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

I know, I know, I said I was going to announce a new release this week! It is all ready but just waiting for the mastering of the songs. I want to share a song at least when I announce the album, right? So that’s what is keeping me. I am crossing my fingers I get something over the weekend so I can share and announce this. On the other hand I have already contacted 20 bands (hoping all of them say yes) to be part of the first volume of the Australian indiepop compilations I hope to start releasing this year. I am aiming for summer, no later than that, for the first release. I am very excited about this and I hope it works out well!

Now, what have I found lately?

Corduroy: this was a very cool surprise! I wasn’t aware that Paul from Expert Alterations had a new band until I got an invite on Facebook to like this band’s page. Then I listened and I immediately fell in love with this TVPs ramshackle pop influenced band from Baltimore, Maryland. THe band has released a demo back in May 2018 and their latest is the “Corduroy EP” that came out a week or so ago. It is a 6 song EP and it is available on tape. Of course I’m hoping a vinyl record or a CD in the near future, but in the meantime I’m enjoying these top songs!

She Sir: this very good band that had released previously in Japan and the US seems to have signed to Austin Town Hall Records to release their latest effort, a 6 song EP titled “Ways a Season”. It will be available on March 22nd on 12″ vinyl and so far we can only preview one of the songs, “OK Tono Omepo”.

Funeral Advantage: I’ve been a fan of this Boston band for a while. This year the band is releasing a limited cassette mini-album called “Nectarine” which is coming out on February 22nd. Only one of the songs is available to preview now and it is called “Black Horse” and it sounds great!

Dream, Ivory: Christian Baello and Louie Baello are Dream, Ivory, a band who has just released a tape on the San Francisco label Blind Love Tapes. Their self-titled 8 song mini-album sounds terrific. Dreamy, jangly, blissful, evocative. The interesting thing is that these 8 songs seem to have been originally released in 2016. I didn’t hear them then. I don’t really know where or how they were released at that time. But I’m glad all these songs are available one more time even if it is on tape.

Elna Rae: and of course I decided to explore more releases on this label which is new to me. And I found Elna Rae who have released a lathe cut that is limited to 20 copies! So hurry up I suppose? Because it is pretty good, 4 lovely guitar pop tracks, “Ultra Lord”, “Marmalade” “Turkish Silvers” and “Sonic” make up the “Dexter EP”.

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I must say that the first song I ever heard by this Norwich early 80s band I really liked. It was poppy, fun, kind of a proto-Anorak Girls kind of song. Then I went to check out their other songs and I wasn’t that into them. They were darker, less poppy. I suppose that makes sense as the band is normally categorized as a synth-wave band. But still I thought recommending the one song I loved,”Life’s Not Worth It (yeah)”. I think it is a great slice of indiepop if I may say so.

At first I thought the song I liked was an earlier track. You know this happens a lot. The band is first quite poppy and then they develop a different sound. But it might not be the case this time as this song, “Life’s Not Worth it (Yeah)” was included in a 1984 compilation called “Reel Number 3″, whereas their first 7” came out in 1983. Or it could have been a song they had saved from their early days?

This compilation actually included two songs by them. The other song was “Bandwagon Tango (Edit)”. This song was actually the A side of their first single. I’ll get to that in a bit. But what else do we know about this compilation? Well it was released by Backs Records, the label and shop based in Norwich, and didn’t have a catalog number. There were some great bands on it like Vital Disorders, Mad About Sunday, Kamikaze Sex Pilots and The Farmer’s Boys among others.

As I said “Bandwagon Tango” was their first 7″ and came out also on Backs (NCH 004). The B side was “Unfamiliar Room“. Actually both of these songs have promo videos and I’ve linked to them. And you’ll notice that the sound is much different to “Life’s Not Worth It (yeah)”.

The 2nd and last 7″ was “Third Stroke” with “If Only If it Wasn’t”. Again the sound is heavier, and darker. Perhaps “Life’s Not Worth It (yeah)” was the only song of theirs in that style, with that pop sensibility. I wonder. This single also was released by Backs Records (NCH 010) and came out in 1984.

