Not much news on my front. Just waiting for records to arrive. On the other hand, there are some very good finds on the web that I want to share with you all.
Pting: Elsie, Yura, Rhys and Ben are a pop band from Melbourne, Australia. We haven’t heard from them since last December when they put up “Beep Beep” on Bandcamp. It has been a while. Now they are back with a single song called “New House” that sounds really nice and poppy. Why are they not putting out more songs? I’d love to hear more by them, all the time.
No Vacation: another band that is back is the San Francisco five-piece with an EP called “Phasing”. It will be available on October 18th on all sort of formats, from vinyl to CD. The record will have 5 songs and we can preview the opening track called “Estrangers” . It is terrific. So yes, we need to hear the rest as soon as possible.
Ducks Unlimited: now a Toronto band that are releasing a 7″ called “Get Bleak EP” on November 29. They say and seem to be influenced by the Flying Nun poppier bands and that makes me happy. The record will be out on the label Bobo Integral and will include four songs. You can preview the opening song “Get Bleak” now! Very very good. I am fan of this!
Dead Horse One: now a shoegaze French band who are also releasing an album which we can preview just one song. Is that becoming a norm now on Bandcamp? I wonder. Before you could check out all songs. I always wonder about these trends. In any case the song we can preview “Echo Street” is gorgeous. The album will be called “The West is the Best” and will be out on CD and vinyl LP on the Requiem Pour Un Twister label.
The Springfields: Slumberland surprised everyone a few days ago when they said they were releasing a compilation of Ric Menck and Paul Chastain’s legendary band called “Singles 1986-1991”. This is a must have for everyone of course.There will be 12 songs here, taken from singles on Sarah, Picture Book, Summershine and Seminal Twang, plus an extra song. This is one not to be missed!!
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In 1986 the label Cottage Industry Records released a 7″ by Scared of the Dark. I don’t know if it made much of a buzz, if it got reviewed by the NME or Melody Maker. I don’t know much really. As you know I use the blog as a vehicle to finding more about bands, songs, records, labels. I use it to document indiepop as most of the stories are still untold. I am hoping then, pardon the pun, to get them out of the dark.
“Give Me That Feeling”/”Summer Soul” (CIR 003) was released in 86. The year 0 for many when it comes to indiepop. Previously this label had released a 7″ by Paul Weton who I don’t really know. What was CIR 001? Was Scared of the Dark the last release by this label?
Two songs, each on a side. The sleeve printed in black and yellow. There is a girl in the cover but I can’t tell who she is. Maybe an actress? On the back there is a band photo. It looks like they were 6 people in the band! I see some credits for the sleeve, Dave Roberts on cover concept, Pete Reed for graphics and Flair Photographic for the band photo.
The band was formed by Kerry Rees on vocals, Ian Bailey on bass, Tim Hitchings on guitars, Beeke la Trek on saxophone, Mike Evans on drums and Chris Jones on keyboards. Their manager was Dave Roberts.
We also know that the A side was recorded at Loco Studio in Gwent! That is a county in Wales, right? The song was engineered by Nick Smith and produced by P.V.C. The song was written by Rees and Bailey.
“Summer Soul”, on the B side, was written by Rees and Hitchings and was recorded at 123 Studios in Cardiff and was engineered by Dafydd Pearce. I start to suspect that the band hailed from Wales.
No compilations are listed. No other bands are listed for the band members. Odd.
But I do find a video on Youtube, it is a small interview with the band talking about the release of their “Give Me That Feeling” 7″.
And that’s all really. I look for more information about the band members or the band. And looking for scared of the dark is not easy. I wonder what happened to them?
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