Thanks so much again to Satori and Ishida for the interview! I interviewed them not too long ago about the superb Japanese band Daffodil-19 and today it is time to interview them about their first band, the legendary Penny Arcade! The band reissued all of their songs from previous releases and unreleased not long ago on a CD on Kilikilivilla Records called “A Girl from Penny Arcade” which is a must for any indiepop lover in the world! Classic, timeless, songs abound on it. If you have never heard them, this is a perfect time to do so!

++ Hi Satori and Ishida-kun! Thanks again for another interview! This time we’ll talk about your first band, Penny Arcade! But it was your first band? Or had you had any other band adventures before?

Hello again, Roque, and thanks for your interest in Penny Arcade. Penny was my first band to play our original songs.

++ We talked last time of Daffodil-19 and now I am curious how would you compare each band? What was similar and what was different in the way the band functioned?

Both are amateur bands.  I was a college student when we started Penny, so we had nothing but time. We were young and naive, too.
With Daffodils, we all have full time jobs, so everything is time constraints.

++ I don’t know if I am right or wrong with what I’ll say, but the first time I heard Penny Arcade I couldn’t tell it was a Japanese band. It sounded like a British or American band to me. Even the vocals, it was hard to find a Japanese accent. What do you think of this view of mine? 

We had no Japanese bands we wanted to be alike.
As for the accent, I spent 3 years of my childhood in the suburb of Philadelphia, so that explains..

++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Buzzcocks, Magazine, Joy Division, Jazz Butcher, Cocteau Twins, Young Marble Giants, Girls at our best!, Pale Fountains, Eyeless in Gaza, Bauhaus, Velvet Underground, Wedding Present , Red Lorry Yellow Lorry , Echo & the Bunnymen, A Certain Ratio, Felt, WIRE, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Monochrome Set, Swell Maps, This Heat, The Chameleons, Gang Of Four, Sad Lovers & Giants

++ I also could dare to say that you were the first proper indiepop (or neo-aco) band in Japan. Or at least among the first. What impact did it cause? Was there a big fanbase at the time for this sort of music? Was there support from venues, radio or press?

There was no word “indiepop”, at the time, and we were quite different from what people expect with “neo-aco”.  So I doubt we had any impact on anything.

There were no fanbase, no scene, just a small circle of friends, but we influenced each other a lot.  And they were the only ones, who supported us.

The biggest support was from “eikoku ongaku”, a fanzine ran by Asako Koide, my college mate.

++ You told me last time about other bands you’ve been in, but what about the rest of members of Penny Arcade? What other bands they had played in?

Sotomura-san (drummer) played in various bands, when we met, he was in Grimm Grimms (not Grimm Grimm), and Anna Karina, both psychedelic bands.

As for Ishida-kun, we explained in the Daffodil-19 interview, so will skip that.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

Ishida-kun and I met at Aztec Camera’s first Japan tour in 1985.  Later that year, he made a compilation tape for his friends’ bands (including Bachelors, Monkey Dance Club, etc). It was something he did it for fun (he said it was an imaginary label, but it today’s term, you could call it a self-release on an independent label).   And there was a release party on the Christmas Day. Everyone who attended this party had to do something on stage. Singing, dancing, magic etc… I teamed up with Ishida-kun (guitar), Saito-kun (bass) and with rhythm box, we were an instant band, and called ourselves Penny Arcade.  Since we had no skill to do covers, we wrote several songs on our own.

Next spring, we restarted as a band.  Saito-kun left, so asked Eko-chan (Eko Hatakeyama) to join us.  (She used to play the bass in the Bauhaus cover band with me!)

I guess we recruited Sasaki-kun (our first drummer), right after our first gig.  He was in a band called Paint Box (not Paintbox).

++ Were there any lineup changes?

Sasaki-kun was with us for about a year, and after he left, Sotomura-san joined.  His drums were so powerful, we became louder (and wilder).

Karino-san (acoustic/electric guitar) joined as the final piece.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

At Penny, each member wrote their own part.  For example, Ishida-kun would come up with chord progressions or riffs, and we all wrote our parts.

For me, I wrote lyrics and vocal part that comes with it.  (I never thought it was a melody)

It took time and interactions, but it was natural for us.

We practiced at rental studios (like most of other bands in Tokyo).

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? 

I got it from William Burroughs novel, “Wild Boys”.

At first I wanted to name it Penny Arcade Peep Show, but am glad we kept it short, for lots of reasons…  🙂

++ Your first release was a 1987 7″ single on the label Studio Penta. Who were behind this label and how did you end up releasing with them?

There was a contest ran by rehearsal studio, Studio Penta.  Someone sent our tape (without letting us know), and we got a call to play in the competition.  We accidentally won this, and 7inch release was the prize…

Our first recording was a nightmare.  We were notified that they cannot record real drums (WHY?).  So we borrowed LinnDrum, but soon found out that it was half broken. We struggled until midnight to program 2 songs.

We were extremely tired and fed up, but had to finish by morning. When we recorded all the materials, the engineers said they will “finish up” later.  So we did not even touch the mixing console. I still hate listening to this, as this is not our music at all.

But looking back, we were lucky that experienced this on our first single.  (Lessons learnt!)

++ And prior to this release, had you had made recordings? Or were the two songs on the 7″ your earliest recorded material?

This was our first studio recording. Before that, we only made cassette tape demos on the 4-track multi recorder.

++ This 7″ has a very particular art, who made it? And what does it mean?

It’s something I drew in high school.  (I don’t know what it meant. I guess I just wanted to paint color compositions.)

++ Then came a tape with the two other “first” indiepop bands from Japan, Lollipop Sonic and Debonaire. A tape called “Akko-Chan’s Anorak Party!” on the Boshi label. I have a few questions about it. The first is how did you end up working with Akiko and the Boshi label? Was she back in Japan at that time?

Akko-chan was living in her hometown, Nara.  I guess she was a college student, when she started the Boshi label.  She was a friend of Koide-san (eikoku ongaku), and asked us (Lollipop Sonic and Penny Arcade) to do a show in Kyoto.

This was the summer of 1987, and the show was  “Akko-Chan’s Anorak Party!” (we called it “Anorappa” for short)

The tape is a live recording of that show.

++ Second, were you all friends? Were Penny Arcade, Debonaire and Lollipop Sonic part of a cohesive scene? Were there other bands that you liked in that period?

++ And third, there’s an acoustic version included of “A Boy from Penny Arcade”, does this song remain exclusive to this release?

There is another “acoustic” version of this song on the CD, but if you are talking about acoustic “live” version, this is the only one.

++ Then a self-titled album was released in 1992 with Wonder Release Records. Why did it take almost 4 years for a new release? What happened in the meantime?

Penny Arcade was active from 1986 to 1989.

This CD released in 1992, is actually a reissue of self-released cassette tape we sold on our last gig in 1989.  (We recorded this album as memoirs for ourselves.)

++ And how did you end up working on Wonder Release Records? Care telling me a bit about this label?

Wonder Release was Venus Peter’s label.  Yoda-san, the owner, did not know us when we were active.

But rediscovered us as Ishida-kun’s former band.

++ This album is truly wonderful, it had 10 songs of pure pop, from “Bicycle Thief” to “Green Telescope” and more. A song that caught my attention was “T.V. Personalities”, was that sort of a tribute to the Television Personalities band?

Not actually… (sorry)

Someone asked me what does Television Personalities mean in Japanese, and I said “uhh. That’s like TV talent – people you see on TV”… After that conversation, I wrote this song..

It was inspired by the band name, but not about the band.

++ Many of us rediscovered your music thanks to the KiliKiliVilla compilation “A Girl from Penny Arcade” that came out in 2016. It is a wonderful collection of indiepop that I suggest everyone to get. How did this compilation came about? Whose idea was it to put it together?

It was Yoda-san’s idea.  (He is the one who originally reissued Penny in 1992.)

In fact, he has been asking me to reissue Penny for more than 20 years.  He asked me every once in a while, so I thought it was just a social greeting (like asking “how are you?).

