Pretty busy week so far. Not much news from me. But here are some news from around the indiepop world.

Ancient Channels: Definetely Australia is producing top indiepop at the moment, I keep discovering good songs all the time. The latest discovery is this Brisbane band which might be just Kelly Hanlon and friends helping her playing drums and percussion. Impressive. They have just the one song but it is pretty good, it is called “Footprints in the Dark”.

Clan de Venus: really good jangle pop from this León, Mexico, band! They have just released a self-titled album with 7 songs that sound terribly fresh. I highly recommend this one. The band is formed by Ricardo “Manzanas” Gómez, Angel “Amadeus” Tavarez, Norman Orozco and Diego Chávez. Let’s keep an eye on them.

All Romantic Days: This band features band members of the super Sound & Fury band from Chengdu but this time it is not shoegaze but proper indiepop! Sweet and dreamy! Wow, really wow. “May I Waste Your Time” is their debut EP. I hope this gets released properly soon!

Tea Room: another terrific indiepop band with top pop sounds! So far out of 4 bands, 3 are classic indiepop! Cool! That’s a change. Not that I don’t like shoegaze, I do, but you know my heart is very very poppy! This trio hails from Mississauga, Canada, and have a 5 song EP called “Dress Up” which is lots of fun! Another record I hope gets released in physical format. It deserves so.

Cinéma Lumière: the latest project by pop genius Xavier Emas from the Philippines sounds gorgeous. Again proper classic indiepop, chiming guitars, sweet vocals and dreamy melodies. What else can one ask?! This is up my alley, and yours I bet. And there’s even a video for the song “Love”. Ah! I feel nostalgia for the golden days of indiepop!

—————————————————————–

Man Friday: a male helper or follower. Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe names the man Friday, with whom he cannot at first communicate, because they first meet on that day. The character is the source of the expression “Man Friday”, used to describe a male personal assistant or servant, especially one who is particularly competent or loyal. Current usage also includes “Girl Friday”. 

It’s been a while since I wrote about an obscure Swedish band. Well it is time to fix that. Let me present you My Man Friday!

I know barely anything about them. I’ve listened to the A side of their one and only release, a 7″ released in 1987, and I thought it sounded superb. Now I am looking to find out more info on them.

The 7″ had just two songs, “On the Other Side of the Atlantic” on the A side and “Autumn Would Mean All Rain” on the B side. The 7″ was released by Watch Out Records (WAR 003) and the sleeve, on the front, features a small photo of the band.

Something that I am curious about is the label. It does look like this was the third release on the label but actually only this 7″ is listed on Discogs. Perhaps 001 and 002 were demo tapes? I’ve seen that happen in the past.

Sadly there are no compilation appearances by the band. I will need to dig deeper.

Then I suddenly stumble upon something unexpected. Another song by the band, not on the 7″ called “Come and Stay“. It is on Youtube and it is really nice! Here I learn that the band was based in Stockholm and was around from 1985 to 1988. And then I follow the trail and I find a total of 16 songs by the band! Wow! Really wow!

Other songs available to listen are “Anything Goes“, “Bodyless“, “Boys in the Backdoor“, “By My Side“, “Cruel“, “Death“, “On the Other Side of the Atlantic“, “I’ve Seen that Face“, “Jealous“, “Knowledge“, “True” and “Walk On By“. This is more than I expected when I started writing the post.

I look at comments see if there is any interesting details. Not really, though they do seem to have a fan called Toni Kaufmann who has commented quite a lot saying they are his favourite band! Then one of the songs, “On the Other Side of the Atlantic” doesn’t have a photo of the band, instead it has the back sleeve of the 7″. Details at last!

Here it says that the band was formed by Pelle Pop (real name Per Nordwall), Mats Johansson, Carlo Kaufman, Peter Touminen and Anders Engström. The sax on the 7″ was played by Thomas Jo Hansson and the female backing vocals were by Maria Olsson. The two songs on the 7″ were recorded at Tom-Tom Studio by Thomas Wretman. Cool!

Then I find that the band actually appeared on the 1987 Swedish film called “Vem är Ansvarig för Detta?” (“Who is Responsible For This?”) where they played the Elvis song “Jailhouse Rock“.

And then even better, a promo video for the song “Anytown“. Det är mycket bra! This is is so good! But this is not the only promo video, the B side of the 7”, “Autumn Would Mean All Rain” also has a video!

Then Pop Fakta, the Swedish rock archive website, would actually give me more answers. To start it has more records listed for Watch Out Records, a release by Rouletto och Kasino and two by The Link.

Other interesting details in which other bands did the band members play. Pelle Pop played on T-Shirts, Taxi and Trance Dance during the 80s. Mats Johansson has played in Sinn Fenn, Claudie, Extra, Avsikt, Moderns, Candy Roxx, Nini, Isildurs Bane, Roland Utbult, Freda, Mao, Quil, and more. He is even listed for A-Teens? Maria Olsson, who did the choruses on the 7″, played in Gospel Voice, Wilner, Åke Bylund & Mörbyligan and The Next.

And even though I couldn’t find info about Carlo Kaufman, the vocalist, on Pop Fakta, I am pretty sure as I found a post about it in Blaskotelet, that he was in a band alongside Monica Hellström called  Maude & Kompani and they recorded a demo sometime in the 80s. I’d love to listen to that!

And that’s all really. I definitely would love to know why didn’t they release any more records. They had the songs. Were these songs released as demo tapes? Did they play lots around Sweden? It is the first time I’m hearing them, I am curious if they shared stage or were friends with other fine pop bands at the time. Would definitely love to know more about them!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
My Man Friday – On the other side of the Atlantic

So in two weeks I am heading for holidays in Vietnam. I have never met a Vietnamese indiepop fan, but as I am going there, and if there is anyone interested in some record (maybe you have some friends there?), get in touch with me and I can bring some records to you and save on postage.

Last Saturday I attended the Robert Forster gig here in NY, in The Bell House, in Brooklyn. I had bought tickets the minute they were released and it seems those tickets were seated tickets. Not that it mattered really, seats were first come first serve, but still, that already gave the gig a different atmosphere than what I am used to. I don’t think I’ve ever sat in a concert. Okay, maybe at Indietracks at the church venue. But it is not common. So I was curious.

