It was very nice meeting with Martin from Baby Lemonade last Saturday for some beers. Talked lots about music, about the Glasgow scene mostly. It was great to hear so many anecdotes about those late 80s and early 90s. For those wondering about the retrospective album I hope the CDs will be ready next month, I’ll keep you all updated.

There has been a few more bits of music I’ve stumbled upon the last few days. So of course I will share with you all.

Blanco: last Friday I shared you the new video by the Tokyo band. Now I will share you the whole EP which is titled “Slice of Life”. It is a great record and I can’t wait for it to be released on CD on June 23rd! Definitely check it out, they even have a gig coming that same day if you are in Tokyo!

The Lousy Pop Group: it is a bit early for Christmas, right? But it doesn’t matter for the Depok, Indonesia, band as they are treating us to their latest digital single called “When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney”! It is pretty nice, so let’s save it for our holiday mix CDs later this year.

Flowerbed: now onto some superb shoegazy sounds by the Dallas band Flowerbed! I had featured them a few months ago and I am happy to do so again as this time there are 5 songs on their self-titled EP. The band formed by Steven, Andrew, Bailey and Nathan, have some terrific songs, all titled with flower names.

Kissamatic Lovebubbles ft. The Twelve Hour Foundation: the new Athens label Old Bad Habits are releasing two songs by the classic Greek band. They are not the old recordings but reworked versions with the cooperation with the electronic Bristol duo The Twelve Hour Foundation. Iit is being released on the 22nd as a 7″ and will include two songs, “Endless” and “Me”.

Herbario: this Santiago, Chile, band sounds terrific. It is the solo project of Ricardo Valdés and from what I understand his latest song called “Movimientos” will be part of the debut album he is working on. Lots of jangle here, lots of pop fun!

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The Crimpolene Explosion is one of those obscure bands that I am way too curious about. You see, I only know one song by them, “Souvenir”, which is absolutely fantastic. A rush of shambolic pop, ramshackling guitars and a foot-stomping rhythm that I am always left wondering if there are any more songs by them.

It has been years since I’ve been fixated with this song. Not sure why it has taken me this long to post about them. Maybe because I am in the mood of finding bands that would be great to put out? Well, that one song I know, called “Souvenir”, I would totally release it. It is strange that it wasn’t back in the 80s. That they didn’t get a single. Or a flexi.

The song did appear on a legendary compilation, the “Uncle Arthurs Pop Parlour” tape. We know a bit about this tape. We know it was our friend Dave Driscoll who was in The Aurbisons who put out this tape in 1987. Also I’ve featured a few of the band son this tape like The Grooveyard, The Doris Days, Bluetrain And Some Other Day. The tape, whicha acme in a clear plastic bag with a 20 page fanzine with presentations of all the bands. I’ve never seen a copy of this zine. I am hoping someone still owns it and could tell me what information appears for The Crimpolene Explosion. Any names? Where were they based? Any other songs?

I don’t know what a crimpolene is. I did find what “crimplene” is. Maybe there was a typo? Crimplene was created in 1950 by the British chemical company Imperial Chemicals Industries.  It is a thick polyester yarn. The yarn can be woven, but was most usually seen in a double knit. Crimplene fabric is heavy, wrinkle-resistant, wash-and-wear and easy to sew. It may have been named after the Crimple Valley which is near the ICI Laboratory where the fiber was developed.

Something interesting is that there is another band (or is it not another band?) that was formed in 2010 by members of the Birmingham band The Noseflutes. This is something I wonder as The Noseflutes were around the time the Uncle Arthurs Pop Parlour tape was released. Maybe they recorded a few songs under this name then and in 2010 decided to use it back? It is just a supposition. I couldn’t say.

There is absolutely nothing on the web about them. So either someone remembers them, or someone owns the fanzine that came with the compilation tape and can give me any details. I would love to know (and listen) more.

EDIT June 12 2019: Uwe from Firestation Records just pointed me to a post on the blog Indie Through the Looking Glass that our friend Jo from Bluetrain and Go Service runs. The post dates from a few months ago, April, and it is about a band called The New Tennessee Waltz. At first I didn’t know what was the connection until I played the songs that were available, “My Sin”, “Precious Days”, “My Town” and “Souvenirs”. When I played “Souvenirs” I knew it was the same song as “Souvenir” by The Crimpolene Explosion! I start to wonder then why did they release songs under two different names? There is some info about the band too, mentioning that the band was based in Fleet, Hampshire, and that they played many times at The Buzz Club, the club Jo ran back in the 80s. She describes the band as a semi-acoustic combo that wore great clothes. For example I know that they played at the club alongside the BMX Bandits and The House Hunters.
Their lead singer was called Gary, and they recorded at least one demo tape with 4 songs in 1986. These four songs are the ones available on Spotify now. Of course, I can’t support Spotify because it doesn’t share any of the indie ideals but, it is the only place right now to listen to these tracks. And the songs are so so good that I have to listen to them. I just wish they were released physically.

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Listen
The Crimpolene Explosion – Souvenir