But on the fall of 2015, he sent me the URL of his new label, KiliKiliVilla. I clicked it and there was a video of Not Wonk playing a live show.  It was awesome.

I watched it for 30 minutes, and replied, “Your new label is fascinating.  We are OK to reissue on this label.”

So thanks to Yoda-san for his passion and patience, that Penny Arcade’s music is available today.

++ Are there still any unreleased tracks by the band? Or everything has been released?

Everything is included on the reissued album.  Even early demos, which were for band members only.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Coming Down”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

Ishida: I just loved the weddoes too much.  That’s all.

Satori: For me, it was very buzzcocks inspired song. 🙂

++ If you were to choose your favorite Penny Arcade song, which one would that be and why?

Ishida: “Flowers” – It’s probably because this is the very first song, we wrote as Penny.  I have so much feelings about this song.

“Boy Supreme”- This is the first song we made out of Satori-san’s vocal melody.  We recorded on the MTR (porta 2)(which I’d just bought at the time) with rhythm-box.

“Blissful Deserted” – This the first song, we recorded as Penny at the proper recording studio. I played the acoustic guitar, I borrowed from EB (of Bachelors).

Satori:  “A Boy from Penny Arcade” -This is one of our early songs, too.  I wrote it as our theme song, but about “long lost” penny arcade show.  Like being already dead in the beginning… 🙂

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We played about once a month… so quite a lot..

A young friend compiled the list of our gigs from data of old play-guide magazines recently.

I was so amazed, because we were playing so many shows.  (Most of them, I cannot remember at all)

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

Probably, the last gig on December 1989.

Lollipop Sonic opened for us.  (They were already the Flippers’ Guitar, but appeared as Lollipop Sonic.)

++ And were there any bad ones?

Early ones, when we had very few friends.

++ Did Penny Arcade appear on TV?

Never. We were just an amateur band.

++ When and why did Penny Arcade stop making music? 

There was this battle of the band on the TV (called “Ikaten”).

When the show started in 1989, all the sudden everyone was in so-called “indies” band boom, like frenzy.

It was social phenomenon in Japan.

We did not want to be part of anything like that.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

(Will skip for Ishida-kun, please refer to Daffodil-19 interview)

Sotomura-san played with various bands, Here is Eden, Blue bongos, Advantage Lucy, (and of course) Daffodil-19, etc..

He joined the Sherbets in 1997, Number the. in 1999 (both bands are still active).

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

We reunited in 2017, and played with Philips, (also reunited) Bridge and (also reunited) Debonaire.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Probably “Anorappa” in 1988.

It was like a school trip, and we got to meet new friends outside of Tokyo.

We had no large audience, nor hits (not even near hits), but we had friends who loved and supported our music for all these years.  (30 years!)

That is more than anything.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for rediscovering us!

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Listen
Penny Arcade – Coming Down

Okay! Today I should be putting together all Dayflower 7″s pre-orders and will start mailing them tomorrow. I am very excited. That’s why I am so very repetitive perhaps. But yeah, a new 7″ and probably the last 7″ to be released this year!

Las Kasettes: it is no secret that I really like the stuff the Spanish label Spicnic releases. Their latest offering is a digital single by the band Las Kasettes. The song is called “¡Qué duro es veranear!” and I highly recommend everyone to listen to it. Superb female indiepop! Catchy and fun!

Pure Morning: the Culiacán, Mexico, band is back after a long hiatus with a shoegaze sort of cover of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood”. For sure it is an interesting choice, and I think the result is pretty good too!

Moon Loves Honey: just found out about this dreamy band from Denmark. It has been a while since I’ve paid attention to a Danish band. Odd, right? I remember some great bands from not too long ago like Northern Portrait or Champagne Riot. But yeah, this one sounds pretty good. They have now an album out called “Bubbleburst” that comprises of 10 songs. It is only available digitally it seems. Give it a listen.

For Tracy Hyde: I really need to get my hands on the latest record by the Japanese band. I really like them. And they are sounding better than ever. They have just released a new promo video for the song “Girl’s Searchlight” and it is just lovely. One of the best albums this year I think!

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In Hill House and their song “Sanctuary” are names that I remember from the days I used to be all day on Soulseek discovering music. Long long time ago, in the early and mid 2000s. I remember people sharing this track under  a folder called “Future Leamington Spa”, a nod to the famous compilation series the German label Firestation Records has put together through the years.

The song is great. But I always wondered how the B side, “Never Again” sounded like. I still haven’t listened to it. Is it as great? As catchy? I wonder. The 7″ was originally released by the band in 1984 under their own label
In Hill House (IHH 001). Yes, the same name as their band name. It also had a little note saying this was the Hermit Club Edition of the record. What does that mean? All I know from the sleeve is that the songs were recorded at Blackwing Studio in London and they were engineered by John Fryer.

The band also had management through Seyscan Ltd and two names are listed for this company, Colin Badger and Nigel Grant. They were based in Oxford.

We don’t get band members names, just last names on the labels. So we know that “Sanctuary” was written by someone with the last name Cutmore while the B side, “Never Again”, is credited to Cutmore, Lunn and Sturton.

It does look like the record caught the attention of EMI. Yeah, the big label. The 7″ was then re-released that same year with the catalog number EMI 5494 and the art looks about the same. Same songs too. But there weren’t more releases after it. Why? Didn’t do well? Who knows?

As I said there were no more releases. But there weren’t any compilation appearances either. That’s odd. There must be more recordings though. maybe demo tapes. I’d love to find out.

I do have a lead, and that is that on EMI, the next year, 1985, a band called Wilderness released a 7″ and 12″ for their song “True Life”. S. Cutmore is credited for the songs. From what I understand it is the same person as in In Hill House. What happened? Were the other In Hill House musicians in Wilderness as well? And how did Wilderness sound like?

I find some curious details on the web, like for example the song “Sanctuary” was played in radio programmes in Peru back in the 80s. How cool. And then finally some interesting details….

Steve Cutmore. Yes, first name was Steve. He had been in many bands. I find out that In Hill House was based in Reading. Other Reading bands he was in were Seychelles and Trash Green. Then he moved to London and formed Occams Razor and Colony. Then he moved to Devon and then back to London where he reformed Trash Green and started Colective, the name he uses for his solo work.

That was quite a find. Sadly I can’t find anything about the other band members. But hopefully soon I’ll be able to have more information. I’ll try getting in touch with Steve Cutmore… maybe there’s luck and he is up for an email interview!

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Listen
In Hill House – Sanctuary

Thanks so much to Taku and Miki for the interview! The two of them form the Japanese duo Smokebees! I’ve been a fan of their music since I discovered them a year or two ago! A bit late I admit! But I really like their tunes and it was with sadness that I hear they are calling a day. Because of that I wanted to talk to them about this band and other things too!

++ Hi Taku and Miki! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Still making music?

Taku: Hi there. Thank you for having us! I’m doing ok, still trying to stay musical. Right now, I’m preparing for a show with my solo project called desksnail.

Miki: I recorded some music after nights of not sleeping for a new project called “h-shallows“. (It’s named after Heavenly + Shallow (a tune from Heavenly)).  I’m releasing a new work with h-shallows soon. Please look forward!

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

Taku: I first picked up my guitar at the age of 15, I think. I’m from a musical family so everyone at home could play one or more instruments, and it was just natural for me to play something.

Miki: I listened to ’80s, funk, soul and Yumi Matsutoya as I grew up since my parents liked them a lot. My first experience with music instruments is from elementary school; I played the drum in a marching band. I first picked up the guitar when I entered university.

++ Had you been in other bands before Smokebees? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

Taku: The first band that I ever joined was called “traffic light”. It sounded like the La’s, Teenage Fanclub, and other bands from Glasgow. It’s about 7,8 years ago now but I still like the songs and listen to their songs sometimes. After that, I started my own project called desksnail. It’s more minimal but I try to put a lot of ambiance in the tunes. You can find my soundcloud if you are interested!

