Back from Mexico! But I have to say that I left this post ready before leaving on holidays. So, these are a bit of older finds, and I won’t tell you much about my trip this time around. Hopefully on the next post I will do!

Emma Russack & Lachlan Denton: I’m checking out the one song available to stream from their new album called “Keep on Trying”. It is called like the album. And I thought it is really nice. It reminded me a lot of Tracyanne & Danny who I saw just a few weeks ago here in New York. Maybe that’s the new way to make guitar pop. The new trend. I don’t mind if it is. I like it. This Melbourne duo’s album was released on CD on July 18th.

Perrogato: a lovely band from Chile and this is my first encounter with their brilliant music. It is a self-titled six-song EP that is just perfect indiepop in my book. That song “Ácido” should be hit anywhere and everywhere. I really don’t know much about them. I know they are formed by María José Calfín and Danko Diaz and they took their name from the animated series Catdog. The Ep was released digitally by Gemelo Parásito Records. I wish it was released in a physical format!

Felyno: guitar pop, very 80s, quite post-punk influenced, from a Peruvian band from the highest city in the world? It can’t be, you’d say. But it does seem like this band hails from the mining town of Cerro de Pasco, 4,380 m over the sea level. I discovered this band through the friends of Latin American Twee Facebook page, where they shared this video for the song “Lourdes”. They do remind me a bit of Motorama, right? Or am I totally out of it? I also believe they have filmed their video in their region, those mountains, that inhospitable landscape!

Beezewax: now a band from Oslo, Norway! Very international findings this week! This comes through the Sellout! Music label Bandcamp, who I suppose are promoting just the one song by this band. The song is called “Rainbows” and it is a rush of guitar pop which I enjoy thoroughly. I read on their Facebook page that they are an indie-rock band, so I’m not sure if I should go and listen to the rest of their songs! Maybe I’d be disappointed? I’m happy with this one!

All Ashore!: I so want this record! It is a split 7″ by All Ashore! and Thee Mightees. I will be honest, I haven’t heard The Mightees. But I love All Ashore!, and I love the song they contribute to the split 7″, “Perfect Popsong”. This record, released by Don’t Miss the Boat Records and Delicious Clam will be released on the 29th. I should place my order now! Definitely one of the bands you have to check out if you go to Indietracks!

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A couple of weeks ago I think, my friend Phil posted “The Golden Mermaid” video on Facebook. For the first time I was connecting the dots about this band. You see, a long time ago on an interview with Phil Suggars from The Candie Maids he mentioned them as a contemporary band to his. He had mentioned them and the 14 Iced Bears. I knew of the 14 Iced Bears of course, but the first band didn’t ring a bell. I knew the band called The Quentins, which I have featured on the blog. But not the Brighton band Ten Million Quentins. So it was the first time I was listening to their music, and also seeing them, how they looked like, and what was their style!

You can watch the video by clicking here. You’ll notice in the description that the song was actually a tribute to a long gone chip shop and cafe on Western Road in Hove. The band on the video featured Veronica Quentin, Bobby Quentin, Stephen Quentin, Janet Quentin, Rob Quentin and Mike Quentin. The video is the epitome of a C86 band for me. It looks so cool!

So after watching it again and again I thought it was necessary to go through the web, see what else there is, hopefully another song to listen?

Maybe not, but I did find a blog post by Mike, one of the members of the band. It seems he is now based in Prestwich, Manchester, left the south for the north. And back in December 2010 he posted about his old band on his blog “The Mithering Times“. From that post there are a bunch of important details:
– The band only lasted for around a year, between 1985 and 1986
– Mike was part of the people who booked bands at The Royal Escape Club on Brighton under the name The Big Twang
– He was friends with Dennis Wheatley who I have interviewed in the past about his band The Doris Day, a big favourite of mine!
– When there was a need to have a band supporting the many great bands they booked (eg. The Pastels, The Shop Assistants, The Wolfhounds), they had The Ten Million Quentins as the house band.

Then I figure out something else from my blog, from an interview with another Brighton band, Whirl: Rob Colley was in The Ten Million Quentins (named after Quentin “Norman” Cook. Aka Fat Boy Slim).

Great find! Especially knowing now where the band’s name come from. And that Rob had been in Whirl, and also in the 14 Iced Bears at some point according to Discogs. Other bands he had been in were Arthur, Fired Dept. and Zed J.

And then I keep searching on Google, but there is not much more. 3 pages of results for Ten Million Quentins. Can’t say if there were any recordings by the band. But would love very much to listen to more. Maybe there was a demo tape. In the meantime why not head to a mixcloud by Gordon Kaye where he celebrates The Sunshine Playroom, the weekly Wednesday club in Brighton that played some fantastic music. The Ten Million Quentins played at it a few times I believe! Does anyone else remember them?

EDIT: It seems that while I was away on holidays someone added their demo “Fat Funny And Seen it All” to Discogs. Thanks Uwe for pointing me out! It was released in 1986 and included four songs, “Stay As Sick As You Are”, “Other People’s Places”, “A Girl’s Name” and “He’s Not Smiling”.  Will I get a chance to listen to them one day? It seems at least one of their songs will be included in the forthcoming volume of the Sound of Leamington Spa series on Firestation.

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Listen
Ten Million Quentins – The Golden Mermaid

Last post for this week. And there won’t be any posts next week. Nor the following Monday. So probably until Wednesday May 25th there won’t be updates on the blog. I’m traveling to Mexico in a few hours. Happy holidays to me.

The Fizzybees: who are this sweet sounding band from Upstate New York? I have never heard them before! They have a new album on Bandcamp called “Hello World” and it sounds brilliant to my ears, honey to my ears. Maybe it is not an album, but a mini-album, all right. It only has 7 songs that in the end feel short, you are left hoping for more. The band is just a duo formed by Emily Bernier and Jeff Yaus and I hope this gets released properly somehow!

New Centre of the Universe, Vol. 3: Just found out about this compilation released by Geelong, Australia’s Anti Fade Records. It is now available to pre-order the vinyl LP version and a few of the songs on the record are streamable on Bandcamp. I’m recommending this record on the strength of the opening track, Parsnip’s “It Couldn’t Be True”. It is a terrific pop song.  The other two songs I’ve heard, Alien Nosejob’s “Maggie” and Traffik Island’s “Sky High” are not as good sadly. But there are 14 more songs that I haven’t heard that I hope are at the same level of Parnip’s song!

Blanco: I have recommended this Japanese band in the past because I’m a big fan of their music. I was able to get their latest CD EP a few months ago too, the one called “Wake With Moon Tide”. Well today I found out the band have released on Youtube a new song and a video. It is called “Paradise” and it should be their next single. I hope it is also released on CD!

Flower Box: now a band from Jacksonville, Florida. Six songs on their self-titled digital debut. Yes it is only digital so far, no records, but they do have t-shirts. The band is formed by Molli Shivers on vocals and guitar and Joseph Thigpen on drums. From the little blurb I learn that all of the songs were home recorded and everything was performed by the two members. Lovely sounding dreampop from down south. Let’s keep an eye on their next projects then.

Parque de Cometas: my last recommendation is a Mexican one. Of course, I’m going to Mexico. But sadly not to Tijuana the city this band hails from. There are two superb guitar pop songs on the band’s page, “Gente Violenta” and “Azoteas” which are also available on CD. This band is new to me so it is quite a surprise. They are formed by Andrés Corella on vocals and bass, Mitzi Licona on guitar and vocals, Rodolfo Hernandez on synths and Melissa Lunar on percussion and vocals.

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I’m focusing on obscure bands that have non-obscure names, right? If I just wrote about Hurt, today I will try to find out any details about the Swedish band Drug. These names wouldn’t cut it in thee times, would be impossible to google them! How have things changed!

I know very little about Drug though they did release two records on Ceilidh Productions in the 90s and appeared on a few compilations. I will try to get some of these records in the near future, so far I’ve only listened to their music on what’s available on the web. Just spent quite a lot of money in new records last week. Need to be careful with my economy!

The first song I heard by them is the jangly “Wintertime”. I thought it was brilliant. It turns out it was an A side for a 7″ that was released in 1991 by the legendary Swedish label Ceilidh Productions. This 7″ had the catalog number CEI 019 and was recorded at The Forest studio in Sturefors. Been to Sweden more than a few times, but don’t think I’ve been to Sturefors. Where is that? Sturefors is a locality situated in Linköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 2,229 inhabitants in 2010. Ok, close to Linköping. That is good to know.

The B side for the record was “Daybreak” which is also a very nice song, though a bit moodier I’d say. The art for the mysterious sleeve was created by Anders Nylander while the photography on the back cover was taken by Peter Menzel. No mention where they took that enigmatic photograph of the front cover. We do get some credits though and that is great, maybe I’ll be able to track down the members at some point. We know that the band was formed by Claes Westling on vocals, organ and guitar, Anders Nylander on bass and vocals and Jan Elton on drums and vocals. There was some additional guitar on “Wintertime” thanks to Bo Häggqvist. The first song is credited to Westling/Ejeman who I’m not sure who is Ejeman at this point, while the B side is only credited to Clas Westling. This first record was engineered by Lars Jonsson.

