Thanks so much to Stewart for the interview! I wrote about The Marigolds a few months ago on the blog and he was kind enough to get in touch and to answer the many questions I had about his band! The band didn’t release many records but they recorded more than a handful of songs that appeared on two flexis and many tape compilations in the 90s. If you have never heard them, this is a good time to discover them!

++ Hi Stewart! Thanks so much for being up for this interview and getting in touch! How are you? Still making music?

Hello! I’m good thanks, and very flattered someone’s still interested in the Marigolds! Yep, still playing guitar a bit, currently in a garage punk band in Margate, just doing covers so far. We’re still trying to decide on a name.

++ I guess my first question is if I was right, that the band was based in Watton, Norfolk?

Yeah, sort of. We were all from that mid-Norfolk area. Mark (aka Skyflower) the singer lived in Watton, Liam the drummer lived in nearby Ashill, I lived in a place called Dereham 10 miles or so up the road. We all met while doing our A’levels at college in King’s Lynn.

++ Let’s start from the beginning. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

I had an exceptionally cool uncle who was a massive influence. I borrowed a bass guitar from him when I was 12 or 13, and he got me into a lot of great music. He was into the Smiths in a big way, and had seen loads of groups like the Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks and The Damned back in the days that bands like that used to play in Norfolk. I got into what you’d call ‘indie’ music when I was 12 or 13, started reading the music papers, listening to Peel and all that, and gradually my interest moved from bands like Pixies, The House of Love and The Wedding Present towards more indie-pop stuff like The Pastels and The Pooh Sticks.
As far as first instruments go, I picked up some amazing guitars from car boot sales around Norfolk – 1960s Burns semi-acoustics, Fender Musicmasters, that kind of thing, for like £50 a go. It was crazy. People were just chucking this stuff out and had no real idea of its value. I can’t remember which was first, but I usually just sold them on and regretted it instantly.
I learned to play (if you can call it that) using some decidedly dodgy Burt Weedon ‘Play in a day’ books from the 1950s. I think I cut a lot of them up and used them in my fanzine, actually. I got the hang of a few chords and then kind of stopped bothering!

++ Were you involved in other bands before the Marigolds? Is it true that the band was formed when two local bands The Rosemarys and The Chocolate Mopeds joined forces? And are there any recordings by any of these bands?

Haha, The Rosemarys and The Chocolate Mopeds were both entirely made up. I’m not sure why we did that.
I played bass for a shoegazey band called Holland before we formed the Marigolds with a friend called Jez, a guitarist called Jamie, and Carl, the drummer, who later played bass for The Spinning Jennys and also played with The Marigolds once. I’m sure there’s a tape somewhere.

++ How was around your town back then? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

There wasn’t much going on in Dereham or Watton. We’d spend most of our time in Norwich. The Wilde Club at Norwich Arts Centre was a really special place. We’d spend most Monday nights there, and saw some incredible bands. Great indie-pop like Heavenly, 14 Iced Bears, The Field Mice and The Orchids, but loads of wider indie stuff… The Stone Roses, Lush, Pale Saints, Thrilled Skinny, King of the Slums… even Nirvana, and usually for about £2.50. We were spoilt really. It was the club were Richie Manic famously carved ‘4 Real’ into his arm, though I missed that one.
Backs Records was great for rummaging through the singles box in front of slightly intimidating staff. Lizard and Andy’s were pretty good too. Even HMV was good for picking up indie-pop stuff.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

Mark and I started the band after making friends over a shared love of The Brilliant Corners in the library at Kings Lynn college. We were just a two-piece for a fair amount of time. That’s how most of the songs were written. We used a drum machine on our first demo then added Liam on drums around the time of the Two Of A Kind flexi.

++ There were a few lineup changes too, right?

Yep, there were. Carl and Phil played drums and bass for one gig at a friend’s party, which was a pretty shambolic affair. I think we managed to play one song all the way through. Mark’s brother Paul played bass very briefly. In fact, I think it was just once in Mark’s living room! But myself, Mark and Liam was the best-established line-up. Later Liam took over on vocals after I lost touch with Mark somehow. We recorded a few more songs, and played a gig in Leeds supporting the Fat Tulips with the help of Christine from Milky Wimpshake on bass, my housemate Zoe on Farfisa organ, Neil from Bouquet on guitar and (I think) Stewart from Boyracer on drums. I can’t bloody remember!

++ Why the name the The Marigolds?

It was a nod to Amelia Fletcher’s one-time pseudonym in Talulah Gosh. About as twee as it gets…

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

Mark wrote the lyrics and I wrote the music, and we somehow cobbled the two together. We either practised at his house or mine when our parents were out.

++ You were around in the early 90s, but whoever listens to your music might categorize you as a C86 band. What do you think of that term? Do you like it? Were you fan of the bands from this period?

I don’t mind the term at all, and we definitely embraced what people consider to be the C86 sound. We were massive fans of bands from that period, and while I can understand why a lot of bands weren’t happy being lumped in with it, for us, who were just a bit too young at the time but latched onto it a few years later, it was synonymous with the jangly, shambling sound of early Primal Scream, The Pastels, McCarthy and Mighty Mighty. But yeah, I can see why a lot of the less-than jangly bands on the original compilation might have taken issue with it. I always preferred the term ‘indie-pop’.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

We were big fans of Sarah bands, a lot of the Subway and 53rd and 3rd bands. I was a huge Pastels fan, Mark was a huge BMX Bandits fan. We actively tried to sound like a lot of those acts, but I’m not sure we pulled it off.

++ You first released a split flexi in 1992 on the label Mindgasm Records. Who were behind this label?

It was Stuart and Sharon from Weasel’s label. They pressed the flexi to sell with their fanzine Mummy Magazine. Weasel were based in Birmingham, part of the Sensateria crowd that spawned the Sea Urchins and The Field Trip. We never actually met, but exchanged dozens of letters as was the way back then. Stuart did me a couple of awesome ‘60s psych/garage tapes than which had a big influence on my music tastes. I still listen to them!

