Day 590

Tvärtom: This is the best news this week for me, a 9 song, self-titled debut album by Helsinki’s indiepop combo! One of my favourite jangly guitar pop bands of as of late has put this together and you wish, of course, the record was available in a physical format. The album consists of songs recorded between June 2018 and 2020 and features the band’s original line-up. So so good!

Cuarzo, Mica y Feldespato: this is the name of a very nice compilation put together by the fine Barcelona label Discos de Kirlian. The 24 song compilation is available now on CD and features many bands that have been part of the the label since they started 10 years ago. Very recommendable.

The New Modern Light: now a Singapore band that I had never heard before! The band has just released a new EP titled “The Distance Between Us” and it is a nice pop record. Available only digitally, the 4 songs by this 4-piece, sound great.

Fonosida: now to Santiago, Chile, to discover this project on the label Gemelo Parásito. There is not much info about the band and their 13 song album “Fonomix”, other than it was recorded between 2019 and 2020. Well, we’ve got the music, and that’s good enough.

Jilted Jonas: we’ve been a fan of Jilted Jonas, the Swedish band that is based in Berlin, for a while! So every time there’s a new song we have to recommend it! I don’t know the people behind this, never met them, never emailed with them. That used to be in the past! I just discover the bands, and if I like them, I give them all my love. Jilted Jonas deserves this, and I hope we get to see them release something in the near future. For now we can listen to their latest single, “Stay Away from Stockholm” that has a spiritual B side in “Silent Kisses (Kask Remix)”.

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Jilted John, the band Graham Fellows was in, released the classic song “Jilted John” with its lyrics “Gordon is a Moron”. In 1979 a band called Julie & Gordon made a single replying to Jilted John. It was the “Gordon’s Not a Moron” 7″.

I don’t know who was behind Julie & Gordon. The original song, “Gordon is a Moron” got to the top 5 of Britain’s pop charts in 1978. That song by Jilted John is about John’s pending breakup with Julie. So yeah, if you think about it, the name of the band Julie & Gordon makes sense too!

“Gordon’s Not a Moron” was released by Pogo Records Ltd (POG 003) with the B side “I’m So Happy to Know You”. Funny thing, it says that the producers were Four Belgian Business Men.

Julie & Gordon released a follow-up 7″ in 1979. It was the “J-J-Julie (Yippee Yula)” 7″. The B side had the song “Gettin’ it Together??”. The label is again Pogo Records Ltd. (POG 004) but it seems behind this label was WEA Records. Looking at some info about Pogo, this label was founded by Ron “Groucho” Lee and released also records by Suburban Studs and Duck and Dive.

The art for the two 7″s is simple. The first record had a photo of a guy and a girl. The second an illustration of two angels, which I guess the girl is Julie and the guy is Gordon.

An unofficial compilation called “Nobody Wants Us Volume 6: United Kingdom Punk Rock 1978” released on CDR in Finland, included two of the songs of the band, “Gordon’s Not a Moron” and “I’m So Happy to Know You”. Not sure when this release came out but must have been sometime in the 2000s I would guess.

Looking for more info, on the Graham Fellows wikipedia it says: “No other recordings followed these, making Jilted John a one-hit wonder. However, a cash-in single by Julie and Gordon called “Gordon’s Not A Moron” sold moderately well, as did lapel badges bearing the legends “Gordon is a moron” and “Gordon is not a moron”. “

There’s not much more info about this band. I read that Graham Fellows was not involved in Julie & Gordon according to the Left and to the Back blog. So yeah, who knows. Would be nice to know. Someone on Youtube says that there was a rumour Dave Dee was involved in this band… who would know?

Another person says Alan Blake of The Tremeloes…

We can keep guessing.

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Listen
Julie and Gordon – J J Julie Yippee Yula

Day 588

The Sensitive: a new single by this superb Indonesian indiepop band! A new single with two songs, “Labor of Only You” and “Anoa Records is my Shepherd”, are out now on Let’s Kiss a Secret. Both songs are classic sounded guitar pop tunes. Really nice.

The Moment of Nightfall: a new Japanese super group formed by members of bands like Pervenche, H-Shallows and Red Go-Cart, released a tape EP titled “Light is Beyond the Nostalgia” last month on the always reliable Galaxy Train Records. The EP has 4 songs of mellow, lo-fi, dreamy popsongs. The tape is now sold out, but can listen to the songs online.

The Happy Somethings: “Our TV Times” is a new song by this lovely Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire band! The trio, two guys and a girl, according to the drawing on theeir Bandcamp, make lovely popsongs! For some reason this song’s melody reminds me of The Would-Be-Goods. And yes, that is a good thing in my book!

Softsurf: I have recommended this terrific 5-piece from Nagoya in the past, when they released their debut EP in 2017. Well, the band is back now, with a second EP titled “Returning Wave” on Dreamwaves Records. Clearly influenced by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, the band knows how to craft catchy popsongs. 5 good songs… and it seems only digital for now.

Crushed by an Elephant: just discovered this project from Stockholm that is not very new. M. Forssman is who is behind this project of lo-fi pop and who has published many fine tracks to his Soundcloud. I have to thank my friend David from Barcelona for this find!

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Another band I wanted to write about was Langfield Crane. I noticed I had left a Youtube link and a Discogs link saved. The Discogs link works, of course, and there we find 4 records, but the Youtube link is down. Doesn’t exist anymore. I wonder what song it was…

The band hailed from Todmorden.

Todmorden is a market town and civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is 17 miles (27 kilometres) north-east of Manchester, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Burnley and 9 miles (14 km) west of Halifax. In 2011 had a population of 15,481. The name Todmorden first appears in 1641. The town had earlier been called Tottemerden, Totmardene, Totmereden or Totmerden. The generally accepted meaning of the name is Totta’s boundary-valley, probably a reference to the valley running north-west from the town.

Being close to Manchester it seems the band was part of the early 90s music scene there, of the so-called Manchester. I believe the band’s first release was a flexi I’ve written about in the past. A compilation flexi released by Spike’s Label (LYN 19817/18) that had their song “Kiss Me Stephenson”. I had written about this flexi before when writing about Roberta Junk and Chinese Gangster Element.

The band was formed by Deborah Szumowski on guitar and vocals, David Brogan on bass and vocals, Richard Moran on drums and Robert Duffy on guitar and vocals. From what I have gathered the band split in 1991.

It seems the band had their own label called Astragarda Records. In 1990 the band releases their first record, a self-titled mini-album. “Langfield Crane” (ASTRAG 01) had 6 songs. Three on each side. The A side had “Steam From Country Heaven”, “River Water Eyes” and “Very Name” while the B side had “Plectrumhead”, “Run Down the Avenue” and “Glide and Spin”. On the credits we can see that the songs were recorded at Underground in Wakefield. Engineered by Neville, mixed by Jerusalem in Manchester and produced by Bobby B. Also on the labels we see that the songs lyrics were written by Robert Duffy.

The second release on Astragarda Records was “Stevenson EP” (ASTRAG 002). This 12″ had three songs, “Kiss me Stevenson”, “Oh Softhead” and “Sweet Wire”. The producer and engineer were Anthony Behrendt and Bobby B. Additional engineering by Neville Barker and Pete Livingston. The record was recorded at Jerusalem and Underground Studios.

Now I am not sure which record came next. I’ll go with Astragarda third release just for the sake of it. “Invitation” (ASTRAG 003) was a four song EP that included “Plectrumhead”, “Gin”, “I’ll Have You” and “Triangle”. The first two songs were produced and engineered by Robin Blake and Chris Shaw. They were recorded at Studio Studios and mixed at StarTrack. Someone called Royston is credited for additional engineering.  The last two songs on the other hand were produced and engineered by Anthony Behrendt and Robin Blake, recorded and mixed at Jerusalem with extra engineering by Pete Livingston and James Flowers. The front cover artwork was created by Catherine Mechan, the graphics by Jerome Dineen and the photos by Jim Moran.

Also on this record we find the musician Steve Marsden, who played electric mandola on “Plectrumhead” and slide guitar on “Gin”.

The record we are missing is the self-titled album “Langfield Crane”. This record wasn’t released in the UK but in Italy by Gala Records (GLLP 91038). The record included just 9 songs. On the A side we find “Steam From County Heaven”, “River Water Eyes”, “Very Name” and “Sweet Wire”. The B side has “Kiss Me Stevenson”, “Oh Softhead”, “Plectrumhead”, “Run Down the Avenue” and “Glide the Spin”. I wonder if this was a proper album or more of a compilation for the Italian audience. All songs were engineered and produced by Anthony Behrendt.

We hear about the band many years after. There is a very limited CDR compilation called “Suburbia Psychedelicised Volume 1: Shoegaze, Madchester and Neo-Psychedelia 1990-93” (SPS 004). This is an unofficial release that the Secret Psychedelic Society put together and given away to their members. The song they incldued by Langfied Crane was “I’ll Have You”.

On Youtube there’s something worth mentioning. So it seems the band played in Spain in 1991. There is TV footage on Telemadrid, where the presenters introduce the band and then show the band’s promo video “Kiss Me Stevenson”! Sadly the video is not complete. Would be good if someone could upload it in its entirety.

We also know that Langfield Crane supported the New Automatic Daffodils in London. They also supported Pulp at Piece Hall in Halifax on August 31, 1991. That day the other bands in the bill were Bob, Levellers 5 and Anderson. Other gigs I found is them playing on June 21st 1990 with the Protagonists as well as a November 1990 gig at The Rathole in Tamworth with them and Jain Faith.

And that’s it. All I could find looking around in the web. What happened to them? Which cities in Spain did they play? Did they play there? Did they play Italy? Are there more songs? What happened to the band members? Many questions, not many answers. Who remembers them!?

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Listen
Langfield Crane – I’ll Have You

Day 565

Subsonic Eye: we are fans of the Singaporean band Subsonic Eye. I interviewed them not that long ago, this year, actually. So you know their music is good. And since January’s album we haven’t heard from them. Well, don’t despair. Here is a new 7″ with two songs, “Dijangka” and “Matahari”. And it is really good!

Shoestrings: another band I interviewed, but this time many years ago, is releasing a record! “Expectations” is the new work from Mario and Rose Suau since… like forever! This album is coming out on LP and CD on November 4. This was quite a surprise when it was announced like a week ago. At least for me! “Gone” is the only song we can preview and it is really amazing. This one I need for sure. A record not to miss. Ed Shelflife, will you save me a copy?

Violentene: the latest from the Ottawa based duo is “September Falls”. This is the second single from the band’s forthcoming “Otherworld” EP that should be released this year I think. The Canadian band sounds at its best in this song. It is a fine pop song, with classic melodies.

Lunarette: the New Yorkers are back too with a new song. The ex-Gingerlys have just added the track “Low Sky” to their Bandcamp and I am enjoying it! Jackie’s vocals sound quite special on this one. The song has a nice feeling, a bit like The Sundays perhaps? It is lovely. I hope they release something properly soon!

English Summer: Clare, Australia, project English Summer is back sounding very much like Rumblefish and The Bodines! Wow. I like this! The latest song they have put out is “Tall Stories” and it sounds like a classic, lost, indiepop song from 1987. Wow!

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As you know I am going through old drafts of the blog, checking bands that I hoped to write about years ago and I didn’t.

Today I opened the draft link for Spit the Pips. And what did I find? Just a link for a Myspace. Oh dear. That’s all! How come I didn’t write about them then. Now that Myspace link doesn’t work. And I am quite surprised that I didn’t even do any more research!

I don’t know much about the band. I don’t own any of their records. So this will be my first time exploring their music. I vaguely remember their music, being fun catchy pop. Now that I listen to them again, especially their song “Love Town”, I understand why I wanted to recommend them! What a pop song that is!