In the end I think it worked well, as it was just Robert and his guitar, a very personal gig, where the audience also played an important role, responding, singing, and cheering at different points throughout it. I was hypnotized, enjoying the little stories behind the songs he’d play. His guitar playing, his control of the stage. For me of course highlights were when he’d play Go-Betweens classics like “Spring Rain” or “Head Full of Steam”, and or his own “Baby Stones” or his latest single “Inferno (Brisbane in Summer)”. I can’t thank enough for being able to hear all of them in a single night.

Then afterwards, meeting him just for a brief moment. Getting my two books signed and chit-chatting for about 5 minutes or so, though it felt like it was just too small time. Could have talked much more. But there was a long line of people also eager to meet him so…

I left the venue happy. It was early still. I hadn’t had many beers either. It felt a bit different. Not part of my routine when it comes to gig. But I was totally thrilled, engaged, and really hoping I get to experience another Robert Forster gig in the near future. He said the last time he was in the U.S. was 11 years ago. I hope it doesn’t take that long again.

Now I look at future gigs in NY and they are happening while I am away on holidays. I will miss Say Sue Me for example. Oh well, you can’t win all the time.

Now, here are a few good finds of course from over the weekend.

Dronjo Kept by 4: our friends from Japan are back with a tape EP on the very fine Galaxy Train label. The EP is titled “School Festival” and has 4 lovely lo-fi indiepop songs. My favourite of the 4 is “Umbrellas”, a bouncy and feel-good poppy track. Very nice.

En Attendant: the Parisian quintet will be releasing an album called “Juillet” on January 4th on the Chicago label Trouble in Mind Records. The album has 10 tracks and will be released on CD and vinyl. At the moment we can just preview one track, “Words”, and that’s ok, it sounds great!

The Giraffe Told Me in My Dream: it has been a while since I heard a Taiwanese band. I am glad I am doing so as everytime I have heard something coming from there has always been good. Te Giraffe Told Me in My Dream is no exception. They seem brand new, they only have three songs on Bandcamp, “Relapse”, “Where We are Going” and “Slow”, and they make up the EP “Slowfall”, a pretty pretty noisy, dreamy, shoegaze effort.

Pure Moods: this Melbourne, Australia, band is also releasing an album. It is called “Upward Spiral” and will be available on vinyl LP and cassette on November 29. Again just one song is available to preview, the opening track “Tide”. I’ve been wondering what to do with Bandcamp and my CD retrospectives. This might make sense. Song sounds good too!

Lemondaze: the debut single by this London trio is a terrific shoegaze track called “Neon Ballroom”. Surprisingly the bio tells us that the band was formed in 2016, so I wonder what took them so long to release this first track. It is not a complaint, the wait was totally worth it. It is a lovely single, intense and powerful. Good stuff!

—————————————————————–

Elefant Records is perhaps the most important indiepop label from Spain. It is true that lately I think it is kind of a hit and miss label, but when we look at their back catalogue we find out their greatness. Because they discovered many bands and released so many classic records.

Back in 1992 it wasn’t common for Spanish bands to sing in English, even less to make jingle jangly indiepop in the vein of what was going on in the UK. La Sintesis was one of the first bands to do so and it was no surprise then that Elefant would release their debut 7″.

The band hailed from Pamplona in Navarra, a land that has given us lots of great talent, just lately we can think of Los Ginkas and Melenas for example. The band was formed by Joako Ezpeleta on vocals, and Patxi Garro on guitar and backing vocals. On the 7″ they had the help of Javier Lizarazu on drums, Javier Marco on bass, Ricardo Aguilar on guitar, Iñigo de Etxarri on backing vocals and Alberto Tabernero on sax.

The 7″  was among the first on Elefant, with the catalog ER-105. It came out in 1992 and included four songs, two on each side. The A side had “Shouting Out” and “September” while the B side had “Time to Move” and “It’s You”. All songs were recorded at Estudio Arion in 1990 in Pamplona with Roberto Elizalde and Jesús de los Arcos as engineers. All songs are credited to Ezpeleta and Garro. The record is dedicated to Toño Reber.

It looks like in 1986 the band had put together a tape with three songs called “Al Mérito Postumo”. This one is listed on Discogs and is quite a surprise. I wonder that back then, 6 years earlier, the band sounded the same. This demo had all songs on the A side, “La Última Vez”, “Llegada la Noche” and “Puro Estrés” which seems to be an original from Paul McCartney. These songs were recorded at Zeta Soluciones Audiovisuales in Pamplona between the 1st and 4th of September of 1986. Something interesting I notice is that this time around the band was singing in Spanish. It may have to do that at this time Toño Reber was the vocalist and lyricist, the same Toño who passed away in 1989 and which the 7″ is dedicated to. Joako doesn’t appear listed in this release but we do see that Patxi Garro played the bass, Joaquín López the drums, Iñigo Echarri the guitar, Alberto Tabernero the sax and Pablo Duque the synth.

There are more songs by the band of course scattered among many compilations. In 1991 their song “Shouting Out” appears on a tape called “Spying on the Blue Sky” released in Spain. I wonder who put this one out. It has quite a good collection of bands!

In 1992 the band appears first on “La Línea del Arco – La Banda Sonora 3” which has the first ever Elefant catalog number (ER.1). This was a tape comp where the band had the songs “I Want Your Love” and “Sin Titulo”. I guess it came together with a La Línea del Arco fanzine? Then they appear on the compilation 7″ “La Línea del Arco” released by Elefant (ER-102) with the song “Violently Pretty Face”, covering The Close Lobsters! . This 7″ came together with the 3rd issue of the fanzine of the same name. That same year they contribute to another Elefant tape release, “Around the World” (ER-106) with the song “You Can Love a Woman” and their song “September” appears on the first ever Aliénor Records release “Garden Party” (ALIEN α), a compilation tape with many great bands from all over in it.

“I Want Your Love” appears on the Glidge Records (Glidge 002) tape “Astral Plane” in 1993. This was a UK tape that featured bands like The Cat’s Miaow, The Ampersands, Musical Chairs and more.

In 1996 the Spanish magazine Zona de Obras puts together a sampler CD called “Elefant Air Lines” (ZdeO 007) where they showcase the label’s catalog. La Sintesis contributes the song “You Can Love a Woman”.

