Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, it’s just another week of August. I’ve been meaning for some time to catch up with some records I want to recommend you. It’s true that I don’t usually do this because I’m pretty biased when I review records, but it seems it has helped a band or two to sell some of their records and reach a new and happy audience. That’s a good thing isn’t it? Then I should doing more often. So, instead of doing an obscure band today from the past, let me go over a record I’ve listened a bunch this summer. Sounds fine to you? I hope so, because sounds fine to me.

“Flores de Europa” (Flowers from Europe), is the new album by one of Madrid’s finest bands: Los Lagos de Hinault. This is their second full length effort after “Vidas Ejemplares” (Exemplary Lives) released in 2011 on the same label, the Scandi-loving Fikasound Records from Spain. In between there was a split single alongside another Spanish band, El Faro. And earlier this year, in spring, there was another split with yet another Spanish band, the highly rated Doble Pletina.  Not forgetting of course the 3″ split earlier in their career with The Sunbathers released by yours truly.

After this fast recap of their discography, for those who don’t know, Los Lagos de Hinault are a duo conformed by Carlos Ynduráin and Matilde Tresca, though when I saw them live at Madrid Popfest they counted with support from a friend on drums. That was the one time I had the chance to catch them live and listen to fantastic songs like “El Correo del Zar” or “Las Chicas Rubias de Serrano” among others. I hope next year more festivals will give them a chance, how I wish to see them in NYC Popfest for example! Or the UK should take note too! Or Berlin?

Yes, I love them. If you think about it, there songs are the only ones I released in Spanish on Cloudberry (and of course the cover of the Fat Tulips by Zipper). That must say something. I love songs in Spanish, there’s a different style of lyrics that I really enjoy, a sense of humour that is very unlikely to be found in songs written in other languages. But of course singing in Spanish is a bit of a handicap, you reach a smaller crowd. It is definitely not true that bands from Spain can reach easily Latin America. Most of the times music from Spain stays in Spain. The day that this is fixed, there will be a bright bright future for indiepop!

Let’s go through some technicalities. Important ones. The album was recorded in December 2013 in the Caballo Grande studios in Barcelona. Cristian Pallejà and Ferran Resines produced the album whereas  Javier Roldón mastered it in Vacuum Mastering in  Zaragoza. All of the songs were written by Carlos but “A una Ventana Triste” that was jointly written by Carlos and Pablo Hernández.

In this new record, released in June, Los Lagos de Hinault present us 13 new songs. In general, the “lo-finess” of their earlier works have given to a more produced feel, nevertheless they haven’t lost any edge. The poignancy of the lyrics still carry, and powerfully so, the songs. The record opens with the small vignettes of daily life in “San Juan de la Luz”, with it’s summer evening feeling, the smell of sea salt, the soft crashing of Mediterranean waves and trumpets to close the song. Songs with trumpets are always winners!

So after that subtle start the record picks up with a more traditionally upbeat song. Los Lagos de Hinault are all about upbeat when at it’s best. And short, very short songs, usually getting to the minute and a half mark, and stopping right there. The second song follows that standard they’ve been crafting since day one. “Maria del (Mar Rojo)” is a funny title, I have a friend Maria del Mar, so I can’t help but think of her when this song plays. A short story of city life, one of those meaningless encounters that mean so much if you know what I mean.

I love the next song very much, “Futuras Licenciadas”. Of course I know Carlos is joking about it, but who am I to deny that I love girls in libraries wearing glasses. “I want to die condemned by Roman Law, and by the girls who study playing with their shoes”. What a beautiful song, sweet, fun, and ringing so true. Matilde’s backing vocals are delicious in this one.

The upbeatness continues and it seems there’s no way to stop it. “Poligono Industrial” opens with a superb line, “It makes me so sad the engineers and the bonsais”.  It’s not in any good person’s nature to go for Christmas shopping or just hang out at IKEA just for fun. That’s what it’s about, again Los Lagos de Hinault nails it with simplicity, they are true modern crooners of life in the city.

Talking about that, cities, I grew on one, and every time I’ve been in the outdoors, in the suburbs, in places far away from civilization, life has been close to miserable. I need this city life, even with all of it’s funny sides and the things that don’t make sense, to feel alive. I love though when someone can so smartly pinpoint these little details that make us angry, happy, sad, relieved, etc, in the city.

Social gatherings, having to hear other people’s pointless stories of great ambition, that’s what “Viajar No Lleva a Ningún Sitio” criticizes. With sarcasm it even gives us tips on how to avoid these people, why not just break the conversation asking, “is that my glass or yours?”. I reckon it will work.  Afterwards, song number 6 comes, with a play on words: “Panero y Yo”. This is a nod to a book I really hated when I was a kid, “Platero y Yo” by Juan Ramón Jiménez. I really didn’t enjoy it, wonder if I’d do now.

“Zumba”. I don’t know anyone that actually practices that. But I’d love to change the Zumba word for Yoga here in NYC. EVERYONE seems to be doing it, and I just don’t get it. I love how in this song Santiago Auserón from Radio Futura is being quoted, giving some advice to the Zumba enthusiasts. It doesn’t make any sense but it makes a lot of sense. This is the great humour and irony of Los Lagos de Hinault, even more ending the song by repeating “Semilla Negra“, on of Radio Futura’s classics.

We’ve listened already half of the album and we get into an introspective moment with “Los Faros en el Mar”, the lighthouses in the sea. But it’s an introspection into creepiness! so beware! A line like “if there’s something I don’t want to miss is seeing a daughter of yours turning sixteen” can tell you what this is about, right?!

Los Lagos de Hinault clearly are social observers, social critics, and they continue with this trend with their next song, “En un Hotel”. Like in other songs they tackle many “sins”, here they go on mocking vanity. A sort of useless vanity that a lot of people seem to strive for. Yes, who wouldn’t want to die with an English-speaking woman in a hotel? Right?

“Quemasangre” speeds up again the record, that by the way is not just a vinyl record. It includes a CD! So you can play it everywhere! Quemasangre are those sort of people that just get on someone’s nerves. Funny enough the character in the song has no clue about the meaning of it, and his girl keeps telling him he is like that!

I wonder by now if the album title has anything to do with every song. I start having a theory, as there are seven deadly sins, why can’t they be the thirteen traits that Los Lagos de Hinault want to point that are part of the nature of the European continent? Like ambition, vanity, banality, etc, etc, as they’ve been going through in every song? And as they are so ironic, instead of calling these Horrors from Europe, they just decide to call them Flowers? Could it be? Just an idea, but don’t let me get sidetracked.

“Metáforas que Hacéis” is a song that rings a bell to me. How many times I listen to these terrible songs on the radio (or more like I used to listen, I haven’t touched a radio in a long time). The terrible metaphors that make no sense at all, or obvious clichés, and suddenly these sort of people are celebrated, as original, cultured and groundbreaking. From the top of my head that awful Guatemalan singer called Ricardo Arjona comes to mind with his amazing metaphors, among them “come with me to be alone”. But of course, we could think of all the hipsters, and all of those who pretend by just using fancy words. Oh, just like that pretender who wrote the “Twee” book.

The record is about to end. Two more songs. Now it’s the happy-go-lucky number, “Simpático y vago”. A feel good song with it’s dose of reality, even if you are a simpleton, and you will blame television for not being smart, you can always offer love. Will the girl take him? I will guess that yes, she will. It’s too much of a happy song to have a bad ending!

“A una Ventana Triste” closes the album. After dissecting song by song, it feels sad to stop here. This song is the sad one of the album. Feels like the night is coming down. The day is over. Time to be melancholic. Time to think and meditate. Of course, that’s how the song feels. Los Lagos de Hinault always take even these feelings with humour. You can look out your window, try to be sentimental and no, suddenly there’s a big billboard there. See, life is not as simple as it appears, it’s definitely not Hollywood with it’s perfect landscapes and views. Everything is polluted, but at the same time, you need to be able to see the beauty (and the irony) in it.

The album is kaput by now. We can play it again. I’m at the office now so I keep streaming it on Bandcamp. But you should buy it here on Fikasound, because that will make yourself happy. It also includes a lovely pink totebag. It’s the first pink totebag I’ve ever owned.

Irony and wittiness, like a boy/girl TVPs of the 2000s, social critics, cultured in popular culture and the not so popular too, Los Lagos de Hinault have a very refined sense of humour, definitely not for the regular radio listeners out there, but if you want something a bit more challening that the Billboard 100, well, I won’t get tired of recommending you this album, especially if you can understand some Spanish. Beautifully crafted songs, in a lush packaged record, can you ask for more? Definitely one of the top releases of this year.

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

Listen
Los Lagos de Hinault – María del (Mar Rojo)

Well, some updates this week on the website as some of you might have noticed. Of course you can now order the My Favorite record and I’ve slashed down the priced on the first 20 7″s we put out. I just need some space at home for future releases and even if I won’t make much money out of these sales, I prefer these records going to a good home. If you want to support, then buy 2 or 3 of them and then maybe a little money will come for me to fund new records in the months and years to come.

