Day 467

The Slow Summits: I love the band from Linköping. They know how to craft perfect pop songs. I don’t understand yet how come they haven’t released a record. They should. A 7″ would be wonderful. There latest song “Then Again” is a fine pop slice. Would be a great single!

Starry Eyed Cadet: the San Francisco band doesn’t need an introduction. They are wonderful. They are another favourite band of the blog. They know how to make gorgeous songs. Their latest is no exception, “Feathers”, which is also their first release on Lilystars Records.

Pelopincho: I shared a video a few posts ago for one of the songs from Pelopincho’s latest album “Loop Adolescente”. Well, now the whole album, all 8 songs, are up on Bandcamp for us to enjoy. The Buenos Aires band is also another favourite, one of the best of Argentina. Just wish their releases were available in physical format!

Subterfuge: now we head to Düsseldorf, Germany. “Stephanie Said” is the first song the band has released since 2017! This song will be included in the band’s forthcoming album “Dots”. We don’t know when will it be released, but it will mark 30 years since the German popsters starting making music back in 1991!

Spearmint: the classic English back will be releasing a new album on September 10th on the fine WIAIWYA Records that our friend Jerv runs in London. The album will be available as a double gatefold 10″ vinyl. Pretty pretty. Right now we can preview one of the songs, “Walk Away from Hollywood”, out of 14! Yeah. This is great. I can’t wait to hear all songs. I’m sure it will be great as al previous records by “Britain’s best kept secret”.

—————————————————————–

15 or so years ago I discovered Stella Rocket from Stockholm. It was the time of Myspace and that’s exactly where I found about them. I really liked them then and since I haven’t listened to them much. But yeah, I was a fan, and I think it would be a good time to revisit them.

The band actually had formed much earlier, in 2001. I think I must have discovered them around 2004. The band was formed by Tove Leander (vocals, guitars and strings), Tobias Larsson (bass), Andreas Lindkvist (drums) and Linda Portnoff (vocals and keyboards).

The band’s first release was the self-titled album from 2004. It was self-released (SR 001) on CD. It was recorded at Studio Gröndal at Dubious Studios and mastered at Polar Studios. The album included 11 songs, “Stella Anthem”, “Animals”, “Regret”, “Tokyo”, “Distance”, “I Don’t Want it”, “Why Don’t You Love Me?”, “Empty Hands”, “Bapada”, “Speed” and “With You”.

The engineers for this record were Björn Hansell, Christoffer Roth, Johan Gustanfsson and Pelle Gunnerfeldt. So many! For mastering we just see the credit for Henrik Jonsson. The producer was the great Jari Hapalainen from Céleste, Mary-Go-Round, The Bear Quartet and more.

Other credits in the record include Jezzica Sunmo on photography and Lisa Rydell for the sleeve artwork.

But one thing I notice is that Jenny Kai-Larsen was the vocalist (as well as doing the art) on this record.

In 2004 the band would release the “Animals” CD single. This one was released by Planekonomi (PLAN6). The recording credits are the same as in the album. The CD single included the title song as well as the lovely track “Lips”. One thing to note is that the band made a video for the song “Animals” which I actually uploaded myself to Youtube back in 2006!! And it is still there!

In 2009 the band would release more records. They would also sign to a new label, Fashionpolice Records.

Not sure if the album or the CD single came first. But I’ll start with the CD single “Keep On”. This one was released by the aforementioned label (FP0032) and included the songs “Keep On” and “Gothenburg Boys”. The songs were mixed by Mattias Glavå and were mastered by Alf Håkan Åkesson at the Cutting Room.

Lastly the band released the album “To the Birds” on Fashionpolice Records (FP0036) in 2009. This album included 11 tracks, “To the Birds”, “Keep On”, “Tomorrow”, “Old Nuns”, “Black Rabbit”, “Single Inga”, “Thérèse”, “My Princess”, “A Face Without Eyes”, “Sebastian” and “Stella Anthem #2”.

According to the Swedish Wikipedia I am missing another releases, a CD single from 2007 with the song “Armstrong”. I haven’t been able to find any information about it.

And yeah, no compilation appearances.

Not great. Not much info. I start looking for the band members, if they had been in any other bands. I don’t see Tove to appear on any other bands, though she did do backing vocals on the second album by Jari Hapalainen’s band Heikki. It is the same case for Linda. No other bands but backing vocals on the “Open Field” album by Taken by Trees.

That’s strange. No other bands for any of the members of Stella Rocket!

I keep looking. I believe the band played some gigs or a gig with The Tough Alliance back in 2004. That same year the band performed at the famous Emmaboda Festival. Another gig I find about is one from 2010, on March 22nd at the Jazzhuset in Gothenburg.

I don’t have an account on the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper and can’t get behind the firewall. But there I notice that Jenny Kai-Larsen left the band after the first album, and it was the remaining members who continued and released the second album.

