Ricicles were a breakfast cereal made by Kellogg’s that was similar to Rice Krispies but with a sugar coating. Kellogg’s discontinued Ricicles in 2018 as part of a sugar reduction initiative.

This is one of my favourite discoveries this year! The Ricicles!!!

Formed by Thelma T-Bar on bass, Rosemary on drums, Lucelle on vocals, Roddy Pudding on guitar and James Ricicle on guitar, the band recorded a 4-song EP in 1988.

This EP, titled “My Friends”, is now available on Soundcloud. It has four fun indiepop songs: “I Want to Marry John Peel”, “Walking the Sun”, “The Shouting Lady” and “Big Dogs Cock”.

It seems there was a cassette tape of this EP. Maybe it was a demo. Would be great to find a copy. On the sleeve it says the EP was recorded in a whole day at KED Studios in Wouldham on just four cans of lager.

Where is Wouldham? Should I know? It is a village on the bank of the River Medway in Kent. Somewhere in between Rochester and Maidstone.

Other bits of info from the sleeve mention that that James wrote “I Want to Marry John Peel” and “The Shouting Lady”, Roddy Pudding the song “Walking the Sun” and the whole band did “Big Dogs Cock”. The tape is said to have been organized by Candyskin (Terry Lane).

So Terry Lane organized the tape. He is the one who uploaded the tracks to Soundcloud. Now the question is, was he part of the band?

Not much more info. You wonder then how come this wasn’t properly released? Someone should do it, as a nice 7″ vinyl. It is top stuff. It is for sure something that needs the attention of the indiepop world.

Also, did they record more songs? Did they play live? Anyone remembers them?

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Listen
The Ricicles – I Want to Marry John Peel

After my post about The Cravens I had to do a follow-up on The Incredible Balloon Thieves.

The Cravens were active between 1991 and 1993. The Incredible Balloon Thieves were active before that. We know that most of their recordings date from 1990, if not all.

The songs are also uploaded in the Soundcloud account of CravenDave. And from the previous post we know The Cravens hailed from Hull. Here it says that The Incredible Balloon Thieves were from Billericay. As far as I know that’s quite south, in Essex, close to Basildon. Did they move afterwards to the north, to Hull? What’s the story here?

The songs available are 7. These are “Drowning (Days like These)”, “What Does Your Village Do For An”, “Autopilot”, “Crystal Rain”, “Flid”, “Candy Coated Katie” and “Ordinary Town”.

I believe the songs were recorded at two studios, the Bungalow X and The Railway. So probably these songs come from two different demo tapes.

And that’s really is. Some very nice songs here, especially the latter ones. My favourite being “Crystal Rain”!

Anyone remember them?

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The Incredible Balloon Thieves – Crystal Rain

I traveled to Manchester on February 25. Took a train from London Euston station to Manchester Piccadilly in the early morning. Previously I had taken a plane from JFK airport in New York City to London Heathrow.

The goal? It was to be at The Man from Delmonte reunion gig at Band on the Wall on February 26. On that Wednesday I was to see one of my favourite bands ever. Something I never thought was possible. Mike West, the vocalist, had been living in the US for a long time, decades, and there hasn’t been much attention to his old band.

Of course, there was The Man from Delmonte facebook group. I’ve been there for so long. And the last year or so it became more active. More fans that had seen them during they heyday were sharing photos, demos, and all sorts of memorabilia. And it seems at some point, one of those fans decided it was time to connect with the band and organize a reunion. A wonderful idea indeed. And suddenly it started to become a reality.

First time they announced the gig it was to happen on March 15 at Night & Day Café in Manchester. My birthday. I was going to make it. I had too. It was just perfect. But a problem or another made they change the venue and the date. It was going to be sooner, February. Maybe less exciting for me, no birthday to celebrate, maybe a colder, rainier, Manchester, but it wasn’t going to matter. I was going to be there.

