Well the big news is that the Baby Lemonade CDs are here!! I am beyond excited and at the same time not worried anymore. You see it took quite a bit to put out this release. Maybe it is the one that has waited the longest. But I am so very happy they are here now. I will post a batch of the CDs tomorrow and hopefully by Monday finish with all pre-orders. So yeah, order yours if you like. The website is www.cloudberryrecords.com… just in case!

Now I have to run to work. I am a bit tired as stayed out late yesterday as NYC was lucky to have the visit of the great Patrik who used to play in Hormones in Abundance and The Garlands and who still makes music under Ring Snuten… among other many indiepop-related things! That was a fun night.

But maybe you only came to find new music from around the web. I have that too!

Vernon’s Future: If you follow the blog since its inception you might remember that a long time ago I interviewed a fantastic Liverpool band called Vernon’s Future. Turns out the band has been making music again and recording some very fine tunes, like their latest “Just Can’t Help Myself” which is a lovely poppy tune, haven’t lost any of the band’s freshness since they put out their album back in the 80s!

Mo Dotti: this band is totally new to me, but it seems that their dreampop sounds have been around since 2017 at least! They have just released a new song called “Gravity Well” which is sweet, precious and fragile at the same time.  Would definitely like to hear more by them!

Sports Dream: more dreamy pop, this time from Pamerston North in New Zealand. They have just released an EP on Papaiti Records. Sadly this cassette EP is now sold out. But you can still stream the five tracks that were included in it on Bandcamp.

Crux of Faith: a fuzzier one now, a shoegaze band from San Antonio, Texas. I remember back in 2004 when I spent a season there there was absolutely no good music. Now I find some good bands sometimes. Things evolve, can change for good. The latest track by the band is called “November Heat”, and I totally recommend it.

Luster: and yeah, it looks like I went on a shoegaze sort of trip today. Might be that not many classic indiepop bands are around? That we are more into the dreamier and fuzzier music these days? I wonder. I still miss a good ramshackle band. But in any case this LA band sounds pretty good! They are preparing a new album called “Turbulence” and they have shared the first single from it, “True to You”!

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Who were the Birmingham band Pinkie and his Band? I’ve heard their amazing track “Burn the Citadel Down” and I am in the need of knowing more of them. It is brilliant! It does sound a bit like Strawberry Switchblade or even Young Marble Giants, and that can only be a good thing!

This song was released in 1984 on Fluffy Records (Fluff 1) as a double A sided 7″. On the other A side two other songs are included, “Certificate of Violence” and “Scared (Hay Muerta en la Casa)”. I haven’t heard these two other songs though, but I am hoping that when I do they sound as great as “Burn the Citadel Down”. I also wonder why the last song name has a part, in parenthesis, written in Spanish. Maybe someone in the band knew the language?

The 7″ songs were recorded and mixed at F2 Studios in Mont Pleasant, London. The songs were arranged and produced by John J. Leahy.  Some copies are said to have come with a small A5 letter signed by Pinkie and an A4 promo poster. All of them came with an insert. This insert had some important information about the band.

For example the band members:
Pinkie on keyboards, voice overs, synthesizers, percussion and guitar.
Angie Henry: vocals
Donna Martin: vocals
Jon Riley: bass
Neil: additional percussion
Carl Mellon: alto sax

The photographs on the sleeve are credited to Kevin Livegren.

I am curious about Pinkie. Who is he? Is it John J. Leahy? I see that Leahy is credited for written the songs on the labels. Could it be? I need to find out.

There are no compilation appearances by the band. I instantly hit a wall that way.

I try different search phrases on google. Different keywords. But it looks like there’s nothing written about the band at all! I assumed this was an obscure release but is it this obscure? Only the one track that I’ve heard is available to stream on Soundcloud. And that’s all. So many questions are left. Were the people in the band involved in other bands? Are there more songs? Why no more releases?

I think I am going to need my Birmingham friends to help me this time!

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Listen
Pinkie and His Band – Burn the Citadel Down

Good news! Tomorrow the Baby Lemonade CDs will be finally arriving! I’ll try to post a first batch on Friday and the remaining orders on Monday. I am beyond happy and looking forward to these compilations! Have you ordered yours yet?

In the meantime why not listen some of these very good new indiepop bits!

Cristina Quesada: I have really enjoyed Cristina’s album and was happy to know that one of my favourite songs from the album has just got the video treatment. Do check the new video for “Think I Heard a Rumour”!

Single: the other news on Elefant Records is a new two track single by the legendary ex-member of Le Mans. The opening track “El Roce” is truly beautiful, and the B side, “Un Roce al Paso” features Javier Aramburú from another legendary band, Family! The 7″ single will be limited to 500 copies so do get this one. The artwork is really cool too.

The Suncharms: Rich from the band told me this new track, “Monster Club”, might be a bit of a departure in their sound. I wonder. The sound is very nice. Though true, it is not the classic Suncharms sound! But it is totally enjoyable anyways! The song is sort of a tribute to The Limit nightclub in Sheffield which The Suncharms used to go in the late 80s and early 90s.

