Fell: on December 2nd, Lost Map Records from Scotland, are releasing “Mallows Marsh” the new album by the London combo Fell. The album is coming out on CD, limited to 100 copies. There’s the one song we can preview, “We Could do Anything”, out of the 10 included in the record, and it sounds really good.
Ballboy: continuing with Lost Map Records it is great to know that they are re-releasing on vinyl the classic album “Club Anthems 2001” that was only available on CD until now. This superb record by the Edinburgh band included their earlier EPs, and on this reissue they are including also the follow-up EP “All the Songs on the Radio are Shite” that came out in 2002, to make this a 16-track album! Lots of classic songs here including “Donald in the Bushes With a Bag of Glue” or “Dumper Truck Racing”.
DOT: cool to discover a band from Little Rock, Arkansas. Don’t think I’ve heard a band from there before. DOT makes some wonderful punky pop and you can enjoy it in their latest EP, released on tape I believe, called “Welcome to the Dotosphere”. The band is formed by Melanie, Jordan and Spero.
Blues Lawyer: one of the best discoveries for me in the last year was Blues Lawyer from Oakland, California. They just make perfect pop and it surprises no one has offered them a record release yet. If labels like YAY! Records still existed to this day… they would have made a great home for them. “I Don’t Mind” is their latest release, and it is a wonderful rendition of the original Buzzcocks song!
The Sweetest Touch: and last but not least today is The Sweetest Touch, one of the best current pop bands in Indonesia. They have just released another romper, “Perfect Sky”, which is a 5-song EP. It is out now digitally on Guerrilla Records and I recommend checking them out!
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One more from the wonderful WokingSoundscene Soundcloud archive!
J.C. Regulator was formed by Kev Billing on bass, Dick(ie) Earll on drums and Bruno Skrastins on guitar vocals. The band was based in Aldershot/Farnham and started under the name The Johnson County Regulators in 1992.
The early band lineup had another member, Edwin Barnes on guitar and vocals. They used to rehearse at the Workhouse Rehearsal Studios in Aldershot and at some point they decided to shorten their name. Barnes was an important part of the band, he wrote the lyrics and had worked in A&R at Blast First Records in London. Thanks to this and his contacts the band supported the US band Band of Susans.
Prior to these gigs the band played their first two gigs, on December 4th and on the 30th of 1992. The first one was at the Fox & Hounds in Fleet while the second one was at The George in Ash. The band that played with them those gigs was Eskimo Shah.
After 8 gigs and recording their first 3 song demo tape their hopes of signing to Blast First Records wasn’t happening. So the band went to Washouse Studios in Brighton with Andy Neal to record more songs.
At this point there were problems with the band, Earll wanted to leave and the band folded for a few months after a charity gig at Farnham Art College on May 15 of 1993. In August Billing, Skrastins and Earll reunited to jam at The Workhouse and decided to reform.
On October 30 the band was recording again. In 1994 the band was gigging steadily with the likes of Suck Henry, Who Moved the Ground?, Big Boy Tomato and Serious Plankton.
In early 1995 the band released the “Sold as Seen” demo cassette EP which had been recorded at the Washhouse with Jah Neille (Andy Neal).
In April 1995 the band went on a 12-day tour in Germany and Poland with Who Moved the Ground? Interesting enough, just before leaving the UK the bands’ van got into an accident but Billing managed to buy at a very short notice a black and yellow Bedford. This car would die 8 miles from the German/Swiss border when they were approaching Zurich for their final gig on the tour. The gig would end up being canceled and the band flew back to the UK.
Other details we know is that the band supported Satellite Beach with DC Rhino at the Aldershot West End Centre.
In 1998 the band went into hiatus. But they would return the next year, 1999, with Paul Mackenzie on drums. Towards the end of that year the band went to Studio 125 in Burgess Hill, Sussex, to record a 16 track album called “The Wyoming Cattle Wars (and other short stories)”. Sadly this album was never released.
Some of the tracks of the album would end up on compilations.
The band continued gigging in 2001, with regular appearances at the West End Centre and The Shed. In 2002 the band’s original drummer Earll rejoined and Patrick James Sullivan joined the band as lead guitar. Sullivan had been in bands like West One, Blue Velvet and Ghandarva.
On April 13 of 2002 the new lineup debuted supporting Vex Red with Midwire and others at The Big Day in the Civic Hall of Guildford. A few weeks later the band played at The Verge in Camdem.
That same year the band announced a 4-track vinyl EP that they were organizing for the Bucket & Spade Experience Tour. Sadly this release never happened.
But what did happen were their compilation appearances.
So…
Their song “Go For It” was included in 1995’s “Farnborough Groove Strikes Back! (Volume 5)” compilation tape. The next year, “Paradise Found” was on “The Best Farnborough Groove in the World – Ever! (Volume 6) cassette comp. Lastly in 2001, on “Farnborough Groove Farm Volume 9” they had “Mandy”.
Other than the Farnborough compilations they had the song “There’s Always One” on the German label Meller Welle Produkte (MEL 25) in 1996. The compilation was called “25 – A Silver Jubilee”. I discovered this band thanks to this CD comp.
The band also covered “Leaving on a Jetplane” which was included in “Snakebite’s Coming Home” compilation.
Also read that “Barry & Cody Live in Leeds”, Vis The Spoon’s debut poetry album, featured a specially commissioned electronic reworking of a J.C. Regulator track from the Snakebite City compilations.
On the Facebook page for Soundscene there is a bio, where I based this text from, and also lots of flyers and photos. From them I find a few more details.
The band’s gig in Warsaw, at the Kino Teatr Tecza, included Who Moved the Ground? and the band Sanctus Iuda. At the Snakebite City New Years Eve Party! at the West End Centre the band played with Ex Boyfriends, Inter, Breaker and Cornered. Another gig at the West End Centre in 1997 I believe saw the band support Animals That Swim with Twister.
Then we find the tracklist for the “Sold as Seen” demo tape. The songs on it were “There’s Always One”, “New Horizons”, “Paradise Found”, “Sometimes (Big Drum Remix)” and “Submarine”.
And that’s what I have found. Who remembers them? And who knows if that vinyl release ever came out? Are there other demo tapes?
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