I haven’t been that well the past weekend so haven’t had the time to work much on label-related stuff. I hope this week is much more productive for me. But still, as it is promised I bring you five new finds for you to check out!
The Catherines: the latest from our Hamburg friends is a cover of The Holy Mackerel’s “Bitter Honey”. This track penned by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams gets a very pretty rendition from Heiko and Sandra here. Good stuff!
Thumbuster: now let’s head to Sheffield, where the label Delicious Clam Records have released “NO:P”, a tape album by the band Thumbuster. But this happened back in 2016 really. So not exactly new. But new to me. There are 10 songs of guitar driven pop, sometimes fun, sometimes punky, sometimes even shouty.
Ofrenda Floral: the latest release on Kocliko Records from Spain is this new album called “Las Flores No Me Odian” that packs 9 songs in a 10″ vinyl. On top of that the art for the record is beautiful, designed by Grego from Annika Records. And if that’s not enough, our friend Cris from The Royal Landscaping Society has mastered the album. It does sound good!
Foundlings: Amber, Bry, Matty and Ol form this London band. I have featured them back in August but now they have a new song called “Enemy” which I suppose will be part of the EP they will be releasing in March. So take a moment and give it a listen.
Holiday Ghosts: the second album by this Falmouth, UK, band will be released this month. The album is titled “West Bay Playroom” and sounds real fun. It has 14 songs and 3 of their are available to stream on Bandcamp, “Slipstream”, “Booksmart” and “Just a Feeling”. It seems the band is not too obscure as it mentions that they have been praised by lots of hip sites. So probably many of you know about them. It is the first time I’m listening to them though… as always late to the party.
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Do not confuse them with the more known UK band The Wallflowers (which have been interviewed in the blog I must say). Neither with the crappy one-hit American band. No. These Wallflowers hailed from Germany and they were the first record released by the obscure Heaven Sent Records.
I’ve mentioned this label in the past. That’s when I featured the band Sonic Flower Groove. Sadly I still haven’t found any new information about them nor got in touch with their band members. But little by little I learn more about these bands and the label. Maybe some of them will appear on the next “Leamington Spa” sort of compilation that Firestation is putting together for German bands.
The Wallflowers released only one 7″, one that is still missing in my collection sadly. It was as I said the first release on Heaven Sent (HS001) and it came out in 1990. It was titled “Colorful EP”. It had four songs. On the A side there was “Deacon Song” and “New Love” while the B side had “Colour of her Eyes” and “I Will Remember”. The jacked printed in black ink looks like a couple kissing in a punk bar (?). Ive seen it in white paper and also in orange paper. Are there more colours?
Their song “Deacon Song” also appeared on the tape compilation “Heaven Sent” that this same label put together that same year. I have talked about this compilation in the past as it includes the Wide Plains, The Penny Candles, Sonic Flower Groove, The Sohfas and many more bands that have been featured on the blog. A superb compilation it is.
When I interviewed Bernd from the Wide Plains from Worms, he mentioned that Andi (their keyboardist) joined The Wallflowers and Sonic Flower Groove. On that interview he also mentions that Heaven Sent was run by Ralf Hoffmann, also a member of Sonic Flower Groove. My question is though, was Andi a founding member of The Wallflowers? Or did he joined the band when this one already existed? And I’m pretty sure Andi’s name was Andreas Rauh.
Sadly I can’t seem to find any other information about the band. Who were the other band members or anything. No one seems to have blogged about them or discussed about them in forums. At least I know they were part of the Worms scene in the late and early 90s. That was a thriving indiepop scene back then. I wonder if my German friends remember them and can let us know a detail or two about The Wallflowers!
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