Small Planets: this Los Angeles band sounds really really good! The vocals are terrific and the melodies too. Chiming guitars, dreamy melodies, all things I like. They have a self-titled album out now on CD through their Bandcamp. There are 11 songs in total. The band is formed by Jessica Hernandez on vocals, Josh Spincic on bass, Phil Drazic on drums, Ryan Silo on guitar and Jeff Love on guitar and keyboards.

Arctic Circle:  some time ago I interviewed this great Bristol band. They have uploaded their 7″ single on Stitch-Stitch Records and you can actually get a copy of it! I think included in this 7″ is one of their best songs, “Mothers Ruin”, which is truly fantastic! Pop like this is not made anymore. The other track is pretty good too, “Prancing Pearl”!

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Some years ago I interviewed The Divorce Brothers from Dundee, Scotland. That was a great interview… and I was remembering when I asked about bands they were recommend from Dundee, from around their time, they mentioned a few. One of them was Sweden Thrü the Ages, which was led by Stephen Knight. Only now, after all this time, I am checking them out!

The band were around in the mid 80s, releasing their only release in 1986 on Snappy Records (SW 001). It may have been their own label, it is the only release listed for it on Discogs. It was a 12″ maxi single with 3 songs. The A side had the wonderful “It Helps To Cry” while the B side had “The Sweetest Sound” and “Each Day”. Jingle jangly for everyone.

The whole single was produced by Billy MacKenzie from The Associates. The engineer was Allan McGlone. The songs being recorded at Dundee’s Inner City Sound and mastered at The Penthouse.

The band was formed by Steve Knight (who wrote all the songs), Lloyd Anderson, Chris Marra and Brian McDermot. The sleeve doesn’t specify what each of them played. Maybe I’ll find that? Let’s keep digging.

No compilation appearances either are listed. Another wall I hit.

I find a blog called Retro Dundee where it mentions that Steve Knight (bass) used to play in a band called Parades between 1981 and 82. A comment by a user called Hoops says that Steve was also in a band called The Rainmates.

But there are no other mentions on the web! Strange as there is a connection with The Associates! Hmm… what a shame….

I’d definitely would love to hear more by them, they must have more than three songs. Which years were they active? Did they play live a lot? Why did they split? What did they do after? Who remembers them?

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Listen
Sweden Thrü the Ages – It Helps to Cry

Should have news this week. Please check the blog on Wednesday and Friday. Tomorrow I should be posting an interview too. Busy here!

The Bachelors: The Blue-Very label keeps releasing top quality music, unearthing indiepop legends from Japan’s past. The latest is the pre-Bridge band The Bachelors! The label is putting out a cassette tape retrospective called “River and Road” that includes 13 wonderful songs. How I wish it was available on CD though.

Soda Pop: this duo from Lille, France, have a new release out. It is a tape called “L’été, Danger” that consists of 11 tracks recorded at home. The album is being released on October 29 on tape and at the moment 3 songs are available to preview, “Night 03”, “Elton on Tape” and “Ascension to Heaven”.

Optic Sevens 2.0: this is not the newest news perhaps but I think I should tell everyone on the blog not to miss the new collection of classic 7″s Optic Nerve is putting out starting November. 12 7″s that will include the Wee Cherubs, Revolving Paint Dream, Metro Trinity, The Loft, James Dean Driving Experience, The Vaselines, Bob and more. Not to be missed!

The Go-Betweens: this is also not to be missed, the new Go-Betweens boxset “G Stands fro Go-Betweens: The Go-Betweens Anthology Volume 2”! This one comes with 5 LPs, 5 CDs and a 112 page booklet. So many many things for $180 dollars plus shipping. A bit pricey, I know, but any fan of The Go-Betweens will cherish this!

Patio Solar: lastly the band from Chile is back with a new 9 song album “La Fuente”. If you are not familiar with them Patio Solar might be the best jangle pop band from the southern country. Sadly this release doesn’t seem to have a physical format, just digital, but well, we can stream the songs on Bandcamp all the time! Very nice!

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Well, another record I want on today’s post. I feel lately I am only sharing my wantlist with everyone here on the blog. I wonder if making this known will better my chances or the opposite. Who knows. But I am very curious about these bands and their music. So, even if I don’t end up finding a copy ever I would have learned a little bit more about these great bands.

The Single Factor is one of those obscure bands that I know nothing about. I know I want their sole 7″. But that is really all I know. I’ve heard the A side but haven’t yet heard the B side. The A side is called “Fresh Upon Her Lips. The B side is “Think I’m Falling in Love”. Just so you know.

The 7″ was released in the UK in 1984 by SF Records (SINFAX 001). This is the only release listed on this label. When you stumble upon something like this you end up thinking that the label was probably run by the band (or a friend of the band). Just set up exclusively for this release.

The front cover has a photo of a girl. It is printed in black and white. On the back sleeve it says that this girl is Suzanne Sunda. The photographer is Carol Sunda. Perhaps they were siblings?

Then the band members are listed.
Arnie Carter on keyboards and vocals
Tim Southern on guitars and backing vocals
Neil Anzani on bass
Brendan Lynch on drums

The two songs were recorded at Sheen Machine on April 1984 and were produced and engineered by Martin Turner.