Miki: I had already belonged to Girl President and with me! before we started Smokebees. Girl President is a lofi alternative pop band led by the wife of Katsyuya from CAUCUS. With me! is led by my friend aota, a musician/illustrator. I first joined her as a supporting guitarist, but I ended up as an official member of the band. With me!’s genre would be neo-acoustic, anorak, and guitar pop. Currently, I am involved in a crazy number of bands, such as Red Go-Cart (indie pop, dream pop), Minor Toast(post-punk, hardcore), Broccolies (garage rock, punk), and three berry icecream (soft rock, indie pop). Please check out my bands’ bandcamps and soundclouds for release info and so on!

++ Where were you from originally?

Taku: I’m from Tokyo. I’ve lived in other cities like Melbourne, Akita, and Aarhus after graduating from university.

Miki: I was born and raised in Yokohama. I studied in London for a few months two years ago.

++ Are there any bands in town that you like? Were there your feavourite record stores? What about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Miki: Boys Age is a musician we respect so much and he is a great friend of ours. Whenever we organized our own concerts, Boys Age always played, and Kaz (the main person from Boys Age) helped us on bass for one of our live shows.

I have many favorite record shops, but I especially recommend “disque blue very” in Tokyo, and “FILE-UNDER” in Nagoya. The pubs I’d recommend are “NONSUCH” in Tokyo named after XTC, and “Donzoko”, a pub loved by famous Japanese writers.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

Taku: Miki and I got to know each other through our music projects. I think the first time we met was when I played the guitar with a project called “with me!”. In 2014, desksnail used “It’s a Wonderful Life” by Sparklehorse for background music when entering the stage. This surprised  Miki apparently because she had never found anyone who liked Sparklehorse. This was the trigger for starting Smokebees. In two years we decided to form a band respecting the experimental spirit of Sparklehorse.

++ Has there been any lineup changes?

Taku: So Smokebees started as a two-person band, and no one else has been involved in the core of the band. We do invite people to play gigs with us, though. Kohey, the guitarist, a friend of mine from college, Sakurai, the bassist from with me!, and the drummer, Yuki Kawasaki, who is in several bands in Tokyo including Boyish.

Without their support, we couldn’t have survived the album recording and the release tour!

++ What are the future plans for the band? Are you playing in other bands simultaneously?

Taku: Well, this might sound surprising, but we’ve decided to stop the band as of September 9th. We know this is not the best timing to stop the band right after the full-length album, but it’s the conclusion we both agreed on. Part of the reason is that we’ve done so much more than what we thought we could on the album, and we are satisfied and a bit overwhelmed by the process. Another reason is that there is so much else going on in our lives and the amount of dedication we can put into music feels different than what we had 3 years ago. On the bright side, we both are so satisfied with our album and we are very proud of that. Also, we both will keep playing music with other music projects, so please follow our activities!

++ Also you are involved with a project called the Smokebirds, right? Tell me a bit about it? Is it just a live project or are there releases? How did it come about?

Miki: Smokebirds was a one-night live performance project by Yoko Satori(Penny Arcade, Daffodil-19, Marble Hammock) and Smokebees. I asked Yoko to perform with us for Smokebees’ album release party. We played songs by Daffodil-19, Smokebees, and desksnail as well as covers of The Velvet Underground and Pervenche. The band had a set of minimal instruments respecting Young Marble Giants.

++ How is the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

Taku: We exchange data on the Internet. One of us may create a demo, and the other adds stuff. Or one of us almost finishes the tracks and the other gives opinions and feedback. When we started the band I lived in Akita (550km away from Tokyo) so this has been our process of making music. After my settling in Tokyo in 2018, we sometimes went to a studio together for recording, but we kept this process for song-writing.

When we practice for live shows, we go to some rehearsal studios in Tokyo. They have everything we need for a band practice including drum sets and guitar amps. So you just have to carry your guitar. It’s very convenient.

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? 

Taku: Since we started as Sparklehorse fans, we named our band after their lyrics. I’ll give you a clue: it’s from their third album, and you have to omit a few words to find “smoke bees”.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Taku: We cannot talk about our music without naming Sparklehorse. Sparklehorse was the start of us and has always been the guide. There are of course other bands which influenced both of us. For example, some music Miki recommended to me, like Yurayura Teikoku and Grandaddy, have influenced our songwriting, I suppose. Especially when it comes to mixing, I learned from them a lot.

Miki: The majority of the inspiration for the band comes from Sparklehorse, as Taku mentions. Other than that, I got a lot of inspiration from Misophone, Taku’s recommendation, and Mice parade and Sakana. We both like Mice Parade and Sakana from when we were at university.

++ Your first release was a CD EP called “Swimming Souls”. Was this record self-released or how did you put it out?

Taku: It was a self-release. Our good friend Katsuya Yanagawa from CAUCUS helped us master the CD. It was right before I went to Denmark for my job, so we had to finish the EP within the summer. I remember staying at Miki’s place to finalize the tracks until the last train.

++ I notice that there are few copies remaining, how many did you press? And also tell me a bit about the artwork, where was this photo taken?

Taku: Haha, yes, we made 500 copies! I suggested the number because I was confident that it was a great EP! Now that the band is stopping, we have quite a few remaining copies haha.

The photo is taken in Myanmar by a friend of mine. I thought the reflection of the house and the dark sky represented what we wanted to express.

++ Then in 2017 the fine Galaxy Train label released the “Sunstroke EP”. Something that caught my attention is that you included a cover of the song “Jesus’ Blood Has Never Failed Me Yet” by Gavin Bryars. Later on you’d cover the band Pervenche on the following tape you released. What other covers did you record? Or maybe covers that you played live?

Taku: Thank you! We got to know Gavin Bryars through Sparklehorse, and we really wanted to try our version of the song. Kaz from Boys Age sings the repeating vocals, and it brought us attention, too.

We like doing covers from time to time. We’ve performed “Wandering Ones” by CAUCUS, “Summer Feeling” by Jonathan Richman, “Season of the Shark” by Yo La Tengo live and recorded Either/Or by Elliott Smith. Oh, and of course, “We Surely Become Happy” by Pervenche. It’s a hit from “Tonal Memory”!

++ How did you end up working with Galaxy Train? How was your relationship with them?

Miki: We got to know Galaxy Train through red go-cart. If I remember it right, the owner of Galaxy Train came to “New Moon”, a party red go-cart held with us in January 2017, and this resulted in the release of Sunstroke EP.

We released the full-album from Sauna Cool because they offered us first, but we have been really good friends with Galaxy Train and we appreciate them a lot.

++ Then the 2nd tape I was talking about, “Tonal Memory”, was released early in 2019 on the label Sauna Cool. I don’t know this label at all. Care telling me a bit about who are they?

Miki: Sauna Cool is run by Shota Kaneko, the leader of a three-piece band called Teen Runnings. Teen Runnings has worked with Jon Greece, who produced Dum Dum Girls and Crocodiles, on an album release, released a split 7’ with the Lemons, and performed at SXSW2013. Sauna Cool itself has received positive reviews, too. Their first release “Sauna Cool 1” was valued for its uniqueness. The compilation album involved shorter-than-thirty-second songs by 51 Japanese indie bands. Recently they’ve had a few new releases, and they’ve invited TOPS to perform in Japan.

++ On this second tape some songs from the first EP appear. Are they the same versions of the songs? Or are they reworked versions? Why did you decide to include them?

Taku: The second tape “Tonal Memory” is released from SAUNA COOL as an introduction for the album. We put songs from the first EP and two new recordings to introduce ourselves to the fans of the label. We remixed remastered the songs from the first EP.

++ Lastly, last March you released your first album, “Imaginary Lights Never Fade”. The artwork is very curious to me. What does it mean?

Miki: I have been a huge fan of the artist Sakura Fantasma, and I asked her to do the artwork. She is based in Yamanashi and Europe, and she is known for the exotic and yet comical tone of her artwork. The artwork for our album is a collage from an old photo album she bought in Northern Europe and was created after she heard a few demos from our album.

++ This album has 11 songs! Some of the songs were recorded by a good friend of mine, Katsuya Yanagawa from Caucus. How was that? And were was the album recorded? Any anecdotes from the recording session?

