Friday! The weekend is here. Not much news this week again, but very soon enough I’ll be announcing a new 7″! Keep your eyes peeled!

What’s new around the world?

Los Bonsáis: this band I love from Asturias, Spain, released a terrific album some weeks ago called “Hinoki” on Elefant Records. They have just released a new promo video, their second, for the song “Septiembre” which I urge you to check out. It is great!

Under Electric Light: it has been a while since I heard from the Quebec, Canada, band. Danny Provencher, the man behind it, has made many many beautiful songs for years that I hope everyone reading this post are already familiar with them. If not, do yourself a favour and check them out. At least start with his latest song, “Drop”, which just appeared out of the blue on Bandcamp. I hope there are more to come.

The Catherines: our friends from Hamburg never stop making songs. They must be among the most prolific bands these days! Their latest is a song called “So Much Time and so Little To Do” which sounds lovely. As it is usual the lyrics are also on Bandcamp if your thing is to sing along and this time around they’ve also added guitar  chords if you want to play the song yourself too!

Fightmilk: the first album by this London band was released last October. I’m checking it out only now as I had never heard about them before. They make jangly punky pop and there are 10 songs included in this debut called “The Attitude” which is available on CD and 12″ vinyl.

Goodnight Moonlight: Coaster Records from Rotterdam in the Netherlands have just released a 6-track mini-album called “Better Person” by this band. The lo-fi bedroom popsongs included are quite lovely, especially the opening track “Summertime pt. 2”. I’m quite curious about the popscene in the Netherlands. Is it a happening one?

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After a long time hoping to have their records, I treated myself for Christmas to the two 12″s Frisco Jenny released. Now I’m missing their 4 7″s, but I’ll try to do that in the coming months. Spanish postage prices are not friendly, just as like the US.

So I’m looking at Discogs, at the Basque band Frisco Jenny, checking what I will have and what I don’t from their discography. I know then that I have ordered their first release, a mini-album called “Rueda Ardiendo” that was released in 1989 by Gasa (3GA-0368). This record, with it’s lovely floral artwork, had three songs on each side, “El Tren de Fez”, “Pájaros en mi Cabeza” and “Envenenados” on the A side, and “Besos en el Huracán”, “¿No Me Dejas?” and “Juegos del Acantilado” on the B side. This record was produced by a household name of Spain music, Mikel Erentxun, now a solo musician but back in the 80s the driving force of Duncan Dhu, a band that started small and became well known, not only in Spain but in Latin America too.

Something that surprises anyone when checking the credits is that you see the name Juan Eguia for accordion, banjo, bass, guitar, harmonica, piano and vocals. He played everything almost! Izaskun Larruskain also sang though!

In 1990 the band released the “El Tren to Fez” 7″ to promote the mini-album. It came out again in Gasa (1GA-0368/1) and included two songs from the mini-album, “El Tren de Fez” on the A side and “Juegos del Acantilado” on the B side. It was again produced by Mikel Erentxun and all songs are credited to Juan Eguia.

Two other songs that were on the mini-album were included in their next single. “Besos en el Huracán” on the A side and “Envenenados” on the flipside, came out on Gasa (1GA-0368/2).

1991 would see the light of their full-length album and two singles to promote it. The album “El Dolor del Escorpión”, like all their records, was released by Gasa (4GA-0428). Mikel Erentxun produced all 10 songs. The A side had “Mensaje en el Contestador”, “Tu me Enseñaste”, “Escarcha”, “Nieve en Méjico”, and “Tras un Viaje”. The B side included “No Tendrás mi Corazón”, “La Balada de Dean Moriarty”, “Vas a Brillar”, “Viejo como Tu” and “Exilio”.

The 7″s to promote it were, “Tu Me Enseñaste” (1G-04282) with the same song on the flipside (was it a remix or something?) and “Mensaje en el Contestador”/”Escarcha” (1G04281).

The only compilation appearance listed is a 1997 compilation called “Discos Radioactivos Organziados 15 Años” that came out alongside the Zona de Obras magazine 10th volume. On it the band contributes the song “Tu me Engañaste”. On this compilation we see many important names like Aventuras de Kirlian, Fangoria, Aerolíneas Federales and more.

I looked at any other band connections for Juan Eguia on Discogs. I can only see him working with Mikel Erentxun in several of his solo albums, even writing songs for Mikel.

I find a 1990 article in the Spanish newspaper El País. Dated August 18th of that year, they talk about Mikel Erentxun. It is mentioned that he was helping and supporting Frisco Jenny and also another band Los Ojos de Carmen, which I should check out.

I do find another band that Juan Eguia was involved with. Thanks to the Diario Vasco, a Basque country paper, I find a mention of the band Les Enfants Terribles. Juan sang and played guitars in this band that has played at the Contempopranea and Lemon Pop festivals in the 2000s.

Then a fantastic find, a blog called Andoaingo Jubilatuak has a post of Frisco Jenny! Here there is some pretty good information and details about the band. It seems it all started in the mid 80s when two brothers Juan and Iñigo Eguia formed in Donosty the band La Debacle. Afterwards Juanjo from Tolosa and Kepa from Billabona joined them to form the band El Año Gira. This band recorded a demo.This band didn’t last that long though I would love to hear their recordings. Juan continued making music, now on his own until he meets Izaskun. With her Frisco Jenny was born. On that mini-album they had other musicians helping them like Luis Camino from the band 21 Japonesas and Monica Redondo playing violin, or even Mikel Erentxun doing backing vocals. The album was recorded in 6 days during October of 1989. The technician was an Englishman called Jim Abbis and the recording studio was called Tsunami. The art is credited to Leire Erentxun. It mentions that at that time Juan Eguia was into bands like That Petrol Emotion or The Go-Betweens.
Juan wanted to play live so he recruits Jon Izeta from 23 Ojos de Pez and Alex Zulaika from Sanchis y Jocano for the live band.

It is also worth mentioning that the band took their name from a 1932 movie: Frisco Jenny is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film starring Ruth Chatterton and Louis Calhern, and directed by William A. Wellman.

Not much more written about them. It is sad if you think about it. They produced so many great songs and the band is not a well-known name in Spain. I totally recommend these two albums, full of guitars and lovely melodies. I’m sure, as there are many Spanish readers of the blog, that some of you might remember them?!

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Listen
Frisco Jenny – Pájaros en mi Cabeza

Two Popfests happened last weekend, Madrid and Cologne. Now that I think of it, it is not the best scheduling is it? Or maybe it doesn’t matter. But I’m just thinking, say I would travel to Europe from America. I could, if they were one week apart, be able to attend both Popfests? That could be a cool holiday. Or maybe for a European fan this could also work fine. I wonder… what are your thoughts about that?

Now, let’s see what I’ve found around the web:

She, Sir: the lovely Austin band is back with “Ways A Season”, a 6 song EP that follows their previous releases. That means beautiful dreamy pop. You can stream them all on Bandcamp, “Treasure”, “Torment Operator”, “Fear Pillar”, “What to Do and When to Do It (Endless Crime)”, “Ok Tono Omepo” and “A Ways to Remain” but you can also get  a copy of it on vinyl. It is limited to 300 copies.

Anna Burch/Fred Thomas: there is a new 7″ split by these two janglers from Detroit. Fred Thomas contributes the song “Parkways” while Anna has “St. Adalbert” on the B side. There are 500 copies of this record and at the time of writing this post 9 were left. Maybe there are no more by now….

Marble Arch: the Géographie label from Paris are releasing the album “Children of the Slump” on vinyl and CD by this French project helmed by Yann La Razavet. I believe this is the second album by the band though the artist feels this is the first proper, that the previous one was a collection of demos.

Tugboat Captain: the two songs, “be Strong, Smoke Less” and “Oatmilk!”, by this London band reminded me of God Help the Girl. And that is a good thing of course. I don’t think this latest release is available in physical format though they do have a bunch of merch up for sale.

Wild Firth: “Lawn Memory” is my introduction to this Minneapolis band formed by Will, Fez, Ian and Stacey. The album will be released on April 26th on tape and will include 14 songs. Two of them, “Eyes” and “Girls” are available to preview on Bandcamp and they are pretty nice!

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Not sure why I’ve never heard this story before. The most famous band to do it was The Go-Betweens. But it seems they were not the only ones. Tiny Town also moved from Brisbane to London and released some records.