At the bottom there’s an address in West Kensington in London.

Then I stumble upon a great find. A website for the bands Most People and Single Factor! Who would have thought? In it it is mentioned that before The Single Factor, Arnie and Neil were in a band called The Snorkels in the early 80s. Then Tim and Lloyd from Most People joined them and that’s when the band was established. Their A side, “Fresh Upon Her Lips” was played by John Peel and it is said they almost appeared on the TV show The Tube. The band got some lineup changes, gigged a lot and finally split sometime between 1986 and 87.

Brendan Lynch, the drummer on the 7″, was originally in the Snorkels too.

Now I am curious, would like to hear some music by The Snorkels.

Something quite interesting is that it seems that on Sunday September 11th 2011 the band performed again at The Vestry in Salisbury. It may have been there last gig.

After that silence, more silence.

I am sure there must have been demos recorded by the band. There must be more songs. Not just the two. Also I would love to hear the B side. And also The Snorkels and Most People. Who can help with that?

Who remembers them?

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Listen
The Single Factor – Fresh Upon Her Lips

Another week is over. But here are some new good finds from around the web!

Static Daydream: if you like noisy pop, definitely check out this one-man project. Based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Paul Baker has released a CD album called “Cracked Inside” that sounds ace. The ex-member of Skywave has penned 12 catchy and fuzzy tracks that are totally worth your time.

Candy: from Melbourne, Australia, comes this fine jangle pop band that will be releasing an album called “Everything in Motion” on November 15th. It will be available on tape and digital format. At this point we can preview three songs of the album, “Familiar”, “Feel” and “Sorry, Sydney”. Very nice.

Grrrl Gang: the Damnably label from UK has picked up the Indonesian band! That is good news. The label will be putting out a compilation album on vinyl sometime soon. In the meantime we can listen to the song “Dream Girl” which is terrific.

The Catenary Wires: “Tie Me to the Rails” is the new video from Amelia and Rob. This song comes from the latest album the duo has put out, “Til the Morning” which is out now on Tapete Records. I saw them just a few months back and I loved it. It is so cool to watch this video, listen to Amelia’s iconic vocals and remember how lucky I’ve been to see them play live!

Neilson Family: the fine Jigsaw Records is now based in Portland. No surprise then that they are releasing a jangle pop band from the same city. An album nonetheless. 12 songs on CD on a record called “Family Double Life” that our friend Chris likens to The Essex Green. That’s a good thing isn’t it?

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Why not travel to Japan and check out a very unknown band, Loveflare? I think that sounds like a good idea. I wish I could travel to Japan for real. Maybe next year, maybe in a few years. It’d be great. Maybe when I do I’ll find a copy of the one and only 7″ Loveflare released. That’d be brilliant.

The 7″ was released on the Harmonic! label (HJ 001) but I don’t know the date, the year. Discogs doesn’t list it. Maybe I’ll find the info somewhere else. I’ll go in order for now. It is also true that this is the only release listed for this label. Might this be a self-release then?

I know the record had two songs, “35 Summers” on the A side and “Indian Summer” on the B side. Very summery indeed. And what about the song title for the A side? Is it a nod to the great English band 35 Summers? The style of Loveflare is quite similar, influenced by Madchester.

The band continued their summery theme when they included the song “Groovy Summertime” to the 2007 compilation “Boys (& Girls) Wonder Shibuya-K Indie-Pop Collection Vol. 2″ that was released by TKO New Music Corporation (TKOK 0002). This compilation has already been mentioned in the blog in the past of course, when I wrote about Trans Alphabet, Pitcher56 and more.

Maybe on the 7”  sleeve there is information about who were the band members. I can’t find any information at all about the band. Not in English, not in Japanese. So, Japanese friends, can you help me track down who was behind this band? Would love to know when were they around? who were they? did they have any more songs (about summer)? And any other details too!

Edit October 18, 2019: I just learned from a Japanese friends a few cool facts! First, the 7″ was released in 1999. Secondly, the band members featured members of the amazing band Bobby’s Rockin’ Chair who I’ve written about in the past on the blog. And third there is actually another release by Loveflare! It was a self-titled CD released in 2004 that included six songs, “Summerlike”, “Soul Hoover”, “Indian Summer (New version)”, “Groove of Love”, “Still Goes On” and “Summer Like (Remix)”. Now I want to listen to these songs!

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Listen
Loveflare – 35 Summers

Thanks so much to Jimmy Cousins for the interview! I wrote about the Newcastle band The Dakota Plains some time ago and Jimmy was kind enough to get in touch and answer a bunch of my questions! Hope you all enjoy!

++ Hi Jimmy! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Still making music?