It would take 5 years for the next proper release by the band. I’m not sure why it took so long. The album “The Quest of the Source of Sentimentality” was released in 1996 by Ceilidh Productions (CEI 038). It was released on CD and included 10 songs: “Unnerved”, “Tranquilizer”, “Sister”, “From March to May”, “The Birds”, “Shadow in My Heart”, “The Red Wind”, “Write Me a Sign”, “Bloodshed” and “Magic Rain”. Now the band had expanded and lost its first drummer. Claes Westling and Anders Nylander are still in the band but Lars Halvarsson is the new drummer. And they have added Per Ejeman as a guitarist. Okay, now I know who Ejeman, who co-wrote the beautiful “Wintertime” is.

For this record all of the songs were penned by Claes but “From March to May”, “Shadow in My Heart”, “The Red Wind” and “Magic Rain” were co-written with Anders. The artwork for the cover was a bit like the first record though not as enigmatic, now there is a farm photograph, in black and white. This cover is credited to Anders, Claes and M. Larsson. The photography on the booklet was taken by Anette Nantell. The album was recorded and mixed by Magnus Henriksson who had been involved in a band called Funny Gallery in the 90s too.

As I mentioned earlier, the band appeared on a few compilations. And here my whole idea of the band changes. So they weren’t just a 90s band. They had been going already in 1989. There are two compilation appearances dating from that year! Then, when did this band form?! On the compilation “Nordic Sounds Volume 2” that was released by Joker Records (JOKE 917) they had the song “Voice of the Blood” at the very end of this record. It is interesting, on this compilation I see The Wannadies, Happydeadmen and The Persuaders among others. The CD is promoted as having 18 Swedish underground hits. I found something anecdotic about this label. They were the first indie Swedish label to release a CD, and it was actually this one, this compilation. The label was based in Johanneshov and was active between 1984 and 1995.

That same year, on an LP compilation called “Bommen Bandstand Vol.1” that was released by Public Road Records (PR 388), the band contributed the song “Candle”. I notice here on the credits that perhaps during these first years of the band they had a different lineup. Claes and Anders are still, I suppose they were the core of the band, Jan was drumming, just like the first record, but Johan Linde played guitar and there were female vocals thanks to Pia Rahmberg.

Then in 1997 they appear on the compilation “Ceilidh 039 Singles & Vinyls” that was released by Ceilidh on CD. I believe I mentioned this compilation before on the blog when I wrote about Dream. Drug appears with their classic “Wintertime”. This was more of a celebration of previous releases of the label than bands promoting their music. So I wonder if the band was still going in 1997.

Discogs lists two more compilations, but I’m 100% sure they are wrong. They must be a different band with the same name, Drug.

The label Ceilidh has information about many Swedish bands from the period. I’ve consulted it in the past. So why not check out again. I think it is my best bet. There is not much information. No biography. Just the different lineups. We know them, but not the first one. The first lineup from 1989 has Claes, Anders, Jan and Tor Sigvardsson on keyboards.

I couldn’t find any other bands, on Discogs, that Anders might have been involved but I do find that Claes Westling had been in one called The Supreme Court that released a 7″ in 1985. The record is catalogued as a post-punk record. It is interesting that on this same record we see that Per Ejemann played guitar and vocals. And they both co-wrote the songs. So perhaps “Wintertime” was a song from this period?

But there is also another good website: Popfakta. In it I can find other bands the Drug members were involved with. For example I could find that Anders Nylander had been in a band called Baden Baden during the 80s and in Maydream in the late 90s.

Then possibly a very good piece of information. I stumble on Rateyourmusic with the place the band was from, Vadstena. Never heard about this place either. Vadstena (Swedish pronunciation: [²vasːˌteːna]) is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010.[1] From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality. Despite its small population, Vadstena is, for historical reasons, still referred to as a city: though it received its city privileges in 1400), Statistics Sweden only counts as cities Swedish urban localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants. It is actually close to Linköping and Sturefors.

That’s quite some information I found. More than I thought I would. But still so many gaps that need to be filled. Hopefully my Swedish friends remember them!

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Listen
Drug – Wintertime

Enjoying the last few matches of the World Cup. It seems France will win it for the second time, right?

And then also preparing for my Mexico trip. I’ve got so many people asking for records and this is by far the time I will be bringing with me more records than ever than any of my previous trips! Exciting!

Pastel Dream: I love finding gorgeous indiepop, that’s why I keep doing this blog. So when I stumble upon a brilliant album like “Too Much Too Fast” by the Davis, California, band Pastel Dream, I know what I’m doing is the right thing. I believe the album is only available as a digital release so far. It is a shame. It deserves someone to release it properly. The band is formed by Caitlyn Whitfield, Carlos Pineda, Sara Forestieri, Branding Findling and Greta Soos. The album is a bit short, 9 songs, but I have no complains, it is, as I said earlier, gorgeous.

J. Verben: the latest from the Spanish label Fikasound is this compilation of songs by J. Verben called “Recopilación” which is available in limited quantities on CD. There are 20 songs of bedroom pop, of all sort of qualities. There are terrific songs like “Sorda” or “Solo te Acuerdas de Mí en Campaña”, and other ones that are not my cup of tea. Well, there are 20 songs, and there is something for everyone in here.

The Hannah Barberas: more UK bands that don’t get invited to Indietracks. Here is a fun DIY pop band formed by Damien, Lucy, Doug and Matthew that have put up on Bandcamp their first 3 songs. All home recorded. “Our Girl is Gone”, “Now (Is Here At Last)” and “Red Sleeping Beauty”. This last one a fair attempt to McCarthy’s classic.

The Love-Birds: some fine guitar pop from this San Francisco four piece on vinyl LP and CD. Their album “In the Lovers Corner” is still available, though the limited Grass Green vinyl edition is by now sold out. The 11 song album is not available to stream. Just two of their songs are on Bandcamp, “Hit My Head” and “Kiss and Tell”, but I must say they are pretty good ones. Check them out!

Papaya: I think my friend Jalito recommended me this band while I was in Madrid, but only know I’m checking out their album “Corazón Abierto” on Bandcamp. It was released earlier this year, in February, on Jabalina, but I didn’t notice it! I feel I’ve been out of touch when it comes to this label. I used to pay more attention as they do have a pretty good catalog. Anyhow, there are 12 songs here, and it also happens this is the second album by this band. Where is the first one? I need to listen to that too. I need to catch up!

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Some precious jangle from this awfully obscure band is on today’s menu. This is as unknown as it gets. Which is a shame because the one song we know from them is a brilliant.

“Take My Breath” is the name of the song. Hurt is the name of the band. With that name it becomes almost impossible to google them. To find any information about them will require luck and lots of digging. I’m sure if the band had formed during this decade they’d chosen a different name, one easier to find. But, they formed sometime in the mid late 80s.

I can do an approximate date because of the release of a split 7″ in 1987 on Waterfall Records (WFL 3). That’s where “Take My Breath” appears, where it was released. Waterfall Records is a label I’m not familiar with. I see they released a 7″ by a band called Colour Me Pop in 1984 and later a 12″ by a band called The Insane Picnic in 1986. None of them ring a bell to me.

The split 7″ was shared with a band that I should feature sometime, the Little Red Schoolhouse. They contributed the song “Aged Bee” and were on the B side. Or to be more precise on the LRS side. Hurt appears on the H side. That’s how the label put it. There are some credits which are my first breakthrough. David Flamson played acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave Snell played bass, Ken Snell played electric guitar and Trev played drums. Were Dave and Ken brothers?

According to the sleeve this 7″ was also available as a 12″ but I haven’t seen the 12″ version of the record. The sleeve also mentions Jump Away fanzine. Was it a co-release between the fanzine and the label? Or was it all the same people behind it? I can’t say for sure. There are no compilation appearances listed for the band on Discogs.

So I’m hitting a wall. There’s not much more on the web about them. Where were they from? Most probably from the UK, from England. But what else can we find about them?

I am going to be lucky. There is a Facebook page called Ashington bands, past and present. I’m going to find a mention of Hurt there. Ashington, that is where St. James Infirmary were from too? I featured them on the blog in the past and tried to interview one of the band members, but sadly never got his answers back. Maybe he would have talked about Hurt? Who knows.

The post says that the band hailed from Ashington and Newbiggin. Never heard about Newbiggin, where was it?

Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is a small town in Northumberland, England, lying on the North Sea coast. Once an important port for shipping grain and a coal mining town, it is still a small fishing port making use of traditional coble boats. It is widely although mistakenly noted that the town was originally called ‘South Wallerick’, and renamed Newbiggin after the Danish invasion. However the document on which this is based refers to ‘Sanctum Walericium’, or St. Waleric. This was the name of the church at Alnmouth, which was at one time called Newbiggin. There is no connection with Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. Newbiggin derives from OE nīwe (new) + ME bigging (building, house), and this may refer to an extension of the early settlement and parish of Woodhorn.