It is clear to everyone that their music didn’t become that popular or reached cult status. I’ve listened a few songs and they sound great. At least, I think, they deserve a bit more recognition. I know very little about them and sadly I don’t own any of their records (yet). So can’t say much aside from look for their music, it is brilliant.

They weren’t called Tiny Town before moving to London at the end of 1982. They were called Antic Frantic. Antic Frantic released a tape in 1982 in Brisbane. Self-released one and called “Pomes Poneyeach”. I haven’t heard any songs, I wonder if they sounded similar to Tiny Town.

So that same year, Peter Loveday (vocals/guitar), Leigh Bradshaw (vocals/keys) and Geoffrey Titley (drums) packed their bags and moved to London. There they would release a string of singles and an album.

Their first release happened to be a single sided flexi disc with two songs, “Back to the Bow” and “Big Fish”. It was released in 1983 and it has no label listed on Discogs. The flexi, where the label should be, has a cool drawing of a fish, a big fish I suppose?

I’m guessing they put together their own label to self-release themselves. It was called Elastic. All of their releases would be put out under this label. The first one though didn’t have a catalog number. It was a tape that was released in 1983 and was named “Tinytown”. The songs on it were “Back to the Bow”, “And I”, “Lacklustre” and “Big Fish”.

The next year the band was to release their first 7″. Released on Elastic (EM 001) the single had the brilliant “Drop by Drop” on the A side and “Know Better” on the B side.

And then another 7″ in 1984. Again it was released by Elastic (EM 002) and had two songs “Living out of Living” on the A side and “Queue Up” on the B side. Colin Bioxsom produced this record. The songs are credited to Peter Loveday and the band.

Afterwards they put out their album “Little Tin God” on Elastic (EM 004). This record had 9 songs. On the A side we find “Inside Fire”, “Anchor Heart”, “Train Lines” and “So Soon”. The B side has “In a Little While”, “Washing Machine”, “Waiting in the Wings”, “Watershed” and “Candy Hymn”. For this record the band had Cameron Allan (founder of the Australian label Regular Records) playing bass and Caroline Bush playing violin and vocals.

Then in 1985 the band released “No Place Like Rome”, a 12″ on another label: Very Mouth (EAT 8). This label released other records too, not just Tiny Town. For example they put out bands like the Stitched-Back Foot Airman or Greeting No. 4.

The four songs that came in this 12″ were recorded at Alvic Studios in West Kensington, London. They were “Found a Cause” and “Six Hundred Candless” on the A side and “Where do they Moor” and “Better Off” on the B side. On this record Allan Rielly played bass and the songs were engineered and mixed by Richard Preston. The photography is credited to Di Van Den Broek.

Peter Loveday has a Wikipedia page where it mentions that he was born in Toowoomba and was also involved in bands like The Supports, The See Bees, Birds of Tin and Mute 44. It looks as if he now resides in Barcelona, Spain, according to his own website where he has released many solo records.

About Geoffrey Titley we know he was involved in The Supports and also on The Reason Why that was the band formed with Robert Forster of the Go-Betweens and fellow Supports Robert Wheeler. There is a story, which you can read on the Go-Betweens biography written by David Nichols, where it mentions about the tour The Go-Betweens did with The Supports were Leigh Bradshaw, then in the Supports, slapped Grant repeatedly!

Not much more information about the band on the web. Which is quite a shame. I see mentions always saying that the band had a “Brisbane sound”, like the Go-Betweens and The Apartments. For some reason they seem much more obscure than these two bands. I would love to know more about them. I have so many questions. I wonder if my Australian and English readers remember them?

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Listen
Tiny Town – Inside Fire

Not much going on today. Quite tired as I have to wake up early to get a new State ID. No fun. Anyhow, I hope to bring some good news later this week. In the meantime here are a few finds from over the weekend!

L I P S: this superb Falmouth, Cornwall, band has find a good home at Sunday Records. With them they are releasing a self-titled EP with four songs. You can preview the opening track, “Apartment”, on the label’s Bandcamp and I feel that should be enough for anyone to like this band!

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: Glenn Donaldson’s band is already a favourite band on the blog, every single demo he releases gets featured here. It must be good, right? Well he has two new ones, “I’m Worried about the New Wave” and a cover of 999, “Boys in the Gang”. These are demos, but they sound great to me.

Lo Siento: I remember featuring this band some time ago as they were great. This girl group from St John’s in Canada sing in Spanish and are great fun. They have just released their debut album “Brujas” on Bandcamp and it is a great ride of poppy tunes. Hope I see them live someday!

The Claim: I knew the legendary The Claim were back playing some gigs and re-releasing their classic album “Boomy Tella”. But are they releasing a new record with brand new songs? It looks like that! The Rochester band will be putting out “The New Industrial Ballads” on May 24th! Fourteen tracks!! One of them you can preview now and I must say it is superb and timeless, “Journey”!

The Room Upstairs: two new songs, “The Reckoning” and “Nothing’s Beautiful” by this UK based band that is inspired by 60s and 70s sounds. Sounds lovely for a rainy Sunday afternoon… staying indoors. Cozy.

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Returning to Norwich, to find out more about another Farmers Boys related band. Why not? If the songs are great, I always want to know more.

I heard the 1986 song “Lies Behind a Smile” on Youtube some time ago. It sounds great, jangly, a proper c86 song in my book. On that Youtube I notice that one of The Nivens was the engineer of the song. He reminisces that he was a few years into his engineering career then when he recorded the song and that those sessions were very special which in turn resulted in many gigs with both The Nivens and The Avons, even switching personnel!

So we know Baz and Mark from the Farmers Boys were involved in The Avons. What else do we know?

Discogs lists two releases by the band. An album and a 12″ EP. Let’s look at them, let’s start by the latter.

The “Four Songs” 12″ was released by Létharge Records (Arge 11) in 1986. The four songs on it were “Seeing Things” and “You Don’t Know Do You” on the A side while the B side had “Trapped” and “What I Want”. They were recorded at Raven Recording Studios, a studio run by Howard Turner, who produced the record, in Horstead, Norwich. The photos on the artwork are credited to Michael McCracken. The record also lists the band members, Mark Kingston on bass, Ed Street on drums, Hal Jordan on guitar and vocals and Barry McGuilty on lead vocals.

On the sleeve I notice that at the time the EP was released the album was already available. Another interesting thing is that the band was managed by John Létharge. He must be the owner of the label if he has the same name, right? We also find out that Barry sings in “Seeing Things” and “What I Want”, songs he co-wrote with Hal Jordan while Hal sings the other two which as it happens were written by himself.

The album “Music from Three Rivers Reach”, also released in 1986 by Létharge (Leth LP 1), had 7 songs total. A mini-album. The A side had “Facial”, “Everythings Going Right” and “Beautiful World, Beautiful People”. The B side had “Is Billy There”, “The Big Maybe”, “Lies Behind the Smile” and “In My Time”. On this record I notice that now the band members were more involved with the songs, for example “Lies Behind the Smile” was written by Mark Kingston and he also sings it.

The record was once again produced by the band and Howard Turner. Mark Kingston did the artwork for the jacket with photography by Michael McCracken.

The Avons contribute a song to the “Weh Aye Cocker No. 3″ released by Weh Aye Cocker (COCK 3) compilation 7”. The song being “Is Billy There?”. On this compilation they appear alongside Cary Grant’s Wedding, The Elephants and The Kaiser’s Advisers.

Much later, in 2014, their song “Everything’s Going Right” in the Cherry Red “C86″ box set.

About other bands the members had been involved, we know that Baz McGuilty was in The Farmer’s Boys of course and also in in The Great Outdoors, Uncle Romeo, Uncle Rodeo, Dissolute Youth, Heigham Sounds, The Ordinaires, Dr. Fondle, The Avons, The Farmers Boys, The Nivens and Blues Machine. Ed had been in Polish Corridor, The Teddybears, Falling Men, The Stumps, 16 Yellow Roses, Dissolute Youth and Job Lot of Parasols. Mark had been in The Farmer’s Boys, The Great Outdoors, Uncle Romeo, Uncle Rodeo, Dissolute Youth, The Ordinaires, Heigham Sounds, Dr Fondle, The Nivens, Ronnie Can You Hear Me, Blues Machine.

Music from the Eastzone, the East Anglian Music Archive, lists another 7” called “Dirty And” but from what it seems, it also has the same catalog as the Four Songs 12″. Maybe it was a 7″ version of that record? Anyone would know about it?