Hi it’s great to be talking to you about my old band. The guys are all still involved in music and I’m currently putting a new band together with three brilliant musicians a couple of which I have worked with previously in a couple of other bands and a bass player who is absolutely brilliant Steve is also totally blind I’m very excited about this project

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

My earliest musical memory was seeing The Beatles on tv in the early 60s watching Ringo playing I think she loves you I was mesmerised and hooked on the drums from that moment. I pestered my parents for a drum kit but money was scarce so an old Banjo with the strings removed was my first instrument. My brother started taking lessons and I was learning rudiments and a bit of reading from him I was seven years old eventually he gave me his little drum set up. I started playing percussion at school and was absolutely committed to music playing school concerts plays and musical musicals I was totally addicted. When I started in high school there was no school band so I drifted in to playing soccer and didn’t play music again until I was passing a by a garden and a band were jamming old rock n roll songs and a few 70s covers I watched through the fence as they played all right now by Free I cheekily told the drummer he was playing it wrong he asked me in to show him how to play it which I did in a few weeks he sold me his drums. I then practiced for a couple of years and got reasonably good. I left home after my mum passed away and moved from my home town of Jarrow and spent nearly two years homeless sofa surfing and living rough in Newcastle. I was drinking was drinking in a bar with a friend when I was asked by some people if I new any drummers so I told them that I was and as it transpired they had a big house they were sharing I was in a band and had a place to live I set about finding a day job and then quickly bought a new set of drums eventually after a few months and a few gigs I stole the bass player and guitars and formed a three piece band kind of Zappa kind of Police like. That band almost got signed by Miles Copeland but due to personal issues I left and drifted in and out of various projects.

++ How was your town at the time of The Dakota Plains? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

The city of Newcastle was bustling with great venues and great bands at this time and I was buzzing to be playing in a band that were gigging up and down England and Scotland we were going great and our following was growing we were Interviewed by the local press lots of times and we were in a fair few Fanzines. Local press really backed us and we were soon recording our debut single She don’t understand me like you that was very well received and got local and national AirPlay we sold every copy and played loads of great gigs the highlight being a support slot for a great band called The Men They Couldn’t Hang a big band who were wonderful to us. We supported Wilko Johnson with Norman Watt Roy from Ian Dury and The Blockheads that was amazing. We recorded 7 words our follow up single and that was played on local and national radio we got a lot of press coverage and were playing great. We played the Cookson Festival at the Ampitheatre in South Shields a wonderful open air venue we recorded our mini album At The Seaside it was a very limited edition and it sold out in a couple of hours we were flying.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

As a boy and still to this day my musical heroes are Led Zeppelin I love the Bonham groove and they way he locked in with Jimmy Page as opposed to the bassist a thing I still do to this day. I played many gigs and recorded demos with various bands and artists until I was approached by Jevvy Maroney who along with the brilliant Colin Stephenson had played in a poppy Costello type band called Head Office he asked if I was available to try out for their new band The Dakota Plains I was curious but not overly keen to play in a country band. A few days later a cassette tape was dropped through my letter box I just put on a shelf and sort of ignored it my brother who was staying with us told me to play it and said it was an opportunity and it might be good so I reluctantly put in my player and was actually very impressed they weren’t a straight country band at all so I rang them and went to jam with them and within a week or two we debuted at A very hip bar in Newcastle the place was rammed you couldn’t move we played and played a half a dozen encores a big success and I was in.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

The band were evolving and getting better both live and in our songwriting less Thrash country as Jess Cox former singer of Newcastle rock icons The Tigers Of Pantang coined us in a review he did when he was a musical promoter and journalist we became a bit more like an REM type band.

++ The 7″ was recorded at Lynx Studio. How was this experience? Any anecdotes you remember from the recording sessions?

We had such a laugh when recording Charlie in particular cracked me up when we recorded our second single and Mond Cowie guitarist with the legendary punk band The Angelic Upstarts co produced our fist single I had done my drum track and my tambourine overdub I said okay I’m making coffee any takers we all agreed on coffee except for the punk legend who asked for a cup of Earl Grey tea I exclaimed that I was flabbergasted that a man who had been banned fro every major venue in Britain and Europe wanted a cup of scented tea! Charlie hires a beautiful black brand new Rickenbacker 12 string guitar to play the solo on 7 words he played it in one take and beaming at me bragged hey there you go one take Barlow to which I replied okay maestro look behind you to which he did and the look of sheer horror on his face was fantastic as he watched the 12 string fall out of the guitar stand and onto the studio floor it was absolutely hilarious and thankfully the Rick was unmarked

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? 

We were often asked about the name of the band my answer was always that it was a play on words.

++ And how come there were no more releases? Why no album?

Apart from the two singles and the mini album there are a fair few excellent bootlegs kicking about

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “She Don’t Understand Me Like You”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

My memories of the band are all good and even though we don’t see each other very much our friendships remain strong. You asked about the she don’t understand me like you single and it’s meaning. The song was written at the time when I was going through a very difficult and bitter divorce and my new lady who is now my wife Julie was the influence for the words of that song it pretty much summed up our life together at that difficult time

++ Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

We were formed in Newcastle a party city a very vibrant and multi cultured city the great venues are still there but many have closed our changed however the local scene is still very cool with some excellent bands Stan the band are very cool and amongst some of the really cool bands are Big Ray and the Hipthrusters they are absolutely brilliant. My other bands did okay especially The Last Souls who became Spin Machine a funky groove rock band we split up last year and now I’m playing in a brand new group called Dead Sea Divers with Gary Lindley ain’t guitars Tony “Mez” Mason who sang in Starfish a really cool band I was in and Steve Dryden on bass we are currently rehearsing and writing some absolutely amazing songs I’m very hopeful and totally absorbed with the new band it is very groove laden with a lot of different influences I think people will like it.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

In closing let me thank you very much for your questions and your interest in my old band. It’s been nice to talk about a very special band it’s still very dear to me and I hope my answers are okay. Please keep on doing what you do it’s great! many thanks and best regards to you Jimmy Cousins

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Listen
The Dakota Plains – She Don’t Understand Me Like You

One can only keep finding new music. Maybe one day I’ll find the next Cloudberry 7″? That’d be cool.