So that’s that. Secondly I’ve started taking some freelance work this month. Seems like label sales are not enough anymore for releasing new records. So there I am. A bit busier than before but with a very hopeful view on the future. Can’t leave all these gems I’ve been listening lately stay in obscurity, right? You have to keep going. At least a couple more years. I think the dream of 100 7″s by 100 different bands is far far away, but I think a realistic goal would be to make it to 10 years. Maybe organize a small farewell festival then. What do you say? Maybe host it in London? Or where else? Miami would be interesting because that’s where I started, but probably no one would go.

Thirdly, I need to start catching up with the new fanzine. It’s almost done but I haven’t been able to finish it. Also I have two CDs to design. So even though Cloudberry is quiet, I’m working. And I still go to the post office every single week, two, three times. And you know I keep blogging to keep everyone up to date.

Talking about being up to date, this Thursday here in New York I’ll head to Rough Trade to see The Clean. They played like two years ago here too but I missed them. Looking forward to them. I believe next week Joanna Gruesome is playing in town too. Might as well check them out. I always miss them in UK when I’m there. They’ve played twice at Indietracks and I have been doing something else that I can’t remember. I did catch them last year in Brooklyn and they were really good. At least with them I don’t feel bad not living in UK.

Aside from that it seems that the indiepop scene is a bit quiet, isn’t it? But I’ve been doing some discoveries.

I have to say that the songs that are on the soundcloud of The Fabulous Artisans are a delight. Best thing I’ve heard in ages! Really a beauty. I’m in love. The 4 songs, “However Much I Love You, I Love Lloyd Honeyghan More”, “A Week of Wednesdays”, “The Nearly Man” and “The Night I Met Tracey Emin”, are just top class. I especially like the first one. And this is just a “demo”! Crazy. These songs would make one of the classiest 7″s I’m sure. If you are reading this, all you Artisans, I’M HOOKED! I play it so very often these songs (especially now that my work computer doesn’t let me play CDs!).

Another interesting band is Glasgow’s Bodyheat. There are two songs in their soundcloud, “Silhouttes” and “Upside Down”. As anything that I feature in this blog, they are quality (ha ha!). Perfect jangle pop, luminous, shiny shiny, I enjoy these songs very much! Would love to hear more from them. Don’t you just love this sort of elegant indiepop? True, it’s harder to sell, everyone wants the raucous, fast paced, ramshackling sort of pop these days, but who cares about that, this is just beautiful and those who can’t see it (or hear it), are just plain dumb!

And of course the best news lately is that the Persian Rugs are releasing a record. Oh dear. I want to listen to that. If you haven’t yet heard the promo single for the album then you are lucky because I’m going to share the link with you. No, it’s not secret. But I’ll help you and save you some seconds of looking for it online. The song is called Bedhead and it’s a proper indiepop GEM! Right? Now you trust me. Enjoy it! Those fuzzy guitars at the end and Kaye’s voice are brilliant in this song!

———————————————————————–

So a couple of days ago Joel writes me asking me about some songs by a band called Chrysalids. No, not the UK Chrysalids that had members of 1000 Violins. Not them. But an Australian Chrysalids. Have you heard about them?

My first encounter was many years ago with that compilation Peter Hahndorf from Twee.net made on CDR called The Sound of Glen Waverley. A compilation that I’ve written about many times here in the blog. It was a sort of an Australian Leamington Spa series.Well, it was supposed to be that. It was never released and as far as I know, Peter only gave some copies to some of his friends.

On that compilation this Chrysalids were included with a song called “Sunny Guitar Pop”. Guess what, the song sounded just like the title. It was bright, shiny, fresh, and proper guitar pop. Jangly and jangly. I liked it so much that I waited many years, maybe 5 or so years since I got the compilation, to finally find a 7″ by them on eBay. A double A side with the songs “Stop the Clock” and “Them”. And guess what, “Sunny Guitar Pop” wasn’t really “Sunny Guitar Pop”, it was actually called “Them”.

This record was produced by Chrysalids and Jeremy Smallhorn. Engineered also by Smallhorn and recorded at Pyramid Studios in Brisbane in 1987. The enigmatic artwork was made by Cathy Stephens. The record label was Mighty Boy Records and the catalog number was MB20047.

Thankfully inside the 7″ a insert is included. On it we know the first names of the band members. Cameron on drums and reverb, Alex on vocals and guitar, Graham on guitars and vocals, and Bruce on bass guitar. There are some special thanks but none of those names ring a bell to me sadly. On the insert some very high contrast black and white photos of each band member are included too.

That’s all I could gather from this fantastic band. But then googling I found out a more recent band called Generation Jones. Alex seems to have been part of this band, and I finally learn his last name: Waller. This band seems to have been closer to Wilco than indiepop, but there’s a small bio in the site that mentions a bit about the Chrysalids:

Brisbane power pop indie rock band. Three quarters of Ducks in Formation moved to Sydney and changed their name to Peso Kim, and with one eye gazing at their shoes and the other on the filthy lucre, released the single “Run for Cover”. One quarter (Alex Waller) stayed behind and formed The Chrysalids, releasing the “Texas” and “Stop the Clock” singles. Guitar pop rarely sounded this good. When Presidents Eleven split McDonald secured the bass playing services of Bryan Batley (McQueen and Waller partner in crime) in his new band The Spiny Norman Conspiracy. Just after recording the 4 track CD “Firm but Fair” (arguably the first CD release by an independent Brisbane band) Alex Waller jumped ship from the rapidly sinking Chrysalids and joined. Catherine Addow of Who’s Gerald (later Custard) was briefly on drums. Still stubbornly wearing stovepipes when the world went op shop and baggy, the rest of course was complete tragedy but that’s another story… various members are currently in oz indie group “Generation Jones”

Interesting. I could find on Youtube some stuff by Ducks in Formation. It was pretty melodic post punk, kind of like Echo & the Bunnymen. From Peso Kim I couldn’t find any of their songs online. But for me the biggest mystery is seeing that the Chrysalids released another single, “Texas”. I can’t seem to find anything about it! Because it’s listed before “Stop the Clock” I would guess it’s an earlier effort. “Stop the Clock” was released in 1987.

Sadly that’s all I could gather online about this band that made really nice songs. The three that I have heard are super. Perhaps you know a bit more about them and would like to shed some light about them? I’d love to know more and solve some of these mysteries about this obscure and fantastic band!

EDIT: My friend Andreas, such a good Sherlock he is, found out that the first 7″ of the Chrysalids, the one with “Texas”, was a split single released in 1986. It also included the song “Call Me”. This 7″ was shared with a band called Spiders and the Flys who on the B side appear with two songs: “Love Dance No. 1” and “Simple Needs”. It was released by Tombstone Records.

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

Listen
Chrysalids – Them

I’m going to move onto happier things this week. Did you know a new Popfest has sprung out of nowhere in Lima, Peru? I assume it will be very difficult for people from North America or Europe to go there, but think about it, maybe you can make a good vacation out of it! You know, go to Lima, enjoy the best food ever, attend Lima Popfest, and then head to all the touristy places of Peru, from Machu Picchu to the Amazon, the Nazca Lines, Lake Titicaca and beyond.

The festival is taking place this October as a two-day festival. The 17th and 18th (ending of course at 5am on the 19th) the Embassy club in Lima’s downtown will host a bunch of bands from three countries: Argentina, Chile and Peru. This is a true achievement as the scene in South America, because of the big distances, is really fragmented. Also for those wondering, aside these three countries, perhaps only Brazil is the other country with a decent amount of indiepop bands. So all in all, most of the indiepop scene in South America will be represented. For a first edition, it’s quite a success!

I’ve dreamed about such a festival happening in my home country for years, so as soon as I knew my friend Daniel was starting to brainstorm and work on this project I offered my help. I suggested some bands that sounded pretty exciting, and came up with some ideas that I have seen in other Popfests and festivals I’ve attended. Also thought it’d be nice if some Cloudberry Records were given away to those 50 or so who are first to buy tickets. I was also happy to work on the look for this years festival, under Daniel’s vision, and created the flyer/poster for the festival.

Lima Popfest most importantly will introduce indiepop to a new crowd. Lima has some fans of course, and the best example is the good crop of new bands that have appeared like Eva & John (which Daniel is part), Almirante Ackbar and Gomas to name a few. They are familiar with indiepop. But their fans might not. So this is a true exciting moment, and I dare to say that the dancefloors will be packed and sweaty both nights stomping to the sounds of Talulah Gosh and The Wake! Why not!

The lineup of the festival includes three bands from Argentina: Diosque, Las Ligas Menores and La Ola que Quería ser Chau. From Chile we get two bands: My Light Shines for You and Trementina. And from Peru we get Eva & John, Almirante Ackbar, Gomas, Los Zapping, Submarino, Ciudad Gragea and Catervas.