There’s not much information on the web about The Avons. Would be great to find out more about them, as I’ve tried with the previous Norwich bands I’ve featured. In the meantime I’ll try to get a copy of both of the records, as I really enjoy what I’ve heard so far! Who remembers them?

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Listen
The Avons – Lies Behind the Smile

I so hope to have news soon. March is about to end and I haven’t been able to announce new releases. That is not fun. The mastering is taking longer than expected, but hopefully I’ll be able to announce the next Cloudberry Cake Kitchen release soon. Also I must say that I am working now on two upcoming 7″s which is very exciting!

Now, what’s new around the world of indiepop? Well, this weekend Madrid Popfest is happening and I’m sad that I won’t be attending. But I really wish everyone attending to have a great time! There are a few bands that I don’t know so I will check them out today!

Luces Negras: Anna, Blanca and Pilar form this Barcelona band. They have a three song self-titled EP they put out last October. I guess the name of the band comes from their song “Fieras” which is the opening track. This is fine fuzzed up pop, could be interesting to check out their full set.

Amparito: four girls from Madrid form the band. Their latest on Bandcamp dates from March 2017 and is a 4 song demo with the songs “Crudo”, “Daño”, “Explosión” and “Fin”. It is lo-fi garagey punk pop so I’m not totally into it…

Guay!: now it is the turn of a Barcelona band whose latest release is quite new, December 2018. It is a 12 song album called “La Sociedad” that is an interesting mix of new wave pop and indiepop, and that even includes a cool cover of “Smashing Time” by the TVPs.

Belenciana: this is the solo project of the bassist of the band The Chillers. She released a self-titled EP in 2018 with four songs, “Camino Amarillo”, “Sobras”, “Juego de Tronos” and “Cañerías”. The first song even as a nice video which is the one I’m sharing. I don’t think there’s a Bandcamp or Soundcloud though. So you have to listen the EP on Apple or Spotify, two platforms I don’t like supporting. But that’s your choice of course. Anyhow, the one song I heard, “Camino Amarillo”, is a pretty one.

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Another oldie, another 7″ that is in my radar to add to my collection is the one that the Septembers released back in 1991. I believe it was their only one. Discogs at least only has this one listed. I don’t know much about it, but have heard the A side, “Something Better”, and thought it sounded great!

This 7″ was released by two labels, Penguin Records (PEN1) and Abstract Records. Penguin Records doesn’t show any other releases, but Abstract was an important label (that if it is the same Abstract) that released the likes of 1000 Mexicans, The Three Johns and more.

Aside from the already mentioned A side the single included two B sides, “Garden of Eden” and “Going Insane”. These three songs were recorded at RMS Studios in south London. The engineer was Andy Le Vien and the producer was Pete Briquette.

That’s all the information available on Discogs. No band members, no other releases, no compilation appearances. Could I be able to find anything else on the mess that is the web?

The answer seems to be a big no. Can’t find anything about them. It is difficult without any band member names. So I need to ask you all, I need your help. I would love to know their story, what happened to them? Why only one release? Who knows more?

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Listen
Septembers – Something Better

So after all the Indietracks reviews I can get back to finding new bands, new sounds. Some of these might not be as new and you might already have heard about them but just in case you missed them I present them again to you.

Patience: this is the great new video for “Girls are Chewing Gum” which is a song that will be included in the debut album “Dizzy Spells” that is to be released on May 3rd. I just saw the band play here in New York and had such a good time. This is one not to miss by the ex-Veronica Falls and The Royal We’s Roxanne Clifford.

Different Angels: two electropop songs by this London band are being released on 12″ vinil. “Problems” and “Reasons” sound pretty good. I don’t know who is behind the songs though it seems the songs were recorded by four friends, not only in the UK but also in the West Coast of the US.

Vacations: “On Your Own” is the name of the latest song this Newcastle, Australia, band has released. I must say it sounds really great! It is blissful, catchy and dreamy. One of the best songs I’ve heard so far this month!

Shiny Times: Kim Weldin from the lovely Tape Waves has just released a new album called “Can’t Be Depressed” but this time around is for her solo project Shiny Times. It is a short one, 8 songs, which are available now on Jigsaw Records on CD and Shiny Happy Records from Indonesia on tape. It is a very sweet record. I miss lo-fi pop done with this care, so happy this exists.

The Wendy Darlings: our French friends are back this May with a new album called “Against Evil”! That is great news. 13 songs of fun pop songs which we can’t listen yet. Only one of the songs, “Always Late”, is available to stream on the label Oddbox Records’ Bandcamp. It will be available on CD.

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This will probably be a short post. All I know about this Irish band is whatever is posted on the delightful Fanning Sessions blog. I can’t find any other bits of information anywhere else.

I’m hoping the band recorded more songs other than the three demo songs that are available to stream on the aforementioned blog. These songs are “Pittsburgh”, “No Comebacks” and “Halloween Cafe” and were part of a 1988 demo tape that was engineered and produced by Pat Dunne during August of that year at Sun Studios.

We do know too that the band was formed by Simon Crosbie (rhythm guitar and vocals), John McCabb (lead guitar & vocals), Eoin O’Broin (bass and vocals) and Gavin Buckley (drums).

Thanks to some press clippings that are available on the blog we know the band had other songs like “Cody”, “So Sentimental”, “Chocolate Dreams”, “Rock n’ Roll Party Five”, “Kill Eek!” and “Tom Buchanan”. Were these songs properly recorded? It also seems that the band was very young. An article calls them “teenagers”.

And that’s all there really is on the web about them. So I’m hoping for some help. I liked what I heard so far and would definitely want to know more about this short-lived Irish band!

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Listen
The Foremen – No Comebacks

Thanks so much to Zisimos for the interview! One Night Suzan was one of the wonderful bands that were part of that wonderful first wave of Greek indiepop in the early and mid 90s. They released just one 7″ on the legendary This Happy Feeling label and appeared on many compilations. Now the band is about to release a retrospective compilation on the Greek label Make Me Happy which no one should miss. If you are not familiar with the band or want to know some more details about them don’t miss out this great interview!

++ Hi Zisimos! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? What’s going on with One Night Suzan? I hear there is a retrospective in the works? When will it be released?

Hello ! It’s nice talking to you ! Well, there is a compilation LP on the way, with songs recorded between 1990 and 1995. It will be released by Make Me Happy records in May, if everything goes according to plan…

++ Tell me a bit more about it. What will be the title for it? And what songs will be included? Does it include all your recorded output?

The title will be “ONE NIGHT SUZAN : 20-year hangover, a retrospective collection”. “20-year hangover” is actually the title of one of the 11 songs which will be featured on the lp. During the compilation process we tried to find a balance between unreleased tracks and tracks released on CD or cassette compilations, but never before on vinyl…(with the exception of “Is it true ?” because it wouldn’t be a retrospective without at least 1 song from our 7’’single). Some other songs included will be the previously unreleased “In my Dream” (which was one of our favourite opening tracks in our gigs), “No Guts” ( in its original version ), “Billy Liar”, “Reading Weekends” and “Mariaaah” (from 2 very rare Greek CD compilations) and more…plus a surprise cover of a favourite song…There is a lot more recorded stuff, which (who knows?) might be released in the future…

++ And what do you think of this great labour of love by Make Me Happy Records, releasing all these great gems of the Greek indiepop past? What other bands do you think should be rediscovered in the future?

The guys at Make Me Happy are doing a great job ! They’re full of energy and ideas, so they can introduce younger people to the sounds of 90s Greek indie-pop! As for the second part of your question, take a look at the line-up of their brilliant compilation LP “A sparkle from the past” and you’ll have your answer…

++ Of course you were also in The Crooner, and would love to ask you so many questions about that great band so maybe we can do an interview at another time. But I do have a question today, what would you say was the main differences and similarities between One Night Suzan and The Crooner?

I guess the main differences were the way we wrote and produced the songs : The creation of a ONE NIGHT SUZAN song was usually a joint effort, with the collaboration between George Kyriazis (the lead singer of O.N.S.) and myself. For example, I might have some lyrics and he would add the music, or vice versa…Then, the bass and drums were added by Thomas and Dimitris…So, we are talking about a group effort, in which each musician brings his own style and ideas, and the rehearsals are actually a process of “building-up” the songs… On the other hand, the music and lyrics of THE CROONER were mostly composed and written by me . Then I would play them in our home studio to Makis P., who would start proposing ideas about orchestration and rhythms, and then trying out different beats and sounds … in addition to guitars and bass, we used keyboards, computers and even sampling, as well as the female vocals of Eirini and Natasha ! So, the guitar-punk-pop sound of O.N.S. had evolved into a more “open-minded” electronic version of pop, mixing many more styles and elements.

