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

Yesterday I posted all Dayflower 7″ pre-orders! Next week is the release date, on the 10th, but if you order now, I’ll send your record on Monday! Also I was just told Baby Lemonade CDs should be shipping to Cloudberry HQ next week, so it will be busy, very busy! I am very excited about all these releases!

But of course other bands and labels are releasing new music. Here are some of that!

Salt Lake Alley: Celebrate! Our Stockholm friends Mikael and Gustav have released a sensational new song “But You Do, You Do”! Continuing what they showed all of us in the 7″ we released together they have made a new pop gem. I really really hope it gets released. It deserves so, it is VERY VERY good. And if you are in Stockholm I hope you go later tonight, October 4th, to Bar Brooklyn to catch them live. Is the least you can do. I would if I was there. Speaking of which, I miss Stockholm. I wanna go soon.

Foxes in Fiction: this New York band sounds pretty good. I live in the same city but never have heard about them. Thanks to my friend David, all the way in Spain, I have discovered them. The band will be releasing a new album called “Trillium Killer” on vinyl on October 18th and it contains many fine dreamy pop songs with boy/girl vocals. You can preview 3 out of 10 songs on the band’s Bandcamp.

Failed Flowers: I really like this band and I am happy they are back with a new 2 song 7″! The songs on it are “Faces” and “Broken Down” and they are terrific pop songs, heavily influenced by C86 classic bands. I only noticed though that everyone is selling 7″s much more expensive than me. And I don’t know what to do about it! At least $1 more than what it costs a Cloudberry release, for a U.S. buyer. Does this matter? I certainly would appreciate that extra dollar myself. Something to think about?

Lake Ruth: Another NYC band! This time the great Lake Ruth are releasing a 7″ on Slumberland Records with two tracks, “Extended Leave” and “Strange Interiors”. This one is also at the same price. I don’t want to raise prices myself, but seeing that $7.5 for a 7″ is the new norm…. maybe next year the next 7″ will have to be this price sadly. In any case, buy this record, the opening track, the only one we can preview, sounds ace!

Seventeen Years: from Kansas City comes this lo-fi project with a four-song EP called “Ivory Tower”. It sounds pretty neat if I may say so. Especially the song “Silly Mess” with its galloping jangle and blurry vocals. Good stuff.

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Not the Napolitans, but The Newpolitans. That’s the band I’ve decided to do some detective work on. Why don’t you join me in this investigation?!

Sometime in the 80s (the date is not clear) the band released one double A sided 7″. It was released by Edible Records (ED001) which most probably was their own label. There are no other releases by this label. The songs on it were “Holding On My Hand” on the A side and “Duck Town” on the B side. And they do sound superb!

The artwork also catches my attention. What style is that? These illustrations? They look cool. Kind of cubist? The back of the sleeve tells us that the label was based in Hull, England. Maybe the band too? It also mentions “The Alpine Horns”, as a supporting band for The Newpolitans. Could it be? Or am I misunderstanding?

Both songs are credited to Brian Lilley who also played guitar and sang. Dave Hemingway played drums while David Ricardo played bass. The record comes with an insert with a photo of each member as well as some text about Duck Town.

There are no compilation appearances for the band nor other releases. So I start looking for any information regarding the band members. Strangely enough I find an article about The Beautiful South in a Norwegian website. Of coure we know the Hull band The Beautiful South as was born out of the ashes of The Housemartins, having Paul Heaton fronting it. So yeah, Dave Rotheray (David Ricardo) and Dave Hemingway had been in both bands, in The Newpolitans before being in The Beautiful South! So that’s the connection!

This same website mentions that Dave Rotheray had been bassist in Mammoth alongside Brian Lilley and Hugh Whitaker. It seems that at some point Mammoth changed names to The Newpolitans and Hugh left the band making room for Dave Hemingway. Later Dave Rotheray and Brian Lilley would be in yet another band, The Velvetones. On this band Dave switched from bass to guitar. Whitaker on the other hand went to join The Housemartins.