Miki: Katsuya helped us record “Begin Again” and ”Miyoko”. He’s been a friend of mine for about 10 years now because of Girl President. The drums were recorded at a recording studio in Tokyo, but we recorded the bass and the guitars at a recording room in his place. The process was very smooth thanks to Katsuya’s expertise, but when I was playing the guitar for Miyoko, I got too loud so Katsuya was worried about getting complaints from his neighbors.

++ There’s a song on it called “Miyoko”, was wondering if it is inspired on a real person called “Miyoko” or perhaps not?

Miki: “Miyoko” is the name of a friend of mine. This song was originally a birthday present for her 10 years ago. Back then, I was into songs with Japanese names such as “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots” by Flaming Lips and “Yuriko” by Monoland. I rearranged and recorded it to put in the album.

++For this album I notice that Disk Union got involved. That must have helped distributing and getting attention to the album, right?

Since Sauna Cool is supported by Disk Union, we were able to distribute our album on their sales network. We’re grateful to them because without their nation-wide distribution network we couldn’t have reached as many listeners. It was amazing to see our album displayed at Disk Union shops.

++ Are there more recordings by the band? Unreleased songs?

Taku: There are no unreleased recordings. We’re not very efficient songwriters, so we basically put all the recordings into releases. There is one recording you can only find on Soundcloud, though. It’s “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, a Christmas tune we covered only on Soundcloud.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Made for Faking Strong”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

Miki: It’s such an honor to have “Made for Faking Strong” as your favorite! It is a song I made after struggling for half a year. Whenever I find myself in a slump I go out to the sea, and this song was also made at the sea in the end of summer.

The hidden theme of this song was “Smokebees’ version of ‘Sensitive’ by the Field Mice,” so you can find the essence of Sarah Records. Also, parts of the song, like guitar combinations, are inspired by new and old indie-pop like Beach Fossils, Real Estate, and Felt. The lyrics are by Taku, and my favorite phrase is as follows:
450 tons of reality
Through that, you swim your days|
(With) looming fear of a whale

++ If you were to choose your favorite Smokebees song, which one would that be and why?

Taku: I’d choose ”Begin Again”. I like both the EP version and the album version. I didn’t know I was able to make that kind of large scale song with over 50 tracks. Writing this song made me believe in myself a little bit more. With help from the great players, we can sound like Slowdive!

Miki: It’s hard to decide on one song since all of the songs mean a lot to me. I’d choose “Ancient Lies” if I were to choose one. This is the very first song I wrote for Smokebees, and without this song, we would not have had the three years of Smokebees. Even though it is from the first era of Smokebees, it never gets old and still sounds fresh.

++ What about gigs? Have you played many?

Taku: We’ve performed 19 gigs in total in these three years. We had only been performing with the two of us until the album recording started. While recording, we started to perform with the band. We thought that it was easier to create the sound we wanted with a full band.

We’ve played many shows in Tokyo, a few in Nagoya, and one in Denmark.

++ And what are the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

Taku: For me, the last one at Shibuya 7th Floor was an epic. The floor was packed, the band worked so well, and DJs and other bands’ performances were great.

I have to mention the one in Denmark as well. I wanted to perform in Denmark while I lived there so badly that I asked my friends to let us use their rehearsal studio. It was a small concert with only a handful of people watching, but It was so nice to perform in front of people who helped me settle in a new environment.

Miki: I’d say the last show at Shibuya 7th Floor, too.

The groove of the band was at the highest at this point since we all knew this was gonna be the last performance. Also with help from Mayumi Ikemizu(three berry icecream, ex Bridge) and Daremo Shiranai Tokoro, we were able to play the songs how they should sound almost perfectly. The other performers did a perfect job, and it was an unforgettable night.

By the way, our first show in 2016 was at Chigasaki, where we brought a crazy amount of gear into a cafe-like venue and tried a very experimental performance. This was very tiring and we’ve decided not to do this again. This might have cast a huge influence on how we ran the band. haha.

++ And has there been any bad ones?

Miki: When we were invited to play an in-store show right after finishing the making of the album, we had to stop playing the encore song in the middle because we didn’t remember how to play the song. We didn’t think about an encore at all but we tried “Lights Of Home”, and we couldn’t remember the chords and we had to stop…haha.

Taku: Hmm… I agree with Miki. We totally forgot to prepare any extra songs for the in-store event. It was embarrassing but funny.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio? TV?

Miki: We haven’t got on TV, but we got on the radio once. Disque blue very introduced us to a program called ”Hickory Sound Excursion” by FM Matsumoto. It was our first time being on the radio, so it was a great experience. We played “Ontario Gothic” by Foxes in Fiction which is our favorite tune for traveling.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

Taku: No we haven’t got anything from the press.

++ What about from fanzines?

Miki: When we were invited to Mito, where aota of with me! lives, she made a special zine featuring us. It included introductions and interviews with all the performers for the night. I was so happy that I still keep it as my treasure.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Taku: It’s a tough question. These three years have been amazing. I could never have achieved this much only by myself. I’ve experienced a lot of things that I wouldn’t have without Smokebees. We did have some bad times, but the experience itself is radiant and spectacular. I’d say these three years have been one of the highlights in my life!

Miki: I can say the three years has been a highlight of my life, but maybe releasing a full album is the greatest highlight. Although there were challenges, we managed to make a piece of work which I am confident to say is the best I can do for now. I wanna take it with me to my grave when I die.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

Taku: I like reading and cooking. I don’t make anything special now but I like the process of cooking. It’s a small project you can work on in your kitchen. I think it’s similar to songwriting in that it requires subtle adjustment and inspiration, and when it’s done, you can enjoy the result on the spot.

Miki: I have so many hobbies like movies, modern ballet, handcraft, architecture viewing and so on. I go out to see architecture whenever I get long holidays. It’s interesting because it is a physical, large-scale work of art, and because it influences the lives of citizens by being a part of the scenery.

++ Never been to Japan. So I will ask for some recommendations. If  I was to visit your city what shouldn’t I miss? What are your favourite sights? And any particular food or drinks that you think one shouldn’t miss?

Taku: Tokyo has countless touristy places. Asakusa, Tokyo Tower, Yoyogi park, to name a few. I think Asakusa is good because you can enjoy the traditional and modern scenery at the same time. Food is a great attraction of Tokyo! Try Yakitori (Japanese chicken sticks) with beer at izakayas (Japanese bar).

Miki: I recommend Asakusa, too. You can experience the combination of Japanese tradition and modern culture. I also recommend the islands in the Seto Inland Sea. They hold the International Triennale and all the islands are filled with art. The Teshima Museum in Teshima is my museum and piece of architecture, so please consider visiting there if you have a chance.

Any Japanese food will be good, but my recommendation is soba and sushi!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Taku: Well, thank you Roque for having us on your blog! It’s an honor. This was a great chance to dig deep into our history and the whole band activity right after we stopped the band. It’s a little bit sad, I have to admit, but the music remains and you can always revisit Smokebees. Please follow our music projects as well; we both will keep on playing music!

Miki: I got to know Cloudberry through CAUCUS and Boyish, and I have been listening to many releases by Cloudberry records, and have been reading your blog. So it is amazing to think we’re finally being interviewed.

It is an honor to talk about our activities with this opportunity even though Smokebees has stopped. It’d be great if you, the readers, keep enjoying our music. Please follow our new music activities, too!

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Listen
Smokebees – Made for Faking Strong

Some finds from over the weekend. But also be aware the on Thursday I start shipping the Dayflower 7″s that have been pre-ordered. Exciting times!

Tvärtom: this Helsinki band may be my favourite discovery this week. They have everything I like, good melodies, catchy songs, boy/girl vocals. They have a self-titled EP with four songs which seems it is only available digitally, but well, it is better than nothing! I do hope they get these tracks on CD or vinyl. That would be amazing!

Night Hikes: “Avila” is the lead single from their upcoming “Chalice” album. The Seattle duo has dedicated this song not to the Spanish city of the same name but to a beach in California. The song is great! With fantastic vocals and a very interesting mood!

