As I promised last week, I was going to recommend some new bands, mostly from the download compilation the Facebook page Latin American Twee put together like a couple of weeks ago. You can check out the tracklist by clicking here. There’s also a download link there if you want to get the whole thing. As I’ve mentioned before, Latin American Twee, is a cool Facebook page run by Impermeable Records’ (the ones who released CD16 late last year) Joel. He hails from Peru and seems to be on a crusade with the serious intention of documenting, revitalizing and promoting indiepop made south of Rio Grande.
Some of the bands on the compilation have already been mentioned on the blog, so let’s find out ones that I’ve never heard before.
- Armisticio: armistice is a strange name for an indiepop band, right? Anyhow this is the product of just one man, Matías Soto, from Santiago, Chile. The song on the compilation is “Mantener” and it’s a dream pop number. I check out their Bandcamp and notice they have three releases, the first one dating from June 2015. “Mantener” is taken from his latest, “Espiral”, released in 2016. It is a 10 track album and is a mix of classic indiepop and electronic beats. It reminds me quite a bit to Spanish classic band Dar Ful Ful. This is quite nice indeed. Wonder if it was released physically? Seems to be available only digitally.
- Ignacio del Pórtico: not a recent release this one. The song Joel has picked is “Cataratas del Paraíso” and it comes from a July, 2015 released titled “Regalos del Sosiego”. Not sure again if there’s a physical version for this 10 track album. It also seems to be a one man project. Ignacio seems to come not from Buenos Aires, but from Posadas, in Misiones province, in Argentina. That’s not common. At least I don’t think it is. The guitar work on the songs are my favourite thing about it, they jangle and chime, especially on the upbeat songs, which are definitely his best.
- Clan de Venus: this quartet hails from León in Mexico. They are formed by Norman Orozco on guitars and vocals, Diego Chávez on guitars, Óscar Villegas on bass and Hugo Hernández on drums. They have a four song EP available on their Bandcamp, and it is from there that Joel has picked the song “Isla Nube”. So far, on this compilation, this might be my favourite song. All songs included in the EP, which is available on the super Emma’s House Records on CD, are upbeat and jangly, reminding me a lot to what Los Waldners from Costa Rica are doing these days.
- Fish Magic: another one-man project, this time from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The man behind Fish Magic is Mário Quinderé and he has many more releases on his Bandcamp. The song on the comp is “Blue Light” and that is also the oppening track in his latest album, “Sky High”, that was released in December 2016. The album seems to have been released by the label Midsummer Madness though it seems only digitally. The album has some rockier moments, which are my least favourite, but when Fish Magic goes poppy, it is pretty good, like for example on “Into the Ocean” that sounds a bit like Lovejoy!
- Useless Youth: finally a band that has released their record physically! Their debut 10 track album titled “The Coldest Ocean” is available to buy on their Bandcamp as well as a t-shirts. The band is formed by Pepe on guitars and vocals, Ian on guitars, Yak on bass and Emiliano on drums. They hail from Mexico City and from the tags they’ve chosen on their Bandcamp I see they must like c86, twee and shoegaze. They must know a thing, or two! I feel there’s potential on the songs, though they sound very thin a lot of the times. The guitars are nice, but I feel the bass and drums could be more present? Maybe I’m just being too demanding! The thing is, the song that gives the album its title, “The Coldest Ocean”, is definitely my favourite. There are very nice guitars throughout and that’s what I’m going to remember Useless Youth for.
- Gativideo: there’s a 4 song EP on their Bandcamp, their only release it seems. This Buenos Aires band is formed by Renzo Montalbano (great last name! I’m a big fan of Inspector Montalbano), Ignacio Fischman, Juan Pablo Fenu and Ignacio Morelli. Sadly I only like the same song Joel liked, “Flash”, the opening track. The other 3 songs on the EP are not poppy at all. But “Flash” is dreamy and even has the class to mention Luis Miguel on its lyrics. That is quite risky if you want to be taken seriously, though maybe times have changed and now hipsters embrace “The Sun of America” as the Mexican crooner was once christened.
I think that’s the best I could pick from the compilation. There were other bands on it like Winter Waves, Jóvenes Adultos, Gaax or The Friendship that really didn’t do much for me. But maybe they are up your alley. You should check the comp out, there are great tracks from other bands I’ve raved here like Dan Dan Dero, Patio Solar or Medio Hermano.
