Fell: on December 2nd, Lost Map Records from Scotland, are releasing “Mallows Marsh” the new album by the London combo Fell. The album is coming out on CD, limited to 100 copies. There’s the one song we can preview, “We Could do Anything”, out of the 10 included in the record, and it sounds really good.

Ballboy: continuing with Lost Map Records it is great to know that they are re-releasing on vinyl the classic album “Club Anthems 2001” that was only available on CD until now. This superb record by the Edinburgh band included their earlier EPs, and on this reissue they are including also the follow-up EP “All the Songs on the Radio are Shite” that came out in 2002, to make this a 16-track album! Lots of classic songs here including “Donald in the Bushes With a Bag of Glue” or “Dumper Truck Racing”.

DOT: cool to discover a band from Little Rock, Arkansas. Don’t think I’ve heard a band from there before. DOT makes some wonderful punky pop and you can enjoy it in their latest EP, released on tape I believe, called “Welcome to the Dotosphere”. The band is formed by Melanie, Jordan and Spero.

Blues Lawyer: one of the best discoveries for me in the last year was Blues Lawyer from Oakland, California. They just make perfect pop and it surprises no one has offered them a record release yet. If labels like YAY! Records still existed to this day… they would have made a great home for them. “I Don’t Mind” is their latest release, and it is a wonderful rendition of the original Buzzcocks song!

The Sweetest Touch: and last but not least today is The Sweetest Touch, one of the best current pop bands in Indonesia. They have just released another romper, “Perfect Sky”, which is a 5-song EP. It is out now digitally on Guerrilla Records and I recommend checking them out!

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One more from the wonderful WokingSoundscene Soundcloud archive!

J.C. Regulator was formed by Kev Billing on bass, Dick(ie) Earll on drums and Bruno Skrastins on guitar vocals. The band was based in Aldershot/Farnham and started under the name The Johnson County Regulators in 1992.

The early band lineup had another member, Edwin Barnes on guitar and vocals. They used to rehearse at the Workhouse Rehearsal Studios in Aldershot and at some point they decided to shorten their name. Barnes was an important part of the band, he wrote the lyrics and had worked in A&R at Blast First Records in London. Thanks to this and his contacts the band supported the US band Band of Susans.

Prior to these gigs the band played their first two gigs, on December 4th and on the 30th of 1992. The first one was at the Fox & Hounds in Fleet while the second one was at The George in Ash. The band that played with them those gigs was Eskimo Shah.

After 8 gigs and recording their first 3 song demo tape their hopes of signing to Blast First Records wasn’t happening. So the band went to Washouse Studios in Brighton with Andy Neal to record more songs.

At this point there were problems with the band, Earll wanted to leave and the band folded for a few months after a charity gig at Farnham Art College on May 15 of 1993. In August Billing, Skrastins and Earll reunited to jam at The Workhouse and decided to reform.

On October 30 the band was recording again. In 1994 the band was gigging steadily with the likes of Suck Henry, Who Moved the Ground?, Big Boy Tomato and Serious Plankton.

In early 1995 the band released the “Sold as Seen” demo cassette EP which had been recorded at the Washhouse with Jah Neille (Andy Neal).

In April 1995 the band went on a 12-day tour in Germany and Poland with Who Moved the Ground? Interesting enough, just before leaving the UK the bands’ van got into an accident but Billing managed to buy at a very short notice a black and yellow Bedford. This car would die 8 miles from the German/Swiss border when they were approaching Zurich for their final gig on the tour. The gig would end up being canceled and the band flew back to the UK.

Other details we know is that the band supported Satellite Beach with DC Rhino at the Aldershot West End Centre.

In 1998 the band went into hiatus. But they would return the next year, 1999, with Paul Mackenzie on drums. Towards the end of that year the band went to Studio 125 in Burgess Hill, Sussex, to record a 16 track album called “The Wyoming Cattle Wars (and other short stories)”. Sadly this album was never released.

Some of the tracks of the album would end up on compilations.

