Finally, having a look at the Indietracks announcements. A bit late, almost a month late. It was on March 1st that the organizers let the first batch of bands out. At the time I was in Madrid, attending Popfest, so didn’t give it an in-depth look but I got the impression that it was kind of the same old. Now, with fresh eyes I will try to see if that first impression was right, or not.

You know I’ve been critical of the festival for the past few years. They haven’t topped earlier lineups were it was indeed Indiepop paradise. The last few years we see repeated bands again and again and bands that are not indiepop at all. To give the festival some credits they did change their motto quietly from an “indiepop festival” to a “DIY festival”. So sure, now they can do whatever they want and that’s fair. But as I come from the old school, the people that attended the “indiepop years”, I will look at the lineup under that light.

British Sea Power, Honeyblood, The Lovely Eggs, Dream Wife, Girl Ray and Sacred Paws are among 35 artists confirmed today for this year’s Indietracks festival.

So, let’s start. These are the headliners. British Sea Power is a big band, don’t need any introduction and of course we know they are not indiepop, so I will skip. The Lovely Eggs, well, they are a repeat, so I’m sure you all are familiar with them. The only band of the three that I’ve never heard before is Honeyblood.

Honeyblood:  I look for them on the web, and found a Bandcamp of Brighton-based label Fatcat Records, where the self-titled album is available for streaming. There are 12 songs penned by the duo formed by two Scottish girls, singer/guitarist Stina Tweeddale and drummer Shona McVicar. The first album seems was released back in 2014, so not new at all, maybe they have something else out? I should check. They do sound all right, a bit like hipster indiepop, in the vein of Dum Dum Girls. Noisy, with girl vocals, having the dream of becoming mainstream perhaps. Then I find their second album, “Babes Never Die”, on the same Bandcamp and it is similar to the first album. But it seems after that release their sound has changed a bit, their latest single seems to be “Walking at Midnight” and it has a video on Youtube. And this might be my least favourite song of the few I’ve heard by them.

Dream Wife: another band from that first sentence by Indietracks that I don’t know. I find their songs and press play. And I hear shouts. I’m not a fan of shouty music aside from a few exceptions. It gets a bit on my nerve. I think to myself that maybe it is only the first song, “Let’s Make Out”, that is shouty. So I give it another shot, now I play the second song “Somebody” from their self-titled album. To be honest this is much much better! I have some hope maybe. But then I continue playing the album and it continues, all the shouting, ending up on “F.U.U.” which is a scream-fest. Not for me.

Sacred Paws: I found a Bandcamp with two lo-fi recordings. They don’t sound very good. I do notice that the two members used to be in the very fine band Golden Grrrls. So there must be something good about them, it can’t just be these two demos. On Youtube I find the video for “Everyday“, and I do enjoy the guitars! And yes, this is a great song with handclaps and a bit of a party/beach vibe. There’s another video available, for “Strike a Match“, this will give me confirmation that I like the band or not. Again the cool fun guitars. Okay, I can like this one. First point for team Indietracks. Good choice.

Girl Ray: many friends are fans of this band, so I am quite curious to see what I think of their music. Well, it sounds nice. Perhaps I was hoping for something else, don’t know why, but I thought they were going to be more upbeat and packed with hooks, maybe because of the name? Instead they have a 60s vibe, they are mellow, and sweet. Poppy, Sophie and Iris comprise this North London trio that have released a few records in their short lifetime. Could work well at the church I think.

The above artists are joined by Darren Hayman (playing ‘Breaking God’s Heart’), Even As We Speak, Haiku Salut, Onsind, The Smittens, Anna Burch, Boyracer, Night Flowers and Eureka California.

Those are the next bands announced, the “big names” after the headliners. Darren Hayman seems to play every single Indietracks that is already getting boring. Onsind I don’t like at all and they are a repeat. The Smittens, another repeat. Night Flowers, I think are ace, but another repeat. Eureka California, yet another repeat. Did they run out of ideas? Haiku Salut  another repeat. This is no fun.

Of course the two bands that thrill everyone are Even as We Speak and Boyracer. Two brilliant bands from the indiepop heyday are playing the festival. I would go and see them. Totally. EAWS I saw at NYC Popfest and were the best that year. Boyracer I’ve never seen, but I wish I could. But then, these two bands need no introduction, they were part of Sarah Records and are in the “legendary” status of indiepop bands. Classics. So I have to move on. What about then Anna Burch? Never heard her music.

