Starting a new week, but the good thing is that today it is a holiday here in the US.

In a few days Cherry Red is releasing a very good box set called “Big Gold Dreams: A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989”. It is a 5CD Boxset that as its name says covers lots of great Scottish music, including a lot of Scottish pop. Of course you know I’m no fan of this label, but I have to be objective and look at the music and the bands on it. So for those that are not aware of this release I’m sharing the info here which includes many bands that have been featured on the blog like The Vultures, The Bachelor Pad, Baby Lemonade or The Wild Indians.

DISC ONE:
1. I CAN’T STAND MY BABY (Sensible Version) – The Rezillos
2. HOOKED ON YOU – The Exile
3. JERKIN’ – The Drive
4. ROBOT LOVE – The Valves
5. PUT YOU IN THE PICTURE – P.V.C. 2
6. DEAD VANDALS – Johnny & The Self Abusers
7. YOU GOTTA KNOW GIRL – Bee Bee Cee
8. GIMME YOUR HEART – Subs
9. REASONS – Skids
10. DANCING WITH MYSELF – Fingerprintz
11. TAKE ME DOWN – The Zips
12. ALL THE BOYS LOVE CARRIE – Another Pretty Face
13. ELECTRIC HEAT – Visitors
14. SEE SAW – The Jolt
15. CHELSEA GIRL – Simple Minds
16. CULTURE SHOCK – Shake
17. THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME – The Headboys
18. TIME WALL – Fire Exit
19. PARANOIA – The Freeze
20. SYLVIA CLARKE – The Fakes
21. SHE’S TOO CLEVER FOR ME – TPI
22. SINGING IN THE SHOWERS – Fun 4
23. CONFESSIONS – Flowers
24. PLAYING WITH FIRE – TV21
25. STAY WITH ME TONIGHT – Alex Fergusson

DISC TWO:
1. DEAD POP STARS – Altered Images
2. DIE TODTEN REYTEN SCHNELL – The Prats
3. TOUS LES SOIRS – Delmontes
4. WALK ON WATER – The Cuban Heels
5. MORE THAN THIS – 35mm Dreams
6. OUT IN THE OPEN – The President’s Men
7. ALL ABOUT YOU – Scars
8. TELL ME EASTERS ON FRIDAY – The Associates
9. SORRY FOR LAUGHING – Josef K
10. EVENT TO COME – Article 58
11. LOVE TO MEET YOU – Restricted Code
12. DON’T – Thomas Leer
13. BIG GOLD DREAM – Fire Engines
14. ON OUR HONEYMOON – The Wake
15. OOH BOP SH’BAM – Boots For Dancing
16. PURITANS – The Happy Family
17. TIGHTROPE – Everest The Hard Way
18. PALACE FILLED WITH LOVE – APB
19. RUNNING AWAY – Paul Haig
20. PICK UP THE RHYTHM – French Impressionists
21. EAT YOUR HEART OUT – Hey! Elastica
22. PARTICIPATE! – The Laughing Apple

DISC THREE:
1. FEATHERS OAR-BLADES – Cocteau Twins
2. OUT OF NOWHERE – The Twinsets
3. CATH – The Bluebells
4. A GIRL CALLED JOHNNY – The Waterboys
5. LUCKY STAR (Moonboot Version) – Friends Again
6. TREES AND FLOWERS (92 Happy Customers Version) – Strawberry Switchblade
7. SIXTEEN REASONS – Jazzateers
8. STOP THE RAIN – The Suede Crocodiles
9. FLOWERS IN THE SKY – The Revolving Paint Dream
10. THINK! – Jasmine Minks
11. THERE MUST BE A BETTER LIFE – Biff Bang Pow!
12. ALL I NEED IS EVERYTHING – Aztec Camera
13. OVER YOUR SHOULDER – Pop Wallpaper
14. DREAMING – The Wee Cherubs
15. CATHEDRAL – Fini Tribe
16. UPSIDE DOWN – The Jesus And Mary Chain
17. BABY HONEY – The Pastels
18. YOU SUPPLY THE ROSES – Memphis
19. AIN’T THAT ALWAYS THE WAY – Paul Quinn
20. UNAMERICAN BROADCASTING – Win
21. SWALLOW – Blood Uncles

DISC FOUR:
1. ALL FALL DOWN – Primal Scream
2. DON’T SLIP UP – Meat Whiplash
3. HAMMERING HEART (Single Version) – Del Amitri
4. SOME INDULGENCE – The High Bees
5. BIG BLUE OCEAN – Jih
6. HOTEL MARQUIS DE SADE – Momus
7. LIVING IN HELL – The Primevals
8. BABY’S GOT A BRAND NEW BRAIN – The Styng Rites
9. BULLY BEEF – The Botany 500
10. WHOLE WIDE WORLD – The Soup Dragons
11. STRAWBERRY SUNDAY – BMX Bandits
12. FIRESTATION TOWERS – Close Lobsters
13. FACE IN A CROWD – The Green Telescope
14. THE RATTLER (Original 12” Version) – Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie
15. PENNILESS – The Wild Indians
16. SOMEWHERE IN CHINA (LP Version) – Shop Assistants
17. HOLLOW GUT – Lowlife
18. SLOW TIME AND TEMPTATION – Kevin McDermott
19. WHERE DO I STAND? – The Incredible Blondes
20. SIGN ON THE LINE… – The Fizzbombs
21. KILLER BEE HONEY – The Beat Poets
22. DON’T SHILLY SHALLY – Edwyn Collins
23. I’M NOT AN AMERICAN – The Dragsters
24. ROOM AT THE TOP – The Motorcycle Boy
25. HEY GIRL (LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE) – The Thanes

