Quite busy days but managed some new indiepop finds from around the world!
Laveda: from Albany, the capital of the state of New York, comes this shoegaze girl/boy duo. The band will be releasing their debut album “What Happens After” on April 24. It will be available on vinyl and at this moment we can preview four tracks out of the 10 that will be in the album. These are “Ghost”, “Better Now”, “Dream. Sleep” and “if Only (You Said No)”.
Away Forward: now a dreampop band from Toronto. They also have an album and it is out now digitally. This album is called “Catching the Sun” and consists of 9 songs. And all are very nice! The fuzzy and sweet vocals come courtesy of Lisa Nighswander, Greg Chambers plays bass, Andrew McAllister guitar and Paul Boddum drums. Good stuff!
Smith Gardens: “Hugh’s Muse EP” is the latest release from this indiepop combo from Washington D.C. The band formed by Hunter on bass & keys, Niko on drums and Blake on vocals and guitar have been going since 2016 and I believe this is the first time I am listening to them! This new EP has four tracks of classic indiepop, 90s flavoured, and it is very enjoyable!
Girlatones: Meritorio Records from Madrid are picking up many great Australian bands. It is no surprise then that they’ve got Girlatones now in their roster. They will be releasing a new album called “Horn if You’re Honky” on March 20th. it will have 10 poppy songs. How do I know that? Well, there are 3 songs we can preview on Bandcamp, “Respond to Love”, “Get to the End” and “Pop Stars”!
Go Get Mum: as I was saying, many Aussie bands are finding a home in Madrid’s Meritorio Records. Alvaro’s label is releasing a 12″ mini-album (or EP if you want), of 6 songs for this Adelaide band. We can preview 2 songs out of six, “Moving Day” and “Freeman”, both terrific!
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The term “billycart” originates from the Australian billygoat-pulled cart of the 1880s. Originally, a simple platform with four wheels and a moveable front steering column, the billycart was adapted to become a self-powered vehicle which children would race; the challenge being, to travel as fast and/or far as possible with the least initial momentum.
Two songs on the Candle Records compilation “Clippings” (CAN2501) from 1998 were the introduction to the lovely-sounding band Billycart. And I want to listen to more by them of course.
“Cherish” and “Mrs Kelly” appear on this CD alongside bands that are not that well known like Bowl-A-Rama, The Foots or Falcon 500. True, The Lucksmiths appear in it too, but they might be the only “household” name on this record. Both songs are credited to Patrick Woodward. Though he wasn’t alone in the band. The band was formed by Patrick and Kellie Sutherland. They were both recorded by Angus Kinston who had worked in other Candle Records compilations.
We also know that on “Cherish” Patrick Woodward got the help from Darren Hanlon and Ryan James. Darren Hanlon of course had been in The Simpletons who also appear on this compilation. He is more famous through his solo work I believe, releasing many records in this century. Ryan James in the other hand was also on The Simpletons but also in The Mabels, another band that appears on this record. It seems it was a small scene where everyone was playing in each other band.
Kellie Sutherland. She would later be much more known through the band Architecture in Helsinki. According to an article on the website The Age, Billycart was based in Sydney, and one weekend in 1997, the band went to play to Melbourne. She loved the city. Then she started going back all the time, and eventually, thanks to knowing clarinet, an instrument she taught herself by duplicating the parts on a record by the indiepop band Kissing Book from Portland, she ended up joining Architecture in Helsinki. I suppose Billycart was over then.
I couldn’t find out what happened to Patrick Woodward. Did he continue making music in other bands? Would be great to know. In any case I’d love to find out more about Billycart. If they by any chance recorded more songs. What I’ve heard, I really liked!
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Listen
Billycart – Cherish