Okay you get the drill… lots of info about The Beautiful South, but way too little about The Newpolitans. But now I have a place to start. I wonder if there are more recordings by The Newpolitans? And if so, why there hasn’t been a compilation or some other release knowing the connection with a much more known band? Did they play live lots? What years were they active? I definitely would love to know more about them! Who remembers them?

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Listen
Paintbox – Hatebomb

Okay! Today I should be putting together all Dayflower 7″s pre-orders and will start mailing them tomorrow. I am very excited. That’s why I am so very repetitive perhaps. But yeah, a new 7″ and probably the last 7″ to be released this year!

Las Kasettes: it is no secret that I really like the stuff the Spanish label Spicnic releases. Their latest offering is a digital single by the band Las Kasettes. The song is called “¡Qué duro es veranear!” and I highly recommend everyone to listen to it. Superb female indiepop! Catchy and fun!

Pure Morning: the Culiacán, Mexico, band is back after a long hiatus with a shoegaze sort of cover of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood”. For sure it is an interesting choice, and I think the result is pretty good too!

Moon Loves Honey: just found out about this dreamy band from Denmark. It has been a while since I’ve paid attention to a Danish band. Odd, right? I remember some great bands from not too long ago like Northern Portrait or Champagne Riot. But yeah, this one sounds pretty good. They have now an album out called “Bubbleburst” that comprises of 10 songs. It is only available digitally it seems. Give it a listen.

For Tracy Hyde: I really need to get my hands on the latest record by the Japanese band. I really like them. And they are sounding better than ever. They have just released a new promo video for the song “Girl’s Searchlight” and it is just lovely. One of the best albums this year I think!

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In Hill House and their song “Sanctuary” are names that I remember from the days I used to be all day on Soulseek discovering music. Long long time ago, in the early and mid 2000s. I remember people sharing this track under  a folder called “Future Leamington Spa”, a nod to the famous compilation series the German label Firestation Records has put together through the years.

The song is great. But I always wondered how the B side, “Never Again” sounded like. I still haven’t listened to it. Is it as great? As catchy? I wonder. The 7″ was originally released by the band in 1984 under their own label
In Hill House (IHH 001). Yes, the same name as their band name. It also had a little note saying this was the Hermit Club Edition of the record. What does that mean? All I know from the sleeve is that the songs were recorded at Blackwing Studio in London and they were engineered by John Fryer.

The band also had management through Seyscan Ltd and two names are listed for this company, Colin Badger and Nigel Grant. They were based in Oxford.

We don’t get band members names, just last names on the labels. So we know that “Sanctuary” was written by someone with the last name Cutmore while the B side, “Never Again”, is credited to Cutmore, Lunn and Sturton.

It does look like the record caught the attention of EMI. Yeah, the big label. The 7″ was then re-released that same year with the catalog number EMI 5494 and the art looks about the same. Same songs too. But there weren’t more releases after it. Why? Didn’t do well? Who knows?

As I said there were no more releases. But there weren’t any compilation appearances either. That’s odd. There must be more recordings though. maybe demo tapes. I’d love to find out.

I do have a lead, and that is that on EMI, the next year, 1985, a band called Wilderness released a 7″ and 12″ for their song “True Life”. S. Cutmore is credited for the songs. From what I understand it is the same person as in In Hill House. What happened? Were the other In Hill House musicians in Wilderness as well? And how did Wilderness sound like?

I find some curious details on the web, like for example the song “Sanctuary” was played in radio programmes in Peru back in the 80s. How cool. And then finally some interesting details….

Steve Cutmore. Yes, first name was Steve. He had been in many bands. I find out that In Hill House was based in Reading. Other Reading bands he was in were Seychelles and Trash Green. Then he moved to London and formed Occams Razor and Colony. Then he moved to Devon and then back to London where he reformed Trash Green and started Colective, the name he uses for his solo work.

That was quite a find. Sadly I can’t find anything about the other band members. But hopefully soon I’ll be able to have more information. I’ll try getting in touch with Steve Cutmore… maybe there’s luck and he is up for an email interview!

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Listen
In Hill House – Sanctuary

Some finds from over the weekend. But also be aware the on Thursday I start shipping the Dayflower 7″s that have been pre-ordered. Exciting times!