DISC FIVE:
1. HAPPY DAYS – The Shamen
2. MEALY MOUTHS – Mackenzies
3. SHE SAID TO THE DRIVER – The McCluskey Brothers
4. JIFFY NECKWEAR CREATION – Baby Lemonade
5. GIRL OF YOUR DREAMS – The Bachelor Pad
6. JENNY NOWHERE – The Clouds
7. MARATHON MAN – Rote Kapelle
8. THE ADAM FAITH EXPERIENCE – Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes
9. TEENAGE SUPERSTARS – The Vaselines
10. TINY WORDS – The Orchids
11. A PLACE IS SO HARD TO FIND – The Groovy Little Numbers
12. GOOD THING – The Vultures
13. THE GREAT DIVIDE – This Poison!
14. HEAD START – The Prayers
15. TAKE ME AWAY – The Submarines
16. THINK LIKE A GIRL – The Church Grims
17. IF YOU LOVE HIM, LET HIM GO – Wilderness Children
18. TRAFFIC DRONE – The Cateran
19. HILLS O’ NEW GALLOWAY – Nyah Fearties
20. MISS O’GRADY – Dog Faced Hermans
21. GROIN DEATH – Stretchheads
22. THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM – Cindytalk

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So who were The Groovers? As far as I know they only released two songs and then disappeared into oblivion. Why?!

I hope I get to find out the reason why. In the meantime I can find out any other details that might come in handy if I end up interviewing them. That would be the ideal situation. I don’t own anything by them but I’ve heard both songs on Youtube.

The band released a 7″ in 1992, probably self-released as there is no label listed. There is a catalog number though, GROOVE 1. The record included the festive “Happy Holiday” on the A side and the more laid-back “Yesterday’s Carnival Queen” on the B side. On the jacket we see someone reading the newspaper on a chair at a British beach. There’s a pier in the back. I’m sure someone might be able to recognize which beach it is thanks to it. We know too that both songs were recorded at Pearl Studios.

Other details that are available on the back cover is that both songs are credited to Thorley and that the songs were produced by someone with the last name Chapman.

There are no compilation appearances listed but Discogs does give us the first name of Thorley, it is Brent. Thanks to that little piece of information I find out that he has been in other bands like The BDI’s, The Lancashire Hustlers and The Panda Gang. All of them bands that happened after The Groovers according to the dates of their releases on Discogs. I would love to listen to them. Find out if they are as poppy as The Groovers.

On 45Cat there are a few of comments about the band. One mentions that the band started in Southport, Merseyside as The Revolvers.

Southport is a large seaside town in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish Sea coast and is fringed to the north by the Ribble estuary. The town is 16.7 miles (26.9 km) north of Liverpool and 14.8 miles (23.8 km) southwest of Preston.

I have the certainty that the pier, the beach, on the cover, must have been Southport. Don’t you think? This same comment mentions that Brent Thorley was the vocalist and guitarist in the band.

Sadly that’s where I lose the trail. Not much more information about them. Sure I believe there is about the other bands he has been in, as he has even released records in Japan it seems. But about The Groovers there’s nothing else.

So I ask for your help again. Anyone remember them? Were there more songs? Other releases? Compilation appearances? Any detail would be appreciated here!

Update – February 27th:

I got in touch with Brent Thorley and asked him questions for an interview. He answered some of them. I don’t feel this time it requires a new post so I just thought updating the post with the new information he shared with me.

• The band existed from around 1990 to 1992 and were based in Southport.We all attended the same 6th form college(the last 2 years of high school) there apart from the bass player Ed who was the older brother of another friend.
• We played mainly at one bar in Southport,occasionally venturing further afield to nearby towns such as Preston and Wigan.
  The single was organised by the bass players father as far as I remember.
• The Revolvers was the same band,the name being changed when another more successful band called Revolver appeared.I think the name The Groovers came from the T.Rex song “The Groover”.
• We made a few demo tapes recorded live at rehearsals but I can’t recall if these were to sell or to send to record companies.
  The line up was bass,drums,guitar and keyboards.The keyboard player James also played the violin which features on both sides of the single.
• The person in the deck chair on the cover photo is the drummer Leo.
  I couldn’t say precisely why we stopped all these years later and am not in contact with any of the other members.

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Listen
The Groovers – Happy Holiday

One more week is over. Halfway through February now. I have just booked some vacation time in July. I’ll be heading to Asturias, in the north of Spain. If any Asturian want some records do let me know. No hurries. There’s time.

Now some new finds?

Seventeen Years Old and Berlin Wall: “Reflect” is the 2nd mini album by the Tokyo based dreampop band. It came out back in 2018, but I’m only listening to it now. A bit late. But better late than never right? There are 6 songs in the record  which was released on cassette by the Kyoto label Sango Records.

Chestnut Bakery: I actually stumbled upon Sango Records as I noticed they had reissued the album “Diaries” that the Chinese band put out back in 2015 on the superb Boring Productions. The original release has been long sold out so those who missed out have a great opportunity now to get one of course!

The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness: the magnificent duo formed by Andrew Taylor and Gonzalo Marcos will be releasing their debut album “Dead Calm” on March 1st on the Alicante, Spain, label Pretty Olivia Records. 10 songs of top pop will be included I am sure, but at the moment we can only preview two of them, “Close the Doors” and “Nervous Man”. It is definitely a record I’d want in my collection!

The Oilies: Carly Putnam is The Oilies. She has been part of The Art Museums. That’s a good thing. On her songs she says she wants to combine the subtle creepiness of Rose McDowall with the wistfulness of the Marine Girls. Sounds that she is into something. There is a new EP called “Psychic Dog” on her Bandcamp which will be released on vinyl on April 5th. You can preview one of the songs, “Psychic Dog”, at her Bandcamp.