And that’s all the info I could gather. I am sure many of my Swedish friends remember them. I believe there was a buzz about the band, people thought they could have been bigger than they ended up being. Would be great to know what are they up to these days.

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

Listen
Stella Rocket – Animals

Day 464

Olivia’s World: “Debutante” is the first single off the band’s new EP “Tuff 2B Tender” which is out now by the veritable Lost Sound Tapes. Alicia’s band has been a favourite of the blog, as were her previous bands!, and it is great to be treated to this lovely video. Don’t miss it!

Evergreen Days: “Essential // The Sound of…” is the retrospective compilation we’ve all been wanting by Emelie Berg’s solo project, the wonderful Evergreen Days from Sweden! This compilation has been put together by My Secret Garden Recordings and includes 14 tracks! More than I expected. I would love to interview Emelie, I will try to do that soon! Love this band and as the name of the compilation tells you, it is essential. Pre-orders for the CD version are up!

Vocal Age: this is an oldie but a new discovery! Hailing from Stockholm, Vocal Age only put together an EP called “What If” which is up on Bandcamp. I haven’t heard this band before but sounds great! It dates from 2015 and I wonder how come it flew under our radar. The songs are really good, jangly, fun, dreamy, with female/male vocals. Amazing really. If I had heard this in 2015 I would have been more than interested to put it out!

Stutter Steps: this project by Ben Harrison, with the help from Anthony LaMarca, Phil Jacoby and Cindy Yogmas, has released a very nice album calleed “Reeling” in 2020. It is out now on vinyl and includes 12 songs. The Pittsburgh based band crafts some introspective and well-crafted pop songs. Worth a listen for sure.

Lightning Love: now we head to Ypsilanti, Michigan. I always liked that city’s name. Anyhow, that’s where Lightning Love are from. This trio are re-releasing their 2008 album “November Birthday” on July 30th on vinyl and CD! You can  two of the tracks as of now, “Everyone I Know”, “Friends” and “Good Time”. If you like upbeat pop definitely check out, especially “Everyone I Know” which is a bonafide pop single!

—————————————————————–

This find comes from the Youtube channel stoneeyedkiller, a great resource for obscure indiepop!

I had never heard about this band nor the compilation “Too Nice for Words”. It is in this compilation that the song “God’s Shelf”, the one shared in the Youtube channel, appears.

I think it won’t surprise anyone if I can’t find much more information about the band. But I am going to try my best. Maybe there’s something somewhere?

Discogs has nothing about them. But suddenly I find something, on the Hull Music Archive website. It is an entry of this compilation. Great! Immediately we find out that it was released in 1993 and included 18 different bands. Were they all from the Hull area? Were they all indiepop? I guess that is something we should try to find out eventually. Bow Jangles’ song appears on the B side, it is the 6th song on that side.

There is an interesting tidbit here. It mentions that this tape was compiled by the promoter and musician Chris Warkup. This was actually the fifth of a series of tape compilations he put together in the early 90s.

I keep digging.

And I find that the band had more songs. They released at least two demo tapes that same year, 1993. The first one included the songs “Let it Go”, “Get Out of Bed” and “Coming on Strong”. The second tape had “Lost Ego”, “God’s Shelf”, “Pick Yourself Up” and “A World on Focus”. Okay, now we know 7 songs. I want to listen to them!

I think though these will be all of the details I will find today. It’s not great, but it is not as bad as I thought it would be. It’d be great to find some band members names.

Hopefully someone remembers them. Maybe a reader from Hull. It’d be great to learn more info about them!

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

Listen
Bow Jangles – God’s Shelf

Day 462

Gap Year: the cassette album “Flat Out” is now sold out. It is a shame. It is a wonderful 9 song album. The Perth, Australia, band jangles like indiepop bands from the heyday. Chiming and chiming, 9 wonderful songs that deserve every indiepop fan’s attention! A band to keep an eye for sure!

Neil Brogan: “Magnolia Day” is the first track out of the new album by the Belfast bedroom popster. The album will be titled the same way, “Magnolia Day” and will be released on July 9th. Not sure in which formats though. The song is a bright sunny pop song, a feel good song, that makes me want to listen to the rest of the record. Hopefully it is good as this one!

Stomp Talk Modstone: the Japanese band is a favourite of the blog, been recommended time and time again. Their brand of shoegaze is up my street, with poppy melodies and superb walls of guitar. They have just released a new digital single, “The Locket”, which I had to recommend. So head to their Bandcamp and have a listen.

Palm Ghosts: the Nashville, Tennessee, guitar pop band has just released a collection of digital singles and b sides which is a delight. The compilation released on CD and titled “Singles + B Sides” is out now. It includes 13 songs of classic jangle!