++ On the flexi you cover Syd Barrett’s song “Two of a Kind”. Why did you choose that song? Did you usually play other covers?

I was really into Syd Barrett and early Pink Floyd at the time. I used to work weekends on a milk round, and the milkman I worked for was a massive Pink Floyd fan and turned me onto it. I was even paid with a gatefold version of the two Syd Barrett LPs for some overtime.

++ Then most of your songs appeared on various compilations. I think my favourite might be “Sherbet Girl”. If it is not much to ask, what is the story of this song, what inspired it?

Mark wrote the lyrics to that one, so you’d have to ask him. I guess it’s a love/sweetshop metaphor taken to extremes. Or it’s about cannibalism.

++ You appear on a superb compilation called “The Secret of Confident Dressing” that was released by Kaw tapes where there were so many classic bands in it. To me it seems that during these years there was quite a scene for compilation tapes. How did you usually end up on them? What was the process?

Yeah, there were hundreds of them around. People just wrote to us and asked if we’d give them a song and we always said yes. I have no idea how many we eventually ended up on.

++ You appeared on the “C92” tape too and also in continental Europe, on two tapes on Elefant Records. But I’m curious about the labels I don’t know, maybe you remember them, Flaming Katy, Rainbow, Does This Work? or Meg Records. Have any clue about them?

Haha, no idea whatsoever! Sorry! We were asked if we’d appear on tapes all the time and we never said no.

++ I know you released a demo tape called “Doing the Washing Up with the Marigolds”. Was this the only demo tape you released? Were the tracks on it all of your recordings?

We were always recording demos. I think that’s just the one we gave a title to and made an inlay card for.

++ And where did you usually record your songs?

We recorded our first demo at a friend of Mark’s place somewhere in the Norfolk countryside. He had a little studio in his house. The ‘Two Of A Kind’ flexi was recorded up in Nottingham. Neil from Bouquet/Windmill Records produced it for us using a Tascam portastudio. Looking back, it’s by far the best thing we did. It was ‘Two of a Kind’ (with Rachel from Bouquet on backing vocals), ‘Let the Sun Shine’ and (I think) ‘Everything I Had’. It was a really, really memorable weekend.
After that, I got myself a little portastudio which we recorded all the later stuff on.
For some reason, I haven’t got a copy of any of these demos, so if anyone out there does have them, please give me a shout!

++ Lastly there’s your contribution to the “Searching For the Blake Hall” 7″ on Pillarbox Red. Will that be your whole discography? Or am I missing anything?

Yep, just the two flexis, and songs on dozens of compilation tapes.

++ Why weren’t there any proper releases?

Haha, I’ll leave that for the readers to decide! There was talk of a Pillarbox Red 7”, but we kind of fell apart before anything happened.

++ Was there any interest in your music by any labels?

Just Pillarbox Red, really. From what I can remember we had a split single in the pipeline before we went our separate ways, so that never came off. We sent a few demo tapes to Sarah and Heaven records, which was the dream, but didn’t get anywhere. I seem to remember hassling Matt from Heaven Records on a pretty regular basis!

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? What was the farthest you played from your town?

Just two – one at John’s party in Watton, and the other upstairs at The Fenton in Leeds, supporting the Fat Tulips. Stewart from Boyracer and Steve from Octopus fanzine also played as The Golden Spires, doing a set of Golden Dawn covers.

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

We were pretty drunk for the first one. We were all 16 or 17 playing at a friend’s house party while his parents were away. These were the days of Thunderbird and MD20/20, before British teenagers swapped binge drinking for social media. We stumbled through about two songs. I seem to remember Mark singing while slumped in an armchair. There’s a tape somewhere, and we somehow got a good reception.
The Fenton gig was funny too. Liam sang with a fake Rickenbacker slung over his neck. It had Rickenbacker felt-tipped over a patch of Tipp-Ex on the headstock. He couldn’t play guitar, and didn’t even mime. Zoe played a weird sort of Hammer Horror organ soundtrack over the top of the songs. Christine from Milky Wimpshake sang ‘Two of a Kind’ that night. I remember that being amazing. Definitely the highlight.

++ When and why did the Marigolds stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

We all left Norfolk to go to university. I headed to Leeds, Mark to Middlesbrough and Liam to London, so it all just fizzled out really.
I joined Boyracer for about six months or so, just before they got signed to Sarah, playing 12-string guitar on a short tour with Blueboy. I played bass in a band called Quant a few years later – kind of mod/psych ‘60s stuff. They released a single on Detour Records. I left the band in rather acrimonious circumstances and hung up my bass for a couple of decades as a result.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands?

I have no idea! I haven’t seen or heard from Mark since 1992. I’ve tried tracking him down, but can’t find him anywhere.

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

There hasn’t, no. We’ve all lost touch, and I’m not sure it’d be a massive crowd-puller! I’d definitely be up for it, though!

++ Did you get much attention from the radio or press?

None whatsoever! I don’t think we ever expected any coverage. It was all very DIY, and we embraced our ineptitude. We never expected to be on the cover of the NME or anything like that!

++ What about from fanzines?

Yeah, we got loads of coverage in fanzines. We all wrote our own (Cherry Fizz Pop!, Flowers in the Sky and Colour Me Pop) and were very involved with that scene. I can’t recall which ones we appeared in, though – apart from our own and Mummy Magazine.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Definitely the ‘Two of a Kind’ flexi. I think it stands up pretty well. I love the backing vocals on it, and think it’s a pretty good stab at an amazing song. And it’s great to have something tangible to remember The Marigolds by.

++ Been in the UK many times but never visited your area. So maybe I can ask for some suggestions? Like what are the sights I shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Ha, OK. Well, I live in Margate these days, which is a seaside town in the south east. I’d definitely recommend coming here. Nice sandy beach, great restaurants and bars, nice seafood, and a very good music scene. Norfolk is really beautiful, too. Not so much Dereham and Watton where we were based, but the North Norfolk coast is stunning.

