Not much going on today, no updates, kind of a quiet start of fall, but at least here are five good finds, right?

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: I recommended the DIY pop project of Glenn Donaldson from the Art Museums some weeks ago. He has just uploaded a new song to his Bandcamp and it may as well be my favourite song of his so far. It is called “Uncommon Weather (demo)” and it sounds like classic indiepop, jangly and chiming. Everything to like about this song.

Dylan Mondegreen: “A Place in the Sun” will be the new album that the Oslo popster will release on November 9th! There are two songs to stream and preview at the moment in his Bandcamp, the song that gives title to the album and “The Best Thing”. The album will be released by Fastcut Records and himself.  It will be available on both vinyl and CD. Pre-orders available now too.

The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness/The Tree House: months ago I discovered on Soundcloud The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness and thought it was brilliant. They mentioned they had a single in the works. Was this split the one? I don’t know The Tree House who contribute here the song “All I Understand” but I’m very happy to meet them for the first time. I wasn’t aware that Pretty Olivia was going to release this record. Now I really need it. Javi how do we do?!

Gascoigne: a new Indonesian band I discover. And has an English footballer name. Of course I like that. They have a song now called “Roadburner 3000” that is available on the Jakarta label Anoa Records. The band is formed by Alvi Ifthikhar, Dimaz Hafizhan and Zaka Sandra Novian.

James Katy / Cosmos, Astrid and Me: Just the one song to stream, “Vanilla”, out of an 8-song album, but it sounds pretty good so I thought it was worth recommending.  From what I read, this is a collaboration of Juan Ignacio Miranda from Cosmos, Astrid and Me and Liz Gavillet of James Katy. I don’t know any of their bands so I will have to check them out. The album “Teeth” will be released on October 16th.

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I read a comment on Discogs after following a trail about the band Unity & Fire. It says:
Looks like some lost 80’s indie band in front of Dudley castle, but sounds like a sub Duran Duran band.
Please dont let that put off you potential sellers putting “rare C86” on your listings though 😉

I don’t know if it is Dudley Castle where the band took the photo for their one and only 7″. I do see some stone bricks behind them but it is hard for me to know what structure is that one. But it is a probability. You see the band hailed from Birmingham. And Dudley is not that far away. Then, if they are a c86 band or not, I’ll let you decide. I’ve only heard the B side of their 7″, “Nothing Brings You Nothing”, and I could say it probably isn’t, but it doesn’t take away that it is a good guitar pop song.

The A side for the single was “I Know a Girl”. The record was put out by Delicious Records (WG0101) in 1988. It looks as a self-release. Maybe the band put together the money and sent their two songs to press. Then sell these 7″s at their gigs. Who knows.

From the black and white sleeve we know they were a five-piece formed by:
Stephen Burns on fretless bass
Ian Foster on drums
Tony Buckley on vocals
Bob Murray on lead guitar
Dave Lillis on keyboards

We know too that the band recorded and produced both songs at Kings Recording in Birmingham.

Yeah, I don’t own the record. I have found some scans of the record on the brilliant and now defunct From a Northern Place blog. I never knew who run the blog. Would have been nice to have chatted. Oh well. On the blog there are not only scans from the record sleeve, but also of what looks like a fanzine.

On this fanzine there is some information about them. Even though it is not dated we see that the band played a gig at The Railway pub in Birmingham and had played all over the Midlands. Other gigs mentioned are ones at the Curzon Street pub, The Kaleidoscope (where they met their manager), and the West End Bar. They had a manager called Kev Mitchell. Then there is a small bio where it says that the band formed in March 1987 by Tony, Steve, Dave and Ian.

Then, the question would be when did they split? What happened to them? There is nothing written about them on the web. We don’t know if the band members continued making music with other bands. Maybe some of my Birmingham readers remember them? Were they more of a guitar pop band? or as that Discogs comment say a sub Duran Duran?

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Listen
Unity & Fire – Nothing Brings You Nothing