This is quite a holy grail for many indiepop fans. The über obscure Ate Guitarists Later that released a wonderful 7″ in the 80s or early 90s.

The 7″ with a sleeve that had a cartoon of some guy looking up had two songs, “Things are Looking Up” and “Magdalene Lane”. Yes, the cartoon makes sense with the name of the song. Very literal.

The back of the sleeve gives a little bit more info. Seems that this was a solo project. All musical chores are credited to Jim Goldolphin. The sleeve is credited to Steve Spear and A. Hall.

The label was Godol Records. And there’s an address in Keyham, Plymouth, Devon, UK.

And that’s all really. I know there’s almost no information about this band/project. But I am hopeful that this post will help find out more details. Maybe someday. Anyone can help?

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

Listen
Ate Guitarists Later – Things Are Looking Up

Leiria is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of 565.09 square kilometres. It is the seat of its own district and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leiria-Fátima. The city is part of the historical province of Beira Litoral.

Never thought I’d write about a band from Leiria, Portugal, but here we are.

There’s a Soundcloud by the band Phase that has all of their 1996 recordings. They had uploaded it 9 years ago, sometime in 2014 or 2015. Why? Well, it seems they got back in 2015.

But let’s go in order. In chronological order on the stuff I’m finding online.

The recordings are part of a demo called “Dreams of Heaven” that looks like a proper album, 11 songs.  These were “Dream”, “Touch Me Down”, “You Were”, “Waking Up”, “Today Forever”, “Dreams to Heaven”, “Scope”, “Sunshine Smile”, “Sound Logic”, “Butterfly” and the weirdly titled “I Was Fucking Your Sister”.

The band was an important part of their city’s music scene. They were formed by Luís Mendes on vocals and electric guitar, Ricardo Fiel electric guitar and casiotone, Filipe Rocha on drums and vocals and Nuno Filipe on bass.

There was another demo which is not online. It was called “52 Minutes of Your Time” that was released in 2000. From what I understand Rachel Goswell from Slowdive appears on this demo.

After Phase the band members were involved in many projects included Sean Riley & The Slowriders, David Fonseca, Born a Lion, The Allstar Project or Dr. Majick

But as mentioned, in 2015 the band reunited to play at the Beat Club in Leiria, on December 26th. Tickets for that night were just five euros. So cheap.

To find more info there’s a Facebook of the band that was set up in 2014.

There’s a bunch of photos of the band and I find a discography. Thanks to that I track down a discography on Discogs. Four releases all from 2000. Three singles and an album.

The singles were “The Single” a promo CD release on Polydor and Universal Music Portugal that included the song “The Single (Radio Edit Version)” that was recorded at Clarion Studios and Melway Studios in Brighton and Noisy Studios in London. The producer was Darren Allison, who also mixed the tracks at Inovation in London. The mastering was done at Abbey Road in London.

“Get Down” was the second single. It was also a CD release that included just  the title song. Recordings, mastering and mixing happened at the same locations. The one interesting bit here is that there was a brass section for this song, Julian Nicholas played sax, Damon Brown trumpet and Billy Romfit trombone.

“City” was the last CD-single. The information is the same for technical side of the CD. On this song now there is a string section, Maria João Silva played violin, Luis Norberto viola, João Costa cello, Lúcia Costa violin. Adam Blink arranged the strings.

The album “Fifty Two Minutes of Your Time” was the one and proper release by the band. Has a catalog number on Polydor and Universal Music Portugal (157 487-2). Again technical information is the same as in the singles and now we find 12 tracks: “Get Down”, “The Single”, “The Sun”, “She’s a Girl”, “Sorry”, “City”, “Hey Girl”, “Falling Down”, “Mars Babe” (credtis here for Dr. Sarilla nEon for electronics/radiophonics), “Outside”, “Wonderstar” and “God’s Trial”. It is on “Hey Girl” that Rachel Goswell contributes. David Fonseca of the band Silence 4 contributes on the song “City”.

And then they were on a bunch of compilations! I counted 9, all between 1997 and 2002.