Tvärtom: this Helsinki band may be my favourite discovery this week. They have everything I like, good melodies, catchy songs, boy/girl vocals. They have a self-titled EP with four songs which seems it is only available digitally, but well, it is better than nothing! I do hope they get these tracks on CD or vinyl. That would be amazing!

Night Hikes: “Avila” is the lead single from their upcoming “Chalice” album. The Seattle duo has dedicated this song not to the Spanish city of the same name but to a beach in California. The song is great! With fantastic vocals and a very interesting mood!

Fascinations Grand Chorus: now a duo from Jersey City that will be releasing their album “Presentations of Electrical Confectionery” on October 25. Looks like a digital only release at the moment, but who knows, if there are news I’ll let you know. Right now you can preview the opening track “Can’t Let Go” which is a fine 60s influenced indiepop song!

Rocketship: the legendary American band is back with a track called “I Just Can’t Get Enough” which sounds as if they are going back to their roots. That is a great thing I think! Not sure if this is just a digital single or if it will be releasing eventually in a record, but it is worth the listen!

Secret Meadow: another example that Indonesia keeps providing top pop to us is this nice video for the song “Of One’s Desire”. I am not that familiar with the band, even though I’ve recommended in the past on the blog, but check them out here, shoegazy, dreamy, it is good stuff.

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Who were behind The Magnificent Everything? This is another band I remember seeing in the old list that Twee.net had for bands they wanted to get in touch with, to ask them if they would be part of the Sound of Leamington Spa series. I didn’t look for them at the time. And not ever really. Only today I decided to check them out, see what I can find.

So far I’ve only listened to the A side of the one and only record they put out. It was a 7″ released in 1982 by Handful of Snakes Enterprises (HOS 001) which may as well being the band’s own label. The back of the sleeve has an address for the label in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Maybe the band hailed from there as well.

Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Calder and the eastern edge of the Pennines, which had a population of 99,251 at the 2011 census. The Battle of Wakefield took place in the Wars of the Roses and it was a Royalist stronghold in the Civil War. Wakefield became an important market town and centre for wool, exploiting its position on the navigable River Calder to become an inland port. The name “Wakefield” may derive from “Waca’s field” – the open land belonging to someone named “Waca” or could have evolved from the Old English word wacu, meaning “a watch or wake”, and feld, an open field in which a wake or festival was held. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it was written Wachefeld and also as Wachefelt. 

Interesting. Would like to visit someday.

The 7″ had just the two songs, “Tuxedo Lights” on the A side and “Jackpot” on the B side. The sound is not strictly indiepop to be honest. It is poppy and fun though. And I think that is totally fine, let’s call it proto-indiepop as I like calling many of the records that were released in the early 80s with this sort of sound. Or neo-aco how the Japanese call them. The first song is credited to B. Snaith while the B side to A. Wilson.

The sleeve is yellow, printed in black ink. We see a well dressed couple, well, a drawing of them, behind them a palm tree island, a cloud and a moon. On the back we don’t see the couple anymore. The illustration is credited to Lee Walsh.

The back of the sleeve also gives details about the band members. Stuart Kennet on drums, Bob Marsden on bass and vocals, Bas Snaith on guitar and vocals and Ada Wilson on guitar and vocals.

Aside from this 7″ the band is listed in two 1983 compilations. On the LP comp “On The Rocks” (TPL 99) that was released by TPL Records the band contributes two songs, the first two actually. They are called “Blue Sky, North Street” and “Uptown Electric”. Would love to listen to them. Four other bands appear on this record, David Stratford, Stephen Sharpe, Open Windows and John Duke. Maybe there was a connection? Maybe all of them were from Yorkshire? Who’d know? The curious thing about this record is that it came with a board game called “Musotrek” with counters, playing cards and instructions!

The other compilation was a tape one. It was called “Real Time 7” and was released by Unlikely Records and it had no catalog number. On this comp the band contributes 2 sons, “Blue Sky, North Street” and “Big Casino”. There is a note by Robert Cox, from August 1983, written on the sleeve. It mentions that this was the 7th issue of Real Time. Was this a fanzine? Other bands on this record are Nine Dangerous Fish, Inc., Personal Effect, Three Damn Cheers, etc, etc. I must say I am not familiar with any of them!

