & Elsewhere (MMATT 36). I can’t seem to find which two songs were included though.

I do know that Twister’s “Bloodrush” was included in the “Farnborough Groove Strikes Back! (Volume 5)” compilation tape in 1995.

The Magic Net website actually has an interview with Inga Leru-Kelly. Here it mentions that she was later in a band called Kilter. There is not much information about Twister though.

But I do find Inga’s Soundcloud! And wow, there are 8 songs by Twister here! These are “Blood Rush”, “Get Rid of the Fear”, “See Me Here”, “Serenade”, “Roar”, “The Truth About Pixie”, “You Don’t Know”, “You WIll Never Die” and “All You Can Do”. Some I believe from the tape album and some other from demo tapes?

And then what do I find? A Twister Facebook page. Not much info here aside that all songs of the band are, digitally and on CD, available as an album called “The Ultimate Twister” and also there’s a single called “Sleeping in the Sun”. The album has 10 songs and they are “All You Can Do”, “Bloodrush”, “Get Rid of the Fear”, “Friend”, “You Will Never Die”, “The Truth  About Pixie”, “Roar”, “See Me Here”, “Serenade” and “You Don’t Know”. Then I find that Neil has a website with his music.

And that’s quite something! I honestly thought I was going to find way less about this band. So yeah, there you go, lots of music to listen! Now who remembers them? How many demo tapes they put out? Why didn’t they release more stuff while they were going on? Did they play many gigs? What other bands have they been involved with?

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Listen
Twister – Never Die

Day 241. I should be on a plane all day today.

Stomp Talk Modstone: I recommended this Japanese band some time ago as I really enjoyed their dreampop sounds. There new song called “Sugartime” reinforces my recommendations, it is very good. If you have 4 minutes to spare, check it out.

Anthony Rochester: the pop craftsman that is Anthony Rochester from Tasmania is back with a new album called “Space Music for Horses”. The album seems to be available only digitally so far and it comes with 13 songs.

The Finalists: a Sydney band that sounds quite good, clearly influenced by The Go-Betweens and Flying Nun Records, it can only make one happy. They have just released their album “First” which includes 9 jangly songs!

Mitimitis: this fine Chilean band have graced the blog a few times. Now they have a new album called “Terror en el Autocine” which is being released digitally by Gemelo Parásito Records and it sounds quite nice. Give it a listen.

Nah…: two new songs by our friends from Munster and Amsterdam. This time around they are two covers, one being “Tumbledown Weekend” by They Go Boom! and the other “Porthcawl” by The Hepburns. Great!

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Back to the AGMP Youtube channel to discover more obscure indiepop! Now is the time for the obscure London band Blanche Spooner.

I don’t know if what’s been uploaded is a complete demo tape, it feels that way. There are 7 songs here, “Post”, “Thoroughly Modern Willy”, “Done Did!”, “Goodbye Dolly”, “Barf”, “Swede” and “Shirley, Shirley, Shirley”, all dating from 1989.

The only other info that’s available in these Youtube posts is that the band recorded two demo tapes. It also mentions that the band played a handful of gigs at the legendary venues the Powerhaus and The Mean Fiddler.

What else can we find?

The photo of the band shows 6 people. 6 band members then? 5 guys, 1 girl. The image uploaded to Youtube does look like a tape sleeve. Perhaps one of these demos was called “Sounds Like Blanche Spooner”.  Okay sure, these deductions anyone could make. Perhaps I am not that great as an indiepop detective.

But yeah it seems that’s it. There’s nothing else on the web. It is a shame really as all the songs are really nice. Classic indiepop. Oh well…

Anyone remembers them? Know who were the band members? The name of their demo tapes? Where in London were they based? Are there more songs? I feel I can come up with a thousand questions, so I hope some of them can be answered!

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Listen
The Blanche Spooner – Thoroughly Modern Willy

Day 239.

River: I have actually a post coming up by this French band! Well this might be good news. So the 7″ the band released in the year 2000 with the songs “Strawberry Lipstick” and “Madoka” is available to purchase on Bandcamp on Safari Records.

The Sea at Midnight: here is a self-titled mini-album consisting of 8 songs. We can preview the first 6 on Bandcamp and it looks like this release is only available in digital format. The band hails from Los Angeles and they do play some very nice guitars!