Fascinations Grand Chorus: now a duo from Jersey City that will be releasing their album “Presentations of Electrical Confectionery” on October 25. Looks like a digital only release at the moment, but who knows, if there are news I’ll let you know. Right now you can preview the opening track “Can’t Let Go” which is a fine 60s influenced indiepop song!

Rocketship: the legendary American band is back with a track called “I Just Can’t Get Enough” which sounds as if they are going back to their roots. That is a great thing I think! Not sure if this is just a digital single or if it will be releasing eventually in a record, but it is worth the listen!

Secret Meadow: another example that Indonesia keeps providing top pop to us is this nice video for the song “Of One’s Desire”. I am not that familiar with the band, even though I’ve recommended in the past on the blog, but check them out here, shoegazy, dreamy, it is good stuff.

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Who were behind The Magnificent Everything? This is another band I remember seeing in the old list that Twee.net had for bands they wanted to get in touch with, to ask them if they would be part of the Sound of Leamington Spa series. I didn’t look for them at the time. And not ever really. Only today I decided to check them out, see what I can find.

So far I’ve only listened to the A side of the one and only record they put out. It was a 7″ released in 1982 by Handful of Snakes Enterprises (HOS 001) which may as well being the band’s own label. The back of the sleeve has an address for the label in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Maybe the band hailed from there as well.

Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Calder and the eastern edge of the Pennines, which had a population of 99,251 at the 2011 census. The Battle of Wakefield took place in the Wars of the Roses and it was a Royalist stronghold in the Civil War. Wakefield became an important market town and centre for wool, exploiting its position on the navigable River Calder to become an inland port. The name “Wakefield” may derive from “Waca’s field” – the open land belonging to someone named “Waca” or could have evolved from the Old English word wacu, meaning “a watch or wake”, and feld, an open field in which a wake or festival was held. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it was written Wachefeld and also as Wachefelt. 

Interesting. Would like to visit someday.

The 7″ had just the two songs, “Tuxedo Lights” on the A side and “Jackpot” on the B side. The sound is not strictly indiepop to be honest. It is poppy and fun though. And I think that is totally fine, let’s call it proto-indiepop as I like calling many of the records that were released in the early 80s with this sort of sound. Or neo-aco how the Japanese call them. The first song is credited to B. Snaith while the B side to A. Wilson.

The sleeve is yellow, printed in black ink. We see a well dressed couple, well, a drawing of them, behind them a palm tree island, a cloud and a moon. On the back we don’t see the couple anymore. The illustration is credited to Lee Walsh.

The back of the sleeve also gives details about the band members. Stuart Kennet on drums, Bob Marsden on bass and vocals, Bas Snaith on guitar and vocals and Ada Wilson on guitar and vocals.

Aside from this 7″ the band is listed in two 1983 compilations. On the LP comp “On The Rocks” (TPL 99) that was released by TPL Records the band contributes two songs, the first two actually. They are called “Blue Sky, North Street” and “Uptown Electric”. Would love to listen to them. Four other bands appear on this record, David Stratford, Stephen Sharpe, Open Windows and John Duke. Maybe there was a connection? Maybe all of them were from Yorkshire? Who’d know? The curious thing about this record is that it came with a board game called “Musotrek” with counters, playing cards and instructions!

The other compilation was a tape one. It was called “Real Time 7” and was released by Unlikely Records and it had no catalog number. On this comp the band contributes 2 sons, “Blue Sky, North Street” and “Big Casino”. There is a note by Robert Cox, from August 1983, written on the sleeve. It mentions that this was the 7th issue of Real Time. Was this a fanzine? Other bands on this record are Nine Dangerous Fish, Inc., Personal Effect, Three Damn Cheers, etc, etc. I must say I am not familiar with any of them!

Something interesting is that I find a review of the 7″ on a Smash Hits magazine dating from June 24, 1982. It is written by Neil Tennant. It says: “A jaunty, jazzy slice of swing that sounds a little bit pleased with itself”.

Looking a bit into the members previous bands I notice Ada Wilson, Bas Snaith and Bob Marsden had been in the powerpop combo Strangeways. Ada Wilson had also been in Tattoo Hosts Vision On!, Ada Wilson & Keeping Dark and in Ada Wilson & That Uncertain Feeling. Bob Marsden was also in the band Dino & The Travellers.

And that’s where I hit the wall, no more hits for The Magnificent Everything. It wasn’t everything but it was something. Much more than I expected. Now I need to find out if they had more songs. Also I’d love to listen to the other songs they released that I haven’t had the chance to yet. Why no more records? And also what did they do afterwards? What other bands aside from the ones I’ve mentioned had them as members? Did they play all over the UK? I noticed that with Strangeways they even played on TV.. what about with The Magnificent Everything? Would be great to know!

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Listen
The Magnificent Everything – Tuxedo Lights

So! Happy news, the Dayflower 7″s have arrived! I am only waiting now for the inserts, which should arrive early next week, and then I will start posting all pre-orders. The official release date is October 10, but you don’t have to wait!

The Lovely Basement: Just yesterday I published a fantastic interview with Kevin Bache who was in The Raw Herbs. Today I want to share his latest project, The Lovely Basement! Based in Bristol the band is formed by Kevin on guitars, keyboards and vocals, Steve Dew on drums and vocals, Katie Scaife on guitar and vocals and Paul Waterworth on bass. They have a few releases out already and their latest is an album called “Just Because You Can” which is available in digital formats as well as on CD. Very nice stuff!

Charm: this Canadian band from Welland, in Ontario, Canada, has a new digital single. Two songs are available to stream on Bandcamp, “No Gasoline” and “Second Chance”, and I have to recommend them to all! They are a superb mix of power pop and indiepop, with charming girl vocals!

The Deer: when I played the song “Confetti to the Hurricane” by this Austin band I thought immediately of a band I used to love, Zoey Van Goey. Does it also remind you to them? Maybe I am nuts. But that’s what I thought. This song is included in the band’s latest album, “Do No Harm”, which is now available to pre-order on CD and vinyl. It will be released on November 1st, and you can check this track on Bandcamp as well as “Move to Girls”.

Lost Film: Jimmy Hewitt’s solo project based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, should have a new release out on October 25th. It will be called “Zero Summer”, and will include 7 songs. So a mini-album I suppose. We can preview one of his catchy and sweet lo-fi songs at the moment. So head to his Bandcamp and listen to “Enough”.

Spunsugar: lastly a band I have recommended in the past. The Malmö based shoegazers are back with 4 terrific songs on an EP called “Mouth Full of You”. And the first thing that comes to mind is why is this not out in physical format!?! It sounds great. Fuzzy, noisy, and sweet. Great melodies.

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I’ve read that people like the other songs better but so far I’ve only head the track “The Skylight Room” from their EP that is titled as the song. There are three other songs that I’m hoping to listen and then maybe try to find a copy of the only one record that I know 33 Seconds released. Or maybe I’ll be able to find myself a copy before that.

Their EP was released on vinyl, as a 7″ in 1984 by two labels, Clock Songs (CRACK 1) and Fractured Records. Clock Songs only has this record listed on Discogs, might it be the band’s own label? Fractured on the other hand seem to have released at least another 7″ later on. Maybe it was a joint project, the band and someone running a label in their hometown?

The EP had two songs on each side. The A side had “33 Seconds” and “Way Down South”. That made me wonder what came first, the song or the band’s name. Then the B side had “The Skylight Room” and “Falling Apart”. Why the name 33 Seconds too. I know there is an Italian movie with that name, but that one dates from 2007. Any other leads?

Now here is an interesting one. The songs were recorded at Clock Studios in London. Hmm, might that be that Clock Records was actually a label run by the people running the studios? It may be. The songs were recorded during the winter of 1984.

We also know the band members, Philip Warner on bass, Jack on drums, L. J. Harper on guitar, Bob Buckee on keyboards, Chester on saxophone and percussion and Michael Carrington on vocals and guitar. The only one I could see being involved in other bands was Bob Buckee who played on the band B-Z Party who released a single in 1987 on Lost Moment Records.

No compilation appearances.