The tickets sale started 10am UK time. I had to put my alarm at 4:55am US time so I could make it. I didn’t had a clue the tickets were going to sell out so quickly. I just thought I had to get the ticket as soon as possible and then go back to sleep. So I did that. Later in the morning I would see that many people missed tickets. The gig had sold out immediately.

Good news for fans is that the band will play the Academy in Manchester and another gig in London soon. But I had to be at the first gig! And I was going to do so. I bought plane tickets. Got in touch with friends in London and the whole trip was planned.

Traveled to Manchester with my friend Miguel from the mighty Felt Tips. And we were tourists for a few days in the north visiting Liverpool and Chester too. We saw friends, Rich from The Suncharms and Simon from The Jeremiahs. And on that Wednesday 26 we went to The Man from Delmonte gig!

I went upstairs of the venue, it had 2 floors, and there was a merch table. Bought a t-shirt (a white one, I don’t like white t-shirts but had to get it) and a double CD with songs I have already (sans the BBC session). And then suddenly Mike West appeared. I had to say hello.

He was so nice, so friendly. We chatted for a bit, not too long. Told him I had come from NYC. Asked me my name. Told him I was from Peru. And he told me he had a very good Peruvian friend from his Manchester days. He seemed so genuine and humble. A true indiepop hero to me!

After the opening band, The Mudd Club, which featured Mike’s kids. And Edward Barton doing a fun sort of poetry/comedy show (and no, no “It’s a Fine Day”), it was time for The Man from Delmonte! AND IT WAS GLORIOUS!

On stage Mike West, Sheila Seal, Martin Vincent and Howard Goody. We are ready for the best time!!

I sang the songs, top of my lungs, happy, giddy. It was just wonderful. The band went with a hit to start “Water in My Eyes”. The venue went nuts. Then “Australia Fair” and “Big Noise”. It was time for a favourite of mine, “My Love is Like a Gift” (a video I had uploaded aeons ago to Youtube, maybe the first video ever by the band on there, from a rip from my friend Roger), I was dreaming. “Like a Millionaire”, “Mathematically SPeaking”, “Good Things in Life” and “Drive Drive Drive”.

Then came a song I wasn’t familiar with “Dig up the Dirt” which is from some demos the band recorded in 1990 (and I’m sharing it in this post). “Take Me to the Country”, another favourite came next”, and afterwards was “Ugly Part of Town”. I didn’t know this song either. It is a song from Mike’s time in the US.

In between songs Mike would tell us to be grateful to our bar tenders, to tip them. To remember that The Mudd Club was Mudd with two ds. And also a few little stories about the songs.

“Lasha Me” and the brilliant “Sun Serious”. “Waiting for Ann” and then “Pink” and “Neighborhood” medley, a mix of a Man from Delmonte demo song and one from Surfurbia, Mike’s band after the demise of The Man from Delmonte (which makes me think would make a good post in the blog as it is such an obscure band).

Then we continued with “Stop”, “Bored By You”, “Lebanese American”. It was time for encore. “Ave Maria”, “Buddy Holly” (another from Truckstop Honeymoon, Mike’s US band), “Armchair Valentino” .. and more encores. Now everyone is on stage, half of the fans maybe. Time for “Nobody Save Louise”!

And that was it. Time to go. Leave with the spirits high. Time for some takeout. Go to sleep happy. The happiest.

And yeah, people ask me why I have never reached out and asked for an interview about the band. I don’t know. Maybe I should. I’d love to learn more about the band for sure. But sometimes I feel with bands I know the songs by heart, that I am too familiar with them, that I want to keep that magic. Don’t even know if that makes any sense. But that’s how it is for me.

But yeah, I am so thrilled. And I honestly would say everyone to go check their gigs if you can. They were perfect. So much fun. They play superbly. The songs sounded powerful. One of the best gigs I’ve ever been. Please don’t miss them!