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Listen
The Marigolds – Sherbet Girl

Just got back from a small break in Puerto Rico and I wanted to start blogging immediately, being sure that I’ve missed a lot of music these past few days! What have is new in the world of Bandcamp?

The Perfect Kiss: “Filter” is the name of the 10″ mini-album that the band released on Elefant Records late in June. There are 8 songs of terrific synth-pop that I’m already hooked with. I definitely need to order this record in the next couple of weeks after I recover of my trip expenses! I hope by then it is not sold out. It does look as its 500 copies are only available on vinyl.

Ultra Material: Sarah Deasy, Nick Skepper, Zuzana Kovar and Matt Deasy form this band from Brisbane, Australia, a city that in the past few years have given us so many great bands and songs. The band are releasing their second full lenght titled “Cosmic Anti Stuff” on August 29th on Black Wire Records and you can hear/stream two of the songs to be included, “Rhodamine” and “Transfer” at their Bandcamp. They sound ace!

яблоня: I have no clue about this Moscow, Russia, band. But it sounds AMAZING. At least that was my first impression when I played “мысли”, their latest song on Bandcamp. Who are they? There is very little information. But there is a trove of super bedroom indiepop with boy/girl vocals. Would be great to know if their music was available in physical format.

Hyperdream: the new project by Jesús Sandoval from Emma’s House Records and many great bands, shoegaze and indiepop, from Culiacán in Mexico. There are three songs on his Bandcamp (with lyrics!), “Abstention”, “Selfish Dream” and “Someone Like You”, were their trademark are a fuzzy wall of guitars. My favourite is the oldest one of them all, “Someone Like You”, which perhaps is also the poppiest of them all!

Arsenic!: this New York band which I have never seen live have two lovely classic sounding songs on their Bandcamp: “What Tone Colors The Whole?” and “Amy”. Please have a listen to both of them, they do sound great! The band formed by (two Italian-Americans or second or third generation, am I guessing right?) Tony Fischetti and John Mazzoni (with help from friends) may have recorded their best two songs!

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I stumbled upon “Crashing Down” by The Gift on Youtube and wondered how come I have never heard about this brilliant track before? I’ve been an avid guitar pop fan for a long time I think, but had no clue about it. Well, it happens. Of course you can’t know it all, though I do try to find out as much information about the songs and bands I like. I will have to find out now, anything, any details, related to this obscure band.

Discogs lists one record the one that has “Crashing Down” and “It’ll End In Tears”. A double A-sided record. But the mystery starts here. There are two versions of the same single! Let’s investigate!

The first version was released in 1982 on Venus Records (Orbit 1). It is no surprise to anyone that this is the only record listed on this label. It might have been a self-release. Also notice the year. 1982. It was pre-indiepop. Around the time where a bunch of bands were starting to create what I like to call proto-indiepop, bands that were punk and new wave influenced, like many that appear on the Messthetics comps. Though it must be said that The Gift sound more elegant, more proficient than the bands on those comps.

Both songs were recorded at Spaceward Studios. This was a recording studio based in Cambridge, in the UK, that was founded by Mike Kemp and Gary Lucas. The studio was around from 1972 to 1988.  The producer for the record was of course Mike Kemp and the band. We do get some credits on the sleeve for the band members. We get to know it was formed by Carl Walker, Dave Hodges, Daz, John Jacques and Nick Halliwell. We also find an address for Venus Records in Exeter.

The second version of the single came out two years later, in 1984. This time it was released under the name Nick Halliwell & The Gift. I wonder why they changed the band name, why now Nick’s name was on the front. Also as I mentioned earlier, the A side was now “It’ll End in Tears” and the B side was “Crashing Down”. Maybe because “It’ll End in Tears” was written by Nick while “Crashing Down” was written by Carl? The art also changed, before we had seen the band’s name typed big using kind of a Japanese looking font, whereas this new version had the black and white photo of a woman. This 7″ was released by Off Chute Records (OCS1), and as you imagine, it was the only release on the label. So probably a self-released record.

Discogs also has 3 compilation appearances. One of them dating from the 80s and the other two much more recent. The 80s one was a tape called “Advice From a Caterpillar” that was released in 1985 by Acid Tapes (TAB 022). I’m familiar with Acid Tapes as they released the Stormclouds, a big favourite band of mine, but to be honest don’t know much more of their output. This label was started by Alan Duffy in 1983 and released records until 1998 I believe. Anyhow, on this tape, The Gift contributes a song that wasn’t included in the 7″, one called “I Saw Blue”. I wonder then if the band had more songs, more recordings. I definitely would love to hear them.

Then in the year 2000, the band contributes “It’ll End in Tears” to a compilation called “Year Zero: The Exeter Punk Scene 1977-2000” that was co-released by Hometown Atrocities (Home 008) and Boss Tuneage (Bostage 509). To be honest I don’t know any of the bands that appear on the comp, but what I do get from it is a very important detail, what each of the members of The Gift played. Daz Coles played bass, Dave Hodges played drums, Carl Walker played the guitar and sang while Nick Halliwell sang and played the guitar.

Lastly there is an unofficial CD listed called “2008 Choking on Cufflinks Gift Pack” that was given away to the people who pledged to the Choking on Cufflinks show during the 2008 WFMU fundraising marathon. It is a CD compilation put together by this US radio station. I wonder if they got permission by the band to include their song “Crashing Down”?

I look as always into the band members, if they have been involved in any other bands. I see Daz Coles had played for The Lou Reichner Band who released a 7″ in 1980. The only other band member who seems to have other bands listed on Discogs is Nick Halliwell. He was also in The Lou Reichner Band but most interestingly he was in bands that I have recommended in the blog before like The Distractions or The Granite Shore. And that’s not all, in 1984 he released a solo album called “Tender Hours”. It was put out by Acid Tapes on tape. Would love to hear that too!