Lastly, sometime in the early 90s the band contributed the song “It’s You” to “Foreign Intervention” a tape comp released by the UK label Fluff Records.

But there were more songs. I know that because I’ve stumbled upon a Bandcamp set up by Elefant Records with the 4 songs of the 7″ plus 5 more songs. These been “You Can Love a Woman”, “I Want Your Love”, “La Balsa”, “Beautiful Lies” and “Violently Pretty Face”. Some of these appeared on the comps I mentioned, but “La Balsa” or “Beautiful Lies” didn’t. Do they come from some demo?

I check for the band members and find that Alberto Tabernero had been in Cherokees and Refugiados. javier Marco on Ohiana. Javier Lizarazu on Tahúres Zurdos. And of course Joako Ezpeleta has been involved with the band Sult! and with many things pop, like being radio host on “Viaje a los Sueños Polares”, founder of the “Spiral” music fanzine with Elefant’s Luis Calvo and even founding the “Festival Independiente de Benicàssim”!

And of course my friend Alex had written about them back in 2008 in his always recommendable blog 7iete Pulgadas. According to him Joako had been in a band before La Síntesis and it was called You, Me and the Others. They didn’t release anything, but I have to wonder if there are any recordings of that. Alex also mentions a early demo of La Síntesis which he loves but doesn’t give any other details.

Another interesting fact he mentions is that Joako worked with the Moving Pictures and also played gigs alongside Elefan’ts Luis Calvo as The Chapelfieds, an acoustic duo.

Not much more written about them, but it seems clear that the band had more songs, from the first period without Joako and from the second, with Joako already in their ranks. Would definitely like to listen to them. And of course find out more about the story of this Pamplona band!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
La Sintesis – Shouting Out

Are you ready for the weekend? Here are some cool finds for all of you to enjoy!

Tvärtom: the Finnish band is definitely one of my favourite new bands. Everything I’ve heard by them is ace. Their latest is a video for their track “Iltariennot” which is also superb. It made me go back 10 years, when indiepop felt this fresh back then! With dancing, indiepop outfits, glasses, haircutes, all the things that I grew to love then! I really really hope there’s a release by the band. I was thinking it’d be cool to see a 7″, an A side in English, a B side in Finnish, wouldn’t that be something?

Collapse: a new video too by this Japanese band that makes some really good shoegaze! The song, “Ritual”, is actually part of a 3 song single called “Endogenic Rebirthday” that includes “Bleed” and “Oblivion” too. I just found out about them so I wasn’t aware either that “Oblivion” also had a video!

Dead Little Penny: some time ago I recommended this Auckland, New Zealand, project. At that time they had released a digital single called “Dead Together”. Well it seems that URL doesn’t work anymore. BUT, they have now an album where this single is included. The album is called “Urge Surfing” and includes that song plus 8 more. Very good stuff!

Bathe: another band that have been featured on the blog is the Atlanta based project Bathe. This is just a one-person band, Bailey Crone, a multi-instrumentalist, and that is really cool. On her latest track she gets the help of Damon Moon on synth and production to create a hazy and beautiful song called “Tarot Cards”.

So Many Lines: and now we travel all the way to Grenoble, France, for a a four track EP called “Greatest Travel Memory”. Included here are four songs, recorded between 2018 and 2019, that seem to be influenced by The Field Mice, The Wake, and other indiepop bands with electronic beats. It is a bit lo-fi, but that adds to the charm.

—————————————————————–

Some time ago, exploring the 1991 tape “A Prospect of the Sea” (Smile 003) that Cloud Production released, I was quite curious about The Throwaways. They had a great name for an indiepop band. In the end I didn’t write about them and wrote about the lovely Kindergarten. You see, I couldn’t find any songs by them. Today I gave it another try and was able to find the song “Trainstation Friend”, that was included in this tape. And what a find it was!

I love that the theme of the song is a train station. There is this thing about trains and indiepop. I love it. I wish here in the US train travel was more common, more normal. Also the track is proper, classic, indiepop. Influenced by The Sea Urchins maybe.

The band didn’t release any records, but I believe they appeared on other compilations. I know there was an early 90s tape called “Seaside Train – A Swirl Compilation” were the band contributed the song “Apple”.

Then I find some interesting bits of information on Youtube, on a private video. Yes, I had to do some digging! The person commenting is Richard Hughes who was actually the vocalist and drummer of the band. The other band members were Paul Bradford on guitar and Nick Bray on bass.  Sean Willmott was their original drummer and he was around during most of the band’s life. Richard mentions that the “Trainstation Friend” recording included in the compilation tape is actually a very early version of this song, dating from 1990 and recorded at the school studio’s in Newton Abbot. I would love to listen to later versions of course!

He says he has lost touch with Paul and Nick. Sean wasn’t on the recording of this track. He also mentions that Sean gigged for their first couple of shows supporting The Haywains, and then left. He would return eventually.

Richard was 19 when the band was formed, the rest were around 16. They lasted a few years and played gigs with great bands like The Popguns, Secret Shine and more. Their first gig was at the Le Cav in Bristol. When dance music came in they got a bit influenced by them it seems. That’s when they recorded the tracks “Apple’ and “Haversack”.

Sadly it seems Richard has lost all recordings from that time.

Sean is now an art teacher in London. Richard in the other hands seems to continue making music solo, also in London.

What about the other two? And did they really lose all their recordings? None of the other members have copies? I would really like to listen to their other songs. “Trainstation Friend” is pretty, so I would definitely love to know what happened to them. Why didn’t they release anything?! Who’d know!? Maybe some of my Bristol friends?

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
The Throwaways – Trainstation Friend

So I feel, and I may be wrong, that the blog has gotten a bit of a following as I see more bands tagging me on Facebook and Twitter. That’s cool. But I really hope that people don’t think that this labor of love is just about the blog, it is mainly about the Cloudberry label. And I am hoping people continue to support it. If there’s no label, there’s no sense for me to have a blog I think. Anyways, I continue looking for the perfect pop song, so here are a few good discoveries from the past few days!

Le Superhomard: “SDVB” is a track from the album “Meadow Lane Park” that was released on Elefant Records. It is a very cool song so it is no surprise whatsoever that they have picked this one to make a promo video. On top of it all it is a fun video, with cool animations. Now, what does “SDVB” stand for?

