16
Dec

Happy holidays!

As mentioned I’ll be back next year. On the 2nd week of January. Hopefully we continue discovering obscure bands in 2023. I thanks everyone who commented on the blog this year, who emailed me, and those who keep supporting the label. See you soon!

The Catherines: “I’m Here to Keep You Warm” is the latest single by the Hamburg based duo formed by Heiko and Sandra. From what the band tells us, the song came up with the idea to write a song about Sandra’s hot water bottle. Yeah, so this song is a song from the perspective of said bottle!

Малыш Камю: the Russian band has just released an EP titled “Дом на краю света” and it sounds ace. The duo formed by Ekaterina and Evgeniy Nedliko have four new songs and it is also interesting that they ask that as support for this release for anyone to make a donation to a charitable organization in Ukraine.

Wasting: a nice discovery! Wasting hail from Seattle and are formed by Cole Paramore and Lance Fohrenkam. Their latest release was a digital single called “Tulips” that came out on July 3. Yeah, I am a bit late to the party. But do check it out and also their previous songs, they have a terrific sound.

Have Yourself a Merry Indie Christmas: There’s two volumes for these compilations, Vol 1 is here and Vol 2 here. Included are tons of songs, all Christmas, all festive. And it includes superb bands like Swansea Sound, The Popguns, Sally Shapiro, The Pearlfishers and more. This mega release’s proceeds will go to the UK charity Crisis.

Melted Ice Cream: never heard a band from Chetumal, Mexico. I’ve wanted to visit their city for many years, and now hearing a band that actually makes some nice music makes me more curious. Their latest release is a digital single called “Volar”, but I think I enjoyed a bit more their previous effort “Dime que Me Extrañas”.

—————————————————————–

When I interviewed the Douglas, Isle of Man, band Angels Arc they recommended me some bands from their island. Among them was the Klevershirts.

They shared with all of us some news. That the Klevershirts had reformed in 2019 after 35 years! They had a new single out titled “Boulder” and there was even a video made for this track.

The one thing that confuses me is that I have seen their name as Klevershirts but also as Klever Shirts. I believe the band prefers the first way of writing their name, but even them, in their 1987 demo wrote it as Klever Shirts.

That 1987 demo is on the band’s Soundcloud. The demo was recorded in Linden Studio which was located in Cumbria, in Penrith to be exact. It is operated by Guy Forrester and Máire Morgan. They even had a label called Linden House, but not sure why they didn’t release Klevershirts music. Would have been cool.

The songs on these demo were four, “Bright White Light”, “Sucker for a Pretty Face”, “Laughing in my Face” and “Now that I Have”. From what I understand this is the band’s second demo. Where is the first?

I haven’t found audio for it, just for one of the songs. But we know it was recorded in 1986, in November of that year, at Linden Sounds too. Three songs were recorded, “Fingers to the Bone”, “Julie Horse” and “Thousand Tears”.

The band has a website too.

In April 1987 the band wins the Battle of the Bands at the Palace Lido.

The band’s rehearsal space was at the Douglas Head Hotel concert room.  Later on the band rehearsed at the MGM nightclub in Douglas.

Their name comes from a magazine article that had written an article about a scooter mob called The Shirts. The headline was “Clever Shirts Outwit the Police”. The band would change the C for K and they found their name.

The band was originally formed by Robbie Sampson on bass, Lee Harrison on guitar, Mark Green on drums, Paul Sellors on vocals and Selwyn Collister on guitar. Previously Robbie, Mark and Le had been in a band called The Klick.

In 1987 Nigel Quail joining as drummer.

Today the band is formed by Alex Harris on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Jonny Peacock on drums, Lee Harrison on guitar and vocals and Robbie Sampson on bass.

The new lineup has a lot of concerts lined up for this year and also for 2023.  All of them are in the Isle of Man.

And that’s what I found out about them. Very cool that they are back making music. Would be nice to see them live once.

Who remembers them? Anyone has more recordings by the Klevershirts?

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

Listen
Klevershirts – Now That I Have