Very happy to start this week with some FANTASTIC news. I can now announce our next 7″ which will be coming out this autumn!

You can now check out and listen the A side called “Every Story is a Ghost Story” from the upcoming 7″ by the Falmouth (UK) and Augsburg (Germany) based duo The BV’s! Formed by Josh and Fred, the band, who has released two singles and an album on the German label Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten, are in top form in this new single, the first on this side of the Atlantic. With a superb mix of classic sounding indiepop a la Sarah Records, dreampop, kraut and noise, the BV’s, have been gaining a faithful following and we hope you join too!
The 7″ includes this track on the A side and “Happy, Alright?” on the B side. The artwork was created by German illustrator Marie Doerfler.

In the next weeks I will be adding a pre-order button on the website, but don’t worry I will let you know when that happens. I’m very excited about this release as I’ve been a fan of the band for long, featuring on the blog many times. Also I was really thrilled the day I saw them play live at Madrid Popfest playing a precious set. I hope you all are excited about this news as I am!

So with that exciting news in mind,  here are a few finds I made this past weekend:

Happypills: a nice surprise from Fukuoka in Japan are these 4 songs from this band inspired by “indie pop, dream pop, shoegazer and power pop”. These bedroom recordings are part of an EP titled “Lazy Sun, Late Risers” and they are “Lazy Sun”, “Port Town”, “Circles” and “Whale(late riser)”. I don’t know much more about the band but they have a few more releases to listen.

June Parker: first time I’m listening to this Richmond, Virginia, band and I’m quite surprised I haven’t stumbled upon them before as they have many other releases on their Bandcamp. Anyways, their latest is a self-titled EP released on July 13 and it includes 6 songs of mid 90s sounding guitar pop: “Lava”, “Hold a Mirror”, “My Mantra (That You Said)”, “I Can’t Relate Anymore”, “Sit and Watch” and “Cardinal”. They are formed by Mike, Chris, David and Chad.

Goodnight Moonlight: it is a shame that only one song is available to stream from the “Letters to Japan” EP because it is a super track. It is called just as the EP, “Letters to Japan” and it is the last song, out of 4, included in this 7″ which is available to preorder from Coaster Records from Rotterdam, Netherlands. This Dutch band is formed by Jente Lammerts, Jim Luijten, Micha Zaat, Jasper Bogaard. Hopefully I can find myself a copy before it sells out.

The Bascinets: 5 songs from Columbus, Ohio. That is what the “378 Vol. 1” EP is. This band formed by Nick Wellman, Nick Shew, Tristan Huygen and Trevor Joellenbeck is a new for me. And these songs are not by any means their only ones. They seem to have been going since 2016. There are some great jangly songs to discover here.

Sharesprings: I was recommending on my last post the new album by the fantastic Indonesian band called “Paraparlor”. Well the band has also put together a promo video for the song “Something Soon” and I think it is ace! Check it out!

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From what I know, which is very little, The Sensible Pencils released only one 7″ back in 1983. It was self-released and had the catalog number SRTS83 CUS 1662 and it didn’t even come with a sleeve. Discogs doesn’t even list it.

Of course, I would love to get a copy. It’s been on my wishlist for years. I know I want it because I’ve heard the two songs that were included in the record. They are on Youtube. That helps of course. The names of the tracks are “In a Matter of Time”, which appears on the A side, and “Family Code” which is on the flipside. Will I be able to find anything else about them on the web?

The band was a four piece. That we know. They were formed by Jim Callanan, Phil Milburn, Ronny Slater and Steve Nesbitt. Both songs on the record were written by Jim.

Discogs does list a compilation called “The First Great Wave” where a band called The Sensible Pencils appear. Is it the same band? I wonder if that’s the case. The thing is, this LP comp was released in 1988, 5 years after the single. Could it be the same band? There are two songs credited to them, “Jumping On the Slave Train” and “Weekdays”. The label that put it out was Great Records (OGRT1) from Washington in Tyne & Wearm. Was the band also from the area? Is this the first mystery I need to solve?

To my big surprise I find a Facebook page for them that was created last year. What are the chances? Doesn’t look like there are lots of information but I’m sure I’ll find something. I look through the few photos they have uploaded and there is a newspaper clipping from the Sunderland Echo written by Paul Woods, later of the Kane Gang. On it he mentions that the band hailed from Low Fell and Wearside. Where is that?

Low Fell is a suburb of Gateshead situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. Built predominantly on sandstone, grindstone and clay. For centuries little more than part of a windswept, barren and treacherous heath, the settlement at Low Fell was initially established by a moderate influx of tinkers and miners in the 18th century. 

Wearside is an area of North East England centred on the continuous urban area of Sunderland by the River Wear, and in the wider sense, including separate neighbouring settlements such as Seaham.

Okay, the north east of England. Sunderland is a big name, there is a footie team. But let’s get back to the article which seems to have been written in 1983 as the writer mentions that the single is about to be released. It also says that the band’s live set comprised with many cover versions of bands like the Rubinoos or The Jam, and that they had a Postcard Records sensibility.

An important details is that only 500 copies was pressed of the record.

Another photo I find lets us know the band played more than a few times at The Honeysuckle in Gateshead. It seems this venue is no more and now a Tesco sits in its place. Another post lets me know the band played at a venue called the Gosforth Hotel and another one at the Biddick Farm Arts Centre in Washington, in 1981. Wow. So the band was around at that time already!

Something else that caught my attention on the web is that the band changed their name at some point to The Playground, and under that name they re-released the single, with the same two songs. The only difference being that the labels had changed. Now they were red and black with a different design. Why?

And just like that I hit a wall. There is nothing else written about them. Because of what I found on the Facebook page, I can tell that the band had many more recordings. I would love to hear them. And definitely find out why they changed their names. An email interview with them would be fantastic. Do you remember them?

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Listen
The Sensible Pencils – In A Matter of Time