There are a few more songs by the band. There was one called “Damp Hands and Breathlessness” that appeared on the 1984 cassette comp “The Norwich Tapes Vol. 1” that was released by Nationsounds (STN 09). This same song also appeared with a remix version on a 1985 tape called “A Street Tape Named Desire” that was released by Venue One. Then the song “Blanket Expression (Peel Session Version)” was included in the 2013 tape “Pap Smear Tears – Cindy’s HitszTape” that was released by Grovl. It seems only 19 songs were made of this tape. Is it an official release?

Their B side “If Only if it Wasn’t” was also included in an unofficial CDR comp called “None Night of Flexipop Vol. 4”. Flexipop being a bootleg label from Germany.

Now we know a thing or two. And we know they did a Peel Session. When was that? What songs were recorded? The answer is easy to find. It was on December 18th 1982 and they played the songs “Bandwagon Tango”, “Blanket Expression”, “Ransom” and “Unfamiliar Room”. I find too the lineup of the band on the BBC site.
Sue Hope – vocals
Pete Roberts – synthesizer
John Hartwell – electric drums
Vince Rogers – organ

Keep looking. I find an article on the website Sofacom. Here it mentions that the band formed in 1981 and had recorded an early demo that was supported by Radio Norfolk. What songs were on that demo? The writer, who seems to be familiar with the “Testies”, describes the bands gigs as shambolic. I like that. That they had a very primitive drum machine and that they played gigs at places like The Big Apple in Great Yarmouth where they had some issues with the police! We also know the band supported OMD and SPK, and won a Battle of the Bands. Then the band was over.

The Battle of the Bands gig is actually on Youtube. The TDK Battle of the Bands Norwich, October 30th 1982 were the band played “Desire is My Downfall”, “Suburban Life”, “Blanket Expression”, Unfamiliar Room” and “Unfamiliar Room (Encore)”.

It also tells us a bit about the band members. Pete Roberts used to call himself Pete Casio. Vince Rogers after the demise of the band went on to Gee Mr. Tracy and at worked at the BBC in the Soutth East. Sue Hope seems to have been replaced by Angie Thornby Burt in July 1984 and later by a Rebecca Slater. John Hartwell is/was a technical guru at Norwich Arts Centre. The article mind you was written in 2004!

It is also safe to assume they took their name from the tuning signals test card that were broadcasted by the BBC. Test Card F seems to be the most famous one and even has its own Wikipedia article. It was the longest-running test card and it featured Carole Hersee and Bubbles the Clown.

Lastly the website Music from the East Zone – East Anglian Music Archive can give us in which other bands the members were involved with.
Vince Rodgers had been as mentioned earlier in Gee Mr Tracy but also in The Browning Version.
Susan Hope (also known as Susan Flynn) had been in Count Lorenzo and Funk Turkey.
Rebecca Slater had been in The Browning Version.
Angie Thornby Burt (also known as Angie Nee Dixon) had been in Egotism, The Kamikaze Pilots, Children of the Revolution and Garden of Delights.

And that’s about it. It is true that I’m not loving all of their songs. They are not what I normally listen to. But the one song I like, I think it is ace. I hope you like it too. Also if anyone know if they had more poppy songs like this, perhaps on their demos? Or if they have any other details about the band, please share!

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Listen
Testcard F – Life’s not Worth it (Yeah)

Back from 9 days in Peru. Not re-energized to be honest, quite tired!  But that doesn’t mean I won’t be updating the blog… you know I just did yesterday with an interview! And today I have a new post and tomorrow a new interview as well. There were no indiepop news in Peru, but I did have the time yesterday to find some good new music!

Chestnut Bakery: one of my favourite Chinese indiepop bands is back with a wonderful 7″ on the superb Boring Productions label. Well, it was also available on tape, but it seems the tape is already sold out. The band formed by Rye, Leo and Sango presents us two new fine songs here, “Dust” and “To Sylvie”. Check it out!

Dayflower: one of the best guitar pop bands for some time have put up a new album on their Bandcamp. Titled “Honeyspun”, the 9 song album, is a treat to all indiepop fans. I only wonder why it is not released on a physical format. From jangly guitars to dreamy wall of guitars, there’s a little surprise here for everyone.

The Reds, Pinks and Purples: again and again this lovely band fronted by Glenn Donaldson gives us jangly demos that I can’t stop wondering when will the album be released. Or something else. Anything at all. Why not put 4 of them on a 7″ EP for example? I think it would be fantastic. “Dead End Days (demo)” is his latest song. And once more I’m liking it a lot!