More interesting details. Nick Halliwell also runs the label Occultation Records who released the comeback of The Wild Swans for example. And of course I was aware of the label and his bands, but never knew about his 80s past, about this great record by The Gift.

I find an article on the page Velvet Sheep where Nick picks 7 songs. On there he mentions that when he was in The Gift he used to play Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America”. Are there any recordings of that? Then on another interview, on the Stereo Embers magazine, Nick mentions The Gift but he doesn’t seem to be pleased with the record, he says it wasn’t noteworthy.

I can’t find any more information about The Gift. Of course there is quite a lot written about Nick’s other projects, and there are a few interviews with him. But none really mention this band. But I’m curious. I would love to know more about The Gift. And if possible listen to more recordings. Do you remember them?

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Listen
The Gift – Crashing Down

I’m publishing this post just hours, minutes, before I head to the airport for a few days in Puerto Rico. I will be away for 6 days, so no posts on Friday or Monday. Any orders placed these days will be mailed next Wednesday. So don’t worry!

But before I leave I’m leaving you some cool music to check out!

Zimt: “Empathielosigkeit”, one of the songs that was included in “Glückstiraden”, the debut album of the German band, has just got a video. And it is top class. Zimt is one of my favourite bands and I owe discovering them to Ronny, but now the band is on Tapete and I suppose they keep getting bigger. Maybe one day I’ll get to see them in New York? Or in Germany? It is been a while since I’ve visited!

The Sunbathers: “If Only” is the new song and video our old friends The Sunbathers have shared with everyone as they promote their upcoming album “A Weekend Away With…” that will be released by the good Chris Mac on Jigsaw Records. It is gorgeous. It brought me such good memories of the time I got to release a few of their songs, and even better when I saw them at Indietracks, when on the platform they played a few songs for me and a friend. It makes me nostalgic, their precious music. One of the albums I’m looking forward the most this year.

The Lousy Pop Group: the one man project from Depok, Indonesia, has uploaded a brand new popstatic song to Soundcloud called “I’m Waiting For You to Shine”. Will it be released in any other way? Will some of the fine pop labels in Indonesia pay attention to this brilliant song? I hope so!

Tracey Read: this is a new discovery for me, that I found through David, but it does look as these recordings are older. They date from 2001. Tracey Read had released before the “Buster Keaton” 7″ on Chapter Music, and this 8 song album called “Everything is Real” is long sold out on its CD version but it is available digitally. Lovely indiepop in the vein of Tiger Trap or Tracey Thorn (?).

Glider: there are a few copies remaining of the Falmouth’s band new 7″. It includes two songs, “See You There” and “Wen (Summer1991CE)”. The duo formed by Tom Lobban and Louie Newlands recorded these songs back in 2015 and the record was released in 2017. Now, I want to buy everything I recommend, but it is not easy. Bands that I feature, I’d love to get your records and review them, but I don’t want them for free, maybe we could trade. Drop me a line if interested. If not, doesn’t matter. I do it for the love of music. And I’m really loving what I hear from Glider. Are they still going?

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This might surprise you, but Cyclon86 will be the first band I do some “investigative blogging” since I came back from Mexico. Yes, that’s right, I’ve had a bunch of posts ready, always a step ahead.

As I’ve been rotating the countries of origin of the bands featured on the blog, I thought it would be a great idea to return to Japan. And even better with a band I know very little about, whose records I still don’t own, a blank page. I only know the songs that I’ve been able to hear on Youtube, which are just 4. Are there more? Where were they released? Interested? Then join me in this search.

Cyclon86 on Discogs has very little listed, mostly compilation appearances. There is one split 7″ though, one that they shared with Soft Parade sometime in the early 2000s I believe. It is also the only record listed for the label, Pillow Case Records, having the catalog number PCR-001. Was it a self-release by one of the bands on the split? Or perhaps it was a joint effort? Or maybe just a label that was interested in both bands? How could we find out?

The band had the A side for themselves. There they had two songs, “K Girl” and “Shooting Star”. Soft Parade on the other hand appears on the B side with “Blue Blouse Female” and “Sunday”. The first song by Cyclon86 catches my curiosity, is it about a K Records fangirl? And what about the band’s name? Is the 86 in their name a homage to C86?

The first time I heard the band was through a 2002 compilation I had Mp3s of. Must have been through Soulseek ages ago as I don’t have those files anymore. It was the “Bluebadge Compilation Vol.2 Pop Comes Up!” that was released by Bluebadge Label (BBCD-002) back then. On this gem of a compilation (there are many obscure Japanese bands on it) the band contributes the song “Letters”.

But that wasn’t the first compilation appearance by the band. A year earlier, on another CD comp, they had the song “Running Planet”. This CD was titled “Mo-Rough” and was released by Coa Records (COAR-0008) in 2001. Something interesting about this release is that Cyclon86 appears as Cyclon 86, with a space between letters and numbers. Was it how they were called originally? Or did they change a little bit their name after this compilation?

Lastly, in 2005, on another Bluebadge compilation, “Guitar Pop Crazy! (Bluebadge Compilation Vol.3)” (BBCD-009) the band had the song “Scapegoat”. I believe I’ve talked about this CD before, when I featured the fine band Margarets Hope*.

Then I’m pretty sure the band contributed to a compilation called “Sunshine Pop Show! Vol.3” released by the Smile Pop Label in 1999 with the song “Summer in the Pool”.

But most importantly, what Discogs is missing, is a split CD with the band Harmony Hatch. I could find a tracklist for the CD on Amazon Japan but doesn’t specify which songs belong to who. There are 8 in total so I’m going to guess there were 4 for each band. If that was the case Cyclon8 contributed “K Girl”, “Scapegoat”, “Summer in the Pool” and “Ice Coffee” while Harmony Hatch had “White Pearl Worts”, “Blue Blue Bicycle”, “My Red Watch” and “His Honey Bunny”. Would love to hear this records sometime, discover Harmony Hatch as well.