“Sunshine Smile” appears on “Noise Sessions” a CD comp released by Garageem (GCD-004) in 1997. Then in 1998 the band contributes “Scope (All I Can Get)” to “Santos da Casa” a CD comp released by Coimbra B (CBEV 00398) and four songs, “Falling Down (On Me)”, “The Sun (Burn to Ashes)”, “(Nice) Wish” and “Sound Logic” to “4×4 (A)Tracção Fatal” also on Coimbra B (CBEV 00498).

“Dream” appears on another compilation, “Cais do Rock Vol. II” in 1998. This was released by LowFly Records (LF 054). Then in 1999 “Falling Down” appears on “OnLeiria” a promo CD comp released by Artes & Leilões (A&L00006). This last one came out alongside the magazine “On”.

Universal Music Portugal would promote their band in 4 different compilations. On 2000s “Nºs 1 O Melhor Do Pop Rock Português” they  include the song “City (I Breathe This Pure Air)”. That same year the big label releases another compilation with the same name and on that one the song “Get Down (Get Down, Get Down)” is the one that appears. Tracklist, catalog number and artwork look different, but not sure why both comps are just called the same.

Then in 2002 the band has “Get Down (Get Down, Get Down)” on “O Melhor do Pop / Rock Vol. 1” and then “Mars Babe” on “O Melhor do Pop / Rock Vol. 2”, both released by Universal Music Portugal.

Universal Portugal believed in the band and a promo video was made for the song “Get Down“.

And that’s all I wanted to share today. Maybe we’ll find more about them soon. Pretty cool to find a band from a small Portuguese city that started small and at some point ended up signing for a big label. They must have quite a story!

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

Listen
Phase – You Were

Have you heard of the Dutch band Ziffels? They hailed from Groningen and were around in the mid-80s making some very nice guitar pop. Maybe you did know them. They were considered the city’s best kept secret. But perhaps if you weren’t Dutch, if you weren’t from Groningen, you missed them.

I have one 7″ by them, the only one they released back in 1987. It had two songs, “Cold Day in Bermuda” on the A side and “Penny Black” on the B side.

The record came out on the band’s own Slurf Records (SLR 1001) and the jacket featured a fun illustration showing a little island, a palm tree, a cruise ship, a shark, and the band members either on a dark cloud or one of them having a good time resting on the beach. The back side of the sleeve is less fun, band name and “Penny Black” on white over black background.

There’s no info about the band sadly on the record but I found that it was produced by Tiemen Smit.

But I am sure I will find more about them.

The first great find is one on Bandcamp. 18 songs! Yes! An 18 song compilation titled “Early Recordings“. All remastered in Studio 77 in Groningen by Frits Vogt. The songs are “Arnold goes to Artschool”, “Dumped”, “Max Day”, “Show a Little Love”, “Baby in a Bottle”, “Let’s Go to the USA”, “Big Fat Love”, “I’ll Try Anything”, “Global Habitability”, “Cold Day in Bermuda”, “Penny Black”, “Sole Thing”, “Red Herrings”, “The Way to Your House”, “The Biggest American”, “Secret Servant”, “Stupidity (live Stadspark)”. These sons seem to be only available digitally.

This same Studio 77 Bandcamp account has more recordings by the band.

There is also a bunch of 1989 recordings by the band that have been compiled under the name “Attic Tapes” as they were recorded in the attic of Villa Volonté. This is their “unreleased” album. But what is Villa Volonté? It seems it is a pub in Groningen that was created in 1983 by the medical faculty! Ah! Right, I should have mentioned that Groningen is a university town.

The songs on “Attic Tapes” are “Caroline”, “Sole Thing”, “Cortina”, “Secret Servant”, “Time Will Tell”, “Don’t Touch Me Now”, “Suckcess”, “Biggest American”, “Working for the Man”, “Dumped”, “Slow Down” and “We Do”.

I do find who were behind the band. Henk Boonstra was on vocals, Spike Boorsma on guitar and vocals, Theo van der Laan on drums, Jose Cutileiro on guitar and vocals and Frits Vogts on bass. The main songwriters were Sipke and Jose.