The band continued gigging in 2001, with regular appearances at the West End Centre and The Shed. In 2002 the band’s original drummer Earll rejoined and Patrick James Sullivan joined the band as lead guitar. Sullivan had been in bands like West One, Blue Velvet and Ghandarva.

On April 13 of 2002 the new lineup debuted supporting Vex Red with Midwire and others at The Big Day in the Civic Hall of Guildford. A few weeks later the band played at The Verge in Camdem.

That same year the band announced a 4-track vinyl EP that they were organizing for the Bucket & Spade Experience Tour. Sadly this release never happened.

But what did happen were their compilation appearances.

So…

Their song “Go For It” was included in 1995’s “Farnborough Groove Strikes Back! (Volume 5)” compilation tape. The next year, “Paradise Found” was on “The Best Farnborough Groove in the World – Ever! (Volume 6) cassette comp. Lastly in 2001, on “Farnborough Groove Farm Volume 9” they had “Mandy”.

Other than the Farnborough compilations they had the song “There’s Always One” on the German label Meller Welle Produkte (MEL 25) in 1996. The compilation was called “25 – A Silver Jubilee”. I discovered this band thanks to this CD comp.

The band also covered “Leaving on a Jetplane” which was included in “Snakebite’s Coming Home” compilation.

Also read that “Barry & Cody Live in Leeds”, Vis The Spoon’s debut poetry album, featured a specially commissioned electronic reworking of a J.C. Regulator track from the Snakebite City compilations.

On the Facebook page for Soundscene there is a bio, where I based this text from, and also lots of flyers and photos. From them I find a few more details.

The band’s gig in Warsaw, at the Kino Teatr Tecza, included Who Moved the Ground? and the band Sanctus Iuda. At the Snakebite City New Years Eve Party! at the West End Centre the band played with Ex Boyfriends, Inter, Breaker and Cornered. Another gig at the West End Centre in 1997 I believe saw the band support Animals That Swim with Twister.

Then we find the tracklist for the “Sold as Seen” demo tape. The songs on it were “There’s Always One”, “New Horizons”, “Paradise Found”, “Sometimes (Big Drum Remix)” and “Submarine”.

And that’s what I have found. Who remembers them? And who knows if that vinyl release ever came out? Are there other demo tapes?

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J.C. Regulator – There’s Always One

The Soup Dragons: two Janice Long and two John Peel sessions are coming out on 10″ vinyl thanks to the wonderful Precious Recordings. I do wonder why did they decide to change the format of their collection, it was double 7″s, and I had them nicely in a shelf. Now my OCD will get me crazy having these as 10″s… but that’s ok. The music is what matters and these 4 new records are a must. All four records are out on November 4.

The Jack Rubies: the classic band is back, now based in Brooklyn I believe. The band that wrote terrific singles back in the 90s like “Foolish Boy” or “Lobster” is back with two brand new songs, “Hidey Hole” and “Heaven”.

Sobs: the Singapore pop band is releasing their album “Air Guitar” on October 26 on cassette, CD and vinyl! The album is a short one, 9 songs. Right now you can preview two songs on their Bandcamp, “Air Guitar” and “Cool”. This sounds very 90s, with power pop influences on it.

The Vapour Veils: on October 28 we will finally listen the album “The Last Hurrah” by this top Stockholm band that has quickly become a favourite. It looks like the album is only available now as a digital release. It has 10 songs and as of right now you can preview 4 songs! And just listen to them, and tell me if you don’t think this is great. The band also announces a 4 track EP to be released early next year as well as an album for fall 2023.

Muted Color: and the last recommendation for today is the Chicago band Muted Color. Their latest are two songs, “Radial” and “Pseudoshine”. These are lovely dreampop/shoegaze  songs. Not much more info about them on their Bandcamp, just a photo that shows five guys. Though it is true that they are on all social media and have their own website.

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I continue to catch up with the great WokingSoundscene Soundcloud (and Facebook page). The latest discovery for me is the band Sweetlife, who were active in the Woking area between 1990 and 1991.

The song that was shared 1 year ago on Soundcloud is called “Because of Love” and it was released in 1991 as part of a cassette EP titled the same way, “Because of Love”. This tape was recorded across the spring and summer of 1991 at House in the Woods studios in Bletchingley, Surrey.