Boyracer: well I missed this. There was a new Boyracer 7″ that the Finnish label Royal Mint Records put out. It was limited to 75 copies. So good luck finding one. At least we can play time and time again on Bandcamp the two songs that are on the 7″, “Strong Arms” and “Teardrops”. Bear in mind too that these two songs won’t be part of the upcoming Boyracer LP that will be released this year.

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Every couple of weeks it seems like I want to restart that compilations project that was supposed to be The Sound of Starke Adolf. I really loved how the first volume came out many many years ago. As you know I started working on a 2nd volume but because of the lack of interest of the bands it proved almost impossible to complete it. I wonder if these days some of the people behind that amazing music done in Sweden between 2000 and 2007 are still apathetic about it?

As time goes on I discover bands that weren’t in my radar and that could have been part of these compilations. It definitely was a prolific period for indiepop there. And most amazing this band, The Radio Arts, actually hailed from the same place as the legendary Starke Adolf club, Gothenburg.

On Discogs only their last release is listed. A 2005 CD called “This Morning Makes Me Okey”, which was self-released. It included four songs, “04:30 Am”, “Let Go”, “The New Waves to Come” and “The Song I Love”. So far I’ve only been able to listen out of all of their songs, “Let Go”, and it is great. Will I be able to find all their songs one day, be able to listen to them? Which one was their best?

I ask that because there were more songs. Not just these 4. The previous year, 2004, they released two demo CDs. CDRs I am guessing. I’m not sure which one was first. But they do appear listed in Popfakta. There was “People People” which included three songs, “Come On”, “Walk Right Through” and “Endless Show”. These songs were engineered and mixed by Dave McEwan. The photo on the sleeve is credited to Olof Brandt while the design to Bikelife. Then we find the band members:
Hannes Sandahl on bass
Jonas Lyckander on guitar
Nils Lyckander on keyboard
Jonas on vocals
Andreas Hansson on drums and vocals

These same members played on the other CD, “I’m Gonna Shout it Out”. This one included two songs, “Satisfaction” and “The Beautiful”.

Going through different newspapers from Sweden, I find that the band played the Frizonfestivalen in Örebro sometime between the 10th and 14th of August 2005 alongside Tomas Anderson Wij and Wonderland.

Then there is an article with Jonas Lyckander about some Irish Festival that invited the band to play in 2007. Sadly there is a paywall on this article on the website HD, a Helsingborg paper. I can’t read the whole thing. But I could read an interesting detail, that the band had toured not just Sweden but also Europe. Where in Europe is the question then!

Then on the same website, and without a paywall, there is an article from 2010 mentioning that Jonas is doing electronic music, somewhere in between the Tough Alliance and Pet Shop Boys under the name Dufvan. Here I also learn that Jonas was originally from Helsingborg.

Then I lose the trail. Not much written about them. Nor I can’t seem to find whereabouts they played in Europe. Or if they release any other records or songs. Did they appear on compilations? Who remembers them?

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Listen
The Radio Arts – Let Go

Well, happy Valentines to everyone tomorrow. Here are some great new indiepop finds from around the web:

The Claim: the classic band will be playing a gig on March 23rd at the legendary 100 Club in London.  I wish I could be there. But that’s not all. The better part of the news is that their also classic album “Boomy Tella” is going to be re-released on vinyl and CD by the superb A Turntable Friend label. It will even include 4 demo tracks that weren’t in the original record on Esurient Communications!

Jenny Genius: a new indiepop band from New Haven in Connecticut that has just put up their first demo on the web. This demo has 3 songs, “Slow Going”, “Bump & Bones” and “Lately”. They are formed by Maggie, Chris and Dand, and we’ll keep an eye on them of course.

Sungaze: this Cincinnati, Ohio, band have just released their latest digital single which is called “New Familiar”. It is available on Bandcamp but a video  has been made for it, so I’m directing you there. Because it is always nicer to put images to a pretty song, isn’t it?

Ping Pong Club: this Bandung, Indonesia, band have already been featured on the blog. Because they keep getting better I keep recommending them of course. This month the band is releasing their album “Retrospective” which includes 9 songs, many of them released as digital singles in the past. It does look like the album is only available digitally unless someone can’t tell me not?

Châteaubriand: “Saison Froide” is my introduction to this superb sounding band from Montreal, Quebec. This is not their first ever release, it seems the band has been putting songs since December 2016. But well, as it is common to me I only find about them 2 years or so after. This digital EP I’m listening now has 5 songs. It does look like it is only available digitally, which is quite a shame as I believe it deserves to be on a physical format. Don’t you agree?

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I’ve been tracking this record for years. But I have no luck. Maybe by posting about it on the blog someone will give me a hand. I would love to hear the B side someday. Would love to play the record at home. Again and again. I’m positive that one day that will happen.

I know very little about The Other Side. I know that they were a British band and that they put out a 7″ in 1987 on their own Casual Sax label (SRT8KS1432). Actually there were no B sides on it. it was a double A sided single. The A side has the wonderful “Is it Any Wonder” and the AA had “Let’s be Perfect”.

As I said I had listened to the catchy “Is it Any Wonder” with its casual sax on it. A top track, upbeat, and classic heartfelt British vocals over jangly guitars. Who were they?

On 45cat there are scans of the back of the sleeve. Thanks to it I know that the two songs were recorded at Granny Studios in London. I also know the band members:
Chris Goulding – vocals/guitar
Ada Sayegh – keyboards/backing vocals
Paul Kipps – bass
Spike Jefferson – sax
Martin Kelly – drums

Both songs are credited to Goulding.