The Vapour Trails: the Detroit, Michigan, label Futureman Records has put together on Bandcamp a compendium of demos by The Vapour Trails called “The Inner Truth – Home Recordings and Demos”. There are 17 tracks by the Scottish band and even includes a few covers by The Byrds and The Beatles.

Follow Me Not: some superb French janglepop here on the Unknown Pleasures label also from France. There are just two songs to preview, “Walls” and “Bliss” from their upcoming album “Vanishing Smile” that will be released on January 20th on CD and vinyl. It sounds terrific.

Pony in the Pancake: back in August I was reviewing a track called “Summer” by this Albany, New York, band. I really liked and was left hoping for more. Well, it turns out that last September the band released their album “Summer Sun” and now you can preview all 11 tracks on it as well as ordering a tape version of the album!

Young Guv: Lastly a new album, a double vinyl album, by the Toronto based project. The album contains two albums that were released previously online, “Guv I” and “Guv II”, and it is pretty good and keeps you busy with 19 songs total! It is summery, it jangles, it is catchy. The record is available now on Run For Cover Records.

—————————————————————–

Some weeks ago (or maybe a few months ago!) I received the “Behave Yourself!” compilation just in time to prepare an interview with the great Japanese band All Twin’s Birthday. I listened to the record many many times and I noticed that there was a superb song by a band I had never heard before in my life, Lucy was an Engine. Who were they? I asked myself with no answer.

The song the band contributed to this 1993 mini-CD compilation released by the Behavior Saviour label (BS008) was called “Wig”. Fortunately the band members names are listed and this may or may not help my investigation. The band was formed by:
Matthew Aulich on bass
Stewart McLeod on drums
Colin Gregory on guitar
Mark Austin on guitar
Martin Andrews on vocals

This was not the first compilation the band had been on. A year earlier, 1992, the band had their song “My Socks” on a CD compilation called “Nu-Music Sampler Series 4” released by Studio 52 Records (52CD020). This label was Australian, based in Melbourne. First question then, was Lucy was an Engine an Australian band?

Behavior Saviour would include them in another compilation in 1994 when the label had already moved to Australia. On the “Come All Ye Faithful” (BS011) the band appears with two songs, “All in Green” and “Winter, Windy, Wednesday”. So far, four songs I am counting. My question is then, why no proper releases by them?!

The last compilation they were in was also from 1994. It was a tape that the French fanzine Gloomy Biscuit released and was aptly called “Gloomy Biscuit II”. The band would contribute the song “Wig”, the one and only song I’ve heard so far by them. I believe the fanzine included information about the band, details, but I don’t have this zine. Maybe someone could scan their page for me? I can understand a little French.

After the demise of the band I know Matthew Aulich went to be in bands like Drugstore, Small Slips and The Paradise Motel. All Australian bands. Okay. Then I confirm that Lucy was an Engine was an Aussie band.

Now, Colin Gregory. This is perhaps the biggest surprise. It is the same Colin Gregory as in One Thousand Violins, The Dylans and The Page Boys. I think I once read that one of The Page Boys moved to Australia. Is this how the story went? Who can confirm me this?

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Lucy Was an Engine – Wig

Another week and quite excited as I am already in touch with a band for a future Cake Kitchen release. I really hope it works out and eventually I can announce that. For the 7″s there’s been a few projects planned so I need to see the status of those. I guess now with holiday season things might get a bit slower but I will check!

In the meantime, here are a few cool finds from over the weekend!

Night Hikes: This Seattle two-piece was quite a surprise when I found them on Bandcamp some time ago. I know they are working on an album called “Chalice” that will be released on November 15th. We’ve heard a few terrific songs that will be included in it, and now there’s a new one called “Belltown”. And this one on Soundcloud is the single version. So definitely check it out.

Sally Haze: now another two piece, this one hailing from another US city, Chicago. The people behind it are William Wright and Jessica Wright. Are they siblings? Are they a couple? The one thing I know is that they have a 5 track EP called “Dining Room” which is available on cassette. It is pretty interesting, with standout tracks, “Tell Me Everything” and “You & Me” .

The Catherines: our friends from Hamburg just let us know that they have a new album out called “This is Good!” which is now available on tape. It is a short album, there are 8 songs, of classic bedroom jangle pop by Sandra and Heiko. And as usual we find their trademark melodies, interesting and long song titles, and summery vibe.

Kosmetika: don’t know much about this band aside that they have released an album on Roolette Records from Melbourne. It says the band has members from Russia, New Zealand and Australia, and so this album is their first one, called “Pop Soap”. It is also short, 8 songs. But it is quite interesting as there is a cool mix of elements like psychadelia and some krautrock like in the track “Kraftneu” that is a fine pop song with kraut influences!

Whimsical: more shoegaze. That’s more popular than indiepop. At least for the last 5 or so years. Maybe 10. This Griffith, Indiana, band has released their new album “Bright Smiles & Broken Hearts”, just a few days ago, on the 5th. The album is available on CD and includes 9 tracks of luminous dreampop. Lovely.

—————————————————————–

I was just checking new music on Youtube the other day and stumbled upon “Real Surprise” by Valerie and the Week of Wonders and well, I started digging on the web for more info about this song that was released in 1984.

The first thing I notice is that Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czech: Valerie a týden divů) is a 1970 Czechoslovakian surrealist horror film directed by Jaromil Jireš and based on the 1935 novel of the same name by Vítězslav Nezval. It is considered part of the Czechoslovak New Wave movement. The film stars 13-year-old Jaroslava Schallerová as Valerie, with a supporting cast that includes Helena Anýžová, Karel Engel, Jan Klusák, and Petr Kopriva.Valerie and Her Week of Wonders was filmed in the Czech town of Slavonice and surrounding areas. The film portrays the heroine as living in a disorienting dream, cajoled by priests, vampires, and men and women alike. The film blends elements of the fantasy and horror film genres.

Pretty obvious then that the band took their name from this film. I haven’t watched it. Do anyone recommend it?

The record was released on Piggy Bank Records (BANK 998) which was also the house of a much more known band, The Lucy Show. It does look like this was their only release though it was released on both 7″ and 12″ formats. The 7″ had two songs, “Real Surprise” on the A side and “Holy Picture” on the B side. The 12″ on the other hand had “Real Surprise (Wonder Mix)” on the A side and “Holy Picture” and “Too Late” on the B side.

