So all Okama Flannel Boy 7″ pre-orders are on their way to everyone who placed an order. Very excited about it. Looking forward to what you think, and any reviews that may appear in the next few weeks. I will also make sure the Bandcamp with Okama Flannel Boy songs is updated.

There is no time for being lazy now as I have a new 7″ around the corner by a superb band. I will be announcing it this Wednesday. I do have to say that there won’t be any posts this Friday or Monday as I will be away in Puerto Rico for a small break. I will return next week of course.

What did I find this weekend when it comes to new indiepop? Let me share with you:

Jasmine Minks: definitely a great thing is to see surface the “Scratch the Surface” album demos on Soundcloud. There are 7 demos available to stream that were recorded as demos for the 1989 album. Some of them made the final cut, others didn’t, some became live favourites, and some haven’t been heard publicly before. And I urge you all to have a listen! I remember when I got the chance to interview Jim Shepherd, and later meet him in the UK, happy times!

Space Daze: not sure if Seapony is still going, but Danny Rowland, their guitarist and main songwriter has been making available songs for his solo project Space Daze. The latest is a 5 song digital EP titled “Miss the World”. The music is a bit different to the poppier Seapony, but don’t be afraid. There are some very sweet moments like the song “In the Dark”, with a jangly guitar and a dreamy vibe.

Citrus Clouds: the Phoenix, Arizona, band that I have featured in the past is back. The trio formed by Erick, Stacie and Angelica, have two brilliant new jangly tracks on their Bandcamp, sort of a digital single. They are called “Golden Sun” and “Nothing Familiar”. Also worth noting for those in the Arizona area, the band will be touring this August, so please don’t miss them!

The Jangle Band: the brilliant Perth, Australia, band is back with a limited CD single! The band formed by legendary Australian musicians like Ian Freeman, Jeff Baker, Joe Algeri, Dave Wallace and Mark Eaton, is sharing with us “The Guy Who Used to Care” and “Now That’s Over” which I’m hoping are a teaser of a second album to be released in the near future (?). I hope that’s the case, but if not, it doesn’t matter, these are superb songs to have on repeat.

March, April & May: there is a new fanzine by February Records. It features a bunch of great bands, interviews with Tracyanne & Danny, Night Flowers, Sushi Backpack or Math & Physics Club. It also comes with access to download the 6-track EP that you can stream on the label’s Bandcamp with bands like Famous Problems, Gabardine, Mini Dresses, Sushi Backpack and Kevin Hairs.

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The name Justine is a girl’s name of French, Latin origin meaning “fair, righteous”.

I go back to the Kittenish CD. I still don’t own a copy but most, if not all, of the songs are on Youtube to stream. I should try to get a copy soon. The bands on it are mostly unknown to me so I keep discovering new sounds and new bands from Sweden thanks to it. Last time it was the Soapflakes, who I got in touch with and I hope to get interview answers pretty soon. Today I want to investigate about a band whose song I also liked quite a lot, a band called Justine Ahead.

The song they contributed to this compilation CD released jointly by Ceilidh Productions (CEI 037) and the Ultra Magazine in 1994 was called “Popflower”. And it is brilliant. If you want to read a bit more about the Kittenish CD and also about the Soapflakes, I leave you the link of my previous post here. As you’ll see for Soapflakes at least I could find a poster, an image, to create the top image of the post. For Justine Ahead, I haven’t found any photos nor memorabilia of the band. Were they that obscure?

Well, the band doesn’t count with any other release listed on Discogs. Maybe this song, “Popflower”, was the only one that was properly put out on a physical record. But I’m sure they must have recorded some more on that same recording session. It has to be that way. And I would love to listen to any other songs by the band.

I find a blog called Tidskriften Pop Revisited. There is a mention of the band, more like a small review. They mention that the band could be the next Stevepops, that they are the typical Ceilidh band. Maybe they are right, but the truth is Ceilidh didn’t release ay records by them.

Then the Kristina venue page mentions them. I can’t recall, but I’m sure I’ve mentioned this Växjö classic venue on the blog before. In the about section the Cafe/Venue, writes about the bands that hailed from Växjö and played at their club in the 90s like Wagon, The Ark or Justine Ahead.

But after after searching and searching I’m going to have a break. The website Svensk Mediedatabas, which I assume is a database of records and the sort of Swedish artists, has another release listed other than the Kittenish appearance. There was a 1994 release called “Catchy Tunes” that seems to have been self-released by the band on cassette. There were three songs included in it, “Rain”, “Weekend” and “Summersong”.  Oh my! Would love to hear these songs someday. Anyone can hook me up with that?

Lastly I found another hit, on the Scandinavian Indie Mailing List of the 90s, as usual there is a list of addresses for fans to get in touch with bands. Justine Ahead appears among them, and here it confirms that they were based in Växjö. Also it adds a name, surely one from the band, Jorgen Westergren. What did he play in the band is of course the first question one asks?

As you can see, lots of blanks left to fill. Not much more to go on. I could find a Jorgen Westergren still in Växjö, but couldn’t find him connected to any music bands. Maybe it could be him, maybe not. Who knows. The truth is, I would love to listen to more songs by them. Would love to know who else was in the band. How many years were they active? Where in Sweden did the play gigs? Why no proper releases? Maybe some of my Swedish friends could help me out with this mystery?

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Listen
Justine Ahead – Popflower