The band appeared in two Dutch compilations in 1990. The first was on “Let’s Have a Picnic and Barbecue Some Corrupt Not Self-Programming Dee-Jays” with the song “Suckcess” which was produced by Jan Van dere Plas. This was a double LP released by Noet Lachten Records (NOET 10). I had mentioned this comp before when I wrote about the German band Viola Crayfish as they also appear here. Other well known bands on it are The Waiting List, The Nightblooms, The Truffauts and Most Wanted Men among others. The other compilation that featured them was “Groningen 1990 – Een Rock Sampler”. This was comp that as you can guess was a sampler of Groningen bands. On this one the band appears with “The Sole Thing”.

One interesting bit that I find is that in 1987 the band appears in the TV show “Jonge Helden” on the VPRO channel. In 1988 the band gets hype reviews by the music paper Oor.

Also the band gets to play at the Nooderslag music showcase festival in their city in 1988.

I learn too that Sipke was in Les Zazous in 1992. Jose Cutileiro had a good solo career in music as well as a journalist and what is interesting is that he is song of the Portuguese writer and diplomat of the same name. Sadly he passed away in 2020.

And then in 2016 the band reunited. They even had a website but it doesn’t work anymore.

The reunited band would release a self-titled album in 2020. They would use their own label Slurf Records (SLURF002) to release this record on vinyl. 9 songs would be included, “The Lion is Awake”, “Lexicon of Cool”, “D-Time”, “The War that Ended Peace” on the A side and “Dusty Memories” (with guest vocals by Marja Kootte), “Out of Nowhere”, “Noise on the Wire”, “Melody Hill” and “Requiem” on the B side. It was recorded  by Frits Vogt at Studio 77 and mastered by Michiel Cornelisse at Studio Blaisdell in Groningen.

This record featured the original members aand it was Fritz and Sipke Boorsma who mixed it. The sleeve design is credited to Spike. While the logo was created by Myrthe Heuzinveld and Erna de Bie. The liner notes were written by Bill Mensema and the photography was taken by Reyer Boxem.

It is up on Bandcamp

And since then silence. I suppose this is due to the passing away of José. Understandable and of course it makes me sad to learn it this way.

Happily they have left a good legacy of great songs. So I hope some of you discover and enjoy these tracks. And if you remember them and have mode details please share!

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

Listen
Ziffels – Cold Day in Bermuda

On Irishrock.org we see that they are looking for more information about Lipstick Vogue. They have a photo of them, a four-piece. They knew that the singer’s name was Cathal and that they had taken their name from an Elvis Costello song. They also liken them to REM.

Two other details are interesting. The band recorded a 1988 demo at Windmill Lane. And most importantly two of their songs appeared on the wonderful “Swimming Out of the Pool” compilation released in 1988 by Danceline (DLP 1001). The songs they contributed were “Riversend” and “When Will You”. Were these the songs from their demo?

On this compilation they appeared along a band I had written in the past, The Outpatients. I had written about The Storm too. And even better interviewed So She Said.

Then suddenly a superb find. A Soundcloud account. There’s a bunch of songs and we know that Lipstick Vogue hailed from Dublin.

The songs uploaded are “Malthouse”, “Anywhere but Here”, “Tidal Wave Woman”, “Dreaming”, “Walk Alone”, “Raintown”, “You Think Too Much”, “River’s End” and “When Will You Be Mine?”. One thing I notice is that two song names are similar to the ones in the compilation.

Sadly I can’t find more details about them. The songs were uploaded 10 years ago. And online I can’t seem to find anything that is not about Elvis Costello’s song. So yeah, hopefully an Irish reader or a band member will help us fill in the blanks! Some terrific songs here!

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

Listen
Lipstick Vogue – River’s End

Back in 2019 the label LCMR from Brisbane released a tape by the little known band The Hurting Kind. This label, a division of the Phase 4 Record Store that is based upstairs at The Cave Inn and founded by Julie Morrison, saw the quality of these songs, originally recorded in 1989, to re-release them 30 years after.