Space Daze: and we finish this Wednesday’s recommendations with Seattle’s Space Daze. The ex-Seapony has made a wonderful new EP titled “Visible Spectrum”. A dreamy EP, packed with beautiful melodies, that I am enjoying today. Feels like perfect music for a rainy day. Just like today.

—————————————————————–

It is 1991 and The Monk Bought Lunch released a 7″ that remains quite obscure.

I have a copy of this record, with it’s black and white sleeve, with a dog on the front cover. What sort of dog is it? Was this dog the pet of one of the band members? I wonder…

The information is scarce. The 7″ had three songs, “Love and Hate” on the A side and “Paint it White” and “The Sailors Tilted Hat” on the B side. The back of the sleeve tells us that the band was just a duo, Andy on music and vocals and Louise on vocals.

The other info we find on the sleeve is an address for Studio Adelaide. This is to contact the band. The band (and the studio) were based in Maldon, Essex. I’ve looked for this place in Google Maps. It doesn’t look like a studio, but a two floor house. It looks pretty and quiet. Seems far away from everything. The closest city looks to be Chelmsford.

On the label we get some more info. We know that the songs were produced by Andy Hayes and Grant Matthews at Studio Adelaide. Andy Hayes, that must be Andy from the band.

There are no compilation appearances.

I keep looking for any info. I read someone saying that the band was actually a solo project of Andy Hayes. So no Louise in the band? Andy would later form a band called Is She Weird? This band would release 2 7″s in the early 90s. The sound was a bit different though, less indiepop…

From what I understand the phrase The Monk bought lunch comes from the song “The Soft Parade” by The Doors.

The only other things I could find were some anecdotes, like that Andy pressed few copies of this record, that he gave a lot of them away to friends, and that he isn’t happy about the music on this record. Hmmm… oh well…

Not much more information on the web, but hopefully someone can enlighten us soon. Would be great to know any details about this obscure band that at some point a lot of indiepop collectors were looking for their sole record!

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

Listen
The Monk Bought Lunch – Love and Hate

Day 460

Lentillas de Colores: just a month ago I was recommending a CD release by the León, Spain. Well, it didn’t take long for them to announce a new vinyl release! It is coming out on July 19 and includes 4 songs! You can preview all four songs on Bandcamp as well as grab some lovely merch like totebags and t-shirts!

The Goon Sax: after the announcement of their upcoming album “Mirror II”, the Brisbane-trio has released a video for the song “Psychic”! Great video, great song. Can’t wait for the album.

Jilted Jonas: oh! It’s been a while since we heard from the Swede based in Berlin. Well, the wait is over and there’s a new catchy indiepop track called “Silent Kisses”. It is a fine slice of lo-fi indiepop. Perfect for this sunny weekend!

Pelopincho: one of our favourite Latin American bands, the Buenos Aires combo has released a new video for their song “Tijeras Oxidadas” which was released on June 10th. The album is “Loop Adolecente” and will be available digitally.

Skiftande Enheter: oh, I feel bad for having missed this 7″. I only discovered it the other day. It came out on a label I was not aware of, Chunklet Industries from Atlanta. The 7″ which is now sold out included two songs, “Lögn” and “Bättre Förr”. The band is very Flying Nun sounding, that’s a good thing. The songs are really good. So yeah, let’s listen to them on Bandcamp. 50 copies are too little…

—————————————————————–

A few days ago I got a request to look into this US band. I must say I have never heard of them before so that picked my curiosity. On top of that, the one song I was able to listen on the web, “Space of Ten Days”, sounded like candy to my ears. So I couldn’t say no, and I am here doing some detective work on the blog.

The song I mentioned was included in an 8-song album called “Priests & Poets” that was released by S.H.C. Records (002A) in 1987. I would guess that this was the band’s own label as both releases listed are by the same band.

Indeed, the other release, a 7″ with two songs, “All the Guns” on the A side and “Conversation” on the B side, was released in 1986 by the same label (001A). I am checking the back of the jacket and I find some information that may help us find out more about them.

To start the two songs were produced by Chan Poling and thee band. The first song, “All the Guns”, was engineered by D. Goulet while the B side was engineered by M. Owens and K. Glynn. Sadly there are no first names anywhere but on the sleeve design credits, John Myron Hansen.

One thing though is that the label has an address in Minneapolis. And the contact person of the label is not one of the band members. We see this name, S. Koebel Price. Maybe then, the band and the label were two different entities?

Oh! And yes, of course, the band members appear here too. Michael Jacobson on words and guitars, Davids Sarma on guitar, D. Moriarty on bass and Mike Padilla on drums and percussion.

Now let’s get back to the 1987 album. I mentioned 8 songs. These were “Daylight”, “25th Year”, “Martyr” and “In this Life” on the A side and “Grayed Expectations”, “Space of Ten Days”, “Until You Smile” and “Drop the Ball” on the B side. All songs were recorded at Nicollet Studios which was based in Minneapolis. I feel by this point we can safely assume that the band hailed from there.

