Last post of newish discoveries for now I believe. Next post, Friday hopefully, should be of the new batch of bands that have been announced at Indietracks. On top of that there were bands that played Wales Go Pop! That I’ve never heard plus should look into the bands at Cologne Popfest. There’s much going on, and even with 3 posts a week it seems that it is not enough!

Anyways, let’s start:

Cariño: where did this beauty come from? Am I back to the early 2000s where Spanish bands sounded a bit like this? I don’t know. I’m just happy to hear their song “Momento Inadecuado </3”. From the photo it looks like a trio, and have another song on Bandcamp called “Canción de Pop de Amor”, which is also ace. They hail from Madrid and they self-define themselves as a neighborhood pop band. Whatever that means. In any case this is fab, and I hope someone puts them out soon. Real soon.

Wrstlng: Anders, Patrik, Jon and Oskar are the Gothenburg based band Wrstlng. They are not very new, it seems their last release dates from December 2016 or so. I missed it. I’m only discovering it now but the thing is, that it is really enjoyable and I should share it with you, right? The EP called “Hoarse Bear”, has 7 songs of top guitar pop. I believe it was only released digitally sadly, unless someone knows better?

Boys: definitely not a big fan of linking to music websites, but if that’s the solution for me to listen to the latest song Nora Karlsson has unveiled, I will do. You can check “That Weekend” if you click on the link. This song is to be included in the album “Rest In Peace” that is coming out on May 11th. Yes, I need to pre-order it. Soon.

Tracyanne & Danny: it must be a week or two when I shared with you some of the music that Tracyanne is doing as a duo with Danny. Well, now there is a video for the song “Alabama” and it is great, not that far from Camera Obscura really. I also noticed they are both performing in NYC very soon. Seems, I will have to attend!

Two for Tea with Duglas T: a Youtube show by Duglas from BMX Bandits? Really? Yes! On this first episode we see Duglas T. Stewart sharing a good time with his friend Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub. I would suggest subscribing as each episode will feature Duglas chatting and singing with a guest. A top initiative by the Scottish bandito!

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This is a very obscure song, and at this point it feels more of an anecdote than anything else. You see, I found it on Youtube while looking for other bands. There is a Youtube user called Robertpere2 that has a bunch of goodies, a lot of post-punk but also very good jangle pop. And I sometimes just let all videos play. See if there’s something good for me to discover. And just like that, I found out about The Harlows.

Definitely the image that was uploaded caught my attention. It is very indiepop. The guy and the girl in summer clothes, dancing. It looks like it is an “official” image. Perhaps a scan of the cover of a tape or a CD. Though it does look like a photocopy. Most probably it is a tape then. But who are they? Where they are from? Are there more songs? The only information available on this video is a line that says:  “Produce by Dan Boardman and The Harlows, mixer by Dan Boardman and Randy Duerr”.

At least it is something. A hint. Some info so I can start digging. The song itself is really good! To my ears it sounds like mid-90s American indiepop. According to the video, it was released in 1995. So in that sense I’m in the right track.

What is a Harlow? Well, there is a town in Essex, England, with that name. A town were many great jangle pop bands hail from. Then it is a last name. Some famous Harlows, for example, Jean Harlow, a Hollywood actress or George Henry Harlow, an English artist. From what I understand then, that last name, Harlow, is the transferred use of an English surname with Anglo-Saxon origins derived from a place name. The name comes from the Olde English elements “hoer” meaning a pile of rocks or stones and “hlaw” meaning a hill. So the surname essentially developed to identify a person who dwelled on or around a rocky hill area.

That doesn’t shed any lights about the band. That’s true. Well I do have two names, Dan Boardman and Randy Duerr. Maybe that could point me somewhere. I found something where both names appear together. There is a release by The Spectors called “Cockfights & Cakefights 1992-1996”, on the Get Hip Recordings Bandcamp. The Spectors being a garage rock band from Minneapolis. And here I see that Dan Boardman played guitars, drums and vocals, in this band. And that Randy Duerr helped produce some songs at Wigged Out Studios. That kind of gives away that The Harlows were from the area, from Minneapolis. But what else?

Not much more. Can’t find any other mention of the band anywhere. Who were they? Just the one song that appears on the web, which is great, but nothing else. Who were the band members? Were there any releases? Anyone remembers them?

Edit (same day, 3pm)

Just got a comment by Harley Pageot pointing me that the blog Wilfully Obscure has actually written about the band. Why didn’t it show up on Google I don’t know. But there is much information here to be shared.

Actually there are 2 posts about them. The first, is about a 1995 tape, the one that has the cover I was talking about. I learn that the vocals were taken care by a Charlton Metcalf and that they were indeed from Minneapolis. This first tape, had 9 songs: “Catch a Wave”, “February”, “4 Leaf Clover”, “Cowards Sunday Drive”, “Lookout”, “Deminers”,  “Hemingway”, “For Rent” and “Untitled”.  It is interesting though that it is mentioned that this tape, and the latter one, from 1996, sound like two different bands.

That second post on Wilfully Obscure is indeed about the 1996 tape. Here there is a female vocalist named Rachel and the band is compared to The Spinanes and her vocals to that of Sarah Shannon of Velocity Girl. The songs on this second tape were “Purposeful Heart”, “Tsunami”, “Anyway”, “Jetlag”, “Shiner”, “Lean”, “April Shakes” and “Escar Go Karts”. Something that actually got y attention was that a Michael Alan Perry says that he was in the band. Is this the same Michael Alan Perry that was behind Manic Pop Records perhaps? And that is not all. There is a 1999 article on the page Ink19 that talks about a CD by The Harlows called “Stages I” released by Monkey Poop. It was a double CD, a compilation of their four previous releases. I know of two tapes now. There were two more? Now we have more information but there are still lots of questions to be answered!

Edit: Next day, 11am.

Bernd has pointed out a CDR released by Monkey Poop Records (oo1) dating from 1998 called “The Second Contestant is Number Twenty-Three”. There is not much information about it but we do know it included 5 songs, “Fondue”, “Sass-On”, “Bidet”, “Photon Falls” and “Hombre”.

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Listen
The Harlows – Catch a Wave