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I’m a happy person, thanks to Carrick, last Saturday I got some amazing indiepop records at the WFMU record fair in Brooklyn. But of course the quest for all the holy grails of indiepop (in my book that is), continues. Can’t stop looking for bands and records that I’m still missing. Today I hope some of you could find me with 2 records, by the same band, A Better Mousetrap.
A mousetrap is a type of animal trap designed primarily to catch mice; however, it may also, accidentally or not, trap other small animals. Mousetraps are usually set somewhere indoors where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. The trap that is credited as the first patented lethal mousetrap was a set of spring-loaded, cast-iron jaws dubbed “Royal No. 1”. It was patented on November 4, 1879, by James M. A historical reference is found in the Alciati, Emblemata from 1534. Other mouse traps in art from: Gerrit Dou The mouse trap 1650, Nicolas de Larmessin, Rowlandson 1799, Francis Wheatley 1790s, Edmund Bristow 1787-1876 and more can be seen in a blog post by Patricia Bixler Reber. The conventional mousetrap with a spring-loaded snap mechanism resting on a block of wood first appeared in 1884, and to this day is still considered to be one of the most inexpensive and effective mousetraps.
There is very little on the web about A Better Mousetrap. We know they released one 7″ and one 12″, both in 1987, and that was it. So we’ll go investigate these releases first. See what sort of hints they can give us.
The 7″ had 2 songs, “The Road to Kingdom Come” on the A side and “We Are All Going To Die” on the B side, and was released by Cuddly Records (catalog CUD 001). Of course, this was the only release on this label. Is it safe to assume it was a self-release? The artwork is a black and white cartoon, you can tell there was sense of humour in this band. I haven’t heard both songs, I’ve only had the chance to listen to the B side “We Are All Going To Die”, but could it be “The Road to Kingdom Come” lyrics printed on the back sleeve? It looks that way. On the back sleeve we get to know the band lineup:
– Silas Sibbring on vocals
– Les Watkins on guitars, harmonica and vocals
– Gerry McGowan on bass and vocals
– Carl D’Inal on drums
This 7″ was recorded at Neosound Studios in Tottenham. It was produced and engineered by Mike Neophytou and the band. The art was by Mike Mitchell.
So Tottenham. Where they Londoners then?
The “A Nice Cup of Tea” EP was the 12″. This was their second release. This one was released by Tuff! Enuff (TUFFER 001). There is another release on the label by a band called Jeremy Gluck & Friends according to Discogs but I feel this is a mistake, an error. Both have catalog 001, so it must just be that there was another label with the same name. Meaning this was also a self-release?
On the EP there are 5 songs. On the A side we find “Goodbye Cruel World” and “Beautiful Place”. On the B side there are “Pigs Will Fly”, “The World is Mad” and “A Nice Cup of Tea”. The song I have heard from this EP is the opening one, “Goodbye Cruel World”. The songs, this time, were recorded at Airwave Studios on Kilburn High Road, London, “at the bottom of a narrowish staircase” on August 1987. They must have been Londoners!
The record was produced and engineered by Barry Lane and A Better Mousetrap with “much hilarity and little fuss” according to the back sleeve. Again we see the sense of humour all over the back sleeve, especially where the band members are listed! Like it says that Gerry McGowan makes spaghetti or Carl makes a teacup.
There was one other appearance by the band. With the song “A Road to Kingdom Come”, they would participate in a compilation in 1988. The compilation was titled “Vinyl Virgins” and was released by Mighty Sheffield Records (catalog CM 001). You would guess that by the name these were bands that haven’t been on vinyl before, but clearly A Better Mousetrap had been already.
A Better Mousetrap opens the compilation, they have the first song. Other bands on it are The Warhols, The Things, The Australians, The Gallery and more. It seems it was a mix of genres on it. Seems there was some punk and hard rock on it.
Then how to find more information? I wonder if those were their real names. Carl D’inal, sounds like cardinal, might have been a joke? What about the rest? I couldn’t find anything online about them.
I have no clue. Couldn’t find any information about gigs, or anything at all. Maybe some of you remember them? Maybe someone has some spare copies to trade with me? What about other recordings? Where there more? I’d love to hear both releases in their entirety as well. Anyhow, whatever help in this indiepop archaeology project is much appreciated!
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4 Responses to “:: A Better Mousetrap”
I remember these guys back in 1987-88 when they played The Flag in North Wembley, terrific live band and great drummer Carl D’inal (which wasn’t his real name) but joined Paper Toys in 1990.
I’m sure Silas was Irish.
You can see Carl D’inal playing drums in Paper Toys live at the Marquee in 1990 on You Tube.