The Umbrella Puzzles: not too long ago I was raving about Ryan Marquez’s new project. The ex-Apple Orchard and Sodajerk had made a beautiful mini-album with 6 tracks. It didn’t take long for the Subjangle label to notice and so we have good news. On November 14th the mini-album will be released on CD and it will include an extra track, “Leave the City”!

Christmas Pavilion – Natale ai Mirtilli: the Blue-Very label has been releasing top quality music this year. The latest is a Christmas-themed CD that includes 11 tracks! Bands include Three Berry Icecream, Pot-Pourri, Vacation Three, Small Garden and more. It sounds GREAT!

Oxy: well this sounds really good! From Brazil comes this duo formed by Blandu Correia and Sara Cándido and I am really impressed by their last track “Don’t You Think the Air is Stuffy?”. Top shoegaze here. I should keep an eye on this band.

Full Power Happy Hour: Australia keeps producing top indiepop. The latest finding is this Brisbane band formed by Alex, Grace, Caroline, Joe and Finn. “The Fun EP” is their second release after the EP “Complicit” released earlier this year. It comes with 3 tracks, with the standout one being “Fun”.

Soumbalgwang: wow! this new track by the Busan, South Korea, band sounds terrific! It is called “Gwangan Surf” and I am really hoping it gets released on 7″ or something. It is a fun fuzzy upbeat pop song with boy/girl vocals. Just how I love them. And it only lasts 1 minute. You are left hoping for more!

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“Lie to Me: A Compilation of Guitar Use and Abuse” (UCD 1) was released by Umbrella in 1989. This compilation was released on both CD and vinyl and from what I understand, from the liner notes written by Anthony H. Wilson, the idea originally was to do a compilation of the independent scene of the time, combining guitar based music and electronic music. In the end the label decided to release two separate compilations. The one I am interested of course is the guitar based one.

This comp featured lots of well known bands like The Heart Throbs, The Parachute Men, McCarthy and even The Wedding Present. There’s Red Harvest too who I’ve interviewed in the past. One of the interesting bands that was new to me was The Counting House.

The Counting House is terribly obscure. I have no clue whatsoever who they are. They contributed the song “Walking By” to this record.

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Listen
The Counting House – Walking By

I have seen that many people have received their copies of Dayflower’s 7″ by now! How are you liking this release?

BDRMM: the very good English label Sonic Cathedral are releasing a 10″ vinyl and also tape for the 6 song mini-album “If Not When” by this band! It seems very popular, I don’t usually see that many supporters on Bandcamp. Maybe it has to do that this record is not exactly indiepop, but hey, it has some superb guitars in it!

Rocketship: the classic band will be releasing on October 11th their album “Thanks to You” not sure in what formats. On Bandcamp it looks only as a digital release. It will include 10 songs in total and four of them are available to listen, “Under Streetlights Shadows”, “I Just Can’t Get Enough of You”, “Outer Otherness”, “What’s the Use of Books?”, all of them sounding great!

Kodiak Galaxy: first time I am listening to this band is through this video for their track “Running Out of Reasons”. It sounds and looks great. This track will be part of their forthcoming album “A Bad Time For Dreamers” that will be out early 2020. They are based in Melbourne and are formed by Adam Pianta, Miranda Holt, Lewis O’Brien and Jake Elwood Grant. Let’s follow them.

The Leaf Library: I’ve recommended the London band more than a few times. Today I want to share the video for their song “Hissing Waves”. I don’t have much to say about it other than you can’t miss it. The song is amazing, the video is cool too!

Últim Cavall: “Alaska” is the name of the new album the Barcelona band ahs released with Discos de Kirlian. Available on 12″ vinyl and CD, the band that sings in Catalan, has put together another small masterpiece. Terrific chiming guitars, dreamy atmospheres, and elegant arrangements. I highly recommend checking them out.

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Remember many months ago I wrote about The Sensible Pencils? I was checking again the compilation they appeared on in 1988, “The First Great Wave” (OGRT 1) that was released by Great Records from Washington in Tyne & Wearm, and I started checking some of the bands on it. See if I could find any information. The other bands on the record being Contraband, Cringe, The Plastic Infidel and Million Dollar Legs.

When I heard the track “It Doesn’t Rain” from The Plastic Infidel I was hooked. I knew I had to write about them. But what about? I know nothing about them!

