Holiday time! I’ll see you in two weeks time, on Monday 16. Again just a reminder that all orders placed in these two weeks will be posted on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Now, if you are not up to date with the blog, there will be lots of post perhaps for you to catch up. That until there is a book of course. One day. That’s the dream. In the meantime go through the obscure bands, the interviews, because there will be more of them after my return! And of course, new releases too on the label. So as always keep an eye to this space!

5 new finds for you to enjoy this coming weekend!

Jetstream Pony: definitely one of my favourite contemporary bands, and it is one that is not on the Cloudberry label, so that means a lot I think? They continue to release quality popsongs on the amazing Keline Untergrund Schallplatten label from Augsburg, and their latest 7″ is not an exception. Because it is not an exception, because it is terrific it is also no surprise that the band has put together a cool video for the song “I Close My Eyes”. I really need this record!

Lucie, Too: the Japanese band will be releasing a new CDEP on Thistime Records. The EP is called “Chime” just like the opening track. The CD will be available on December 4 and from the two songs we are able to preview we know they are a rush of poptasticness! Exciting, catchy and fun!

Short Story Picture Book: Leah Short and Liam James Marsh are a duo from Nottingham and through 2019 they have recorded a handful of songs which they’ve put together on a digital EP called “These Days”. There are 5 jangly poppy lo-fi tracks here that shouldn’t disappoint popfans.

Sprinters: Meritorio Records from Madrid have been quite active this year. Their latest release comes from Manchester and in a form of an album called “Struck Gold”. Sprinters is the name of the band behind 11 songs that are now available on vinyl LP. Jangly and dreamy, contemporary-sounding indiepop.

Fred Fredburger: Elefant Records won’t be releasing “Colegas” or “Ei, Uriel” the two songs that are now on Bandcamp as a digital single. There is though a video for “Colegas” and that is a good thing. The good news though is that next year, 2020, the band will be releasing a 10″ vinyl on the Spanish label and that is exciting! The band sounds so much fun, and it feels a bit like a revival of the punky pop that was quite common in Spain back in the late 90s, early 2000s. Definitely one to keep an eye.

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I believe Beware the Green Monkey sometime in the early 2000s put together a CD called “The Good, the Bad & the Ugly”. Probably in 2003, I can’t say. The issue is that I don’t know how to find a copy of it. Maybe it was very limited. Discogs doesn’t list it. And I don’t see any mentions to it aside from forums. So it is a big mystery to me. I would love to get a copy as what I’ve heard so far I really like!

Where have I listened to them? Well there are a bunch of songs on Soundcloud. All of them date from the early 1990s, that’s when the band was around. Also something curious is that there are different versions of songs, you could find the same song with Bruce, Ian or Lara’s vocals. That’s quite interesting.

I don’t think the band released anything at all during their time. I read that many labels wanted to sign them but the band ended up splitting, not releasing any records. Discogs lists a demo tape from 1991 that included four songs, “In My Time of Dying”, “Precious Time”, “Overnight” and “Caroline Kisses”. Are these songs with Bruce, Ian or Lara’s vocals?

Then I know that another demo tape exists with 5 songs, “Precious Time”, “Million Smiles”, “Happy Man”, “8L:23” and “Stone Garden”. Also released in 1991 and this one has a green sleeve while the other one had a black one.

Colne is a town and civil parish in Lancashire, England, six miles north-east of Burnley, 25 miles east of Preston, 25 miles north of Manchester and 30 miles west of Leeds. It is a market town and the cross allowing a market to be held there dates to the 15th century. The cross was originally at the junction of Colne Lane and Church Street. It was first moved to the grounds of The Gables on Albert Road, the location of Colne Library until around 1970. It has now been relocated to outside the Market Hall on Market Street, part of the main road through the town centre.

The band hailed from Colne in Lancashire. Just like the Milltown Brothers who they supported on their “Slinky” tour. There is a mention of Beware the Green Monkey on the Milltown Brothers Wikipedia page where it says that Bruce Thomas was fronting the band and Paul Chapman was on bass. That’s two names, I am missing at least 3 if I guide myself by the photo of the band on Soundcloud.

Back to the Soundcloud. Yes, so you can find with Lara’s vocals the following songs: “Wake Up”, “Precious Time”, “Mother”, “In My Time Dying” and “8.23”. With Bruce’s vocals there’s “Pray for the Rain”, “Party Town”, “Overnight”, Mother”, “Happy Man”, “Caroline Kisses”, “Precious Time” and “In My Time Dying”. And Ian has “Gary Boy”, “8.23”, Beatrice Dalle”, “2 Amusing Ourselves to Death” and “BTGM”.