Thank you so, so much for uploading this! I had both vinyl releases and have been looking for a CD reissue since forever!
Please can you upload the rest??? Would lve to hear them again!
I saw these a few times back in late 80’s, they used to play
In Scarborough a couple of times a year, great band, there is some footage of them on YouTube if you search Sandaid Scarborough part 1, they are on about 20 odd minutes in,
Dear Roque,
Silas Sibbring from A Better Mousetrap here. I was very pleased to be told about your website – what a fantastic archive!
I have listed below a few things about A Better Mousetrap that might be of interest to you & your readers, but firstly I thought I’d just respond to a couple of things raised on your page about us…
You were quite right about ‘The Road To Kingdom Come’ & ‘We Are All Going to Die’ 7” being a self-release on our own Cuddly label. 1000 copies were produced & distributed by Red Rhino, Rough Trade & The Cartel.
Our Nice Cup of Tea 12” EP featuring ‘Goodbye Cruel World’ is, in fact, a release by Flicknife Records to whom we were signed. Hawkwind were on the same label at the time & we were invited to go to Wales to meet them but somehow never got around to it which is a pity. 5000 12” copies were produced, under the imprint of Tuff!Enuff (TUFFER 001) & distributed by Pinnacle & Rough Trade.
It is speculated in your article that I am Irish! I’m not Irish; I’m English, born & bred in the East Coast seaside resort of Cleethorpes. My real name is Mick Taylor & I’m probably best known for my band Exit, formed in July 1977. We released 3 ‘45s – the first one in September 1979, the ‘East Coast Kids’ EP, under the name The What – & record companies have since released compilations of our music. I took my name Silas Sibbring from my ancestral family, traced back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st & featured in 1955 on BBC television.
A Better Mousetrap were, as you surmise, a London band, but only from 1986 to 1988 where we lived together as a band – in a house in Wembley to be precise – having moved down there from our English East Coast hometown of Grimsby & Cleethorpes in the county of Humberside where we had formed in 1984. For our first 18 months we were known as The Legendary 96 Tears, described by Ashley Wainwright in SOUNDS music paper as “a Humberside band who’re literally packin’ ‘em in right now. Their mix of original material and old ‘60s R ‘n’ B standards played at dangerously loud speed leaves you breathless and stunned”.
In February 1986 we changed our name to A Better Mousetrap during 4 days of recording at Hull Fairview Studios, engineered & co-produced by John Spence, best known for his work with The Happy Mondays and The Beautiful South. From these sessions we produced a cassette album of 500 copies which was highly praised by Melody Maker writers the Legendary Stud Brothers.
Why did we change our name when we had achieved popularity in the north of England, filling venues as The Legendary 96 Tears?! Well, the 4 days in the studio were preceded by 5 days on the road gigging during which we were living & sleeping in a Luton van fitted out with mattresses & hammocks, the latter especially made by a ship’s chandler in Grimsby Docks. These 9 days coincided with the coldest weather on record in Britain; it was so cold that when we awoke each morning in the Luton van we found ourselves covered in snow, and, no, there wasn’t a hole in the roof – it was snowing inside because our exhaled breath whilst sleeping had crystalized into snow due to the sub-zero temperatures! On one particular night we sat awake in the van too freezing to sleep & our brains became addled: for no reason whatsoever we changed our name to ‘A Better Mousetrap’.
Andrew Eldritch of Sisters Of Mercy was recording at Fairview during the night-time in between our daytime sessions and we’d have conversations with him during the changeover. Hearing about our miserable conditions living outside the studio in our Luton van he took great pity upon us. He ordered us, from Hull’s top department store, a large hamper of food and drink. After this, his amazing act of kindness, our suffering didn’t seem so bad! The songs Andrew was working on were ‘The Giving Ground’, released the following July on The Sisterhood’s ‘The Gift’ album & ‘This Corrosion’, a Sisters Of Mercy No. 7 UK hit in Oct 1987.
In late 1986 Channel 4’s The Tube’s producers were considering us for an appearance on the show based on how impressed they were by ‘The Golden Mile’, the opening number on our cassette album. The Tube was a flagship live TV music show that ran for 5 seasons from 1982 onwards & it would undoubtedly have been a career-making move for A Better Mousetrap. Unfortunately, on Friday 16th January 1987, on Channel 4 at 5.15pm, on a live trailer at peak children’s viewing time, Jools Holland, the show’s presenter, said, “Be there or be ungroovy fuckers!” The resultant scandal led to resignations & the demise of the show ruining our first genuine chance for a shot at the big time!
