There was news yesterday that made us all sad. RIP Winston Forbes, extraordinaire guitarist from The Brilliant Corners. The band posted on Facebook a heartfelt message which I like to share with you all.

It’s with a heavy heart and immense sadness that I have to tell you that our friend Winston passed away this morning after losing his fight against cancer.

Winston played guitar like no one else. He perfected a clean melodic lead style that influenced many indie bands of the 80s. At the time Winston did not get the credit he deserved for his innovative style of playing.

Auto-Vélo: this is really amazing, beautiful, classy, superb, whatever positive adjectives you can think of, then Graeme Elston’s new project is exactly that. The ex-Love Parade frontman is back with 4 songs that constitute his “Copernica EP”, a bliss of synth driven indiepop! Listen especially the opening track “Copernica” and the closing one, “Boy: Freeze Frame”, which are my favourites.

In Space: the Singapore one-man band has a new self-titled EP that sounds ace. Packed with jangly guitars and great melodies, this is definitely a great surprise. It looks like a small burgeoning good pop scene is happening in the city-state! This is a long EP by the way, more like a mini-album, it packs 7 songs total!

Lisa Prank: a 13-track album called “Perfect Love Song” and produced by Rose Melberg is the perfect introduction for this band! Formed by Robin Edwards on guitar and vocals, Bree McKenna on bass, Tom Fitzgibbon on drums and Rose Melberg doing backing vocals, the band’s album will be released on CD and vinyl!

Spring Winds: from Saint Petersburg, Russia, comes this shoegazey band with a new EP titled “Sway”. 6 tracks of superb songs. I don’t know much about the band I must say, they had a single back in April and that’s it. I definitely want to listen to more by them!

The Hannah Barberas: and lastly, some favourites! We are big fans of the UK band formed by Damien, Lucy, Doug and Matthew, and we are very happy to know they have just released on CD their mini-album “Dial H for Hannah Barberas”! The Catford band is releasing these six songs on the fine Subjangle label, and I suggest everyone to get a copy, or at least discover their wonderful music!

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This might prove difficult, finding more information about a band called The Family. That is not an easy name to google. But I’ll try.

I am guessing the band had some connection with The Groove Farm. Not sure in what way. I think this was the case as they released a flexi on The Groove Farm’s label Raving Pop Blast! Records (RAVE 11FX) in 1990. Maybe they also hailed from Bristol. This said flexi included just one song, “What Frank Said”.

This song is credited on the flexi itself to a last name, Howard. Or is it a first name? Also it is worth mentioning that the song is dedicated to Denis Hopper. I wonder too if the song’s title, “What Frank Said” has anything to do with the photo on the sleeve. I don’t know exactly who is pictured in it. Maybe it is someone called Frank? Maybe someone would know. It looks like a well known person, maybe an actor?

Aside from this flexi the band appeared on a split flexi that same year. It was on a flexi that I have already talked about in the past (that’s why I decided to write about The Family in the first place, to close the circle). This was a flexi released by Fabulous Records (FAB002) and had two songs, the first was “Irresistable” by The Felicitys (a band I wrote about in the past)  and the second was The Family’s “Polanskis Dream”. Clearly a song dedicated to Roman Polanski?

I look on the web for more information. I notice my friend Alex wrote about this flexi on his 7iete Pulgadas blog but sadly he has no more information other than what I’ve already found.

Aside from this post I can’t seem to find anything else about them. A very obscure band indeed. But as I have many friends from Bristol I think someone may help!

Edit August 10, 2019: Andrew Jarrett from the Groove Farm has given some more insight about the band. It turns out the band appeared on the classic compilation “Airspace II” on Breaking Down Records (BREAK LP3). The band contributed the song “Shine a Light”. And there was actually a release by the band in 1990. It was a mini-LP titled “Wildebeest” and was released on Pop God Records (PGLP002). This is the same label that released the album “Propeller” by Quinton, which I have been wanting to listen for a long while. This mini-LP had six songs, “Shine a Light”, “Slow Road” “Overboard”, “Bad Man”, “Polanski’s Dream” and “Love it to Death”. The songs were recorded at PIJ Studios and were engineered by Fat Paul.

Having the name The Family hasn’t helped them as everyone has tagged them differently on Discogs, every release belongs to a different The Family band!

After Andrew’s information I heard from Rocker, from The Rosehips. He said: I played keyboards for The Family for a while in 1988-9 while I was also a member of The Rosehips. They were indeed a Bristol band, featuring Howard Purse and Mark McDowell, both of whom had been in Animal Magic, who had recorded a Peel session earlier. Mark went on to form Spectrasonic, and then later the band McDowell, who have recorded three sessions for my Dandelion Radio show. Howard went out with Debbie Haynes, and after The Flatmates broke up they formed Cake – another band hard to google – but their album which came out years later is one of the best albums to come out of Bristol.

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Listen
The Family – What Frank Said

Continuing with the usual…

Stray Fossa: just found out about this Charlottesville, Virginia, band thanks to their song “These Days” which is their latest. And I am glad to have discovered them as this four-piece sound is superb! The band is formed by Nick Evans, Zach Blount, Will Evans and Arielle Korma. Looking forward to more songs by them!

Newmoon: more jangly and reverb music. This time from Antwerp in Belgium. Again this is a totally new band for me, so don’t know their back catalogue. I am just checking their latest track, “Collide Into Me”, which is pretty good. Seems it is the week for brand new bands for me?

Moving Panoramas: this sounds great! And it is also a new band for me. It is not new but my friend David from Madrid shared it on his Facebook and I really enjoyed it! The song is called “Baby Blues” and this is the video for it. I need to find out more about them! Are they still going? I know they hail from Austin and have two albums. This video dates from last November! Their latest work, “In Two” is available on Bandcamp.

The Artisans: wow! another new song by this most wonderful band! A Distant Call” is the song the band is releasing on Monday 12th! And it seems all the proceedings from this song will be donated to Chris Packham, Mark Avery and Ruth Tingay, three environmentalists to fight for wildlife!

Parsnip: ok! not a new band for me now. The last find this week is the new album the amazing Melbourne, Australia, trio is releasing at the end of the month! “When the Tree Bears Fruit” should be a top album, one not to be missed, if I judge it by the two songs we are available to stream on Bandcamp, “Lift Off!” and “Rip it Off”. The album is available on vinyl and CD!

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So cool to have stumbled with another superb Czech band! They are rare, aren’t they? I believe this is the third Czech band I’m featuring on the blog, the shoegazers Moving Holiday!

The band was founded in 1992 by Tomáš Svašek on guitar and vocals, Ondřej Faber on drum and Honza Dědek on bass. They would be joined later on by Vojtěch Probošt on bass and guitar, making Honza turn to second guitar for a brief time and then leaving the band.

According to a small bio I found on the web the band was influenced by early 90s shoegaze bands like Revolver, Ride or Moose. In February 1993 the band played their first gig supporting Tom is my Sugar and after their 2nd live presentation they went to record a cassette single with two tracks on it, “Lilian” and “Feel and Fine”. It was self-released and doesnt’ even have a catalog number.

They played alongside some of the best Czech bands from the period like Ecstasy of Saint Theresa and Sebastians. They even appeared on TV. Is there footage of this appearance? Then Cyril Tůma joined the band to play bass and Vojtěch turned to 2nd guitar on live gigs. Then in September of 1993 they recorded their second tape. It was a demo tape with two songs, “Foam” and “Tears of Your Hate”. With this tape they tried to reach MTV and bigger labels. It seems there was some interest by BMG, but I don’t think nothing ever happened from it. Then in October they supported Slowdive (it was the Moving Holiday’s 7th gig). They were also voted by the Czech music press as the 3rd best band of the year. Then the band split. It says they did just before releasing their first album. So, the question arises, was this album recorded? I would love to hear it!

Today Honza is a famous music journalist who is well remembered in the Czech scene for his work in Rock&Pop magazine. Vojtěch plays these days in the band Sweeper.

Oh! it is worth mentioning too that the band hailed from the capital, from Prague. What other information can we find?

I found on Facebook a 2012 concert listing of a band called Soundust which seems featured at least one member of Moving Holiday. Who might that be?

And that’s really it. Would be great to interview them and find out more. Who remembers them?

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Listen
Moving Holiday – Foam

Monday again. Time goes fast indeed. Not much news this weekend, just waiting and waiting, maybe two more months of waiting, for the Dayflower 7″s to arrive. But we do have our latest, Den Baron’s 7″s, that if you haven’t checked it out you should as it is a timeless record I think!

Kammahav: the latest from Kammahav, the project of Sweden’s Christian Gustafsson and England’s Tony Jenkins is back with a wonderful EP called “Scrapbook” that has 4 songs in total! It not only available on digital formats but also on CD which is great news. If you like classic indiepop, with jangly guitars and elegant melodies, as well as classy vocals, this is definitely a must have!

“Lo-fi es Mentira vol.4: ¿Y dónde están las cucarachas?”: that is indeed a long name for a compilation album. This one comes all the way from Chile, from the Gemelo Parásito Records, and I am recommending this comp on the strength of the two tracks the band Mitimitis have contributed, “Caracoquesos” and “Yorokobi Hachi Gatsu Wa Owatta”, which are great and are the best on it!

Surf Friends: now a band all the way south from Auckland, New Zealand. I know little about them but this album they just released called “Doing Your Thing” sounds great! Catchy, fun, and guitar-driven, as record should be. It looks though that is only available in digital format which is a shame. But at least we can stream it over and over.

Low Key Crush: and then to the neighboring country, Australia. Low Key Crush are “pop monsters” from Melbourne according to their Bandcamp. Well, their latest song is terrific. It is called “Shelter” and is a fine slice of indiepop. The band is formed by Taycian Lord on drums, Ella Irene on bass and vocals and Tim Haines on guitar, synth and vocals. Good stuff.

Dreams of Empire: I have featured them in the past and as I like them, I’ll do it one more time. Their latest is finally their debut album called “Nothing’s ever Finished”. The duo will include ten songs on it and two are available to stream now, “Swarm” and “Skinny Dipping”. Top stuff from the Brighton couple!

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I only discovered Headtime a few days ago. They must have made some noise in the early 90s as they signed to Cherry Red but at the same time it seems they didn’t get too much recognition and are kind of a lost band these days. Cherry Red doesn’t even add them to the many compilations they have released the past few years showcasing indiepop and shoegaze. Who knows why?

The band released two EPs, both of them in 12″ and CD formats. The first one, from 1990, was titled “Have You Heard EP” and had the catalog number CHERRY 118. It included 4 songs, “I Visualise” and “Need to Be” on the A side while “Have You Heard” and “Float” appear on the B side. The songs were recorded at Woodhouse Studios in Leeds and were produced by Mike Stout and Richard Formby. It is important to mention of course that Mike Stout had been in the superb The Bachelor Pad as well as an stint in The Wedding Present. Formby on the other hand had been in In Embrace and The Jazz Butcher among others. So pretty cool people to produce you. The photography on the sleeve is credited to Anthony Thompson.

It is also interesting to mention that this was a Porky cut. As usual with his cuts there are matrix/runouts on each side. The A side says “I SENSE A CERTAIN DANGER” while the B side has etched “SURF’S UP(OUTRAGEOUS)”. Both CD and vinyl have the same running order for the songs.

The year after, 1991, the band released their second EP, “Graham”. This time the songs were recorded by Brian O’Shaughnessy at Bark Studio. Again there were four songs, “Born in a Day” and “Being There” on the A side while  “Graham” and “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” on the B side. This last track being a cover of the John Barry original written for the James Bond movie of the same name. Here again there are etchings on the vinyl, the A side says “THERE’S LIFE BRIAN, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT” while the B side says “HELLO PAUL AND DAVE”. Who are Paul and Dave? Maybe the band members?

I said that because Paul Lewis played bass and vocals and David Kennedy drums. Also on the band was Edward Mason on guitar and Matthew Dring on guitar and vocals. Something interesting too about the band members is that Discogs doesn’t list any other involvement with other bands.

There are some compilation appearances though. In 1990 they had their song “Contagious” on a 7″ compilation called “You’re Going Home” released by Hometown Atrocities (STORM 2). This 7″ was largely given away for free in the Exeter area. I suppose then the band hailed from this area. The 7″ came with free inserts with information about the bands. What did it say about Headtime?

Then in 1992 Cherry Red released a CD compilation called “My Favourite Flavour” that featured Headtime and also bands like Mexico 70, The Charlottes, Blind Mr Jones and Stan. On this CD compilation the band contributed the songs “I Visualise” and “Being There”. The booklet says about Headtime that the band was signed to Cherry Red because of a very promising demo, that the label hadn’t even seen them live before signing them.

This same compilation was re-released in Japan by Toy’s Factory but adding a 2nd CD, the “Amen” compilation from Cherry Red. It includes then the same two songs by Headtime.

Sadly that’s all I could find on the web. The great blog The Finest Kiss also has a mention of the band but doesn’t have any interesting details about them. I wonder then who would know what happened to the band? Why did they didn’t release an album? If they were from Exeter? What about their demo that got them signed? What songs were on it? Did they play all over the UK? Many questions… hardly any answer!

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Listen
Headtime – I Visualise

Time flies! It is again another weekend, time to relax! Not much news in indiepopworld at the moment, but as always there are good finds to share!

Still Dreams: wow! the song “Satellite of You” sounds amazing! This track is part of the 2nd album by this Osaka, Japan, band that is titled “Lesson Learned”. The cassette album will be released by the very fine Miles Apart Records on August 31st! Great stuff!

For Tracy Hyde: a few posts ago I shared a “trailer” of the Japanese new album “New Young City”. Now it is time to share a promo video for their track “櫻の園”! It is dreamy, sweet, and classy. I definitely need to get a copy of their 3rd album. I actually think everyone should get a copy, do not miss it!

Destello Floral: the Mexican band is back with an 8-song mini-album called “El Tiempo lo Destruye Todo”. The album keeps the band’s trademark lo-fi dreampop and to see that you can stream the three songs that are available to check out at their Bandcamp!

122 North: there’s only one song by this project from Québec. Behind it is Danny Provencher, the genius behind Under Electric Light, so it is no surprise this is pure beauty. The song is called “Drive” and it would be a perfect soundtrack for any driving of course. But it would be even better if we get to listen more of his songs!

Pastel Coast: lastly this brilliant French band has released a single with the tracks “Vacation” and “Home”. It is actually available in physical format, on CD! This is good to me. Tired of digital-only releases, you see. Here we have two great catchy and elegant tracks. Paris Popfest, take note, maybe you can book them next year?

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I wasn’t aware of the pre-Mighty Lemon Drops band Active Restraint until now. I was exploring some lists of records I want (crossing fingers). I write their names down or add to my wantlist on Discogs all the time. But then most of these times I don’t know much about the bands. Then when I get back to these lists, to these bands, especially when I want to feature them on the blog, I end up finding out so many new things about them. Well, today I found out, and probably many of you already knew this, that Paul Marsh (vocals), David Newton (guitar) and Tony Linehan (bass) all later in the Mighty Lemon Drops were in Active Restraint. I guess Andy Barker, the drummer, was the only one who didn’t end up on the Mighty Lemon Drops.

The band was around in the early 1980s and they weren’t as poppy as The Mighty Lemon Drops. They were more of a post-punk outfit. They would only release two songs during their time as far as I know. These two songs were to be included in a 7″ and also on a compilation 12″.

The songs were “Terror in My Home” and “Turns Out Roses”. The 7″ that had them was released in 1982 by The Sticky Label (PEEL-OFF 3). This label released some bands I’m not aware at all like Data Control, Another Dream, Underground World and Stench, all of these releases in 1982. Both songs were recorded and produced at FSR Studios in Birmingham. The producer and engineer was Frank Skarth. The back of the sleeve confirms that the band hailed from the same city as The Mighty Lemon Drops, Wolverhampton.

As I said earlier, the same two songs appeared on “The Young and The Free” a 12″ compilation released by Luna Records (MOON LP1) that same year. “Turns Out Roses” appears as A4, the last track on the A side while “Terror in My Home” as B4, again the last one on that side. Three other bands appear on the compilation also contributing two songs, Vietnamese Rose, Experiments with Ice and Stranger Comforts.

Aside from Active Restraint and The Mighty Lemon Drops, I know that Dave Newton was in Fonda, Aberdeen, Starfish, The Blue Aeroplanes and The Wild Flowers. I don’t see the other band members of Active Restraint listed on other bands. Hmm…

Last.fm surprisingly has a biography for the band. I’ll end up learning a lot thanks to this! Who wrote this by the way?

• The band formed in 1980. David Newton was 16 years old at the time and he was joined by Andy Jones (aka Cookie) from the band Gang Warfare. Afterwards Nick Peter joined on drums and Vini/Ed Balbour joined to play melodica and vocals. This was the first lineup of the band.
• They made their debut at The Star Hotel in Shifnal supporting Future Toys.
• Peters would quit just before a recording session on August 10th 1981, so the remaining three asked John Taylor, owner of M.R.S. Studio to play drums on the recordings. I ask, where are these recordings? Which songs were recorded?
• Then Andy Jones quit. Martin Peake from Stourbridge replaced him on bass and also Paul Hollis joined to play drums. This new lineup made a recording at Rich Bitch Studio in October of 1981. Again, where are these recordings?!
• Vini/Ed Balbour and Martin would leave the band to form Giant Treads Clean.
• Then in early 1982 Dave Newton and Andy Barker would ran into each other and decide to join forces for Active Restraint Pt. 2. They would ask Paul “Titter” Marsh to join them as a vocalist and found Dave Ashe  to play bass through a local ad.
• This lineup played many gigs and recorded the 7″ whichi would receive many plays by John Peel, Kid Jensen, etc.
• Ashe would quit in the summer and Tony Linehan would replace him.
• This is the classic lineup of the band. With this lineup the band recorded a live 4 song session at Rich Bitch. Sticky Label after hearing these songs wanted to release a new single.
• They recorded new songs for the single at Cargo Studio in Rochdale. They got the artwork together and the single was ready. But it seems that Newton at this point decided to split the band and join a supergroup that was being formed at the time, what would become The Wild Flowers. What happened then with this single!? I want to hear these songs!