This is not the first South American Popfest though. The first was hosted by Sao Paulo in 2012. But Lima feels a bit more international with the appearance of bands from other countries. Also I’ve noticed people coming from other South American countries on the Facebook attendees list. That is definitely a factor to be excited about. It means people in the region are willing to travel just to be in the middle of an indiepop party. It’s heartwarming.

At this point the tickets are not yet for sale but I’ve been told they will be next week or as the latest in two weeks time. There might be also another announcement for the lineup, one final one, that will definitely be a surprise for the Peruvian crowd. As I’ve been in close contact with the organization, I can tell this has been taking care of in a way I haven’t seen yet anywhere else. I’m very proud on how things have been developing so far so I can only hope that this Lima Popfest will be a triumph. And I wish too that there will be many more to come!

As soon I have more news, I’ll be sharing with you!

———————————————————————-

But instead of going south for Lima Popfest, our obscure band comes from the north. From England most probably.

This week again I want to share another favourite song that Heinz has shared on his Youtube account. How many treasures does he has in his collection?! Happily he is keen to share with all of us.

So I heard this beautiful song “Cast a Stone” and I was hooked. The name of the band was just way too mysterious not to catch my attention: North by North West. Of course I get reminded by the classic Bats’ song, North by North. But no, they sound totally different. This is classic indiepop with girl vocals, so beautiful! In the vein of PO! or The Popguns. I couldn’t stop smiling the first time I heard it. It was just way too beautiful!

As it’s so usual with these obscure bands the information we have is way too little. The only clue we have is that this song is that it was released on a tape called “Shiver Me Timbers” that was released in 1991 by the always classy Rutland Records home of course of my beloved PO!

The catalog was RUTT 16. The tape was intended to show Rutland Records’ favourite bands from England and abroad. They couldn’t have them all, but they included these, according to the few lines written on the tape insert.

I’m having a bit of a hart time figuring out the cover artwork for this tape. Where does this illustration come from? Seems familiar. Any of you have a clue? In any case, as I was saying a bunch of fabulous bands appear on the tape, you can find classic bands like The Cudgels, The Spinning Jennys, Home & Abroad, White Town, or also some Aussie bands like The Honeys or the Widdershins. Germany is represented by The Jesterbells, whereas Spain with Aventuras de Kirlian. Favourites of mine Me and Dean Martin also appear. There ware also bands I’ve never heard before like Floorshow, The Shebeen, The Brickfields, Burton Diaries, Futile Coats and more. Time to investigate them.

North by North West also include another song on the tape called “This England”. I haven’t listened to it, and if you happen to have it on MP3, please share it! If it’s just anything close to “Cast a Stone”, I will love it.

So time for questions, who were North by North West? Where does their enigmatic name come from? Did they record anything else? Why didn’t they release anything else? Answers please!

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

Listen
North By North West – Cast a Stone

Thanks so much to Del Kwai for this great interview! I wrote some time ago about his band Mexico Red, trying to find more information about them. Happily Del was kind enough to get in touch and answer a bunch of questions and so retelling the story of this great mid-80s guitar pop band from London! Time for you to discover them!

++ Hi Del! Thanks so much for being up for this interview. The first question has been hunting me for ages, have you ever been to Mexico?

Hi Roque. No I’ve never been to Mexico but would love to get there one day.

++ So where was Mexico Red based back in the 80s and where are you based now?

We were based in London. I am still living and working in London.

++ And are you still making music these days?

Unfortunately not.

++ Let’s go back in time, when did Mexico Red start? Who were the members of the band? And how did you all knew each other?

We formed in 1986. The band members were: John Richies, Drummer, from Canning Town in East London; Mike Danks, keyboard player, from somewhere near Manchester; Simon Wring, base player, from Tredegar in Wales, sadly Simon died in April 2011 age 45; and myself, guitar and vocals, from Poplar in East London.

++ Where does the name of the band come from?

In the 80’s the Ford Car Company had a popular car called the ‘Escort 2000 Mexico’ and one of the car colours was called Mexico Red. John found the name in a Ford catalogue and we all agreed it was a name that suited us.

++ Was it your first band ever?

No, my first band was called Graphic. I formed it when I was 17 with a group of friends.

++ During those days there were many guitar pop bands in the UK. Did you feel part of a scene? Were there any other bands from that period that you followed?

We were part of the live scene, playing gigs in most of the known venues in and around London travelling around the country when possible.

There were a few bands playing around then: The Hurt, Icicle Works, Scarlet Party, Danny Wilson to name a few.

++ Talking about guitars, what was your first guitar? How old were you when you learned to play?

I started to play guitar when I was about 12 at school. My first guitar was a cheap Strat copy. I managed to get a real Strat at 17 which was another world for me.

++ And who would you say were the biggest influences of Mexico Red?

None of my family were musical in the least. However growing up I was a big fan of Bill Nelson.

++ You only released one record, in 1988. It was a fantastic 7″ with two songs, “Eternal Flame” and “Follow Me To Heaven”. Care telling me in a few sentences the story behind each song?

I wrote Eternal Flame in 1986 on the way home from a trip to Wales. While we were there everyone was walking along some cliffs and an enormous wave came over the top of us. The whole group got soaked but somehow the water never touched me which gave me an invincible feeling (sounds corny now) but that’s the truth.

I wrote Follow Me to Heaven in 1985. It was my attempt at writing a ‘commercial/chart’ song and it was the only song which was not recorded live.

++ What do you remember from the recording session for the single?

We were determined to record Eternal Flame live. Not having much money for studio time we managed to record it on the second take.

++ Were there any other recordings made by Mexico Red? Why weren’t any more releases by the band?

Yes we recorded other material. There was only ever one other song released on a compilation LP called ‘Vox Nouveaux’. The song is called ‘Colour Field’ and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London.

We were working towards releasing our own album but unfortunately we did not have the funds to complete all the recordings.

++ The 7″ came out on Hummingbird Records. Who were they? And how may copies were made?

Hummingbird was the band’s own record label. Once we established a good ‘live’ following we also attracted a few con men. We tried hard to get a publishing deal and a recording contract with all the London based labels, Polydor, EMI, etc, but most of the companies would not entertain us without official management. From our negative experiences of PR men we decided to get a bank loan, create our own label and release our own record, which we did. We pressed 2000 copies of Eternal Flame and had an official release gig at the Hackney Empire in East London which was a sell out and packed to the rafters. We sold 1500 records at the gig (which paid for the venue). Most of the other copies were distributed to radio stations and record companies.

++ I really like the artwork for the single. What’s it about and who made it?

The artwork is by Carl Jenkins from Tredegar in Wales. He was a friend of Simon’s. Carl had his own band and we would meet up with him on our trips to Wales. He is a great artist and his work appealed to us and he offered his work for free. He also designed our name logo and the artwork for posters and t shirts.

I hadn’t seen Carl for 25 years but met him recently when he turned up at my workplace as he is now working as a roofing contractor. It was great to see him again after all that time.

++ So, what’s the best song you’ve written? and why?

My favourite song, because of the guitar solo, is ‘Sailing on the Ocean’. My most memorable songs are ‘Colour Field’ and ‘Brave New World’ because in 1987 we were invited to compete in Battle of the Bands competition organised by the Arts Council which was held at an open air music festival in East London. There was 10,000 people there and it was a real buzz to get all the crowd to jump at the same time. We won the Battle and our prize was 2 days recording time at Abbey Road Studios in London, where we recorded these 2 songs.

++ Tell me a bit about gigs, did you play many? Which was the best one? Any anecdotes that you can share?

We played over 200 gigs and I honestly enjoyed all of them (apart from one) but the one that stands out to me the most was one of the gigs we had at The Rock Garden, Covent Garden, London in 1987. It was packed with a great crowd who were all up for enjoying themselves. We were the support band to (can’t remember) and when we came off the stage the lead singer of the headline band said to me “how the f*** are we supposed to follow that”. I jumped off the stage and played guitar and danced amongst the audience. It was a fantastic night.

Another one which stands out is one at the Cranbrook in Ilford, London. One of our roadies got into an argument with a gang of mods and knocked out a guy’s front teeth. The place erupted while we were playing and the only way I could stop it was to offer everyone in the venue a drink. The fighting stopped but it cost me a week’s wages paying for everyone’s drinks. We never used that roadie again!!

We even went down well at known rock venues and were asked back on several occasions even though we were considered to be a ‘pop’ band.

The one gig which was an absolute nightmare was in a large tent at an open air music festival in Wales in 1987. There was an awful sound delay and we couldn’t wait for it to finish. Never again! Simon was destroyed by that experience as it was his home town so lots of his friends came and we sounded crap. He was so embarrassed.

++ I haven’t seen the single, but on a website it says that it included an insert. What was in this insert?

I’ve attached a copy of it. I sketched and wrote it so as to give more information about the band.

++ And then what happened with Mexico Red? When and why did you split?