In April 1988 ‘The Road To Kingdom Come’ received a lot of radio play on BBC Radio 1, daytime & evening, including, from the 14th, on 4 successive days by Simon Mayo, by Mike Read on his prestigious Saturday Show & by Liz Kershaw & Janice Long. It also featured on the BBC Radio 1 show Singled Out, hosted by Mike Read, where it was reviewed by guests including Bananarama. Intriguingly, a few years ago I discovered a copy of this record in the British Library with a BBC stamp on it!
‘Goodbye Cruel World’ has been played by Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 6 Music a few times over the years.
Sadly, A Better Mousetrap broke up in the summer of 1988 & the last anybody would have heard of us would have been in October of that year when BBC Radio Essex broadcasted a gig we had played at The Square in Harlow on June 10th.
From 1984 to 1988 we played 80 gigs as The Legendary 96 Tears/A Better Mousetrap including prestigious venues such as London’s 100 Club (twice), Dingwalls & the Rock Garden & major East Coast resort venues Cleethorpes Winter Gardens, Bridlington Spa, Scarborough Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round & Open Air Theatre.
It’ll come as a very big surprise to everyone who has ever known us to learn that during these years we also played 270 gigs as The Teardrops, a cabaret band playing ‘50s, ‘60s & ‘70s hits in clubland. We’d formed this band solely to make money to finance ourselves as The Legendary 96 Tears/A Better Mousetrap and it worked because by far the most money we ever made was from Teardrops gigs. Unfortunately it was a double-edged sword because every weekend we were committed by our agents to perform as The Teardrops, limiting opportunities to play more gigs in our own right performing our own music.
Studio visits & releases:
1984, November: Lincolnshire’s Holten-Le-Moor 8-track Studios, 6 songs recorded in 1 day, released as a cassette album, The Legendary 96 Tears Go To Disneyland. ‘Mr Nice Guy’; Last Minute Rescue’; ‘Black Thursday’; ‘Whisky Into Water’; Happiness!’; ‘Out to Grass’. (150 copies produced, Red Beret label.)
1986, February: Hull, Fairview 24-track Recording Studios: 6 songs recorded over 4 days, released as a cassette album, 24 Track Demo – a silly title, really, because it wasn’t a demo; it was a full 24-track production job. ‘The Golden Mile’; ‘The Backward Slide’; ‘Walking On Broken Glass’; ‘Days Like These (aka One Fine Day)’; ‘The Pearly Gateway’; ‘Anxiety’. (500 copies produced, Fairview label.)
1987, March: London, Tottenham, Neo Sounds 16-track Studios, 2 songs recorded over 3 days: ‘The Road To Kingdom Come’ & ‘We Are All Going to Die’. (1000 7” ’45 vinyl copies produced, Cuddly label, distribution by Red Rhino, Rough Trade & The Cartel.)
1987, August: London, Kilburn High Rd, Airwave 16-track Recording Studios, 4 songs & 2 ‘ditties’ recorded over 5 days: ‘Goodbye Cruel World’, ‘Beautiful Place’, ‘Tea Break’. ‘Pigs Will Fly’, ‘The World Is Mad’, ‘A Nice Cup of Tea’. (5000 12” vinyl copies produced, Flicknife Records under the imprint of Tuff!Enuff, distributed by Pinnacle & Rough Trade.)
1987, November: Beckenham in Kent, Peppermint Place 24-track Studios, 6 songs recorded in 3 hours with ‘live’ mixes: ‘Mud In Your Eye’; ‘Rubbish’; ‘We’re Here Because We’re Here’; ‘Television Land’; ‘Pyramids of Chocolatey Delights’; ‘Me Myself & Nobody Else’. (As yet unreleased.)
1988, August: Vinyl Virgins, compilation album, Mighty Sheffield Records (Zoot). Side 1 opens with A Better Mousetrap, ‘The Road To Kingdom Come’.
1988, October: BBC Radio Essex broadcasts A Better Mousetrap’s live set of June 10th at Harlow The Square. 30 minutes.
A selection of press reviews:
“A quartet of nice nutters as only England can produce”.
Nineteen (French magazine)
“A very funny & eccentric band who at the same time play A Better Music”.
House of Dolls (Influential 1980s magazine)
“Their live set must be seen to be believed. Having seen A Better Mousetrap twice, at the Flag in Wembley and at the Hammersmith Clarendon, I have grown to like their performance more. Everyone I know has commented how good they are on seeing them for the first time”.