The self-released tape, “The Hurting Kind”, was the 19th release on the label (LCMR-019) and included six tracks: “Past Memories of You”, “Now That You’re Not Around”, “Hurting Kind”, “Dancing on the Edge” and “Down on the Brisbane Line”. Those same 6 songs appear on both the A and B sides. The tracks were remastered by Bruce ‘Cub’ Callaway (who had been in The Saints, No Dance, The New Christs and Coupe de Ville).

The songs originally were recorded at Broken Toys Studio in Brisbane and were produced by Leroy Bath and the band. The photo on the cover of the tape is credited to Paul Harris while the art was made by John Allen and Janet Clark.

The Hurting Kind was formed by Andrew Harris on lead vocals, Paul Dean Harris on guitars and vocals, John D. Allen on guitars and vocals, Rachel Johnson on piano and keyboards, Paul Taylor on bass and vocals and Craig James on drums.

The band hailed from Brighton, close to Brisbane.

I find the website for the tape. It seems tapes are still available even though it mentions that the run was limited to 50 copies.

I find a Soundcloud for Paul Harris. I think it is a great find, but I don’t see any tracks by The Hurting Kind. It is true though that on Youtube you can listen to the whole tape. One thing I notice by exploring these sites is that Paul Harris was also in a band called Under New Management before being in The Hurting Kind.

And then a superb find! The band playing live at Martins party in the late 80s in Brighton. One hour-long footage!

And then guess what, the band reunited in 2019! There’s about 30 minutes of them playing live at Palmwoods!

Then I see a recording called “Past Memories of You“. Or is it the name of an album the band was preparing. It seems that it was pressed in vinyl anyways. Who knows about this? Well, it seems it was a lathe cut 10”.. What other songs were in it?

Then I find a Facebook page with lots of photos of the band. That’s really cool. I also see that the band was selling a CD version of the tape for 5 Australian dollars.

We know that the band played the St. Kierin’s Party Gig sometime in the late 80s. Other gig they played at was at supporting Alive She Cryd alongside The Tellers and The Melniks at the Bertles Tavern. They also played the Pineapple Hotel with Modern Poets and Thundergrin. The band also saaw action at the Mousetrap Theatre.

And that’s it! All I could find about this obscure band. Who remembers them?

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

Listen
The Hurting Kind – The Hurting Kind

Four years ago a bunch of songs appeared on Soundcloud on an account called “All My Fault”. The interesting bit was that the songs were actually from an 80s band called All Mike’s Fault, it was just that one of the members, Mike Squire, had decided to revive it with a new working name, All My Fault.

Mike is now based in Milton Keynes but All Mike’s Fault actually hailed from Chatham. There they were formed by Mike Squire on vocals and guitar, Bob Pinnington on bass and vocals and Andrew Lay on drums. They also list Nik Andrews on guitar. Maybe he joined later?

From what I see the band recorded 7 demos in 1987 in Maidstone. On a portastudio with a different lineup, featuring Mike on guitar, keyboards and vocals, Bob on bass and electric guitar and Graham Walker on guitar, they recorded the following songs: “I Want Mine”, “Government Man”, “Foolish Dreams”, “Leaving You Tomorrow”, “Aphrodite”, “My Life” and “Loose After all these Years”.

One thing I notice is that the songs were usually written by the combo of Mike and Bob.

There is another set of songs, ones that date from 1989 and 1990. These are rehearsal recordings done in Gillingham. The songs are “Aphrodite Version 2”, “Daddy’s Gonna Give me Everything”, “The Gatecrasher Regrets It”, “The Sailor”, “Ambition”, “Is this Love?” and “Government Man 1989 rehearsal”.

Then there are a bunch of other recordings. For example “Fallen Angel” from 1991. Most interestingly there are four songs recorded in 2015 when Mike recorded four songs from back in the day. He re-recorded with Andrew on drums the songs “Daddy’s Gonna Give me Everything”, “Helping Hand”, “I Want Mine” and “Government Man”.

Mike also has another Soundcloud account with even more tracks of his, different styles even.

I haven’t been able though to find more info about this band. There’s that image that I am using here for the header pic, it looks like it was a cassette tape cover.