By 1989 we were all skint and in debt. John and Simon had finished University and we all needed to get proper jobs. We were becoming disillusioned by all the promises and bullshit from various directions and so in 1989 we decided to split up. Me and (I think) Mike would have carried on but John and Simon were adamant that they had had enough. There were no massive arguments or any bad feelings, we just all went our separate ways.

The music was mine so I could have formed another band and carried on but I just didn’t have the heart to start all over again.

++ Were you involved with music afterwards?

No. I still strum the guitar most days but I’ve never written another song.

++ And all in all, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Definitely releasing the single. Last year we were going through old boxes and I discovered my collection of old (some limited edition) LP’s. I asked my sons to get on the computer to find out how much they were worth out of curiosity. Turned out our record was the most valuable and rare, go figure?

++ Thanks so much Del for everything, anything else you’d like to add?

I’ve attached a photo of the band from left to right Simon, Mike, me and John.

I’ve also attached a copy of the cover of the Vox Nouveaux compilation LP. I’ve attached a recording of ‘Colour Field’ hope you enjoy.

Its been great to reminisce and I really appreciate your interest.

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

Listen
Mexico Red – Colour Field

I have so many mixed feelings after coming back from Indietracks. I had a good time as I always do. There’s no better place for indiepop. That’s a given. I get to see all my friends and spend with them so much time in the beautiful Midland Railway Centre. We get to drink warm beers, sometimes with ice on it, and sit for hours in the stationary train next to the shed. We have greasy hamburgers from the immortal lady or badly wrapped burritos, or even curry from our friend Brian and Heather. And we eat dust to wake up with our noses full of black matter. All in all, it’s a good time, isn’t it?

The problem is the music, that’s the only problem. Everything else is just plain perfect. You know, as I said lines above, I can put up with having to drink warm cans of beer even though it doesn’t refresh you at all in a hot summer day. I can put up with kids playing football and creating a whole dust storm to everyone that is trying to enjoy The Popguns. Even dancing in the marquee among another dust storm I can take it. That the festival has to stop at midnight and can’t continue unless you have to pay 5 pounds to get into the beautiful campsite, well that’s ok too of course. But having 6 to 7 good bands out of 50 or something, is a bit too much. That’s why I’ve decided to take a break.

Yes, a lot of people at the festival were telling me that of course they’ll see me next year, that I’m just talking like this now but I’ll change my mind. And hey, believe me I wish they were right. I actually feel like going. But it’s way too expensive to fly in the summer to the UK and get to a festival were all my expenses don’t make it worth it. I remember years were I barely had any time to talk to friends, that I had to run from stage to stage not to miss a band. Years were I collected 10 or more setlists from bands compared to the meager 5 from this year. Of course it’s pretty nice to have extra time to spend walking around, catching up, being at the merch tables promoting the label, but I didn’t travel this far to not see some exciting new bands. Right?

As I said it’s a bit of a catch 22 this year’s Indietracks. I have a blast, I love being there, but I feel this is not the same festival I used to go. Even I took less photos this year. I bought less records too. I did enjoy a lot going back to the Alfreton Travelodge, definitely the hotel to be for me. Great conversations late at night, great friends to go out for breakfast in the morning too. And the Tesco being close by is perfect. Or Matloob procuring beers from the convenience store at the gas station from his Punjabi friend late at night. Those sort of things are what make me feel like I can’t miss my sixth Indietracks next year. But I think it all comes dome to priorities and seeing I was perhaps the only person from the US there this year (right?), I think I’m a bit nuts to keep going when only got to see 3 or 4 bands I’ve never seen before. That’s way too little. Especially when the UK still produces a lot of quality indiepop.

I’ve been previously critical of Indietracks about the bands they’ve been booking. I’m not blind and I did see less people in the crowd this year. Of course these sort of things go in cycles. Probably next year it will be packed, who knows. This year may have been a bit of a transition period, with some members of the organization leaving. Could be. I’m not going to judge that, they know best if that was the case. I did ask one of the organizers why was Gruff Rhys booked. The answer was “because I love him, he is great”. Yeah well, I was looking for another kind of answer. I guess that motto “an indiepop festival” is a bit forgotten.

I sent interview questions to team Indietracks before the festival. Sadly I didn’t get answers for them. I asked many questions that would have cleared up many of the doubts I had for this year organization.

All I’m saying is, and I don’t want to get deeper on this topic because there’s a lot of people that get very susceptible to any criticism is that Indietracks is the best festival for indiepop. The atmosphere is fantastic, the food options every year get better (though still no sign of the roast pork), and all the friends that come make up for a fabulous time. But the bands, come on. This was a festival that used to showcase small and up and coming bands back in the day. It celebrated a scene. It introduced me to so many new bands and also let me get to catch bands that would never cross the Atlantic. It was special what the organizers did, even bringing back classic bands like Friends or the McTells back to life. Where did all that energy, ideas, hope and good taste go? I don’t know.

Next week I’ll go over the festival, the anecdotes, and the bands I loved. I just wanted to explain why I’ve been saying why I won’t go next year. If it was a 100-200 dollar flight, as it it’s from many places in Europe, I would definitely repeat. But 1300 dollars flight, to get to see 6 or 7 indiepop bands, 3 or 4 I’ve never seen before, well, it doesn’t make any sense. I’ll be jealous of everyone going next year because it’s impossible not to have a good time, even if the quality keeps going down. Anyways, see you next week!

—————————————————

This week’s obscure band comes from a tape called “A Prospect of the Sea”. I heard about this band from Heinz’s Youtube channel. It seems this happens often. Heinz has a fantastic collection and top taste. Heinz, you should organize Hamburg Popfest!

The band was called Kindergarten. The song I heard was Jellybelly. This song was the 8th on the B-side of this tape that was released in 1991. The label seems to be Cloud Production, the catalog number was “Smile 3”. Question for everyone out there reading. What was Smile 1 and 2? Was there a number 4?

There was also another song included by Kindergarten in this tape. On the A side, track number 14 is “Everything You Do”. I haven’t had the chance to listen to this one but if it’s anything like “Jellybelly”, well, I will like it!

The song is a classic slice of 80s indiepop, in the vein of The Fat Tulips or The Penny Candles, though the sound is much rougher, like of a very flimsy flexi single. Could be the quality of the tape too. It does sound like taken from a demo tape. Boy/Girl vocals, catchy choruses, and nice jangly guitars. It reminds me a lot of another band I’ve featured here. Heaven’s Above. It’s no surprise then that they also appear on this tape.

Yes, it’s a tape done with a lot of good taste. In it you can find bands like The Suncharms, The Lovelies, They Go Boom!!, Dreamscape, Saturn V, The Sweetest Ache, White Town and more. Even Heavenly is in it! Pretty classic lineup!

But there are a couple of obscure bands too like this one. For example I have no clue about Gyroscopes, Poem by Rachel, Howard, Cradleyard, Huckleberry Pie or Spectral Alice. Seems I should investigate!

But now, let’s try to find answers and more information about Kindergarten. Who can help?!

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

Listen
Kindergarten – Jellybelly

Germany are the World Cup champions. Next week it’s Indietracks. Damn. And in between this week where I’m already busy packing and mailing records to UK. Resting seems to be not an option right now.

There are also a few interesting things happening this week. Tomorrow will go see Camera Obscura. On Friday tickets for the NYC Slowdive show will be on sale. How much? I have no clue. But I’ll pay. I sometimes remember my days in Miami when nothing happened, when I could just stay in and rest for the whole weekend, or almost always staying home after work. NYC has this power over you that really squeezes all your energy. And that I think is a good thing, I think only when I sit down to write on the blog I start thinking that I need a rest. Because on the rest of the day, there’s no time to think about having it easy!

Last weekend I also went to see Franny & Zooey. It will be some time now since they will play NYC. They are returning soon back to their home country in Dominican Republic. Also headlining were a very popular Argentinean band called El Mató un Policía Motorizado. They were fine. A bit too shouty to my taste, at points a bit too rocky, but they were truly entertaining. They are very popular throughout Latin America and are seldom compared to Los Planetas. I don’t see the comparison, but my fellow latinamerican bloggers have better ears for sure.

I got an email earlier today about a show here in NYC about if I had any ideas of any local bands that could support this gig. And honestly I will have to dig deep and perhaps do some research! Aside from the most fabulous Pale Lights and the up and coming Gingerlys, I can’t think of any. There are a couple of 60s influenced bands but they seem to be not excited of being part of this indiepop scene. Well, yes, there’s The Pains and The Drums, but we are talking of a small show in Brooklyn. So let’s be reasonable. Who else?

From the top of my head I think of The Pontoons who recorded two GREAT 7″s back in the 90s. “Landslide” is such a beautiful song that one can’t believe it’s not an indiepop classic. Their other single, “Juncos and Robins”, is also timeless. I know that in 2012 they came back together and released first a digital single called “Antidote” and later an album called “Slow”. All of them that you can stream and buy on Bandcamp.