I see an address for Martin Kelly too. One in West Drayton. Was that where the band were based?
West Drayton is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England with a station on the Great Western main line from London Paddington. It was part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District of Middlesex, which became part of Greater London in 1965. The settlement is centred close to the Colne Valley regional park 2 1⁄2 miles (4 km) north (and north-west respectively) of terminals 5 and 1 to 3 of London’s largest airport.
So quite close to London city. That makes sense.

I believe I’ve tracked Spike Jefferson on the web, on Mandy.com. It must be him. In his bio it mentions he has recorded music and has played the sax. These days though he is an actor and has been, for 5 years, a lookalike of Sven-Goran Eriksson in ifferent TV programmes and was the star of “Sven, The Coach, The Cash, and his Lovers”.

Chris Goulding proves to be much difficult to track. There seems to be an NHS employee with that name in the area of Hillingdon. But who knows. I keep getting results of a basketball player.

For Ada Sayegh I find an instagram, but it looks like that chances are that it is a daughter or someone in her family. Not her.

There is a Paul Kipps at the University of Toronto. A renowned artist. I like the connection musician-visual artist, but because of the location I tend to think this might not be the same Paul.

Martin Kelly? Well, sadly that’s a common name and it is pretty hard to know.

And that’s as far as I could get. I want to think they were involved in other bands. But I can’t seem to find any information on that. If they were from London, even from suburban London, they must have played gigs, must have met people. I’m sure someone remembers them. It can’t be that there’s nothing about them on the web!

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Listen
The Other Side – Is it Any Wonder

I haven’t been that well the past weekend so haven’t had the time to work much on label-related stuff. I hope this week is much more productive for me. But still, as it is promised I bring you five new finds for you to check out!

The Catherines: the latest from our Hamburg friends is a cover of The Holy Mackerel’s “Bitter Honey”. This track penned by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams gets a very pretty rendition from Heiko and Sandra here. Good stuff!

Thumbuster: now let’s head to Sheffield, where the label Delicious Clam Records have released “NO:P”, a tape album by the band Thumbuster. But this happened back in 2016 really. So not exactly new. But new to me. There are 10 songs of guitar driven pop, sometimes fun, sometimes punky, sometimes even shouty.

Ofrenda Floral: the latest release on Kocliko Records from Spain is this new album called “Las Flores No Me Odian” that packs 9 songs in a 10″ vinyl. On top of that the art for the record is beautiful, designed by Grego from Annika Records. And if that’s not enough, our friend Cris from The Royal Landscaping Society has mastered the album. It does sound good!

Foundlings: Amber, Bry, Matty and Ol form this London band. I have featured them back in August but now they have a new song called “Enemy” which I suppose will be part of the EP they will be releasing in March. So take a moment and give it a listen.

Holiday Ghosts: the second album by this Falmouth, UK, band will be released this month. The album is titled “West Bay Playroom” and sounds real fun. It has 14 songs and 3 of their are available to stream on Bandcamp, “Slipstream”, “Booksmart” and “Just a Feeling”. It seems the band is not too obscure as it mentions that they have been praised by lots of hip sites. So probably many of you know about them. It is the first time I’m listening to them though… as always late to the party.

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Do not confuse them with the more known UK band The Wallflowers (which have been interviewed in the blog I must say). Neither with the crappy one-hit American band. No. These Wallflowers hailed from Germany and they were the first record released by the obscure Heaven Sent Records.

I’ve mentioned this label in the past. That’s when I featured the band Sonic Flower Groove. Sadly I still haven’t found any new information about them nor got in touch with their band members. But little by little I learn more about these bands and the label. Maybe some of them will appear on the next “Leamington Spa” sort of compilation that Firestation is putting together for German bands.

The Wallflowers released only one 7″, one that is still missing in my collection sadly. It was as I said the first release on Heaven Sent (HS001) and it came out in 1990. It was titled “Colorful EP”. It had four songs. On the A side there was “Deacon Song” and “New Love” while the B side had “Colour of her Eyes” and “I Will Remember”. The jacked printed in black ink looks like a couple kissing in a punk bar (?). Ive seen it in white paper and also in orange paper. Are there more colours?

Their song “Deacon Song” also appeared on the tape compilation “Heaven Sent” that this same label put together that same year. I have talked about this compilation in the past as it includes the Wide Plains, The Penny Candles, Sonic Flower Groove, The Sohfas and many more bands that have been featured on the blog. A superb compilation it is.

When I interviewed Bernd from the Wide Plains from Worms, he mentioned that Andi (their keyboardist) joined The Wallflowers and Sonic Flower Groove. On that interview he also mentions that Heaven Sent was run by Ralf Hoffmann, also a member of Sonic Flower Groove. My question is though, was Andi a founding member of The Wallflowers? Or did he joined the band when this one already existed? And I’m pretty sure Andi’s name was Andreas Rauh.

Sadly I can’t seem to find any other information about the band. Who were the other band members or anything. No one seems to have blogged about them or discussed about them in forums. At least I know they were part of the Worms scene in the late and early 90s. That was a thriving indiepop scene back then. I wonder if my German friends remember them and can let us know a detail or two about The Wallflowers!

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Listen
The Wallflowers – I Will Remember

Posting a bit later than other days. I’ve been quite busy I must say!

Olivia’s World: our friend Lica from Go Violets and Tempura Nights moved from Brisbane to Vancouver some time ago. But she didn’t stop making music. Now she fronts Olivia’s World and she just released a new song called “Cereal Boxes” that even features the great Rose Melberg drumming and doing backing vocals!