Something interesting is that I find a review of the 7″ on a Smash Hits magazine dating from June 24, 1982. It is written by Neil Tennant. It says: “A jaunty, jazzy slice of swing that sounds a little bit pleased with itself”.

Looking a bit into the members previous bands I notice Ada Wilson, Bas Snaith and Bob Marsden had been in the powerpop combo Strangeways. Ada Wilson had also been in Tattoo Hosts Vision On!, Ada Wilson & Keeping Dark and in Ada Wilson & That Uncertain Feeling. Bob Marsden was also in the band Dino & The Travellers.

And that’s where I hit the wall, no more hits for The Magnificent Everything. It wasn’t everything but it was something. Much more than I expected. Now I need to find out if they had more songs. Also I’d love to listen to the other songs they released that I haven’t had the chance to yet. Why no more records? And also what did they do afterwards? What other bands aside from the ones I’ve mentioned had them as members? Did they play all over the UK? I noticed that with Strangeways they even played on TV.. what about with The Magnificent Everything? Would be great to know!

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Listen
The Magnificent Everything – Tuxedo Lights

So! Happy news, the Dayflower 7″s have arrived! I am only waiting now for the inserts, which should arrive early next week, and then I will start posting all pre-orders. The official release date is October 10, but you don’t have to wait!

The Lovely Basement: Just yesterday I published a fantastic interview with Kevin Bache who was in The Raw Herbs. Today I want to share his latest project, The Lovely Basement! Based in Bristol the band is formed by Kevin on guitars, keyboards and vocals, Steve Dew on drums and vocals, Katie Scaife on guitar and vocals and Paul Waterworth on bass. They have a few releases out already and their latest is an album called “Just Because You Can” which is available in digital formats as well as on CD. Very nice stuff!

Charm: this Canadian band from Welland, in Ontario, Canada, has a new digital single. Two songs are available to stream on Bandcamp, “No Gasoline” and “Second Chance”, and I have to recommend them to all! They are a superb mix of power pop and indiepop, with charming girl vocals!

The Deer: when I played the song “Confetti to the Hurricane” by this Austin band I thought immediately of a band I used to love, Zoey Van Goey. Does it also remind you to them? Maybe I am nuts. But that’s what I thought. This song is included in the band’s latest album, “Do No Harm”, which is now available to pre-order on CD and vinyl. It will be released on November 1st, and you can check this track on Bandcamp as well as “Move to Girls”.

Lost Film: Jimmy Hewitt’s solo project based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, should have a new release out on October 25th. It will be called “Zero Summer”, and will include 7 songs. So a mini-album I suppose. We can preview one of his catchy and sweet lo-fi songs at the moment. So head to his Bandcamp and listen to “Enough”.

Spunsugar: lastly a band I have recommended in the past. The Malmö based shoegazers are back with 4 terrific songs on an EP called “Mouth Full of You”. And the first thing that comes to mind is why is this not out in physical format!?! It sounds great. Fuzzy, noisy, and sweet. Great melodies.

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I’ve read that people like the other songs better but so far I’ve only head the track “The Skylight Room” from their EP that is titled as the song. There are three other songs that I’m hoping to listen and then maybe try to find a copy of the only one record that I know 33 Seconds released. Or maybe I’ll be able to find myself a copy before that.

Their EP was released on vinyl, as a 7″ in 1984 by two labels, Clock Songs (CRACK 1) and Fractured Records. Clock Songs only has this record listed on Discogs, might it be the band’s own label? Fractured on the other hand seem to have released at least another 7″ later on. Maybe it was a joint project, the band and someone running a label in their hometown?

The EP had two songs on each side. The A side had “33 Seconds” and “Way Down South”. That made me wonder what came first, the song or the band’s name. Then the B side had “The Skylight Room” and “Falling Apart”. Why the name 33 Seconds too. I know there is an Italian movie with that name, but that one dates from 2007. Any other leads?

Now here is an interesting one. The songs were recorded at Clock Studios in London. Hmm, might that be that Clock Records was actually a label run by the people running the studios? It may be. The songs were recorded during the winter of 1984.