The songs on the tape were “Because of Love”, “Cry” and “When Love’s Gone” on the A side and “America”, “Love this Life” and “Saoirse Blue” on the B side.

On this recording the band got help from Neil Harrison who provided additional guitar on the song “Cry” and Peter Jennings on keyboards.

Neil Harrison also produced and engineered the EP.

We know the band was formed by Darren Robinson on vocals and guitar, Malcolm Smith on guitar and backing vocals, Billy Adam on bass and vocals and John Piccerillo on drums.

Other than that I can only find the name of Paul Dreczko who auditioned for the band in 1991, but not sure what happened there.

And that’s it, very little info, and just one track out of 6 I’ve had the chance to listen.

Who remembers them?

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Sweetlife – Because of Love

Dayflower: our Leicester friends have a new digital single out now! It is called “Picturefall” and it does sound lovely. The band, who released a superb 7″ on our label, continues to create dreamy popsongs. Would be nice to see them release a new record soon!

The Very Most / Starry Eyed Cadet: this is aa must have for all indiepop fans! A 7″ with 2 sons by two of the best American pop bands! That’s right, and top of it there’s a collaboration between bands, where Sally sings in the Very Most’s track “Starry Eyed Cadet” and Jeremy sings on “The Very Most” by Starry Eyed Cadet. Confusing? I don’t think so! It’s a nice concept split 7″ that I totally recommend!

Penguins & Martingales: a new EP by one of Sweden’s best kept pop secrets. The “What Might Have Been EP” has just been released digitally by the label Bibliotek. Here we find 4 songs that are influenced by quality pop acts like Prefab Sprout, Everything By the Girl or Edwyn Collins. If this was released by él Records it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Rush to Relax: this project hails from Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is actually a Macedonian based there. Quite exotic? Damjan Manevski is the person behind the cool sounds behind the album “Misli” that Hidden Bay will be releasing soon on vinyl 12″. Influenced by Flying Nun and the artsy 80s pop of the Balkans, this is very interesting release I recommend checking out.

Comet Gain: a new release on the legendary London band’s Bandcamp. “Misfit Jukebox Vol 3: Museum of Snarling Flowers” is a collection of 3o songs! I don’t have much more to say, if you like Comet Gain and want to listen to outtakes, demos, different versions, this is definitely for you.

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If you are into the zodiac and horoscopes maybe you already knew about this, but I just found out what a rising sign is:

Your rising sign is one of the components of your birth chart, along with your moon sign and star sign. Essentially, it’s the sign that was rising on the Eastern horizon the moment you were born.

Anyhow…. just wait and listen to this band….

It is a wonderful discovery!! Wow! I really want to know more about Rising Sounds!!

It’s been a while since I have looked at the great Soundcloud account that is WokingSoundscene, and today I was there, just listening to some of their latest uploads…. and I see the song “Holiday” by this Aldershot band… and I am immediately blown over! This is pure indiepop magic!

If you like Dolly Mixture, The Avocados, and other girl-fronted pop bands, and you speed them up… yeah that would be a good description of the sound of Rising Signs.

The information available about them tells us that the band originally considered Man Made Soul as their name and that their debut gig was at the West End Centre in Aldershot supporting Drink Britain Dry (were they any good? now I am curious).

The band were part of the Battle for the Limelight at the Princes Hall in Aldershot in May 1988. Not sure if they won, or how close they were.

We also know that this song, “Holiday”, appeared on the band’s demo…

And that’s it. There’s a photo of a blonde girl singing and playing tambourine, wearing sunglasses. There’s a guitar player and a drummer too. I assume there was a bassist as well.

Oh! This same song was played at a radio show on Mixcloud called Lucky’s Lost Revivals (on his January 23rd 2022 show). There the presenter mentions a name, Bobby Cass (not sure of the spelling?), that he was part of the band, that he was his mate, but sadly passed away in 2021.

Also I think there’s lots of great stuff in his radio shows, so check them out, I was listening a few trying to track down the Rising Signs track, and was surprised by many cool sounding bands!