That’s not all. On Youtube I found two promo videos. There’s a video for “Precious Time” and for “In My Time Dying“. The comments give me some little details. For example that they played at the Canal Boat in Nottingham or at the Subterrania Ladbroke Grove. Also that their manager was called Steve Stone.

And as you’ll see after listening to the tracks, there are many that are fantastic. You wonder how come there were no releases by them. It is so odd. With songs so good they deserved at least a 7”. And how do I get my hands a copy of the CD? This is superb. They deserve to be more known! Just listen to Lara’s version of “Precious Time”, you’ll get hooked immediately. Whatever happened to them?!

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Listen
Beware the Green Monkey – Precious Time

Okay! Holidays start this Saturday! Exciting times. So this will not be the last post of the week, but Friday’s. Also keep in mind that orders placed during the next two weeks will be shipped on December 17th. Thanks again and see you very soon!

Here are some good finds from the last few days.

Kawaii: some amazing news that the Norwegian duo formed by Mats and Hedda are finally releasing their unreleased second album. I thought this was going to happen at some point on Plastilina but I guess it never happened. I am glad then that the Spanish label Kocliko picked it up and are putting this album as a 10″ vinyl record! It is a short but sweet one. 10 songs are on it and I must say I am addicted to it on Bandcamp. Now I need my copy! I guess I will have to get it after my holidays. Even cooler, the artwork has been done by my friend David. Such a lovely package. All friends in this release, from Antonio, to Mats and Hedda to David. Great stuff!

Gizpel: the Indonesian band is participating in a compilation called “The Jakarta Connection”. It looks it is only available digitally on Soundcloud and it is being compiled by Sprechen Music. Gizpel sounds terrific in the song they are contributing called “Eyes on the Street”. High quality dreampop here.

Dayflower: our Leicester friends have put together an EP that collects songs that have appeared on cassette compilations, alternate versions of singles they have put out, including a cover of “Pristine Christine”. This is the first release of the band after the wonderful 7″ they put out with me, Cloudberry! The EP is called “Petal Drops” and it comes with 6 beautifully crafted pop songs. Not to be missed.

Filles Europees: a new band from Barcelona is always a good thing in my book. Formed by Helena, Irene, Júlia, Nil, Víctor and Xavi, they have just released a self-titled cassette EP by themselves with the help of La Nada Colectiva. The songs are terrific, energetic and catchy, especially the track “Júlia Aguilar” that will keep you playing it on repeat. The EP comes with the aforementioned track plus 3 more!

Rosegaze: and finally a Montreal band. We’ve been around the world today! Rosegaze are releasing a 7 song mini-album on December 5th called “Don’t Talk to Her, You’ll Fall in Love” I believe it will only be released digitally but one can hope there will be a physical release as well. At the moment we can only preview one of the tracks, the second one, “Sapir-Whorf”, which is excellent.

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Back in 2007 there was a band Papa Go Riot who self-released a CDR called “…What’s This?”. I missed it that time. I wonder if I’ll be able to get a copy of it.

I believe there was just one person behind this band: Jon Gredmark. Of course he was much more known because of his other band, Elenette. This band was around the mid and late 2000s releasing three albums and many singles. But Papa Go Riot only released the one CDR as far as I know.

The CDR EP included 5 songs: “You Don’t Know Me at All”, “My Apartment”, “On My Way”, “Everything is Nothing” and “Entertainment”. All songs were recorded at Studio Räven on August 2007. Kalle Berglund, also from Elenette, and Jon Gredmark produced the songs.

At the time the band also had a website. It sadly doesn’t exist anymore.

I notice that the band name was probably inspired by the book “Père Goriot” by Honoré Balzac. In many languages the book is called “Papa Goriot”.

Sadly can’t find any other details about the band. Was this their only release? Did they appear on any compilations? Did they play live at all? Are there any unreleased tracks? Who would know!? Any info would be appreciated!

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Listen
Papa Go Riot – On My Way

Some finds from over the weekend!

Pop at Summer: the superb Bandung, Indonesia, band that once had a song on a Cloudberry compilation is back with a three song that sounds ace! The EP titled “Chamomile Rhymes” comes with  “Summer Night”, “There’s Me in Your Heart” and “Everything’s Fine”, all of them three timeless pop songs with female vocals that really makes us hope they get released in a physical format. It sounds very very good!