We also know the band members, Philip Warner on bass, Jack on drums, L. J. Harper on guitar, Bob Buckee on keyboards, Chester on saxophone and percussion and Michael Carrington on vocals and guitar. The only one I could see being involved in other bands was Bob Buckee who played on the band B-Z Party who released a single in 1987 on Lost Moment Records.

No compilation appearances.

I keep looking for any information about them. But it seems there is nothing written about them on the web. I think they might be from London, they recorded there. But I also wonder how they just disappeared into thin air, how come they weren’t involved in any other bands. That’s odd. And why no more releases or more songs? Maybe some of you remember them?

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Listen
33 Seconds – The Skylight Room

Thanks so much to Kevin for the interview! Very happy to finally publish this interview that I think we started back in 2009! The Raw Herbs is a favourite band of mine of course, they released top records, on classic labels, in the 80s. I still believe a retrospective compilation by them is due. I hope it happens soon, it would be great for popkids to rediscover their music! In the meantime check this interview and visit their website!

Why do you think the Raw Herbs never got the popularity it deserved? It’s hard to believe, honestly. I’ve listened again all your tracks, and I can’t  believe how underrated you’ve been.

I think it’s down to a matter of luck and we weren’t lucky. At the time we always seemed to be on the periphery of things. We knew the Creation folk, Stephen (Bass Guitarist) and I used to hang out with Andy and Bill from The Loft, but we were never one of the cool bands that garnered all the attention. Janice Long, the BBC Radio 1 DJ, was good to us but we couldn’t seem to get noticed.

How did the band come together?

Stephen and I grew up together and had been in bands since we were 15. We’d gone down to London to the Polytechnic of Central London and had formed a group called the Trees. Joe Foster from Creation produced a demo for us but it didn’t interest anyone and we called it a day. Our next move was to put an ad in Melody Maker for band members. Derek replied but, it seems odd now, he wasn’t our first choice. Thankfully the dude we initially picked buggered off, so we asked Derek to join. It’s so long ago I can’t remember why we didn’t pick him first. I love his voice so that part of our history is a mystery to me now. We knew the June Brides and asked for the number of Brian their old drummer. Initially they warned us off him as he’d had a run in with one of them, I don’t know how anyone could get on the wrong side of Brian as he was such a mild mannered bloke.

Were any of you involved in bands before forming The Raw Herbs?

Like I said Stephen and I had been playing together since school and Brian had been in a few London Bands. I can’t remember whether Derek had played with anyone else.

There wasn’t many guitar pop bands at the time that combined country music with indiepop. What made you choose that road? What were the main influences for you?

I loved the Byrds and from them Gram Parsons. I had a soft spot for bands who would throw in the odd Country tune, like The Only Ones song “Fools” or “Rockville” by REM. Derek was also into Country and I think had grown up with more traditional stuff playing in his house like Jerry Lee Lewis. He had a great Don Everly Lp called Sunset Towers with a song I still love on it called “Did it Rain”.  I guess it just came out in the music.

What do you think was the biggest highlight for the band? was it reaching the 19th spot on the UK Indie Chart?

Were we number 19? Getting the BBC Radio session and hearing the band being played on John Peel were great moments as was Robert Foster from the Go-Betweens coming to see us in Islington. I really liked rehearsing and hanging out, being in a transit Van going to gigs was always fun. Stephen and I lived in a condemned house in the east end of London, the front room had been badly converted into a rehearsal room (we put up a few egg boxes). The neighbour was an artist from up north who thought it was cool to have a band next door which was pretty luck for us. Up the road were The Jack Rubies and Kill Devil Hills and a few streets away The Loft

Your first release was the Old Joe flexi and came out on the Medium Cool label. How did you end up in Andy Wake’s label? Were you Cool Trout Basement casuals? Who was this Old Joe?

I can’t remember how Andy heard about us but he got in contact. He was full of energy with an attitude that was unassailable, he was hard to resist so we threw in our lot with Medium Cool. I have a feeling that David Payne, who had a fanzine called Trout Fishing in Leytonstone, may have been involved. He lived down the road from us and we all hung out together. Myself, Arch and David got The Cool Trout Basement club going on Portland Street in Central London which we obviously played.