Cariño: definitely one of the most exciting Spanish bands at the moment. The band who released a wonderful 10″ on Elefant Records have just unveiled a new video, this time for their song “Mierda Seca”. And we can only say it is great!

Westkust: on March 1st the terrific Luxury Records band will be releasinga  new album on vinyl and CD. It will be self-titled and it will have 9 songs. One of them is available to stream on the band’s Bandcamp, the song “Swebeach”, which is great combo of shoegaze and indiepop with female vocals. Looking forward to listening to the whole thing!

Charm: some punky power pop here by this Welland, Canada band. Their latest online single has two songs, “U Don’t Talk” and “Lie To Me” and they sound bouncy, poppy and fun. The band is formed by Martine, Mich, Drew and Shane.

Apple Orchard: and lastly this blast from the past. The 6 songs by the California by way of the Philippines band that was released by Popgun Recordings as a cassette EP in 2003 is now available on Bandcamp. Definitely worth spending some time listening to this lo-fi beauty.

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From Blackpool, in Lancashire, came the band Yeh-Yeh. I suppose they were more of a powerpop or mod band but I think their single “You Will Pay” is a fantastic slice of guitar pop, so why not find out what happened to them?

It seems there are two versions of their 7″ “You Will Pay”. One released by Berlin (BRS 001) and another by TMA (BRS 001). I guess what differs is the sleeve and the year it was released, the B side was “7 Bells” for both versions.

On the back of the sleeve the band members are listed: Andy Houghton on bass and lead vocals, Shem on guitar, Keith Suede on harmonica and vocals and Simon Knowles on drums. Steve Borsley played horns and Teddy Corvo the piano. The two songs were recorded at Berlin Studios and were produced by Ian Richardson and was assisted by Lyth. Both songs are credited to Andy Houghton.

The TMA 7″ came out in 1986, one year after the Berlin one (1985). As mentioned the sleeve was different. This one looks more 60s. The back sleeve has much less information, only the band members. I wonder why this re-release? Anyone knows?

There is a tape called “Live at La Cage” which was released by TMA (TMAC003) in 1988. I am guessing here that La Cage was a venue in Blackpool. Also on this tape I don’t see Simon Knowles listed as a drummer but Darren Adamson. Keith Suede is not in the band either but someone nicknamed Ringo. This tape included 7 songs: “99 1/2 Won’t Do”, “Baby Blue”, “Sweet Sweet Lovin'”, “Lovers Lane”, “Long Legged Baby”, “My Babe” and “7 Bells”. Lots of babies in these songs! I would love to listen to this tape sometime.

There are a bunch of compilation appearances but they are all from recent times, not from they were around.

In 2004’s “Shake” compilation released by Biff Bang Pow Records they contributed “Don’t Try (To Deceive Me)”. The next year on the same label’s comp “Shout!” they had the song “Weekend”. In 2006 on Biff Bang Pow’s “Shimmy” CD comp they had the song “What the Papers Say” and that same year on “The Young Idea: A Pop Tribute to Anthony Meynell & Squire” they contributed “It’s Getting Better”. Lastly that same year, “Mr Jones” was included in “News of the World MK II – Songs for Scootering” that was released by Howitzer Records.

“Does it Look Like Rain?” was included in the 2009 “Do You Wanna Be in the Show? – A Pop Tribute to The Jetset” that was released by Twist Records. That same year they had “And So Begins Another Day” on the “Mods Mayday 2009″ 7” comp released by Rowed Out Records and “And We Still Feel The Same” on “Forty One Sixty: The Songs of the Shambles” released by Blindspot Records. In 2011 they contributed “To All Who Can’t Attend” on Twist Record’s “Power Chords, Harmonies and Mistletoe” and on an unknown date, their song “You Will Pay” was included in “Shake Some Action Vol. 1 UK – A Collection of Powerpop, Mod & New Wave Rarities 197501986”.

Lots of compilations, lots of songs, but only one single. Strange isn’t it?

I check if the members had been involved in other projects. I see that Andy Houghton had been in Tempercalm, releasing an album in 2007 and Simon Knowles had been involved lately in The Freakbeats.

I find a comment on the blog The Songs That People Sing, a comment by Andy Houghton. In it he mentions that the band reformed in 2004 and released 2 CD albums and a 3rd was in progress. The year of the comment is 2008. They were also touring the UK at that time. They were playing Aug. 24 2008 in Burnley.

Then I stumble upon a Facebook page! On it there are plenty of photos and also links to songs by the band. For example here is “This Town“!

I keep digging. I find out that the band started in 1983 as The Catch. I also believe that prior to that they had been in XFX. They released a tape called “Read It About It”. What songs were in it?

There used to be a Myspace. I think that’s were they sold their newer albums. I couldn’t find what their names were. I suppose that many of the songs they contributed to the compilations were from their reformed period. Are they still playing together? There is little information on the web about them. Few blogs have written about them. Why? Anyone remembers them?

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Listen
Yeh-Yeh = You Will Pay

Not much to discuss today either. Lots of new music on the web though, so let’s pick five!

The Sunny Street: is this a comeback? I don’t know. But here is a track of the most wonderful band The Sunny Street covering  The Bats’ “Up to the Sky”. You can’t imagine how happy this has made me, hearing them again, Delphine vocals and Remi’s thoughtful music. Can I hope for more?

Melt: this Jakarta, Indonesia, band released their digital single “RRAD” last January and it sounds great! This shoegaze ensamble is formed by Irfan Muhammad on guitar/vocals, Abba Gabrillin on bass and Rinaldy Shofwan on drums. This  band sounds very promising to me!

