Day 614. Out of town but trying to keep this up with a baby and all! If I miss some days with posts don’t be surprised…

The Pleasures Pale: it seems this is a must have record! 4 songs from 1987 are being released now! 25 copies only! It is being released on 12″ vinyl and this EP of unreleased songs is titled “Twitch”. Two songs are available to preview, “Only the Rich” and “Most Precious  Things” and they are great, especially the 2nd one. I may have to miss this as I will be out of town… but hopefully you don’t.

Miracle Legion: a live recording by the New Haven band has just been uploaded to Bandcamp. “We’ve Played this Measly Town Many Times” is the name of this release recorded on July 14, 2016, at the Linda in Albany, NY. The whole gig is 18 songs and you can listen all of it now!

The Ashenden Papers: two new songs by the Concord, California, project of Jason Dezember. This new single is planned to be included in the band’s upcoming album. “Little Jumpy T” and “Your Starlit Eyes” are the names of these songs that feature Rose Melberg on backing vocals.

Dayflower: 3 new songs by our Leicester friends! It is the “Sonic” single with two more tracks, “Dream of Shore” and “Too Far Gone”. As usual the songs are fantastic. This time around they are fuzzier, where reverb reigns and pop melodies abound. Really nice.

Artsick: Slumberland Records is releasing a bunch of goodies lately, I should get around to review and listen all of them. I’ll start with Artsick who are releasing a very Shoppies record called “Fingers Crossed”. Formed in 2018 by Christina Riley of Burnt Palms, Mario Hernandez of Kids on a Crime Spree and Donna McKean of Lunchbox, this is the band’s first album. Check out the preview song, “Despise” which is ace!

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As I’ve been going through a bunch of Sunday Records releases that had the great Mark Randall from the Fat Tulips in them, now is the turn of Confetti. I guess the one left is Oscar? And well, the Fat Tulips! But I am right now looking into the more obscure bands, so yeah, the ones that released less records and are less known, let’s start there.

Confetti was another cool collaboration. It was a duo formed by Mark Randall who went by the name of “David” in the records and Julie Robinson, who used the name “Virginia Aeroplane”. Julie was in the superb band The Artisans who released the “Jazz Serenade” 7″ and who did a lovely 3″ CD retrospective with us, Cloudberry! And of course on The Sunbathers who released a split 3″ with me and who I’ve seen play live at Indietracks. Oh! Why didn’t I think of interviewing her before writing this piece? I should try, right? But it doesn’t hurt to write about Confetti. Their songs are ace. All of them!

The band released four singles and later on the “Retrospective EP” which collected all their fifteen recordings. All of these songs were recorded at Sideways Sound in Attenborough, England, and were engineered by Martin Cooper.

The band’s first release was a split-flexi with the Fat Tulips. This was the “Heaven Flexi”. This one had two songs by each band. Confetti had “Diet (Remix)” and “Brige 61”. Some of these flexis came with an extra flexi that was mispressed. The catalog number for this record was SUNDAY 010, yup it was released by Sunday in 1991. “Diet (Remix)” is a cover of the Au Pairs.

“Haberdasher” was their second EP. This one came out also in 1991 on the Fat Tulips’ label Heaven Records (HV 06). The record came with a small Confetti logo card and a photo postcard. That’s not all. Copies of the fanzine Heaven Sent issue 4 came with this record too. And yes, there were two versions of this record. There were 100 numbered copies with a hand-made sleeve and others with a purple sleeve with two girls sitting down looking attentively at something. The songs on this record were “Who’s Big and Clever Now?” on the A side and “It’s Kinda Funny” and “Yes Please!” on the B side. “It’s Kinda Funny” is of course a cover of the Josef K classic.

Sunday Records would release their third record, “Sea Anemon EP”, in 1992. This was SUNDAY 012. From what I understand there are blue and yellow print sleeves for this record. I have the blue. The songs here were “Whatever Became of Alice and Jane” on the A side and “Here Again” and “River Island: on the B side.

The band’s last release came on Marineville Records (MARINE 4) in 1992. This was the “Presentl EP”. I don’t know why it has an L after Present. But that’s how it is. The songs on this record were covers of The Wedding Present! So we find “Corduroy” on the A side and “Anyone Can Make a Mistake” and “Once More” on the flipside.