Other than that I don’t know anything else about this project. Did they play live much? Anyone remembers them?

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

Listen
All Mike’s Fault – My Life

The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B♭ (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most often used by players in professional orchestras and bands, although the descant and triple horn have become increasingly popular. A musician who plays a horn is known as a horn player or hornist.

A few days ago I got a request to look into the Florida early 2000s band The French Horns. And of course, I said yes.

This band featured Jeremy from the Gold-Bears at some point. So I was familiar with them. Josh Ney from Crush 22 and Brittle Stars was also in the band. Maybe I should have contacted them first to get a first-hand account, but at the same time I enjoy doing the investigative work.

I guess it won’t be that difficult to find information about the Gainesville based band. There’s a website and a Soundcloud. But let’s see what interesting details we can find.

The band didn’t release many songs. There was a CDR from 2003, self-released, that was called “Measurably Sweeter”. This CD had songs by The French Songs but also by other projects even though on the sleeve it only says The French Horns.

The French Horns had 6 songs, “Sundays Wasted”, “She May Turn Around” (this one was written by Karen Paris and originally performed by her band The Innocence Mission), “Amy L”, “Starting to Be It”, “Forty Five” and “Begin”. Then there’s a an “Untitled” song listed to no artist. Afterwards we find five songs by MrClay, “Everything That We Could Need”, “Rachel”, “Plans for Tomorrow”, “Run Away” and “Untitled”. And lastly a version of “Amy L” by The Gun Show.

MrClay was the 1996-1998 solo project of Steve Clay, one of the members of The French Horns. The Gun Show? I believe it was another member of the band, Dan Francke.

The French Horns songs in this record were performed by Dan Francke, Jefff Wood, Josh Ney and Steve Clay. They were recorded in July 2003 at 307 House of Fun and Excitement. What was this place? Maybe their own house?

A little other interesting tidbit that I find is that originally 100 copies were made of this CDR: “100 of these were frantically duplicated and packaged (hand-crafted envelopes with beautiful red stitching by Tanya) the day before a trip to San Francisco. We planned to give them all out at the 2003 Pop Holiday music festival, but ended up saving most of them for friends.”

More copies, not sure how many more, would be made, and these would feature two stickers and no stitching.

The band would contribute songs to four compilations. In 2004 their song “45” would appear on “Clouds and Balloons, Vol. 1 – The Search for Skull Island” a CDR comp released by Asaurus Records (ASA035). The next year their song “Starting to Be It” would fly to Spain to appear on Rafa Skam’s CDR compilation “El Planeta Amarillo #7 Marte”. 2005 would also see “Brighter Now” on “Notes from Claire”, a CD compilation released by the Florida label Clairerecords (FERN 050).

Lastly in 2008 they would have “Think of Rain” on the compilation 7″ “Gainesville Pop Mayhem”. I wrote about this comp when I wrote about Citra Super. This record was released for the first edition of this festival that happened on May 7 to the 11th of 2008. “Think of Rain” was actually a cover of Margo Guryan.

Another important thing to mention is the bands the members had been involved with. Steve Clay had been in Brittle Stars and also in three solo-projects, Handclaps & Fingersnaps, I Love You and MrClay. Joshua Ney was in Brittle Stars, Crush 22 and Nervous Systems. Jefff Wood was in Lame Drivers and Get Him Eat Him.

The French Horns were active between 2003 and 2005. Other band members that were in the band were Dan McCoy, Juliet Sy, Brian Lee, Jesse Long and Jeremy Underwood. Seems the lineup changed quite a bit.

On the website there’s a lot of interesting bits. For example that Dan left the band in 2003 when he moved to Philadelphia. They were supposed to play the New England Popfest in 2005 but it seems there was some band drama and it didn’t happen.

But, there is a whole list of shows the band played. Venues they played include Common Grounds, Wayward Council. Civic Media Center, The Atlantic, Faces, The Shamrock, The Beta Bar in Tallahassee and Little Kins in Athens, Georgia (for the 2005 Athens Popfest). They shared the bill with many bands including Nervous Systems, The Beat Buttons, Human Television, Kill Spiders. Tracy Shedd, Men’s Shoes, Zumm Zumm, Elf Power, Duck Church, The Boy and The Knife, Lyndon, Laura Minor, Scum of the Earth, Liger, The Soft Targets, Sarah Tobing, Langry and Pet Monument.