Then googling around I found a band called Overlord is Not Metal. A bit less of the classic jangle, with more influences from 60s and 70s, perhaps. But still quite nice. Remembers me a bit of long gone NYC band The Baskervilles. First time I hear about them and it seems they have already recorded an album worth of songs called “In Soviet Russia, My Heart Breaks”. Definitely will keep an eye if they ever play any shows.

Kept digging and found a band called Free Cake for Every Creature. Katie Bennett seems to be the driving force of this band writing all the songs and singing. This is more on the lo-fi spectrum of indiepop. Reminds me a lot of early 2000s Sweden, with the likes of Evergreen Days, Tidy Ups, Free Loan Investments and Crime Time. Even the song titles (like “it sucks hanging out with you (“It Sucks Even More When You Leave” or “Too Old to Be a Punk Rock Prodigy”) remind me of that fantastic time of indiepop. I hope to hear many of her songs properly recorded. Check their bandcamp, there’s a lot of potential here!

And across the Hudson, in Jersey, I find Makeout Vertigo. Just finished listening to their latest EP called “Slumber Party Wounds”. It’s quite alright. It does recall the 90s American indiepop bands. A bit of Tiger Trap perhaps, but I mostly listen bands of the kind of Corndolly, Beanpole or Holiday Flyer. My two favourite tracks from this band that hails from Hopatcong, are “Nervy” and “Downstairs”.

Do you know any other indiepop bands in the area? Recommend me some!

—————————————————-

So as Germany are the champions I thought checking out some old obscure German bands. So I grabbed that compilation album called “19 Goldene Hits” that was released ages ago by the Smuf label and the Happy to Be Sad fanzine of out old friend Uwe.

This compilation included 19 songs by 19 different Berlin bands. On the blog I’ve already presented two of them with interviews, The Groovy Cellar and Milchblumen FC. Then I remembered that years ago I tracked two other bands that appear here, Tumbling Hearts and Pleasure. So I thought, why not bring up some interest in Pleasure? The song “Shut Up” on the compilation is really nice and I’m sure everyone out there will enjoy it!

Some years ago Uwe did write a little write up about the compilation. Here’s our first hint about the band:
PLEASURE – Shut Up ( Shoegazer – singer Sascha formed JAKETHIVE two years later)

It is a bit of a shoegazer tune. It sounds British and not German at first listen too. The Charlottes, The Nightblooms, The Bollweevils, come to my mind. For some reason, perhaps the vocals, I think of The Darling Buds and Eggplant.

The booklet included in the CD tells us that the Berlin band was formed by: Selda Kaya, Julia Schultz, Dorian Schultz, Sascha Niemann and Oliver Niemann. Two sets of siblings.

It’s terribly difficult to google a band name with the band Pleasure. But luckily many years ago as I was saying I got in touch with Selda through Myspace. I have some correspondence from 2010 still on my Gmail. On there we agreed to do an interview but it seems she never had the time to get around to answer my questions. She did tell me a couple of interesting facts about the band.

The band lasted for 6 years but they never released anything at all. She said that they were sort of a student band and whatever they recorded was only on tape. She mentions that they were always a bit conservative concerning music and that she only bought her first cd player in the year 2000.

They played mostly in Berlin, almost every club, and only a few gigs outside the capital. Sadly she says that at that time she wasn’t in contact anymore with the rest of the band.

Maybe some of you remember them from Berlin? Attended their gigs? Or maybe even own one of their tapes. Would love to hear more from Pleasure and their sweet sound. If the rest of their songs are like “Shut Up”, then I’m sure would love it!

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

Listen
Pleasure – Shut Up

What a difficult summer this has been for Cloudberry. I am a bit sad to say that the fanzine won’t be on time for Indietracks. Aside from not receiving answers for two of the interviews that are supposed to appear on it, I’m also missing a couple of songs for the CD. So it will have to wait a bit longer. Also sales have been very terrible this past June. I know summer is usually pretty terrible, but this might be the worst. I am allowed to complain about this, right?

I’m not in the best of moods about this of course. I feel that at Indietracks things might get better, I feel it’s one of the few times when indiepop fans are happy to support the bands and labels they love. Also of course they are saving on the steep postage prices. I’m hoping then that at that point I can look with a more positive view the near future for indiepop. Right now I’m a bit cynical once again.

This doesn’t mean that I think that indiepop will die. There are new bands appearing all the time! So it won’t! But at the same time these bands are not getting the right outlets for their music. Labels are scheduling less and less releases. Also there’s this stupid hip ideal of buying vinyl only. Wake up indiepop kids, indiepop was not about that sort of hipsterism. Wasn’t Sarah releasing on 45s as they were a cheaper medium than 12″s? There’s a point there. I think a CD right now is a totally fine format. I’m even more terrorized when a band only and solely demand that their releases have to be on vinyl. Some people sometimes need a reality check.

This of course has hit hard those who release on CDR format. I remember when Cloudberry started, I was burning and putting out a bunch of them. It was a great format. Many labels were doing it as well. These days, even though this format still is cheap, has almost disappeared. Nowadays bands and labels have found the cheap alternative to be tapes. The thing is, nobody is playing them. They come with a download code, and that’s what people are using it. So what about the phyisical copy, that cassette? It’s just a piece for the collection. To stand there, to look proud on a bookshelf perhaps. Is that really the point of us loving indiepop? To buy stuff that we won’t really have any sort of interaction with? Just to store it? Feels terribly fake.

I know these things come in circles. That ten years from now probably everyone will be buying CDs again. It’s always this sort of joke that happens within the music industry. I don’t take it seriously of course. I still support labels, bands, festivals, etc. The question I ask myself, because perhaps I’m failing at it, is how do I convince people this is the way to go? That instead of buying a download they should buy a record? That instead of owning an ipod they should invest in a nice turntable. How does one go against the current?

Perhaps then it’s time for self-releases and self-promotion. And self-distribution. Bands doing the whole process, those who are better at the business part, and not necessarily at the music part, will succeed, will get the people listening. In a way this is fair, but I feel that it will be harder to find the beautiful music, and the sort of filtering that exists through labels will be gone. It will just be a war of tags on bandcamp and soundcloud, where whoever who wants it, can call their music whatever genre or style it is. It will all be blurred. Here’s when I might start losing all hope.

Maybe I’m just jumping into conclusions. Maybe this is just a hiccup, but seeing a very quiet scene at the moment, a bunch of not-indiepop bands being booked at Indietracks, the lack of opinions, of voices on social media, low sales, and so on, could make anyone weary.

I do have a theory though of what may be causing this whole thing, and that’s the World Cup. Though I don’t remember how the World Cup affected 4 years ago, this year this might have been a bit of a game changer.

The fact is, I’m following it as well, only missing 2 matches so far. And my head mostly thinks about football every day. I even have made several groups with friends on facebook and whatsapp to just chat about each game. But Sunday this will be over, and I’ll cry for football being over, but perhaps indiepop fans will turn back their eyes into their other passion, indiepop!!

What do you think? What’s the state of indiepop as of July 2014?

————————————————————–

Alfie is a 1966 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Michael Caine. It is an adaptation by Bill Naughton of his own novel and play of the same name. Alfie tells the story of a young womaniser (Caine) who leads a self-centred life, purely for his own enjoyment, until events force him to question his uncaring behaviour and his loneliness. He cheats on numerous women, and despite his charm towards women, he treats them with disrespect and refers to them as “it”, using them for sex and for domestic purposes. Alfie frequently breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the camera narrating and justifying his actions. His words often contrast with or totally contradict his actions.

Safe to assume that the name of the band comes from the 1966 movie? I think so.

I think the first time I heard “Play On” by Alfie was during Indie Pop Days Berlin in 2011. It was on the night that wasn’t at the Wasserturm in Kreuzberg. It was a smaller venue that I can’t recall the name now where Bart played and Renée played a solo Liechtenstein show. Between the bands Jörgen was DJing. He brought original records, his own vinyl. This I always admire as I’m a bit of a chicken to bring them abroad to DJ! What if they break? Or I spill beer? Or they get scratched? Or stolen? No, no, too many risks!

And then suddenly Jörgen shows me a black and white sleeve. And he tells me: “These are the Swedish Orange Juice”. And kaboom! “Fool to Fall” is filling the venue with it’s fantastic rhythm. I’m awe-struck. How come I’ve never heard this before. I ask him for more information about the band. He told me he was lucky to find this record before the Japanese knew about it. Nowadays they know about it mind you, so of course I’ve never come upon a copy yet.

It’s been many years since that time. And I only noticed today that for some reason I never went out of my way looking for more information about this obscure Swedish band. So I started digging on Google see what I could find about this mighty band that only released the one 7″ but seems to have many more recorded songs. Maybe someone out there in Sweden should do a retrospective CD! Why not!