Pia Fraus: one of my favourite contemporary bands is the Tallinn based Pia Fraus. They continue releasing quality records and next January they will be putting out a new album. And I can’t wait. It will be called “Empty Parks” and it will come with 11 songs. Available in CD and vinyl, as it should be. The artwork looks great, and the two songs we can preview “Hidden Parks” and “Sweet Sunday Show” also sound great. This is very promising!

María María: a band from San Luis Potosí in Mexico. It must be the first band I listen that comes from there. That’s exciting. The band is formed by Carlos, Luis and Boris. and they have three cool demos here, “Take Me Away”, “Seen” and “Your Cat”. They are lo-fi pop songs and a clear picture of what’s happening in Mexico as of late, where a new and interesting scene seems to be brewing.

“F.A.R. Out”: this compilation came some weeks ago and I only now noticed I haven’t recommended it. And the CD is sold out. So yes, blame it on me. I missed it too. I wonder how many CDs were pressed, they went out so fast! It may have to do too that a lot of amazing bands were included like Pale Lights, Young Scum, Nah…, The Suncharms and more. At least you can play it many many times. Really, so many good songs in here.

Math and Physics Club: the Seattle classic band will be back with a 7″ single on Matinée and it will also be their farewell. Two songs will be included in this release to come out in December 2019, “Indian Ocean (The End of Everything)” and “In Dreams”. So far I have listened to the A side and it is so pretty, but also bittersweet. What a song indeed. This one can’t be missed.

Majorelle Blue: oh this band sounds amazing to me! Wow. That is exciting! The band has 5 songs up on Bandcamp, “Forever Naive”, “Stay in Bed”, “Dudes”, “Shut Up and Make Way” and “Don’t Have Time to Be Your Boyfriend”. All great songs, but especially the opening one!, with female vocals, catchy, jangly, smart. I really would like to see a record released by the Malmö band!

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In the early 2000s there was a very fine duo in the US called Jinx. For a reason I don’t understand they are not very well known. The band was formed by Chris Butler on vocals, guitars and other instruments and Wendy Skratt on vocals and bass. When they were based in San Francisco, I guess in their beginnings, the band also had Peter Butler in their ranks playing bass and drums.

According to the band’s website which still exists Chris started in Louisville. He was originally from Detroit, but moved to Kentucky during his high school years. Then he moved to Boston for college. And then to San Fran where he started the band The Rescuers and where he met Wendy.

Wendy on the other hand hailed from San Jose in California. She went to art school in DC and then returned to San Fran. There she met Chris who persuaded her to lend her vocals to a single he was recording. Thus Jinx was born. And then they moved to London (on Feb. 17, 2001).

Sometime when in London the band would meet Matthew who would become their new drummer.

During their time they only released one 7″ in 2002. It came out on the very fine Becalmed Records from London and founded by the Spaniard Jorge Cortes, home of the superb The Pines. The 7″ (KLE 10) included two songs, the A side “King of the Rats” and the B side “Bed of Pipes”. The songs were recorded by Matthew Lazowski (from The Lollies) and mixed by Mike Jones (who worked as producer on many The Pines records and even on the 3″ CD we released on Cloudberry by the amazing The First Division).

Aside from this release the band contributed, in 2000, the song “Marco Polo” to a compilation CD called “C188 Papercuts” that came for free alongside the Papercuts Fanzine and was released by Sheepish Recordings. This CD looks great by the way as it includes top bands like The Visitors, The Foxgloves, Spearmint and more!

There is another compilation they were part of. They contribute the song “Nothing More” to the superb 2002 compilation “A View of Our Dreams” that my friend Nikola put out on his label Balcony Records from Belgrade, Serbia.

On Discogs it doesn’t show any other involvement by the band members on any other music projects. Just a photography credit for Wendy Skratt on a Mates of States 7″.

But according to the band’s website there were more recordings. First it seems that from the same recording session from “Marco Polo” there was another song called “Nothing More”. It seems this session was called “Warm Without the Fire” and it also mentions that the full name for the song was “Marco Polo (DeLeon’s Fountain)”.

Then we learn that after the “King of the Rats” session there was another recording session called “Are We There Yet?” where at least two songs were recorded, “The Rings Within Our Tree” and “Terrible Two”.

While in London the band played some gigs. Mostly acoustic shows. On April 11, 2000 they played the Betsey Trotwood alongside The Foxgloves. Then on June 5, 2001, they played another show with Joe’s band The Foxglove somewhere in the East-end. Next up was a superb lineup, on Sept, 15, 2001, they played at The Blue Posts alongside The Relict, Bart from Cat’s Miaow! and The Pines!