The last release is the one I am missing. It is the “Retrospectivel EP”. Again that L in the name of the record. This one had 1`5 songs. They were released on CD by Vinyl Japan in 1994. Catalog was ASKCD39. The songs were: “Who’s Big and Clever Now”, “It’s Kinda Funny”, “Yes Please!”, “Tomorrow Knows”, “Warm”, “Jenny”, “Bridge 61”, “Diet (Remix)”, “Whatever Became of Alice and Jane”, “Here Again”, “River Island”, “Nothing II”, “Corduroy”, “Anyone Can Make a Mistake” and “Once More”.

The other songs that were not in the 7″s and are in this compilation appeared on various compilations. Let’s do it chronologically.

The first ones date from 1991. On the classic “The Waaaaah! CD” released by Bring on Bull (BULL 3-0) the band contributed the songs “Jenny” and “Warm”.  That same year their song “Nothing II” appeared on the tape compilation “123456 Road Runner” released by Glidge Records (GLIDGE 001).

In 1992 just one appearance, it was going to be in the French label Anorak Records. The tape was “Teeny Poppers” (SHOUBIDOWA 01) and the song they contributed was a live version of “Who’s Big and Clever Now?”. I think this track is exclusive to this releease.

In 1993 they appeared on Sunday Records’ “Sunny Sunday Smile” (SUNDAY 640) CD. Here they have two songs, “Nothing II” and “Tomorrow Who Knows”.

Then it is 1998 and their Wedding Present covers, two of them, “Corduroy” and “Once More”, end up on the tribute album “Once More – A Tribute to the Wedding Present” released by Orange Slices (Citrus 1).

In the year 2000 the band gets a bit more attention. “River Island” appears on “Our Floating Images of Youth” compilation on Vinyl Japan (ASKLP/CD 100) that was released as a 3 LP compilation or a double CD. That same year Sunday Records includes “Here Again” and “River Island” together as a single track on “Rolling Meadows Songs About Our Past Vol. 2” (SUNDAY 850). Lastly there’s another tribute to the Wedding Present on Orange Slices. The song “Anyone Can Make a Mistake” gets included in “Dare – A Tribute to the Wedding Present Volume 2” (Citrus 2).

Their last appearance was on “A Sunday Records Compilation” double CDR released in 2019 by Sunday (SUNDAY 1004). The songs they included were “Tomorrow Who Knows” and “Nothing II”.

What else can we find online? Maybe some odd bits of information.

The band only played five gigs. Four out of these gigs were supporting the Fat Tulips.

Then my friend Manolo wrote about them back in 2006 in his blog 360 de Separación. Not much information there but reading his post takes me back to days that so many people were blogging about indiepop. Sad that that’s not the case now.

Not much more info about them. Would be nice to know where were their 5 gigs. And who did they play with the time they didn’t play with the Fat Tulips. Why did this collaboration start? Why did it last so little? Did they write more songs that didn’t end up recorded? Maybe one day we’ll get answers!

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Listen
Confetti – Whatever Became of Alice and Jane

Day 611. Cloudberry goes on vacation starting today. Will try to keep the blog updated but the on the label front I won’t be fulfilling orders until February. Will have a new release then too. I’ll share the news on January!

Thee Terrible Hildas: “Get Surfing!” is the name of this 3-song EP I just discovered on Bandcamp. And it is really good! Released digitally by Kabukikore from New York you end up wanting a physical record for this song. This project seems to be a global project, formed by people from all places including Seattle, Leicester, Krokstadelva (Norway) and Basingstoke. Now, The Chesterfields used to have artwork done by The Terrrible Hildas. Is there a connection there?

The Crooner: Make Me Happy just posted the song “Dew Goddess” by The Crooner. Listening to this track is great. It is perfect for a rainy, cold, day like today. Soothing. Mellow. You understand why The Crooner is one of the best bands ever to come from Athens, Greece.

Mañana el Espacio: the Caracas indiepop band, possibly the only indiepop band in Venezuela (?), has put out a new digital single. Titled “Celebran por Nosotros” which means they celebrate for us, is a fine slice of guitar driven pop. When is this band releasing a record? I feel they have enough songs by now!

The No-Yeahs: a new song from this wonderful project by girlonbus! This is great news. This new track “Plaintive Missive” is amazing, a new favourite for me. Sounds like The Tidy Ups, no? Wow. A bit like Free Loan Investments too. Or The Motifs? This is very very good. I hope it gets a proper release. On top if it all there’s a video for this song too!