Bootchy Temple: this French band is totally new to me. They have a cassette coming out on November 27 on Safe in the Rain Records from Paris. This tape is their album “Consummated Bloom” that will include 12 songs. At the moment we can only preview one of the tracks, “Nowhere Else”, which I like a lot. If the rest of songs are similar, then we are in for a treat!

Afternoon Naps: one of my favourite US bands from the time I started Cloudberry (and no wonder we did a 3″CD together) was the Afternoon Naps from Cleveland, Ohio. Well it seems they are now on Bandcamp and have a few copies left of their “Summer Gang” 7″ which is really nice. So run and get it!

My Raining Stars: the French project by Thierry Haliniak is back with a new  EP called “Obvious Reasons”! It is up now on Bandcamp and it includes 6 poptastic tracks. I am hoping this gets properly released as it is really good! Don’t miss it.

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Another great band I discovered thanks to the WokingSoundscene Soundcloud were the Aldershot based combo West One.

I am assuming I will find very little information about them. But we can start with the song that was uploaded to Soundcloud called “House of Cards”. This song had appeared on the “Son of Farnborough Groove Vol.2” in 1992, a compilation tape released by Farnborough Groove Music. This was not the only song that got released in these series of compilations. In 1995 they would have their song “Dreaming on My Feet” on the fifth volume that was called “Farnborough Groove Strikes Back!”

We also know who the band members were:
Patrick James Sullivan (vocals/guitar)
Paul ‘Moggy’ Morris (vocals/guitar)
Mick Goddard (bass)
Vince Southey (drums)

According to the bio on the Woking Soundscene Facebook page we learn that the band was around between 1985 and 1988. They were influenced by The Alarm, The Ruts, The Jam, and more. They mention that their name may come from The Ruts’ “West One (Shine on me)” song. The band was formed in May of 1985 and yb December of that year they were supporting Squeals of Delight at Farnborough Tech. Then in 1986 they played many gigs at the legendary Buzz Club that our friend Jo used to run. There they supported Steel Bill and the Buffalos, Second Balcony Jump and the most amazing The Jeremiahs. In February 1987 they supported Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band at the West End Centre in Aldershot.

In 1987 the band was supposed to release a 7″. It was to be released by Robot Records and the songs to be included were “Dreaming on my Feet” and “New Town”. For some reason it was never released.

In 1988 the band participated in the Battle for the Limelight held at Princes Hall.

Other gigs we know of were at the Lion Brewery, The Fox & Hounds Fleet, The Royal Oak, Fulham’s King’s Head in London, The Robin Hood Stanford, The Subway at South Hill Park in Bracknell, alongside The Body Politic and The Shift at The Riverside Club in Fetcham, The Majestic in Reading, The Tunnel Club in Greenwich, The Mean Fiddler in Harlsden, The Royal Standard in Walthamstow, Aldermoor School in Southampton, Princes Hall with Ministry of Sound and the superb Blue Train, another gig at Princes Hall with Java, at the Beehive and The Crimea. In many cases they played at same venues. If you want to check the dates you can do so by clicking on the images on the Facebook page.

It also looks like at least they recorded a demo tape in 1986, but can’t say which songs were included in it. We also know that they made t-shirts with the band’s logo.

Other information in this Facebook page is that Paul Morris was in the band The Perfect Circles after West One. Patrick James went to perform as a singer/songwriter. And sadly Vince Southey has passed away.

A fan of the band has put together a Facebook page with more stuff about the band. Here we find something amazing, the sleeve of the single that never got released. It even has the designs for the center labels of the vinyl. Other stuff to look for in this page are the amount of great photos of the band and their crowd.

And that’s it for West One. It is interesting that they shared gigs with many favourite bands of mine but somehow I’ve never heard about them before. Well, now I know a little more, hopefully we’ll get to know more soon!

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Listen
West One – House of Cards

Day 237.

The Seashells: our Swedish friends are back with a wonderful new song called “Sandi”. The band is not that prolific these days but now and then they surprise is with a new gem. Oh! and remember they appear on the latest Cloudberry fanzine!

Sapphire & Steel: “Assigment 1” is the name of this short EP of 3 songs. The new band is a duo formed by Jørn Åleskaer from Norway and Estella Rosa from the Netherlands and it sounds really lovely. This is very promising. Let’s hope for more songs!

Love Tan: here is superb sounding cassette with 7 songs that I feel everyone should get. It sounds really really good. The duo hails from Brighton and is formed by Ben Nightingale and Céline Doméné. Sounds a bit like The Pastels or The Vaselines. I hope they get a CD or vinyl release!