Blankenberge: superb! the song “Right Now” by the Saint Petersburg, Russia, dream pop band have released last January are really great!  As a “B side” of the digital single we find “Radiogaze (éntha Remix)” which it is not exactly my taste. But it definitely feels like Russia has a very exciting guitar pop scene these days, every couple of weeks I discover a new band. Blankenberge is formed by Danlil Levshin, Yana Guselnikova, Dmitriy Marakov, Sergey Vorontsov and Dalan Alziatov.

Mini Dresses: the Boston band is back with a tape album called “Heaven Sent” that will be released on March 22nd. 10 songs will be included and at the moment one of them is available for preview on Bandcamp: “Rand and File”.

Fog: and lastly another shoegaze band. So there shoegaze bands today. Those are the trends I guess. This one hails from Seoul, South Korea, and their latest is a digital single with two songs, “Shine” and “DreamingDreamingDreaming”. These two songs were written by one of the members, Gyungwon before the band had formed. it seems that now, as a unit, they are recording new music which will soon be released as an album (or singles?).

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The last few posts about Japanese bands have been focused on the Left Bank label. That because I know very little about the label and the releases they put out. I only own a few of them, and everything I’ve heard has been of great quality. So it makes perfect sense to keep digging their treasures.

The 9th release on the label was a 7″ by the band Trans Alphabet. It was an EP titled “Brighter than the Brightest Star” and it came out in the year 2000 (LBRD-09). It included 4 songs, on the A side there was the title song “Brighter than the Brightest Star” and “Sweet and Sour Love Song” while the B side had “Tomorrow” and “Dreams in Stereo”. I’ve only listened the last one. Hoping to listen to the rest sometime. According to Discogs there were only 1000 copies made.

It seems it was a one-man band. The person behind it was Katsuya Hozaki. He produced, composed, arranged and performed the four songs. The songs were mastered by Katsunari Owa at Studio You. The art for the record is credited to Shie Kutsuna while there is a direction credit for Masaki Yamaguchi from the Left Bank label. Mayumi Hozaki, maybe family of Katsuya, is credited for playing flute and doing backing vocals.

Then on the back of the sleeve there are a bunch of thank yous, to bands, labels and friends. There is a link to a fan site for the band and also for Sunny Spring Day. Is this another band that Katsuya was involved with? We’ll investigate.

But first the compilation appearances. In 2000 the band contributed the song “Dreams in Stereo” to the “Minty Fresh Japan Compilation Vol. 1 A Small, Good Thing” CD. It was released by Minty Fresh Japan (MFJ-1002) which I suppose was sort of a franchise of the US label (?).

5 years later, in 2005, the band contribute a song in Japanese, “恋の花”, to the “Guitar Pop Crazy! (Bluebadge Compilation Vol. 3)” CD comp that came out on the Bluebadge label (BBCD-009). Lastly, on the TKO New Music Corporation CD “Boys (& Girls) Wonder Shibuya-K Indie-pop Collection Vol. 2” (TKOK-002) that came out in 2007 the band contributed the track “We Can Fly Together”.

I found a Soundcloud page for the band. Sadly there are no tracks nor information. But something that caught my attention. The band was based in Tokyo.

Sadly I couldn’t find on Discogs any band by the name Sunny Spring Day. There is a song by Three Berry Icecream with that name though. I do know that Trans Alphabet played some gigs with that band too. Aside from that Google only gives me lots of links to the band’s record on various sites in Japan that sell it. I couldn’t find any worthy bit of information. We know a little about the band. But I find it odd that they only recorded 5 songs. There must be more. Also, what other bands did Katsuya play on? It can’t just be his solo project? Does any of my Japanese friends remember Trans Alphabet?

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Listen
Trans Alphabet – Dreams in Stereo

Straight to my new finds today. Happy Monday!

Botschaft: one of my favourite German bands who were on the lovely Kleine Untergrund label is now signing to Tapete Records with whom they will be releasing the 10-song album “Musik Verändert Nichts “. Right now you can preview two of the tracks that will be included in the album, “Treptower Park” and “Zwischen den Jahren” on their Bandcamp. And they are top tracks of course.

The Rightovers: “Die Cruisin'” is the name of the new album by this San Diego band. It is the first time I’m listening to this band and I’m happily surprise by their music. The album has 12 songs of poppy guitar pop. As far as I know the album is only available digitally.

Go Fever: another band that I’m hearing for the first time. Go Fever hail from Austin, Texas, and they are fronted by the Australian Acey Monaro with Benjamin Burdick, Keith Lough and Merry. The band just released a digital EP called “Daydream Hawker” that includes 5 indiepop songs: “Olivia”, “Feel So Much”, “Cling”, “Say the Word” and “KOTRA”.

Sambassadeur: yes, they are back and I am ultra happy about it. I can’t wait to get the album that will be released on April 12. I never saw them live. I probably never will, but I have hopes still. “Foot of Afrikka” is the name of the single the band is promoting the album “Survival” with. And they have a video for it. And I have it on repeat and repeat. Because it is a beauty.

Foxi Euler Syndikat: the latest on the Frischluft! Tontrager label that our friend Krischan runs from Friedberg, Germany, is a terrific 8(!) song 7″ titled “Märzfragen (Hoffnung in der Mauerstadt)”. I really need a copy of this. It is WAY too good and I am very curious about who is behind this band. Where did this come from?! I need to know more!

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A very good find. I just discovered The Stir and I’m really enjoying what I hear! Superb 80s upbeat and poppy guitar pop. How come this is not more known? I don’t know if I would be able to answer that question, solve that mystery. But I’ll try to find out more about them.