I look if they had any releases and it looks like they did. A 12″ in 1989 on Hostile Environment Records (HER 001). This was a label based in Northampton and was created by several promoters, musicians, artists, radio presenters. They also used to organize gigs and events in the area. They released many tapes and also some vinyl it seems. Some of its members went to found Kooky Records, Bastim Records, Astounding Promotions and B2M club night as well as many local fanzines. Interesting! Though only the 12″ by The Plastic Infidel seems to be listed. No other tapes!

The 12″ by the band had three songs. “That Goes Without Saying”, “Trash No. 7 (Radio Edit)” and “Trash No. 7”. I listened just now to “Trash No. 7” it is quite different to “It Doesn’t Rain”. It has no lyrics. It is just an instrumental.

Then I find a Soundcloud with a bunch of songs! I listen to “Here and Now”, “Innovation”, “Fun is Out of Control”, “Happy Landings”, “Trashing The House”, “You Could Be Wrong”, “Regrettable”, “Siberia” and “Smoke in Alberts Garden”. Not all of them are poppy as the song I am already a big fan of, there are all sorts of styles. But some of them are truly enjoyable like “You Could Be Wrong” or “Smoke in Alberts Garden”.

Then, why not, a Facebook page! We know the band was around from 1982 to 1990. Then there’s a long list of band members (what did each of them play? and when?): Jonny Briggs, Ian Smith, Paul Faulkner, Ian Anderson, Carl Bulwright, Paul Bulwright, Darren Chell, Steve Beswick and Mick Gudgeon.

From Facebook I see that there was a tape called “The Boys From Benghazi” that included three tracks, “Pack of Lies”, “365 Days” and “You Could Be Wrong”. The songs were recorded at Progressive Studio and the tape came out in 1987.

They also participated in the tape compilation “Christmas Compilation” released by Hostile Environment. They had two songs, “Chance of a Lifetime” and “Three Reasons Why” on it.

I notice too that they played alongside two great bands, Talulah Gosh and The Passmore Sisters at The Boardwalk in Manchester. And again at The Boardwalk as part of the ‘Gimme Shelter’ gigs alongside Biting Tongues and Laugh!.

There were also various gigs at The Roadmender Centre (supporting the likes of the Happy Mondays and Cud and playing alongside Headskaters, Bruise and The Adelaides), The Black Lion (with Der Dunger, Cringe, Dust and Western Colours),  Racehorse, Five Bells (with Voices of Sin), NCCC Pavillion, JCR Moulton Park in Nene College (with The H.E. Disco).

Well that’s quite something, no? I know more about them! They had some great tracks. But what happened to them after? Did they continue experimenting? Are there more songs in the vein of this indiepop gem that is “It Doesn’t Rain”?! If so, I would love to hear them too! Who remembers them?

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Listen
The Plastic Infidel – It Doesn’t Rain

So happy now that the Dayflower 7″ is out. And now it seems we will be getting the Baby Lemonade CDs next week. Finally. As soon as I have a confirmed date I will all let you know. These might be our two last releases for 2019 but maybe not. Let’s see how things pan out in the next months as we have another retrospective almost ready (just missing the mastering!).

Fir Cone Children: the German label Blackjack Illuminist has just released the album “Fog Surrounds Us” by this band. It is available on CD and tape and comes with 11 songs of creative indiepop. I am listening with joy the songs on Bandcamp, especially the standout track “I’m Free (Taking Over)”.

Slideshow: this three-piece hails from Austin, Texas, and do like to jangle as we can see in their latest work, the “Midnight Language” EP. There are four tracks of classy indiepop here which I highly recommend. Hopefully this will get released in a physical format in the future.

Able: my friends from Uppsala are back now with the album “Holding On/Letting Go”! How cool it is! The band formed now by Johan Gille, Jonas Olsson, Mattias Jonsson and Malkolm Bonander, has been going for a long time producing top songs and records. Here they present us 12 new songs, with a surprise as one of them, “El Tiempo Hablará” is sung in Spanish! Good stuff!

Peredmova: this Kiev, Ukrainian, project is quite interesting. Sure I don’t like all the songs of this quirky band formed by Vlad Zarichniuk, but I can appreciate them. There are some very bright moments too among the 15 songs that make the album “Сезон Переїздів Деяких Людей”, and I suggest you check them out. You’ll be surprised.

Autoescuela: the Asturias band has just put up a new song up on their Bandcamp. And it is called just as the band, “Autoescuela”. It is a fun nice song. Will it be included in a future release? Don’t know much. And if you understand the lyrics David and Santi write, you’ll enjoy this much more.

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Wow! wow! and wow! What a fantastic discovery thanks to the superb Irish blog Fanning Sessions. The two tracks they have shared by Wilderness Years sound truly amazing. Why didn’t this band release anything at all?!

“Don’t Change Your Mind” and “Never Knew How Much I Cared” sound glorious, with superb jangly guitars. These two songs were part of a Fanning Session that was recorded on September 17th of 1985. They weren’t the only songs recorded that day. “Original Sin” and “Growing Up with Winston” were recorded too but I haven’t had the chance to listen to them. I also hope that there are more songs to be listened, not just these two. Maybe a demo tape? There must have been one, if not, how would they have gotten the opportunity for the Fanning Session?