Dreams of Empire: this duo formed by Andrea and Jane, who met in the 90s indie band Luminous, are based in Brighton. They plan to release a series of singles and an album in 2019. So far two songs are on their Bandcamp, “Skinny Dipping” and “Drive On”. Let’s keep an eye on them.

Kings and Queens of the Do It Now!: this is the name of a wonderful compilation the Arizona based label Emotional Response has put out as a sampler of releases that are due in 2019! There are tracks by favourites Mick Trouble, Boyracer, The Ocean Party and more!

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While writing the Ronnie Can You Hear Me? post I was wondering about many of the related bands I mentioned. I had no clue about them. And because they were all, most probably, in the same scene as the Farmers Boys, I thought that they must be good. Poppy at least. So I decided to investigate.

I started with Terminal Fun. Why? Because I knew it had Carole Bush, the vocalist of Ronnie Can You Hear Me? That was important of course because I like female vocals a lot. Why not, right? So, I found out that they did have one release, a 7″ released in 1982. I tracked it down and just ordered it from Discogs. Not too cheap, but it has been a while since I bought myself an obscure record like this.

The 7″ that included “Great Moments” on the A side and “Twist and Survive” on the B side, was released by two labels, Projected Image (PRIM 4) and Backs Records (same catalogue number). I suppose Projected Image was just created for this record as it is the only record listed on this label. Or maybe not? About Backs Records we know much more. We know they were from the same area of the band, Norwich, and was actually a shop too (which closed in the early 90s).

The 7″ was engineered and recorded at Spaceward Sudios in July 1982. These studios were not in Norwich, but actually in Cambridge. The songs were produced by Joe Bull who also produced “Whatever is He Like?” by the Farmers Boys.

The back sleeve gave us that information and more. We know the band members too:
Paul Rayner – bass
Pete Sparrow – drums, synthesizer, vocals
Paul Day – guitar, vocals
Carole Bush – vocals

Something interesting about the back sleeve is that it has ads. Yes. Like stores where Terminal Fun shop at. For example Quality Shoe Repair, Cookes band instruments, Audiotime (Anglia) and Urry Video from Norwich, and Benkson personal stereo radio and cassette players from London. They thank these sponsors for helping get the record funded. Each of these stores have some illustrations which are credited to Pete Siree.

Looking at the same website that gave me lots of information the other day, the Music from the Eastzone, East Anglian Music Archive, I notice they list other band members that doesn’t appear on the record, Jacqui Brown and Steve Smith. Who were they? At what time were they in the band? Also now we know that the band was active between 1981 and 1982.

Let’s check what other bands were they involved with:
Carole Bush: we already knew she had been in Ronnie Can You Hear Me?
Paul Day: he was also in Cultural Collapse
Peter Sparrow: was in Running Dogs
Steve Smith: he was a drummer and he had been in The Funk Police, Giant II, The Fire Thieves, Cultural Collapse, La Host and Pendragon
Jacqui Brown: was a vocalist and only seems to have been involved in Terminal Fun

I look for more information about them on the web and I stumble upon a website called Futures and Past which is run by Erika Elizabeth. On a post dating from January 23rd, 2018, she posts a column she wrote for a the Maximum Rock’n Roll magazine in their December 2017 issue where she reviews the 7″ by Terminal Fun. Thanks to it I find out that there are another 3 songs the band recorded in 1983 for a scrapped EP! I need to find them!

So I end up on Paul Day’s website Luv Music. I start reading his biography. On the biography I learn that Jacqui and Steve were actually part of an earlier incarnation of the band, from a time they were not yet named Terminal Fun. I also confirm that Paul Day was the main songwriter. They got a manager called Steve Jackson who had been a radio DJ in London. Then something odd. He mentions that the songs were recorded at Spacewood Studios in Suffolk. But the sleeve has Spaceward. Maybe there was a typo? Which one was it?