Their records came out on the band’s own Pipsqueak Records. The first release was the “Up a Gum Tree” 12″ released in 1990 (PSQK 01). This mini-album is the one that includes the wonderful “Love Town”. That is the opening track on the A side. The other two songs on this side are “Flat Top for President” and “Rich in Years”. The B side has “Charmed Life”, “Birds, Bees & Housekeys” and “Stairway to Devon”.

In 1990 the band also appeared on a compilation tape called “Aliens Too!” released by SMAC-Media (SMACC 1). On this tape they have a duo with Billy Oblivion “Gun (Stairway to Devon)”. They also appear on “Aliens Too 2 (Black Woolly Tights & Dr. Martens)”. On this tape released by SMAC-Media (SMACC 4) too, the band contributed the songs “What’s Yours is Mine” and “Drop in the Ocean”. It is worth mentioning that SMAC is the Stockton Music & Arts Collective.

In 1991 the band releases “Never Crib a Boggy EP” 7″. This record has a strange cover. I wonder if the two guys on the front are the band members. They have some facial hair with masking tape. On this record we find five songs, “Bring me the Head of John the Bastard”, “Still Goes On” and “Learn the Lingo” on the A side and “Gravy Tree” and “Stay” on the B side. My favourite I think on this record is “Learn the Lingo”. Great song!

Something cool about this record is that there are etchings on each side. The A side says “Sent to Coventry” while the B side says “Toothpaste for dogs”.

In 1992 the band releases their sole album, “Kefuffle”. This record came out on Pipsqueak Records (PSQK 3) on vinyl. 16 songs appear here, “Infectious”, “Sanity Shelf”, “Needle & Fred”, “(Christmas Sisters) Wedded-Blisters”, “Thieves”, “The Linthorpe Rd. Man”, “Backseat to History”, “McLure!”, “Flatmate!”, “Cosmic It’s a Knock Out”, “Clifftastic”, “Hoover McGroover”, “Bloody Big Knife”, “…..Bit…..”, “Bogey Man” and “Kerfuffle”. On this record we see that the all songs were performed, written and recorded by Michael Baines.

In 1992 the band appears on yet another compilation, “Live Lust”. The tracks on this tape are not live. There is no label for the release. But we do know that Spit the Pips contributed the song “Infectious”.

The last time we hear from them is on the CD compilation “Exposed No. IV” that came with the Exposed Magazine in 1993. On this record the band appears with the song “Back Seat to History”.

I now search for Michael Baines. We see he has been in many bands including Emergency Stairs, Retardot, Snotnosed, The Prestidigitators,  Burnt Dennis & the Injunctions, Werbeniuk and Woolcraft. He used to work at Studio 64 in Middlesbrough.

I look back at the Myspace link. Some songs appear, of course you can’t play them, but we see three songs I don’t know about, “Mouth (Ring) Piece”, “Quentin Tarantino is Shit” and “Shrapnel (The Axe Men Cometh)”. This three songs seem to have appeared on a release called “Show-Biz-Tool-Shed”. Let’s see if we can find any info about it.

And yes! That release exists even though it is not on Discogs. It was a CD album from 1994! It was released by Pipsqueak Records (PSQK 04). I don’t know the order of the songs but these are the songs included: “Flattop for President”, “Headsashedsa”, “Shrapnel (the Axemen Cometh)”, “Mouth (Piece) Ring”,  “Ice Block Drip”, “Deadwood”, “Quentin Tarantino is Shit”, “Kiddy Krime”, “Return of the Shitkicker Six”, “Show-Biz-Tool-Shed”, “Your Days are Numbered”, “Shakin’ All Over”, “Hungover on Life” and “Isle of Dogs”.

I find some reviews of Michael’s later bands. I find a Soundcloud he set up but only uploaded the song “Infectious”.

And that’s all I could gather about Spit the Pips. Who remembers them?

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Listen
Spit the Pips – Love Town