I am still jetlagged and haven’t managed to organize myself. I want to write a new fanzine. I want to find the next 7″ release on the label. These should be my next projects. The next Cloudberry Cake Kitchen release is already set. So that front is in a good state now. Just needs the mastering done. But the other two are still things I need to put time and effort. Hopefully by the weekend I’ll have a better idea. In the meantime I continue discovering new music. And so, I will share it with you!
The Know: a husband and a wife, from Los Angeles, making music. That’s how the band describes themselves. I would add that they make pretty dreampop. At least that’s what I can tell from the only song they have up on their Bandcamp, “143”. Do they have more? That is the question as I am left wanting to hear more by them.
The Hannah Barberas: this favourite band is back with four new tracks which make up an EP called “Christmas Bandwagon Vol. 2”. Yes! It is the time of the year for Christmas songs, and these songs are perfect for the season. Jangly and ramshackley. And also they have a good purpose, the proceeds form the EP will be donated to Shelter.
The Reds, Pinks & Purple: the San Francisco band must be the band I have featured the most. They are so prolific! Two weeks ago they released two new songs, “I Should Have Helped You” and “Losing Something”. Maybe you’ve heard them already, but hey, if you didn’t this is a good reminder as they are great (as usual!).
Citrus Clouds: the Phoenix band is another one that I have featured in the past. This time I write about them because they have a new track, “A Pastel Sky”. And as expected it is a terrific shoegaze song. Lyrics are shared if you want to sing along.
Fanclub: and the Austin band have also released a new song that is truly sweet and catchy. I really hope this one gets released physically. The vocals are great, it does feel like early 2000s indiepop, with the lo-fi cosy melodies and the sugarcoated female vocals. The song is called “Trespassing” and I highly recommend it.
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I’ve been going through a few old compilation tapes. Seeing if there are bands I’ve missed, bands that deserve a second chance. Bands that need to be rediscovered. Bands that didn’t get the attention they probably deserved back in the day. Today I went through the track list of the classic “You Can’t Be Loved Forever No. 3” that our friend Phil Ball released in 1990. And I found that I didn’t know nothing about Big Decision.
I have featured a bunch of the bands on this tape like Nervous Curve, Blue Summer, The Hoverchairs, Home and Abroad, All Over the Place and more. I don’t have this tape, but I do have MP3s of the tracks. This tape came with a fanzine of the same name. That I don’t have either. Did it include any info on the bands?
Big Decision appeared on the B side with the track “Greg’s Theme”. It was the seventh song on this side of the tape, in between The Hoverchairs and Blue Summer. What inspired the song? Who is/was Greg? Perhaps someone in the band?
On Discogs there are no other songs or releases listed for this band.
Then I look and look and find a PDF of the magazine “Scene and Heard”. The issue is Oct./Nov./Dec. 1991. This magazine covered Mid-Anglia’s scene. Here I learn that after The Charlottes, some members formed Ether. Then in the review section I see a tape called “…Gorgeous…” being reviewed. It is by a band called Donald Elsey’s Big Decision. Is it the same band? I notice that the opening track is called “Greg’s Theme”. It sounds like it is the same band. Right? It mentions that this demo tape had been played by WFDH-FM in New Jersey. It traveled far!
Aside from “Greg’s Theme” the tape included the tracks “Mystery” and “Strange Fascination”. It also says that these are not the first recordings by the band, that there have been at least one previous demo tape. Then we know that for this demo there was a new line-up (what was the old line-up?) formed by Martin Holt (from The Denial, where he played guitar and vocals) and Gary Todd (the former bassist of Cactus Jack. Plus Donald Elsey of course.
Not much more to be found on the web. Now it is just a matter of finding the other tracks from that demo tape. How they sounded like. I definitely want to know more about them. And where from Mid-Anglia was the band from?!
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Listen
Big Decision – Greg’s Theme