Well Fanning Sessions has another post about them! It is about a demo recorded in 1985. From that demo they have shared the song “Eradication Days” as this song was played by Dave Fanning in 1988. The song was produced by 17 year old Garret Lee (aka. Jacknife Lee) in the Divine Word Missionary studio in Maynooth. A comment mentions that the band broke up in 1986. From the small image shared in this post, which I assume comes from a press clipping, it says that the band was originally formed by Derek Lee on bass, Stephen Tracey on drums and Ray Williams on guitar and vocals.

We know too that the band hailed from Dublin and it eventually changed its lineup to Ray Williams (vocals/guitar), Phil Nea (guitar), Derek Lee (bass) and Darragh Broe (drums). I suppose this change is reflected in the Fanning Session recordings. Something interesting too is that Derek and Darragh were also part of Guernica according to the first post. And I did write about Guernica back in 2011 on the blog. Looking at my post I notice I mention that Derek Lee was in the band, but not Darragh. Maybe he joined at some point? I really don’t know. Sadly since 2011 that my post is online no one has approached me to tell the story of Guernica. I do hope though that I will hear from a member of Wilderness Years sooner than that!

The only other information I could find about them was some gigs listed on Irishrock.org. There it mentions that the band played the Mood Club in Tommy Dunnes Tavern in Dublin a few times, on February 16 (alongside The Commotion), May 4 (The Commotion and The Baby Snakes), May 18 (The Commotion) and June 15 (Loudness of Whispers and The Coalition) of 1985.

Another mention of Irishrock.org is that Derek Lee was also part of a band called Sack. I did mention that too on my Guernica post.

Not much more info on the web about them. Maybe the Fanning Sessions blog gets lucky and gets more tracks and information. If not I am crossing fingers to be the lucky one and can listen to more tracks and find out whatever happened to the band. The three songs I’ve heard sound really terrific!

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Listen
Wilderness Years – Never Knew How Much I Care

Tomorrow is the official release data for the fantastic debut 7″ by Leicester band Dayflower! I am beyond excited to release this record. So please, if you like what you hear, support the band and the label!

And if you want to keep supporting other indiepop releases, check out some, or all, of these new finds!

Space Cubs: the new Indonesian pop sensation on Shiny Happy Records are this new project I know nothing about! What I do know is that their song “The Boy with the Golden Arrow” sounds ace and it will be included in their upcoming EP “Space Playboy”. Let’s keep an eye on that!

Remi Parson: our French friend has a new video out. It is for the song “Tenebrio Molitor” and we can see a kitty on it. We can also see the lyrics if you want to sing along. Why not. This song was made by Remi himself and it is worth mentioning that this song comes from the latest album he put out, “Arrière-pay”, that came out a year ago on 12″ vinyl!

Olivia’s World: I am a fan of the music Lica makes. That’s a fact. I have loved  Go Violets and Tempura Nights. I’ve recommended them on my blog. Her latest project hasn’t been an exception. I’ve written about it many times. Now that she has released the video for the song “Blotter” I do it again because it is great! This track will be included in the self-titled EP that is coming out on October 25th on the cassette label Lost Sound Tapes. Terrific!

Dead Little Penny: all the way from Auckland, New Zealand, comes this band formed by Hayley Smith, Simon Buxton and Sean Martin-Buss who have just released a new digital single called “Dead Together”. It is fuzzy and poppy at the same time. Good for playing it on repeat.

Breakup Haircut: lo-fi pop done the right way. It has been a while since I heard something like this, sounding so 90, early 2000s. So cool. There are 5 new songs on an EP called “What Did You Expect? I Got it Off the Internet!” by this London band. Punky and fun. Hopefully they’ll be releasing their songs in physical format soon!

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Today let’s head to Belgium. Sounds good? There is this band called Just One Shot who are totally new to me though they were around in the early 90s. Back then they released one 7″ and after it disappeared from the face of the Earth it seems.

At least the 7″ had 4 songs and not just two. That’s a good thing, as I always want to hear more and more tracks by bands. The 7″ EP was released by the label Red Alert (RAR 912) that released another fantastic band I like from Belgium, The Danish Butter Cookies (I owe them a blog post). I don’t know the exact year of the release but I am 99% sure that it was 1991.

The A side had two songs, “The Adonowat” and “Obsession”. The first written by Daniel Vincke while the second by Ronny Gille. The B side had “The Never Fucking Story” and “Flowers”. In this case the first song was written by Philippe De Brabanter while the second by Gille.

So we have some names.  The sleeve doesn’t have any details though. Just a phone number. Not that I own the record, I wish I did, but I have found scans of the sleeve and labels on Discogs. That helps a lot my research.

The band did appear on two compilations. The first was during their time in 1991. It was an LP compilation called “The Belgian Garagemania 6” that was released by Boom! Records (BOOM! 10). The band would contribute the song “Judy Said”. This song was written by Philippe De Brabanter. But the best thing of this record is that it tells the full lineup of the band:
Mohammed Zian on bass
Daniel Van Nieuwenhoven on drums
Philippe de Brabanter on guitar and vocals
Daniel Vincke on harp
Ronny Gille on vocals

The second compilation was called “Best of Belgian Garage Mania! Volume One” that was released by Starman Records (SMR006) in 2013. The band would contribute the same song, “Judy Said”.

