Short post today. But as always it is loaded with goodies, old and new.

Tallies: this was a superb recommendation from my friend Vernon. This Toronto outfit are releasing an album on January 11th, 2019, which sounds absolutely brilliant. It will be released on vinyl, CD and cassette. There are two songs right now to stream from the self-titled album and they are called “Mother” and “Beat the Heart”. It will be the debut of the band and I look forward to get a copy as I’m eager to hear the rest of songs!!

The Sweetest Touch: our Chinese friends Boring Productions have a bunch of new releases coming up. First up is a 7″ by this Indonesian band I’ve raved many times in the past. There are three songs by this lovely pop group, “Runaway”, “Too Many Dust, Too Many Haze” and “Last Wishes”. Definitely a must have!

Odd Gesture: another Indonesian band that will be releasing a 7″ on Boring Production is Odd Gesture. Their “Odd Fucking Gesture” EP was released yesterday, October 25th. There are five top songs that remind me a bit of 14 Iced Bears, “Sick of You”, “My Holding Hands”, “Saccharine”, “I H8 Sharesprings” and “You and I (Die Together)”.

Strange Creatures: and that’s not all, there is an album LP plus 7″ by another band I’ve raved in the past, the filipinos Strange Creatures! The 10 song album sounds gorgeous really. Pop perfection. Gosh! Jovi, I need these records!! And I think everyone needs them too. Great stuff, Boring Productions might be one of my favourite indiepop labels of the moment for sure!

Pting: there is just one song to stream from a 4-song EP by the Melbourne band Pting. It is a shame as I’d love to listen to the rest. But, well, “Bus Driver”, is a great song, very catchy! The band is formed by Elsie on vocals and guitar, Yura on vocals and bass, Rhys on vocals and guitar and Ben on drums. Lots of female vocals, that’s always a good thing!

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Crocodile tears: tears or expressions of sorrow that are insincere

I have very little to say about this band, I wish it was the other way around, that I had lots of information about them. I discovered them through The Fanning Sessions blog were three songs are posted: “Goodbye Susie-Ann”, “Tuesday Morning” and “Susie Sweetness”.

These three songs were part of a RTE Fanning Session recorded on November 9th 1987. As far as I know there were no releases by the band and these might be the only songs recorded by them, unless anyone know of any demo tapes put together by them? It would be great to find out!

Also it seems there are no photos online by the band. Even the Fanning Session blog and the superb IrishRock website don’t have one. So I have ended using a crocodile to illustrate this post. Hope the band forgives me.

And what about Susie? It seems they must have liked a Susie a lot, unless they are two different Susies, right? Susie-Ann and Susie Sweetness?

The band was formed by Brendan Tallon (guitar/vocals), Brendan Berry (guitar/vocals), Barry Woodley (bass) and Shane Rafferty (drums). They hailed from Ballinteer in Dublin.

Ballinteer (Irish: Baile an tSaoir, meaning “Town of the Stonemason”) is a small southside suburb of Dublin, located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland, extensively developed from the late 1960s onwards.

I’m quite excited lately about Dublin I must say. I will be visiting Dublin for a few days late in November. So I’m interested in any second hand record shops people can recommend me. I’m hoping to score a few guitar pop records from the 80s and the early 90s if possible.

Anyways. Crocodile Tears. IrishRock.org has a few more details about them. They were around between 1986 and 1988. We also know that in 1988 when Ian O’Donoghue replaced Barry Woodley on bass they changed names to The Coletranes. The Coletranes did release a 7″ record and appeared on compilations. But that’s not all. Other bands related to Crocodile tears were Saturday Captains (Brendan Tallon), Revelino (Brendan Tallon, Brendan Berry & Shane Rafferty) and Beat Club (Brendan Tallon & Shane Rafferty).

An interesting detail also from IrishRock is that Brendan Tallon was a midfielder for the Bohemian FC football club during the 1984/85 season making several fist team appearances that season. Sadly his career was cut short due to a knee injury. I could find an article on the Herald were they mention him playing for The Bohs.

As I said there is not much written about them, though for other bands they were involved there is much more on the web. I haven’t really checked out the the other bands they were in. I need to do so. Maybe they deserve a post on the blog as well. You know I’m particular about that. They have to have a particular sound.

For now I’d love to know more about Crocodile Tears. Especially if they record any songs properly. I know there were no releases, but maybe there were demos. The three songs from the Fanning Session sound very nice. So any details any of my Irish readers remember would be great! Would love to find out more about them. If they were around for at least two years, 1986 to 1988, they must have played gigs and appeared on fanzines or magazines at least!

Anyone remember them?

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Listen
Crocodile Tears – Tuesday Morning