So yeah, Mexico City. I was there for just 4 days and it was great. The food was delicious (as always). Went to a couple of archaeological sites (Tlatelolco and Malinalco) and visited the Secretariat of Education (which was amazing, lots and lots of Diego Rivera’s murals). When it comes to indiepop I was lucky to see Okama Flannel Boy last Saturday playing a gig at a venue called Terminal Juárez which was great as it had food available as well as drinks, and not just one option but many different cuisines. The gig was lovely as well. It is the 2nd time I see the chilango band and their set is even longer than last year. They have some new songs that are among their best and which I hope end up on a record sometime. Then I met some indiepop friends after the gig and talked about music quite a bit! That was fun! This doesn’t happen much at NYC events, every gig has a very different crowd here and I don’t see any friends here anymore at gigs! This made me think we really need NYC Popfest back! Anyways, a great weekend and I hope to go back to that great city soon. Next year probably!
Some finds for the coming weekend? Of course!
White Spaces: from Toronto, Canada, comes this four piece formed by Colleen, Jackson, Jon and Jeff. They have a six song EP called “Vacation Days” now available on their Bandcamp. I got hooked after my friend David shared the song “Island” which is pretty great!
Moon Racer: my friend Autumn has a lovely new song of lo-fi bedroom pop called “You Can Feel Bad”. If you are not familiar with the Durham, North Carolina, solo project there are a couple of other releases and even better Moon Racer is touring the East Coast in June!
Top Sound: “YSL” is the newest track of the Stockholm based band formed by Katarina, Johan, Tobias and Einar and what a beauty it is! I need this on vinyl! I hope there are plans for that, if not get in touch with this humble servant. It has been quite some time since I listen a song that sounds like this.
Dream, Ivory: the Lake Elsinore, California, band is back with the 2nd single from their upcoming album “Lost Dog”. The new single is called “Wedding Crasher”, but it does make me wonder when will the album be released? No information for that. Maybe later this year? We should keep an eye on them then!
Hatchie: the ex-Go Violets is releasing “Keepsake” the debut album by Hatchie on June 21st on Double Double Whammy, Heavenly Recordings and Ivy League. Yup! Three labels to put it out. To promote the album there is a new video for the song “Obsessed” which is a terrific song and including tons of footage of Hatchie’s US tour from last year I believe. Can’t wait for the album!
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I must say it has become the hardest to find an indiepop band with a name that starts with an X to complete this challenge. It has definitely been the most challenging. Though in due honesty I was very well aware of X-ing School as I have two friends that were part of the band. And also they are not that old you know. Short-lived yes, but not too old that it would be lost to obscurity. They even have a Bandcamp and Facebook. I could probably ask them to do an interview too.
But I’ll write this post as I want to complete this challenge of featuring 26 bands, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. So as a completist, here is the wonderful X-ing School from Malmö.
Of course we know that their name come from the ubiquitous signs that we see in the roads here in the US. Sure, the way to read them would be School X-ing (crossing), but if you are literal about them, you see X-ing on top and school below. So a smart way to name their band, don’t you think?
The band was formed by three girls and a boy. Anna Harysson was on bass and vocals, Antonia Pehrson on guitar and vocals, Kajsa Tretow on guitar and vocals and Henrik on drums. I know Antonia and Kajsa. Antonia as she was part of Komon, Anthronica, Taggarna Ut and also A Smile and a Ribbon. Kajsa was also in Smile and a Ribbon but has also been in the wonderful band The Budgies, Cosines and had her solo project The Plutification Table that deserved a proper release.
The band as I said was short-lived and I was lucky to see them live at the Windmill in Brixton as part of the 2011 London Popfest. What days were those! Such nostalgia. I remember the huge dog that was on the roof of the venue and the creepy lady that was in charge of the venue. Good times!
They only self-released a CD EP that was titled “89 Attending” that was released in 2011. I believe it was mostly a digital release but copies were made to be sold at Popfest and at their gigs. I always hoped to see a proper release you know. I think they were looking for a label at some point. I remember asking what was their intention with the very fine four songs they had in their EP, “Deep Ortography”, “89 Attending”, “Modern Lovers” and “Lazy Babies”. I am pretty sure I was interested in working together. Oh well, it’s been a long time now!
That was all they put out. Not sure if they recorded any other songs (I think they had a song called “Devil’s Mountain” but not sure if it was recorded?) but I do know they didn’t even appear on any compilations. We do know that the band played quite a few gigs. From what I understand their first gig was on August 23rd, 2010 at the Don’t Die on My Doorstep club that Krister used to run in På Besök in Malmö. The band supported the NYC band The Depreciation Guild.
Another gig was at Debaser Malmö on the 10th of September of the same year. Then on September 17th they played at Smålands Nation in Lund. And I believe that was their last ever gig?
Not much more info about the band online. But I suppose we’ll find soon about any interesting facts about them. I hope so. I remember with nostalgia that night at London Popfest when I saw them as they were great, a bit shambolic and all, just how I like my indiepop bands. I wonder these days that I have lost touch if they are still making music…
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Listen
X-ing School – Lazy Babies