The photo I used for the post was taken from that Facebook page, so thanks to them for that! It says that it was taken at Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington, North London. I suppose they went south, to London, to play some gigs? Maybe not.

I say that because there is another post about the band members, but about their previous band which was called Tuesday. Tuesday was formed by Ken Snell on guitar, Dave Flamson on vocals and guitar and Ian Clavering on bass. It originally started as a two piece (Flamson and Clavering) in 1984. It mentions that Trevor Cole was the drummer. It must be the same Trev as the one credited on the split 7″. It also says that Trev used to be in a band called Boldon Colliery. It seems that the band moved to London. They had played extensively around the north east until 1986, but afterwards Snell and Clamson continued Tuesday in London. At some point they changed their name to Hurt and went back to a revolving door of drummers and played extensively across London, the south east and the south west until splitting in 1991.

And again I hit a wall. No more information about them. I need to get the split 7″, but that is just the one song. I would love to hear more by them. Does anyone remember them?

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Listen
Hurt – Take My Breath

Monday, Monday. Remember my Mexican friends that if you need any Cloudberry Records, please let me know by Wednesday because I’m traveling on Friday to your beautiful country. That means too that I won’t be updating the blog for the time I will be away on holidays. Maybe that would be a good time for everyone that needs to catch up with the crazy amount of indiepop archaeology I’ve been doing this whole 2018.

But it is not just old and obscure pop that I want to feature. As always I try to find 5 good new finds for you all. So here they are:

Loose Tooth: just found out about this Melbourne based band. It seems I’m late at the party as they have some other releases listed on their Bandcamp, the oldest dating from 2015. But it doesn’t matter. The thing is they have a new album called “Keep Up” and they have a video for the opening song of the album called “Keep Up” available now to promote the record! The album is to be released on August 3rd on yellow vinyl on Milk! Records. The trio is formed by Etta Curry, Nellie Jackson and Luc Dawson and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on this record, even if I don’t know how the rest of the songs sound like!

The Loneliers: a girl punk/twee band from Brooklyn and Queens, New York. Would that mean that they are on the L train, somewhere in Ridgewood and Bushwick? Would that be a safe assumption? Maybe not! According to their Facebook they are based in East Elmhurst. Anyhow, the band has just uploaded a new song to their Bandcamp called “Sunblock” and it is a rush of pure fun guitar pop. Who are they? It is the first time I listen to them even though I live in the same city, in Queens too. They are a trio formed by Jessie Rodriguez, Debbie Rodriguez and Caitlin McMullen, and they have Go Sailor as one of their influences. That is a good thing in my book!

Dead Little Penny: some fuzzy guitar pop from Auckland, New Zealand? Why not! This band, formed in 2013 by Hayley Smith and Simon Buxton have an EP from 2016 and a new song, from April this year, on their Bandcamp. I stumbled upon them thanks to their latest, that is called “Honeycomb”. It is indeed very fuzzy, the way the band describes themselves and they seem to be signed to a label called Wood Lane.

Our Girl: where from did this very good track called “In My Head” came from? From this Brighton, UK, band that doesn’t play at Indietracks but it is playing the Benicassim festival in Spain. Some things don’t make sense. This is the first time I’m listening to this trio but it does look like they have more than a handful of songs in their Bandcamp. This one is the latest though, dating from June 22nd. It is only available digitally, but I hope it gets released physically as they did back in 2016 with their “Normally EP”.

E’spaniel: one of my favourite jangly pop bands from the UK is back with their debut album called “Entra Solo”. The 10 song CD is now available directly from the band. I need a copy of course. It sounds brilliant to me! They just had a launch party at the Cumberland Arms in Newcastle and I hope it was a success. Why are they not playing at Indietracks? Well that is the big mystery to me. So many good UK bands, they should book some of them! I hope this release gets some good attention, because this band formed by Christianne, Leon and Karen, has the right influences, the songs, the lyrics and the melodies. I’m very much enjoying this on Bandcamp right now!

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I own two out of the three singles The Impossibles released in the early 90s. But for some reason I never thought about finding out more information about them. Going through my collection always turns to be a surprise: records I don’t remember having, some rarities, some with set lists I’ve saved within the sleeve, others signed by the bands and so on. This time around The Impossibles caught my attention and when I looked for them on Discogs I was surprised that there was a 3rd single I was not aware of.

That’s why I started looking for any information that is available about them. Discogs describes the band as a mellow electronic/indie dance act from the early 1990s. All of these singles were released on one label, Fontana. Fontana was a label that was founded in 1957 by PPI in the USA as a vehicle to market recordings licensed from Epic outside of the US. It was launched in 1958 in the UK. It was a big label, with Universal Music Group as its parent label. They had money. So it would be interesting to know the relationship of the band and the label. And how come the band only released singles and not an album.

The label lists two band members, two girls, Lucy Dallas and Mags Gundy. It doesn’t look like they were involved in any other bands. Strange.

The band’s first 7″ was released in 1990 and we can clearly see the backing of a biggish label, it came out on 7″, 12″ and CD single. The 7″ included just two songs, “How Do You Do It?” on the A side and “Privilege” on the B side. The A side was produced by Chris Sheldon, a producer who had been in punk bands in the late 70s. The B side, and this might be of interest of many, was produced by My Bloody Valentine’s own Kevin Shields. The sleeve design is credited to Abraham Pants, a UK design studio, while the photography to Paul Cox.

The 12″ on the other hand included two more songs. Now both songs from the 7″ appear on the A side while the B side includes “Expect Poison From Standing Water” and “Tar Pit”. All songs by the way were written by Dallas and Grundy but “Tar Pit” which was written by J. Mascis for Dinousaur Jr. The tracklist repeats itself on the CD single.

All these different formats were going to be used for the next single, 1991’s “Delphis”. The 7″ again included two songs, “Delphis” on the A side and “Be My Baby” on the B side. The songs were both recorded by Matthew Vaughn and the A side was engineered by Mark Stent. The artwork is credited to Gus Campbell for the painting and John Warwicker and Vivid ID for the design.

This time for the 12″ the tracklist changes completely. The original “Delphis” is the opening track, but the rest of them are remixes. On A2 we find “Delphis (Terry Farley & Pete Heller Remix)”. The B side had “Delphis (Fluke Remix)” and “Delphis (Inner Space Mix)”. The CD single version has the same running order.

Their last single, “The Drum”, was also released in 1991 and once again it was released in the three different formats. It looks like the band was getting support by the label. The 7″ had two songs, “The Drum” and “Our Love is God”. The 12″ was to open the A side with “The Drum (12″ Mix)”, which was a remix by Andrew Weatherall assisted by Hugo Nicolson, and have the original version of “The Drum” as A2. The B side had “Our Love is God” and “Therapy?”. The CD included the same songs but in a different order, first was the original “The Drum”, then “Our Love is God”, “Therapy?” and “The Drum (12″ Mix)”.

There are a few interesting bits about “The Drum”. First it was a cover of the Slapp Happy original which was later also covered by Bongwater, changing a bit the lyrics. It is the Bongwater’s version that The Impossibles covered.  And there is a promo video of this song where we meet the two girls in black and white.

It seems there have been other bands with the same name, but from what I gather from some forum post the band was based in Edinburgh, Scotland, despite both Mags and Lucy hailing from the north of England. It seems at some point the band expanded to a 4 piece with Ian Jackson (bass) and Gary Macintosh (drums) joining them. It seems both of them had been previously playing in local bands like the Van Cleefs and the Press Darlings.

There is not much more about them on the web. I don’t understand how Mags and Lucy disappeared. How come they weren’t in any other bands. The songs they wrote and how the were singing them was brilliant! Sure, it must have been difficult with a big label, but maybe there was demos and other recordings by this band? Did they play live much? All around the UK? Who remembers them?

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Listen
The Impossibles – How Do You Do It?

With the announcement that Firestation Records will be doing a compilation of German pop bands from the late 80s and early 90s, similar to those of the series of The Sound of Leamington Spa, I will be featuring today a German band, why not?

Now to end this week I have a few more finds that I’d love to share with you all. That with the reminder that next week, on Friday, I’m off to Mexico!

Daniel Takes a Train: Firestation has rescued this band from obscurity, first by having them on The Leamington Spa series and now releasing a proper retrospective record. The LP and CD for the aptly titled “Style, Charm and Commotion” will be out on August 3rd. In the past I was able to find a CD single by them on eBay which I believe it is all their released output. I wonder how many songs will be included? There is very little information about it. But for sure the song “The Honeymoon is Over”  as well as “I Don’t Want This Love” will be included. You can preview it now on the label’s Soundcloud.