The French Horns EP is on Soundcloud, but there are many more songs there too. For example “Surest Thing (with Slavagoh)“. This was a 2005 demo Steve put together. You can read the story behind this track here.

Other songs include “I Miss Monograph“, “Modem it to Me“, “Whistle“, “20140118 152305“, “Andy Oh Andy“, “Bad Library“, a cover of Moose’s “This River Never Will Run Dry“, “Junk“, “Plissken Love Theme“, “A Little Time Alone” (where Steve sampled from Meters and piano from Petula Clark), “123 Waltz“, “Scale Exercise in D“, “Scrappy demo“, “Ken Burns“, “Bedazzled (Mancini-ed)” (where he reworks the song “Bedazzled” from the 1967 movie), “Waltz for Ben“, “Sludge“, “Shing“, “Synthpop Lullaby (instrumental)” (this demo would turn to be “Plissken Love Theme”), “Modem it to Me (demo 1)“, a cover of “Come On” by the Lilys, “Engineer“, “Brighter Now“, “Work in Progress: ‘C7’“, “For Stevie“, “Big Chandelier Took My Baby“, “70s SF Cop Show Theme“, “The Saloon Sleeps“, “The American Sixth“, “July 4 Starter Theme”, “Tensions in B“, “RPT2“, “April 24 2012 Scratch Demo” and “Everything That We could Need“.

The quality and the stage of being finished of these songs vary a lot. Many are instrumentals too. But it is interesting to have a listen. To see this as a work in progress, a scrapbook of ideas and demo songs.

There were also live recordings, short clips, of the band playing “Brighter NBow” and “Surest Thing” at The Atlantic in November 2004.

Also their last gig which happened on September 2, 2005 at The Shamrock in Gainesville has been uploaded to Youtube. That night they played the following songs, “Plastic Guitars”, “Engineer”, “Brighter Now”, “Surest Things”, “She May Turn Around”, “Sundays Wasted”, “Think of Rain”, “Amy L” and “Starting to Be it”.

I don’t find much more info about them. It seems El Planeta Amarillo used to have an interview with the band but I can’t access it. Seems their website has been hacked.

It does feel that the Gainesville scene revolved around a few people that made wonderful music in the early 2000s. Would be good to get back into documenting that. I have only done an interview with Crush 22 but I think it’d be good to be able to find out more info straight from the source for many of the other bands.

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

Listen
The French Horns – Amy L

Another Soundcloud find!

This one hailing from Liverpool, UK, and active during the 90s. They were called Mothership and let’s see what we can find out.

All of the songs were uploaded about a year ago by Max de Salis. I suppose he was one of the band members.

The first thing I notice is that there’s a photo of two band members. The first song I listen is called “Ascension” and is not exactly indiepop. But I find that the band was active between 1990 and 1998. This song in particular was recorded sometime between 91 and 92.

The next song I listen is “Funky Thing (live 1994)“. A live recording from 96 where the band includes a rendition to Grandmaster Flash. Still not indiepop.

“Wonderful Life (live 1994)” is also another funky track. Not exactly what I was looking for.

And then a string of recordings from 1991. These are the ones I like! It seems they were part of a tape titled “Good Times on the Mothership”. These songs sound influenced by Madchester for sure. They are “Beginning to End“, “Love This Way“, “Stride On“, “I’ve Got the Habit” and “Walk On Me“.

I guess that sound didn’t last long, in 1992 the band was recording R&B and soul tracks, “Funky Hell“, “Funking on Through“, “Ascension“, “Original Sin” and “Tribute“.

Also there are two sets of recordings at Crash Studios in Liverpool from 1996 and 1997.

I wonder why their sound changed so much. Were they trying to fit in a scene? Or they just loved all sort of music? Were they trying to get a record deal? I am a bit confused. For me the best tracks are the early ones, especially the song “Love this Way”.