My next big find in this investigation was to find out that one of my favourite Japanese shoegaze bands, Bertoia, has at least one member that was in Cyclon86. That is Yuta Ikawa or Shokk as he likes being called. According to a blog I found, he also was a support musician for the one-woman band Murmur.

There used to be a Myspace for Cyclon86 too, but it doesn’t exist anymore.

On Twitter, on the Philia Records account, I find a post where I clearly see a cassette by Cyclon86, a red cassette. What is in that one? I would love to know. The mystery becomes bigger and bigger. It is strange, but I can’t find gigs they played. It usually is easy with Japanese bands to find that. Usually gigs are very much recorded on the web, on old geocities pages and such. Not this time around.

I can’t find the other band members names either. Who were they? What was their complete discography? When did they start as a band and when did they split? Where they based in Tokyo or another Japanese city? The questions are many. But there are little answers. Do my Japanese friends remember them?

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Listen
Cyclon86 – Shooting Star

So all Okama Flannel Boy 7″ pre-orders are on their way to everyone who placed an order. Very excited about it. Looking forward to what you think, and any reviews that may appear in the next few weeks. I will also make sure the Bandcamp with Okama Flannel Boy songs is updated.

There is no time for being lazy now as I have a new 7″ around the corner by a superb band. I will be announcing it this Wednesday. I do have to say that there won’t be any posts this Friday or Monday as I will be away in Puerto Rico for a small break. I will return next week of course.

What did I find this weekend when it comes to new indiepop? Let me share with you:

Jasmine Minks: definitely a great thing is to see surface the “Scratch the Surface” album demos on Soundcloud. There are 7 demos available to stream that were recorded as demos for the 1989 album. Some of them made the final cut, others didn’t, some became live favourites, and some haven’t been heard publicly before. And I urge you all to have a listen! I remember when I got the chance to interview Jim Shepherd, and later meet him in the UK, happy times!

Space Daze: not sure if Seapony is still going, but Danny Rowland, their guitarist and main songwriter has been making available songs for his solo project Space Daze. The latest is a 5 song digital EP titled “Miss the World”. The music is a bit different to the poppier Seapony, but don’t be afraid. There are some very sweet moments like the song “In the Dark”, with a jangly guitar and a dreamy vibe.

Citrus Clouds: the Phoenix, Arizona, band that I have featured in the past is back. The trio formed by Erick, Stacie and Angelica, have two brilliant new jangly tracks on their Bandcamp, sort of a digital single. They are called “Golden Sun” and “Nothing Familiar”. Also worth noting for those in the Arizona area, the band will be touring this August, so please don’t miss them!

The Jangle Band: the brilliant Perth, Australia, band is back with a limited CD single! The band formed by legendary Australian musicians like Ian Freeman, Jeff Baker, Joe Algeri, Dave Wallace and Mark Eaton, is sharing with us “The Guy Who Used to Care” and “Now That’s Over” which I’m hoping are a teaser of a second album to be released in the near future (?). I hope that’s the case, but if not, it doesn’t matter, these are superb songs to have on repeat.

March, April & May: there is a new fanzine by February Records. It features a bunch of great bands, interviews with Tracyanne & Danny, Night Flowers, Sushi Backpack or Math & Physics Club. It also comes with access to download the 6-track EP that you can stream on the label’s Bandcamp with bands like Famous Problems, Gabardine, Mini Dresses, Sushi Backpack and Kevin Hairs.

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The name Justine is a girl’s name of French, Latin origin meaning “fair, righteous”.

I go back to the Kittenish CD. I still don’t own a copy but most, if not all, of the songs are on Youtube to stream. I should try to get a copy soon. The bands on it are mostly unknown to me so I keep discovering new sounds and new bands from Sweden thanks to it. Last time it was the Soapflakes, who I got in touch with and I hope to get interview answers pretty soon. Today I want to investigate about a band whose song I also liked quite a lot, a band called Justine Ahead.

The song they contributed to this compilation CD released jointly by Ceilidh Productions (CEI 037) and the Ultra Magazine in 1994 was called “Popflower”. And it is brilliant. If you want to read a bit more about the Kittenish CD and also about the Soapflakes, I leave you the link of my previous post here. As you’ll see for Soapflakes at least I could find a poster, an image, to create the top image of the post. For Justine Ahead, I haven’t found any photos nor memorabilia of the band. Were they that obscure?

Well, the band doesn’t count with any other release listed on Discogs. Maybe this song, “Popflower”, was the only one that was properly put out on a physical record. But I’m sure they must have recorded some more on that same recording session. It has to be that way. And I would love to listen to any other songs by the band.

I find a blog called Tidskriften Pop Revisited. There is a mention of the band, more like a small review. They mention that the band could be the next Stevepops, that they are the typical Ceilidh band. Maybe they are right, but the truth is Ceilidh didn’t release ay records by them.

Then the Kristina venue page mentions them. I can’t recall, but I’m sure I’ve mentioned this Växjö classic venue on the blog before. In the about section the Cafe/Venue, writes about the bands that hailed from Växjö and played at their club in the 90s like Wagon, The Ark or Justine Ahead.

But after after searching and searching I’m going to have a break. The website Svensk Mediedatabas, which I assume is a database of records and the sort of Swedish artists, has another release listed other than the Kittenish appearance. There was a 1994 release called “Catchy Tunes” that seems to have been self-released by the band on cassette. There were three songs included in it, “Rain”, “Weekend” and “Summersong”.  Oh my! Would love to hear these songs someday. Anyone can hook me up with that?

Lastly I found another hit, on the Scandinavian Indie Mailing List of the 90s, as usual there is a list of addresses for fans to get in touch with bands. Justine Ahead appears among them, and here it confirms that they were based in Växjö. Also it adds a name, surely one from the band, Jorgen Westergren. What did he play in the band is of course the first question one asks?

