Yesterday was a good night. Since the pandemic started I hadn’t been to a gig. Yesterday was the end of that streak. I went to Brooklyn, to The Knitting Factory to see Madrid’s Cariño.
I went a bit late, wasn’t that keen on the opening bands. I had beers as usual and didn’t know anyone in the crowd. That always surprises me about NYC, you assume you’ll see the same people at an indiepop gig but that never happens.
Cariño had their fans, mostly Latin Americans and Spanish. But there were also American fans who seemed knew their lyrics, that was quite fantastic.
The band played their brand of fun electronic pop. The three-piece were playing the last gig of their North/South America tour that included stops in Santiago, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Coachella, Chicago, San Francisco. They said they were traveling back to Spain today. A whole month of gigging.
The songs were fun fun fun. They are catchy and know how to put a smile on your face. My favourite is the dancey “Bisexual” but there’s a ton to choose. And they will have an album coming out next week.
I got to chat with the band. Take a photo. And also got the “Movidas” record signed. They thought this record was a relic. I was surprised by this. Well, not so anymore, was looking on Discogs and the highest price paid for it is $150. That’s crazy.
I do want the new records they have on the Sonido Muchacho label but their shipping costs are too much. Unreal even. They are not the price the Spanish post office charges in my experience. So don’t know how to get them yet. The band didn’t bring any as they were scared of customs taking them. Understandable.
Anyhow, I had a superb night, and it felt good to go out and catch a band. I hope this happens more often. Say Sue Me was next week but they postponed their gig.
Mr. and Mrs. Muffins: the latest on the Japanese Blue-Very Label is the album “The Manhattan Slide and Other Songs for Dream Dancing” by this Seattle duo. The record will be available on vinyl in July has 11 songs, all which you can preview on Bandcamp. One of the songs, “A Rainy Interlude” features the great Louis Philippe in it. It’s a very nice record of “luxurious” pop as they describe it.
Gorgeous Bully: “Am I Really Going to Die Here” is the name of the tape album this Manchester project is releasing on May 6. The album, recorded at home in Stretford, has 11 tracks. 3 of the songs, “Sick of Everything”, “Something in the Air” and “Wasted” are available to preview as of now. They are nice bedroom pop songs, but definitely the better one is the opening track, “Sick of Everything”.
The Ashenden Papers: I have recommended many times in the past this great California project by Jason Dezember. His latest release, from last month, is a four song EP titled “Winter”. The songs are bright, sunny, and truly lovely. Crafted with care and pop sensibility. Two of the songs on this EP will appear on the band’s forthcoming LP.
Popboomerang: this was sad news, that Popboomerang from Australia was calling it a day. The label that released tons of classic pop records decided it was time to go, and we totally understand it. To say a final goodbye they have put a compilation called “Marching Out of Time” (named after the Killjoys song) that includes tracks by so many amazing bands including The Steinbecks, Little Murders, The Killjoys, Jane Vs World Nick Batterham and more!
Persica 3: I have to go through Hidden Bay’s latest releases. There’s a few I’ve missed checking out. “Tangerine” the tape released by Persica 3 in March is already sold out. But at least we can play it many times online I guess. 7 songs of wistful pop by this one-man project by Léo Dubois.
—————————————————————–
Following the lead of stoneeyedkiller I find a Soundcloud account with a handful of songs by thee late 80s band The Mortimers.
It doesn’t say who is behind this band. The account username is Lulumonde. An alias of course. He does mention that he had been making music since 1986. That he had written, recorded and performed since that year. And most interestingly he was the bassist for several bands including The Mortimers, Cigarette, Mr Potatohead and The Mighty Chopper Squad.
The account says that he is based in York, UK. Hopefully he didn’t move recently. Hopefully I can assume The Mortimers hailed from York or some town close.
There are 5 songs by The Mortimers, all of them dating from 1989: “Carry On”, “On With the Show”, “Tragic Rise in Self Destruction (Wave it Thankfully Goodbye)”, “That’s Fine With Me” and “Child on a Swing”.
According to Discogs the Mighty Chopper Squad, the band mentioned in the quick bio, hailed from Manchester and was a remix team that featured three out of five members of the band The Space Monkeys. If that’s the case, and looking at who was the bass player in The Space Monkeys, Dom Morrison, is it safe to assume it was Dom who was behind The Mortimers? I can’t say for sure. I guess it is the best guess I can make.
Other than that I couldn’t find any information about the band. Any details will be appreciated.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