The Laundromat Chicks: here is a project from Vienna that is totally new to me. Their latest songs date from a few days ago. They are called “Dance on my Grave Tonight” and “Nobody Believes Me”. Fuzzy upbeat pop!

Terry vs. Tori: the Seville, Spain, band is back with a new record! That’s great news. Their new album, “Heathers”, is available now on vinyl and includes 10 terrific songs. I need to get this record when I get back to NYC. Will copies still be available?

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Another short post because this is a terribly obscure band. I found this as many other bands lately on the AGMP Youtube channel.

The Inner Sense was formed by Andy Stevenson on bass and vocals, Roger Snelwar on guitar and vocals, Andy Thorpe and guitar and vocals and Ian Bradford on drums.

They didn’t properly release anything as far as I know. The only thing we know about is a demo tape called “The Day Has Just Begun” that was put out in 1985. This tape had at least four songs, “It’s the Only Way”, “Happiness In Your Heart”, “Is It the Love Inside” and “Waking Up”.

All songs were recorded at Wild Roots, in Gillingham, Kent. United Kingdom that is. England. Were they based somewhere close to Gillingham? Were they part of the Medway scene? Perhaps?

Aside from this I haven’t found any information about the band on the web. Were there more recordings? I can’t say.

On Facebook I tracked down a Roger Cavendish, that has Roger Snelwar as a name in parenthesis, from Gillingham. Could it be the same one? I wasn’t able to find the other band members, but this might be my best bet.

I can’t find any other information about the band as I said. But I hope someone remembers them and can shed some light about them.

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Listen
The Inner Sense – Is it the Love Inside

Day 234

Stephen’s Shore: our Stockholm friends will be back with a wonderful 7″ on January 22nd. This new 7″ EP will be titled “Brisbane Radio” and will be released by the great Meritorio Records from Spain! There will be 4 songs, one of which we can preview right now, the opening track on the A side, “Brisbane Radio”. Other songs in the record are “Midvert”, “Skogen” and “Up to No Good”. Essential!

Boy with Apple: I don’t know anything about this Gothenburg based band only that their new song “Iceage” sounds really good to me. It is on their label’s Bandcamp, Varø. I should keep an eye on them.

Cassie: the Isle of Wight band which I interviewed not too long ago, and who re-released their classic 7″ earlier this year on Reminder Records, is going to be back with “The Light Shines On” LP! This LP that includes many of there great songs that never got to see the light of day is available now to pre-order on Reminder Records site. There are also 4 songs there to preview, “Falling”, “Boys will be Boys”, “Keep in Touch” and “She’s a Flirt”

Talking Bloom: here is a Windsor, Ontario, Canada, band that have just released a new song called “Bloom”. They make swirling shoegaze/dreampop and they do it well! The band is formed by Nate Blackton, Jill Goyeau, Jay Turnbull and Jeremy Brousseau.

Rilev: and one more. And yes, more shoegaze. This time from Mexico City where the band Rilev released their album “FADE” just today. It is a short one, 7-songs, but it is quite dreamy and moody that sounds good for this very gray Lima day.

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So I did write about the Glasgow trio Christine’s Cat and I mentioned that I had to write about The Besotted as Robert Smith had been in both bands as well as The Golden Dawn. Today I am making that promise true.

I doubt there’s much to find about The Besotted on the web but I will try of course. I know them thanks to a 7″ that Blam-A-Bit from Germany released in 1992. This was the “Kaleidoscope” 7″ (BLAM 014) that I do own but I can’t seem to remember where I bought it. I feel it was through an obscure German mailorder many years ago, but it could as well have been eBay. In any case it was a 7″ that I really enjoyed playing a lot when it got home. It has some great noisy songs.

These songs were four, two on each side. The A side has “Kaleidoscope” and “Mooncrash” while the B side has “Everyday” and “Dolls House”. Something cool about the vinyl is that it has some etchings on the runout. The A side says “Scratch it out!” while the B side “What’s Your Perversion? – Phone 06257-86248”. Who’s phone was that?

The 7″ itself has no more information.

We do know though that the band contributed songs to a few compilation starting in 1990 with “Sugarpuff” to the compilation “And they Call it Pop” released by Fragrant in the UK and on the 1990 tape compilation “Heol Daou” from France they had the song “Every Day”.