++ 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 father is a pretty good guitar player, so I grew up listening to a lot of acoustic and classic guitar, as well as the Greek and International pop hits that were on the radio during the late 70s/early 80s… However, it was my older cousin who showed me the basic chords and generally taught me how to play “rock” music on the guitar!

++ Was One Night Suzan your first band or had you been in other bands before that? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

I was always interested in playing and writing music. During high- school, my best friend Dimitris Faris and me wrote and recorded our own songs In his parents’ flat, using primitive (but very creative) recording methods. Then we would sell these cassettes to our classmates !! At this point we called ourselves “THE TURN”, and some of the songs we recorded still sound amazing… Then, during the tenth or eleventh grade, I think, another classmate joined us. He played the bass, and he would eventually become the bass player of O.N.S. (Dimitris Kostandellos) a few years later…As a trio, I still remember playing live cover versions of some Fall and Cure songs at a school concert. Then at university I joined a short lived band, until I met George Kyriazis at a lecture…and we started hanging out together, especially after realizing we were born on exactly the same day and we both played the guitar!!This was the beginning of O.N.S.

++ Where were you from originally, Athens? How was your city at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Yes, I was born and raised in Athens. The city was really chaotic when I was in my early teens, and the majority of the people were more interested in politics than anything else…There were only 2 TV channels, and very few radio stations, promoting bad quality Greek music. As for the young people, the majority listened to classic rock or danced to dance hits in discos… the only Greek bands I liked were “dark wave” bands, like Yell-o-Yell and Metro Decay (there was a cult indie record label called CREEP who fortunately released singles from such bands) but of course they were completely underground. They used to play in clubs like Pegasus or Mousiki Apothiki, but I was too young to go to these places very often…(Greek parents were very strict in those days about going out on school nights or coming home after midnight…) The best record stores were Happening, Jazz Rock and some others, but the imported records were quite expensive in Greece until the late 80’s. That’s when more specialized record stores started opening (like the legendary Pilgrim Records) , bringing more copies of stuff we wanted, and therefore at lower prices …

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

As I have already mentioned, the start of the band was when I met George at university. We started playing and composing songs with our acoustic guitars at George’s place…Then we recruited my old school friend and bass player Dimitris K. and another friend introduced us to Thomas Peppas, our drummer.

++ What’s the story behind the name One Night Suzan?

A university professor was giving a lecture about Pop Art and Andy Warhol…one of the stars in his movies was called One-Eyed Suzan, but George and I misheard it, and thought it was One-Night Suzan…then we realized that this name could have many more meanings and interpretations (for instance, it could be the beginning of a short story : One night, Suzan…). Plus we liked the sound of it, so we kept it !

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

As I’ve already said, the songs were conceived in our rooms, on our acoustic guitars. Then we showed the songs and explained our ideas to Dimitris and Thomas at the studio where we used to rehearse (Backstage studios). Dimitris came up with a bassline, Thomas proposed some beat, and we gradually built up the rhythm and the structure of the songs…

++ And did you ever thought about writing songs in Greek for the band?

Never ! After all, both me and George studied English literature, and we loved English and American novels and music…

++ You were around at a time in Greece where there was a small but very creative scene of pop bands. Why do you think that happened at that time? Did you feel part of a scene?

There were already a couple of fanzines that raved about stuff like C86, or the Smiths, and tried to make the British indie music scene popular in Greece. When we started playing, these fanzines embraced us as the first Greek band who played something similar to their British “heroes”…and month after month, more similar bands emerged. So a pop scene started to build up.

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

The Velvet Underground, The Smiths, The Cure, The Buzzcocks (we used to play ‘Love you more’ in many gigs) ,The Go-Betweens, Pale Fountains (probably the reason why we used trumpet on ‘UNTIL’), Television Personalities, The Jesus and Mary Chain, R.E.M., C86, Creation records (our favourite record label ), Sarah Records …and many more!!

++ Your one and only release was a 7″ on the wonderful This Happy Feeling label. How did you end up releasing with them? How was your relationship with the label? And how come there were no more releases? “Don’t Let Them Kill Our Taste…” was the title of the 7″? Tell me about it? I think you actually had a song that doesn’t appear on the 7″ with that name, right?

THIS HAPPY FEELING was, in way, the evolution of INNOCENT LABEL, a cassette-only label which was set up by Dimitris Emannouil and Vasilis Kollias (the creators of “In those days” fanzine), Christos Lalios (who had “Little Charmer” fanzine) and myself. That’s the label that released Suzan’s ‘Autumn Falls’, a 6-Track tape (our first “proper” release) in 1992. When this short lived label ceased operating, me and Christos joined forces with Makis P. (from Next Time Passions and, later, the Crooner ) and decided to make a label releasing 7’’ singles by our bands and other Greek pop bands that were gradually emerging…Christos was actually a brilliant graphic designer, so he was in charge of the artwork, while Makis and myself were responsible for the music part…”Don’t let them kill our taste” was a garage-pop song from the ‘Autumn Falls’ cassette, and, although it wasn’t as strong as the 3 songs of the single, we liked the message of the title, so we named the 7’’ after it.

++ The songs on your 7″ were recorded at Praxis and Backstage Studio. Why did you use two different ones? How were these recording sessions? Who did you work there with?

‘UNTIL’ was recorded in the studio where we rehearsed, and was also included in ‘Autumn Falls”, so it was recorded in 1991-2…When we decided to release the 7’’ with THIS HAPPY FEELING ( which was in 1993-4 )we decided we should include some newer recordings, so we recorded “IS IT TRUE “ and re-recorded “POSTCARDS” at Praxis studio. This was a better recording studio, where the sound engineer was a friend (and now famous electronic music producer) called Coti K. Also, these 2 songs feature another drummer, Petros , because our original drummer had been drafted in the air-force and was away for a year or so…

++ And do tell me about the rice paper insert that came with the 7″? What’s the story behind using that material?

I really don’t know! You have to ask Christos…

++ Even though you released one 7″ you did appear on many many compilations all around the world, Germany, Spain, the US, the UK… how did you end up appearing on them? Did you send tapes to these labels? Or did they contact you? How did it work back in the day, pre- email days?

The fanzines I told you about had many contacts with other fanzines and small record labels around the globe…they often exchanged tapes, so that’s how we became known overseas…then we used to trade 7’’ singles with some of these labels…so it was more like a form of exchanging music rather than sending demos…

++ The first appearance I notice was one from 1989, a tape called “ΑΝ- εξάρτητη Rock Σκηνή”. At that time your name was One-Night Suzan, with a dash, and I believe the songs were recorded at a club called AN? Care telling me a bit about this rare tape?

This cassette was a compilation of recordings from different bands and concerts at AN club (AN means “if” in Greek), which was the main live venue for underground rock bands in Athens….This was the place where we later gave most of our gigs, and organized a lot of pop parties…As for the “dash”, as I told you before, we realized that without it the name of the band could have more “ interprerations”…but the guys who released this tape obviously didn’t know about it !

++ One last question about compilations, there was a compilation called “Weapons of Happiness” where you appear with the song Die in Wonder. This was released by a Greek label called The World of Suzie Wong. I must say I know nothing about this label so I was hoping you could tell me who were they?

“The World of Suzie Wong” was another Greek fanzine, which was run by a good friend, Pierre Kosmidis. It operated between 1994-1995, if I remember well, and of course it supported Greek indie music and organized a couple of successful pop parties. They also released this compilation.

++ It is hard for me to pick a favourite song but I really like “No Guts”, was wondering if you could tell me the story behind this song?

It’s one of my favourites, too. The lyrics expressed perfectly my ideas about life at that time ( I could describe them as ‘post-teenage existentialism” or something like that !!) and I think the rhythm and music is a perfect blend of noisy pop and new wave…BTW, the forthcoming compilation will include all the lyrics, because they are such an essential part of our music…So you will be able to read them and see exactly what this song is about.

++ If you were to choose your favourite One Night Suzan song, which one would that be and why?

Sorry, I can’t make a choice. But most of them are included in the compilation by Make Me Happy !