I keep looking for any information about them. But it seems there is nothing written about them on the web. I think they might be from London, they recorded there. But I also wonder how they just disappeared into thin air, how come they weren’t involved in any other bands. That’s odd. And why no more releases or more songs? Maybe some of you remember them?

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Listen
33 Seconds – The Skylight Room

Thanks so much to Kevin for the interview! Very happy to finally publish this interview that I think we started back in 2009! The Raw Herbs is a favourite band of mine of course, they released top records, on classic labels, in the 80s. I still believe a retrospective compilation by them is due. I hope it happens soon, it would be great for popkids to rediscover their music! In the meantime check this interview and visit their website!

Why do you think the Raw Herbs never got the popularity it deserved? It’s hard to believe, honestly. I’ve listened again all your tracks, and I can’t  believe how underrated you’ve been.

I think it’s down to a matter of luck and we weren’t lucky. At the time we always seemed to be on the periphery of things. We knew the Creation folk, Stephen (Bass Guitarist) and I used to hang out with Andy and Bill from The Loft, but we were never one of the cool bands that garnered all the attention. Janice Long, the BBC Radio 1 DJ, was good to us but we couldn’t seem to get noticed.

How did the band come together?

Stephen and I grew up together and had been in bands since we were 15. We’d gone down to London to the Polytechnic of Central London and had formed a group called the Trees. Joe Foster from Creation produced a demo for us but it didn’t interest anyone and we called it a day. Our next move was to put an ad in Melody Maker for band members. Derek replied but, it seems odd now, he wasn’t our first choice. Thankfully the dude we initially picked buggered off, so we asked Derek to join. It’s so long ago I can’t remember why we didn’t pick him first. I love his voice so that part of our history is a mystery to me now. We knew the June Brides and asked for the number of Brian their old drummer. Initially they warned us off him as he’d had a run in with one of them, I don’t know how anyone could get on the wrong side of Brian as he was such a mild mannered bloke.

Were any of you involved in bands before forming The Raw Herbs?

Like I said Stephen and I had been playing together since school and Brian had been in a few London Bands. I can’t remember whether Derek had played with anyone else.

There wasn’t many guitar pop bands at the time that combined country music with indiepop. What made you choose that road? What were the main influences for you?

I loved the Byrds and from them Gram Parsons. I had a soft spot for bands who would throw in the odd Country tune, like The Only Ones song “Fools” or “Rockville” by REM. Derek was also into Country and I think had grown up with more traditional stuff playing in his house like Jerry Lee Lewis. He had a great Don Everly Lp called Sunset Towers with a song I still love on it called “Did it Rain”.  I guess it just came out in the music.

What do you think was the biggest highlight for the band? was it reaching the 19th spot on the UK Indie Chart?

Were we number 19? Getting the BBC Radio session and hearing the band being played on John Peel were great moments as was Robert Foster from the Go-Betweens coming to see us in Islington. I really liked rehearsing and hanging out, being in a transit Van going to gigs was always fun. Stephen and I lived in a condemned house in the east end of London, the front room had been badly converted into a rehearsal room (we put up a few egg boxes). The neighbour was an artist from up north who thought it was cool to have a band next door which was pretty luck for us. Up the road were The Jack Rubies and Kill Devil Hills and a few streets away The Loft

Your first release was the Old Joe flexi and came out on the Medium Cool label. How did you end up in Andy Wake’s label? Were you Cool Trout Basement casuals? Who was this Old Joe?

I can’t remember how Andy heard about us but he got in contact. He was full of energy with an attitude that was unassailable, he was hard to resist so we threw in our lot with Medium Cool. I have a feeling that David Payne, who had a fanzine called Trout Fishing in Leytonstone, may have been involved. He lived down the road from us and we all hung out together. Myself, Arch and David got The Cool Trout Basement club going on Portland Street in Central London which we obviously played.

The Old Joe lyric is Derek’s, On most of the songs I wrote the music and Derek the words. Sometimes a working tiltle would stick like Don’t Bury me yet which I picked up from a line in an old western.

Thanks to your second release, the “She’s a Nurse” 7″, Janice Long invited you to record a session for her. That must have been thrilling! But tell me how did it happen? There was no emails back then!

We’d booked The Pale Fountains to play The Cool Trout Basement with The Herbs supporting. They pulled out on the night and we ended up headlining,  Janice pitched up to see them but saw us instead. The session offer followed that.

How did the session go? how was she? how many songs did you play for her? did she talk or interview you

The session took place over a day. We were very lucky to have Peter Watts producing it (he produced all our other stuff after that). He was very good at keeping things very relaxed. We did 4 songs: Bless This Day, Syd’s Late Night (a version of Syd Barrett’s Late night that we extended with bits we wrote – the nerve!),  Holland and Don’t Bury Me Yet. We didn’t get interviewed, All are dealings with Janice were great, she’s a really nice person. Same for John Peel who took Stephen and me out for a beer, I got so drunk I lost my coat.

The third release is my favourite, I admit. Is it for you too? Don’t Bury Me Yet is a classic, an indiepop classic. It’s hard to believe that in the CD86 they chose another song, but well… maybe they are more right than me? Anyways, how did this song happen? What was the inspiration behind it?

I’m very proud of the song. I had the chords and riff written and saw an old Western (I think it was Johnny Guitar with Joan Crawford) where the phrase was used. Derek wrote the lyrics around that. Stephen had a work colleague who played banjo which really sets the track apart from the stuff that was around at the time.

On the front cover sleeve, your guitar appears. A Burns Black Bison guitar. It must have been really important for you, right? was there any reason to choose this particular guitar?

The Burns was beautiful, a real work of art but a bit of a pig to get a good sound out of. How could we not use it as the cover? I sold it shortly afterwards and bought a Dakota Red Jazzmaster, almost as pretty but a 1000 times more usable.

You also recorded a video for this song! Really enjoyable, especially for Derek’s haircut! Is there any good anecdotes about it? Why there’s photos of Stuart Sutcliffe, the original Beatle, all over the walls?

The venue for the video was The Cool Trout Basement club which we used one Sunday afternoon. The Stuart posters were part of a Medium Cool promotion so we stuck them up. Andy Wake had more than a passing resemblance to him, the prettiest man I knew. We made a rotating platform that we stood on which was rotated by the person lying at your feet – that explains the laughter during the rotating head scenes.

After that you released two songs on the Edge of the Road compilation. After that there was an album scheduled, what happened?

We pulled all of our tracks together and had plates made for an American label which promptly disappeared (I have one of 2 test pressings). We then got a little too up ourselves and left Medium Cool because we wanted more spent on our covers and more attention from Andy. A very bad move.

Your song “Hopelessly” appeared on the Everlasting tape. I don’t know much about this compilation, do you remember anything about it? Were you part of any other compilations?

The Everlasting tape was a surprise, we weren’t asked for our permission  but at least it’s out there. The rights to the songs we recorded for Medium Cool were sold to Cherry Red even though we owned them. Andy says a friend of his scammed him when he was touring with another of his bands. We’ve reached an accommodation with Cherry Red as I’d rather that the music was heard. They’ve put tracks on a couple of compilations.

How involved were you guys with the fanzine culture of the time?

Not at all apart from knowing David.

“The Second Time” was your last single and you released it in your own label, Rooster Records. How was the experience of doing label-stuff during that time? Was it easy to distribute / promote the record? How did that go? You even did a video for it! 

We signed a deal with Revolver in Bristol to have our own label, Rough Trade were also interested but the deal wasn’t so good. We were awful at running the label, had no budget control, couldn’t do publicity and had a couple of managers who we shouldn’t have. Revolver handled the distribution. The video was fun to do as we did it in the crypt of a Church by Waterloo Station (I was coordinating a Counselling project from the belfry and borrowed the keys). Unfortunately our manager went on holiday when the record was released and didn’t send out the videos or do much publicity – the curse of The Herbs strikes again!

Why did you decide to call it a day? What happened to the band members after that?

The scene was passing us by, gigs were getting worse and no one was interested in the band. I met someone in Bath and moved from London and Derek and Stephen packed it in shortly after. I’m happy with what we did together and suspect that anything else would not have been as good as we were drifting apart musically.