Other interesting details was that the Projected Image name of the label was actually called like that because of a Paul Day song of the same name. It got a bad review in the NME by Danny Baker. And John Peel played it several times. The band played gigs throughout East Anglia supporting Screen 3, The Farmers Boys and more. The 3 songs that were supposed to be released in the scrapped EP were called “Lucifer”, “Something Must Break” and “The Sun is Cold”. You can listen to this song plus many more recordings by Terminal Fun on his website. The other songs the band recorded were: “Growing Inside”, “Shine”, “Demise”, “Hello”, “Shout!”, “I’m Different to You”, “Tear Down the Barricades”, “The Things We Said”, “Running From the Dogs” and “Who are You?”.

And that’s all I could find about the band on the web. Not little for sure. Especially as I could find audio bits on Paul Day’s site. It’d be great if we could get in touch and do an interview and fill in the blanks the story of Terminal Fun. But maybe you can help too, any of my Norwich area readers remember them?

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Listen
Terminal Fun – Great Moments

Well, later tonight I’m heading to Lima, Peru, for a week. I’ll be back to blogging, not next Wednesday but the following. During this time you can catch up with the blog. Also any orders placed during this time that I will be out of town will be shipped on that same Wednesday, January 23rd. I promise to come with lots of news then!

Cristina Quesada: one of my very good friends is back with a new 7″ on Elefant Records. Four brand new songs, “Hero”, “Mona Lisa”, “Think I Heard A Rumour” and “Into You” will be on it! To promote this record a promo video has been made for the first track, and that’s what I’m linking to here because it is awesome. You’ll notice that Cristina’s music has changed a bit here! It is an electronic song, in the vein of St. Etienne! And I must say I do like this new direction!

Axolotes Mexicanos: looking at other Elefant news I notice this punky song called “Nacida para Sufrir” which is included in their album “Salu2” which I don’t have it yet! I guess I need to hurry up because this track has taken me back in time, it is like Juniper Moon are back! And that’s a good thing in my book!

Parsnip/The Shifters: there is a new 12″ split on the French label Future Folklore Records. It includes the Melbourne band Parsnip which I recommended some time ago and The Shifters, also from Melbourne. Each band contributes 3 songs. On the label’s Bandcamp you can preview 1 song each, Parsnip’s “Counterfeit” and The Shifters’ “Photo Op”. I will say that I really like Parsnip’s song which is superb and catchy, but I couldn’t listen to more than 10 seconds of the second song.

The Crystal Furs: is my memory wrong? I thought the Crystal Furs were from Texas. I see now on Bandcamp that they list Portland, Oregon, as their hometown. They have a new album which will be released on January  28th and is called “Pseudosweet”. Two songs are available to preview, the title track “Pseudosweet” and “Dysfunctional Mythology”. I wasn’t liking much the first track sadly, but the second is pretty good! So I’m hoping the record includes more sweet and jangly songs like this instead of the rockier style of “Pseudosweet”.

Estudiantes: lastly this new release on the very prolific Mexican label Stupid Decisions. Estudiantes are putting out their self-titled EP which is also available on very limited cassette on January 25th. There are 5 songs in it and you can preview three of these lo-fi shoegazy tracks “Mejor No”, “Es Verdad” and “Es Tarde”. There are more new releases on the label, so I’ll be keeping an eye on what to recommend.

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An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Indian summers are common in North America and Asia. The US National Weather Service defines this as weather conditions that are sunny and clear with above average temperatures, occurring September to November. It is usually described as occurring after a killing frost.

Arno Kammermeier, Claus Brandenburger and Walter Merziger were Indian Summer. They were German. Released two records, which I’ve listened but don’t own. And then, it seems, were kind of forgotten. Knowing very little about them, and thinking they could be included in the German version of the sound of Leamington Spa, it is time for me to dig out any details I can find about this late 80s band.

Both their records came out on Blue Cue Records. This label was as sub-label of Blue Clue Musikverlag that released some big names in Germany like Culture Club for example. They must have money?

The first release was a 7″ with two songs, “Faceless” on the A side and “Golden City” on the B side. Catalog number BC 78801. The front sleeve mentions that the record includes the hit “Golden City”. Was it a big song in Germany at some point? Something interesting is that for each song the band lists the beats per minute. “Faceless” is 132bpm and “Golden City” a slower 120bpm. Both songs were produed by Peter Hayo. They were recorded and mixed at Blue Cue Studio in Bexbach. The guitars on “Faceless” were played by Thomas Blug while the art is credited to Axel Tams. Then there’s an address for Arno Kammermeier, an address in Hamburg.