January 14, 2002, would see them play at The Bull & Gate with Sokay and Squeaky Buddha. Two weeks later, on the 31st, they played at the same place.

Then in 2002 the band returns to the U.S. They relocate to Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY. There they would play gigs at Galapagos with The Windmills and Simpático on May 7th 2002. What a lineup! Would have loved to be at that gig. Don’t think these sort of gigs happen anymore in WIlliamburg. At this gig they debut a new drummer, Aaron Woolsey.

Then I find something interesting, the Stamford-based nonprofit World Affairs Forum named Wendy Skratt as their executive director last year, 2018! This article mentions that Wendy had been in this nonprofit since 3016 as director of events and communications and before that she was president of the League of Women Voters of Stamford and also ran her own photography studio.

About Chris Butler, I can’t find any info. There seems to be a Chris Butler that worked on movie music, like Kubo. Is it the same Chris? Who’d know.

I would really love to hear the rest of their tracks and recordings. The little I’ve heard about them is great. “Nothing More” is just a gorgeous track, which I had uploaded to Youtube many years ago… sadly not getting any comments. I’d love to know more details about them!

Do you remember them?

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Listen
Jinx – Nothing More

Terribly busy week for me. But I managed to find some good music!

Будни: this superb Russian band has two new songs out. I may know two or three words in Russian, but don’t think I can hear them in these songs. But that does not matter. Understanding is important, and I am sure I would enjoy much more this band if I could, but nonetheless I am hooked to their songs. They are elegant, moody and cool! Very catchy too!

The Four Hit Wonder: lo-fi bedroom pop as I haven’t heard in a while! It feels as I am a trip backwards in time, to the early 2000s. And that is exciting! The Four Hit Wonder is the project of Max. He grew up in between Austria and Italy and now it seems to be based in Spain. He has just released a 6 song EP called “I’m Depressed”.

Señalada: Discos de Kirlian is a label you can trust when it comes to god indiepop releases. The album “Luz y Delirios” by this Spanish band is actually a co-release by Discos de Kirlian and Hermanos Segundos, both Spanish labels. The 8 song jangly album is available on CD too, though it seems as I am writing this lines only one is left!! Hurry up!

Minutes from June: now we head to New Mexico for three songs that might be kind of old. So it seems these songs were actually written when Minutes from June was in high school years ago. They were very good songs of course, so it is no surprise they’ve been re-recorded. And I am glad she did. Good stuff.

Dilary Huff: and an Australian band. I had to have one. They are perhaps the country I am most excited about lately when it comes to new indiepop (though for some reason I haven’t found a band that I think fits perfectly for a 7″ release in Cloudberry, odd, right?). Hilary Duff are a lo-fi pop band and they have just released a tape EP called “Overused Sayings” on the UK label Devil Town Records. The EP seems to be the brainchild of Sally Hull and it is packed with fuzzy and snappy tracks.

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I suppose most are familiar with the names of Kahimie Karie and Takako Minekawa. But I didn’t know they were in a band together at the beginning of the 90s called Fancy Face Groovy Name. Did you?

Maybe if you are a big fan of Japanese indiepop and/or the Shibuya-kei scene you are very aware of this. I know a bit, but I can’t say I am that knowledgeable. I feel with Japan I keep discovering bands and new songs all the time. I do own many records by Kahimie solo though when it comes to Takako I don’t own her records yet nor the ones when she was in L⇔R. Maybe I should check them out.

But what about this band they had together? I was reading the Wikipedia entry for Takako Minekawa, about her early years in music. It mentions that she used to go under the name of Mamene Kirerie when she was in Fancy Face Groovy Name. It also mentions that aside from having herself and Kahimie in it, they had Flipper’s Guitar as their backing band. It was indeed a true superstar band!

Something to note of course is that Keigo Oyamada, part of Flipper’s Guitar, was husband of Takako for 12 years (2000-12). They collaborated on several projects.

The band used to perform live. But when it comes to recordings I only know of one song that was recorded: “Love is Yé-Yé (Looking for my Idol)”. Did they record more? I would love to know.

This one song I mentioned appeared on a compilation CD released by Polystar Co. Ltd. (PSCR-1016). in 1990. This compilation was called “Fab Gear” and was re-released in 1993 by the same label with the same track list. Fancy Face Groovy Name appears with this song as the 7th track. It is a very fine compilation that seems to be inspired by él Records if you look at the design of the sleeve. On it we find bands like The Monochrome Set, Flipper’s Guitar, Momus and Bridge.