I also notice some changes in the band. I don’t see a D. Moriarty but a Ben Peters on bass and vocals. Davids Sarma is now credited on cello as well. The producers for this record was Chris Osgood (from Buzz Barker & the Atomic Bums, L73 and The Suicide Commandos) and the band. The engineeer was Steve Fjelstad (who had done some remixes for R.E.M. and was part of L73, Fingerprints and Figures). The art is credited again to John Myron Hansen.

I don’t see on Discogs any compilation appearances. I don’t see any other bands they might have been involved with.

I look for them. I find that Davids Sarma was once part of the Tau Beta Pi and graduated cum laude at the University of Minnesota in 1994. It proves a bit harder to track the other band members as their names are a bit more common.

And that’s really it. I couldn’t find any more info. But I hope some of the readers from Minneapolis can help with more details!

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

Listen
Circle of Eyes – Space of Ten Days

Day 457

Jane and John: from London comes this cool duo that started during the pandemic. They have released three songs so far. The latest two are brand new, “Here at Last” and “Boing Boing”. They are fun electronic pop, influenced by Helen Love I’d say. Or if you liked Supercute, that’s a good comparison too. This is great. Fun, addictive pop!

Famous Mammals: we head to Oakland, California, now to discover this combo of lo-fi pop. They released a self-titled EP last month and it is still available. It comes with 10 songs of bedroom pop goodness, an amateur-ish vibe that can easily win over your heart (and ears).

Amor Butano: now I am checking the Madrid based label Jeanne D’Arc and I discover a few things. The first one is a cassette titled “Benimaclet” by the Valencia band Amor Butano. The tape, which is still available, has 4 songs of fun straight up wavey synthpop. Good summer music.

Perdón: the next one I wanted to tell you about from Jeanne D’Arc is the band Perdón from Murcia, Spain. They have a tape also. It is called “Te Invito a mi Fiesta” and it is an 8-song album. This one is much more an indiepop record. With male/female vocals, fun melodies, catchy choruses, you know, all the stuff we like! The band is formed by Arturo, Irene and Leyre, and of course I will keep an eye on them!

Dismal Plight: our friend Gustav from the fantastic Salt Lake Alley has another project that you should know about. That’s how I want to end the week! Presenting you the two songs he has on Soundcloud as they are really good, especially “A Man Who’s Already Drowning” which I think is terrific! The other song is good too, “I Want to Take You There” but it is much less indiepop, more of a post punk song. So give them a listen, they won’t disappoint.

—————————————————————–

After I wrote about the Swedish band Violett my friend David shared with me yet another wonderful demo tape from Sweden, Alexis’ “…In Sun” from 1995.

I looked for more info on Discogs but it is not listed there. But I can tell you a few details about this Swedish band and maybe you can help me fill in the rest.

The tape released by Clown Productions, the same as Violett (!), had 5 songs, “Afternoon Tea”, “Barbie”, “Sunny Side Up”, “Meadow” and “Sunbeams”. As mentioned it was released in 1995 and that same year was when the band recorded and mixed the songs at Studio Mary in Ystad. Oh! Ystad again!

Right, so there is a connection between both bands! So in Alexis all songs are by Daniel Permbo while the music is by Mårten Cervin (with the exception of “Sunbeams” which is by Cervin and Dan Lindgren). Okay, these three are the same band members as in Violett! The Violett tape is also from 1995. Why did they have two different bands?!

This is truly a mystery to me. On the sleeve of the tape we find what each of them played on this tape.

M. Cervin: lead and backing vocals, guitars
D. Lindgren: bass, backing vocals on “Barbie” and grand piano on “Sunbeams:
D. Permbo: drums and percussion

All of them are credited for keyboards, handclaps and fingersnaps. The design of the sleeve is credited to the band and the oil painting for the sleeve to Daniel Permbo.

In my post about Violett I mentioned some of the stuff I found about the band members, but I’ll add them here just in case!

I look for the band members then. I believe Mårten has been playing keyboards with a singer songwriter called Fredrik Larsson as of late. I don’t find any music related projects by Daniel Permbo but I think he has his own film/animation company called DejPej Film and has made this cool video about the city and Wallander! Even cooler he used a Sambassadeur song as background music for the video. Class.

No more information. But now we know two bands by this trio. Will we find more about them soon? A third band? A fourth? This is quite interesting!

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

Listen
Alexis – Meadow

Day 455

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: two new songs from Glenn Donaldson. That’s always good news, isn’t it? The most prolific indiepop songwriter out there I would say. The latest songs are now on Bandcamp and they are usual, full of jangly power. Check them out, “Dull Panic & Sunday Gloom” and “I Almost Changed”.