Alfie’s “Play On” was released in 1987 by the Enjoy label (catalog number JOY-8701). The label seems to have been the band’s own. Self-release then. The A side was the Pa-pa-pa filled jangle slice indiepop heaven of “Play On” while the B side was the more Scottish, Postcardish and utterly fabulous for any dancefloor “Fool to Fall”. Both songs hitting the 3:30 minute mark, they are true should have been classics! On Discogs the Enjoy label also has another Alfie release, a live tape.  This one has the catalog N-8912. Of course the first two numbers in both releases are the year when it was released. Was the two second numbers the month perhaps? Or maybe there were 12 releases in between?

This live tape is a total mystery for me. It was recorded live at the Roxy, in Visby, on March 11 1988. The A side was the concert whereas the B side was the encores!! The songs included on the A side were “Evil Woman”, “Promises”, “Another Girl”, “Little Friend of Mine”, “It’s You (Y.O.U.)”, “So To Speak”. On the B side it looks like covers: “Ticket to Ride”, “All Day and All of the Night”, “Manic Monday”, “Whole Lotta Rosie”, “Twist & Shout”, “Just Can’t Get Enough”.

The next stop to find some clues about the band is of course the back of the sleeve of the 7″. Here it is clear that the band hails from Visby.

Visby is a locality and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County, Sweden with 23,576 inhabitants, as of 2012.[2] Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. It is the only locality with historical city status on the island of Gotland. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia and since 1995, it is on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Among the most notable historical remains are the 3.4 km (2.1 mi) long town wall that encircles the town center, and a number of church ruins. The name “Visby” comes from the Old Norse Vis, (genitive singular of Vi) meaning “(pagan) place of sacrifices”, and by, meaning “city”. In the Gutasagan (mid 14th century) the place is referred to as just Wi meaning “holy place, place of worship”. Visby is sometimes called “The city of roses” and/or “The city of ruins”

That comes a bit as a surprise to me.I don’t think I know any other guitar pop bands from Visby. Was there perhaps a thriving scene in the late 80s?

The record was recorded at Sandkvie Studio in January of 87. The engineer was Micke Lyander. The record was later remixed by Alfie & Micke in September. The record was produced by Alfie, Micke and Kjell.

Below these credits a nod to Postcard Records and Orange Juice: “The Sound of Young Gotland”.

The band was formed by:
Tore Höghielm: bass, harmonica
Mattias Ek: vocals
Stefan Häglund: guitar
Johan Arvidsson: guitar
Magnus Häglund: drums

All songs were written by Stefan.

Then there’s this label that seems to have closed some years ago but was active around 2006 until 2012 or so. Seems to have been a CDR label and was called Bendi. I’ve tried getting in touch with no luck. This label has released a lot of quality stuff that was long out of print and would be great to be able to buy these things! Among these records there’s a compilation called “Recycled: Inhouse”. On this compilation the brothers Häglund contribute 18 songs! That is Stefan and Magnus from Alfie and Kjell from Biliardakademien. Alfie in this compilation contributes one song called “Another Girl” that was recorded in 1989 and was originally included in a tape called “Home Again, Finnegan” (Mate M8-8 1992).

This same label in 2006 was giving away a long lost recording by the band called “(A Lovely Day for) Goalkeeping”. The story  about the says:

Alfies “(A lovely day for) Goalkeeping” have been disappeared but was recently found on an old tape cassette, only a couple of days before kick off. Furthermore, it’s exactly 20 years since Alfie was formed! We celebrate all this by giving away Alfie’s last recording for free!  “(A lovely day for) Goalkeeping” was recorded in 1992 spelades in 1992 and became the last song they did together. The band had already gone from a quintet to a trio: Stefan Wesley (guitar, keyboards) and Magnus Háglund (drums, programming, keyboards) recorded demos on a four channel Fostex, and now and then called for Mattias Ek to come from Stockholm to add the vocals.

From the previous compilation we can say that Stefan had been involved in many bands like Spencer Hill, Eucalypso, Season’s Greatings, Doublheader, M.O.M.S., Control Addicts, Castro and Lord Protector & The Commonwealth. Magnus also was involved in Doubleheader, Trumslagarpojkarna and Doubleheader.

From the other members it must be noted that Johan Arvidsson was also part of Red Leg who released two 7″s, “Who Nose” and “La Fé Baisanté”, both in 1988, and Tore Höghielm was part of Blue Velvet who released “Backalirs Höskollektion -92” in 1992, and also part of the band Solicium (1994-2012) that recorded three albums “Solicium” (1994), “Follow” (2004), and “A Box Full of Boxes” (2008).

I found out that Stefan used to have a blog called Unga Moderna. It hasn’t been updated since 2010 though. In there I found a mention of Alfie and his friendship with Tore:

“I met Tore Höghielm first time in high school when we went had German class together. Then he was mostly a fun little guy who could “småtjafsa” with (in a nice way). Then when I started high school I shared a studio with my big brother Kjell for a while, and I was at home when he and Niklas would auditioned in search of a singer. And there was little Tore … They had chosen a song by The Church which he had received on tape to audition for (probably “Almost With You”). He did not get the job in Biljardakademien, but he suddenly had a new favorite band (The Church). We never hung out in high school, more than that we ran into each other at times. I played in my band (which was good) and he played in various bands (which was not very good), but when, a few years later needed a bassist for Alfie, I came to think of Tore. Maybe he played slightly too much at times, but he fitted in perfectly with the band.“

And that is about all I could dig about the band. If you know anything else that you’d like to share, or you have the songs from the tapes, or anything else, you know what that comment box below is for!

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

Listen
Alfie – Fool to Fall

As I’ve done for the past few years, I post on my personal facebook my Indietracks schedule: the bands I want to see, the ones I’ll skip, the ones that clash, and so on. Last year I shared it here on the blog and I thought this year I should do the same. So here it is!
But now, it’s also your turn to share with me what are you looking forward to see? Who do you think is missing in this year’s lineup? Are there any major clashes this year aside from the Manhattan Love Suicides and the Blue Minkies? Please comment away!

So finally was announced the rest of the lineup and the stage times and as I’ve made a bit of a tradition I’ll share my schedule for Indietracks. This year I’m a bit less excited about the festival but there are still some bands that I want to see. Also this year I did my homework and have listened to every single band that has been invited unlike other years. Having so much free time this Indietracks might be a good thing as I’ll get to hang with friends that I probably won’t see in a while because I plan to take a break from Indietracks next year and possible the one after. Anyhow…

Friday

I will arrive to Alfreton at 8pm, take a cab to the Travelodge to leave my things and head to the festival. Realistically I’ll be there around 9:20pm or so. Hopefully before. And so I will miss The Chills. Happily I did buy tickets for their London show the day before. How come The Chills are not headlining this day is a question that I can’t find answers for. Maybe they wanted to go to bed early? I don’t know!! So yeah, no bands for me this day. Just hanging. No dancing either, Come Again DJs are a mystery to me. They seem a bitter, but maybe they play good tunes?

Saturday

14:00-14:40 – Wolf Girl. I think the best discovery for me in the lineup. Good job here team Indietracks! Poppy and a classic indiepop sound!
14:-40-15:20 – The Royal Landscaping Society. One of my favourite new bands to come from Spain. I saw a little gig by them sans the drummer in Seville a couple of months ago, and it was really beautiful. One of the concerts that can’t be missed. I’ll run for lunch after them!
15:40-16:10 – Thee Ahs. Saw them at NYC Popfest last year and they were a lot of fun. The Canada band should bring an air of fresh air to the festival. Will Sarah wear her bikini t-shirt?
16:15 – Marc and Graeme Elston. This is indeed a treat. Half Bulldozer Crash and the great man behind The Love Parade. Graeme already played the train before and that has to be the best performance ever on the steam train at Indietracks Festival. With his brother he should top it?! Or make it better?!
16:40-17:00- Linda Guilala. Another repeat for me, I think they played Indietracks 3 editions ago? They have now a new album and won’t count with Adria or Paulita joining them. But still will they bring some guests to the stage? Sadly I will only catch them for 20 minutes.
17:00-17:40 – Dorotea. Okay, I’ve seen them before at London Popfest but I don’t mind seeing them again as they are one of the few bands I won’t get bored seeing time and time again. I wonder though if that big Swedish contingent of last time will make an appearance in the crowd this year to sing every song from the top of their lungs!
18:00 -18:40- Blue Minkies (Manhattan Love Suicides). Will have to choose the Blue Minkies as my chances of seeing them any other time is very small. I love this band. I really like The Manhattan Love Suicides as well. I really do. I don’t understand why this clash exists when there’s a lot of space for them not to clash with good bands. You can just make them play on Sunday too! Please?!
18:40-19:20 – Spook School. Third gig I’ll see by the Edinburgh band this year. Yes, I like them.
19:20-19:40 – Joanna Gruesome. I saw them last year here in NYC and they were quite fun. But only 20 minutes for me as I need to move for the cherry on the pie.
19:40-20:40 – Popguns. Another repeat, but this one is also worth it. Their gig at NYC Popfest as my favourite this year so far (along the My Favorite one). Hopefully after the Popguns I can still find dinner.