A Strange Desire: I interviewed Yvette from the band not too long ago on the blog, I don’t know if she had plans to release a retrospective at that point, but almost immediately I saw Firestation announcing a record called “Sunny Days at Salem” by the band. It will also be released on August 3rd and will include their classic song “Promise to Lie” but there are no other details at the moment. Just that it will be released on vinyl only.

Rik Rak: and the last from this trio of Firestation releases is the “Illuminated” LP by this band. Yes, another superb compilation! The one song the label has available to stream as a preview is called “It’s Not Easy”. This record will be available on CD and LP. Hope we learn more details about all of these releases soon.

Bodega Sisters: “No Other” is a new video by this terrific and mysterious Stockholm band. I have recommended their music in the past, but I don’t think I know much about them aside that they make great guitar pop. I hope they release a proper record sometime soon!

Jetstream Pony: I believe I recommended the demo for “Self-Destruct Reality” in the past. But who cares. The thing is that the GREAT English band is releasing a new record on Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten, that magnificent and tasteful label from our friend Ronny in Augsburg. This 12″ will include this song (I suppose not the demo version) and four more songs: “Zipwire”, “Not the One”, “Out of Reach” and “A Tribute to Wanda and Zena”. I very much look forward to have this on my collection!

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For some reason I thought I had featured this superb obscure German band, but a I couldn’t even find a mention about them in the whole blog!

The country bumpkins, or Die Wurzelsepps, who were they? On Youtube my good friend Heinz has uploaded a few of their songs. Upon listening you’ll probably be hooked to their enthusiasm, to their poppy hooks, to those infectious choruses. But did they release anything? I can only think of compilation appearances. I should find out.

To my surprise Discogs does list one release. And guess what, it is a tape. Me and my aversion to tapes. Was it a demo tape? Perhaps. Or maybe not. It does have a label listed, Karotten Records. There is no catalog number, but we do know it was released in 1992. It is called “Das Ich Weiß Nicht – Keine Ahnung” and included 6 songs.

The A side had “Walk Through Your Fantasy”, “Das Wär Ich Gern”, “Sweet Aggression” and “Floor is Cold”. Strangely, the B side only has two songs, “All I Got” and “Interview Im New Melody Maker”.

I do have at home two of their songs, thanks to compilations. I had “Floor is Cold” on the 7″ compilation “Ein Spätsommercocktail” (Stein 2) that was released by Steinpilz Tonträger in 1994. I actually got this record through Peter Hahndorf when I visited him in Bremen about 10 years ago. How time flies! This record has already been mentioned on the blog when I featured Friends Ahoi and Mossblüten. But there are three other bands on it, worth checking out like Despite the Ties, Der Junge Im März or Space Kelly.

The other compilation I own that has a song by them is “Durch’s Schlüsselloch In Des Mondgärtners Sternenhain” that was released not too long ago, 2014, by Frishluft Tonträger (FRL 009). If you are a reader of the blog, you might know that years ago I interviewed Krischan! the man behind this super label. On this double LP the band contributes the song “Ich Wär So Gern”.

They also appeared on the first compilation on Peter Hahndorf’s brother Ulli’s label, Steinpilz Tonträger. It was a tape called “Frischer Morgentau” which actually Peter offered me a copy back in the day in that Bremen visit, and I don’t know why I turned it down. My friend Nana did take a copy with her. Now I’m sad about it, even if it was a tape and I don’t like tapes. On this tape the band appears with the song “Sweet Aggression”. It was released in 1993.

That same year on an unofficial CD released by the Pigs Can’t Fly label called “72 Minutes” the band appears with “Das Wär Ich Gern”. From what I read, this CD was given for free at the Popkomm trade fair in Cologne that year.

Lastly they also show up on a label I’ve mentioned quite a few times the last few weeks, Meller Welle Produkte. This label put out a tape called “Playing Around Sandcastles” (MEL 31), and on it the band appears with the song “Es Mag Sein”.

Now that is all their recorded output it seems. But it is time to squint my eyes and try to read what says on the tape sleeve that Heinz has uploaded on the Youtube videos. While I listen to the terrific “Sweet Aggression” that sounds like the German Chesterf!elds, I figure out that the band was formed by Sebastian Völtz on percussion and backing vocals, Wolfgang Buchholz on vocals and guitars, Matthias Pilz on bass, guitars and backing vocals and Christian Ruppel on guitars and backing vocals. Then there is also an address for Karotten Records, in Norderstedt. That is a city that is actually part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Would that mean the band hailed from there?

Norderstedt is a city in Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (Metropolregion Hamburg), the fifth largest city (with approximately 77,000 inhabitants) in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, belonging to the district (Kreis) Segeberg. Norderstedt was created by the merger of four villages on 1 January 1970: the villages of Friedrichsgabe and Garstedt, both belonging to the district Pinneberg, and the villages of Glashütte and Harksheide, both belonging to the district Stormarn. The newly created city was assigned to the district Segeberg.

I start to wonder as I love these songs so much. Are there more? Wouldn’t a compilation of all their recordings would be fantastic? I need to find out their story and how come they remain so obscure to this day. I do find that Wolfgang had been last involved in a band called Der Schöne Lutz. About the other members I can’t be sure. There is a pianist called Sebastian Völtz, might it be the same? And also a cinematographer called Matthias Pilz. May the be the same as the band members in Die Wurzelsepps? Maybe my German friends could confirm so.

That’s all there is really on the web about them. They do sound fantastic, you’ll see. You definitely start to wonder how come they went unnoticed, how no proper releases, or even how come there hasn’t been done some series of compilations documenting all these fantastic indiepop bands from Germany from that time period, the early 90s.

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Listen
Die Wurzelsepps – Walk Through Your Fantasy

There’s no football today, but it is also a holiday here in the US. The famous 4th of July. So not many news but a few finds from the previous days and of course our obscure band of the day.

The BV’s: two new demos by one of our favourite bands!! That is terrific news, isn’t it? Check out “Mould” and “Reflection” on the band’s Bandcamp. The band is at the moment recording their 2nd album and to show they are not forgetting about their fans they are sharing these two beauties!

Hater: there are two songs available to stream from the new album by Hater. The brilliant Malmö, Sweden, band are releasing “Siesta” on September 15th and you can preview their pretty Scandipop by listening to “It’s So Easy” and “I Wish I Gave You More Time Because I Love You”.  The album will be released on vinyl LP and CD by Fire Records.

Dan Dan Dero: the Lima, Peru, band has been recommended many times on the blog, so they are not new by any means to the readers. They have a new song called “Las Antorchas” that sounds really pretty, so thought pointing it out to you all? Why not?

Marble Gods: this is yet another band that have appeared on the blog time and time again as they are really good! So if the trend continues, if they continue being this good, I will keep recommending any new song I find on the web. The Glasgow based band have a new tape on Marry Me Records. Yes, again a tape. I so wish it was a different format, but at least they are releasing stuff. The bad thing for many of you that do buy tapes is that it is already sold out. But then, do know that this release was actually a compilation of their previous tapes releases. So if you have those already, then you are good. In any case it is always a good reminder to listen to this top jangly fun songs!

Gentle Ivanhoe Death Skulls: what an odd name for this Stockholm band. This is another band that I discover by stalking my friend David on Bandcamp. The band’s releases are not that new. Their latest dates from November 15th last year. They are all digital releases. This last one has two songs, as if it was a digital single, with “Green Hang Ten” and “Beaches”. It is a bit shoegazy, a bit noisy, and dreamy too. Upbeat as well. They are really good songs! How come they fly under everyone’s radar? Perhaps because they haven’t tagged their music and that might prove hard to find them? Who knows, but this is really good and would love to hear more by them!

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The first of the Kittenish CD series was put together by Ceilidh Productions in Sweden. These mid-90s series were sort of a sampler of what the label was into at the time, and not necessarily showcasing only the label’s releases as it was the case of this first CD. These CDs were put together by the labels but they were actually released by a music magazine called Ultra Magazine. That’s what I’ve understood by a quick search on the web.

I don’t own any of these Kittenish CDs but would love to have the first one. I should make an effort and just get it through Discogs.  The next one, the 2nd one, was released by the Beat That! label, while the 3rd one by MNW Dance and the 4th doesn’t seem to have a label as far as I know. Not sure if there were more releases in the series.

Anyhow, was just checking out some of the bands on the first Kittenish CD (CEI 037) released by Ultra Magazine and Ceilidh Productions, checking out a bunch of unknown bands for me  and discovered a few that are worth featuring on the blog. See if we can find more information about them. I decided, for no special reason, other than I liked the song on the compilation, to start with the band Soapflakes. All right, I also thought the band name was kind of cool for a pop band.

On this compilation, that also includes important bands like The Cardigans or the super Stevepops, the Soapflakes appear almost at the end, on the 17th track out of 18th with the song “Impossible”. There is a small credit on the back cover for this song, it is credited to someone named L. Björn. Perhaps this will help me dig info on Google?