All songs were engineered by Jon Turner and mastered by Noel Summerville at PRT Studios. The producer was Bobby Henry. The photos on the sleeve are credited to Tony Harrison (for the band photo on the back) and Michael Ross (beach photo on the front).

But then I find out something really interesting. Discogs only lists this record bt 45cat actually has a record that was released previously! A 7″! Wow.

A plain white sleeve, die-cut on one of the sides and hand stamped and drawn on the other, presents us “Too Late” on the A side and “Helpless” on the B side. Bobby Henry produced again the two songs. What a mystery this record is. I know too that it was released in 1983 by a label called “Soon-Come Records” (VA 01). This might as well have been the band’s own. And it might as well have been what made them end up signing with Piggy Bank? Piggy Bank was actually owner by A&M, a big label. Also something worth mentioning is that the band did a British tour supporting The Icicle Works.

Then what else? There are no compilation appearances listed. Odd.

I find then a mention of the band that might be quite interesting. Seems Greg Kane was the band’s saxophonist. he was later in Hue & Cry. Thanks to that fact I end up finding out that Valerie and the Week of Wonders was actually a Scottish band. It had Gerard Burns on vocals and Brian McFie on guitar in their lineup. Brian McFie would then be lead guitarist in The Big Dish! The other band member was Ewan McFie.

This helps me to find that Gerard Burns is now a painter, winning the Not The Turner Prize. He has also taught at St Aloysius College in Glasgow. And before all that he had studied at the prestigious Glasgow School of Art. On this article of the Herald he reminisces about the time in the band and why they didn’t make it big: “It was a shame, it was politics within the record company, but that got me out of art school and I was about two years with the band, and then I continued on with my music with other people.” . It looks like after the band split he formed a band called Heaven Sent which actually supported Simple Minds.

I then find an auction for a screenprint poster from the 80s where it advertises the band playing at the Joanna’s nightclub in Glasgow alongside Significant Zeros. Tickets were just a pound fifty back then.

Another interesting trivia is that his son is also a musician and recorded an album called “Burn on Burns”, where Gerard helped.

Now what a find! Another song on Youtube called “Ships on the Clyde“. Was this released on a demo tape or what? It has a promo video. So that is quite a mystery, how there is a video but no release? This song was recorded at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh in 1984 and was produced by Bobby Henry and engineered by Jon Turner and Gordon Rintoul. Jim Gillespie produced and directed this video which was featured on a 1985 Old Grey Whistle Test video competition for unsigned bands, judged by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme.

Lots of info, and it is only the first time I’m listening to their music. I find it so cool that the band was formed at the Glasgow School of Art. Gerard and Brian being painters. What about Greg and Ewan? Were they into visual arts as well? Did they have more songs? What other bands had they been in? It’d be great to find out more about them. I am very curious and I definitely want to hear more by them!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Valerie and the Week of Wonders – Real Surprise (Wonder Mix)

I keep posting Dayflower and Baby Lemonade records and also sent a few to different mailorders. Have you ordered your copy already? I am very proud about them and will start working on new releases soon! Hopefully I’ll be able to announce some news before the year ends. In the meantime support the label as that always helps to fund future releases!

Now, I know you came for new music. Here’s a fine share of that.

Dream, Ivory: the California band, from Lake Elsinore, keeps giving us wonderful songs. “Making Faces” is the third single from their upcoming album “Lost Dogs” and one can only wonder when this record will be out. Because everything we’ve heard so far sounds terrific. At least a release date would be good!

Turnover: another American band, this one hailing from Virginia. They have released their album “Altogether” and that is good news. It is out now on vinyl LP, CD and cassette. There are 10 songs of dreamy sweet songs with standout tracks like “Still in Motion” or “Plant Sugar”.

K. Campbell: two very cool songs by this Houston project are now available on tape and also on lathe cut 7″. The songs are “Chords Come Easy” and “Static Threads” and they take me back to the 90s, to American indiepop sounds from labels like Bus Stop or Harriet. Good stuff.

Basic Plumbing: I wasn’t aware that Patrick Doyle from Veronica Falls left us an album. This is very good news and it seems that all profits from the “Keeping Up Appearances” album will go to the LA LGBT Center + CALM. That’s nice. The record will be out on vinyl and CD. At the moment we can preview two tracks on Bandcamp, “As You Disappear” and “Constant Attention”. And they sound great!

Quivers: from Hobart, Tasmania, and sounding amazing, I discover this four piece formed by Sam Nicholson, Bella Quinlan, Holly Thomas and Michael Panton. Their latest track is a shimmering song called “When it Breaks” and I am really enjoying it. As their small bio says, they sit somewhere in between the janglepop that was done in Australia in the 80s with a touch of American 90s. It is a good combination. A winning one.

—————————————————————–

I remember many years ago Kris from the Heavens is Above Your Head blog and also from the Don’t Die on My Doorstep club in Malmo recommended me to find a record. He actually wrote about it and I was intrigued…

Delphine Passant, Fabien Guidollet, Alexandre Cayrac and Thierry Tonelli might be four of my favourite French indiepopsters. No, I haven’t met them nor they probably know Cloudberry exists. But, they left a perfect 7″ that for years has been a treasure of mine, their “Longer Lasting Beauty” 7″!

Four perfect pop songs. That’s what you’ll find on this record released in France by Nessie Records (Loch 1) back in 1994. Was it their own label? I don’t really know. I’ve mentioned this label when I talked about the tape “Superqualifragilistic” when I posted about Nothing Else or Les Poissons Solubles who appear on it.

The A side, called “The Rhythm Side”, opens with one of my favourite songs ever, “Laurie”, and includes another top hit, “House of Magic Cards”. The B side, “The Ballad Side”, has two more songs, “Time” and “Close-Up”. All four were recorded at Lutecia Garden Studio with Damien Bertrand and Jean François-Marvaud as engineers. Marvaud used to run this recording studio in Clamart, a southwestern suburb of Paris. Does this mean then, that the band hailed from the French capital? The answer is yes. A small insert with the label’s catalog gives us an address for Fabien in Paris and for Thierry in Montmorency, a suburb in the north of Paris.