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over Greece? And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

Well, we played a lot of gigs, not too many though, because we also had to work or study at the same time…Most of them were in Athens, but also in other cities like Patras or Thessaloniki…One of the best was a gig organized by some pop fans in a remote village on a mountainous area on the island of Evia. It was literally a pop trip! Many fans and band members came by train or bus…some stayed in tents near a river…the venue where we played was a local bar built on the edge of a cliff, with an amazing view of the mountains…the bands that played were ONE NIGHT SUZAN , NEXT TIME PASSIONS and GROOVE MACHINE…it was an awesome experience !! Another unforgettable night was playing as a support band for the British band THE HEARTHROBS in RODON club, which was the best live venue in Athens, where we had seen so many of our UK and USA “heroes” performing the previous years…and here we were, playing live on that stage!!. We would return to the stage of RODON club 5 years later, at one of our last gigs, supporting THE DIVINE COMEDY …

++ And were there any bad ones?

The worst was during a gig in the city of Chalkida, where a small but loud part of the audience started insulting us and throwing some empty bottles, demanding that we should play HARDER, like MEN, and not “stupid pop music”. We got angry, there were arguments , and I think we finally told them to fuck off and left the stage.

++ When and why did One Night Suzan stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

As you know, during 1992-3 I started recording some solo stuff as THE CROONER, because I was slowly getting into other kinds of music, like bossa, jazz and soul…and after 1995, when I teamed up with Makis P., I got involved more with electronic and lounge music. So, I was gradually giving my attention to the Crooner project, as it felt more relevant to what I really liked at the time, and the music was generally evolving to a different direction…So, by 1997 there was no time for rehearsals and work with O.N.S., as I had so many things going on with THE CROONER and our more electronic side-project, HYPLAR…plus recordings for Elephant Records and Siesta Records with other side- projects, and more…

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

Dimitris has been the bass player for our good old band mates, NEXT TIME PASSIONS !! He’s been playing with them for the last 7 or 8 years , maybe more!

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

We are not the “re-union” types, if you know what I mean…but ,on the other hand, “never say never”…

++ Did you get much attention from the radio? What about the press? Did they give you any attention? Fanzines?

As you have guessed by now, only the fanzines paid attention to our “scene”…there were also a couple of radio shows, but nothing organized…as for the music press (actually, we’re talking about 3 magazines…) they promoted mostly Greek- speaking pop and rock music…there was no free press at the time, which helped a lot the underground bands, but this was after 2000…

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

I really can’t answer that. But the first time I held OUR 7’’ single in my hands, it was a childhood dream come true for me !!

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

Watching movies, reading literature and travelling.

++ I’ve never been to Athens, but I am dying to go, so I will take advantage ask a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Obviously, you should visit the Parthenon and The Acropolis Museum…and don’t miss out on walking around the areas of Monastiraki, Plaka and Psyrri, they’re full of surprises, great bars, hip shops and restaurants, and you’ll see a mix of the traditional and the modern. If it’s summer, you could also visit some nearby beaches, they’re not bad! As for food and drink, try to eat at small tapas restaurants (called OUZERI in Greek), where you’ll taste a large variety of delicious dishes, and drink TSIPOURO or RAKI, which are much better than the more “famous” OUZO…

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

No, it’s been a pleasure.!

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Listen
One Night Suzan – No Guts

There are only 6 more bands from Indietracks that I am not familiar with. So I’ll cover the six today and hopefully this has helped everyone a bit to decide which are the bands to check out. I’ve discovered a few that were pretty good and I am happy about that. I do believe the lineup so far is better than the last 3 or 4 editions. And that is of course a good thing!

Thud: This is quite a surprise, a band from Hong Kong playing Indietracks? It must be the same time. Dreamy shoegaze is what I found on their EP “Floret” that was released in 2015. It sounds pretty good, I would add them to the list of bands to check out this year.

Molar: four girls from London form Molar. Their latest is a 5 track 12″ called “Straniero” which is the record I’m listening now. Sadly for me it is not the kind of music I like, this is way too rocky, too garagey for my taste. I would skip them.

Randolph’s Leap: from Glasgow, an 8 piece folk-pop band. They have a lot of releases on their Bandcamp, so I decided to check out their latest, the album “The Isle of Love” that was released last June. It is a long one, 21 songs! IT does sound ok I think. It is poppy and they seem to care to craft songs with good melodies. So that I appreciate. It is the kind of pop I love the most, but it is totally fine.

Porridge Radio: their latest release is called “Rice, Pasta and Other Fillers”. I try listening to their first song and I don’t get it. Then their second song “Lemonade” gets better, but I don’t like them much in the end. I tried. Not indiepop at all.

Stealing Sheep: 60s sounding girl trio. Odd enough the latest seems to be a December 2013 release on Bandcamp. That’s quite a long time ago. Oh well. It is also a “Remixes” release. So I skip that and end up listening a 2011 EP called “I Am the Rain”. It is nice. But I do wonder if in all these years they have changed at all?

Big Joanie: I read the description they have, The Ronettes filtered through the 80s DIY and riot grrrl. I dunno if that is right. I guess on some songs I could see it. But I feel it has lost a lot of the poppy parts of The Ronettes as Big Joanie is much rockier. Not exactly what I like to listen.

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When I found a very old website, probably dating from 2001, by the French band Sandy Shores I thought I had stumbled upon something great. There were 8 songs to stream on a tiny Flash player and that was quite exciting. How many times I’ve found an old website that is broken, that you can’t play any songs or the images are not found?

So, even though I didn’t know absolutely anything about the band yet I could hear their songs “Star”, “Last Night”, “She’s Going Out”, “331”, “Love’s Not Me”, “Martinis and Bikinis”, “Listen” and “Whenever”. And that was fantastic!

On Discogs I found out that their song “Last Night” (25F025) had appeared on a compilation called “Out of Order” that was released by 25 Records in 2001. That was all. But it can’t be, right? If there are 8 songs shared on their website. So I start reading the only piece written in French on their site, one that seems to be written by Marielle Armand. I don’t think she was part of the band.

She talks about the latest album of the band, an album called “Start”. She mentions a song called “Pacifique”. That one is not available to stream. So there were more songs other than these 8. Then I get to know that the band live and work in Paris and that they are very much influenced by English pop. England is also the nationality of their vocalist, Angus. He had met the Frédéric, the bassist, at the Reading festival of 1998. Then David, drums, and Thierry, guitars, joined them. Most importantly at the time of this note the band had recorded around 20 songs, some of them that appeared on their debut album “Plymouth Sound”. Also they had gigged extensively, more than 150 gigs in Paris and its region.

Many of these gigs are listed on this site. Their first gig being at Denfert Rochereau in May 1998. Then they have played at many venues. They played in St. Etienne, in Lyon, and Nanterre. They played many Irish pubs it seems too like Flan O’Briens, Bally Roan and Le My Goodness for example.

Then I find something even better! A soundcloud by Angus Newton, the vocalist! There are 8 songs of the album “Plymouth Sound” to stream too! Plus many more songs of himself going solo. These are really great! From what I read in his short bio he has been living in France since 1983 and started playing in bands since 1995. His first band was called Swanlake. Then it says that Sandy Shores released another album called “Trainspotting”. Then he went back to London to play in a band for a year. Then he decided to go solo. He moved to Chamonix where he still lives.

Sadly I can’t find any information about any of these records. I wish I could find a copy for myself. But they are not even listed in Discogs. It is a big shame as everything I have heard sounds terrific! But having played so many gigs in Paris and around France, someone must remember them! Someone must have their records. I would love to know what is the story of the other band members. What songs appear on each album. If they appear on any compilations. Who can help me with all that?

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Listen
Sandy Shores – Martinis and Bikinis

Last Wednesday I went to see the ex-Veronica Falls’ Roxanne Clifford’s new band Patience deep in Bushwick, at a venue called Elsewhere. She was supporting Molly Nilsson.

I was very curious as I had really liked both the 7″s she released (I missed the first one but did get a copy of the 2nd one) and also the latest song she has released “The Girls are Chewing Gum”. So 3 out of 3 were great. And I just arrived in time to her set. I was around 9pm at the venue and on stage there was already a little sign with the name Patience over a chair. I thought it was just a white board with the name written with a marker but at some point it got light up and we would see a cool beaming board with the name of the band.