Mad Honey: this three-piece formed by Tiff Sutcliffe, Branden Palesano and Austin Valdez hails from Oklahoma City. They make some sweet dreampop as you’ll be aware from their latest digital single, “Good Grief”. The band seems to have been around since 2018, so I need to check out their back catalogue.

Airu: time ago I had recommended some songs from this Bilbao, Spain, band. Now I have to recommend a 7″ that will be out on June 14. The two songs on this fine slice of plastic are “Con las Ventanas tan Grandes me da Vergüenza Mirar” and “Voy tan Deprisa”.

The Umbrellas: Many say this is pop perfection, and it might as well be! Slumberland is releasing the band’s debut album on August 6th and we’ve already heard the song “She Buys Herself Flowers”. But we hadn’t seen the video. At least until now! So have a look!

HANN: and here is another two song, it seems this is the way to release digital singles too. It makes sense. Why just the one song. HANN hails from Manchester. HANN is a band but is also Hannah. The two songs in this latest single are pretty good, poppy, catchy, fun and with an edge. They are called “Daddy’s Drugs” and “Essential Travel Only”.

—————————————————————–

Yet another band that released just one 7″ and disappeared. How many of them are there?!

Sons of Shane released the “Fly” 7″ in 1987. It came out on Whippet Records (WHIP 1), probably their own label. The A side was “Fly” and the B side was “All I Had”. I’ve only heard the A side which is a fine slice of indiepop.

The cover art shows a huge pigeon and some people walking in the background. On the back of the sleeve there is not much info. There is an address, 116 Galton Road, Bearwood, Birmingham. As I am curious I have Googled it. It is a two floor house with a light blue door. Looks nice. It is sort of close to Birmingham center, about 30 minutes on train.

On Discogs there are no other releases listed nor compilation appearances.

The name of the band may have been inspired by:

MacShane was also the name given to the group of sons of Shane “An Diomas O’Neill”, Prince of Ulster, Lord O’Neill, and Chief of all the O’Neill clans from 1558-1567. When he died, his ten or more sons were spread out among family within Ulster and Scotland. In the early 1580s they regrouped and for nearly a decade battled with their O’Neill cousins for dominance of Ulster and their father and grandfather’s estate, the Earldom of Tír Eoghain. The English officials used the term “the Mac Shanes” (the sons of Shane) as an all encompassing term to describe many sons that made up this army in Ireland.

Or maybe not.

The only other info we have is that both songs are credited to someone with last name Wilson.

I hit a wall quite fast. I can’t seem to find any more info. One thing though, this blog, your always reliable Cloudberry Cake Proselytism, has a mention of the band. When I interviewed the Subtonics many many years ago, I asked them for any bands that they liked. They mentioned Sons of Shane. They say they hailed from Stafford. That is not close to Bearwood. That is even much further north of Birmingham, actually in between Birmingham and Stoke.

The Subtonics also give us a name, Deryck. He was in Sons of Shane and also played keys on some Subtonics recordings. And that the Subtonics suggested to join forces with Sons of Shane to create a label but they declined.

Well, any other details would be appreciated! Oh! And I need a copy of this 7″, anyone able to help?

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

Listen
Sons of Shane – Fly

Day 453

The Umbrellas: the fine San Francisco band will be releasing their self-titled album on August 5! This is great! Their brand of jangly indiepop, classic-sounding, influenced by The Fairways, #Poundsign#, and the UK bands from the 80s, they are one band to follow. Their album will be out on vinyl and CD and you can preview now a cracking track called “She Buys Herself Flowers”.

Watoo Watoo: a new re-release by the French band is available now on Bandcamp. Their classic “Picture of a Lost Friend” EP is reissued now on a 3″ CD. This is a lovely thing if you missed the original release. The EP has 6 songs of elegant and sometimes jazzy feel. Lovely.

Riel: this duo from Argentina formed by Mora and Germán sounds pretty good. Dreamy, punchy, melodic and throw in some sweet vocals. That’s how I would describe their music in a nutshell. Their latest digital single is called “Blanco & Negro” and it is worth checking out.

Pastel Coast: On July 21 Shelflife Records is releasing the album “Sun” by these French popsters! This is the band’s second album and will be available on CD and vinyl. All 10 songs are available to check out and I urge you to do so. Their happy-go-lucky music, infused with surf melodies, works great.

Señor Kino: not too long ago I recommended this wonderful Mexican band when they released their single “Aurora Boreal”. Now the band is releasing an album also titled “Aurora Boreal” that contains 10 songs. This is a really good effort and hopefully they get a bit of a buzz with it. It is really refreshing to see many good Mexican bands appearing in the pop panorama. The album is only available digitally.