Discogs also has another song listed for the band on a 2013 triple CD compilation called “Håll Käft! The Gräjtest Rock’N Roll Swindle Vol. 1, 2 & 3” released by Position Förlag (POS005). It does look like these compilation are a mixed bag of styles, not just guitar pop but also some synth pop, hardcore, goth, and even metal. Everything thrown in together. Must be hard to listen I think!

This compilation wasn’t really sold on its own. But it actually came along a book called “Håll Käft! Den Nakna, Analoga, Uppkäftiga Och Nästan Kompletta Sanningen Om Musiklivet I Västerviks Kommun” that is an anthology of the local scene of Västervik in Sweden, between the years 1974 and 1992.

Västervik is a city and the seat of Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 21,140 inhabitants in 2010. Västervik is one of three coastal towns with a notable population size in the province of Småland, with Kalmar County being the only coastal county in the province. Every year since 1966 there is a folk music festival in Västervik, at the ruins of the Stegeholm castle. Being a summer town popular with yachtspeople, campers, daytrippers, and returning former residents, Västervik experiences an annual revival in July. Västervik offers an outdoor life of climbing, canoeing and sailing or islands to visit and stay at. Björn Ulvaeus, a band member of international ABBA who grew up in Västervik is building a complex consisting of hotel, restaurant, and apartments in the bay near Stegeholm castle, which will be a tourist attraction for Västervik.

So we can place the band in time, the early to mid 90s. We know they hailed from Västervik, which means west bay, in Sweden. And we know there was someone in the band called L. Björn. We don’t know of any proper releases though. We do know two songs.

Through the Scandinavian Indie email list I could find that the L stands for Lasse. So It was Lasse Björn. With that information in hand I could find that a band called Dung mentions Lasse on a post back in June 2007. So this band Dung was recording their 3rd album and they were to give the recordings for Lasse to mix them. Here they mention a few interesting things, Lasse had also been in a band called Seventh Wave and at the time, 2007, he was in a band called The Anhyzers. The curious thing then, is that there is an old myspace for this band, and it is listed as a band based in Studio City, California. Is that right?

Then I stumble upon the blog Mr. Zaines Kosertarkiv, a gig archive obviously, and here there is one Soapflakes gig listed, with poster and all. This gig happened at the Kalmar Nation, in Uppsala on September 10th of 1993.

What about Seventh Wave? It seems this was the band he was involved afterwards, a surf band, that released a record called “Always Offshore” in an Australian label called Corduroy Records, in 1995. I wonder if any of the bandmates in Seventh Wave were in Soapflakes as well? Later on, in 2009, this band was to release a mini CD too. Another band that is listed under Lasse’s name is Tamburmajoren who put out a few records on the label Drop Out Records. Then it seems he was involved with Sounds of Distortion as a producer and Weaselface as a technician.

Something interesting for sure is that there is a famous retired hockey player with the same name that keeps popping up. But in the end I stumble upon some interesting details, that Lasse works these days for the Sveriges Ljudmigreingscentrum (SLC) in Västervik. I believe that is a Sound Studio of some sort, Sound Migration Center.

Then I make a connection. I’ve seen SLC mentioned alongside the name Drop Out Studios a couple of times. I believe then that Drop Out Records, that released the Tamburmajoren CDs, is actually Lasse’s own label.

That’s quite some info about him. But I can’t find out who the other members were. Or how come there were no releases by Soapflakes. Maybe there were tapes. Or how come he hasn’t re-released with Drop Out some of the Soapflakes material. I’m curious. But it seems this early 90s band is kind of forgotten. At least I’ve heard one of their songs. Maybe with luck I could track the one included in the triple CD compilation. It is interesting though, that this must be the first time I feature a band from Västervik on the blog.

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Listen
Soapflakes – Impossible

Here are a few discoveries to kick off this week!

The Suncharms: “Red Dust” is the new song and new video for Sheffield’s The Suncharms. The band who were around in the early 90s and who released with us a great retrospective compilation reformed a few years ago. They worked on new material, new songs, and so the band has recorded a few new songs and two of them will be released as a 7″ on Slumberland Records as part of the 7″ singles club that the label is putting together as part of their 30th anniversary. Check it out!

Esperando el Otoño: this Chilean band has a few members from My Light Shines For You so that can only mean that the band should be great, right? The band recorded a few video sessions for the studio Sesiones 8874 and I’m linking here to the song “Abrázame”. There is also a second one for the songs “Eres Para Mi” and “¿Qué va a pasar?”.

Gizpel: two new songs by this Indonesian band, “Your Loss” and “False 9”, are available now on Bandcamp. These two songs should be released by Kolibri Records in some way (?). The band is formed by Fadillah Ananto on vocals and bass, Dika Raka Prayuga on synth, Joshua Emmanuel on guitar and Alit Wedhantara on drums.

Leave the Planet: the project of Nathalie Bruno and Jack Milwaukee from London, UK, released the “Nowhere EP”on March 2016. I missed it as I miss many things.  I’m only discovering it now. There are 6 dreamy shoegazy songs on it, “Forever”, “Sirius B”, “White Astra”, “Surrender”, “Seashore” and “Desert Son”. This was their last release as far as I know. Their first releases date from 2014 on Bandcamp. Maybe they are no more? Who knows, but this is good.

Deafcult: “if Slowdive was Australian” that’s what I read and that’s how I stumbled upon this Brisbane band. Their 2nd vinyl pressing of their album “Auras” is still available on the band’s Bandcamp. It is also available on CD. This is their debut album and it includes  12 songs of sweet dreampop. The band is formed by Kelly, Matt, Allan, Innez, Nate and Stevie. Will keep an eye on this band!

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If someone knows where their name comes from, please let me know. I’ve always been very curious about it.

I must say that I had seen their name, Bibi Hanuk, on many obscure indiepop collectors list for years until somehow, I happily found a copy of their 7″ at a Berlin record store that Uwe Firestation took me for me to check out many years ago. I think if Uwe hadn’t come with me I would probably wouldn’t find this record as the clerks got a box from the back for us. Maybe if I just went by myself they wouldn’t have showed me this treasure box where I found a few good records. Among them of course the “Camping EP” by this Finnish late 80s band.

As it happens with many of these obscure releases we don’t know much about the bands. So after many years I make the decision that I need to do a proper, a serious, investigation. So why don’t you join me, see what we can dig out.

Discogs actually has a small bio that I wonder who wrote it. It says that the band hailed from Helsinki, Finland, and they were influenced by Bowie, The Smiths and The Talking Heads. I start longing for Helsinki, which I visited last year around this time of the year. I loved it there. I had a very good time in Finland in general, wouldn’t mind visiting again or even moving there. Of course, the language is not easy at all! Perhaps that’s why they choose to sing in English.

The band formed in 1984 and it revolved around Marko von Konow (guitars and vocals) and his sister Milla von Konow (bass and vocals) and their architecture student friends Timo Vikkula (lead guitar) and Jarmo “Elukka” Eskelinen (drums and percussion). I believe that “Elukka” means animal in English. The band lasted until 1990.

Before Bibi Hanuk existed they were in a band called The Walking Deads, a project that covered The Talking Heads. But that was not all, they were also involved in Pete & the Shelleyettes, another covers band, this time covering the Buzzcocks.

As mentioned Bibi Hanuk only released one record while they were around, the “Camping EP”,  a 7″ that was released in 1988 by Sonic Records (Sonic 2). This was a Finnish label that released a bunch of 7″s and LPs in the late 80s and early 90s.

The record included 4 songs, 2 on each side. The A side had the superb “Take a Walk” (written by Marko and Timo) and “A Tuesday Evening” (composed by Marko and lyrics by Jarmo). The B side had “Missed the Point (composed by Marko and lyrics again by Jarmo) and “Hamster Waltz” (composed by Milla). So everyone added their talents to the songs, everyone contributed. All songs were recorded at Soundtrack Studios in Helsinki between the 14th and 16th of May, 1988, and they were also mixed there. It seems these studios still exist these days but they were renamed to E-Studio in 2010.

The art for the jacket was a collaboration between the band and Marjut Vikkula (may it be Timo’s sister?), while the photography of the inner sleeve was done by Riitta Sourander. The engineer and producer for the record was Kari Kalén who seems to have been involved in many bands especially during the 80s. None that I know sadly. There is also another producer listed, Gabi Hakanen, who also played some percussion in the record. And aside from their usual instruments Milla played piano on “Hamster Waltz” while Timo Vikkula played piano on “A Tuesday Evening”. It is important to mention that the inner sleeve came with the lyrics printed so anyone could sing along!

There are two compilation appearances for them. The first dating from 1990, a tape released by Twang! Records from Berlin, Germany, called “Under the Midnight Sun – A Compilation of Finnish Rock Vol. 3”. This tape was actually compiled by Mikael Karvajalka and it included “mainly the “hits””. He had compiled a few of these tapes in 1990, I believe there were 4 volumes of this compilation. On this 3rd volume, the band contributes “Take a Walk”. Another great song, a favourite of mine is included here too like Poverty Stinks’ “I Wanna Be With You”.