I must say that I was kind of worried with the first song. It wasn’t what I was expecting. It was slow and not catchy. It was just Roxanne and a guitar player. Then after this song a keyboardist joined and also two girls that would do backing vocals. Later Roxanne would mention that the band was an impromptu band, I suppose just formed for the tour supporting Molly Nilsson? In any case they were tight! And they sounded pretty good throughout their short set. For me definitely my favourite moment was when they played “White of an Eye” but all of the songs were superb, so we can expect a lot from “Dizzy Spells” the album that she will be releasing soon. Catchy, bouncy, poppy, with great lyrics. It is very promising.

So keep an eye on that. And if she plays in your town, go check it out. Molly Nilsson is also pretty good even though you know I’d prefer if she had a band. But she has some very good songs, “1995” is superb for example. But I’m sure you know more about her than me.

Now, I need to continue with all these Indietracks bands I don’t know about!

Kagoule: this band hails from Nottingham and on Bandcamp their latest songs date from 2015. They are a rockier band, not indiepop at all. Here I am hoping they became poppier in the last 3 years. Maybe not. Wasn’t a fan.

Kermes: now a four-piece band from Leicester. Their latest is an album called “We Choose Pretty Names” which is available on LP at their Bandcamp. The band is kind of a lo-fi punky band. They have some indiepop elements perhaps but I don’t like the vocals at all. So the melodies end up being affected by this. Not a fan of this band either.

Cheerbleederz: three girls from London, Kathryn, Phoebe and Sophie, are behind this band. They have a 4 song EP that was released on tape that is already sold out. It was titled “Faceplant”. It is a shame as it sounds really nice, especially the opening track “Staying Up Late”. This is a winner. I have found another band to the list of bands everyone should check out at Indietracks.

Child’s Pose: another London band. Their latest was just released this month and it is a self-titled EP on 7″. Four songs are included on this piece of vinyl released by Nervous Energy Records. Sadly for me I don’t like it. Way too rocky. There’s no hint of indiepop here. Skip.

Fresh: it seems I will only like the one band today? Fresh is a band I don’t end up disliking though not loving either. Punky and emo, the band released their album “Fresh”, back in 2017. 11 songs packed with energy and fine vocals I think. Some good melodies too in a few songs. But I’m not totally sold.

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I have just discovered this fantastic sounding Japanese band. I tried getting their records but I couldn’t find them for a decent price. With the risk to make it even more difficult to get the records I want to recommend them on the blog! There are two CDs, one mini-album and an album, that I think should be in every Japanese indiepop collections.

“One Hundred Reasons to Love Birds”, the mini-album with that cute artwork of an owl on a branch and a half moon was released in 2002 by Living, Dining & Kitchen Records (1270LDKCD). It is the first time I hear about this label too. Were they an indiepop label? I must say I barely know they bands on their catalogue. I see Cub from Canada, that’s the only familiar one. I should explore when I have some time.

This mini-album had 8 songs: “Humming”, “One Hundred Reasons to Love Birds”, “Honey Bee”, “Parrot”, “18 Candles”, “Owl”, “Die Die Die” and “Time Machine”.

Strangely it would take 7 years for the band to release their album. In 2009, on Captain Haus Recordings (CHRS-019) the band would put out “Wonder of Dear”. This is another label I know nothing about. I am hoping to discover lots of Japanese indiepop bands this way.

There are 12 songs on this CD album: “Wonder of Dear”, “Flamingo Knee Lounge”, “Atmosphere”, “Answer Call”, “Innocent Paint”, “Pond Skater”, “Dwarf”, “Kissani*Mon Chat”, “Esperanza”, “Sugar Stock”, “Weekender” and “Tikkaus…”

Discogs has scans of the booklet of the album. Thanks to that I learn that there were a Noriko, Masato and Gamae in the band. No last names are listed though. With a little searching I could find that the band was formed by:
Noriko Kobayashi – all words, music, vocal & synths
Naomi Iwasaki – bass, violin, backing vocals
Ryo Daikai – guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Yuuichirou Yamazaki – drums, backing vocals
Masato Abe – music, vocals and guitar

There is also just one compilation listed. One called “Killermont Street 2001” where the band appears with the song “18 Candles”. This compilation was released by LD&K which I suppose is the same as Living, Dining & Kitchen Records in 2001. There are some great bands here like Citrobal, Advantage Lucy or Our Hour.

That’s all Discogs has listed but… there are more releases as I have found out.

“Imprint****” was released sometime in 2006. Ok. So the wait wasn’t that long between mini-album and album. This album included 12 songs: “Amber Poetry”, “Imprint****”, “Kick Frip”, “Wimpy”, “Equal”, “Patch Work Water”, “Parasite”, “Medicine”, “Emergency Solar Still”, “Pillow”, “Joy Song” and “Chorus”. It was released by Captain House Records (CHRS-016).

There is another record by the band. One called “Homing Pigeon”. This one seems to have been released in 2003 and I guess it was actually the first album by the band. There were ten songs in it, “Montgomelly”, “Merric”, “A Camp”, “Homing Pigeon”, “Home Line”, “Kindergarten Bell”, “Fog”, “Mirinda”, “Benjamin” and “Little Qoo”. It was released by Living, Dining & Kitchen Records (LDKCD-014).

The Japan Live blog has a post about them, when they played live at the Basement Bar in 2004. According to this post, at that time the band had among their members Umu who was also bassist for House Plan and Bank$.

Then there’s a compilation, with no sound bits, on Bandcamp called “OK!Powerpop“. It dates from October 2007 and it seems to have included a new song by polyABC called “Sugar Stock”.

Aside for this post I can’t seem to find any other important details or information about the band. Only websites that seem to sell or auction their CDs. I think this time around I will need my Japanese indiepop lovers to help me out. Find out where are the band members now? If they had been involved in any other bands? I’d definitely would love to find out!

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Listen
polyABC – One Hundred Reasons to Love Birds

Continuing then with the Indietracks bands that are unknown to me. We added to the list of bands to see Owls of Now and Common or Garden. Hopefully after these 5 we can add some more?

Kidsmoke: when the guitar started chiming on their latest song, March 2018’s “Passenger” I immediately thought I was going to like them. And that was the case indeed. The band is formed by Lance, James, Sophie & Ash and they hail from Wrexham. This is good stuff. Happy to add a new band to the list of bands to check out!

Current Affairs: Joan, Josh, Sebastian and Andrew form this Glasgow based band who released a 7″ last year on Brogues label Not Unloved! I didn’t notice he had put this record out. Knowing Brogues, who has great taste, it is no surprise he put this out. It is good, maybe not as indiepoppy as I like my music and a bit more punk, post-punky, but it is enjoyable. I would be curious to see them live.

Songs for Walter: I would guess this Manchester band will play on the train or the church stage. I am listening to their latest album “An Endless Summer Daze” and it is a folk record, acoustic and sweet. It is all right, not my indiepop style it is true, but could be enjoyable as there are nice melodies in his music.

Athabaska: I only found a song on Bandcamp by this London band. It is called “Muddy Moons” and it is from this quick review of bands the one that I haven’t liked so far. So moving on.

Junk Whale: now a band from Oxford. I am listening to “The Captain” and I feel this will be the 2nd band I won’t like today. Oh well. The guitar is way too rocky for my taste. And the vocals too.

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I have to say I’m quite ignorant about the band Gameface. It seems it was pretty popular. Or at least there are many websites mentioning it. One of their band members was in No Such Thing back in the late 80s, so that’s what I’ve been mostly stumbling upon through Google. You see, I heard this song “Marching” on Youtube and thought it was pretty good. I started doing my investigation and well, it now makes sense why the high price on Discogs for the 7″ No Such Thing released in 1988. It is because Gameface fans will be interested in it. Right?

From what I read, Gameface was a hardcore, popcore, band. No Such Thing doesn’t sound like that. The two songs on the 7″ are very 80s sounding. “Not a Word”, the A side, is a bit rockier, more new wave. I’ve read of people likening it to U2. Maybe. The B side, “Marching”, is jangly pop tune. Guitars chiming. People say this one has been influenced by R.E.M. Perhaps?

The 7″ was released in 1988 on the Strategically Placed Raindrops (NST-2501) label. It is the only record listed under this label on Discogs. It might be a self-release? We do know that both songs were recorded at South Coast Studios. This recording studio is based in Santa Ana, California. Oh! I did mention this is an American band? Maybe not. I’m writing as I research this time.