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The Man from Delmonte – Dig Up the Dirt

Just back from the UK. I should do a post about the wonderful gig I attended in Manchester when I saw The Man from Delmonte reunite… what a wonderful concert!!!!

Another interesting Soundcloud account. This time by one called CravenDave.

He has uploaded seven recordings from a band he was in called The Cravens. They are in this setlist.

I am just going to repeat the information that is there. For the lazy ones. So the band hailed from Hull. They were active between 1991 and 1993 and played venues like the legendary Adelphi as well as the Humberside Poly.

I could find that at The Adelphi they played a bunch of gigs. On March 4, 1992 they played along Joyce and Sunshot. On March 20 of 1992 with The Dead Flowers and Lithium Joy. Then on May 23 of 1992 with Pulp and Milkfoat.

On Oct. 13, 1992 with the Scavengers. Then on Nov. 8 of 1992 and they were the headliners. The support band was The Stairs (don’t know them, any good?). And lastly on March 21, 1993 with Joyce and Skindive.

Other concerts I could find by them include on March 24, 1992, at T.C.s in Hull with Happy Shoppers and on October 24, 1992 with Lithium Joe at Ripon College.

The songs probably come from demo tapes. They are “It Really Doesn’t Matter”, “Tide”, “If I Had a Word (To Say to You)”, “In My Veins”, “I Don’t Care”, “Sad Man” and “What to Do”.

The only other thing I could find is that Dave was previously in a band called The Incredible Balloon Thieves. Some good songs there too. Maybe for the following post?

Any Hull indie fans remember them?

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The Cravens – I Don’t Care

This is the last post for February. I will be in the UK for the next two Mondays, so the next post on the blog will be on March 8th. In the meantime I’ll meet indiepop friends new and old. And also going to see The Man from Delmonte for the very first time. So excited!

See you soon all!

10 years ago Keith Morris was uploading the track “See Saw Misery” to Soundcloud. Only now, 2025, I am discovering it.

There is not much info about this track, other than it was recorded in 1996 by the band Dream Season.

Looking at some other uploads I find some more recordings by this same band. These include: “Going Nowhere” and “Why Wake Up When the Dream is Over” from 1996 and “Way She Walks” from 1997.

There are other songs on these account. We can see that Keith was also in bands like The Answer in the late 90s, Odd One and The Box Deluxe in the mid 2000s, Silence is Dead in the late 2000s, Jack of All in the early 2010s

I want to think the band hailed from Bristol as Keith Morris reposted some music from singer-songwriter Ben Warner who hails from that city. But it is a long-shot. Maybe. Maybe not.

Other than that there is no more information about this band. Just four nice songs. I especially recommend listening to “See Saw Misery” which is terrific.

Looking at his involvement with other bands I find out Keith hailed from Birmingham. Would assume Dream Season was based there then.

Anyone knows any other details about Dream Season?

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Dream Season – See Saw Misery

I’m exploring a Soundcloud account. One belonging to the username Muggerbass. A bassist obviously and from what I understand from Manchester, my next trip.

I believe the name of the person behind this account is Pete McGrath, currently bass player for WinterGreen. I also believe Michael Knowles, the guitarist of Wintergreen was in a band I had written before, The Catchmen. I had been in touch with Michael and interviewed him about that band.

He mentioned a little bit about Grifter when I asked him about Wintergreen: “An old friend of mine (Pete McGrath) with whom I played in a band post Catchmen (Grifter) saw I will still involved broadly in the Arts and got in touch and asked if I wanted to be in a band again. He is great in that he does the hard part of bands- organising etc so I can concentrate on the fun bit (though it is a very collaborative band). It’s a 3 piece band (the first time my guitar has been so prominent) largely because as you get older it’s a logistical nightmare to do anything larger. It was great that Ian from the Catchmen (who I have played off and off with over the year) added some keyboard to Whole (sent over the internet – wonders of technology)”

At that time I wasn’t aware of songs being online for Grifter. That’s the reason it has taken me so many years to find about Grifter.