The song “Sugarpuff” would appear too on the “Around the World” (ER-016) tape comp released by Elefant in 1992 and on the “Firefly 2” cassette that came along the US fanzine “Burning the Midnight Firefly” that Keith D’Arcy made.

In 1992 the band would contribute “Kaleidoscope” to the “Around the World Again” tape released by Elefant (ER020) and  the song “Mooncrash” would appear in the “Everlasting Happiness” compilation released by our friend Andreas from Germany.

And that’s it when it comes to releases and songs it seems. We know too that Robert Smith went to be in the band Meth O.D. during the 90s.

Our Madrid friend Alex wrote about this single in his blog 7iete Pulgadas back in 2016! In this blog post he mentions that he can’t find any information and even Cloudberry Cake Proselytism hasn’t written anything about them! Oh dear! He was counting on the blog and we disappointed. Hopefully we can make up for it now.

Of course one thing we need to find out is who was the female vocalist. That is something I am curious about. I suppose it was just Robert and her. Was she in other bands perhaps? Another interesting thing would be to know if there are more songs. We know at least of 5 songs.

Who would know more about them? Any information will be appreciated!

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Listen
The Besotted – Kaleidoscope

Day 232.

So this post finds me in Lima, Peru, for family reasons.I should stay for 10 days, so no orders will be posted during this time. It has been one of the most stressful trips I’ve ever made. The preparations, all the paperwork needed, all the health affidavits to clear, the PCR test, it just so complicated. When returning to NYC it won’t be as difficult but there is a mandatory 14 day quarantine. So yeah, I honestly hope this nightmare is over soon.

The Slow Summits: wow, a new wonderful song by the Linköping, Sweden, combo. It is called “Not the One” and it sounds terrific with the string arrangements. I contacted the band some time ago and they told me that they are looking to release an album. I hope that happens soon. The songs they have so far are so good.

Beverly Kills: another Swedish band that sounds amazing is this Gothenburg combo. I am so glad that great bands are appearing now in Sweden. I was missing that. The band has a new song called “Trophy Hunt” that is a very fine single. I need to track down their previous releases for sure.

The Blue Herons: another new song, this time from Lucerne, Switzerland, from a band we have featured in the past, The Blue Herons! This new song is called “In the Skies” and it is a wonderful jingle jangle song. Andy Jossl makes the songs as usual and this time Gretchen DeVault sang and wrote the song!

Spunsugar: more from Sweden, now from Malmö! It seems it is all about Sweden today. The shoegazy band has releasde their album “Drive-Through Chapel” on Adrian Recordings and there are some superb dreampop tracks here. The album consists of 11 songs and is now available on vinyl.

U.S. Highball: lastly we check out this duo from Glasgow who will be releasing their album “Up to High Doh” on November 20th. It is coming out on vinyl and there will be a US version and a Rest of the World one. Right now we can preview the opening track, “New Neighbour”, which is a very Scottish pop sounding track. And yes, that is a good thing.

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Another fantastic Irish band I discover thanks to the Fanning Sessions blog! Wow really wow!

So who were behind The Riordans? Pat Clafferty on vocals and acoustic guitar, Jill Hahn on guitar, Damien Byrne on bass and Milo Maden on drums. Jill and Pat would go to form Mexican Pets, and later Pat was in Wheel.

Did they release anything? I think not. The story says that Mother Records approached them to record a single. The band actually end up recording it at Windmill Lane Studios, but it doesn’t say which songs or how many. In the end nothing was released.

Did they record a Fanning Session? Yes, that they did. At least three songs were recorded, “Lay Down Your Burden”, “Whistle”, “Which Road to Go” and “Glee”. What year was the session recorded? It doesn’t say…

The same blog posted another song later on on a different post.  It is called “Blue Blue Blue”. The post says that in the recording session for this song the band also recorded “Which Road to Go?” and “Dustbowl Dress”.

The third and last post about The Riordans was not long ago, this past April. Here they shared a song called “Greener Elsewhere” that dates from 1988. There is also a photo of Pat and Jill taken in Eustace St.

And that’s it really. I feel kind of stealing all the info from the Dave Fanning blog, but honestly I would add more but there’s no more to add. There’s nothing on the web about them. So yeah, maybe I’ll get lucky and learn more about them through the Comments section? Crossing fingers!

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Listen
The Riordans – Greener Elsewhere