We know thanks to the sleeve who the band members were. Scott Joslyn played bass, John Slick the drums, Michael Bains the guitar and Jeff Caudill sang. The A side was written by Caudill and Bains while the B side is just credited to Bains. The B side has addictional vocals by someone called Laurie. We know the sleeve, with that fanzine style, was created by someone called Jeffrey and that the producer for the songs was Jim Dotson. Oh! Jeff Caudill is the famous member that went to be on Gameface (and also onto bands like Ice, Jeff Caudill & the Goodtimes Band, March, Your Favorite Trainwreck).

The sleeve also gives us an address. Costa Mesa in California. Was that where they were based?

Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and edge city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light manufacturing. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 United States Census.

Orange County. I see many mentions to this area on interviews to Jeff Caudill. On an interview on the website No Echo he mentions that the first band he was involved with was No Such Thing. He also mentions that two of the band members were older than him. Here he also mentions the band that came after No Such Thing, it was called Ourselves and they released a tape demo.

Sadly, as it is the cases of many of these bands that released the one 7″ in the 80s the information is scarce. The great Wilfully Obscure blog has dedicated them a post where we learn that the band was active between 1986 and 1988. That they were named after an Agent Orange song and played everything from Social Distortion to The Plimsouls. Most importantly we know that the band recorded about a dozen original songs but they only released two. I would love to hear to all of those other recordings someday!

Not much information, but perhaps some Californian friends remember them? I’d be curious to find out more. Who remembers them?!

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Listen
No Such Thing – Marching

Thanks so much to Richard for the interview! Not so long ago I was interviewing Richard about the great band he is in these days (since the 90s actually!) The Relationships! But as I am a big fan of all the records The Anyways I realised I needed to ask him questions about his previous band and he was up for the challenge! So here are his answers, please sit back and enjoy!

++ Hi Richard! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? We were just talking about The Relationships some days ago, now it is time for The Anyways. How different or similar do you find the two bands?

Hi Roque, and many thanks for inviting me! I’m well, thanks, if a little deaf after many decades of amplified music. (Pardon?) The Anyways lasted from 1986-1994 and encompassed many different people and musical styles in that period. Meanwhile The Relationships have been going since 1994 (25 years old – how did that happen?!?). Again, there have been a few line-up changes, but maybe the musical feel has been slightly more consistent. The main similarity between the two is that I was/am the main songwriter in both bands. The main difference is that The Relationships – while influenced by a wide variety of acts including many fine American ones – has a more British approach. I admit it, I frequently used to sing in (my version of) an American accent in The Anyways, which I probably wouldn’t do now.

++ Was The Anyways your first band or had you been in other bands before that? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

The Anyways wasn’t my first band. I’d done cover versions in a school band, then had a one-gig punk incarnation in 1978 (Dick Terminal and the Deathbeds, no less). Things really got going when I joined a local Oxford band called Discontinued Lines, which morphed into Ward 10 in the early 80s. After the demise of that, Pete Lock (the drummer from those two bands) and I got together with Angus Stevenson, Peter Momtchiloff and Valerie Howell – Here Comes Everybody was the result. It was kind of a springboard for Angus joining Razorcuts, Peter M forming Talulah Gosh with Amelia Fletcher, and Pete L and me starting up The Anyways. As for recordings, I believe there might be one track by Here Comes Everybody on a MySpace site if you can still find it! There is also some footage in Jon Spira’s 2009 Oxford music film, Anyone Can Play Guitar.

++ Where were you from originally, Oxford?

No, I was born in Woking, Surrey, home of Paul Weller and The Jam! I came to study in Oxford and stayed on.

++ How was Oxford at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

There was quite a polarised scene in Oxford when I first arrived here. On the one hand there was a hard rock basement venue called The Corn Dolly – I went there once, but didn’t have a dirty denim jacket, so didn’t feel at home! I preferred The Oranges and Lemons, which hosted punk bands. But I wasn’t really punky enough to fit in there either, so didn’t go very often! There was a tremendous chain of record stores called Music Market, which I used to hang around in. Later I used to go to The Cape of Good Hope and the Caribbean Club, both to see other bands and to play gigs with my own groups. Good local acts? The Stereotypes, Strange Fruit, the Leather Fish, The Communists, The Mistakes.

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

In 1986 I recorded some of my new songs – literally in my bedroom – with Pete Lock and a guy called Ste Nunn who played amazing orchestral keyboards. Ste was staying there temporarily, having moved up from a house-share in Bristol with one of my friends. He was involved in making videos for the Jesus and Mary Chain, and wasn’t up for forming a band, so Pete and I started looking around. We met Alan Buckley through HCE fans who’d become friends, Chris Hill and Tim Breadin, at a gig in an old converted church in Oxford. Alan played bass and really liked the Velvet Underground – so he was in! Then my friend Susan introduced us to Jennie Crisp and Trudy Aspinwall – who joined on keyboards and vocals/tambourine. Our first gig was a kind of a warm-up, just to the members of an Oxford college. Trudy stayed in the audience – she wasn’t quite ready to perform yet! Later she became an enthusiastic onstage presence, and she used to bring along quite a following to gigs!

++ Were there any lineup changes at all?

Jennie – who started dating a member of Talulah Gosh – left after about a year, and Ali Day joined on keyboards. Lead guitarist Hamish Ferguson joined a couple years later, then Karen Cleave came in on keyboards when Ali and Trudy left. The final incarnation saw Mark Price on lead guitar after Hamish and Karen left to form their own country band! Pete, Alan and I were the constants throughout.

++ What’s the story behind the name The Anyways?

I suppose it was a word I liked, and it seemed to convey the slightly amateurish nature (in a good way) of what we wanted to do!

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

I enjoyed – and still enjoy with The Relationships – the whole phenomenon of bringing a song along to the rest of the band and seeing what they do with it. We rehearsed mostly in the same place where The R-ships still rehearse – South Oxford Community Centre!

++ You were around in the late 80s and early 90s in the UK and there was an ebullient scene of pop bands and labels. Why do you think that happened at that time? Did you feel part of a scene?

As an older pop/rock fan [puts on tweed cap and puffs at briar pipe], I think that there seem to be waves of creativity in the world of music. Or at least used to be in the late 20^th century… about every ten years. The late 60s/early 70s revolution was one. Then the punk phenomenon in the late 70s/early 80s. Then the indie explosion in the late 80s/early 90s. Yes, we felt like part of a scene – certainly at first, playing at the Black Horse and The Falcon in Camden, chatting to Bob Stanley when he still ran a fanzine (long before St Etienne), receiving advice from Bobby Gillespie about having more guitar solos in the band!

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

Hmm, let me answer that by telling you some of the songs we covered at gigs during the days of The Anyways. Sweet Jane by The Velvet Underground. See My Friends by The Kinks. I’m Free by The Rolling Stones (long before the more famous chart version by The Soup Dragons!). Call On Me by Captain Beefheart. Codine as interpreted by The Charlatans (original American ones). Circle Sky by The Monkees. The Beatles’ If I Needed Someone. The Bangles – Going Down to Liverpool. I Can See For Miles by The Who. Robert de Niro’s Waiting by Bananarama (with Amelia Fletcher on vocals).

++ Your first release dates from 1987, the “Confession” 7″ that was released by Notown Records. I have never heard of this label, other than on your release. Was it your own label? Or who was behind it?

After our low-key college debut, our first ever public gig earned us a review in Sounds, a national music paper! We were supporting Talulah Gosh at the Jericho Tavern, Oxford. The reviewer, Roger Holland, later set up Notown Records. He released our 7” Confession/Now You Are, followed by a 7” by another Oxford band, Shake Appeal (who later morphed into Swervedriver), a few months later. Then he ran away to Bologna with an Italian waitress he’d met – so that was the end of Notown Records!

++ The two songs on the record were recorded at Union Studios in Oxford. How was that experience? Was it your first time at a proper studio?

It was very, very exciting. Yes, first time in a proper studio. (Actually in the basement of a terraced house in East Oxford, a few streets away from where I lived). There was a squeaky door at the top of the stairs. As I finished my vocal take on Now You Are, someone opened the door. You can hear it at the end of the track. Hence also the message scratched on the run-out groove of the 7”.

++ I suppose you did release demo tapes? I saw one on Discogs with “Some Psychedelic Song”, “Painting the Desert” and “Silver” on it. A green cassette. Was this the only one? Or were there more? Did you sell them or were mainly for promoting the band?