Then one thing that confuses me. I find a professional bio for Dr Max de Salis. He is the director at the PDA Group since 2004.. He works in acoustic consulting and he has done this work, as well as research in the UK and Australia. He is actually a member of the Australian Acoustic Society and of thee UK Institute of Acoustics. Is he originally Australian? Did he move there in the 90s? I am curious about it. Sadly there is no mention of his music on this bio.

And that’s what I could find really. No information at all about the other band member. Who knows who he was? And yeah, did they had a following in Liverpool? Played much live?

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

Listen
Mothership – Love this Way

A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairies.

Another discovery thanks to stoneeyedkiller and his superb Youtube channel where he/she discovers tons of obscure pop bands.

He had uploaded the song “Harbour Town” by the British band The Changelings. The song dating from 1989. That’s all the information he gives us. But is there more? Let’s try to find out.

There is a Soundcloud account. There’s a name too, Tony Howell. Was he part of the band?

Then I find that “Harbour Town” was actually a bedroom recording. Not recorded at a studio. There are a few more of the same quality and from the same year. Probably the same home. These songs are “This is the Place” and “Take a Walk Outside“.

The band seems to have hailed from Bristol. Or close to Bristol. They played the legendary Tropic Club in Bristol on April 12 of 1990. There is a recording of their song “Mad” that night.

“It’s Al Up to Me” is another live recording. This time at a place called Moles in Bath. That’s sort of close to Bristol, right? The date of this recording is July 2, 1991.

There is also one more recording here, “Rainbows“. This one was recorded in 1989 at the BBC. Was it what? From a radio show? I don’t think it was a session, right?

All songs sound fantastic. It makes me wonder why they didn’t release any records. The good thing, I think, is that I have a few readers from the Bristol area that might remember them.

From my different searches I think there might be a recording of the band playing at “First Cut” in 1990. At least it looks something like that existed on Youtube in the past. Was this a TV programme perhaps?

The entirety of the songs on Soundcloud were uploaded 12 years ago. And then silence. Would be good to find out what are they up to now. And of course if there are more recordings! I’d love to hear more by The Changelings.

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

Listen
The Changelings – Harbour Town

Another Spanish band on the blog. But this time I know there won’t be information about this group.

I think Cyber Ye-Ye is more of a rarity. They released one 7″ called “Internet” in 1999 on Elefant Records (ER-203). I don’t know if at the time there were plans for them to release more records or not. Truth is the 3 songs on the 7″ are all we know about them.

“Internet”, “El Teléfono Corté” and “Fan Da-Da” were the three songs on this obscure record. A curiosity. That’s what I would call this release. The song “Internet” has lyrics that today sound very dated. The Internet was a different thing back in 1999 obviously.

“El Tel´éfono Corté” is actually a cover of Françoise Hardy’s “J’ai Coupé le Téléphone.”

Elefant Records has a bio on their website, but the bio is a bit of a joke. Doesn’t say much. Says that the band was formed by an interstellar duo that is lost in space since 1969. This is very unhelpful. I hate these bios. Siesta Records also used to do the same thing. Why! Is it a Spanish thing? I don’t think this is a trend anymore though.

Then I find a promo video for the song “Internet” created by David Farran de Mora. I don’t know if this was an official video. But it does give me two interesting details. David wrote the lyrics. Also it mentions that the music was by Luis del Campo. Now we have the band members names. Also was the vocalist Paco Clavel? The same video, but a version that was uploaded earlier, by David seems to say that. Clavel, for those who don’t know, is an artist well known since the early 80s when he was part of the Movida Madrileña underground scene.

It seems David is a writer, journalist and artist. He has written for GQ, Vanity, Traveler and more. It seems he works in New York and Madrid.

Luis del Campo seems hard to track down. I wonder where he is.

The thing is, I can’t seem to find more music by them. Again, I think this rec cord was a curiosity, a fun project, that lasted what it had to last and was lucky to get their songs released by Elefant. But what if I’m wrong? What if they had more recordings, played gigs, and so on? Who would know?

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

Listen
Cyber Ye-Ye – Internet