Day 420

Marcos y Molduras / Malamute: I start this Wednesday review of new music with Snap! Clap! and Discos de Kirlian’s latest release. It is a 7″ that has songs by both Marcos y Molduras and Malamute, two good Spanish bands. There are 2 songs by each band though they are not both on one side, instead they mix 1 song each on each side. Not sure if I like that myself, I like the classic setups for split singles I think. But I’ll give it a try. One thing that I know is that I like both songs that you can preview on Bandcamp. So give it a listen!

Dream Suicides: I had recommended this Riverside, California, project in the past. I remember they had used Irene Jacob on the artwork for their previous release. I liked that. Their newest song is called “Clementine” and it is a fine jangly song. Now I am having a bit more trouble recognizing who is in the artwork, but yeah, that’s the least important thing. The song is pretty, and that’s what matters.

Die Zärtlichkeit: there is no music to listen here, which is sort of against the rules of the blog. But there is a pre-order button for a new 7″ by the Cologne duo. It is for their upcoming single “France Fall” that has “Montagmorgen” on the B side. It is coming out on May 14 on the very fine Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten. And I thought you needed to know as all the songs the band puts out are superb and I am sure this won’t be an exception.

B-Flower: the legendary Japanese band have released a new album it seems! Titled “Until Everything Goes Wrong” appeared on Bandcamp on May 1st. There is absolutely no information about it. But there are 11 songs in total, all waiting for every indiepop fan to listen.

The Laughing Chimes: and back now to a Spanish label, Pretty Olivia Records, which is run by the great Javi! They are releasing on June 15 a new album by a band called The Laughing Chimes that hail from Ohio! The band is formed by two teenagers, Evan and Quinn Seurkamp and they have distilled their taste for American and British jangle pop to create “This Town”, their album!

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Back in 2013 the blog Wilfully Obscure introduced to us a New York band called Enemies in the Grass. The information was scant then and I am guessing it will be now, 7 years later. But let’s see. You never know what you can find.

We know the band was around the late 80s and early 90s, releasing a 7″ single and then a 12″ EP. So let’s go in order.

The 7″ came out in 1988 on Galt Records (GP 400). The 7″ had the superb “Day After Day” on the A side and “Out of Luck” on the B side. The artwork was done by Leslie Falk. The band produced the record and Pete Puleo, who played keyboards in the record, was the engineer. David Eng mixed the songs.

Here we see that the band also featured Walter Sczesny on vocals and bass, Andy Bigan on drums, Walter Roberti on lead guitar and Jon Chaikin on guitar and vocals. This last name seems so familiar to me! Right he was in bands like Evening Lights and Coloring Book and did mixing and mastering jobs for so many indiepop bands! Especially for Shelflife Records!

Worth noting too that Chaikin wrote “Day After Day” and Sczesny wrote “Out of Luck”. The photo on the sleeve was taken by Chaikin as well.

“Blind Crossing” was the 12″ EP that came out in 1991. This time 6 songs were included, “Day After Day”, “Wants It That Way” and “Out of Luck” on the A side and “Best Behavior”, “Kind of Girl” and “Before Were Gone” on the B side. This came out on Galt Records (GP 500) as well. I believe the songs from the 7″ included here are re-recordings.

Aside from these two releases, the band appeared on the CD and cassette compilation  “Hear No Evil A Compilation” released by Galt Records in 1991 with the song “Wants It That Way” and also on the “Hear No Evil Volume Two” CD with the song “Yesterday’s Gone” in 1993. Much later, in 2014, their song “Best Behavior” got included in “Souvenirs: Little Gems of Pop Volume II” released by Sound Asleep Records from Sweden on CD.

I mentioned two bands Jon Chaikin had been, Evening Lights and Coloring Book. He was also on Awo Da. And when it comes to helping other indiepop bands, we can see them everywhere really! So thanks for that. When it comes to Walter Sczesny we know he had been in Cyclones, Mad Violets, Riff Doctors and The Fleshtones. Walter Roberti was in the Peggy Healy Band and Xan. David Kenneth Eng, producer and owner of Bayside Studios, in Queens, was in Awo Da, Peggy Healey Band and Kid Flash.

Sadly not much more info on the web. Will we get to know more details about them in the future? I hope so! Some great jangle pop here!

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Listen
Enemies in the Grass – Day after Day