Ok, so that would mean that the band was based in this beautiful city. A city I’ve visited many times and which I’m missing these days. I need to return to Germany sometime soon. It’s been like 3 or more years since the last time! But what about the label? Bexbach? Where’s that? Never heard about this town.

Bexbach is a municipality in the Saarpfalz district, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Blies, approximatively 6 km east of Neunkirchen, and 25 km northeast of Saarbrücken. The Saarland Mining Museum is located in the town.

That is quite far from Hamburg!

Their second record was “Wonderland” which was released on 7″ and 12″ formats. IT came out on Blue Cue Records with the catalog number BC 78807. The 7″ had “Wonderland” on the A side and “How Many Times” on the B side. We see that the record was edited by Peter Hayo and Stefan Mayer. Hayo also produced it. The writing credits are for Arno Kammermeier and Walter Merziger. Keyboards were played by the three band members, percussion by Arno and Claus while the guitar was played by Walter Merziger. Additional guitar on “Wonderland” by Thomas Blug. The photo on the front was taken by Bernd Merziger.

The 12″ version was a bit different. The A side had “Wonderland (Edit the Wonder)” and “How Many Times (Fourtyfive Mix)”. The B side had “Electric Kiss (Pure & Simple Mix)” and “Wonderland (Acoustic)”.

Something interesting is that there are no compilation appearances listed. On the other hand I do find that the band members were involved in more than a few bands.

Arno Kammermeier was on among others Avenue, Planet Claire, Parade, Sitara, Subtopia, Temple of Light, Lanyx, Tony Travolta, etc. etc.

Claus Brandenburger was involved in Avenue who released a 7″ in Blue Cue Records in 1989.

Walter Merziger was in Planet Claire, Booka Shade, Temple of Light, Trashbox, Sugar Sisters, Mos Eisley, etc, etc.

There is a very good find I stumbled upon on Youtube. It is a life performance of the band in Hermeskeil sometime in 1990. The band is playing the song “The Horror You Sent Me“.

Not much more about Indian Summer on the web but there is an interview on Youtube (Part 1 and Part 2) with Arno and Walter by Face Culture from the Netherlands. On it the band mostly discusses about their current band Booka Shade but also about their other bands Planet Claire and briefly about Indian Summer.

From this interview I know that “Golden City” reached the charts in Germany. Oddly that song is not available on Youtube. It seems the band members gained popularity when they were in Planet Claire. But about Indian Summer very little is known. Were they really from Hamburg? Did they record any other songs? Why did they split? Many questions, nothing written, at least on the web.

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Listen
Indian Summer – Wonderland

Wednesday! Two more days and I’m off once again, this time to Lima, Peru. Please do let me know if you’d like me to bring any records to Peru. I will gladly do so so you can save on postage.

Not much news today (but do come back in two weeks exactly for new releases announcements) so I will go ahead and recommend 5 new bits of music I’ve found out on the web!

Love Dance: very excited about this news! Our friends at Kocliko are releasing the “Cul-de-sac” EP by Love Dance that I believe was available digitally in the past. As I love physical releases this is fantastic! Especially by this band that I saw live at Indietracks once and thought they were wonderful, whose discography I do own at home, and who I would have loved to work together too! There are 5 songs here that are just PERFECT. I do hope there will be new songs by them in the near future! Do run, this release is very limited!

Tullycraft: two more songs by the band, not new as they are from recording session of their previous album, “Lost in Light Rotation” but still new to my ears! “Touch Me, I’m Sick (over you)”, “Bad Connection” and “Lost in Light Rotation (demo)” are now available to stream on their Bandcamp. As a big fan of Tullycraft any new music by them makes me terribly happy!

Bridal Shower: the Scottish label Common Records are putting out a 6 song tape of this band. The EP is titled “Documentary Footage” and I’ve only been able to preview one of the tracks, “Mirror Maze”, a top lo-fi shoegaze track. This is their second ever release after their album “Negatives” on Gold Mold Records.

Castlebeat: “VHS” is the name of the album this New Yorker put out last March. I’ve only discovered them now. The record is available on vinyl, CD and even tape. There are 10 songs in total, 9 of which you can preview on Bandcamp. Jangly and chiming songs here that are quite a surprise to me. Does he play live? I’d love to go see him play.

