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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Listen
Mondo Popless – Canned Groove