The Old Joe lyric is Derek’s, On most of the songs I wrote the music and Derek the words. Sometimes a working tiltle would stick like Don’t Bury me yet which I picked up from a line in an old western.

Thanks to your second release, the “She’s a Nurse” 7″, Janice Long invited you to record a session for her. That must have been thrilling! But tell me how did it happen? There was no emails back then!

We’d booked The Pale Fountains to play The Cool Trout Basement with The Herbs supporting. They pulled out on the night and we ended up headlining,  Janice pitched up to see them but saw us instead. The session offer followed that.

How did the session go? how was she? how many songs did you play for her? did she talk or interview you

The session took place over a day. We were very lucky to have Peter Watts producing it (he produced all our other stuff after that). He was very good at keeping things very relaxed. We did 4 songs: Bless This Day, Syd’s Late Night (a version of Syd Barrett’s Late night that we extended with bits we wrote – the nerve!),  Holland and Don’t Bury Me Yet. We didn’t get interviewed, All are dealings with Janice were great, she’s a really nice person. Same for John Peel who took Stephen and me out for a beer, I got so drunk I lost my coat.

The third release is my favourite, I admit. Is it for you too? Don’t Bury Me Yet is a classic, an indiepop classic. It’s hard to believe that in the CD86 they chose another song, but well… maybe they are more right than me? Anyways, how did this song happen? What was the inspiration behind it?

I’m very proud of the song. I had the chords and riff written and saw an old Western (I think it was Johnny Guitar with Joan Crawford) where the phrase was used. Derek wrote the lyrics around that. Stephen had a work colleague who played banjo which really sets the track apart from the stuff that was around at the time.

On the front cover sleeve, your guitar appears. A Burns Black Bison guitar. It must have been really important for you, right? was there any reason to choose this particular guitar?

The Burns was beautiful, a real work of art but a bit of a pig to get a good sound out of. How could we not use it as the cover? I sold it shortly afterwards and bought a Dakota Red Jazzmaster, almost as pretty but a 1000 times more usable.

You also recorded a video for this song! Really enjoyable, especially for Derek’s haircut! Is there any good anecdotes about it? Why there’s photos of Stuart Sutcliffe, the original Beatle, all over the walls?

The venue for the video was The Cool Trout Basement club which we used one Sunday afternoon. The Stuart posters were part of a Medium Cool promotion so we stuck them up. Andy Wake had more than a passing resemblance to him, the prettiest man I knew. We made a rotating platform that we stood on which was rotated by the person lying at your feet – that explains the laughter during the rotating head scenes.

After that you released two songs on the Edge of the Road compilation. After that there was an album scheduled, what happened?

We pulled all of our tracks together and had plates made for an American label which promptly disappeared (I have one of 2 test pressings). We then got a little too up ourselves and left Medium Cool because we wanted more spent on our covers and more attention from Andy. A very bad move.

Your song “Hopelessly” appeared on the Everlasting tape. I don’t know much about this compilation, do you remember anything about it? Were you part of any other compilations?

The Everlasting tape was a surprise, we weren’t asked for our permission  but at least it’s out there. The rights to the songs we recorded for Medium Cool were sold to Cherry Red even though we owned them. Andy says a friend of his scammed him when he was touring with another of his bands. We’ve reached an accommodation with Cherry Red as I’d rather that the music was heard. They’ve put tracks on a couple of compilations.

How involved were you guys with the fanzine culture of the time?

Not at all apart from knowing David.

“The Second Time” was your last single and you released it in your own label, Rooster Records. How was the experience of doing label-stuff during that time? Was it easy to distribute / promote the record? How did that go? You even did a video for it! 

We signed a deal with Revolver in Bristol to have our own label, Rough Trade were also interested but the deal wasn’t so good. We were awful at running the label, had no budget control, couldn’t do publicity and had a couple of managers who we shouldn’t have. Revolver handled the distribution. The video was fun to do as we did it in the crypt of a Church by Waterloo Station (I was coordinating a Counselling project from the belfry and borrowed the keys). Unfortunately our manager went on holiday when the record was released and didn’t send out the videos or do much publicity – the curse of The Herbs strikes again!