En mi Mente: time for 8 songs (only 4 available to preview) by this Mexican shoegaze band. This digital mini-album is in the prolific label Stupid Decisions that in the last year has surprised us with many quality releases. If only they would come in physical format! Good stuff.

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Just found out about this 80s UK band on the Messthetics CDs that I got some months ago and also what I’ve heard online was really good. How come I’ve never heard them before?

Maybe they are pretty obscure. Or maybe indiepop fans haven’t really noticed them. Discogs lists them as a new wave band. Could that be it? They are listed with two records in the 80s. So why don’t you join me in finding out more details about them?

Their first 7″ dates from early in the 80s, from 1981. It was a 7″ with 2 songs, “No Next Time” on the A side and “Removal” on the B side. It was released by My Death Telephone Records (TEL 001). This might have been the band’s own label. Probably it was a self-release too. Both songs were recorded at RMS Studios in London. The recording was coordinated by David Trevor-Jones and engineered by Andy Le Vien. The art is credited to Ryan Baptiste and it came out as a fold-out sleeve that came in a plastic bag with sticker.

We also find the names of the band members.
Ian Sturgess – bass
Mike Barnes – drums
David Parker – guitar
Colin Parker – organ
Malcolm Harris – vocals, guitar

Their second record is a 12″ that came out 6 years later, in 1987. It included 4 songs, “Despatches” and “Black Point” on the A side and “Taking Off Again” and “When a Stranger Calls” on the B side. It was released by Primitive Records (Prime Cat. 14), the same label that put out some stuff by Mega City Four and The Trudy. The engineer was Julie-Ann Jones.

Their song “If I Could Turn the Clock Back” appears on a few compilations: in 1981’s LP comp “We Couldn’t Agree on the Title” which was later remastered and re-released as CDR in 2004 and on the 2006 “Messthetics #102” compilation that Hyped to Death put out. They also appear on another Messthetics comp, on the “Messthetics Greatest Hits” from 2006, the band had “No Next Time”.

There are two other Messthetics comps that are not easy to come by anymore. On the “Unreleased Messthetics Vol.1”, which looks like a bootleg, and unofficial release, the band has “Last Telegram (Demo)”. And then on the “Messthetics #4 UK ’78-81 DIY Punk/Postpunk Bands V-to-Z” that was released as CDR the band has “No Next Time” and “Removal”.

Lastly on the tape compilation “Seven Tiny Heads” that Acid Tapes (TAB 030) put out in 1988, the band appears twice with “Somebody Told Me” and “There’s Still Time to Go”.

I look for information about the members. Mike Barnes seems to be these days a music journalist, a regular contributor to The Wire and Mojo. He has published too a book called “Captain Beefheart, The Biography” in 2000. He has also been involved in bands like Lemon Kittens and played drums for Paul Goodwin. Ian Sturgess has also been in Lemon Kittens, played on some recordings of the Jazz Butcher, and Danielle Dax.

Time to check out what the Messthetics comps! The Walking Floors took shape in the punk-deprived climes of Basingstoke –originally as The Brothers K. The five of them first played together rehearsing Malcolm Harris’ songs at the home of David (guitar) and Colin (organ) Parker in 1978. In August of 1980 Mike Barnes (drums) and Ian Sturgess (bass) helped out the Lemon Kittens on their Cake Beast EP, and in payment they got a day to record their own songs including: “If I Could Turn The Clock Back” Within a matter of weeks the ‘Floors had their own 45 out as well (“No Next Time”). “Last Telegram” is from a December ’81 demo (unreleased). After the Floors split, Ian recorded with Danielle Dax, The Jazz Butcher and others, Mike wrote Captain Beefheart, a biography (Quartet Books, 2004), and David became a premier chronicler of the life and times of the late Syd Barrett with his Chapter 24 fanzine and Random Precision (Cherry Red Books, 2001). Harris, Barnes and Sturgess now play together as The Swinging Signs, whose double album is Lime (2007).

Last.fm has some interesting details on their bio. It tells that it was when Ian Sturgess joined the band that The Brothers K changed their name to The Walking Floors. Or that the band  supported The Diagram Brothers and also supported The Lemon Kittens at Reading University in 1980. Malcolm Harris and Mike Barnes were lately recording as Lewis Lear and the Jets.