—————————————————————–

The Irish name Muineachán derives from a diminutive plural form of the Irish word muine meaning “brake” (a thickly overgrown area) or sometimes “hillock”. Patrick Weston Joyce interpreted this as “a place full of little hills or brakes”] Monaghan County Council’s preferred interpretation is “land of the little hills”, a reference to the numerous drumlins in the area.

Yup, today we are heading to Monaghan town in Ireland to find out details about the band The Storm who released a 7″ and appeared on a couple of compilations in the late 80s!

One thing that is worth mentioning since the start of the post is that there was another band called The Storm in Ireland at the same time. They were from Dublin and appeared on a compilation called “Swimming Out of the Pool”. That’s not the same band we’ll be talking about today according to Irishrock.org. Discogs has it as the same band.

Irishrock.org, that great resource for bands from Ireland tells us some more details about the band. To start they give us the year they were formed, 1987. We know the band members too, Anthony “Swifty” Swift (vocals), Marty Smith (drums), Tony Fanthorpe (guitar, backing vocals) and Keith Corbett (bass and keyboards). The band members had previously been in a band called The Vision Fades. Marty Smith was actually the last one to join that band, it happened when the lead singer, Shaun, who was his brother, left for London. When Marty joined the band thought it was good time to change their name to The Storm.

I wonder if in the internet days they would think The Storm is a good name. Quite difficult to google!

Anyhow, as mentioned the band released a 7″. That was in 1989 and on the fine label Danceline Records (DLS 004). This 7″ included just two songs, “Raging Soul” on the A side and “Meltdown” on the B side. I don’t know much about this record but I know that Aidan Foley and the band produced both songs. They were recorded in Dublin at Sun Studios. The art was created by David Pollock.

When it comes to compilations they first were featured on the “Nationwide” (DLP 1002) compilation from 1989 where they appear with the song “Twilight Town”.

One thing that is worth noting is that it seems this song was already released on a self-released tape titled “Thee Sacred Rights of Pride” from 1988 that included the tracks “Twilight Town”, “Mother Box” and “Left Me Up to a Higher Ground”. The only other info about this tape is that it was recorded in Dublin.

Then I stumble upon something unexpected. A Facebook page! What info can we find there? That the drum kit Marty Smith used was a Pearl Export? That the guitar combo used by Tony was a Laney LC-30? That the bass combo by Keith was a Carlsbro Cobra 90?

The band played at the Baggot Inn in Dublin back in the day as well at The Venue in Derry.

One thing I discover is that the 7″ was also released on tape. The cassette version even had two extra songs, “Lost on the Highway” and “God-Zone”. Interesting. I had no clue. This is sort of rare, no? Usually there’s 7″ and 12″, but 7″ and cassette?

And that’s it. No much more info. So, we know then in total the band recorded 7 songs. Is that it? Or are there more recordings by them? How come just one 7″? And what did they do after the band split? Who remembers The Storm from Monaghan town?!

Edit: August 5th, 2021, Keith Corbett was in the K2Project, The Flicker Effect and Empire of Hurt.

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

Listen
The Storm – Twilight Town

Day 450.

Kelly Slusher: I remember long long time ago when Kelly Slusher released a beautiful album on Elefant Records. Since then I’ve checked her music on and off. Today I am glad to have stumbled upon “Someday”, her latest song on Bandcamp. It is a pretty pop song. A classic pop song. Perfect for any mix tape you are doing. Bright and happy-go-lucky melodies with smart lyrics.

Pop Crimes: the Paris-based label Howlin’ Banana Records always have some nice music. One of their latest is a two-song 7″ by Pop Crimes. This record is available now for pre-orders and will be out on June 4. The songs included are “Up to the Moon” and “There Were Smiles”. You can preview the first one.

Moon Museum: now we head to San Francisco and we check this project that makes some terrific dreampop. Formed by Ryan Joseph, Olivia Barchard, Ian Zazueta and Aaron Hazen, they have just released a new digital single, “Contraptions”, which I totally recommend.

The Servants: now I want to share a different version of “She’s Always Hiding”. This is cool. The original way the song sounded is this one, recorded in 1985 in Wapping, produced by Adrian Borland. This is amazing really. And it will be included as a B-side on the “She’s Always Hiding” reissue on Optic Nerve Recordings.

Remember Fun: and another oldie but goodie. As you know Firestation released a new retrospective by the Scottish band Remember Fun. What is cool is that just recently the band found old super 8 footage and made a video with it for their classic song “Train Journeys”!

—————————————————————–

I stumbled upon the 1983 video for “Wasted on Me” on Youtube and got terribly curious about the band behind it, Stormboy’s.

The video has not many views and no comments. I am not familiar also with the imagery, what town is that? There is an iconic bridge I am sure, but need my UK friends to help with that. Is it Newcastle?

The video does show two guys and the details added to the video confirms that the band was formed by Brereton Preen and David Athey. Now, on Discogs we see a different name, Ian Lightfoot for Brereton. I guess that was the name he used to use for the band?