Happy Pills:  “Half Asleep” is the new single by this favourite Japanese band of mine. The Fukuoka bedroom-project has been in my radar for so long, always recommending them on my blog. This new song is one of his best, so don’t miss it out!

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I’ve been meaning to write this post for years. I always wondered about the Printing House, who, as far as I know, only released one song back in 2005.

The song was called “The Treachery” and it is so good. I knew the person behind this song was Hewson Chen, who as of late is in the NYC band Lake Ruth. And no, sadly, I have never seen them or meet them, which is kind of odd and sad as I also live in NYC. Just bad timing when they played gigs I guess… bad timing for me…

In any case this project was back in the day. And it does sound different to Lake Ruth. I guess it is a bit closer to another superb band he was in, Vitesse. Oh, I’d love to write about Vitesse too. I like their albums a lot. But this is a good introduction to his music I think.

“The Treachery” was the opening track on a compilation called “The Speed By Which We Fall”  (RR02) that was released by Rollerderby Records. This was a US label that released records by Experimental Aircraft, Rachel Goldstar and licensed South Ambulance’s self-titled album from Labrador.

On this compilation the band appears next to other fine bands including Air Formation, Azalia Snail, Flowchart and Vitesse.

On the compilation there are credits for “The Treachery”. So we know there were two more members in this band, Jenna Alden and Michael Tepper. Jenna had been in The Middletown Creative Orchestra while Discogs doesn’t list any other bands for Michael.

Other bands that Hewson was in include the amazing Alsace Lorraine (I met one of their members once, back in 2007, he told me he was an undertaker… cool!) and The New Lines.

Sadly there is no more info on the web. The song is fantastic, so I hope we learn more details eventually… who knows, maybe they played live? maybe there are more recordings?

Edit: 12/10/2021. Well, my friend David shared with me another song called “Hidden Cities” that seems to be unreleased and dating from sometime around 2005. Not sure where he got it! Anyone knows any info about it?

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Listen
Printing House – The Treachery

Day 609

Heavenly: there are two John Peel Sessions being released on double 7″ vinyl by Precious Recordings! This is great great news! The dates from these sessions are from April 14, 1991, and the other one is from September 7, 1994. Needless to say these are essential records, that no one should miss. I believe the records are out on January 14, so pre-order now!

Jetstream Pony: another essential record for 2021 is the new mini-album by these superb indiepoppers from the UK! Their new album “Misplaced Words” is coming out on November 26 on Shelflife Records who seem to be on a roll this year. I wonder if I will miss this record, as it seems very few copies are left, and it doesn’t make any sense for me to order now as I will be out of town when it is released… hopefully when I’m back I’ll find a copy… CD is fine too.

Massage: and another great record coming up is Massage’s “Lane Lines” which is going to be out on black vinyl on December 1. This one is not that difficult to get a copy I think, 1000 copies pressed, which I thank! You can see I am nervous of missing out many records… so this one seems I’ll be able to get it when I am back. 6 songs, and one that we can preview right now, “In Gray & Blue (Single version)”.

Tallies: a new digital single by this Canadian band is out now. It’s been a while since I’ve heard from them so I am happy to see they are still making music. The new single is called “No Dreams of Fayres” and is being released by Hand Drawn Dracula, a Toronto label.

Crabber: three years after the debut album “Bluesbusters” the German band is releasing their second album “Who Let the Ducks Out?” on the fine Jigsaw Records. The album is out now on CD and includes 10 songs of clever pop!

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After writing about Mrs. Kipling I thought it made a lot of sense to look into other not that well known bands that were on Sunday Records, the fine label from Illinois that our friend Albert ran back in the 90s and that he revived a few years ago with some great releases!

Sundress only released one 7″ single. As mentioned it came out Sunday in 1993. It had the catalog number SUNDAY 031. Three songs were on this record. They were “Give Your Heart Another Day” and “Waiting” on the A side and “Gone” on the B side. The band was formed just by Sarah Brown and Mark D. Sarah writing all of the songs.

Sarah of course is well known for indiepop fans having been in classic bands like Sarah Goes Shopping or the Twa Toots. I have to write about both of these bands soon. I am surprised I haven’t written yet about Sarah Goes Shopping especially but I will make up for it. I have to!

Mark David Randall is also well known for indiepop. He was on our beloved The Fat Tulips.

Sundress  recorded at least one more song called “Changing Colours” that appeared on the CD compilations “Sunny Sunday Smile” (SUNDAY 640) from 1993 and on “A Sunday Records Compilation” double CDR (SUNDAY 1004) from 2019.

The other compilation appearance we know of them is on the 2000 CD compilation “Rolling Meadows Songs About Our Past Vol. 2” (SUNDAY 850) with the song “Gone”.

Looking on the web I find that my friend Alex from 7iete Pulgadas has dedicated some words to them. Of course! He always does. He wrote about them many years ago, in 2008. He mentions that I had written about them… but it was on my old blog… I haven’t written about them on this blog. Yeah, now I know why the feeling of deja vu writing these lines.

Other blog that wrote about them is Manolo’s 360 de Separación. Again no details about the band that we don’t know, like if they released unreleased records, but it is good to know he loved this band. I trust his taste 100% as Manolo Soleado knows his indiepop! His post is from 2006. On the comment section I see a linkback from my old blog. Wow. Those were the days! Now I feel like an island when it comes to indiepop blogs.

The last blog I see that wrote about them is also Spanish. This time it is a post from 2006 on Lito Music. What happened to Lito? I haven’t heard or known about him for ages. Again no more details but Lito shows his love for their music.

Sadly this is all I could find about them. I guess it was a one-off collaboration, but one wonders if there were more recordings. What made Mark and Sarah collaborate? Was there plans for more releases? Did they ever play any gigs together? Questions that would be nice to know answers… in the meantime, I want to remember this wonderful single and Sundress. And ask out there, who remembers them? Who has any more info about them?

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Listen
Sundress – Waiting

Day 607. Remember that this is the last week this year that I will be accepting orders on the label. You can surely find the releases in some fine mailorders like Jigsaw Records later on. I’ll be back on February to release a new record. Just need a little vacation and getting re-energized! This Friday will be the last time I’ll be going to the post office. Just heads up!

Makeout Point: so good to hear that the Swedish band is back! And back in style! That’s because their new song “Summerfall” is really good! It does feel a bit like The Funday Mornings or The Tidy Ups in here… and those are bands I love! I really look forward to more songs by them as they were one of my favourite discoveries some years ago. Top song!

The Umbrella Puzzles: very very limited, 50 copies of the CD EP “False Starts & Mishaps” by this superb project of Ryan Marquez. The CDEP is out now on Melotron Recordings, the fine Greek label that makes beautiful releases.  Four songs are included in this record, all of them terrific solid pop songs.

David Christian: David from Comet Gain shares with us 5 new songs in “Sports Anthems for Wimps + Losers EP”. As we know David has been putting out many songs recorded at home or from the vault, timeless treasures that we are lucky to hear. These songs are no exception.

World of Fox: I don’t know who is behind this project, but here is a 7″ that is so limited, 25 copies, with two covers of The Sea Urchins… “Pristine Christine” and “Sullen Eyes”, both from Sarah 001! The limited lathe cut in handprinted sleeve will be out on January 22 on WIAIWYA but pre-orders are up now.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: it is no surprise that a new album will be released by Glenn Donaldson on January 28. The record is titled “Summer at Land’s End” and so far we can preview one out of 11 songs on Bandcamp. The track available is great, it is called “Don’t Come Home to Soon”. You can pre-order now the vinyl version and the CD version and also some more limited edition versions.

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I should reorder my CD collection. It took me ages to find the compilation “A Chance to Shine” (DORIAN 02) that Dorian Records, the label of Roger Gunnarsson, released back in 1996.

Well, finally found it. It was on the shelves next to the computer I am writing these lines from. So silly.

This compilation has been mentioned in the blog many times before. I have written about some of the bands that have appeared in it like Aquadays, aBLe, Violett and Saliva.

Well, today is the time for The Immediates! Who were they? Let’s try to find out.

The song the band contributed to this compilation was called “Pop Girl” and it is a very nice song. Looking at the Scandinavian Indie mailing list from the 90s I find a nice review of the compilation. When talking about The Immediates track they say: The Immediates‘ “Pop Girl” has apparently been played on the national radio a lot lately. Distorted vocals, trumpets and (always present) electric guitars. They win the lyrics award with: “She’s in love with a Britpop star who doesn’t know she exists, giant posters on the wall makes her father pissed, no matter what they say, she’s my pop girl.” The person behind this June 1996 was Erik Söderström.

On the booklet the song is credited to The Immediates. Now… on Discogs there is another release by the band listed. A 7″ actually. I wasn’t aware of it!

This 7″ that was released by Hit It Productions (HIT 005) came out 4 years before, in 1992. It was a Swedish release, so it may as well be the same band. Let’s say it is. The songs on it are “Trying 2 Burn the Sun” on the A side and “New York City Girl” on the B side. I have never heard these tracks. Quite curious about it. Are these songs good?

On the back cover of the sleeve there’s a photo of the band. Four guys, three of them with glasses. The front cover is just white, with the name of the band on the right side. There seems to be some insert with more information.

According to it the band was formed by Anders, Claes, Peffe and Egon. No last names. Though on the labels we find two, Eriksson and Lundberg. Whose last names were these from?

A little detective work and I find that it is Egon Ehom Lundberg (bass). The other band members last names are Anders Eriksson (guitars and vocals), Claes Isacson (drums). Peffe was on keyboards but don’t know his last name. This info is thanks to a video I found on Youtube of the band playing “New York City Girl” maybe from a rehearsal studio?

This same account has more videos. There is a promo video for “Trying to Burn the Sun“! Wow, in the end I know that these songs are good. Especially this one! This is a great single. Great find indeed!

And lastly there’s another video, of the band playing on an onstage contest in Piteå in 1993. There they play the song “It’s Gonna Be Alright“. I think I am pretty confident to say the band hailed from Piteå!

Looking at the videos I can say that Egon was later in many bands like The Shanes, Steel, Blues Moose, Rumble Fish, 7th Sign and Tower of Stone. Not sure about the rest of the members… but we know that Claes drummed on  Tower of Stones though I don’t think he was a full-time member.

And that’s it! Good information. Found more than what I expected! Anyone remember them? I think they must be the first Piteå band I write about, maybe some locals have good anecdotes about those early 90s and them?

EDIT: Turns out that the Dorian compilation The Immediates was a project of Roger Gunnarsson. So yeah, two different bands here. I wrote about two different The Immediates, both from Sweden, both from around the same time. I leave the post as is, but notice this important fact!

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Listen
The Immediates – Pop Girl

Day 604

Seablite: the ace Seablite will be back on Emotional Response Records with a new 7″ that is to be released on January 1st! Happy New Year! The single will include two songs, “Breadcrumbs” and “Ink Bleeds”, and right now we can preview the first one on Bandcamp. And you’ll notice immediately that this one is a goodie. So yeah, this record seems like a good way to start the year!

Boyracer: and checking at other releases I might have missed on Emotional Response I discover the “Bulletproof EP” by the legendary Boyracer. This EP includes “Bulletproof” that was in the “Assuaged” album plus 3 exclusive songs, one of them a cover of Nocturnal Projections. The EP is out now as a cassette. As usual, Boyracer delivers!

Young Guv: “III” is the new album by Young Guv. That was an easy introduction. I had previously recommended the project of Ben Cook and his previous releases. This time around his new record will be out on January 11 on the Hand Drawn Dracula label from Toronto. The record is coming out on vinyl and will include 11 songs. We can preview just one so far, “Lo Lo Lonely”, so we’ll have to be patient to listen to the rest!

Jim Shepherd: wow! The Jasmine Minks member has just put up on his Soundcloud 3 songs he recorded back in 1988 on his own. These are “The Landlord”, “Something Missing” and “Must We?”. These are great. You wonder how many more superb songs waiting to be re-discovered he must have in his cupboard.

Hank Idory: “Sentimental Jamboree”  I am guessing will be a new album on Pretty Olivia Records. There is just one song available to listen on the label’s Bandcamp and is called “Nadie Sabe Nada”. This is a sweet song, really pretty. Sadly there’s no info about the band or the release. I guess that is coming up soon? Maybe we went ahead and recommended this too early?

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Been a while since I checked the Youtube channel of stoneeyedkiller. There are usually some great pop songs there by obscure bands, many that I have never heard about.  The latest discovery for me there is the band Godfish.

The song is called “Pencils” and it seems it was released in 1989. Aside from that there is no other information. There is no photo either. Clearly it has proven difficult to the person behind this Youtube account to find more details. The good thing is that the song is a lovely slice of jangle. Can I find any more details about them?