DJs, will check out Ready Steady Girls definitely. The other DJs are not of my liking.

Sunday

12:40-13:20 – Axolotes Mexicanos. This is also very awful. So early they have to play? Seriously? They are a fun, energetic band, and they will play to people that just woke up and are hangover? I think their time to play is a mistake, but what can you do. I’ll try to save some energy to be excited at their show.
13:20-14:20 – Thyme Machine. They have nice tunes, nothing super special but proper indiepop at least. Lunch afterwards.
15:00-15:40 – Wendy Darlings. Another repeat from a previous Indietracks, but Baptiste and Suzy’s band I really like, I will be there front row.
15:40-16:00 – Bordeauxxx. Another fine band with nice tunes. Definitely worth checking out for me while drinking my warm beer.
16:00-16:40 – Hobbes Fanclub. More repeats though to be honest last gig I saw by them was cut short by the sound person. Well, okay they did play the day after a longer show. in any case this is one of the bands not to be missed at this Indietracks, great songs, the right attitude, and the always charismatic Leon. Will their album be ready? Would be cool to get a signed copy.
16:40-17:20 – Very Most. Saw them last year at NYC Popfest. Repeat again 🙂
17:20-17:40 – Cosines. Saw them last year in London. More repeats.
17:40-18:00 – Flatmates. Saw them just two months ago. Let’s continue.
18:00-18:40 – Night Flowers. One of the best bands to come out from UK in recent times. I will say though that the first songs they put online were my favourite. Ive been liking a bit less the new material. Let’s see them live.
18:20-19:00 – Screen Prints. The best announcement today. I love this band!!!

Dinner time then. And it seems Indietracks ends very early for me on Sunday!! Of course will go see my friend Alex dj as 7iete Pulgadas at the marquee, if anyone is going to play the good songs at Indietracks it will be him! I look forward the Spanish gang dancing here as well!

And that’s it. Too many repeats to be honest (12 bands!!!) but well, let’s try to be positive and hope for some exciting surprises. Still the best about the festival is seeing friends and eating terrible burritos. Chin up!

————————————————————–

I saw Storsegel’s single on Popsike for 62 dollars. Then I found it for 4 dollars. I always say, just keep looking and you’ll find it. There’s no need to spend big bucks on a record. The only problem is my 7″ is still in Sweden with Andreas from Alpaca Sports who was kind enough to win the bid for me on a Swedish site! But I cannot wait to share this fantastic song with you!

This is a beautiful slice of jangle in Swedish. The “Last Bus”, that’s what the A side means. “Sista Bussen” is such a great song that reminds me of classic early 90s bands like This Perfect Day, Merry Dance, Hip Horace or Amanda Om Natten. I read somewhere only 500 copies were pressed too.

The record was released in 1990. It was a self-release and the B side was “Vanmakt” (Powerlessness). Still waiting for my 7″ to hear this B side. Will pick it at Indietracks when I’ll see again my good friend Andreas!

Lyrics and music on the record are credited to Klas Öhling. The record was recorded at Match Town studios by Mats Siltberg between October and September 1990. It was also produced by him with the help of the band. The only other credit on the back sleeve is for the black and white photo of the band, the girl who took the cool pic was Nastasja Jovic.

Googling around I found that the members of the band were:
Klas Öhling: guitar and vocals
Klas Andersson: guitar and backing vocals
Anders Lind: bass, accordion, backing vocals
Janne Lindblom: bass and backing vocals
Jonas Ander: drums

Storsegel, in English by the way means “mainsail”. The mainsail is the principal sail of a ship, especially the lowest sail on the mainmast in a square-rigged vessel. Were they into seafaring, sailing, or just the seas? It’s an interesting question. The band hailed from Jönköping in Sweden. The city is not on the ocean but it lies on the coast of Lake Vattern. This is the second largest lake in Sweden and the sixth in extension in Europe.

I also read that there was a promo video for the song Sista Bussen, but I haven’t been able to find it. I also read that there was an album released by the band, a CD album. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I found out that they contributed a song also for a compilation called Projektet. The song included was “Kanske Stannar Tåget” (“Maybe the train stops’ seems they really liked mass transit!). This record was released by Matchtown records in 1991 (catalog MTR2003). In this compilation the Mop Tops also appear as well as Meatbox. It’s a fine bet to guess that this compilation includes bands that recorded at the studios based in Huskvarna. On this record there’s a little info about the band that says that the band started in 1989 and the bandmates have been into music for around ten or twelve years before.

In 1992 they played the Amazonas stage at Hultsfred Festival. That same year the band split when Klas decided that it was time to leave the city. In their city they had payed venues like Palais and Kulturhuset. But it wasn’t until 2011 when he returned to Jönköping when the band reunited for a one-off gig on April 16th of that year at a venue called Lingon. And that was it. That’s when I lose the trail of the band. If you know anything else by them, it would be great to know! Share the knowledge 🙂

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

Listen
Storsegel – Sista Bussen

Thanks so much to Stuart Williams for the interview! Some time ago I wrote a small piece about this Kent band and Stuart was kind enough to get in touch and shed some light about his band. The Lemon Sleepers released the one 7″ back in the early nineties and included in it was the fab A side, “The World’s Too Loud”. If you have never heard about them before, well, it’s time for you to discover them!

++ Hi Stuart! Thanks so much for being up for an interview! You were telling me that you have been playing together for 23 years now?!  And that you just call it a day last April? How come?

We are not quite ready to call it a day just yet, out guitarist decided he didn’t want to carry on playing anymore. We are currently rehearsing with a new guitarist so we will see how that develops.

++ But in these time you’ve changed the name of the band, right? I mean, there’s no information of a contemporary Lemon Sleepers band online!

Although up until recently the band line up had not changed in all this time, the name has had several changes. Following the The Lemon Sleepers we went under the names ‘Swell’ and for a short time ‘Hannah Park’ and for a while now ‘The Very Wonderful Long Teddies’. Don’t ask where that one came from!

++ So will you continue or not playing? What do you think will happen?

As I said earlier, we are not ready to give it up yet so we will continue one way or another.

++ You also told me that “The World’s Too Loud” was the only vinyl you ever released but that you had put out a couple of CDs. Care telling me a bit about these CDs?

These were just self made CD’s that we would sale or mostly give away at gigs. From memory one was titled ‘Ulibang Molash’ which contained three tracks and others were just compilations of various tracks.

++ And last but not least on your comment you linked me to a promo video for the A side of the 7″, for “The World’s Too Loud“. How did this video come about? And what do you remember from the filming session?

We used to gig at a college in Canterbury, Kent where they did media studies courses and we managed to convince the students to use us as part of their course work. They filmed us at a studio on site just playing a set of songs and then the video sort of came out of that. The concept was our idea where the van which we used to carry the gear around in was a nightclub. It was fun to make and they did a pretty good job with the resources and experience they had. It’s certainly something to look back on with fond memories.

++ Let’s go back in time Stuart, were The Lemon Sleepers your first band?

Yes, mine and the guitarists. The drummer, bassist and keyboard player had been playing together for about 7 years already and the bassist and keyboard player (brothers) a further 6 years before that, so a long history. I knew the guys previous to joining and had been jamming with the guitarist. When the two existing members left, we just kind of slotted into the vacancies.

++ And how did it start? How did you all knew each other? how was the recruiting process?

Think I kind of answered that in the last question. However to elaborate, I new the band before I joined, at that time they were called ‘Rupert and the Jumpers’ and I used to be their sound engineer. At that time the guitarist and I were looking to form a band, then the news came that the ‘Jumpers’ singing and guitarist had quit the band. I initially offered myself up for the singing vacancy and went to a few rehearsals. Then the guitarist came along and it all went from there.

++ What kind of music were you listening at the time? Who would you call as influences?

We all listen to a varied type of music, our main influences are the likes of House of Love, Teardrop Explodes, Talk Talk, Simple Minds, U2…etc

++ Where does the name of the band come from?

I’m not really sure, our bassist tends to come up with most of the band names and then books us on a gig under that name, then they just tended to stick. We have always let the music speak for it’s self rather than the name.

++ The credits for the songs on the label are for A. and G. Holliday. How did the creative process in the band work?

It tended to be someone would come up with a riff or hook line and the song would be built round that. The lyrics would then be written around the track. In recent years we have been doing more covers and not writing as much as we used to.

++ As we were saying earlier, there was only one 7″ released. It was self-released, right? How was that experience of promoting and selling a record?

Difficult really, we had the single in local record shops, but most of it was promoting at gigs.

++ The record included two fantastic songs, “The World’s Too Loud” and “International Smile”. Care telling me a bit about each of the songs?

‘The World’s Too Loud’ is basically a love song, its about being able to shut the world and all its noise out when there is just you and your loved one. ‘International Smile’ is about everyone just getting on and being one big happy world….yeah!