We did some more recording for Notown at Union Studios, but then Roger the Notown man disappeared off to Italy. We eventually released three of those songs on that green cassette – just on sale in local shops and at gigs. Meanwhile we appeared on an Oxford compilation album, The Jericho Collection, in 1988. Dave Newton who later became Ride’s manager was behind it. Shake Appeal and The Anyways had a track each on the album proper, and were also featured on a free single given away with the album. Some more recording followed at Union Studios, including a session engineered by Tim Turan – who now drums for The Relationships! Then we recorded a whole lot more – at Dungeon Studios, out in deepest rural Warwickshire – with the Hamish/Karen line-up. Only one song from those sessions got released at the time, on Revolution No 9, a charity Beatles compilation which also featured my fellow Woking-ite Paul Weller!

++ Then it took 5 years for your next release, the “Sunshine Down EP” on Marineville Records. Why did it take so long? And how did you end up signing to Marineville? How was your relationship with them?

I suppose it didn’t seem that long, given all the line-up changes and recording sessions and compilation and cassette releases in between! The lead guitar player in our final incarnation, Mark Price, lived in Brighton. I can’t remember how he came across Marineville, but they were based down there too. The Marineville guy was nice, and worked as a baker! I only met him a couple of times, and we exchanged some cassettes of music we liked. I recall he was very into obscure glitter rock – the kind of stuff later compiled by Bob Stanley on his ‘junk shop glam’ albums.

++ Tell me a bit about the photo on the sleeve. Is that you all? Where was it taken?

Yes, that’s the final line-up. You know what – I have no idea where it was taken. Probably outside the South Oxford Community Centre (like the picture on the Confession/Now You Are sleeve).

++ Then the next year your album “Older than Yesterday” was released. It took me a while to find a copy 10 years ago or so, because I think only 400 copies were pressed. Why so little?

Thank you for your kind words about Older Than Yesterday! Yes, it was a compilation of recordings from 1987 to 1993, which we put together in the final days of the band. Mastered, incidentally, by Tim Turan (R-ships drum dude!). It came out after the band was over. That fact plus financial considerations meant only 400 were produced.

++ Tell me about the photo on the front. Is it Marston Street in Oxford? Does it have any particular meaning?

The little girl pictured is Helen, daughter of Pete Lock. Yes, Marston Street is in East Oxford – it’s where a few of us lived at different times, in a legendary shared house which I moved into in my final year as a student (Amelia Fletcher, Peter Momtchiloff and Chris Scott from Talulah Gosh spent some time living there too). It was unofficially known as Indie Central for a while in the late 80s! The cover shot has no particular meaning – just a fun image.

++ It is hard for me to pick a favourite song but I really like “Silver” and “Sweet Marie”, was wondering if you could tell me the story behind these songs? Was Marie a real person?

Oh thanks. Silver was kind of a reaction to seeing My Bloody Valentine play at The Wheatsheaf in Oxford. Maybe the first time we tried mixing the vocals way down low, so they just peeped out of the guitars. Modern psychedelia! Sweet Marie was influenced by the Country Gothic end of what was going on in American alternative music at the time – Violent Femmes, The Gun Club, later stuff by The Dream Syndicate. I’d like to say Sweet Marie was a real person… maybe she was Sweet Jane’s country cousin!

++ If you were to choose your favourite The Anyways song, which one would that be and why?

It changes from week to week. Special One had a real enthusiasm to it – possibly the best interplay between Trudy and me on vocals. I think it was the first session when we were really well recorded by someone who ‘got’ the band. (Stand up, Mr Turan!) Then Tower of Fools had a beautiful feel to it – loved that drum intro from Pete (later used again, shamelessly, at least once!), and all the shimmering layered guitars and keyboards. The late great Hamish Ferguson did an absolutely amazing 12-string guitar break on that one – makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. But this week maybe I’d have to say The Way I’ve Found. Another example of that Country Gothic style I was talking about earlier. Lovely tone on Alan’s bass in the intro. More of those layered guitars and keyboards. Splendid backing vocals courtesy of Pete Lock, with Karen’s housemate Selina. I even like the hilarious impersonation I do of Mick Jagger on the middle eight!

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over the UK?

Yes, a lot – Oxford of course, but also London and surrounding area, Brighton, Bristol, mid-Wales. Pete Lock was heroic driving us around in a van! We used to think nothing of getting home at 2 or 3 in the morning, then going to work the next day, young tykes that we were!

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

We played at a Hindu wedding in Hendon (London outskirts). When we inspected our set-list, all the songs were called things like Love Gone Bad and Cold & Blue. Not exactly wedding-y. They seemed to enjoy it anyway. We also did a rather notable set supporting One Thousand Violins at this club in Aldershot, Hampshire. Aldershot is a big army town, and the audience were all military kids, we reckoned. They came in to see all the bands, clapped and whooped enthusiastically, then all filed out in orderly fashion to the bar area in between bands. Otherwise our gigs in Jeff Barrett’s clubs in London were always a blast – the Black Horse and The Falcon. (Though one of the ones at The Falcon featured a terrible smell – the pub cat had come in and disgraced itself in the gig room before sound-check!) We did a couple at the 100 Club in London, organised by Dan Treacy from the Television Personalities. It felt absolutely like being in a film, playing at this legendary London venue with this punk/indie legend promoting!

++ And were there any bad ones?

Hmm, there was the one where Jennie knocked over her fizzy soda and it shorted out the keyboard – oops! Oh, and the one we did at the Fulham Greyhound. We got a terrific crowd along… but when we went to get paid, the tough-guy promoter informed us there was no money. He had burly mates with dogs… we didn’t argue! But for the most part they were pretty good gigs, though maybe that’s the rose-tinted spectacles of nostalgia! Most of the acts we shared bills with were really nice people, which helped. For example, I had terrible stage fright for a while. We supported Jonathan Richman at the Jericho in Oxford, and he was extremely kind and understanding and talked me out of my nerves. So it all came good in the end.

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

Things changed in people’s lives. Alan, Pete and Mark wanted to do more of their own songs. Pete wanted to move out from behind the drumkit and develop his singing and guitar-playing. I had some new song ideas which maybe suited a new vehicle – which became The Relationships.

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

Yes, Pete, Alan and Mark formed a band called Blue Kite, which later turned into Moiety when Alan left to become a performance poet! Meanwhile Angus, Pete and I started putting The Relationships together.

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

The Anyways got back together for various different reunion sets in 1998, 2008, 2009. Plus one song in 2015 at a birthday bash for Pete!

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

Our most exciting radio play was on John Peel’s show in 1987! Just one play of Confession. The late great Mr Peel commented on and chuckled over the name of the label, Notown Records, and said in his distinctive lugubrious voice, ‘I don’t know where this lot are from’. I had it taped off the radio on a cassette… but then, unbelievably, I recorded over it by mistake!

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

As previously mentioned, our first ever public gig was reviewed in a national paper, Sounds, and Melody Maker did a couple of short pieces about us too. We had some good press in Oxford music papers – Local Support, Curfew and Nightshift. I remember the Oxford Times gave us one good review and one bad one. A load of local fans wrote in to complain about the less positive review, which was gratifying! Ronan from Curfew and Nightshift has always been very supportive. (He does an amazing job, by the way –  Oxford would be a far less exciting place without his tireless efforts as a chronicler of the local music scene).

++ What about from fanzines?

Bob Stanley’s fanzine – Caff, I think it was called – gave us a nice mention in 1987.

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

Hmm, I can’t pick one. But… all those ‘for the first time’ things, I suppose. Playing to a packed Jericho Tavern with cheering people hanging off the walls. Being reviewed in a national music paper. Being offered a record deal. Going to a real recording studio. Being played by our hero John Peel on the radio.

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

My girlfriend and I like to go for walks and eat nice roast lunches. We both read quite a lot. Otherwise old movies are pretty popular. For example Whistle Down the Wind, with Hayley Mills and Alan Bates. Brilliant combination of funny/sad, realistic/fantastical, child’s-eye-view/cynical.

++ I asked this same question to Angus in the Relationships interview, but would love your take on it. I’ve never been to Oxford so I will ask a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Try the Prince of Wales in Iffley Village (on the outskirts of East Oxford) for a traditional British Sunday roast lunch!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Roque!

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Listen
The Anyways – Silver