On Youtube there a few recordings by Active Restraint that not appear on the 7″, they must be from these other recordings. I found “Honesty“, “The Other Side“, and even an early version of the classic song “Out of Hand” that later the Mighty Lemon Drops would release as a single! This last recording, “Out of Hand”, was recorded on April 9th 1983 at Different Guises Studio.

Also someone in the comments mentions the songs “Head First” and “Whispering”.  I would like to hear those too!

So the big mystery here are about all of these recordings. All of these songs that exist but they are not available anywhere. Maybe someone should put them together and release them? Don’t know the quality but the ones that are on Youtube sound fine to me. I would love to hear the 2nd single., which songs were supposed to be on it?

Who can fill in the blanks here? Would be great to know more about them!

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Listen
Active Restraint – Turn Out Roses

Thanks to The Crooner, Skychild and Mr. Undecided for the interview! Impossible Tymes was a band that was related to the great scene that revolved around the This Happy Feeling scene in Greece in the early and mid 90s. Funny enough there songs weren’t released on this label, but they were on a few demo tapes and on a split 7″ on Elefant Records that they shared with Next Time Passions, a band they shared members with. If you have never heard about them, this is a good time to do so, as many of these classic Greek bands are getting new attention thanks to the work of the Make Me Happy label!

++ Hi all! When and how did Impossible Tymes start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

We met through music. One Night Suzan and Next Time Passions were the first indie pop bands in Greece. We played gigs together. Suddenly we realised Crooner (from ONS), Skychild (from NTP) and Mr.Undecided (also NTP) love psychedelic pop. And BANG !!

++ And where does the name of the band comes from?

From our popadelic subconscious !

++ How was the creative process for this band? Was it different compared to One Night Suzan? It was at Sunnyside Studio right?

Yes it was at Sunnyside studio, an old, low-ceiling but very sunny basement, filled with colors and music. There was an idea or a guitar riff and then together with wine, beers, laughter (and sometimes pizzas with Pepsis ) we started adding elements to that idea. i think the difference compared to the other bands was that we let it go, we were open-minded to the music we made and used any super power we had in our hands.

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

++ As far as I know the only release by Impossible Tymes was the split 7″ with Next Time Passions on Elefant in 1994. How come there was no release on a Greek label? Why there were no other releases by the band?

We were never really a Greek band.. We were (and still are) some friends sharing a passion for Psych pop. This was obviously not enough for the greek mega labels (ha ha). The plan was to release a 7″ on This Happy Feeling, but This Happy Feeling already had contact with Elefant ( we used to exchange singles with Elefant, we liked their stuff, they liked ours etc). This led to the idea of the split  single (2 This Happy Feeling bands released by Elefant!).

++ I read on a Greek blog about the first demo, that you had some extra help from members from Kissamatic Lovebubbles and Next Time Passions. What songs were on that demo? And who helped in the recording of this first demo?

Yes it’s true. We had friends from Pillow and Kissamatic Lovebubles and others, anyone was welcome to join us. The demo was titled IMPOSSIBLE TIMES and songs are THE THINGS YOU LOVE, A BRISTOL SUN BEHIND ME, OBVIOUSLY IN LOVE and a cover of Biff Bang Pow! WOULDN’T YOU. We had extra help from George (lead singer of Pillow) and Alexandros (from Pillow too) . Konstantinos (the drummer of KLB) helped us later, for some live gigs).

++ There was another demo tape which was called “Popadelic”. Was wondering about this second tape, if you remember what songs were in it and if it was similar the recording as the first one?

In “Popadelic” we didn’t collaborate so much with friends from other bands. It was mostly the 3 of us, and I would say the sound was more psychedelic than pop, whereas the first tape was more pop than psychedelic…The opening track was called “Intro” (not a very original title…) in which we played different instruments than usual (e.g. Crooner played bass, which is what Skychild normally did…etc). This was a really weird and unique instrumental gem….Some other standout tracks were “Maybe Tomorrow” and “I can hear the stars”…

++ You did appear on many compilations during the 90s mostly. There aer a few that I’ve never heard about like the one called “Psychedelic Gew-Gaw Presents: Universal Mind”. This was part of a magazine in Greece, right? Care telling me a bit about it? Who were they? Did they normally support indiepop bands?

Sorry, we don’t remember anything …

++ I knew about the “Pop Secrets” compilation on Noise Records, but there was another compilation released by Noise called “See Dee”. I believe it is a mix of guitar pop and electronic music. I have a feeling that at this point the indiepop scene of Greece was moving on, moving towards electronic experimentation in a sense. Why do you think this happened? Why was indiepop kind of left behind? Was it because of lack of support perhaps? or just the normal course of things?

‘Don’t look back’ and ‘Shape of things to come’ are two of our favourite 60s songs…the titles and  lyrics are your answer !

++ Then there’s one tape called “A Love Like Lead!” that was released in Japan with had so many great bands in it. Again if you have any background info of it, that’d be great!

A Japanese compilation?? We had no idea about it. Tell us more…

++ You did a cover of The Field Mice’s “Coach Station Reunion” and Biff Bang Pow’s “Wouldn’t You”, were this easy choices? Are they perhaps some of your favourite songs? Did you use to play any other covers?