The other compilation is a most recent one, from 2000. The compilation “Sivulliset – Valikoima Suomalaista Vaihtoehtorockia Vuosilta 1985-2000” released by Poko Records (VALOSA1) was a 4 CD set doing a retrospective of the best of garage, power pop, punk, guitar pop and other “indie” genres. I have mentioned this boxset before, when I wrote about The Kidneys some time ago. Well, Bibi Hanuk is also on it, on the first CD with “Take a Walk”. I would love to explore these compilations, maybe I should try to find a copy for myself. I’m sure there will be many surprises in it.

And that’s about all you can find about the band. But what about the band members? Well in 2017 I see a long review of a record from Von Konow called “Lieder” on a website called Brutal Resonance. Here it mentions that Marko had not just been in Bibi Hanuk but afterwards joined a power pop band called Tweed during the 90s. Van Konow  had released a few digital singles on Youtube, the latest being “On a Hill“, released 4 months ago. The music is pretty good too. A bit more new wavey for sure, but it keeps the pop sensibilities that make us love Bibi Hanuk.

I look for other projects the band members had been involved with and see that Marko had done some backing vocals for Taikatuu, led a band called Moonage Daydream who did a tribute album for Bowie and was involved with a band called J. Huimapää & Tanssiorkesteri who released a few records in the late 80s.

Timo had also been in many bands, especially on one called Shadowplay that also released records on Sonic Records. He also contributed to Taikatuu, Maritta Kuula & Karvanopat, Kauko Röyhkä, Moonage Daydream and Them Bird Things.

The scene seems a bit small as the bands they seem to have been involved with repeat themselves. Jarmo played with J. Huimapää & Tanssiorkesteri and Milla played bass on Taikatuu.

But what about Tweed? I can’t seem to find them on Discogs, but I do find a shop that sells a CD single for the song “Alone” that was recorded in 1988.

Something cool that I found was a Yelp age for Marko. He is an Art Director these days. The cool thing being that his office is on the street Uudenmaankatu. That is the same street where I stayed in Helsinki! And then I spot a Facebook page, and I see that Von Konow is not a solo project but a band where Timo Vikkula still works with him playing guitars and keyboards. And that the band is based both in Helsinki and Lisbon. And there is quite a lot of information about it, but not about Bibi Hanuk.

What about Milla? I believe she is now a photographer based in Lohja, Finland. Timo Vikkula continues his architecture career working at the Museum of Finish Architecture. And Jarmo seems to be now in London, as a director of Future Cities Catapult.

So we do know Marko and Timo continue making music, but what about Jarmo and Milla? And of course my most important question is if there are more Bibi Hanuk songs other than the 4 on the 7″? There must be! I mean they were around since 1984 and lasted till 1990, they can’t just have 4 songs. And how come there are no mentions of gigs on the web? I did find that they were played on Swedish radio. And it is interesting that they had a song on a German label. But how come they didn’t release more records? And especially how complicated was to be a guitar pop bands in Finland when we all know it as a metal music country.

I wonder, if any of my Finnish friends remember them? Would be great to find out more about this terrific Helsinki band!

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Listen
Bibi Hanuk – Take a Walk

No World Cup today. It feels weird. But can’t wait for the matches tomorrow. Aside from that not much more to tell you all. There is my trip to Mexico in two weeks and I already have received a few orders for me to bring and save shipping costs. Oh! And that I have no more copies of the My Favorite LP as the last copies are going to Mexico where the band seem to be popular as most people were requesting this record to me.

By Monday I hope to have some more exciting news! There is one new Cloudberry Cake Kitchen compilation confirmed too which I hope to announce very soon. Now what have I found the last few days?

Fragile Flowers: where from this beautiful music came from? Sure, it does say Japan on their Bandcamp, but how come I’m only coming across it? This is a 4 piece formed back in 2016 with members Tamaki, Riko, Atsumi, Tigo and Blue from our friends Boyish.  I don’t think they have released any physical records yet, but there are a few digital ones to check out. Their latest is a 6 song EP called “Sheltering Sky/4rd Love”. It sounds great, dreamy and upbeat. Definitely a band to keep an eye.

La Naissance: an Italian shoegaze/indiepop band… that is a novelty. There are only a few good Italian indiepop bands that I can think of, very very few. Well, this Roman band does sound good at first listen. Their self-titled EP includes 5 songs, and to be honest I don’t know much about them. I’m checking their Facebook page but it doesn’t mention the names of the band members or if this is their first release. I suppose they are very new and they do like some mystery.

Sightlines: “Love Ethic” EP is the latest from this guitar pop band from Vancouver, Canada. It is available digitally and also on a blue green vinyl 7″. There are 4 songs, “Love Ethic”, “Colours”, “(We Don’t Have to Be) Friends Forever” and “Bedfellows” and it was released last May. This is their newest work since 2016’s album “North”. The band is formed by C.A. Chux, Graeme McDonald and Eric Axen. This choppy guitar pop record is being c0-released by Double Lunch and Alarum Records.

Shrouded Amps: from the last band’s Bandcamp I followed the recommendations and stumbled upon another guitar pop band from Vancouver. Their latest release is not as new, it dates from last November, but as they are new to me, I am having a listen and recommending to you all to have a listen. The band formed by Tracey Vath, Matthew Budden and Eirinn M have 2 other releases on Bandcamp that I will check afterwards, but now I listen one by one these songs. The first song doesn’t gets my whole attention, but things pick up with the 2nd, “She Spun Out”, but perhaps it is “Mannequins”, the 3rd one, with its quirkyness that I decide this is a band I want to follow!

Rush Week: . I’m not sure about this record at first listen. It is released by the most important indiepop label from Spain, Elefant Records, that’s why I want to know what you think. Do you like it? Is it worth ordering? It sounds like it doesn’t fit within the label, right? I mean it is not bad, but it sounds kind of mainstream to my ears. I saw some comparisons to Club 8, but I don’t see it. It sounds It makes me cringe seeing an indiepop label tagging their records with names like Daft Punk or the XX, I don’t know if that is a big disappointment for you too, it just doesn’t feel like this is an indiepop record, not even an indie record. Thoughts please?

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I was thinking about Plutonita the other day. A trip down memory lane. To the early 2000s when I was obsessed with Spanish indiepop. A time where I was looking for more and more songs, especially from very little known bands, bands that had only released demos on CDR. One of the bands I remember the most was Plutonita, from Murcia.

I wonder why. I loved their two releases, “En la Casa de las Locas” and “El Efecto Minipimer”. I had them on MP3. I didn’t get physical copies of the demos from that period. Maybe only a few. So I was trying to find in old hard drives for their songs, thinking that I must have saved them somewhere. But I couldn’t find them.  And that is a shame.

Their two releases don’t appear on Discogs. But I do remember a few details about them.

“En la Casa de las Locas” was released in 2000 and included the songs “Fiesta Despedida Glam”, “Supergirl”, “30º”, “Planeta de Cristal”, “Cybercita”, “Silvia Fantasía”, “Si Algún Día” and “Quiero Sentirme Flotar”.

Their next release happened in 2002, “El Efecto Minipimer”. This demo had four songs, “Claudio”, “Freetanga”, “Top Modern” and “****”.

On the Murcia Rock website, on an article from January 2003, it mentions that the band was formed by Esther Ganga on vocals, Paco Ganga on guitars and vocals, Juan Alfonso Moreno on guitars, Roberto Puffins on keyboards, Nando Robles on bass and Pedro Marco on drums. It also mentions that they won a prize called Villa de San Adrián and came on second on a Lérida based awards Directe 02 where they got 1,800 euros as prize money.

There are also some other interesting details here, first that the band was formed in 1999 around two members, Paco Ganga and José Ángel Frutos. They released a first demo with three songs “Ácido acetilisalicílico”, “Planeta de Cristal” and “Quiero Sentirme Flotar”. I haven’t heard any of these songs sadly, so can’t say how they sound like. After this demo José Ángel left the band to focus on his main project that was called Second.

Afterwards, now with Esther on vocals, there was another demo called “Mi Barrio Pop”. I don’t know what songs were on it. I only know that thanks to this demo they won a local award called Creajoven 2000.

I also noticed that the band represented at the Youth Biennale in Sarajevo in 2001. But I can’t seem to find much more information about it. Did they go and play there?

On the Yellow Melodies fanzine website there is a review of a 2000 demo CDR called “Silvia Fantasía” that had 5 songs: “Silvia Fantasía”, “Supergirl”, “Cibercita”, “Fiesta Despedida al Clan”, “30º” and “Planeta de Cristal”. Another entry that mentions the band in this Murcia fanzine by Rafa Skam from Vacaciones, mentions a gig at the venue called Garage de la Tía María where they shared the bill with Popiflor, Zipi Zape and Vacaciones.