Then I look for the band members, see if they had been involved in any other projects. I know that Vincke was in Tam “Echo” Tam and also played bass for Ivan Tirtiaux. De Brabanter was in Busty Duck in the 2000s.

Then I stumble upon a small bio for the band Tam “Echo” Tam. Here it gives some details about Daniel Vincke. It says he had studied classical guitar lessons in an academy for about 5 years. After that he switched to electrical guitar and joined Just One Shot. Here it mentions that Just One Shot had been around from 1985 to 1990. Then I find that Vincke had also been in a band called Dany Sand as well as L’Effet Doppler, Milmilada, Bonobo and Sibel.

Not much more info for the rest of members or the band. Maybe they just stopped making music? Who would know? And are there only 5 songs by the band ever released? I would love to know that. So yeah, lots of questions I have, I hope I can find out in the near future! Belgian friends, do you remember them?

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Listen
Just One Shot – The Never Fucking Story

Some finds from over the weekend! Hope to have good news later this week about the Baby Lemonade compilation. So please visit the blog, Twitter and Facebook pages for Cloudberry!

Positive x Infinity: this is the name of the new compilation by the great Emotional Response label from Flagstaff, Arizona. All 14 tracks included in the vinyl LP are exclusive to this release! In it we find label stalwards like Mick Trouble, The Ocean Party, Seablite and legendary bands like Boyracer and Even as We Speak. So looks like a must have to me!

Airhockey: this pop project from Miami have a new song called “The Signs” that sounds pretty good. I wonder and wonder why there were no bands like this 10 years ago when I was living in the Florida city. If you like your pop dreamy, check them out.

Night Hikes: not too long ago I was recommending the track “Avila” by this Seattle band. Now the band has released the second single out of their upcoming album “Chalice”. This new song is called “Vera” and it is as good as the previous one.

House Depot: this band from Melbourne sounds amazing. What is going on there. So many good bands! They have released a new cassette album of 8 songs on Spoilsport Records. You can preview two of the tracks on it, “Cruise Control” and “Sometimes, Sooner”, and I have to say they are very strong ones! Hope to see them soon on a bigger release.

Painter: lastly this superb sounding dream pop band from London. They have two songs they released last week, “Cuttlefish” and “Standing Still”. That’s all so far on their Bandcamp. But I am going to be keeping track. They are very good! The band is an all-girl ensemble, formed by Emma, Milly, Rose, Mel and Sophie

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I received a lovely fanzine some weeks ago featuring French indiepop of the 1990s. I thought then why not feature an obscure band from that time?

Bellaloïd. I only know the name of one member, Lionel Julien or Jake Juyen, whichever name he used. Were there any other band members?

The band was around the mid 1990s releasing a string of singles and a mini-album. According to Discogs the mini-album was released first, in 1994, on the Dsk3t Rcds label. It was a self-titled cassette that included 6 songs, “Josh Can”, “Flexity”, “From the National Road to the Waterworks”, “Nº Deux”, “Carroussel” and “River (King Lear)”.

In 1995 they would release three records. The first I believe was a 7″ record on the fine French label Les Tartines. On this 7″ the band had two songs, “On the Lips of the Living Face” on the A side and “Lonesome Cowboy and Me” on the B side.

Les Tartines would then release a 10″ for the band with three songs, “Waltz’s”, “Waterproof” and “Dedalus”.

A label called Unity Mitford released a CD single with three songs too: “Great Day”, “The Aviary” and “And”. The songs for this record were recorded by Thierry Sintoni at Unity Mitford Studio and were produced by Christophe Chiappa.

It seems there is another record that was released by the band in 1996 on Dsk3t Rcds. It is not listed on Discogs though. It was called “Except if Time Takes Our Love (the Ultimate Discography)”. It feels like it was a 7″ but i am not 100% sure. Two songs were included here “Scantily Clad” and “On the Lips of the Living”. The song “Scantily Clad” has a video available on Youtube. It mentions that the footage comes from the recording of this single at the Cube.

Aside from these releases the band appeared on two compilations. On the “Frances Two” tape compilation released by Les Tartines the band contributed the two opening songs, “Rosetta Song” and “From the National Road to the Water Works”. This is a fine comp that included nice bands like Loons, Gypsophile and Mumbly among others. I can’t say what year this tape was released.

Then in 1996 the band appeared on yet another tape comp, “L’Essaim”. This one came out on the Maya Label (BZZZ 1). Here the band contributes two songs too, “Loveline” and “Torture’s Bed”.

That seems to be all the songs the band released. I do know that Julien continued making music as he reappears in the 2000s with bands like Legumen, Snack Delta, Mecca-N and Deleted Sin. But what about the time between the mid 90s and the mid 2000s? What was he doing?

Not much more info on the web. So whoever can fill in the blanks and answer some of the many unanswered questions, I’ll be very thankful to you!

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Listen
Bellaloïd – On the Lips of the Living