It is also worth mentioning that Sabine Dubocage played violin in the record. She had been in the past in a band called Christine.

The sleeve of the record reminds all of us of classic indiepop art from the late 80s. They clearly knew what they were doing. The record even comes with a sticker with the band’s name. All packaged beautifully. On the back of the sleeve we learn that all songs were written by the band, and “Time” is actually co-written with Alexandra Easton. Then we get what each of the band members played, Alex played the drums, Delphine the guitar, Fabien sang and played guitar and Thierry the bass.

Aside from this release it seems there was a 2-track tape that had “Longer Lasting Beauty” on the A side and “UFO” on the B side. It seems it came with an insert featuring a small interview with the band. This was released in 1995 and I wonder if it was some sort of demo tape, or a tape sold at gigs. Would be good to find out.

No other releases are listed but they did appear on a few compilations. On the Italian label Shiny Sunset (which I tried to interview and I hope one day I’ll get interview answers as this label is such a mystery!) they contributed two songs to a tape called “The Colours of an Enchanted Dawn” (SUNSET 9). The songs were “Drowning Memories” and “Longer Lasting Beauty”. Oh! I would really like to listen to them! No year is specified for this release.

In 1995 they contributed “Longer Lasting Beauty” and “Why Not Your Baby” to “Nine Month Summer” a compilation tape released by Does This Work? (DTW 20) from the UK. Interestingly the band Sabine, the violinist, was in, Christine, also appears on this one.

That same year on the “Sapphire” comp cassette released by the British Bliss Aquamarine (BLISS 20) they had the last song of the tape, “Drowning Memories”.

On another tape that has no release date, “Fairy Tales”, released by the German Meller Welle Produkte (MEL 23) they appear with two tracks, “Drowning Memories” and “Knife”.

Lastly in 1996 two songs, “Knife” and “Abilene”, appear on a CD comp called “Les Belles Promesses – Collection “Acoustique”” released by XIII Bis Records and Ora Pro Nobis.

In total then we know of 9 songs? Are there any more?

About the band members we know a few things too.

Fabien had been in other bands like Facteurs Chevaux and Verone. Delphine was also involved in Verone while Thierry played in Pills and Saez. Thierry Cayrac seems to go now by Leax or Alexandre Cayrac, a techno DJ (!).

But there is more. I am pretty sure that at some point they had to change names to Lollypops as there was an American band with the name Evergreen. With Lollypops they even recorded “House of Magic Cards”, “Laurie” and “Time”. Were these different versions? They even recorded at least another song called “The Girl Who Never Know Whether She Can Do it Or Not”. How did that one sound? Lollypops were also known for covering The Pastels’ “A Million Tears“.

But as it is the same band let’s check out their discography which was only appearances on compilations. Firstly they recorded a cover of “Darklands” for “A Tribute to the Jesus and Mary Chain” cassette compilation released in 1994 by Candy Chérie Records (001). This was a French comp.

Then their song “The Girl Who Never Knows Wheter She Can Do It or Not” appears on the cassette “Entendons Nous Bien” released by Loaded (LOAD 001) in 1994, in the tape “Plouf” released by Les Tartines and also on the “Des Gents Simples” another tape compilation this one released by Ora Pro Nobis (OPN 9402) in 1994. This last one was perhaps a different version, it says (version Huit Pistes), meaning 8-track version.

Their song “Time” would appear on the “Breeze” double cassette comp released by Alphyen Viwit (004) in 1994 and also on the “Superqualifragilistic” tape I mentioned earlier. on Nessie (NES587). Lastly on the Meller Welle Produkte compilation “Europopsongs” they had “Laurie” and “House of Magic Cards”.

Now all of these songs are wonderful, I am starting to think it would make a very nice collection as a compilation album. That’s an idea. What do you think? I’d be interested to explore that idea with the Cake Kitchen!

Ah! Evergreen, Lollypops, such beauty. What a wonderful pop band. I need to know more about them. French friends, do you remember them?!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Evergreen – Laurie

Some good music to enjoy over the weekend! Today I will finally finish sending all outstanding orders for Baby Lemonade! So yeah, thanks everyone for that!  Hope you liked the album!

Unhappy Fly: Emotional Response are releasing a lathe cut 7″ that is very very limited, just 100 copies and it seems at the time I am writing this post there are only 8 left! The 7″ contains two songs, “The Vision and the Poison” and “Unhappy Fly”. None of this songs were included in the band’s LP.

Rei Clone: now a dreamy, shoegazy, band from Denton, Texas. First time I am listening to them and it is thanks to their latest effort, a digital single called “Heaven is Eternity”. It sounds pretty good I must say! The band describes themselves as an anime shoegaze band, which is quite interesting. They are formed by Ash, Zach, Charlie and Simon.

Perrogato: the superb Chilean duo has a new digital single out on Mexico’s Stupid Decisions netlabel! It is a perfect song for Halloween, even though that was yesterday!  It is called “Noche de Muertes” (night of the dead). It is a fun track with boy/girl vocals, and it makes you want to see a Perrogato album on physical format soon! Terrific band indeed.

The Epigones: this band from Ontario, Canada, is actually a duo comprised of guitarist Vic Ciampini and vocalist/bassist Darko Smolcic. They have just put up a four song debut EP on Bandcamp that sounds great! It is poppy postpunk, with class and elegance. Definitely check it out. I can’t wait to hear more by them.

West Coast Music Club: from West Kirby, UK, we meet this sweet sounding band! They have a 3 song EP now out on CD called “Sometimes EP”. The songs on it are “Saturday”, “Sometimes” and “Fall” and all three are really really good. Top vocals, chiming guitars, good melodies, everything one wants on an indiepop record!

—————————————————————–

I had this post prepared for later in the year if I am honest. But just a few days ago my friend Vernon was talking about Rebecca Fishpond and ended up getting in touch with one of the members of the band, Zack Yusof, so I decided to unearth the draft with the little bits and bobs I had from them and see if eventually, there’s a way to get in touch with this fantastic band.

I am hoping of course there will be an interview in the coming days, but I still thought it would be a good idea not to lose all this information and maybe it serves as a good introduction to this great band!

