Enjoying the last few matches of the World Cup. It seems France will win it for the second time, right?

And then also preparing for my Mexico trip. I’ve got so many people asking for records and this is by far the time I will be bringing with me more records than ever than any of my previous trips! Exciting!

Pastel Dream: I love finding gorgeous indiepop, that’s why I keep doing this blog. So when I stumble upon a brilliant album like “Too Much Too Fast” by the Davis, California, band Pastel Dream, I know what I’m doing is the right thing. I believe the album is only available as a digital release so far. It is a shame. It deserves someone to release it properly. The band is formed by Caitlyn Whitfield, Carlos Pineda, Sara Forestieri, Branding Findling and Greta Soos. The album is a bit short, 9 songs, but I have no complains, it is, as I said earlier, gorgeous.

J. Verben: the latest from the Spanish label Fikasound is this compilation of songs by J. Verben called “Recopilación” which is available in limited quantities on CD. There are 20 songs of bedroom pop, of all sort of qualities. There are terrific songs like “Sorda” or “Solo te Acuerdas de Mí en Campaña”, and other ones that are not my cup of tea. Well, there are 20 songs, and there is something for everyone in here.

The Hannah Barberas: more UK bands that don’t get invited to Indietracks. Here is a fun DIY pop band formed by Damien, Lucy, Doug and Matthew that have put up on Bandcamp their first 3 songs. All home recorded. “Our Girl is Gone”, “Now (Is Here At Last)” and “Red Sleeping Beauty”. This last one a fair attempt to McCarthy’s classic.

The Love-Birds: some fine guitar pop from this San Francisco four piece on vinyl LP and CD. Their album “In the Lovers Corner” is still available, though the limited Grass Green vinyl edition is by now sold out. The 11 song album is not available to stream. Just two of their songs are on Bandcamp, “Hit My Head” and “Kiss and Tell”, but I must say they are pretty good ones. Check them out!

Papaya: I think my friend Jalito recommended me this band while I was in Madrid, but only know I’m checking out their album “Corazón Abierto” on Bandcamp. It was released earlier this year, in February, on Jabalina, but I didn’t notice it! I feel I’ve been out of touch when it comes to this label. I used to pay more attention as they do have a pretty good catalog. Anyhow, there are 12 songs here, and it also happens this is the second album by this band. Where is the first one? I need to listen to that too. I need to catch up!

—————————————————————–

Some precious jangle from this awfully obscure band is on today’s menu. This is as unknown as it gets. Which is a shame because the one song we know from them is a brilliant.

“Take My Breath” is the name of the song. Hurt is the name of the band. With that name it becomes almost impossible to google them. To find any information about them will require luck and lots of digging. I’m sure if the band had formed during this decade they’d chosen a different name, one easier to find. But, they formed sometime in the mid late 80s.

I can do an approximate date because of the release of a split 7″ in 1987 on Waterfall Records (WFL 3). That’s where “Take My Breath” appears, where it was released. Waterfall Records is a label I’m not familiar with. I see they released a 7″ by a band called Colour Me Pop in 1984 and later a 12″ by a band called The Insane Picnic in 1986. None of them ring a bell to me.

The split 7″ was shared with a band that I should feature sometime, the Little Red Schoolhouse. They contributed the song “Aged Bee” and were on the B side. Or to be more precise on the LRS side. Hurt appears on the H side. That’s how the label put it. There are some credits which are my first breakthrough. David Flamson played acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave Snell played bass, Ken Snell played electric guitar and Trev played drums. Were Dave and Ken brothers?

According to the sleeve this 7″ was also available as a 12″ but I haven’t seen the 12″ version of the record. The sleeve also mentions Jump Away fanzine. Was it a co-release between the fanzine and the label? Or was it all the same people behind it? I can’t say for sure. There are no compilation appearances listed for the band on Discogs.

So I’m hitting a wall. There’s not much more on the web about them. Where were they from? Most probably from the UK, from England. But what else can we find about them?

I am going to be lucky. There is a Facebook page called Ashington bands, past and present. I’m going to find a mention of Hurt there. Ashington, that is where St. James Infirmary were from too? I featured them on the blog in the past and tried to interview one of the band members, but sadly never got his answers back. Maybe he would have talked about Hurt? Who knows.

The post says that the band hailed from Ashington and Newbiggin. Never heard about Newbiggin, where was it?

Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is a small town in Northumberland, England, lying on the North Sea coast. Once an important port for shipping grain and a coal mining town, it is still a small fishing port making use of traditional coble boats. It is widely although mistakenly noted that the town was originally called ‘South Wallerick’, and renamed Newbiggin after the Danish invasion. However the document on which this is based refers to ‘Sanctum Walericium’, or St. Waleric. This was the name of the church at Alnmouth, which was at one time called Newbiggin. There is no connection with Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. Newbiggin derives from OE nīwe (new) + ME bigging (building, house), and this may refer to an extension of the early settlement and parish of Woodhorn.

The photo I used for the post was taken from that Facebook page, so thanks to them for that! It says that it was taken at Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington, North London. I suppose they went south, to London, to play some gigs? Maybe not.

I say that because there is another post about the band members, but about their previous band which was called Tuesday. Tuesday was formed by Ken Snell on guitar, Dave Flamson on vocals and guitar and Ian Clavering on bass. It originally started as a two piece (Flamson and Clavering) in 1984. It mentions that Trevor Cole was the drummer. It must be the same Trev as the one credited on the split 7″. It also says that Trev used to be in a band called Boldon Colliery. It seems that the band moved to London. They had played extensively around the north east until 1986, but afterwards Snell and Clamson continued Tuesday in London. At some point they changed their name to Hurt and went back to a revolving door of drummers and played extensively across London, the south east and the south west until splitting in 1991.

And again I hit a wall. No more information about them. I need to get the split 7″, but that is just the one song. I would love to hear more by them. Does anyone remember them?

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Hurt – Take My Breath