There is also another article on this website dating from March 2001. Here they mention that the band played at the Villa de Bilbao contest where they qualified to the semi finals and playing at a venue called BilboRock. It seems they had beat Gasca, a band that were on the Elefant label. There is also a mention of a gig on April 5th that year at a venue called La Puerta Falsa in their hometown of Murcia.

On another article, one that is an interview to the band Noisebox, I learn that the practice space they used was named “La Casa de las Locas” and it was also the place were Plutonita, Second and another bands practiced.

Another thing I notice, on many articles on the newspaper La Verdad, is that the band gets compared to The Sundays, Ivy and The Cardigans. And I believe they might be right. Also something curious was that I found that the band played together a gig with Galáctica who I had featured not too long ago on the blog.

I believe also that after the release of the “El Efecto Minipimer” EP, Nando Robles and Pedro Marco decided it was time to only focus on the band Second who was gaining success in Spain. Plutonita was left behind.

I start to wonder about the name of the band. I notice there is a chewing gum, a sour one, with that name that is manufactured in Brazil by the brand Arcor.

Then what are the band members doing these days? It seems Esther is still involved with music as a DJ. I notice that just a month ago she was performing with Mamen Garcia as the Women Beat DJs at the La Verdad festival on the Rendibú night in Murcia. Actually most of the hits I get on Google are about Esther as a DJ as she now uses the name Plutonita for all her DJing.

Not much more on the web about this shortly lived Murcia band who surprisingly didn’t end up on a label other than their own. For me it is strange, they had quality songs and they seem confident in their music until of course, their other band started to do much better in terms of exposure. Then Plutonita was no more. But I do wonder what happened in between with Esther for example, between Plutonita and she being a DJ Plutonita. Or with Paco Ganga? I suppose Roberto Puffins was in a band called Puffins, but what about José Ángel Moreno. What did he do afterwards?

I’m sure my Spanish friends remember them as they have with Galáctica when I decided to feature them. Would be great to find out more about Plutonita!

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Listen
Plutonita – Claudio

Wow, Germany is out of the World Cup. It is hard to believe, right? And yesterday my dear Peru, playing their worst game in the tournament, could score and win a game. Pisses me off though, when we played better we couldn’t get a result. We were an exciting team, played well football, and it does annoy me that Denmark with its boring and pragmatic style is in the next round. Nothing against Danes, I love the Danish Dynamite team back in the day. But this team has no flair at all. France has the talent, so they were going to go through, and always thought we’d come in second. Australia didn’t have much quality though so really had no chance. But well, for many that wasn’t an upset as it was for me. And no one really would care about it. But yeah, today’s Germany’s elimination and Sweden topping that group, that is definitely a surprise. I feel sad for my German friends, but very happy for Sweden (even though I don’t like their play style) and Mexico of course.

Speaking of Mexico, in about two weeks I’ll be visiting the country and if anyone would love me to bring records so you can save on shipping costs please let me know.

Some new video finds today!

Catenary Wires: Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey’s band has a new 7″. I had recommended that a few posts ago. But now there is also a new video for the song “Was That Love?” that I can’t not just pass, I need to let you know about it.  The 7″ is available now from WIAWYA, the label of Mr. John Jervis of course. I still haven’t ordered it, which I’m not happy about. I hope it ends up being available on Jigsaw Records.

Cooper: another video, this time by the superb León, Spain, band. This song, “Ya Llegó el Verano”, is included on the “Tiempo, Temperatura, Agitación”, album that Elefant has already released on vinyl LP and CD. Another top song by Alex Diez, the ex-frontman of the legendary band Los Flechazos. And yes, as the song says, summer is here, though the World Cup is not letting me go out as much as other summers!

Wave and So: seems today I’m having a video review on the blog. Now is the turn for the song “Sun” by one of the best Thai bands today, Wave and So. I don’t understand the details on the Youtube link, but I do know that this song will be included in their new album that is to be released this year on the label Parinam Music. Would be great if this band’s releases were easily available, perhaps distributed here in the US, or at least in Europe, like it is happening with for example the Korean band Say Sue Me.

I Saw You Yesterday: and if was just talking about a Thai band, then there is this Japanese band that I’ve featured before that has actually filmed their last video, for the song “City Girl”, in Bangkok. The band had visited the city when they participated in the Pow Fest in that city in January 2018. That’s when all this footage was recorded. So cool. It made me remember my visit to Thailand in 2016. Such a good time. I hope to go back to Asia again soon. The song is available in the band’s latest EP, “Topia”, which is available from the label Space Shower Music.

Watoo Watoo: and the last new video that I want to recommend is the one for “Au Fond Des Allées” by Watoo Watoo. True, I just recommended their album but at that moment I wasn’t aware there was a video for the song included in “Modern Express”, their fifth and last album, that was just released by Jigsaw Records. So I would say the same thing, this is top French indiepop. Elegant and playful at the same time. The classic French band still shows to be in top form.

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So I finally ended up ordering all the Messthetics collection. A bit late indeed. But as the saying goes, better late than never.

I have actually featured a few bands that appear in those compilations on the blog, the ones I consider as proto-indiepop like Cinematics or Scissor Fits. DIY bands but with a pop sensibility. I am by no means an expert in that period, the early 80s, so I’m actually hoping to discover many bands through these CDs. The first band I had never heard before that caught my attention was the Dundee, Scotland, band Scrotum Poles and their infectious song “Pick the Cat’s Eyes Out”.

As I know very little about them, as they are new to me, I’m doing my investigation now. Discogs describes them as an indie/punk band. And it seems that back in the day they only released one proper record, one 7″, on the label One Tone (ERECT 1). It is actually the only record on this label so I believe it is safe to think this was the band’s own label. The 5 song 7″ EP was titled “Revelation” and had the A side stamped the word “SAD” and the B side had “HAPPY” stamped and had a sticker with two “Hazchem” symbols printed in red ink and stamped “ONE TONE”.

The songs on the record were on the A side, “Why Don’t You Come Out Tonight?” and “Night Train”. While on the B side we find “Pick the Cat’s Eyes Out”, “Helicopter Honeymoon” and “Radio Tay”. There are credits too on the back cover of the record:
Sid ‘Bones’ Gripple – vocals and bass
Burt Spurt – drums
Stripey Sleep – guitar
Smeg Pole – vocals
The songs were mastered by Porky, the famous George Peckham, the famous Porky prime cut. And of course we know those are not the real names of the band members. So, Sid was actually Steve Grimmond, Burt was Glenn Connell, Stripey was Colin Smith and Smeg was Craig Methven.

Other interesting info about this first record was that there was backing vocals by the fabulous “Scrotettes” and that it was recorded by Wilfred Smarties. The design of the sleeve was created by Steve Grimmond.

There are two versions of this 7″. There is the one that has a black and white sleeve and there is one with a yellow sleeve that has a different band logo and illustration. This yellow one actually comes with some inserts with lyrics for the songs. According to a comment on a blog called The Street lamp Doesn’t Cast, what happened was that this sleeve was produced by a dealer who bought the remaining 200 or so copies of the single from their bass player in the mid eighties. The real official sleeve is the black and white one (as the band could never have afforded colour).

Later on, this 7″ was to see some reissues. In 2009 the label Rightback Records released a CDR version of the single and included 3 more songs on it as bonus tracks: “Put an End to it All”, “On the Street Where You Live” and “Eye to Eye”. This CDR came with liner notes by Craig Methven and there it tells that the band took their name from the book “The Choirboys” while he and Colin studied at the Dundee College of Education in 1978. Their first songs were “This is Love”, “Pillars” and “Victims of Vietnam”.

They first released a tape that was limited to 100 copies. “Auchmithie Calling” was released in 1979. At this point Craig and Colin had added Steve Grimmond, Matho and Ronnie Lawson to the band. It seems that after they put out this tape Matho and Ronnie left the band. Glen Connell joined soon afterwards.

According to the story on these liner notes, the band opened for The Exploited and the Thompson Twins. And they were able to raise five hundred pounds to do the “Revelation” 7″. It seems Colin drove down to London with Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue to get the songs mixed in London. The final gig by the band happened at the Tayside Bar in Dundee. The last song they played live was “Memories”.

And then two years later, in 2011, the American label Dulc-I-Tone (TT-013) was to re-release the 7″, as a 7″, with the original tracklist.

This same label had released two years before an LP full of rare Scrotum Poles songs. The “Auchmithie Forever” (TT 012) LP included tracks from the “Auchmitie Calling” tape (A1-A2), “The Bedroom Tapes” (A3-A10) and “A Shot in the Dark go Pop” (A11 & B1-B11). All of these songs were mastered by Weasel Walter and were recorded by Alan Officer. The songs were, on the A side, “It Just Ain’t Fucking Funny”, “Just Another Number”, “Be No More”, “Pick the Cats Eyes Out”, “On the Street Where You Live”, “This is Love”, “The Smile”, “Pillars”, “Roadrunner”, “Apocalypse” and “Swing Baby”. On the B side there was “Helicopter Honeymoon”, “Fast Changes”, “You Can’t Say Anything Nowadays”, “Undivided Loyalty”, “Circumstances”, “Pick the Cats Eyes Out”, “Hold Me Tight”, “City Limits”, “Cocaine”, “Birthday Boy” and “Put an End to it All”.