You see I heard of Rebecca Fishpond’s existence thanks to the Firestation blog back in 2010. Back then the Uwe was running a terrific blog where he shared his knowledge of all sorts of obscure indiepop. He would have these posts called “Something to Look Out For” where he listed bands he’d like to know more or get in touch with. Many of these, if not most, were unknown to me. He wrote about Rebecca Fishpond saying that he couldn’t tell if the band existed or were just a dream. He didn’t know any details but he had listened to them. One of the songs even made a big impression and he took one of the lines from it and named the sixteenth release on his label, Firestation Records, “You Thought it was the End of the World when the Rain Ruined Your Hair”. It was a compilation CD, and yes it would have made lots of sense to have Rebecca Fishpond there, but no, no luck.

Second time I heard about them was on an interview I did on my blog with the band Kind. They hailed from the Deptford/Bermondsey area in Southeast London. I asked them if they were part of a scene and yes, he mentioned they did of the one that was happening in their area, a scene that included the bands Lavern and Shirley and Rebecca Fishpond. So I could place them now, early 90s and in SE London.

But what about sounds?

Well there is Soundcloud page by someone called Dan Rowlands. He must have been part of the band. As he has uploaded the demo of the band which seems to consist of 5 songs: “All I Ever Wanted”, “Tell Me When it’s Twelve”, “Beauty”, “Laugh” and “Always in a Dream”. This demo was recorded in 1989. At this point we know that previously the band members had been in The Kildares. There are songs on the Soundcloud by this outfit too, jangly and awesome. Maybe I should even dedicate a post to them eventually. So I believe The Kildares hailed from not SE London but from Shropshire, so did they move? And then there were some lineup changes. The bassist of The Kildares left. The drummer switched to bass and a new drummer came in. A third singer joined. So about the same people as The Kildares but two new ones.

But aside from this demo there are two more songs, “Revolved” and “Bought and Sold”. So in total we know of 7 songs. And perhaps one more, there is one called “Two Ways to Die” that at least I know there is a live performance from 1989 online, on Youtube.

Other little tidbit of information is that the band played at The Falcon in Camden on November 18, 1989 supporting the amazing Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes!

Aside from that I believe one of the members, Zack Yusof, lives now in Australia. He had been in bands like Release, Fast Boyfriends, Trafford (in Malaysia), and as of 2007 he was going under the name Kid Kowalski as well as playing in a band in Kuala Lumpur called Deserters. He is also a music journalist and DJ. Dan Rowlands, in the other hand, seems to have been in Emergency Exit, Open Up, as well as making music on his own.

Of course you also end up wondering who was Rebecca Fishpond? Why that name? But wonder if I’ll ever know. I did try to get in touch through Soundcloud but no luck. Maybe this post will help. I’ll definitely would love to hear more songs, if there are more. And as many friends have suggested, maybe these songs should be re-released. Of course I can offer myself to do that. But if anyone else does it, that’s great as well. The thing is. We want to know more about them? And what happened to the other band members?

Any help would be appreciated!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Rebecca Fishpond – All I Ever Wanted

Still more Baby Lemonade orders that need to be sent! This is exciting! I am very glad and happy with the response of fans on this one. Soon I’ll be announcing the next release on the Cloudberry Cake Kitchen!

In the meantime, here are some good new finds from around the web!

Victorian Tin: there is a new recording by the classic Swedish band that I interviewed some time ago. it is called “Silver and Perfume” and it will be including in the upcoming Everlasting Records compilation “The Sound Your Dreams Make”. Hopefully there will be a Bandcamp to preview this compilation, but in the meantime you can check Victorian Tin’s track!

Ex-Vöid: I was raving about the song “Only One” by the new band formed by two ex-members of Joanna Gruesome that is now available on 7″. Well, they know this song is pretty good so there’s a video for it, with all members wearing metal band t-shirts (?). Definitely worth listening and watching!

Grrl Cloud: first time listening to this Manila dreampop project. Their latest track “Winding Streets” has been up on Soundcloud for about a month, so I am glad I have stumbled upon it, even if it is a bit late! It is a lovely song, with female vocals, fragile and sweet.

Alpaca Sports: so happy to see my friends from Gothenburg back in action! This video might be the last one they make to promote their album “From Paris with Love” and it is for the song “Saddest Girl in the World”! Of course this is one of my favourite songs of the album, so very happy to see some images to go with it! Now, where was this filmed? Was this a Swedish beach?!

Little Scream: Merge Records has just released a new album called “Speed Queen” by Little Scream on CD and 12″ vinyl! I’ve been playing a few songs, and even though I am not sold on them there is a track called “Disco Ball” that is gorgeous! So I recommend to check at least that one out! There are some other fine pop moments in it like on “Don’t Wait for It”,  “Privileged Child” and more… and there are some more indierock kind of songs.

—————————————————————–

More from Ireland, and more discoveries thanks to the amazing Fanning Session blog.

See, I may have stumbled upon Wilder in the past as they released a 7″ on the Danceline label. This label put many very good indiepop records. But the thing is, the 7″ this band released is not listed on Discogs, so I wouldn’t have known about it. It was thanks to a post of the aforementioned blog, where they featured the Dublin’s band song “Babel Road” that I first met them.

The blog post is short but does give some interesting factoids. First of all we learn who the band members were:
Dez Foley was on vocals
Richard McDermott on guitar
Stephen Owens on keyboards
Bill Crawford on bass
Frank McGrath on drums

This song, “Babel Road” was actually released as the A side of a 7″ released by Oedipus Records (OR 001) in 1990. The B side being “Little Secrets”. You wonder of course who were behind Oedipus Records. Was it the band themselves? This is the only release I am aware on this label.

“Babel Road” was produced by Paul Byrne and Martin Clancy. The B side was produced by the band and Pat Dunne. The engineer for both tracks was Pat Dunne. Both songs were recorded at Sun Studios in 1990. The art for the sleeve is credited to Siobhan Hyde.

After this release I think they got the attention of the Danceline label. This label was responsible of putting out records by great bands like The Would Be’s and Rex and Dino among others. In 1991 the band would release with Danceline a 7″ (DLS 018) with two songs, “Can You Shake” on the A side and “Dark Heaven” on the B side.

I haven’t been able to find a sleeve of this 7″ so don’t have any details about it, like where was it recorded or who produced it. I should try to track copies of both records as it would be nice to have them in my collection.