As you can see, lots of blanks left to fill. Not much more to go on. I could find a Jorgen Westergren still in Växjö, but couldn’t find him connected to any music bands. Maybe it could be him, maybe not. Who knows. The truth is, I would love to listen to more songs by them. Would love to know who else was in the band. How many years were they active? Where in Sweden did the play gigs? Why no proper releases? Maybe some of my Swedish friends could help me out with this mystery?

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Listen
Justine Ahead – Popflower

Okay, so as you know by now all orders of Okama Flannel Boy debut 7″ have started shipping. But that’s not all. I’m very happy to announce that our 45th 7″ will coming out in a few months. Do you want more details?

Well, then you’ll have to wait until next week. I can give you some hints. It will have two songs. The band is formed by two people. They have released already a few records, and always in the same European label. The two members come from different countries. Have your guess.

So having said that, let’s see what we find on the web, what new music there is for you to enjoy this weekend.

Lost Ships: let’s start this review with the debut EP by Lost Ships from Portsmouth. The band which features Simon from the terrific band The Kites (who were interviewed in the blog), Ashley, Dev and Dave have titled this jingle jangly effort as “Best Laid Plans”, and indeed it is a good plan. The four songs on it are “Best Laid Plans”, “Rose Sings the Big Tunes”, “Half Life” and “Here’s What You Could Have Won”. All were recorded, mixed and mastered at Southsea Sound by Tim Greaves. Give them a listen, you won’t be disappointed!

Andrew Younker: the latest from the superb Mexican label Emma’s House Records is a 9 song album by Andrew Younker who I have never heard before. The album is also available on tape on Hidden Bay Records. But I’m more of a fan of CDs. Though make it fast, don’t be like me, as there are only 100 copies available. Right now only three of the songs are available to stream, “Turning Twenty”, “Oracle Girl” and “Nervous to Exist Around You”. All of them are golden.

The Muldoons: this new single by this Paisley band is truly brilliant! Where do they come from? The two songs “Lovely Things” and “Rub it In” are lovely and jangly, with all the right influences. They give me goosebumps! Oh these Scottish janglers, they always know how to do indiepop the right way. They do remind me quite a bit to Northern Portrait. And that’s a GOOD thing. Honestly, this is a winner. Please release it in physical format!

Massage: didn’t know Alex who used to be in the Pains of Being Pure at Heart had moved to Los Angeles. That there he had formed a band called Massage and that this month they were to release an album called “Oh Boy”. To promote it the band has uploaded “Lydia” to their Bandcamp which will be included in the record. It is great! Before that, in 2016 they recorded two songs, “Crying Out Loud” and “Under”, both highly recommendable. The band is formed by Alex, Andrew Romano, Gabi Ferrer, Michael Feliz and David Rager. Looking forward to getting the album when available!

Orchin: lastly this digital single by another Los Angeles band. “Hate” and “Talking Alone/Walking Alone” are very fine guitar pop songs, 80s new wave influenced, that sound classy and elegant. For some reason they bring to mind the Spanish band Sr. Chinarro to me. Maybe it is the way the vocalist sing. They are formed by Jeremy, Peyton, Nathan and Griffin. Top stuff!

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Sold only at their gigs and parties. That was the way the only proper release by Mondo Popless was distributed in the early 90s. How to find a copy these days? That is the question, though to be fair the two songs that appear on the 7″ are not that hard to find. I’ll explain why in a bit.

But say you attended their gig at the Portsmouth Polythecnic in 1991, you’d have a chance to buy a record directly from the band. And get two of their songs, “Last to Know” on the A side and “Canned Groove” on the B side. Perhaps you would have loved a sleeve for this 7″, but it seems there wasn’t one. A shame really as it seems the band had a good eye for design judging from the band’s logo on the B side label.

The 7″, released in 1991, on the band’s own label Totally Excellent (MOND 1) was the only release as far as I know by the band and the label. But as I mentioned earlier, these two songs are not that hard to find. They appeared on a compilation CD, in 1992, called “Kill the Flippers With Guitar” that was released by the legendary Japanese label Vinyl Japan (ASKCD9). Actually it wasn’t only released on CD, there is also a vinyl LP version of the compilation (ASKLP9).

This compilation had a cool illustration on the front cover done by the French illustrator Antoine Bernhart and incluced bands like The Revs, Joyriders, Lovejunk, Elmerhassel, Leatherface, The Hysterics and The Beyonds. Not exactly indiepop, right? But that’s how it was. Two songs each.

I find some mentions of the band on a Youtube channel called BoomhauerUK. There is one video where a user comments that one of the songs by Mondo Popless was included in an old skate video from 1993. Was it a TV commercial? or what is this person talking about? I would love to find out. Of course it is the song “Canned Groove” the one that is on this video.

Another mention I find about this band is on a book called Pop Club 1992 that was written by Mick Mercer. A short book of 100 pages on A4 size paper. On this book there are 53 black and white photos and 231 colour photos. Among these photos some belong to Mondo Popless. Would be interesting to get a copy of this book as there are other good bands I’m interested in like The Bedflowers, Thin Gypsy Thieves or Ludicrous Lollipops.

Then I find the photography website of Al Pulford, a UK based photographer. Here he has a gig list, I assume that he attended, where Mondo Popless is listed. It seems Al attended a Mondo Popless gig in Ipswich on April 24th, 1992, at the Caribean Centre. The bands that played that evening were Mondo Popless, Phobia and the Ludicrous Lollipops.

Sadly that’s all I have been able to find on the website. No band members names, nor where the band hailed from. I am waiting now for my copy of the Vinyl Japan compilation, hoping that maybe there some credits will be included and shed some light about this obscure early 90s band. Do you remember them?

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Listen
Mondo Popless – Canned Groove

Tomorrow I should be getting the Okama Flannel Boy inserts so on Friday I’ll start mailing every pre-order! I’m very very excited 🙂 That’s all I have in mind now! And of course when you receive the record, on the insert, you’ll notice that our next 7″ is announced there! What is it? I’ll announce it on the blog next week!