Thanks to this compilation, and the credits listed, we know that on this one track: Hitoshi Watanabe played bass, Reich and Yoshie Hiragakura played drums and percussion, Keigo Oyaamada and Kenji Ozawa played guitar and Koichiro Shiraishi played organ. The engineer was Tohru Takayama who also mixed the track while the production is credited to Double Knockout Corporation.

Of course there’s quite a bit written about Takako and Kahimie, but I am curious about this band, about 1990 and this period. I would love to find out more. If they had more songs especially! This one they recorded for the comp “Fab Gear” sounds so much fun!

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Listen
Fancy Face Groovy Name – Love is Yé-Yé (Looking for my Idol)

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!

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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!

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

I wrote about the German band Viola Crayfish some months ago. And guess what, I got in touch with them! And what’s even better they were up to answering my questions! So why not discover this terrific indiepop band from the Bremen area who didn’t release any proper records but left a handful of very strong songs!

++ Hi Lars, Folker and Bernd! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Still making music?

Lars: Thank you for having us. I am fine and still making music.

Folker: I play guitar on my own, and also as a teacher in special educa1on with handicapped pupils. 1-2 1mes a year i teach a friend of mine guitar tricks in song playing (not in a commercial way).

++ Let’s go back in time. 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?

Lars: We had to learn “Blockflöte”, a flute maybe you call it “recorder”. I was talentless. My Mother was always listening to radio and I figured out that some songs are better than others.
The best radio station in Western Germany was BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Service), in the early eighties they played all the hits from UK. When I was older I realised they had John Peel later in the evening.
I became a fan of Queen when I was 12 and bought a final record 1982. They lead me to Sparks, David Bowie and Roxy Music.

Folker: I played a wooden flute as a kid, later i started playing on a classical guitar. Luckily my guitar teacher was never interested in classical playing. He teached me to understand chords and melodies. Not only in Theory of musical harmonies, also in an emo1onal way.

Bernd: That’s an easy one. I first and foremost listened to what my brother listened to, no thinking needed. The few times I bought my own stuff, it was on the embarrassing schmaltzy side. Probably all about melodies, I rarely listen to lyrics. Still a habit today, hence I like Greek and Hawaiian music. Just sounds great and soothing.

++ Had you been in other bands before Viola Crayfish? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

++ Where were you from originally, the Oldenburg area?

++ How was your town at the time of Viola Crayfish? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

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

++ And there has been a few lineup changes through the years, right? Why?

Bernd: I moved away, first inside Germany then abroad. So I was replaced with a machine I guess which as probably for the better anyway…

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

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?

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

++ Do you have say, like a top 5 German bands? Maybe some obscure ones that you played with perhaps that could recommend me?

++ Something that caught my attention was that you didn’t release anything back in the 80s. Why was that? Was there no interest from labels? No money?

++ I am aware of at least one demo tape, one called “Nordsee”. But are there any other demo tapes? If so, care listing them for me?

Folker: I think the tape was called “Viola Crayfish”, but I dont remember well…

++ I got introduced to your music through the 1989 compilation “Diamonds and Porcupines”. How did you end up on it? How was your relationship with the Beat All the Tambourines label?

++ Then you appeared on the latest compilation of Firestation Records featuring bands from the late 80s, early 90s in Germany. On the small bio it mentions that at some point you decided to start writing songs in German. What made you take that decision? Did you stop singing in English? Or was it a mix of both?

++ On Discogs I found about a 2011 CD called “Far Out”. How was this one available? And are these newer songs? What can you tell me about this release?

++ On Soundcloud there are even more unreleased songs by the band. I was wondering if there are any plans at some point to make them all of them available in some way?

++ My favourite song so far, maybe because it is the first I ever heard, is “Love is More than Weather”. Was wondering if you could tell me the story behind it?

++ If you were to choose your favorite Viola Crayfish song, which one would that be and why?

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over Germany?

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

++ And were there any bad ones?

++ When and why did Viola Crayfish stop making music? Or you never stopped? I see that you’ve played at least up to 2008 or so?

++ And had you been involved in any other bands aside from Viola Crayfish?

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

++ What about from fanzines?

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

Bernd: If you think about now, in hindsight, the highlight was actually finding the time to practice every week or more often, develop the ideas and songs, and just have fun with it. At time it was about playing in front of people. Nerve wrecking and exciting in equal measures. We once played in a staircase for a true fan’s birthday bash. You can’t make it up.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

++ So I will ask for some recommendations. If  I was to visit your town and area what shouldn’t I miss? What are your favourite sights? And any particular food or drinks that you think one shouldn’t miss?

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

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!

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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!

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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!

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