The first song I heard from them was “The Office of Love” which was the A side from their one and only 12″ that was released in 1988 by Spoonin Records (SPOON01). This record sadly is not listed on Discogs, so don’t know much details about it. I don’t own it mind you. But I’ll share what I know.

The B side had two songs, “Carry on Shrinking” and “Take My Heart Away”. All three songs were recorded in December 1987 at the Islington Music workshop. It was engineered by Julie Anne and produced by H. Lime esq. The EP was titled “Cheeky Monkey”

We also know the band members:
John Hutchings – guitar and drums
David Loversedge – keyboards and additional guitaring
Ali Menthes – bass guitar
Mark E. Moone – vocals

And that’s all. I’m supposing they were based in London if they recorded in Islington. Aside from that there’s not much more I can guess. That it was a self-release? Probably. But what about them playing gigs? There are no records of that on the web. I’m sure they did. And possibly shared bills with many bands we know. Did they appear on compilations? Would love to know. Any information about them is appreciated!

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Listen
The Stir – The Office of Love

Friday…. great the weekend starts now. It’s been a good week for the label as I’ve been getting assets and confirmations by many Australian bands. I am having trouble contacting 3 of them and 1 is not being easy as the recordings are own by a big label. So we’ll see. As soon as there are more news I’ll let you know. Also I will start looking for a 7″ release for sometime this year. Any tips about bands that fit in the Cloudberry roster would be appreciated.

The Age of Colored Lizards: “I’ll Be Waiting” is the brand new song by this Oslo, Norway, band that have been featured many times in the blog. So it is worth checking out of course. The noise-pop trio is formed by Christian Dam, Cato Holmen and Fredrik Ness Sevendal.

Artista Fiera: their song “Lo Consigo” sounds great. I found it in the El Genio Equivocado, a label based in Barcelona. I know little about the band but it doesn’t matter for me to enjoin this fuzzy song with girl vocals. Good stuff.

Feather Shuttles Forever: time for some Jpop! The last few weeks I’ve stumbled upon bands that sound as if they were from the Japanese noughties, Shibuya-kei, and all that. So that’s quite cool. Now I find this band on the Local Visions label Bandcamp, with its 8 song album. The band is formed by Hikaru Yamada and Mukuchi.

Los Ships: the superb band that our friend Simon from The Kites fronts these days are releasing a CDR EP with the South African label Subjangle. This label based in Pretoria have these 4 song-EPs already available to order on their website. The songs are the same as the digital EP the band put out last June, so we have “Best Laid Plans”, “Half Life”, “Rose Sings the Big Tunes” and “Here’s What You Could Have Won”, but this time in physical format. And that is a very very good thing!

Tight Knit: our friend Brogues from Glasgow, who runs the Not Unloved blog and label, is putting out his 3rd record this February. This new record will feature the Australian band Tight Knit with two of their songs: “Too Hot” and “Want You”. Both of these songs are available to stream in the band’s Bandcamp to check them out. There’s more info on the release here.

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Word Association is a common word game involving an exchange of words that are associated together. The game is based on the noun phrase word association, meaning “stimulation of an associative pattern by a word” or “the connection and production of other words in response to a given word, done spontaneously as a game, creative technique, or in a psychiatric evaluation.”

I don’t have a photo nor any information about this band. This may prove as one of the most difficult cases for the indiepop detectives out there. I will tell you what I know, maybe with these hints you’ll be able to solve this case.

– There was a 7″ released by Word Association. Because of the sound of it, it seems to be from the 80s.

– One of the songs, I believe it is the A side, was called “Mary Mary”. I don’t know what the B side’s name is.

– Don’t know if it was released by a label or it was a self-release. I would guess it is latter.

– It doesn’t seem that the record had a picture sleeve.

That’s it. Not much more. That’s all I give you. Let me know if you find anything about them!

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Listen
Word Association – Mary Mary

The Australian compilation is shaping up day by day. Every day there is progress and I’m getting excited as I start receiving assets from the bands. Hopefully very soon I can announce the tracklist.

Enids: last year I recommended their demo. Well, this year I recommend a 4-song EP titled “Worriers” which I believe is so far only available digitally. The songs included are “Jeanie’s Bueller’s Day Off”, “Worriers”, “Gutted” and “Take My Heart” and you can expect some punky pop influenced by the Fat Tulips by this Copenhagen all-girl combo!

Hobby Club: a song for a local hero called Maurice. The song is called “For Maurice”. But who are Hobby Club? It looks like a boy/girl duo from London. The song is superb, reminding me a lot of The Siddeleys. The first two minutes are pure jangle pop bliss, perfect pop. Then it gets slow, maybe it is another song? I’m not sure. I’m not that fond of the slow part, not that it is bad, but the first 2 minutes are just perfect. PERFECT. Really! Do listen to them!

Fuvk: this Austin, Texas, makes introspective pop band. The person behind the band seems to like to go nameless, anonymous. They have put a tape on the Slovakian label Z Tapes and it is already sold out. “Time Series” is the name of this 5 song EP and it sounds quite lovely, especially in songs like “Fkbdy” and “Calm Down”. It does bring to mind some Swedish bands from the noughties, right?

The Vapour Trails: “Godspeed It” is the name of the first song and also the name  of the 3-song EP that includes “The Inner Truth” and “Golden Sunshine (demo)” that this Scottish band have released on Futureman Records from Detroit, Michigan. I recommend checking this out for sure, there is some quality jangle here!

Strange Passage: 8 songs on a 12″ vinyl record, that’s what “Shouldn’t Be Too Long” is. The Somerville, Massachusetts band sounds great. Formed by Greg Witz, Ricky Hartman, Andrew Jackmauh and Renato Montenegro, they seem to know the right influences to put together a superb album. And a good thing is that they are not overpricing their record as many other people do, $12 is a good price I think. So yes, order it. It is pretty good!