Now, onto some nice indiepop finds:

Bodega Sisters: I think this is the third time I mention this Swedish band on the blog. I’ve been following their music as it is one of the most interesting and enigmatic bands I’ve found in the past few months. Their latest song is called “Footnote/Static” and it has been included in a compilation called “Breakfast #3” released by Breakfast Records from the UK. Great stuff!

Coming Up Roses: a new dreampop band from Singapore that I found through the Facebook of Singapore’s one and only Vernon, the indiepop master. The band formed by Emily, Darius, Bruce and Lorenzo was formed in 2016 as a duo but last year they expanded into this full lineup. Now, in full force, they have recorded a few demo, being “Sky” truly lovely. Looking forward to their next recordings, see how they evolve.

Sky Faction: the Oakland/San Francisco band is back with two songs, “Cyber Lover” and “Farmer Joe’s”, and one starts to wonder how are they not much more known around. All of the songs on Bandcamp are terrific, very much influenced by the female led indiepop bands from the late 90s. Hoping these songs get a physical release soon!

The Catherines: I feel every time there is a new The Catherines song, which is quite often, I’m recommending them. The band makes my job easy when it comes to finding new music. And I’m not complaining, because normally their songs are great. Last week they released a new song on their Bandcamp, “I Was Struggling With Your Magic Biscuit Tin”. There is also an uncut version of the song that lasts 40 seconds more.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: Glenn Donaldson has been in a few bands in San Francisco like Skygreen Leopards or the Art Museums. Under The Red, Pinks & Purples he has uploaded 7 demos to Bandcamp. They are lo-fi indeed, almost bare bones, but they are a wave of fresh air. What is nice though is that there will be some studio version of these songs sometime soon. Let’s keep an eye open.

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I was thinking about a Spanish band I used to love back in the day, in the mid 2000s. They were called Nobel and I really didn’t know much about them. I knew they were a girl group that made upbeat catchy pop music. That their songs were sweet, and you could probably categorize them as a tweepop band. I have one album and I had uploaded a video to Youtube. I can’t remember where I got it from. It was a live performance of the band at the 17th Pop Rock Villa in Bilbao where they are performing the song “Dónde Estará?“. I don’t remember having the rest of the gig on video. Just this song. But where did I get it from? I can’t remember!

The album I have is the one called “En el Corazón” that was released by the fine Spanish label Discos de Paseo (DP002) in 2005. The label doesn’t have any information about the band on their website. I wonder why. Maybe they sold out the CDs and there is no point for it? They do have information about their other bands. This album is a lovely sugar rush of popsongs. The opening track, “Menú Para Dos” was always a favourite of mine. Then there is “Sueño”, “En el Corazón”, “Un Nuevo Hogar”, “Levanta Tío”, “Esos Que Se Van”, “Dónde Estará?” and “El Mundo al Revés”. It is worth mentioning that “Levanta tío” is a cover version of “Wake Up!” by The Boo Radleys. There is a secret track at the end of the record, the cover of “Canción de los Electroduendes”, which is a song that was part of the 80s Spanish kids show “La Bola de Cristal”. The album was recorded in July 2004 at the Twobascos studios. It was mixed and mastered at Sweet Soul Music in March 2005.

This CD is listed on Discogs but doesn’t have much information about it. Aside from it, only two compilation appearances are also on this website. The first, a 2003 double CD called “Le Touriste Rebusca en el Desván de la Nueva Ola” where the band contributes the secret track from the album, “Canción de los Electroduendes”. This compilation was released by Ventilador Music (CDM 031) and included a bunch of classic bands from the period like Zola, Souvenir or Cola Jet Set, all of them covering songs from the 80s.

Then in 2005 they appear on a promo CD compilation called “Contamporánea – 10 Años Pop (Concurso Grupo Revelación)”. I believe all of the bands here were part of that year new band contest at the Contempopránea festival. We see some fantastic bands like Garzón, Verano en Lisboa, Tecnicolor and even our friend Zipper. Nobel appears on this record with the song “En el Corazón”.

That hasn’t really told me much about the band. So I am going to do some detective work on the web. As they were around in the WWW era I’m sure I will stumble upon some worthy details. The first hit for me is the website Pop Thing where there is a short interview with César Prieto, who runs Discos de Paseo, the label who released Nobel’s debut album. This article dates from 2005. There César mentions that Nobel was a band that was based in the Basque country, in Bilbao specifically. Is it the first Bilbao band to be featured on the blog? Perhaps. What I do know is that I would really love to visit this city in the near future!

Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the province of Biscay and in the Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the tenth largest city in Spain, with a population of 345,141 as of 2015. The Bilbao metropolitan area has roughly 1 million inhabitants, making it one of the most populous metropolitan areas in northern Spain. After its foundation in the early 14th century by Diego López V de Haro, head of the powerful Haro family, Bilbao was a commercial hub of the Basque Country that enjoyed significant importance in Green Spain. This was due to its port activity based on the export of iron extracted from the Biscayan quarries. Throughout the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, Bilbao experienced heavy industrialisation, making it the centre of the second-most industrialised region of Spain, behind Barcelona.[10][11] At the same time an extraordinary population explosion prompted the annexation of several adjacent municipalities. Nowadays, Bilbao is a vigorous service city that is experiencing an ongoing social, economic, and aesthetic revitalisation process, started by the iconic Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, and continued by infrastructure investments, such as the airport terminal, the rapid transit system, the tram line, the Alhóndiga, and the currently under development Abandoibarra and Zorrozaurre renewal projects. Bilbao is also home to football club Athletic Club de Bilbao, a significant symbol for Basque nationalism due to its promotion of Basque players and one of the most successful clubs in Spanish football history.

From this small article we also get to know that César used to do the Le Touriste fanzine, the same that had put out that compilation called “Le Touriste Rebusca en el Desván de la Nueva Ola” where Nobel also appeared. Was it the first time the band and César got in touch? Was it the seed for their working relationship? But most importantly I find out the names of the band members: Eriet, Iratxe, Noemi and Begoña.