Alice Through The Windscreen (1980s fanzine)
“Those great English eccentrics with a deliciously black sense of humour; that unique and original band, A Better Mousetrap, are out to ensnare more fans at The Flag in Wembley on Friday. They happily savage the establishment in a satirical attack on its attempt “to lead us all on a merry old dance” in what amounts to the musical equivalent of Spitting Image. Visual, flamboyant and unerringly catchy. Mousetrap offer a bait that is hard to resist. Go for it.
Wembley Observer
“A Better Mousetrap are the type of band that leave an audience in a state of shock. It is the visual aspect of their performances that put them well above the average band. The antics of singer and preacher ‘Silas’ keep the eyes fixed on the stage and the spectacle going on. The rest of the lads play with the absolute precision that many well-known bands would be proud of. In fact, ABM are musically better than many of the bands around today with their lovable blend of country rock and poppy little ditties”.
Wembley Observer
“Mid set head-scratcher ‘We’re Here because We’re Here’ is pure genius, just making it over the thin line from lunacy. And the props used by the singer, a bizarre looking cross between Dave Vanian and Jona Lewie, are ridiculously fine. The band sneak upon you from a different angle to most, and they do it brilliantly.
Bishop’s Stortford Herald
“The most talked about band ever to visit Dunstable. Frontman Silas Sibbring is something of a poet and a cross between the mad Hatter & Tull’s Ian Anderson”.
Dunstable & District Citizen
“One of the most popular bands to play at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round”.
Scarborough Evening News
“A frighteningly cerebral inconvenience…a truly amazing band”.
Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round
“An original and charismatic band, fronted by poet and vocalist Silas Sibbring, present a clever mixture of music and theatrics. When Silas isn’t lobbing pizzas, toffee apples and flowers at the confused audience, he can usually be found in a corner of the bar reading Les Dawson’s biography and supping a pint of lager”.
Luton News
Finally, I’d like to use this opportunity to give a belated thanks to music journalists who took a keen interest in us: SOUNDS magazine’s Ashley Wainwright; Johnny Waller, who founded Fire Records with Clive Solomon in 1985 & released early records by Pulp; the NME’s Terry Staunton, who became Senior Editor for 10 years & co-founded Uncut magazine; Melody Maker writers the Legendary Stud Brothers; & Steve Lamacq of BBC Radio 6 Music who has played ‘Goodbye Cruel World’ a few times on his show over the years – on one occasion sandwiched between the Rolling Stones & the Arctic Monkeys!
Regards & thanks to you, Roque, & to your readers,
Silas Sibbring of A Better Mousetrap (aka Mick Taylor of Exit)
PS
I’m planning to compile a compilation of songs from 8 live gigs we had videoed between March ’85 & May ‘88 – this should please our ‘fans’ who so enjoyed our performances!
Exit: Detour record label biography:
https://www.boredteenagers.co.uk/WHAT.htm
Exit 1979-84, 200 CD album release + downloads, November 2020, Detour records:
http://shop.detourrecords.co.uk/EXIT-We-Live-By-The-River-CD-NEW-P
Exit 1982-84, 250 vinyl 12” album release + downloads, December 2023, Dead Wax records:
https://deadwaxrecords.es/product/rusty-old-things/
From 1998 to 2000 I played 18 gigs as Cleethorpes Promenade – usually with the All-singing Camper Van Guest Stars & sometimes with Wolfie Witcher & His Brew – including at legendary London venues such as, on ‘Tin Pan Alley’: the 12 Bar Club, Denmark Place WC2, Camden Underworld & the Half Moon Putney. I released 2 CDs & made several radio appearances.
1998 Cleethorpes Promenade ‘enhanced’ CD, Red Beret label, 1000 produced
2000 Cleethorpes Promenade ‘My Summer Holiday’ CD, Elefanztrunk Records, 5000 produced
Time Out magazine review for Cleethorpes Promenade & the All-singing Camper Van Guest Stars 12 Bar Club gig:
Rather more unusual stuff from the splendidly monikered Mr Cleethorpes Promenade, proud purveyor of a frankly downright weird and wigged-out type of jocular song.
Making Music magazine review:
‘Hide Me’ video from 1998 ‘Enhanced’ CD:
2000 Cleethorpes Promenade CD release, Elefanztrunk label, 5000 copies:
https://www.discogs.com/release/17163322-Cleethorpes-Promenade-My-Summer-Holiday
Grimsby Evening Telegraph review: