Day 553

The Hepburns: I recommended the single “The Other Side of Grey” last Friday. Now it is time to recommend the album! “Architecture of the Ages”, will be released on October 15. It is on Elefant and will be out on CD and vinyl. So far we can only listen to the single, but we know that this collaboration with Estella Rosa of Nah… will include 10 songs in total. I really can’t wait. It is a bit pricey for us in the US, so I am hoping my friend Chris at Jigsaw Records will get us copies!

The Lodger: a new single by The Lodger! This is great news. The Leeds band which was a true favourite in the past with songs like “The Good Old Days”, “Many Thanks for Your Honest Opinion”, or “Let Her Go”, is back with “Bewildered”. Not too long ago, in March, the band released a new album “Cul de Sac of Love” which I need to get. I’ve been slow on this one. But as I have their other records, sooner or later I’ll complete the collection.

Fern Murphy: now another digital single, “2009” by Fern Murphy. The band that hails from Indianapolis likes to make some breezy dreampop/shoegaze without losing a pop edge. The song that clocks over 6 minutes doesn’t feel long. It is a lovely trip over sweet melodies.

Finlay Hatton: one more. “Far Apart” is the last digital single by Finlay Hatton from Birmingham. This is shoegaze. This song will be included in “A Silver Lining” which will be the project’s second album.

Smol Fish: and we end this Wednesday review with this Melbourne four piece. “Sooky La La” is the name of the debut EP of Smol Fish. 6 songs of melodic pop. Some songs are really nice like “Shoes” or “Sad Girl Summer”.

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I’ve been going through lots of Soundcloud accounts, looking for indiepop gems from the late 80s and early 90s. Not easy of course, but now and then you can stumble upon some nice tracks.

“Mary Jane” by The Calender Dream is one. Uploaded by Robyn Gibson, it seems this was his band in the early 90s. He played guitar and vocals in the band. His other band members were Howard Fairey on vocals, Ian Parr on guitar and vocals, Joe Bentley on organ, Dan English on bass and John Waddington on drums.

The song seems to have been part of a demo tape that included more songs. Sadly the rest of songs are not on Soundcloud. Would be great if they were. But I am not holding my hopes up. The upload of “Mary Jane” dates of two years ago as well as the rest of songs Robyn has added to his channel.

The song “Mary Jane” is labeled as a 1991 demo. Robyn had found a reel to reel tape in his attic and actually scanned the list of songs that were on it. They are: “Pale Blue Sun”, “Liquid”, “Organ Disciple”, “Long Long Road”, “Down Went My Life”, “With You”, “Mary Jane (We All Love)”, “The Beautiful End”, “Captain Blues”, “Take Hold of the Light” and “The End”. These songs had been engineered by Alan Jenkins of Cordelia Records.

Robyn seems to like playing covers of classic songs. You’ll find a bunch of them in his Soundcloud including a version of The Dentists’ “Strawberries are Growing in My Garden“.

Then I stumble upon a much more updated Bandcamp by his band The BOTP Band. Here there are many releases but nothing by The Calender Dream. One thing that I do notice is that he is based in Leicester.

Then a release on Discogs! “Captain Blues” which was released on CD and 12″ vinyl by the label Little Caesar (001). NO date for this release though. The four song EP had “Captain Blues” and “This Long Long Road” on the A side and “Across the Sun” and “I’ll Think of Something” on the B side. On this record Stewart Green was the bassist. Might this label be their own label? The label has no other releases listed but The Calender Dream one.

Thanks to Discogs I know some other bands they had been involved with. Joe Bentley played in Jason & the Angrynotes, The Creams, Emmanuel, Polar Bear, Elmore Judd, 4hero and Simon Bookish. Stewart Green has been in The Vandells. John Waddington played in The Ammonites, The Pop Group, U-BahnX, Maximum Joy, Playgroup and Perfume. Howard Fairey played in The Creams. And Robyn Gibson played in Ambrose Tompkins, Immediate, Ruth’s Refrigerator, The Ammonites, The BOTP Band, The Bowbridge Band, The Chrystanthemums, The Creams, The Junipers and Watch 44.

Wow The Ammonites! I interviewed them long time ago and at some point there was plans to release a compilation on Plastilina Records. My partner in that label was awful about it, and didn’t help get it released even though I had compiled and done the artwork for it. I had many similar moments in that label and that’s why I quit. It was proving difficult to work with him. Sadly this release never happened and it is something I feel bad about all the time. Maybe one day there will be a way to retry doing this, though probably the band wouldn’t be happy to try to do this again with me. Totally understandable. But I do hope it does get released someday, by whichever label. Some great songs they had.

That’s what I could find about The Calender Dream. I haven’t heard any other songs. I’ve read them described as a shoegaze band. Maybe in the record they release their sound was more shoegaze? I’d have to find out. The song on Soundcloud is a fine indiepop song. I hope we’ll get to listen to the rest of songs someday! In the meantime I’ll try to track their one and only release!

Who remembers them?

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Listen
The Calender Dream – Mary Jane