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As it is the case with many of the records and bands I like to feature, the information is scarce. But as always, let’s try to find out as much as possible about them. So, what do we know from the get go? This Scottish band put out a 12″ single with two songs in 1987. On the A side there was “Next Time” and on the B side the superb “Clean Living”. It was released in 1987 by V Records. It seems it was a self-release. It doesn’t even have a catalog number.

Ok. That’s all we really know about them. But I was to find a connection on ReverbNation.

There was a band from Edinburgh in the mid 1980s called The Story So Far. They used to play gigs at venues like Nite Club, Astoria, Wee Red Bar, Potterrow, La Sorbonne and more. Their style was a bit eclectic, pop, punk, jazz, etc. The band would break up in 1985. After that, in 1987, two members, Jake and Allan, formed Five and released the 12″. You can listen both songs from the 12″ and a bunch of The Story So Far if you follow this link. Or you can check a few songs on their Soundcloud as well.

We know that Jake used to play vocals, trumpet, bass, guitar and more on the Story So Far. Allan was a drummer. What was their last name by the way? I believe Allan’s was Spence. What about Jake? We do know that in 2011 they reunited as The Story So Far to play charity gigs. But what about Five? was it just a side-project then? It does look though, from their Facebook page, that the band has added the two Five songs to their live repertoire.

Maybe doing a proper post about The Story So Far would give me more of a background of the band. Just focusing on Five seems to give me just little results. Not much information available. Perhaps they didn’t last long. I wonder. But I’m sure my Scottish readers remember them? Any information would be great! And if anyone has a spare copy of the record let me know! Would love to have it!

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Listen
Five – Clean Living

Another week. I have to say I will save Cloudberry news for later in the week. Today I want to go straight to some new finds I’ve stumbled upon!

Los Bonsais: “Hinoki” is the name of the album of Los Bonsais new album that will be released on February 15th on Elefant Records. To promote it the band has put together a lovely video for the song “¡No Quiero Salir!”.  As usual with them it is a great track. I can’t wait to listen to the whole album, to have it at home, and play it over and over. And I’m also crossing my fingers that when I go to Asturias (it seems that will happen in July) I can catch them live!

The Pariahs: this terrific jangle pop band from Germany that I once interviewed will be included in The Sound of Leamington Spa German Edition that Firestation is releasing on February 22nd. Because of this the label has shared on Soundcloud the great track “Going Down Niagara Falls”. This is a record no one should miss.

The Golden Rail: “Sometimes When” is the latest release by the all-star Melbourne band. 10 songs of terrific jangle pop that is now available on CD digipak on the label’s own Candlestick Records label. This one you shouldn’t miss!

Tsuchiyamakoto: “Amaoto Memo” is the name of the latest effort by this Tokyo band. It is a 9 song album of lovely J-pop with all the right ingredients, chiming guitars, sweet melodies, and lyrics that are a mystery to me but sound just right. I want to guess that this project is a one man band fronted by a Makoto Tsuchiya. Is that a good guess?

Tennis Club: in the past I had featured this Missouri band. The song I reviewed was in English. Well now they have a cool sounding song in Spanish called “Mexico City (Rich Girls)” that is out as a digital single on the Mexican label Stupid Decisions. Good stuff!

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Another fine sounding Irish band I discovered through the superb blog Fanning Sessions was The Summerhouse. There I was able to find one track, “The Prize”, which was a great guitar pop song. This song wasn’t included in their one and only record they put out, but it was a demo that at some point Dave Fanning played in his show. Were there any other songs recorded at the same time as this demo? Probably, I mean, that’s usually the case. Will I have the chance to listen to it? I hope so.

I still haven’t heard the tracks on their 7″. They were two. On the A side there was “Until the Light Comes”, and on the AA side there was “Colour”. It seems that it was a self-release as the label is also called Summerhouse. The catalog number is L18306/18307… it is not very creative I must say. The songs were recorded at The Recording Co. and Aigle Studios. The producer was Donal Lunny, an Irish folk musician with lots of releases under his belt, and the engineer was Johnny Byrne who had been in bands like the Zen Alligators and that sadly passed away in 1997 in New York where he was also working as an engineer.

The 7″ had some matrix runouts, the A side had “Summerhouse” and on the AA side they wanted to be funny and wrote “Smokehouse”.

On Discogs there is a scan of the back of the sleeve. I can see that:
Alan Redmond – vocals, acoustic guitar
Kieran McEvoy – lead guitar
Steven Dempsey – keyboards
Tom Rooney – drums
Jean-Marc Soule – bass

The sleeve design is credited to the bassist, Jean-Marc. He was from Paris, France, by the way. How do I know that? Well, there is a live performance of the band on Youtube, at the Borderline tv programme, on its 1987 competition. On it they play the song “Colour”.

The band appeared on the “Comet EP One” 12″ comp that I have mentioned in the past on the blog. That’s how I was aware of them really. I had written about this compilation on posts about Cypress, Mine!, Cliff Edge Panic and lately on the Slowest Clock. The comp was released by Comet Records (COME1T) in 1986. The song The Summerhouse contributed was “Everything I Wanted”.

Irishrock.org this time doesn’t have much info on them. Just that Kieran McEvoy played before in Redeemer and also in the band Civilians.

That’s all there is on the web. It is odd. It is a band that appeared on TV. But seems as if not many people remember them. I would love to listen to the single. To the song on the compilation too. If there are more demos, that too of course. Did they play in the UK perhaps? Who remembers them?

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Listen
The Summerhouse – The Prize