Yes, all three of us loved these songs and these bands…we also played “Stars Die” by Porcupine Tree at one gig…maybe we did some more covers, but memories are lost in the mist of time…

++ What about unreleased tracks?

There were “lost tapes” like every band has. But now we found the lost tapes and they’re not lost any more hahahaha…. so from those tapes we have a “NOS” in the Make Me Happy Records compilation ” A sparkle from the past”. Find it and enjoy it !

++ Maybe there are future plans to get all these songs reissued at some point?

Future is not here yet, so wait and see …

++ It is hard to pick one, but I think my favorite Impossible Tymes track is “Dreambrushpaint”, was wondering if you could tell me the story behind this song?

We chose  some great chords, then added a bunch of dreamy lyrics, re-worked a couple of  sections from favourite psychedelic songs, put all these in a pop blender and served  it with a twist of crazy innocence…

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

All the songs we made are our favorites, so we can’t choose only one.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We did some special appearances with extra help of course. In one of them we performed wearing masks!

++ When and why did Impossible Tymes stop making music? 

I don’t think we stopped. We still make music but you just don’t know it. No one knows 🙂

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

We never split up, we are just in different coordinates (north, south, west…). We just need the planets to align !

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

We always have attention from the press, we just don’t know it.

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

Living the psychedelic pop dream

++ Thanks again! I am really enjoying these interviews and learning more about the fantastic Greek scene of the 90s. Anything else you’d like to add?

All answers were by Crooner and Skychild. Mr Undecided couldn’t decide if he wanted to answer.!!

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Listen
Impossible Tymes – Dreambrushpaint

I’ve been looking at photos of friends that have been at Indietracks and it has made me feel way too nostalgic. I am very jealous, hope everyone had a good time. I won’t have any indiepop festivals this year, so I really hope next year will be different. Indietracks would be nice. Last time I was there was 2014!! So long ago! Anyways, just another friendly reminder of our new releases and offers, just because I am very excited with Den Baron and the Dayflower 7″ which is being pressed at the moment!

Palm Friends: first time I’m listening to this band from Minneapolis who are debuting with the “Nice Weather” 6 song EP. The band is formed by Jesse, Will, Shawnna and Jon and we can preview one of their tracks, “Governor”, which sounds nice.

James Clark Five: I got the London band’s newest album “ParlourSounds” a few days ago thanks to the Canadian label The Beautiful Music. I’ve played it around 5 times now and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. There are 11 songs of 60s influenced pop on it, and it also seems the band continues to produce new music as the album is not their latest on Bandcamp, but a digital single called “Annelise”.

Cheesemind: Qii Snacks Records from Guangzhou has released some very fine records in the past. It is no surprise then that their latest song, by the wonderful Cheesemind, is a winner. It is such a sweet song, with terrific jangly guitars. It is called “真空情书” and it is so far my favourite track this week even though I don’t understand a word! Good stuff.

Worries: another band with great guitars is Worries who have just released a cassingle with two tracks, “Age” and “Sometimes” on the New York label FMT Recordings. Is the band also based in New York? That’s a good question. Maybe I could catch them live sometime? Or maybe it is a one-man band? Only one name is listed for music and words, Alex Williams.

The King in Mirrors: you know I really like the Swindon band as I have featured more than once on the blog. Their latest track is called “Stop and Look” and it is, as always, a fine slice of classic indiepop. Check it out!

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Here is a very obscure band and track that I stumbled upon on Youtube twice. One of the times on my friend Heinz’s account, which as you may know is a trove of indiepop treasures.

The band is called Close to Carmel and the song is titled “Let the Light In”. Both times I saw the song on Youtube there were people asking who is it? who is behind this song? if there is any more info about it… but no one seems to know.

I wonder how or when this song was released. It seems it was part of a release called “It’s Close to Carmel” that had a pink photocopied sleeve. Was it a CDR? It looks like it. I tend to think it is instead of a cassette because of the format of the cover artwork, it is square.

I do believe the band took their name from a song of the same name by the 60s band The Fun and Games. They had a song called “Close to Carmel” in their 1968 album “Elephant Candy”. And for those who are geography buffs, most probably it refers to Carmel-by-the-Sea in California which is often simply called Carmel.

Carmel is known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history. In 1906, the San Francisco Call devoted a full page to the “artists, writers and poets at Carmel-by-the-Sea”, and in 1910 it reported that 60 percent of Carmel’s houses were built by citizens who were “devoting their lives to work connected to the aesthetic arts.” Early City Councils were dominated by artists, and the city has had several mayors who were poets or actors, including Herbert Heron, founder of the Forest Theater, bohemian writer and actor Perry Newberry, and actor-director Clint Eastwood.

I do find a Soundcloud page that has this song uploaded. This is perhaps the only important detail I found so far. It mentions that this song was written by the 2nd band the Soundcloud account owner was into back in 2003. It doesn’t say what was the first band he (I think it is a he as there is a guy on the photo) was in. It does mention though that he is based in Malmö, Sweden. This is important too

Sadly I couldn’t find any names or any other songs. No mention of the release either.

So I will ask for your help. Who remembers them?

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Listen
Close to Carmel – Let the Light In

Hello! weekend is over once again, and yet it is another Monday and we are almost in the month of August. The year has gone so fast. Just to let you know that the Dayflower 7″ is now in the pressing plant. That the Den Baron 7″ is out now and you shouldn’t miss it. And that we have an offer, for you to pick 3 7″s out of 5 for a very good price. So head to our website and support the label! 🙂

Now some good finds!

The Color Waves: our friends are back with two new songs, “The Bay” and “Paper Tiger”. They are classy and dreamy indiepop songs, with jangly guitars and introspective vocals. The digital single is now available only digitally but hopefully we’ll see a release of it soon. And yes, I still have some copies of their debut 7″ if you are interested!