The band also participated on the compilation “Fresh Evidence – New Exhibits from Ireland” that Danceline Records (DCD 1007) released in 1992. The band appears last, out of 17 songs, with “Can You Shake”. I don’t know any of the bands on this record, I wonder if there are good indiepop tunes in here?!

Fanning Sessions actually have another post about them, one where they share a song called “Get Happy” out of their 1988 demo. Well then, what other songs were on this demo tape? It’d be great to know.

Then Irishrock.org offers a couple of more details, especially about what happened after. So the band was around from 1988 to 1992, then they decided to change their name to Bliss and recorded a demo with John Scott in The Factory. Sadly they didn’t have any proper releases. How did they sound like? Are any of the tracks on that tape available to listen?

Then it adds that Dez Foley would join The Sewing Room (from 93 to 96) and later in the superb Crumb (2003-2009). According to a Crumb family tree I found, he was also in a band called Melba. Much later, in 2015 I think he went solo under the name Acton Bell. Interesting.

Cool! Now I know a little bit more about them. Now I just want to hear to more of their songs, hopefully get their records, and who know, maybe I’ll get to interview some of the band members and be able to find out the story behind this Dublin band!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Wilder – Babel Road

Today I continue posting Baby Lemonade CDs! I am very happy about the support for this new release. Thanks everyone that have ordered! I will have new surprises, very soon (I hope!).

In the meantime, I looked for some good new music over the weekend. Check them out!

Dumb Things: the very good Australian band will be back this November with an album called “Time Again”. It is going to be released by the Coolin’ By Sound label on 12″ vinyl on the 8th! At the moment you can pre-order it and listen to two tracks, “Crash Barrier” and “Today Tonight”.

The Belafontes: we stay in Australia, but now we head to Melbourne, to discover this duo that have just released the song “Big Man” as a digital single. Jess and Paul are The Belafontes and they make fun indiepop!

Ex-Vöid: the debut 7″ by ex-members of the brilliant Joanna Gruesome has two songs, “Only One” and “Ex-Vöid”! It is out already and it was released by a new London label called Prefect Records. The two songs are a bit different, the A side is a terrific indiepop track while the B side is a punky track, that I must admit not loving much. But the A side is worth the 5 pounds the 7″ is!

Cachorro: the first songs by this Valencia, Spain, band make up the aptly titled “EP 1”. Four songs of sunny bedroom pop by this duo formed by R. Peiró and D. Abadía. I believe the songs are only available in digital format, but we’ll be keeping an eye on them.

Los Jambos: Caballito Records is a very fine Spanish label.  It is no surprise they have signed this band from Pamplona that sound really good! Lots of fun in their songs, catchy and even good for dancing! Los Jambos are a trio formed by Iñigo Maraví, Txema Maraví and Tamu Tamurai and they have released on the aforementioned label an album called “Chicos Formales”. Ten top tracks are in it! And yes, available on 12″ vinyl!

—————————————————————–

The Gladstones is a band I discovered through the superb blog Wilfully Obscure. There are only a few blogs that are worth checking out these days, and that’s one of them. True, I love and prefer British and European bands in general and this blog’s best discoveries are American, but what discoveries there are! Like The Gladstones!

What we know about the band is that they were from Lincoln, Nebraska, and were part of the same scene as the more well-known For Against. The blog also tells that the band was originally called Playground.

The Gladstones only released one record, “Jeremy”. It was a p[roper album with 9 songs. Jangly and classy, the LP came out in 1990 on Tall Records (TR001). Why did they call the band “Jeremy”? None of the songs in the record are called like that. Was Jeremy someone important to them? Also who were behind Tall Records? According to Discogs they only put out this LP. Was it a self-release then?

With those questions I start tracking the songs, many of them on Youtube. I listen to them and enjoy them. On the A side there were just four songs, “Garden”, “Olduvai”, “Energy” and “Top of the World”. The B side had the remaining 5, “Ten Times a Minute”, “Mary I”, “Hurting In”, “Gallery Key” and “Horns of a Dilemma”. All songs were recorded at Mastertrax in Lincoln and were mixed by Dave Snider and Scott Leach at Downtown Records in Boston, Massachusetts. Snider was also the engineer.

The band, at least on the record (not sure if there were lineup changes), was formed by:
Karl Stephen on bass
Bruce Stephen on drums
Steven Hinrichs on guitar
Jonathan Baker on vocals

The record also got some tambourines on the song “Olduvai” thanks to Bobby Snider.

I wonder, were Karl and Bruce brothers? Or at least related? Was Bobby Snider related to Dave Snider the engineer?

Also why were there no more releases? Why release an album first, before releasing any singles? Why no compilation appearances? I find that quite odd. I am sure that there must. have been demo tapes and more songs.

After the demise of the band in 1989 Steven Hinrichs joined For Against. Karl Stephen also played on For Against at least on the “Echelons” album.

According to the Words on Music bio for For Against, Bruce and Karl Stephen were also part of Playground alongside Hinrichs and vocalist Marty Clough. It seems there was a tape recorded with tracks by Playground!

When Marty moved to Minneapolis, he left Playground and Jon Baker joined, that’s when they were renamed The Gladstones. Then we also learn that Karl and Bruce Stephen were founding members of the band Cartoon Pupils. Bruce also was away for a while, leaving the band (being replaced momentarily by Paul Engelhard) but came back for the recording of the album.

It seems too that the fine C86 radio show (by David Eastaugh) did an interview with Steven Hinrichs back in February this year. You can check that episode here. From it we learn that the band played a lot in Lincoln and Omaha in Nebraska, and also once in St. Louis, Missouri. A funny anecdote he shared was that the band sent a tape to Sarah Records and they got a reply saying that they “sounded too American” for Sarah!!

Steven also mentions that after recording the album they recorded 5 demos afterwards, but nothing happened with them.

Of course lots written about For Against on the web, but very little about The Gladstones. In any case, I am super amazed that I am not the only crazy person trying to find out more about them. That of course means that their songs are really good! But I do keep wondering if at some point we’ll be able to those demo songs that weren’t part of the album!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
The Gladstones – Garden

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—————————————————————–

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

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

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

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

The photographs on the sleeve are credited to Kevin Livegren.

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

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

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

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

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Pinkie and His Band – Burn the Citadel Down