They appear on Discogs because this song was released as a 7″. It was on the A side and on the B side. The B side was a remix though. There is an address for the band, they were based in Whitley Bay. I believe these days David lives in Orlando, Florida.

The record was released in 1984 by the label Guardian Records N’ Tapes (GRC 360). This label was headquartered in Durham, England. It doesn’t exist anymore.

Other details that are important is that the record was produced by Terry Gavaghan, who was thee owner of Guardian Studios. I guess he also owned the label?

Other musicians were involved in the song. Deborah Home did backing vocals, Gary Tawse played bass and Ian Telford the drums.

There are no compilation appearances listed.

Not much more info on the web…. so yes, any help will be appreciated!

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

Listen
Stormboy’s – Wasted on Me

Day 448. A difficult weekend, my phone died. It feels very strange not to have one. So used to it. Like you lose a limb. Hopefully I should have a replacement phone by the time I am publishing this. Hopefully. Then add all the apps and set up anything that needs setting up. I probably lost a lot of information and files. But well, what can you do. Tough luck.

The Suede Crocodiles: One of the best indiepop songs ever is “Stop the Rain” by The Suede Crocodiles. Who can’t argue that. The Glasgow band that was fronted by Kevin McDermott has now a Bandcamp page. Also on this same page you can find all other projects and recordings by Kevin which is great as I was unaware of them. So there’s lots of listening here. Would be a good idea to do a Suede Crocodiles interview, right? Should try soon!

Robert Scott: The Bats’ Robert Scott also has a Bandcamp now. In there we find both albums by The Magick Heads (which are wonderful!) as well as other recordings. But there’s also a new record called “Level 4” which is a collaboration between him and Dallas Henley. It is a bit different to what one is used but quite enjoyable, especially for a rainy day like today.

Lazy Eye: the Pelambang, Indonesia, band has been making some pretty tunes in the last few years. I can’t remember when was the last time I recommended them. Probably last January? Well, today is also a good time. I found out they have a new song called “Polaris” which is really pretty. Dreamy, poppy, chiming, good all around.

Río Arga: I love this Spanish band from Pamplona. They make terrific songs. And it is great news they are releasing a new album called “Piscina y Lagos”. Sadly it is coming out on a label that has been problematic for me. But you may have had better communication, better experience with Caballito Records. I guess in the end what matters is the music, and that’s why I keep recommending them, because they are favourites for sure. The album is coming out on 12″ vinyl on June 9 and will include 8 songs. You can preview two songs now on Bandcamp.

The Umbrella Puzzles: and we finish today’s review with Ryan Marquez’s lovely project. Here he presents us 4 acoustic recordings, an acoustic session he has called “All Our Friends”. This set was recorded for Alternatrip’s All Our Friends Online Music Festival on May 29. The songs are very nice, as usual, influenced by the BMX Bandits, right? And a cover of The Steinbecks!

—————————————————————–

We return to Sweden, to the CDR days of early 2000s. Great times. Great memories. A period I miss a lot. And I am sure many of you do too.

The Winston Solution was a band from Göteborg. There is not much information on the web, but there are a few things we can say about the band. We can say that the band started in 1999 by Erik Jonsson and Jonas Lundvall. They previously had been in a band called Odd Man Out.

Their home studio was called PlayNow. It was there that they recorded their songs. As far as I know there were three demo CDs released. The first one dates from 2001 and was called “Nine Wrong Songs”. The songs on this CDR were “I Know I’m Wrong”, “Read Between the Lines”, “The Magic of a Shy Conversation”, “Empty Streets and City Lights”, “The Look in Your Eyes”, “The Story Ends When the Paper is Full”, “Sister” and “Is this Real?”.

The 2nd CDR was called “Good Things Will Come to Those Who Can’t Wait”. This one was released in 2005. I don’t know the track list for this one. I know the name of some of the songs, “It’s Easier to Say”, “Jenny Fame” and “Left Hand Writing”.

The third one was called “The Diplomat EP”. Again, don’t know the tracklist but songs names were “I Don’t Know What I Would Have Done Without You” or “Make a Plan to Love Me”. I think it was released in 2008 but I could totally be wrong.

On Discogs they only appear listed on a compilation CD called “CD 7 2008” released by Groove (GROOVE0807). On this comp they appear with the song “History Book”.

The only other detail I could find was that the band played at the Malmö festival “We and You” in 2003 that was organized by Revolution 9, a fanzine from that time.

I don’t know if this actually covers well everything they released. There might have been more CDRs. There were definitely more songs, having a look at Last.fm tracks, I see some that I don’t know where they were released like “Your Boyfriend Does Not Understand”, “Photographs from a Broken Planet”, “Consider Me in Love”, “Nothing is Natural Only Impossible”, and many more.