We all  carried on playing but with no commercial success but like the Burns we left something special behind and almost as pretty.

Anything else you’d like to say to the guitar pop fans that are reading this?

If you like the Herbs, thanks. You are part of a very secret but special club. Keep strumming!

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Listen
The Raw Herbs – Don’t Bury Me Yet

Okay! Dayflower is slated to be released on October 10th but most probably all pre-orders will start shipping before that date. Records have already shipped from the pressing plant to me and so as soon as I can put all the inserts inside the 7″ jacket they will be heading your way. Exciting times!

In the meantime here are a bunch of good new finds from around the web!

Starmine: “IMOK” sounds fantastic. It has been so long since I’ve heard bands sounding like this. Maybe since the early 2000s? Electropop that sounds fun like this I haven’t listened since Supercute maybe? Mogul? Elefant Records used to champion this sort of sound. Maybe Starmine should find a home there? Just for nostalgia sake. The two songs on this new digital single by this Tokyo duo, “IMOK” and “IMNOTOK”, are superb. Give them a listen.

The Rallies: from Seattle comes this classic sounding guitar pop band. Sweet jangly guitars are what you’ll find all over the new album “Upside Down”, all over the 10 songs in it. The album is available now on limited quantities on CD, and happily you can preview all songs on Bandcamp.

Tiny Magnetic Pets: the Dublin band are back with an EP of 4 songs! Titled “Girl in a White Dress” the EP comes with the title song and three more songs: “Kicked off in Ikea”, “All the Mad Things” and “Above & Overture”. The record will be out on CD and vinyl 12″ on November 1st on the London based Happy Robots Records! Exciting!

Ta To Boy: the Greek band has became a favourite on the blog since they released their album on the very fine label Make Me Happy Records. Now the band has made a video of one of the songs on the record, “This Town”! So definitely watch and listen this one. Because it is good!

Río Arga: well the self-titled album by the Pamplona band is out now. And I need it, and I want it, and I think it is marvelous. 8 songs of joyous and bright pop songs. The record is available on 12″ vinyl and tape now. It is a co-release by Caballito Records and Mondo Canapé, two fine labels. So yes. This is a must.

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Bed bugs are a type of insect that feed on human blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health effects including skin rashes, psychological effects and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites may lead to skin changes ranging from invisible to prominent blisters. Symptoms may take between minutes to days to appear. Itchiness is common, while some may feel tired or have a fever. Typically, uncovered areas of the body are affected and three bites occur in a row. Bed bugs bites are not known to transmit any infectious disease.

Strange name for a pop band, right?

From Purley in Surrey came The Bedbugs. I think they are as obscure as it gets. But hey, I should try to find information about them, maybe even I will find a copy of their one and only 7″. That’s what I would call a success!

Purley is a town in South London within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located south of Croydon, and is situated 18.8 km south of Charing Cross. It has a population of about 14,000

As mentioned the band released just the one 7″ in 1990. It came out on the Snake Rattle label (BUG 001) which I guess was the label’s own. My guess has to do with it being the only release by this label and also the catalog number, as it nods to bugs (?).

It was a double A sided record. A side had “Haywire” and the AA side had “No Safe Heaven”. It was recorded on 8 track at Seventh Wave studio between July 14 and 15th of 1990. The engineer is just credited as Nigel.

When it comes to band members we also only get first names. Mark on vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, Paul on bass, Dave on acoustic and electric guitar and Warren on drums. The design and layout of the record is credited to John Ford while the photos are credited to Simon Clarke. Why do the art people got their second names printed and not the band! It would be easier to track them down I think.

And that’s it really. Nothing more. So I will need your help to track them and find out whatever happened to The Bedbugs!

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Listen
The Bedbugs – Haywire

 

Thanks so much to Gerry Cooke for the interview! Some time ago I wrote about The Beautiful Strangers, trying to find info about this London band that only released one 7″ back in the 80s. Happily Gerry came to the rescue and able to answer my questions! Enjoy!

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

I was brought up in a care, but being in care gave me the opportunity of having a record player and access to records.  I remember listening to the Beatles, ‘She loves you’ on repeat play for hours. My first instrument was a recorder, which I learned by ear.  I started playing bass in 1977; again I learned to play bass by ear.

++ Had you been in other bands before The Beautiful Strangers? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

Yes, I was in a few bands before the BS, the notable ones were ‘The Ya Yas’. We were an R&B band, more mod than boogie (as reported in Time-out magazine, a London based Mag). With this band we made recordings with some of the members of Madness.  The two founders of the band Phil Payne and Phil Saxby went on to form the band ‘Arnold’. Mark Saxby also played with X-ray Specs in later years.

The other band was ‘Hearts Agas’, a bit of a glam rock type band. We made lots of recordings and did loads of gigs around West London in the early to middle 80s.  The guitarist from that band, Jo Almida, went on to play with the band ‘Dogs d’Amour’.

++ Where were you from originally?

I am from South East London, born in Chelsea.

++ How was your town at the time of The Beautiful Strangers? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

South East London during that time was great.  There were great bands everywhere and record stores on every street corner.  As for the pubs and venues there were loads. I played at many of them.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

The band had already formed when I joined it.  I was asked to play in the band by the ex-drummer, of  ‘The Ya Yas’. He told the other members of the band that he knew a great bass player; I auditioned and was asked to join them.

++ Were there any lineup changes?

Yes, in 1985, I left because my first child was about to be born.  They took on another bass player; he lasted just 6 month and then left.  I re-joined the band and not long after we went on to record ‘Elizabeth’.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

I was given free range to play and create the bass lines. I was given the chords and went on from there.  As for practising, If my memory serves me right, it was in a studio near London Bridge, Borough Market.

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? 

I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Keith Sparrow, he can be found on FB.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

The main influence behind the band were ‘The Smiths’.  My own influences were Paul Gray from ‘The Hot-rods’ and Bruce Foxton from ‘The Jam’.

++ As far as I know you only released one 7″ back in 1986. This was a self-release, right? How did that work for you, doing the label part? Did you enjoy it? How many copies were pressed?

Yes, just one record, and yes it was a self-release.   You’ll have to ask Keith about the artistic side, he did all that. 1000 copies were made.

++ You named your label Two Zeros Above. I was curious about the name, what does it mean?

Again Keith and Sheila (the guitarist).

++ Were the songs on the 7″ your first proper recordings? Or had you had any experience in recording studios prior to them?

No, they weren’t.  I recorded with Polygram before.  I also recorded in Pathway Studios, with ‘The Ya Yas’ and some of the members of ‘Madness’.

++ The songs on the 7″ were recorded at Elephant Studios with John Hurst and Nick Robbins. How was that experience? Any anecdotes that you remember?

Jon Hurst…  I remember that I didn’t have a lot of money during that period; I had 2 kids by that time and no spare money to buy new strings so I had to record using old strings.  It was also during the time of the printers strike so every time we finished recording we had to battle through the protests of the Wapping printer’s strike.

++ On the back of the sleeve there are photos of all of you and I was wondering where were they taken? And also why does your name appear as Jerry instead of Gerry?

They were all taken in Keith and Sheila’s back-garden.  My name was spelt with a J and not a G because in those days I just thought it was cooler with a J!

++  Why weren’t more releases by the band? Was there any interest by labels to release you? Maybe big labels?

We did record a second single, ‘Family’ in 1986 at London Bridge Studios and it was produced by Mark Dearnley.  Who went on to produce an Album by ‘ACDC’. Some labels were interested but nobody seemed to know what to do with us unfortunately.

++ Are there more recordings by the band? Unreleased songs?

Yes as above and lots of demos.  Again ask Keith.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Elizabeth”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

Keith wrote the song so you’ll have to ask him.

++ If you were to choose your favorite The Beautiful Strangers song, which one would that be and why?

‘Heavens’, which is the B side of ‘Elizabeth’.  Because it was a complex bass line and when we played it live, it sounded as good as the recorded version.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We played loads, all around London and Brighton.