I’d love to listen to their whole demo tape. Anyone have any more details about them? Were they in other bands? I really want to find out more, interview them if possible!

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Listen
Rising Signs – Holiday

Herr Wade: finally! The album “…Drecht Am Kabel” by this superb project formed by two great popsters, Jørn from The Loch Ness Mouse and Sebastian Voss from Nah…, is out now on CD. There are only a few copies left now at the time I was writing this article as the physical release was only limited to an edition of 50. The album has 11 songs on top indiepop tunes that I highly recommend.

The Moss Poles: this classic English indiepop band is back with a compilation called “The Singles”. It is available on different digital platforms, but I am sharing here with you the Youtube playlist. This comp includes 20 of the band’s singles, one of them a new single track, “September Sun”.

The Radio Field: Lars from the Düsseldorf band Subterfuge has a solo project called The Radio Field and it sounds ace. He just released a limited CD EP titled “The Simple” which has 4 jangly songs! On this record he distills his influences, c86 and early Creation, to create a lovely sounding record packed with a chiming 12-string Rickenbacker to boot.

Low Key Crush: it is no surprise to find good pop songs coming from Melbourne, Australia. Every week I discover a new band. Now we find this duo that just released “Bats Over the Eastern Freeway”, a 4 song digital EP. The four songs are lovely, mellow and nicely written. The band is formed by Timothy Haines and Taycian Lord.

Lilac: and the fourth single from the upcoming debut album “There’s Someone Else in My Skin” is finally out. The Stockholm dreampop band just put out this terrific new song “Is It”. I am so looking forward to their album. I hope it gets properly released and not just digital…

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Back in 1991 a band called The Drowning Room released a 12″ vinyl EP titled “Telepathy”. I am not sure how successful this record was. I haven’t heard of it until a few days ago.

This EP had four songs, “Telepathy” and “Vox Pop” on the A side and “Candles in the Sky” and “Telepathy (Thurston Mix)” on the B side. The label was IFA Records which probably was the band’s own record label. A self-release.

The songs were recorded at the House in the Woods by Richard May in 1991 and mixed by Nick the Hat. Then we find an address in Watlington, Oxon.

Watlington is a small market town and civil parish about 7 miles (11 km) south of Thame in Oxfordshire, near the county’s eastern edge and less than 2 miles (3 km) from its border with Buckinghamshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Christmas Common, Greenfield and Howe Hill, all of which are in the Chiltern Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish’s population as 2,727.

Never heard of this town either…

There was a book by Michael Pye called “The Drowning Room” but it dates from 1995, so the band didnt name themselves after it.

But the good thing in this story is that they have a Soundcloud, last updated 7 years ago. There there are many songs, from their 12″ and more.

So we find “Telepathy”, “Stay in the Rain”, “Shine”, “Rejoice in Misery”, “Placebo Love”, “Young”, “Perfection”, “Thoughts”, “Higher High”, “Do it Slow”, “Candles in the Sky”, “Back Door”, “Vox Pop” and “Nothing’s Free”. They’ve called this collection of songs “The Lost Tapes (1987-1991)”. I am guessing these are the years the band was active.

I haven’t been able to find any band members name or if there was a connection to any other bands. But at least we’ve found the songs. So yeah, any info about them would be great to have.

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Listen
The Drowning Room – Young

2nd post this week and it feels like a big effort. This week I have been swamped with work due to hurricane Ian and have barely had any time to think about music.

Seventeen Years: here is a discovery, a new one. This Kansas City project is called Seventeen Years and have just released an album titled “Bedroom Gloom”. It is a lovely dreampop effort. It is naive and heartfelt. I am enjoying it very much. The band have been going since 2012, but well, it is never too late, right?

UJU: the latest single bby this filipino 4-piece is called “Summer” and was released 2 years ago in 2020. Yeah, it is an oldie, but I just found out about it and I thought I should!

Laveda: I have recommended this Albany, New York, band in the past. And I want to do it again. That’s because this month they released the single “Surprise”. The band also announces that next year they will be releasing their 2nd album, and for those in Toronto do check them out at the Monarch Tavern on the 29!