There is a photo of a Raleigh Grifter bicycle. Perhaps that’s where they took their name from? I wasn’t familiar with these bikes, they seem to be British according to Wikipedia: “The Raleigh Grifter is a children’s bicycle manufactured and marketed between 1976 and early 1983 by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England. It was the “must have” bicycle of its time and bridged a gap between the Raleigh Chopper and the Raleigh Burner models. Its frame was very similar to the Raleigh Twenty Shopper bicycle, but with a front triangle which resembled an upside down Chopper frame. It was part of a range of age-specific bicycles and was positioned at the top of that range. The smallest in the range was the Raleigh Boxer with the Raleigh Strika in the middle.”

We also know two of the band members of the band. I suppose there was a drummer at least. What was his name? Was it a trio? or a four-piece?

A trio it seems. Kev Burke was the drummer.

We know the band was active between 1995 and 1997. Afterwards we know that at least Pete went to be in bands like Stretch Armstrong, 1000 Cuts and The Fraudsters.

On the Soundcloud account there are a few recordings: “To Kill a Sweet Song”, “Mexican Moon” and “That Perfect Reason”. All of these, possibly from a demo tape, were recorded in 1996 at Noisebox in Prestwich by Steve Lloyd.

And that’s it really. I should drop Michael a note. Would be great to find out more about this band. They seem to have some really nice tunes. Wonder if there are more!

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Grifter – That Perfect Reason

A Soundcloud account by someone called David Ian. About 12 years ago he started uploading tracks, and the ones I am interested in are a set titled “PretendFriends“. I am guessing that was the name of the band?

This set has 8 tracks, the wonderful “Juliet Smiles” opens it and many great tracks follow, “Under the Union Jack”, “Bob”, “Six of One”, “Alice and Me (horribly hissy mix)”, “Forget to Breathe”, “Not a Girl” and “AGAOG Guide Track V5”. Clearly the last song’s name is not its name, right? I believe the name of this track is actually “As Good as Ordinary Gets”. There is another version of that song here.

There is not much info about the tracks. We know they were recorded between 1994 and 1995. There is also a little note saying that David apologises for the guitar solos in the tracks “Why is it Always Me?” and “Under the Union Jack”. He says that those solos are due to him listening to a lot of Dire Straits while at school.

I do notice that “Why is it Always Me?” is not one of the tracks in this set. Maybe it was at some point? In any case would be good to find this track.

There is also a demo version of “Forget to Breathe” that is not part of the set. There is another track that may be from the same band but I can’t be sure, but the sound is very similar. This track is “King of Saturday Night“. Let me know what you think.

Not much more info about this band. Safe to think they hailed from the UK as they had a song about the Union Jack.

Wonder whereabouts they were from. Doesn’t say. Did they play live at all? No releases I suppose.

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Pretend Friends – Juliet Smiles

Some jangly perfection from the early 90s. That is what the British band The Rainhorns were. Do you remember them?

“Facefull of Tears” was their only release. And it was a rare tape. Who knows how many copies were made. Maybe not too many. Was it perhaps a demo tape with 12 songs? Or was it really sold as an album?

It was 1991 when Farm Records (FARM 4) released this tape. The label appears on Discogs but has nothing else listed other than this tape. Was it the band’s own label? Did the label put out FARM 1, 2 or 3? Maybe they were other demo tapes from The Rainhorns? Many questions, no answers.

The album with “facefull” misspelled had a black and white photocopy style sleeve. Who is the person on the sleeve? An actor/actress maybe?

What we do know is the tracklist though, “Fifteen”, “Fairground”, “Keep Me in Mind”, “Miderable Town”, “How Can I”, “Hillside Heroin”, “Swirl”, “Waiting for the Sun”, “Shine Right Through Me” on the A side and “The Summer’s Come”, “Kitchen” and “Marrygoaround” on the B side.

I hope to find who were behind this band. If they were in any other bands. Where were they from. Anyone could help me with details?