The Model Spy: the Greek label Make Me Happy has made a splash by releasing retrospective of legendary Greek indiepop bands. Their next release is a contemporary Gerek band, The Model Spy. The band’s debut album “Serenest” will be released on November 8th on 12″ vinyl I am guessing! There are 12 songs of very finely crafted and elegant synth pop.

East Village: I wasn’t aware of a promo video for the song “Her Father’s Son”! Well on the East Village Facebook group this was shared last week and immediately everyone was ultra excited! The video was made to promote the band’s second single “Back Between Places”…. the only problem is that the video is not complete, just 1:57 minutes of it are available! I hope we get to see the complete version some day. This is fantastic!

Soumbalgwang: I believe that is their name in latin alphabet, the band is actually called 소음발광 and come from Busan, South Korea of course. I know absolutely nothing but I do know they have a song called “샤인” which they have made a promo video which is lots of fun, and the song is even better!

Las Infrarrojas: the Madrid based label Hurrah! Música has released a 7″ single for this four-piece (3 girls, one boy) that has also four songs: “Oh Kiss Me!”, “Darkest Night”, “La Misión” and “Contactos de la Star”, so two songs in English and two in Spanish. Fun poppy indiepop!

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I stumbled upon this lovely song called “Elizabeth” by The Beautiful Strangers. As I know nothing about them I will take on the challenge about finding any interesting details about them and hopefully some records?

Well, it would be just one record. The band only released one 7″. That’s too little. Well, better 1 than none as many bands from the 80s only left us demos or just compilation appearances. The Beautiful Strangers left us a two song 7″ that was released in 1986 by the label Two Zeros Above (TZA 001). As expected this label seems that it was the band’s own, that it was a self-release. There are no other releases listed for this label on Discogs…

The songs on the record were “Elizabeth” on the A side and “Heavens!” on the B side. The credits on the sleeve do give some background to us. The songs were engineered by Nick Robbins at Elephant Studios on March that same year. This recording studio was based in Wapping, in London. Probably then the band hailed from the capital city. The sleeve confirms this, they were based in Streatham Hill in London. We know that the photography for the sleeve was taken by Mike Collins. Then the producer was Jon Hurst who also added keyboards to the recordings.

The band was a four piece formed by Keith Sparrow on vocals, Jerry Cooke on bass, John Foxcroft on drums and Sheila Gill on guitar. Sparrow and Gill were the main songwriters.

Discogs doesn’t list any other bands for the band members. That can’t be true, it can’t be that they were just in The Beautiful Strangers. They must have been involved in more, right?

There are also no compilation appearances listed. Just the one single and that was it? Oddly enough there are more than 1 photo available on Discogs. I wonder if the band updated the info and added the photos. That’d be nice. I also notice that Twee.net has the band listed with band members, that’s not common. Again I wonder if the band did these updates. Or a big fan that remembers them?

Who knows. I can’t seem to find anything about them. There is a comment on Youtube where I listened the song saying that the band used to play often at the Woolwich Tramshed. Maybe some of you remember them too?

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Listen
The Beautiful Strangers – Elizabeth

Friday! Weekend is here at last! I just want to remind you that the Den Baron 7″s are available, so do get your copies! And the Dayflower 7″ is  now in the process of being pressed! Exciting times for the label!

Also we have a new offer on the website. We have 5 records that are now 10 years old, 5 7″s released in 2009! So we are letting you pick 3 out of 5, any 3 you want out of these 5 (Play People, Hari and Aino, Signed Papercuts, Socialist Leisure Party and The Parallelograms) for a very low price including shipping. For US orders the price is $15 and for international orders it is $28. Hope you take advantage of it to complete your collection!

Finds for the weekend? Sure thing.

For Tracy Hyde: one of my favourite bands from Japan is back and will be releasing their 3rd album on the label P-Vine. It will be titled “New Young City” and there is a sort of trailer on Youtube to promote the album. This trailer consists of small clips of the songs on the record. In total the album will include 16 tracks and will be out on September 4th. The band will also be touring to promote the album and will be playing not just in Japan but also in Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia and more! Why not the US?!

The Korova Milk Bar: this is amazing! It seems Disques Blue Very will be releasing the pre-Johnny Dee band as a 2 song flexi and 7 track CDR. It will be limited to 250 copies. I hope I can manage to get one for myself. The opening track of the flexi is called “Rain Girls & Gentle Girls” and sounds ace.

Poppel: this Belgian band that surprised me last year will be releasing the album “Make Sense” on September 20th. The record will be released by the Spanish label Meritorio Records and will include 12 songs. At the moment we can preview one of the songs from the Turnhout-based band, “Listen”. And, pardon the pun, I urge you to listen.

2D Foil: this band with weird name comes from Beijing, China. Will they be releasing this 5 song EP on Boring Productions? That’s a good question. The songs on “:-) Foil” EP are dreamy and sweet. I think it would fit nicely in the Chinese label, though it does seem like a label called Letter Records has put it out. But is it only in digital format?

Japanese Heart Software: a one girl band from Melbourne who have just released a tape called “Lonely Hearts” and whose songs are terrific lo-fi pop gems. Who is she? She is called Nat Chippy and has recorded 5 songs for this release, which seems to be her first. Has she been in bands? Melbourne has an exciting scene, I think it is fair to ask. In any case, check it out, especially the track “Something” which is pure lo-fi guitar bliss.

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Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is a holiday in some countries. Easter Monday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar is the second day of Eastertide and analogously in the Byzantine Rite is the second day of Bright Week.

Maidenhead. The 80s. That’s the setting for Easter Monday. A band who happens to be terribly obscure. A band who released just the one 7″. A 7″ that had many versions though.

The self-titled 7″ had three songs, “Rain” on the A side and “Children of the Harvest” and “Independence Day” on the B side. Released on their own and christening their label Easter Monday as well. This 7″ came out in 1989 and had the catalog number T.T.W.W. 001. Will I find a copy for myself?