Well I find the song on another account. The account is by Timothy Groves who was the drummer of Godfish. The other band members were Andy Davies on vocals and guitar and Kevin Hutchins on bass. This particular song seems to date from 1985 according to this account! Also it mentions it was recorded at DTS Studios in Rochester and was written by Kevin Hutchins.

A comment says that the band hailed from Gillingham. I’ve been to Rochester but never to Gillingham.

Gillingham is a large town in the county of Kent in South East England. For local government purposes it is in the unitary authority of Medway. Gillingham means a “homestead of Gylla’s family”, from Old English ham (“village, homestead”) and ingas (“family, followers”), and was first recorded in the 10th century as Gyllingeham. The town’s name is pronounced with a soft ‘g’ (as in ‘ginger’), compared to the hard ‘g’ (as in ‘girl’) used for Gillingham, Dorset and Gillingham, Norfolk.

On his account it is the only song he has uploaded of his old band. But then on Soundcloud he also has an account. There you can find “Pencils” but also another song, “Heaven Calls“.

Now, we do some memory. Right, I know this Soundcloud! I wrote about another of Tim Groves’ bands! I wrote about Yellow Bird some months ago. Why didn’t I check his band Godfish then? I was planning to write about Spinning Belinda and I still haven’t done so. Maybe that should be my next post. On that post I mention many of the bands he had been in like The Ultra Parents, The Gemms, Big Humming Noise, The Direction and Scuz.

Right. He was involved in many nice indiepop bands. How come there were no proper records? How come these songs and bands are this obscure? Would be great to know!

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Listen
Godfish – Pencils

++ You also worked with the great Bart Cummings of The Cat’s Miaow on a song called “Ano Neko”. How was working with him?

I and Masako loved their 7 inches. A simple and accurate ensemble with a necessary and sufficient melody in a short song. And an unobtrusive but wonderful experimental spirit!
When Bart Cummings came to Japan and played live with us, he played the guitar in Akifumi’s room.

Day 602. Reminder that in a week time I will stop orders for about to month, until February. Please place your orders now if there are any records you’d like. Upon we return next year there will be a new release! More info on it very soon!

The Legendary Hearts: this is really amazing! A Christmas single by the Scottish legends! “Cold Christmas” is included in a new 7″ that they have just released. This 7″ which is actually a split with The Sacred Angels is among the best I’ve heard this year. Also, I got the 7″ already and I have to say it sounds superb. Released by the band’s own Surfin’ Pict Records, the label that they’ve used to put out classic pop since the 80s, the single is one not to be missed. The Sacred Angels song is very good as well! I think this is a one-off band, but they know how to make a fine song! Best Christmas single so far!

Hits: this is a difficult name for a band. I wonder how can people google for info about Hits? Well, who knows! But their “Cielo Nublado” LP seems to be doing well. Released by Paisley Shirt Records from San Francisco, the Oakland trio released this album back in September. It is a nice mix of post-punk and pop. It works really well here. So check it out!

En Mi Mente: now a dreampop band from Chihuahua, Mexico. This project by Alan Aviles, a 24 year old chavo, has just released their latest digital single “Girasolestelar”. It is a fine jangly upbeat song, with somewhat buried vocals and ace melodies.

Dream Room: another dreampop band. Another digital single. This one seems to be the only song available by this Melbourne based band. From a photo on their Bandcamp it seems to be a 3-piece, one of them wearing a Newcastle United jersey. Not much more info. The single is called “Ride” and it sounds good.

Hidden Pears: as usual my friend David Chalé finds the bestest obscure Swedish pop. Who are Hidden Pears? Who knows. The one thing we know is that their Soundcloud has a bunch of demos that are really nice. Feels like going back in time to the heyday of Swedish bedroom pop circa 2004. Wow! So good, check “Vackrast Som Vän” if you want to start by one of the songs. Really nice!

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Another band I’ve tried to interview with no luck. You know, it happens more often than not. But I still want to recommend this fine Sheffield band that in 1993 released their one and only record, a 7″ on the American label Sunday Records.

“Change EP” came out that year. It had the catalog number Sunday 023 and included 4 songs, two on each side. “Hurts Me to Think” and “Change” on the A side and “Sha La La” and “Rainy Afternoon” on the B side. The sleeve is printed on a tone of purple, it looks like a statue. Perhaps from a cemetery? Who’d know?

This record is probably among the first records I had. I can’t remember when I bought it but it was early on when I started buying records. I always liked their sound.