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The Rainhorns – How Can I

Japan and all their bands that still remain obscure to me.

Clare being one of them. I have just discovered some of their songs on Youtube, mainly from their second album, the cassette tape “Womb Fantasy” released by the Italian label Best Kept Secret (LIE 046) in 2003.

Prior to that release they had put out a CD album titled “One Night 2001” (CAR 002) on the label Chocolat Art Returns which I have never heard before even though they had released an Orange Cake Mix album. This first album had 16 tracks, “Angel-Something Will Start-“, “Shining Star, Shining Sun”, “Stargazing”, “My Being”, “Yesterday and Today”, “One Night 2000”, “L/M/M”, “Kitten K”, “Nothing Makes Me Afraid”, “Not Here but Somewhere”, “A Boy Inside You”, “What Heaven Gives”, “Hand in Hand”, “Leave You To Me”, “SA-YO-NA-RA” and “Vaguness in Love”.

The album comes with some details about the band. Here we know that Kazu Ohno was on guitar, keyboards and programming, Yoko Takashima on vocals and keyboards and Isao Watanabe on guitar. The album art was created by Shigeki Komori and the album was recorded and produced by Room 203.

If you read the blog you’ll notice that the name Kazu Ohno is not unfamiliar. I have written about another of his projects, Tip Top Planets, before. He has also been on Room203, The Fruits Basket, Jenka and The Sun Never Sets.

After this album came “Womb Fantasy in 2003”. This time the album was recorded in 1999 at Studio K which seems to be Kazu’s own home-recording studio. The engineer for this record was Touru Isii and again the producer is Room 203 which clearly was Kazu. I suppose because of the time it took for this to release, these songs may have been demos or outtakes from the first album.

The album includes a guest guitarist, Yasuyuki Hatake.

And the tracklist was as follow, “Daze”, “Distorted Moon”, “Winged Angel” and “As You Think” on the A side and “Edge of the Top”, “Take Your Time”, “Here I Am” and “Fill My Room With Flowers” on the B side.

Two years later, in 2005, another album was released. Again on Best Kept Secret. The cassette album was titled “Easy” (LIE 098) and was recorded in 2004 again by Room 203. The songs were “Words Foil”, “Wanna Be Alone”, “Tears” and “This Life” on the A side and “Does That Answer Your Question?”, “Far Away”, “Itchy and Fidgety” and “If” on the B side.

The band would also contribute to a few compilations.

On the 2000 CD comp “Captain Circus! Chocolat Art Returns Compilation” released by the label Chocolat Art Returns (CAR 001) the band had the song “Friendship Makes the World Go Round”. A year later, 2001, the band would have songs on two compilations. First on “Prspctv” a CD comp released by the classic magazine Beikoku-Ongaku (BDBO-E0019) with the song “Something Will Start Part 2” and then on the “Bubblegum Factory” CD that Chocolat Art Returns (CAR-004) released with the track “Tears (Short version)”.

And that’s what I have. Not much background info, mostly the releases.

Where from Japan where they? Did they play many gigs? Were the other members involved in other bands? Who would know?

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Clare – As You Think

Anyone knows who were behind June Evenings? There is the one song I am aware of, just one… called “I Wasted All My Wishes On You” and as you might notice it is really great.

Problem is that even though it rings a bell to me, I can’t remember anything about them. My thinking is that it is not an old song. Not older than 15 years at least. Has to be from the 2000s. Maybe it was from one of those MP3 compilations that sometimes blogs would put together. Maybe?

The boy/girl vocals, the clear Sarah influences (think Field Mice, Brighter), and lo-fi recording make this a delicious slice of indiepop. But did they record anything else? Did they go to be in other bands?

Were they named after Air France’s song “June Evenings” perhaps? Where were they from?

The questions are many. I am just hoping someone remembers them and can give me a few details about this band.

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Listen
June Evenings – I Wasted All My Wishes On You