Then I stumble upon an old Myspace. The band had a bunch of songs one could stream in the past, “Qué Tonta Soy!”, “En el Corazón”, “Contenta”, “Pequeña”, and “Comunicando”. Seeing some songs not on the album awakes my memory of some demo CDRs the band had released previously and that I use to listen a lot on MP3. I wonder why I didn’t try to get their CDRs or get in touch with the band. I used to do that quite a bit on Myspace back in the day, trying to get copies of these rare DIY CDRs.

Having said that, and because they are not listed on Discogs, I went to look for info about them. There is a blog called “Solo Maquetas” that has information about two of their demos, “Disciplina Inglesa” from 2001 and “Esos Que Se Van” from 2003. This blog though, says that the band weren’t exactly from Bilbao proper, but from a town that is part of the metropolitan area. A town called Portugalete. A town that celebrates the San Roque festivals. Well, I should like that, right? Also this town has the Vizcaya Bridge, a transporter bridge that was declared a World Heritage Site in 2006.

The first demo had five songs: “Menú Para Dos”, “Una Noche en Marrakech”, “Condena a Plazos”, “Acento Oriental” and “Carolina”.  “Carolina” being a cover version of Formula V. The second one just three songs, “Esos Que Se Van”, “Pensamientos de un Viaje” and “Dónde Estará”. The first demo has no information on the whereabouts it was recorded, but the second one was recorded by Alfredo Ledesma and Gorka Esczuriana at the Katxy Producciones studio in Logroño in June 2003.

The blog also offers a bunch of interesting bits and bobs about Nobel. The band formed in the year 2000 as a five-piece formed by Bego on vocals and guitars, Eriet on bass, Iratxe on vocals and guitar, Jose on drums and Noemi on vocals, handclaps and violin. They were part of the 24th anniversary party of the radio show Flor de Pasión, playing live at the Siroco venue in Madrid on March 24th, 2003. Their 2nd demo, “Esos Que Se Van”, would be voted 4th best demo on the Toxicosmos radio programme and 5th on the Disco Grande show in 2003. That same year they would play many festivals like NovaPop or Parrilla Rock and all around Spain. They are said to have recorded a cover version of Los Nikis. Which one was it?

After the release of the album “En el Corazón” the band lineup changed. Iratxe and Noemi continue in the band but Itsaxo joins to play bass and Larry on drums. With this lineup the band plays more concerts and festivals like the Easy Pop Weekend, PlastidePop, HegoPop, Anciles Directo and many Flor de Pasión parties and Contempopránea gigs. And here is the big piece of information that caught me by surprise. The band released a 2nd album in 2007! I had no clue about it. I guess it didn’t get much promotion or something? I don’t know. I never heard about it.

Their second album was called “Cada Momento es el Mejor” and was released in 2007 by Gasoil Records. I am going to have to find out more about it.

The Gasoil website has the CD still for sale at a very good price, 2.31 euros. I will order a copy of course! I wonder how these songs sound like, if similar to the first album or not. It is a much longer album it seems. At least there were more songs. 14 in total. The were: “Comunicando”, “Cada Momento es el Mejor”, “Pequeña”, “Siempre te Quise”, “Loca, Loca!”, “No Se”, “Tus Fantasías”, “Imaginación”, “Sábado”, “Así se Recompone”, “Si Tú Te Vas”, “Un Mundo Perfecto”, “Estoy Mejor Sin Ti” and an untitled hidden track. They had some release parties at the FNAC of Bilbao and Donosti.

I found an article about this last album on a blog called La Suerte del Perdedor. Here they review the record and compares the band to classic Spanish outfits like Los Fresones Rebeldes or the Undershakers. But they mention a promotional CD called “Vuelve” which I have no clue about.

I find some information about it on the website of El Planeta Amarillo, our friend Rafa Skam’s paper and online fanzine. Herehe mentions that this “Vuelve” CD single was released in 2007. It was self-released and was a preview of the album they were working on, “Cada Momento es el Mejor”. The CD included 4 songs, sadly Rafa doesn’t specify which songs, but he does say that one of them is a cover version of Vainica Doble’s “Habaneras del Primer Amor”.

El Planeta Amarillo also has a concert listed for Nobel, supporting Vacaciones and Naif at the Siroco venue in Madrid sometime in 2005. Then the same website has an interview with the band. Maybe I’ll learn more about them by reading it! Let’s see!

• The name has nothing to do with the Nobel prize. It is actually an acronym of the names of the band members, NOemi, BEgoña…
• When they played live they used to do, aside from the Boo Radleys and the Electroduendes ones, covers of “Canto en Inglés” by Los Nikis and “Si Tú Te Vas” by Los Flechazos
• There were no like-minded bands in Portugalete 🙁

This is not the only interview I was going to find. Another website, called La Furgoneta Azul, interviews them as well. What other details can we get from this one?

• They had played the NovaPop festival in Ceuta
• They had also played an acoustic set at the Jungla Sonora of Radio Euskadi

Lastly another blog called Euskal Musika has a 2013 interview, possibly the newest I’ve found on the web. Must be the last piece of news about Nobel on the web. This interview clears up a few doubts I had, and adds quite a lot of interesting information:

• The band has had a few drummers, Jose, Lander, Igor and Larry
• Nobel started writing songs in 1999 but the band properly started in 2001
• Itxaso has been involved in the folk band Eztauz, Larry has played drums in Playskull and is part of the percussion group Tarumba

As I said that was the last piece of news I could find about Nobel. I suppose the band is no more. Whatever happened to them? It feels they try to succeed for many years, in a small way of course. But for a reason or another their name sadly didn’t become a household name as other similar bands in Spain. Did the band members continue making music up to this day? Had they been in other bands? Are there are any other recordings? It would definitely be interesting to find out more. I loved their music back in the day and playing these songs again after so many years has been a lovely walk down memory lane. They were great!

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Listen
Nobel – Menú Para Dos