The four songs were recorded in March of 93 at Epichead Studios in Sheffield. The engineer was Matt Robson from the band Slumber while the songs were mastered by L. Nix.

The band was formed by Julian Arthur on bass, Adam Ash on drums, James Wood on guitar, Kirsty McGee on vocals and guitar and Mark Wainwright on guitar. I have met Mark many times as he was part of the fantastic band The Parallelograms who released a 7″ and a 3″ with Cloudberry. He was also in The Total Rejection.

Kirsty McGee had been in Slumber and Kirsty McGee & the Hobopop Collective. And yeah, speaking of Slumber I should prepare a post about them as well. She has become a renowned folk singer and even has her own Wikipedia page!

Aside from the 7″ songs the band recorded some more for different compilations.

“Take Me Back to Heaven” appeared on the 9″ flexi “Happy Sunday (A Sunday Records Anniversary Single)” (Sunday 021) in 1993. That same year they appeared on the classic compilation “The Sound of Music (An Anti Racist Benefit)” that Bring on Bull Records (C233) released on CD and vinyl. Here they did a version of “Lonely Goatherd” from the movie The Sound of Music of course.

1993 also sees them appear on “Sunny Sunday Smile” (Sunday 640) a Sunday Records compilation on CD that included two of their songs, “She Wasn’t In” and “Bent Backwards”. 7 years later, in 2000, there is a second volume, “Sunny Sunday Smile Volume 2” (Sunday 880) where the band contributes two more songs “Human After All” and “Mrs. Kipling”.

One thing that I wonder is if their name had a period after Mrs or not. I’ve seen it both ways. I wonder what was their preferred way. Also, where does their name come from?

“Rainy Afternoon” appears on “Rolling Meadows Songs About Our Past Vol. 2” (Sunday 850) another CD compilation released by Sunday Records on the year 2000.

Lastly, in 2018, when Sunday Records came back from a long hiatus, their songs “Take Me Back to Heaven” and “Waiting” get included in the compilation “Songs About Our Past Vol. 3” (Sunday 970).

I look for more info about them on the web and the information is scarce. I notice my friend Alex from 7iete Pulgadas recommended the single back in 2011. He doesn’t have any extra details but he does some dead-on comparisons of the band to the likes of Marine Girls, The Carousel, The Popguns or Moving Pictures.

I don’t have much more to say. Maybe one day we’ll learn more about them. Why there weren’t more records? Did they gig a lot? Are there more unreleased tracks? Who knows… maybe some of you remember them?

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Listen
Mrs Kipling – Change

Day 600

Las Infrarrojas: this greeat Madrid four-piece is back with a new record! It is a 7″ titled “Las Infrarrojas & Indy Tumbita” that includes 4 new songs (in English and Spanish) of superb pop! The record is out now on Hurrah! Música.

Fawns of Love: Sunday Records keeps releasing great music. The latest is a CD album by this husband-and-wife duo from California. Jenny and Joseph Andreotti here presents us “Innocence of Protection”, their third album. This time around we can preview the first, self-titled, track on the label’s Bandcamp and it is ace!

Laundromat Chicks: we check back with Vienna popsters Laundromat Chicks. It has been a while since we heard from them and thought it was time to see what news they had on their Bandcamp. I find out that they put out a new song, “It Must Be the Stars”, last month. Oh! and it is good. Great jangly lo-fi pop.

Useless Youth: I will be in Mexico soon and I wonder if I’ll be able to see live this band. Whenever I am there there are no good gigs. Maybe one day I’ll be lucky. Just a few days ago Cariño played in Mexico City. But yeah, I missed them by a few weeks. Anyways, “Verano 2017” is the bands latest song, a dreamy sweet melodic song. Really nice.

Melody Charade: and I end up today’s recommendation from a band from the next county of mine. From Brooklyn comes this duo and their first release “Sky Like This”. 3 songs of dreampop. 3 solid songs. I especially enjoy the eponymous track, “Sky Like This”, with some super vocals and melodies.

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Many remember Moira Margaret Lambert as the vocals on Saint Etienne’s wonderful cover of Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”. This song ended up in the UK Top 40 and number 1 on the US Hot Dance charts. This was released in 1990 and then well, the story is well known as Sarah Cracknell became the vocalist of Saint Etienne.

But what happened to Moira? Well, she was in another band that maybe many don’t know about: Faith Over Reason.