Something funny I found on the web is that The Walking Floors were heckled by U2 at their debut London gig in 1980. It seems there was an article written by Mike Barnes about it on Mojo but it seems that piece has been deleted or something. Can’t find it.

And that’s about all the information I could find. It is not little for sure. We know the names of the members, bands they’ve been involved with, where they came from, their releases, and more. But still would be great to get in touch, interview them, and fill in the blanks! Does anyone remember them?

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Listen
The Walking Floors – Despatches

Monday! This week we’ll have three posts at least, today, Wednesday and Friday. If by any chance we get some interviews, then on Tuesday and Thursday. The usual. Im just saying this because there won’t be any posts next week nor the following Monday. That is because I’m heading to Lima, Peru, for holidays. Having said that, if anyone in Lima wants any records from the label please let me know no later than Thursday so I can take the records with me and then we can meet up in Lima of course.

After this vacation I’ll be announcing new releases, so keep an eye on the blog!

Now, moving to what you came here for, new music:

Terry: yet another good band coming from Melbourne, Australia. I’m a bit late to the party as this band released their album “I’m Terry” back in late August 2018. Not sure if there were physical copies but the album is available to stream on Bandcamp. There are a total of 10 songs and I think, at first listen, that “Oh Helen” is my favourite song so far.

White Town: the classic band headed by Jyoti Mishra released “Deemab” on January 1st. It is a new album and he dedicates it to his father. 13 songs on it of all sorts of pop, quirky, electronic or guitar-driven. So far it looks as it is only available in digital format.

The Total Bettys: another album! So far no new singles! Interesting. This one is not that new, it came out just over a month ago, last November. It is called “This is Paradise” and it is also the first time I listen to this San Francisco band.  They are formed by Maggie Grabmeier, Reese Grey, Chloe Lee and Kayla Billos. An all girl summer fun band!

Wolf Circus: ok! now an EP. 6 songs on a digital EP titled “I Don’t Want to Go Back” by this Santa Clarita, California band. Two California bands today. What do we know about the band? Well that it is a combo led by Lesley Price who wrote 4 songs out of the 6 songs, the other two are by Yukihiro Takahashi from the Yellow Magic Orchestra and Brian Wilson from you know who.

Автоспорт: I think their name translates to Autsport. This Russian band just released a compilation tape of their fast-paced shoegazey sounds on Pow! Pop Kids Records from their home country. From what I understand these songs are all their recorded output. They date from 2017 and 2018. And even though I don’t understand a word they do sound superb.

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This 7″ has been on my wishlist for a long time. I wonder when I’ll get around getting a copy and have it in my collection. It is true that lately I’m buying less records, much less than what I used to. Not sure why. I guess it is become more expensive. Shipping costs from the UK are not friendly. And I don’t blame them. Shipping from the US is not nice either.

Ronnie Can You Hear Me?’s 7″ with “Vroom for Romance” on the A side and “Patrick’s Them” on the B side is a great single. Sadly of course there is barely any information about them on Discogs. I wonder if I’ll find any other details somewhere else. I’ll try.

Their 7″ was released by their own Ronnie Records (Spoon1) in 1984. The art for it has this cool cartoon printed in black over a yellow-green paper.

The only other recording listed on Discogs is the song “Chachi’s Theme” that appeared on a compilation called “Good Morning Mister Presley” that was released by Grunt Grunt A Go Go Records (GGAGG 1) in 1986. On this compilation they appear alongside top bands like Yeah Yeah Noh, Microdisney or The Fire Hydrant Men. It does tell that all recordings on this compilation were made in Norwich, Leicester, Leeds, Manchester and London. So, most probably our band hails from one of these cities.

I find out some important detail. So Ronnie Can You Hear Me? are actually an offshoot of the Norwich band The Farmers Boys! I also find out that the song “Vroom for Romance” actually had a promo video for it. Where is it? I would love to watch it!

According to Music from the East Zone. The band was formed by: Ian Thirkettle, Carole Bush, Tom Fenner, Mark Kingston and Paul Kingston.

Ian, a guitarist and keyboardist, had been in bands like Uncle Romeo, Uncle Rodeo, Heigham Sounds, Bluegrass Boys, The Ordinaires, Bang Goes My Stereo, The Farmers Boys, Dr Fondle and The Great Outdoors.