Anna Burch: “Tea-Soaked Letter” is the first song I play, there’s a promo video for this song, and I’m immediately hooked. It is good! What do I learn from Anna on the web? She is based in Detroit, so no, not British, so definitely a good expense by the festival. She releases records through Polyvinyl Records, just like everyone darlings Alvvays. Her last effort, the album “Quit the Curse”, was released last month and it is already sold out in its vinyl version. It is available still on CD and tape. On her Bandcamp you can order the record and also stream it all. And after listening to it on a whole, I must say that the first song I ever heard by her, “Tea-Soaked Letter”, is the best. Well, it is the jangliest and indiepoppiest. What can I say.

There are more bands announced by Indietracks (Happy Accidents, Let’s Whisper, Wolf Girl, Just Blankets, Dream Nails, Mikey Collins, Sink Ya Teeth, Tugboat Captain, The Baby Seals, Life Model, Cat Apostrophe, Strange New Places, Melenas, Panic Pocket, French Boutik, Ghum, Rebecka Reinhard, Tekla, Whitelands and The Sunset Beach Hut) but as I like to keep at 5 reviews a post, they’ll need to wait until next posts.

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I ordered the only 7″ I know by Daisy Age just a few days ago. Then I thought that it could be a good obscure French band to feature here after quite a long brainstorming. Yes, I’m trying to be more international on the blog, not just cover bands from the UK.

I must say that I know very little about this band so this is a good exercise, an opportunity, to find out more. So where to start? Maybe the name? Does it have any connection with De La Soul? Their first album by Long Island hip hop band “3 Feet High and Rising” introduced the concept of the “D.A.I.S.Y. Age” (an acronym standing for “da inner sound, y’all”). As a result, audiences were quick to peg the members of De La Soul as hippies. Could that be it? Or is there another reason for the name? Or it is just a nod to the hippies in general?

We do know that the band released one 7″ in 1994 on the label Disco 2000 (catalog Disco 2002). This was a label based in Toulouse which was run by someone called Stéphane. The 7″ had two songs on each side. The A side had “L’Imprévu” and “Hier” and the B side had “Ce N’Est Pas Si Facile” and “Wee Pee”. All four songs were recorded on an 8-track and mixed the same day. The credits for the photos on the sleeve are Fabien Rames and Laurent Lafon.

There’s no other information about the band on the sleeve. Nor on the insert that comes with the record where the label tells more or less what to expect on the 7″ and also the announcement of a tape compilation to be released next.

On Discogs the band appears on there compilations. The first one dates from 1993 on the Lo Label’s compilation tape “Summer 93 Hits”. It seems this tape came with a 32 page mini-booklet, perhaps with information about each band. Maybe there are the details I want to know. Maybe someone who has it can help? On this tape, the band appears with the song “Hier” and we see that they are in good company, mostly French bands like Les Poissons Solubles, Amanda By Night or Chelsea, but also we see the Acid House Kings.

Another compilation tape that had them participating was “A Tribute to the Jamc Vol.2”. Here they cover the Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Between Planets”. This tape was released by Candy Chérie in 1995 (Candy Chérie 002).

Lastly they contribute the song “Dieu Seul Sait” to the tape compilation that was announced on the 7″. “Etreinte & Tempo” was released by Disco 2000 and JMS Records probably around 1995. I must say that I don’t know many of the bands that appear on this tape, only a few! They were mostly from the Toulouse region and would love to hear them someday, especially those ones with poppy names like Crystal Fields, Scoubidou or Edgar Trampoline. No clue who they are. This tape also came with a booklet, a 50-page one, this time.

I look on the web and see that on March 18th 1994 there was a gig by the Daisy Age and Lucie Vacarme at Le Bikini. And that’s about it. I can’t seem to find any band member name, though from photos it seems it was just two guys. The label does have a working website but there is no information about the band whatsoever though it seems you can order a copy of the 7″ from there.

Hopefully my French friends will let me know any details they remember about them. It’s been a while since I interviewed a French band on the blog, I believe only Les Freluquets and Fear Performance have answered my questions, so yeah, I definitely would love to know more about them and try to understand a bit better that exciting French scene of the early 90s, and that of Toulouse as well!

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Listen
Daisy Age – Hier