This band released two albums and three EPs in the early 90s, all of them on the label Big Cat which was based in London.

According to her Wikipedia page she grew up in Africa (where in Africa it doesn’t say). There she learned to play guitar and later moved to the UK. While in the UK she got into The Smiths and other indie bands of the time. She would then study at the Conservatory of Music and eventually would sign with Big Cat. She would end up touring the UK with Lush and Slowdive, and Europe with Jeff Buckley and Heather Nova (she contributed backing vocals to this band’s first recordings).

Then she would work with Paul Oakenfold in his project Grace, co-wrriting the hit “Skin on Skin”. Afterwards Moira would form Ova, but that would last just one single. Then she would collaborate with some obscure electronica collectives like Freeloader and Data. She worked with the band Tram too doing backing vocals.

In 2002 she moved to Canada, to Victoria (what a lovely town that is, I visited once for a day, and was impressed). There she would release her solo album in 2006 titled “Coming Up Roses”. She would work and write theme music for “Survival of the Fittest: Stories from the West Coast Trail” for Fox.

A second solo album would be released in 2008.

But yeah, Faith Over Reason. Was the band around the same time as Saint Etienne? I think so, the first release from Faith Over Reason date from 1990.

This was the self-titled EP that had four songs, “Believing in Me” and “Northern Sky” on the A side and “Fallen” and “Evangeline” on the AA side. This record had catalog number ABB17 and was produced and recorded by Barry Clempson. It is worth noting that “Northern Sky” was a cover of Nick Drake. The art is credited to Style Bandits and the photography to Patrick Gilbert.

Then came another release. It was the “Billy Blue” EP that was released on both CD and 12″ vinyl. This was catalog number ABB 23. Four songs were included in this record, “Billy Blue” and “Ice Queen” on the A side and “High in the Sun” and “Move Closer” on the B side. The producer was Barry Clempson. The photography on the back of the sleeve is credited to Greg Freeman.

That same year the band appeared on the sampler flexi “Big Cat Records Flexi” (CAT086). On it they contributed the song “Sophia” which was the first song on the B side. This sampler came with the magazine “The Catalogue”, on its 86th issue. The other bands on the flexi were Steroid Maximus, The Beyond and Edith Strategy.

After this release, in 1991, the band went to release a collection of demos that were recorded between 1990 and 1991, “Eyes Wide Smile”. Again released as a CD and vinyl (ABB27), the record had 9 songs. The songs were “Lullaby (Mother Love)”, “Sofya”, “So Free”, “Northern Sky” and “Song for Jessica” on the A side and “Evangeline”, “Not So”, “Eyes Wide Smile” and “Fallen” on the B side. These songs had been recorded by Paul, Pete and Barry at Madhouse and Gooseberry.

Then we have to jump to 1994. Then we see the band release the “Blind EP” on 12″ vinyl and CD. Four songs again, “Blind” and “Easy on Me” on the A side and “Love is Blind” and “Come”. And just after they release the album “Easy” (ABB63). Again on vinyl and CD. You must assume that the label had money to be releasing on these formats and getting Stephen Malkmus to produce the record. The songs here were “Blind”, “Unsure”, “Too Soon”, “Love is Blind”, “Alone Again” and “I’ve Been Told” on the A side and “Let the Sun In”, “Work Hard”, “Half Asleep”, “So Slow”, “My Own Child” and “Some Things”. It is worth noting too that there was a promo video for the song “Blind”

In 1994 the band also contributes the song “Blind” tot a CD compilation called “The Big Cat Five” (RTD 131.1856.2). This was released by Rough Trade in Germany. The same release would be released with a different name, “Various Big Cats – Whisker A Go-Go”, in 1995 by Caroline Records (CARPRO 4) in Spain.

The only other band member name that Discogs gives us is that of Bill Lloyd, on bass and keyboards and is known for his work on Placebo. He was also on Tram. AllMusic has the names of the other band members, on guitar we find Simon Roots and on drums Mark Wilsher. Roots would leave the band and would be replaced by Tebo Steele in 1993. In 1995 Steele and Lloyd left the band but it seems Moira continued with it and even recruited Patch, The Sundays’ drummer, to work on new material. Was this material ever released?

Not much more written on the web about them, but yeah, they left some nice shoegazy, dreamy songs, were on a label that seems had enough means to promote them, but somehow they seem to be forgotten. Who remembers them?

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Listen
Faith Over Reason – So Free