Why did you decide to call it a day? What happened to the band members after that?

The scene was passing us by, gigs were getting worse and no one was interested in the band. I met someone in Bath and moved from London and Derek and Stephen packed it in shortly after. I’m happy with what we did together and suspect that anything else would not have been as good as we were drifting apart musically.

We all  carried on playing but with no commercial success but like the Burns we left something special behind and almost as pretty.

Anything else you’d like to say to the guitar pop fans that are reading this?

If you like the Herbs, thanks. You are part of a very secret but special club. Keep strumming!

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Listen
The Raw Herbs – Don’t Bury Me Yet

Okay! Dayflower is slated to be released on October 10th but most probably all pre-orders will start shipping before that date. Records have already shipped from the pressing plant to me and so as soon as I can put all the inserts inside the 7″ jacket they will be heading your way. Exciting times!

In the meantime here are a bunch of good new finds from around the web!

Starmine: “IMOK” sounds fantastic. It has been so long since I’ve heard bands sounding like this. Maybe since the early 2000s? Electropop that sounds fun like this I haven’t listened since Supercute maybe? Mogul? Elefant Records used to champion this sort of sound. Maybe Starmine should find a home there? Just for nostalgia sake. The two songs on this new digital single by this Tokyo duo, “IMOK” and “IMNOTOK”, are superb. Give them a listen.

The Rallies: from Seattle comes this classic sounding guitar pop band. Sweet jangly guitars are what you’ll find all over the new album “Upside Down”, all over the 10 songs in it. The album is available now on limited quantities on CD, and happily you can preview all songs on Bandcamp.

Tiny Magnetic Pets: the Dublin band are back with an EP of 4 songs! Titled “Girl in a White Dress” the EP comes with the title song and three more songs: “Kicked off in Ikea”, “All the Mad Things” and “Above & Overture”. The record will be out on CD and vinyl 12″ on November 1st on the London based Happy Robots Records! Exciting!

Ta To Boy: the Greek band has became a favourite on the blog since they released their album on the very fine label Make Me Happy Records. Now the band has made a video of one of the songs on the record, “This Town”! So definitely watch and listen this one. Because it is good!

Río Arga: well the self-titled album by the Pamplona band is out now. And I need it, and I want it, and I think it is marvelous. 8 songs of joyous and bright pop songs. The record is available on 12″ vinyl and tape now. It is a co-release by Caballito Records and Mondo Canapé, two fine labels. So yes. This is a must.

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Bed bugs are a type of insect that feed on human blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health effects including skin rashes, psychological effects and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites may lead to skin changes ranging from invisible to prominent blisters. Symptoms may take between minutes to days to appear. Itchiness is common, while some may feel tired or have a fever. Typically, uncovered areas of the body are affected and three bites occur in a row. Bed bugs bites are not known to transmit any infectious disease.

Strange name for a pop band, right?

From Purley in Surrey came The Bedbugs. I think they are as obscure as it gets. But hey, I should try to find information about them, maybe even I will find a copy of their one and only 7″. That’s what I would call a success!

Purley is a town in South London within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located south of Croydon, and is situated 18.8 km south of Charing Cross. It has a population of about 14,000

As mentioned the band released just the one 7″ in 1990. It came out on the Snake Rattle label (BUG 001) which I guess was the label’s own. My guess has to do with it being the only release by this label and also the catalog number, as it nods to bugs (?).

It was a double A sided record. A side had “Haywire” and the AA side had “No Safe Heaven”. It was recorded on 8 track at Seventh Wave studio between July 14 and 15th of 1990. The engineer is just credited as Nigel.

When it comes to band members we also only get first names. Mark on vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, Paul on bass, Dave on acoustic and electric guitar and Warren on drums. The design and layout of the record is credited to John Ford while the photos are credited to Simon Clarke. Why do the art people got their second names printed and not the band! It would be easier to track them down I think.

And that’s it really. Nothing more. So I will need your help to track them and find out whatever happened to The Bedbugs!

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Listen
The Bedbugs – Haywire