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

We played at the Herne Hill Tavern, we supported a big band, it was either ‘The Bigger Splash’ or ‘The Mystery Girls’. I can’t remember.  What I remember was the entire place was rammed and the crowd adored us. It was a great gig.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Yes a couple, Camberwell, we had an audience of 2 people!

++ When and why did The Beautiful Strangers stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

We broke-up at the beginning of 1987, because we didn’t seem to be going anywhere.  Keith and Sheila went on to other bands, John disappeared. As for myself I have been involved in many since.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

For a few week ‘Elizabeth’ was played on Radio one.    We were on ‘Singled Out’ – hosted by Janice Long. The song was reviewed by Kirsty Maccoll and Peter Powell.   And Capital Radio played it too.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

We had good reviews about the single.

++ What about from fanzines?

Keith was a cartoonist and he created his own fanzine.  Keith had a database of followers and he used to create the fanzine is and send it on to people.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

It was the first time we heard ‘Elizabeth’ on the radio.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

I have been involved in motor racing during my life.  I raced in a French championship on my 50th birthday. I worked a racing circuit for 11 years here in France.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

I am still playing bass.  I am currently involved in 2 bands here in France.  A recording band called ‘Nephast’. You can find our album ‘You Have To Know’ on Deezer, Amazon and most of the download websites. Some of the local radio stations have played a few of our songs.

I am also involved in a band called Black Jack V.  We are a covers band, 60,70,80,90 pop-rock. We play most weekends in pubs and bars here in South West France.

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Listen
The Beautiful Strangers – Elizabeth

Not much news on my front. Just waiting for records to arrive. On the other hand, there are some very good finds on the web that I want to share with you all.

Pting: Elsie, Yura, Rhys and Ben are a pop band from Melbourne, Australia. We haven’t heard from them since last December when they put up “Beep Beep” on Bandcamp. It has been a while. Now they are back with a single song called “New House” that sounds really nice and poppy. Why are they not putting out more songs? I’d love to hear more by them, all the time.

No Vacation: another band that is back is the San Francisco five-piece with an  EP called “Phasing”. It will be available on October 18th on all sort of formats, from vinyl to CD. The record will have 5 songs and we can preview the opening track called “Estrangers” . It is terrific. So yes, we need to hear the rest as soon as possible.

Ducks Unlimited: now a Toronto band that are releasing a 7″ called “Get Bleak EP” on November 29. They say and seem to be influenced by the Flying Nun poppier bands and that makes me happy. The record will be out on the label Bobo Integral and will include four songs. You can preview the opening song “Get Bleak” now! Very very good. I am fan of this!

Dead Horse One: now a shoegaze French band who are also releasing an album which we can preview just one song. Is that becoming a norm now on Bandcamp? I wonder. Before you could check out all songs. I always wonder about these trends. In any case the song we can preview “Echo Street” is gorgeous. The album will be called “The West is the Best” and will be out on CD and vinyl LP on the Requiem Pour Un Twister label.

The Springfields: Slumberland surprised everyone a few days ago when they said they were releasing a compilation of Ric Menck and Paul Chastain’s legendary band called “Singles 1986-1991”. This is a must have for everyone of course.There will be 12 songs here, taken from singles on Sarah, Picture Book, Summershine and Seminal Twang, plus an extra song. This is one not to be missed!!

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In 1986 the label Cottage Industry Records released a 7″ by Scared of the Dark. I don’t know if it made much of a buzz, if it got reviewed by the NME or Melody Maker. I don’t know much really. As you know I use the blog as a vehicle to finding more about bands, songs, records, labels. I use it to document indiepop as most of the stories are still untold. I am hoping then, pardon the pun, to get them out of the dark.

“Give Me That Feeling”/”Summer Soul” (CIR 003) was released in 86. The year 0 for many when it comes to indiepop. Previously this label had released a 7″ by Paul Weton who I don’t really know. What was CIR 001? Was Scared of the Dark the last release by this label?

Two songs, each on a side. The sleeve printed in black and yellow. There is a girl in the cover but I can’t tell who she is. Maybe an actress? On the back there is a band photo. It looks like they were 6 people in the band! I see some credits for the sleeve, Dave Roberts on cover concept, Pete Reed for graphics and Flair Photographic for the band photo.

The band was formed by Kerry Rees on vocals, Ian Bailey on bass, Tim Hitchings on guitars, Beeke la Trek on saxophone, Mike Evans on drums and Chris Jones on keyboards. Their manager was Dave Roberts.

We also know that the A side was recorded at Loco Studio in Gwent! That is a county in Wales, right? The song was engineered by Nick Smith and produced by P.V.C. The song was written by Rees and Bailey.

“Summer Soul”, on the B side, was written by Rees and Hitchings and was recorded at 123 Studios in Cardiff and was engineered by Dafydd Pearce. I start to suspect that the band hailed from Wales.

No compilations are listed. No other bands are listed for the band members. Odd.

But I do find a video on Youtube, it is a small interview with the band talking about the release of their “Give Me That Feeling” 7″.

And that’s all really. I look for more information about the band members or the band. And looking for scared of the dark is not easy. I wonder what happened to them?

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Listen
Scared of the Dark – Give Me That Feeling

A short and sweet post today.

H-Sallows/Sputnik Sweetheart: the Blue-very label from Japan keeps surprising us with wonderful releases. This is a split tape by two Japanese bands. Each of them contribute 3 songs of pure pop joy. Something that caught my attention is that the wonderful Miki Hirose plays most of the instruments and sings on H-Shallows. Then Sputnik Sweetheart covers the Would-Be-Goods. It is quite a release!

The Late Innings: this is the solo project of Vincent Sinex from Fullerton, California. His latest song is called “Last Resort” and it is a fine slice of new-wave influenced pop, a bit like My Favorite. First time I am listening to him and there are more releases on his Bandcamp so I will keep myself busy.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: it never stops. All the time there are new songs by Glenn Donaldson jangly pop project. By now he should have released like three albums, or more! His latest are three songs, “The Biggest Fan”, “Last Summer in a Rented Room” and “Keep Your Secrets Close”. All very good!

Say Sue Me: the Busan band will be releasing a 7″ on October 4th with two songs, “Your Book” and “Good People”. So far we can only preview the first one and that’s fine as we know the band produces quality pop. And this song is not the exception. Looking forward to this one!

Jetstream Pony: lastly the Brighton band is back with a cover of “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by the Blue Oyster Cult. But that’s not all, they also have a new demo song called “Mitte” that sounds superb. Is the band preparing a new release? I don’t know, but I hope so!

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Suntime Glorious is a band I would love to get in touch. The two songs I’ve heard by them, “I’m Too Good” and “Sexual Health” are, pardon the pun, glorious. The female vocals, the melodies, the lyrics, everything combines perfectly. It is so hard to grasp why they weren’t more popular in their day. But as I know very little about them, I’m hoping that with this post I’ll be able to learn more details about them.

I don’t own the record (yet) but Discogs has it listed which helps. It is not fun that the record didn’t have a sleeve. It seems it just came on simple white paper disco sleeve. That is not what they deserved. It came as a 12″ vinyl on Infidelity Records with the catalog INF 142. I do see other records listed on this label but they have other catalog format. It must be just a coincidence the label’s name? I wonder.

I am not very hopeful at this point of finding any leads. But one has to try.

The record had 4 songs, “I’m Too Good For You” and “Sexual Health” on the A side and “Never Belong” and “Night Or Day” on the B side. The songs are credited to R. Taylor and the band. There are no compilation appearances listed.

I don’t even know in what country this was released. Most probably the UK, but I can’t confirm it in any way. I see the band being mentioned on a few Japanese sites, but they have no information. I see also that their name is being used to describe some bands in eBay, but I don’t see how they compare. Suntime Glorious sound is quite different to the bands they are being compared.

I try to find too who R. Taylor might be. But my luck is nonexistent. I really hope I can find out who were behind the band and ask many many questions. Maybe some of you came across them back in the early nineties? Who remembers them?

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Listen
Suntime Glorious – I’m Too Good