I know that Jonas Lundvall was later in a project of his own called Klifton Filente.

So yeah, who remembers them? Whatever happened to them?

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

Listen
The Winston Solution – It’s Easier to Stay

Day 446

Kevin Robertson: Aberdeen’s The Vapur Trails are a band that have been featured here in the past. Well, one of their members, Kevin Robertson, has gone solo this time around to release “Sundowns End”! It is out now on the fine Subjangle Records on limited edition CD. It includes 11 jangle popsongs, all of which are available to preview. It is definitely a good way to start this week, such a bright and shiny record.

Foreign Correspondent: another band that we like a lot here are the Australians Foreign Correspondent. On even better news they are now working with a label we love, Kocliko Records, from Spain. One of our favourite labels! So it is quite obvious what the result was going to be, right? A wonderful album titled “A Quizzical Look”! it is very limited, to 100 copies and it is expected to start shipping on June 23. You can preview two songs, “The First One” and “Crying In your Sports Car” and understand why I praise the.

Hanemoon: Jigsaw Records is now releasing the second album by the German band! Great news! The first album was really nice, and Hans’ last band, The Seaside Stars, was pretty good as well. If you like jangle pop this is for you. “Last Thing I Heard” is the name of this 12 song album that jangles like any Scottish pop bands that come to mind!

Neilson Family: Jigsaw Records have more new releases. “Be Normal” is the 2nd album by the Neilson family. I don’t know much about them, first time i am listening to them. Jigsaw compares them to Kincaid or the Mendoza Line. The record has 12 songs like my fave, the straight up poppy track “Golden Handcuffs”, and other quieter or midtempo jangle songs. Enjoyable!

The Rightovers: and last band for today is yet another on on Jigsaw Records. This one is a mini-album titled “Kruise Kontrol” and has 7 tracks. The songs are punchy, they have loud guitars and synths, they are poppy and exciting. So definitely a recommended listen. All of these Jigsaw releases are available now.

—————————————————————–

Time for obscure pop… okay that’s a bad opening for a post in this blog. Every single band is obscure here. So ok, one more obscure band to keep in mind. One more that I hope to find more information about them!

In the 80s there was a UK label called Wag Records who released three bands, Roxette (not the Swedish band), The River Boys and Chapter One. I am not familiar with any of them, but today I want to check Chapter One as I’ve heard their song “When the Summer Comes” and I really enjoyed it.

The person behind this label was Paul Waghorn. He was also the person behind Chapter One.

There are two releases by the band. The first dates from 1984 and was a sleeveless 7″ single with “I Know That She Knows” on the A side and “Take My Advice” on the B side. On the labels we see that “I Know that She Knows” is credited to Waghorn but also to Creasey. The B side only to Waghorn. Both songs were produced by Mr. Angry. Okay, who is Mr. Angry and who is Creasey? Can we find that out? This was the fourth release on the Wag catalog (WAG4)

Two years later, in June of 1986, the band released the “When the Summer Comes…” 7″. This record came out on Wag Records (WAG5) and had three songs. “When Summer Comes” is on the A side and “Stephanie Powers” and “Girl on the Phone” appear on the B side. Again all songs written by Paul Waghorn. It is good to see that this time the band was able to have a sleeve for the record.

The sleeve has a pencil illustration of a strangely dressed person. We don’t see his face, he is not facing us. We see his back. It looks like he carries an umbrella. He has a hat. Not sure what he is looking at on the floor. Looks like a pail and a bucket in the sand? I can’t tell. The good thing is that the sleeve does give us some more information.

For example that the art was created by Stringell and Casbourne. But there’s more.

The three songs were produced by Ashley Norton at the I.C.C. Studios in Eastbourne (was the band based here or nearby?). And even better we get the band members names:

Paul Waghorn on vocals, guitar and synths, Titch Stringell on drums and backing vocals, John Hall on lead guitar and Darren Rodoham on bass,

The question about Eastbourne may be answered by the compilation “Dodgy Demos for Arty Parties! – An Eastbourne Area Compilation” released by Wag Records (BIG1) in 1985. Here the band appears on the B side with the song “Miss You Miss You” which was recorded at ICC Studios in 1984. So it all looks like the band was from Eastbourne then!

Eastbourne is a town and seaside resort in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex on the south coast of England, 19 miles (31 km) east of Brighton. Eastbourne is immediately to the east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the larger Eastbourne Downland Estate.

I’d like to visit, especially because Penvensey Castley is close and I like visiting castles.

So back to the other bands on Wag Records. We know that Paul Waghorn was also in Roxette. But couldn’t find any info of any bands he was in after Chapter One. And about the other band members there was no info either.

Also searching for Chapter One doesn’t really help. It is quite difficult.

So yes, looking for help now, anyone remembers this Eastbourne band!?

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

Listen
Chapter One – When the Summer Comes