++ And what about the design of the sleeve? Who was in charge of that?

That was actually my father who was in the print trade and is quite artistic.

++ Tell me a bit about where you were based in Kent. Were there any other like-minded bands? What were the places or venues that you’d hang out more often?

We are mainly based in Maidstone and Faversham. In the 90’s there were a lot of bands around who all kind of knew each other and often played in the same venues. These would be clubs and pubs in the local towns which have unfortunately disappeared over the years.

++ Has it changed much to this day?

The only places to really play these days is pubs and these more often than not want covers bands.

++ Tell me about gigs. Did you play many? What were your favourites and why?

We used to do a lot more than we do these days, on average we did 30 -40 gigs a year. We always try mainly to have a good time which I think spills over to the crowd and makes the evening more entertaining. Definite favourites would be supporting Kula Shaker on their university tour and headlining at the Maidstone River Festival in 2011 where we have played every year for the past 15 years.

++ And looking back in time, in the long career of The Lemon Sleepers under a name or another, what would you say was the biggest highlight as a band?

Lasting as long as we have really and as mentioned previously the Headline slot at the River Festival, where we play on a floating stage moored to the river bank.

++ Aside from music, do you happen to have any other hobbies?

I have always been interested in music production, recording and mixing the demos for us and for other bands.

++ The only place I’ve ever visited in Kent is Canterbury. What are other places in Kent that you’d recommend one visiting?

There are plenty of places to visit, Faversham is an old market town which has the oldest brewery actually in the town and numerous pubs to sample the local ales. Then there is Leeds Castle outside of Maidstone which is a real piece of English history. We are only about an hour on the train away from central London, so you can visit there and then return to the calm of the Kent countryside.

++ And one last question, how do you see England performing in this World Cup?

Sorry, by the time I answered these questions we were already out. Thought we would have got through the group stages but not much further.

++ Thanks again Stuart! Anything else you’d like to add?

Just thanks for including us on you website and your interest in our music. I will email you some more tracks and hopefully people will like these too. Many thanks form all the guys.

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

Listen
The Lemon Sleepers – The World’s Too Loud

Last post about NYC Popfest. Now almost a month after.

It doesn’t feel much of a blur now that Sunday night at Littlefield. Perfect weather, a good vibe and an excitement that had been building since day one of Popfest. Elin had already left to the airport. It was a bit late too and many people were leaving as well possibly because they had to work on Monday. That didn’t stop The Spook School having an almost packed venue for a thrilling performance.

I had seen The Spook School at Indietracks before. They were truly amazing I thought. Definitely one of the most fun bands around. They energy is contagious and their songs are catchy as hell. But to think that the shy group I had seen before would dominate the stage with such presence, with such personality, well, I wouldn’t have guessed that! The Spook School were like a nuclear missile this time around, fast, punchy, punky even! They had an attitude that I haven’t seen in many bands. They were here to take NYC by storm. And they did.

Niall as always was making the crowd feel at ease with his jokes, everyone laughing at his stories about his adventures in NYC. Nye being political and firm about his ideas about sex and genre. There was a perfect balance of seriousness and easiness in the band. They were friendly and approachable, at the same time they had drawn a line. They weren’t a funny band. Their songs say things that you need to listen carefully. And through a powerful show they were going to win more fans. And that’s what they did!

I saw them later too, a week after, on a Saturday at Matchless bar. They had just arrived back to NYC after touring many cities in the East Coast. This was a more intimate show, maybe 20 people were in the crowd. The venue was smaller too. Also they finally had some merch, some beautiful t-shirts that I duly purchased. Even in this situation, when you could think they were going to be tired after so many trips, or quieter because the venue was smaller or shyer because there was a smaller crowd, they were loud like a bazooka, they were bombarding us with top pop songs.

The question of course it’s what’s next for this fantastic band? They’ve been evolving and getting better by the day. And they are still able to write fresh pop hits, all bundled with hooks and sing-alongs. One can only keep waiting to see what surprises they have in store.

Of course nothing is perfect. Some old babies came on stage during the concert to throw themselves to the floor and to “dance” (if you can call that dancing) and make the gig a bit more like a silly indierock gig. Ah well, I guess they were having fun, but it looked ridiculous. Anyways…

And then it was the time I had been waiting for. The Popguns were next. I was like a kid with a new toy, I was excited. I couldn’t wait. At this time a lot of people had left the venue. They, I’m sure, will lament this, because they missed one of the best gigs at Popfest. There might have been around 50 to 70 people I suppose. And then “Because He Wanted To”‘s first chords were heard. My heart skipped a bit. And suddenly Wendy Morgan was enchanting all of us with her one and only keening vocals.

The hits continued, one after another. “Landslide” came in second and you can only imagine my happiness, recording the song with my cheap camera. I danced. I hugged my friend Vickilín. I told Mariana I was just way too thrilled that I couldn’t really explain why I like the Popguns so much. I can’t actually remember when I discovered them. I do remember an episode way back in Miami when I discovered this record shop called Sweat Records that I found were carrying many Cherry Red CDs. I asked them how come. They told me they could get me any record I wanted from some website they had for record shops orders. I remember I asked them to get me The Popguns stuff. Why? I don’t know. It was the first band that came to my mind. I went a week after to the store. No luck. And again. And again. They never carried The Popguns that I asked.

Of course eventually I’ve tracked most of their releases, even those not very pretty single-sided 7″s on Midnight Music. But those are things one buys when you love a band, right? The day I read they were reforming to play some special London shows (I think it was at ICA, right?), I in shock. I imagined many bands reforming but I never thought of The Popguns as one. Then of course they played some more gigs and I wondered if I was going to be lucky to see them. I met Shaun at Indietracks last year, because of him playing drums now for The Fireworks. He told me that The Popguns would love to play Indietracks too, so most probably I will have to come next year I thought. But it wasn’t 100%. My friends in France, Another Sunny Night, booked them and from what they told me they were just plain fabulous. I was starting to get jealous. And of course St. Maz booked them for NYC Popfest. I was speechless. Some days later they were also announced for Indietracks. That was awesome news, but even better when Pat on some Facebook group said that they were planning to play two different sets at NYC and Indietracks for the few that were attending both. That’s a band that cares I thought!

I get goosebumps when I listen to Wendy’s voice. Have you heard this by the way? It gets all so chilly around here! But yes, the concert was on it’s way. “Someone You Love” was next. And then one of my favourites of mine, a staple of many of my mixes years ago, “Still A World Away”. Then more classics and more. They tell us that they are recording new material that will be coming out on Matinée. Good work Jimmy! They play their new song “Lovejunky” and fits just perfectly with all their fabulous songs of the past.

And then their A Tribe Called Quest cover of “Can I Kick It?”.  Haha, my friend Viki doesn’t understand what’s going on. But the crowd is going crazy and knows the lyrics by heart. And me too. And we all sing. And it is such a great moment. But it was just all building up for the best moment of all. The last song. And you guessed right. “Waiting for the Winter” was monumental. At least for me it was. Time stood still and I didn’t want the song to never end. I sang and I danced. Clumsy and all. And then it was over. They turned on the lights. It must have been like midnight by then. But Maz told them that they could play another song. But that is a bit of a blur to me. Can’t recall what song it was now! At least I remember that it was one of those gigs that I like to call, “gig of the year”.

Popfest was over. I went to the merch tables and bought a bunch of things. Talked a bit with everyone that was left. Sold some more records. And then I gave away some records. I hugged people around and said bye. Time to go home. On the train platform, waiting for the N, we randomly stumbled upon two of the Stars in Coma. The ride felt so short. My brain was still going at full speed remembering every moment of a great weekend.

———————————————————-

Good afternoon for all those pop treasure hunters. Here’s another 7″ I have barely any idea about. My clues are limited but both A side and B side are on Youtube. So that obscure it can’t be.

The record has no proper sleeve. It came on a white paper sleeve. The band was called Officers and Gentlemen. An odd name.

The 7″ was released in February 1985 according to 45cat that does list it. The record was released by GAP Records. Catalog was 001. So most probably a self-release. The label logo has two flags, the Union Jack and the American flag. Maybe there was an American in the band? Or in the label?

The A side was “That’s Life and Love” and was composed by Gareth Hobbs. The B side was “Noise” and that one was composed by Mark Bushell. Both songs were produced by R. Boden. Both songs are very catchy, they have that certain pre-c86 vibe, a bit more post-punkish than jangly perhaps but it has danceable element that I really like, especially on the B side “Noise” with that bouncy “We make nooooooise” line that I can’t get out of my head!

Gareth Hobbs seems to have a Youtube account and has uploaded some live footage of the band, a full gig at Macclesfield Leisure Centre. Worth watching of course!

And that’s all I could find about them. I saw a mention that they once played at the Lido on another Youtube video, but that doesn’t help much in unveiling the mystery about this band. Who were they? Whatever happened to them? Were there more recording? Anyone know anything else?

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

Listen
Officers and Gentlemen – Noise