We know that the band was a four-piece formed by Chris Phillips on vocals, Gus Evans on guitar, Adam C. Hodgson on drums and Stevie J on bass. I can’t find any other bands they might have been. Was this the only band they ever played in? That is hard to believe!

The 7″ with the black and white sleeve was limited to 500 copies and it says it came on an oversized plastic bag. It also features a photo of the band on the front, some snapshots of them on the back and then another cool photo of the band posing in front of a sign of Lloyds’ Old Holborn Blended Virginia. Then on one of the A side label and an illustration of the Statue of Liberty on the B side label. Now, 46 of these 500 copies, the first 46, came with a red and white sleeve. Why?

There are no compilation appearances listed. There is nothing else on the web it seems.

So that’s all really. I will need to ask you, my indiepop friends, to help me figure out this band! Who remembers them?

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Listen
Easter Monday – Independence Day

Thanks to everyone who have pre-ordered the Dayflower 7″! The masters should be sent to the pressing plant any day now, just need to organize myself, and then it is just a matter of waiting. Waiting for the records to arrive! Of course in the meantime there is the process of writing and getting the inserts printed, and that is a cool part of the process. Then the records arrive, and then it is time to dress them in polybags and get the inserts inside the jackets. Then ready to be mailed. This is much fun. And I can’t wait for it.

Now new finds? Of course.

Cattle: the great Japanese band is back and will be releasing their debut album “Sweet Dream, Tender Light and Your Memory” on September 4th!! There are going to be 10 songs on this album and we can preview the first one called “Shooting Star” on Youtube! The fine Testcard Reecords is releasing it.

Fern Murphy: this Indianapolis band have a new EP out called “Gringo Love” and it is a great introduction to their quality dreampop. The EP contains 5 tracks and I find it intriguing why they called their EP and one of their songs “Gringo Love”. Curious.

Superdrone: another shoegazey kind of band, but this time from Southampton in the UK. Their latest is the album “Starcade” that was released digitally last June. A 10 song shimmery and dreamy guitar pop album that is thoroughly enjoyable.

The Reds, Pinks and Purples: and finally the Califonia band will be releasing an album! It will be called “Anxiety Art” and it is coming out on our friend Javi’s label Pretty Olivia, all the way from Alicante in Spain. The album will include 14 of the already classic jingle jangly tracks the band has been showing us on their Bandcamp for years now. At the moment you can preview the first 4 on the album on the label’s Bandcamp as well as preordering the vinyl version of it!

Airhockey: lastly a band from Miami!! Wow, when I lived there I think there was only one good pop band, Little Beard, then there was nothing else. So I am happy to discover a new band that likes these sort of sounds! Their latest track is called “Hidden by the Sun” and it is a fine slice of dreampop. The band is formed by Melanie Sarria on bass, Sebastian Hidalgo on vocals, guitar and synth, Mike Diaz on guitar and synth and John Olin on drums.

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Many years ago, way too many I got in touch with the wonderful The Ammonites. Remember them? They put out a split flexi on Waterbomb! Records (Splat 001) in 1990 alongside a band called Paintbox. This flexi came alongside the fifth issue of the Waterbomb! fanzine. Does this sound a bell to you? I wonder. The Ammonites of course released a 7″ and appeared on many compilations. But what about Paintbox? I must say that I’m totally clueless about them. So today, after a long long time, I return to that flexi, see what I can find about them!

Paintbox appeared first on the single sided flexi with the song “Hatebomb”. The Ammonites were to appear second with “Missing You”. The cool thing was that the flexi came with an insert and thanks to that we know that the band was formed by Dean Morbey, Matthew Smith, Hilary Jeffery, Edward Dickens, Simon Glenister and Dan Preece. Dean Morbey wrote the song. The song was recorded at the Music Shop in Kidderminster and was engineered by Snowy. It is also noted that the band hailed from Kidderminster too. First time I hear of this place!

Kidderminster is a town in Worcestershire, England, 27 km south-west of Birmingham and 24 km north of Worcester. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 55,530. The town is twinned with Husum, Germany.

That same year the band contributed the song “Opus 10″, again penned by Dean Morbey, to the flexi 7” compilation “Four Bands Four Songs” (WINDMILL ONE) that came out on Windmill Records from Cheshire. Yes, the same label that put out in 1988 the “Corrupt Postman” tape that has been mentioned so many times on the blog in the past. And don’t worry, I’ll get back to it again in a second.

This flexi was double sided, which is a cool thing you’ll agree. On the A side we’d find The Fat Tulips and The Applicants while on the B side there was The Haywains (whose Paul Towler did the artwork for the record) and Paintbox.

So as I said, returning to “Corrupt Postman”, Paintbox also contributed a song to this classic tape. It was the one titled “Who’s Got the Money” and it appears as the twelfth track on the A side. And as many of you know, there was a sort of similar version of the tape that was re-released by Elefant Records from Spain in 1990 called “Hacia la Luz” (ER-5). This time though, this same song, appeared as the sixth track on the B side.

I look on Discogs for the band members, if they had been involved in any other bands. I could only find info about Hilary Jeffery. It seems he is a trombonist and composer in the fields of improvised electronic and contemporary music. He had played in the Band of Holy Joy, Chora(s)san, Kreepa, The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation and many more. But what about the others?

Then I stumble upon a Soundcloud where the song “Hatebomb” has been uploaded. The user which seems to be based in Manchester comments that this was the band he was in in the 90s. He has other songs but they are quite different. They are mainly electronic. Who is behind this account? Is it Dean Morbey?

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Listen
Paintbox – Hatebomb

Thanks so much to Etta for the interview! I wrote about The Avocados many years ago, and then was even able to find a copy of their wonderful one and only 7″, but since then I never got to know any other details about the band. So I am very thankful to Etta, the vocalist of The Avocados, to answer all my questions and finally know a little more about this short-lived London band! If you are a fan of sweet and punky female fronted early 80s pop, this is a must-read!