The band have a bunch of compilation appearances but to be honest they are mostly from a later period. Not from the 80s.

On “Back to the Front Vol.2” by Incognito Records the band contributes the song “Radio Tay”. That LP and CD compilation came out in 1993 on this German label.

On the “Thrilled by Dearth” CDR comp released in the US label Pop Con (02), they had the song “Helicopter Honeymoon”. It seems this wasn’t an official release, instead it was just a CDR that was compiled and given away at the 3rd EMP Pop Conference in Seattle. Only 25 copies were made.

Next up is “Pick The Cat’s Eyes Out” on the Messthetics Greatest Hits CD compilation on Hyped to Death (Messthetics #1050) that was released in 2006. This is the CD I was listening and which made me discover them. And they are on another of the Messthetics compilations, on the “Messthetics #105, “DIY 77-81 Scotland” from 2007. On this one they have the song “Helicopter Honeymoon”. I have yet to listen to this one, I’m going in order with the compilations!

Then there is a tape called “Halloween 2012” released by Eat the Life Records from 2012 that incldues the song “Why Don’t you Come Out Tonight?”

And lastly on the partially unofficial compilation “Kilt By Death: The Sound of Old Scotland (1977-1984)” they have two songs, “Helicopter Honeymoon” and “Radio Tay”. These three CDs were compiled by an American DIY and Scottish punk enthusiast named Michael Train.

I look for more info and I find a post on the website Punk77. Here they are compared to the Television Personalities. They say that after they split the band members went to play in Pigs are Cute, Aaga, Synthetic Dreams and the Summerbees (featuring Red Snapper and Beth Orton bassis Ali Friend). Steve Grimmond went to be Director of Music and Art and Cultural Services at Dundee District Council. It also seems at some point there was a proper Scrotum Poles website. The band used to have a Myspace too.

Sadly I stumble upon band news. On the Courier newspaper I find that on May 21st of 2015 the vocalist Craig Methven died aged 54. At that time he was living in Tunbridge Wells and it seems he was a big supporter of Tunbridge Wells FC, whose website he developed too. At this point in time we know too that Steve Grimmond was Fife Council’s chief executive.

Lastly a Facebook page. And it hasn’t been updated since 2015 when they shared these sad news. There is really not many new details about the band here aside that it is clear they were big fans of the TVPs. Some links for songs by Aaga, the band Grimmond formed afterwards, are perhaps the most interesting finds in here.

But perhaps the best anecdotes are shared on the liner notes of the Messthetics compilations:
“Pick the Cats Eyes Out” featured lyrics found on the back of a set list by one of the first Dundee punk bands, Bread Poultice and the Running Sores (a band once fronted by Billy McKenzie of The Associates). “Cats Eyes” are what Brits call those little orange highway reflectors embedded in the pavement: “Cats Eyes Out Ahead” used to be a common roadside warning.”

All very interesting. Now I should try to get a copy of the 7″ reissue. Start there. I couldn’t find much info about gigs. I’m sure they played many. I guess that would be something I would like to ask them. And also why they didn’t get to release more records.

Do you remember them?

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Listen
Scrotum Poles – Pick the Cat’s Eyes Out

A new week of World Cup, and I just hope tomorrow Peru beats Australia. We are out that is true but would love to say goodbye to this World Cup experience by winning a game and also scoring a goal, or more. It has been quite disappointing not getting the results but it did feel good to see the team in the big stage and playing good football.

I hope your team is doing well and that it goes far. I have friends from many countries that are competing in the World Cup, so it is hard to say I prefer a team over another, but because of very important reasons I’m going to be supporting Mexico from now. 🙂

Also just letting everyone that placed pre-orders of the Salt Lake Alley 7″ just know that they have been shipped. Also Jigsaw Records will have copies shortly and also Rough Trade in the UK. I’ll let you know when other mailorders carry our latest release.

Now a bunch of great finds for this Monday!

Red Sleeping Beauty: “Always on Your Side” EP. Look for it on June 22nd. A 4 song CD EP that Sunday Records (yes! the classic US label is back) are releasing by the legendary Swedish band. Classic, legendary. Both label and band are household names for any indiepop fan. And so this release makes us all happy and we can only look forward to it! The four songs on the record are “Always On Your Side”, “Falling Out of Love”, “Just For Fun” and “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight”. You can preorder it for $6 plus shipping and do keep an eye on the new releases Sunday will be announcing shortly!

Ring Snuten: a few posts ago I was sharing a song by Patrik Lindgren’s alter ego, Ring Snuten, and I didn’t have to wait long to find a new song worth recommending, “Solkatter Eldvatten”. I wonder what intentions Patrik has with these songs? Maybe working on an album? Or just releasing them digitally? It is great to see two new songs within a month after a silence of at least a year!

Dylan Mondegreen: the Norwegian has just revealed a video for the first single for his upcoming fifth album. The video directed by Katalina Bakradze features the song “A Place in the Sun” which sounds very much like Dylan Mondegreen. No surprises there. I haven’t followed him for many years I have to admit, it must be since Shelflife released one of their albums. Maybe I should start doing so again?

Helen Love: “Double Denim” is the latest by one of the best bands ever. And it is going to be on a 7″ that will be released on Alcopop Records. And here I’m sharing the video which of course has the Helen Love aesthetics we all love. It is just perfect. What I don’t know is if this is the A side or if there are any other songs included in the record. I went to the label’s website where one can order the record but couldn’t find any information really.

Sharesprings: two new songs by one of our favourite Indonesian bands! “Something Soon” and “So Comely (Live)” make up the new digital single. There are more good news though, they are announcing a full length very soon. This is out for now on Dismantled Records.

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“Aiken Drum” is a popular Scottish folk song and nursery rhyme, which probably has its origins in a Jacobite song about the Battle of Sheriffmuir (1715). It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 2571.

This Aiken Drum wasn’t Scottish. It was Irish. And I must admit I discovered their music recently thanks to the Fanning Sessions Blog. And now I’m only going through the few recordings that are available on the band’s SoundCloud page. All the recordings, and the blog post, everything dates from 7 years ago or so. So I am coming late to the party once again. But still, for me this is all new music and I’m enjoying it. That’s what matters in the end, and I hope the same will happen for you.

The band was formed by Martin McCann, Pat Morrissey and Dave Morrissey around 1985. Pat and Dave were brothers.

They didn’t last long, according to Irisrock.org, they split a year later, in 1986. They hailed from Finglas. I must admit it is the first time I hear that name. I have a trip pending to Ireland. I would really love to go soon.

Finglas is a northwestern outer suburb of the city of Dublin, Ireland. The suburb mainly lies in the postal district of Dublin 11. A couple of kilometres from Dublin Airport, it is situated at Junction 5 of the M50 and the N2 national primary road leading to Ashbourne and beyond. Nearby suburbs include Glasnevin and Ballymun, while the rural village of St. Margaret’s is around 2 km to the north. The name Finglas (Irish: Fionnghlas), meaning a clear streamlet, is derived from the Finglas River, a stream which flows through the village and joins the Tolka at Finglas Bridge.

The band only had one song properly released and that happened in 1986 when they appeared on the “Street Carnival Rock” 7″ compilation with the song “The Hearing”. On this compilation they appear first, on the A side. Joining them in that side were Flex and the Fastweather and on the flipside the great A House and The Golden Horde. These recordings were actually all taken from various session recordings for the Dave Fanning Show on Radio 2. All of them were produced by Ian Wilson.

The deal with this 7″, that had no label nor catalog number, was that it was released as part of the 1986 Dublin Street Carnival that was going to be held on June 21st and 22nd of that year and was organized by Radio 2 and Hot Press. The four bands on the 7″ were the ones that were scheduled to play on that bill. All royalties were also going to be donated to the festival.

Irishrock mentions other songs by the band like “The Real Me” or a cover of Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly”. Also other important details about them was that after the demise of the band, Martin McCann later was in Lord John White and Sack, Pat Morrissey became an audio engineer at a studio located in Christchurch Cathedral and Dave Morrissey later played keyboards in A House.

Thanks to the Soundcloud we know that there were three songs recorded for the Fanning Session: “A Day in the Country” (which is become quickly a favourite), “Penny by Penny” and “The Hearing”. And that there was a two song demo titled “Great Strand Street”. This demo tape had two songs, “Force Fed” and “The Real Me”.

Reading the comments on the Fanning Sessions blog I also learn a bit about the band. For example that they played at “The South Band Show” in Finglas and in Dun Laoghaire. Another person comments that he has a copy of the song “Laura” that was included in a Fanning demo/session. Was this song part of that 3-song session I mentioned early? Or was there a 2nd session by the band?

These days I believe Martin McCann continues making music with the band Elevens.

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Listen
Aiken Drum – A Day in the Country