Mark, the bassist, was in The Great Outdoors, Uncle Romeo, Uncle Rodeo, Dissolute Youth, Heigham Sounds, The Ordinaires, Dr. Fondle, The Avons, The Farmers Boys, The Nivens and Blues Machine.

Paul Kingston, vocalist and guitarist, had been in Polish Corridor, Dissolute Youth and The Ordinaires.

Tom had been in The Monotones and Dr. Fondle.

Carole, the vocalist, had been in Terminal Fun too.

Well that’s a lot of band names. Many that I’m familiar but even more that I have no clue about!

Maybe this could start a couple of posts about related bands from the Norwich area? Could be interesting. In the meantime, anyone know anything else by them? Gigs? other songs? their promo video? Any information would be great!

Edit: My friend Jessel just pointed me out to a promo video for “Vroom for Romance“! How cool is that?!

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Listen
Ronnie Can You Hear Me? – Vroom for Romance

Back to blogging in 2019, back to finding new sounds, new music on the web. Not much news yet on the Cloudberry side though in a week I’ll be flying to Lima, Peru, for a week. That means that if you are in Lima and you’d like to order some records and save in shipping send me a message and we can figure it out.

Now, what is new in the world of indiepop?

Milkmustache: well, this is a Christmas song, so maybe it is not what you wanted, but you could save the song for next Christmas? I mean, it is really pretty, the season shouldn’t matter. The new song by the Chinese band is called “Christmas Song for Christmas Night” and it is available on the Boring Productions Bandcamp.

Furry Loser: Rolf is from Costa Rica. He likes recording pop songs in his bedroom. He has put together an EP called “Loser Dance Party”. Only one of his songs is available to stream. It is called “Marco & Marty”. It is based on a web coming of the same name. It is bouncy, poppy and fun. Will the other three songs, “Don’t Like You Anymore”, “Tom (working title)”, “Loser Dance Party”, on the EP available to listen someday?

Golden Teardrops: our friends Ryan and Lei have re-released (and re-mastered) their song “A Summer Escape” and a demo version of “Pieces of Our Love”. As expected they are top songs. So give yourself 5 minutes and check them out!

In Space: this Singapore project by Juan Sawitt, a 19-year old “with a computer”, sounds really nice. Their latest is the song “Heartache” which he uploaded just before Christmas on his Bandcamp. Lyrics are available to sing along and there is also another song worth listening called “January” that dates from last March.

Pleasures Pale: the Dayton, OH, band that I interviewed just a bit ago have uploaded on Soundcloud a compilation of various live performance recordings from 1986. Two tracks come from a gig at the Canal Street Tavern and the two others are live rehearsals. The jangly guitars on the first track, “Muscleman”, are superb! And then you get “An Awkward Kind Thinks Twice”, “Life is But a Dream” and “Uneasy’s Disease”. All being great of course!

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So far, after searching and searching I could only find one interesting tidbit about the band Big House. They played a gig at the legendary Rock Garden on November 10th, 1985. As many of you know this was a venue in London, in the Covent Garden area, that among other feats The Smiths played their first London gig there. These days sadly it is an Apple store. The worst thing ever of course.

The problem is of course the band’s name. It is not original enough to search for them. I can get all sorts of results on Google and even worst the 7″ I know they released doesn’t even get listed on Discogs, 45cat or Rateyourmusic. It seems as it doesn’t exist.

I don’t even know what was on the B side. I only know, thanks to Youtube, that the A side was called “Real Eyes”. I know it is a superb song, with female vocals, catchy, fun, upbeat, all sorts of things I like. The guitar is bouncy, the drums rolls at the start of the song are ace. What more can I say? It is the sort of song that should be included in an obscure female fronted UK indie compilation. But how can one do that if you don’t even know who the members where?

On a Japanese blog I read that the label that put the record out was based in Cambridge. Sadly it doesn’t tell what was the name of the label. It also looks as if the record didn’t have a picture sleeve. The information is really scarce.

This band and single are a true indiepop mystery. We have two cities, London and Cambridge, as possible places where the band was from. Or maybe not even. We only know one date, 1985. And one song, “Real Eyes”. This time I will need any help I can get. Anyone remember them?

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Listen
Big House – Real Eyes