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

You are welcome and thanks for being interested! I am very well and life is good here in Bath, Somerset. I don’t make music anymore, but often sing around the house. The nearest I come to making music is writing lyrics for children’s songs. I’ve written lots over the years ( I work in children’s publishing), but leave the musical part to people more talented than myself.

++ 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?

My first memory of loving music is dancing with all my brothers and sisters while my dad played (or mimed playing) to our pianola (an old Victorian device that played a piano automatically when you pedalled – the music was punched out on great rolls of paper. My favourite song for this was The Sun Has Got His Hat On – I was around two years old. I learned the piano for a while when I was around seven, but lacked the concentration and was not very good at it. My voice has always been my instrument. At home, I listened to all sorts of things: my dad’s old jazz 78s (Fats Waller was a favourite and Scott Joplin), my older brother’s records (Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, David Bowie) and my sister’s (Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Don Mclean, Jon Denver). The first single I ever bought was Wig Wam Bam by The Sweet. As I got older, I loved The Buzzcocks, Elvis Costello, The Jam, The Clash, Gang of Four, The Fall and loads of post punk type stuff. I also like girl groups and was thrilled to discover Dolly Mixture with their new wave take on The Shangri-Las. I also listened to Dusty Springfield and lots of other female vocalists and developed a love of jazz, listening to Ella Fitzgerald (who I was lucky enough to see live) , Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone. So very eclectic tastes!

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

I should explain that The Avocados was never really a band – we formed just for that one single. It was a spin-off from a band called The 49 Americans  https://www.discogs.com/artist/397805-The-49-Americans which was very experimental and involved lots of people. We decided to make a single and I had written I Never Knew a couple of years earlier when I was around fifteen with a friend, Oisin Little (who was the only Avocado not in The 49 Americans, but was in a band called Push (where Seal started out – my brother Ed was the original singer) http://www.pushband.com/about.html and then The Weather Profits. David Toop and Steve Beresford were a big part of The 49 Americans and produced The Avocados as General Strike https://www.beatport.com/artist/general-strike-steve-beresford-and-david-toop/691851 They also played with The Slits and The Flying Lizards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-P2qL3qkzk Else played drums for The 49 Americans and The Avocados. She was a very dear friend of mine, but sadly died at the age of just twenty three when she took her own life after suffering from mental ill health.

++ Where were you from originally?

I am from North London, near Camden Town.

++ How was your town at the time of The Avocados? 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?

Camden Town was where it was all happening! I used to go to The Dublin Castle every Friday night and see this new little band playing in a pub – Madness! Other venues were the Hope and Anchor in Islington, The Music Machine and Electric Ballroom in Camden and, of course, Dingwalls. There was always something going on. Being a fan of Dolly Mixture, I stumbled across U2 playing their first gig in England in The Moonlight Club (at a pub in West Hampstead) – they were the support act. My favourite record store was called Honky Tonk and was nearby in Kentish Town. Camden Lock was also a great place to find music. The 49 Americans used to hang out at The LMC (London Musicians Collective) where there was always something new and experimental happening.

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

We practised at people houses – my parents house and various places.

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

Growing up in the 1960s and 70s, Avocados were an unusual thing (hard to imagine now) and I had recently discovered them and thought them the most delicious thing in the world. So we named the band after them!

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band? You were telling me you were huge fans of Dolly Mixture then?

We wanted The Avocados to have a naive, poppy sound  (not too hard for the sixteen-year-old me). I loved Dolly Mixture because they combined girl group Motown sound with a punky edge and I guess that’s what I had in mind. Else’s unique drum sound gave the song a quirky edge that I loved.

++ The 7″ was released by Choo Choo Train Records. I was wondering who were they? Who was behind this label? Was it yourselves?

Choo Choo Train Records was set up by Andrew Brenner (known as Giblet) – he was the brains behind it all!

++ I was also wondering about the artwork of the 7″, who made it? And why the shrimps on it? I understand the half avocado of course!

At the time, I was working at Marvel Comics (UK) and I was surrounded by lovely, creative people. The artist and designer was my friend, Rahid Khan. He drew the image and designed the cover. I loved eating avocado and prawns and Rahid thought it would be funny if the band were all prawn characters. I am he one sitting in the Avocado.

++ I really like the song “I Never Knew”, was wondering if you could tell me the story behind this wonderful pop song?

I wrote this when I was fifteen. It reflects my teenage insecurities – I never really believed that anyone could love someone as monstrous as me and so didn’t trust anyone who said they did. It’s the old Groucho Marx thing of not wanting to belong to any club that would have me as a member. I wrote the song in a more lucid moment when I thought perhaps somebody had loved me after all – but it was too late by then, hence the lament!

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

There were only two (the a and b sides) and I like them both, but I Never Knew means more to me. John Peel once played the b side!

++ Are there more recordings by the band? Any unreleased tracks?

No, nothing more.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

No gigs at all.

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

After The 49 Americans and The Avocados, I started to sing more jazz and sand in a band called Take It! Mostly though, I concentrated on my career in children’s media and being a mother (from the age of 22).

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

As mentioned above, Steve Beresford and David Toop continued making music and Oisin was in Push and then The Weather Profits.

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

No. There was a reunion of The 49 Americans a few years ago, but sadly, I was not invited to it. I have lost touch with most people.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

John Peel played the single once or twice.

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

I think it was reviewed in the music press, but I don’t remember too clearly – it was a long time ago!

++ What about from fanzines?

I can’t remember!

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

It was very good fun – I just remember really enjoying the whole experience.

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

I don’t have too many hobbies, but have always worked in children’s publishing and television – something I still love doing. I have a lovely husband and three wonderful sons who are all musical in their own ways.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Music is for everyone and everyone should find the music in themselves.  In the words of Mama Cass: ‘But you’ve gotta make your own kind of music, Sing your own special song, Make your own kind of music, Even if nobody else sings along.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZVIHHET85Y

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Listen
The Avocados – I Never Knew