Martes Niebla: the Barcelona label El Genio Equivocado has just released on 12″ vinyl the mini-album “Insolación” by this cool project bby Paco Arenas from Blacanova. This is dreampop, shoegaze, with lots of experimental arrangements. It sounds dense, it sounds ethereal, it sounds powerful, quite an interesting release.

Parapertú: and continuing with the same Spanish label, I check out that Parapertú released a new album with them last August. This one has 11 songs and is called “Pantera Eras Tú”. I have enjoyed this band a lot in the past and so it is great to know the band continues crafting top pop songs. Definitely check it out.

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Rich Handyside on vocals and guitar, Tim Naylor on bass and vocals and Richard Jennings on drums formed this superb sounding Fleet 80s band.

Tim Naylor put together a Soundcloud account 10 years ago with so many treasures by his band The Handsome Bastards. Let’s see what we can find there.

The first song that was uploaded was “Love and the Whole World Lost”. This track dates from 1988 and was released in 1989 on Stupid Rabbit Tapes as part of the mini album “Ooer Missus it’s the Handsome Bastards”. As far as I know this tape is not on Discogs.

From this same release we find the songs “Letter to David” and “Big City Wolves”.

Another track is “Jesus in a Winebar”. This one was recorded in 1989 and released on the EP “HB” also on Stupid Rabbit Tapes. About this song Tim says that the band ripped off the bass line of “Psycho Killer”.

Another track from the “HB” EP was “The Map of the World”,

“Good Terrorist (small arms)” is another track recorded on a 4-track in 1989. And then another great track called “Exhuming McCartney (we wish… OK McCarthy)”.

Then we find a live recording. It dates from January 1991 at The George. The song they are playing here is “Katherine” (also called “World Trade Center” which was to be the band’s first single.

And another live recording where they play “Frank the Famous” on January 1991.

Another detail I found online is that The Handsome Bastards supported Jim Jiminee many times in the late 80s including a gig at Fleet Football club.

Tim previously had been in the bands The Bright Young Things, Controls, Nobodies Daughter and Beating Hearts and you can find recordings by them on the Soundcloud. And after being in The Handsome Bastards Rich and Tim were in Sweet Hooligan in the early 90s.

Tim Naylor has also put together a discography of the tape label he released on as well as more information on it. You can check that here. I believe it was his own label.

Tim now lives in Guildford and is head of Public Relations at BCA.

The band sounded great, but only got to put out tapes. I’d love to hear the other songs they recorded and also, of course, find more information about them! Who remembers The Handsome Bastards?

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The Handsome Bastards – Big City Wolves

This week I start with the new schedule of posts. Hopefully this gives me a little more time…

Comet Gain: 8 songs make up the new EP from one of London’s top bands. “We Lived Our Lives Like This” seems to be a collection of recordings from many different times with many different people. It is a fine release, only digital as far as I know, that includes tracks like “Fists in the Pocket” or “I Know Where Dan Treacy Lives”.

The Happy Somethings: Derbybshire/Notts band The Happy Something is back with four songs. These are special songs, a special release, as this is put together as a fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support. The EP is titled “More Coffee” and the suggested donation is of 2.5 pounds sterling.

Prism Shores: very cool to discover this superb sounding band from Montreal. Their latest release just came out and is a 9 song cassette album titled “Inside My Diving Bell”. The band is formed by Jack, Ben, Luke and Nathan and they know how to make some wonderful jangle! A very good surprise and a band to keep an eye for sure!

The Laughing Chimes: the song “Laurel Heights Courts (Single Mix)” flew under my radar last year. I had recommended the Ohio band’s “In This Town” album early on 2021, but late in 2021 they put out this song. And it is wonderful, pure bliss, fantastic jangle, very much like Choo Choo Train!

Delivery: and lastly I have to recommend this Melbourne band and their upcoming album “Forever Giving Handshakes”. The album which is coming out on November 11 will have 12 songs. Available on vinyl on Spoil Sports Records and on cassette on Antifa Records, you can preview the band’s first single “Baader Meinhof” on Bandcamp.

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The snow sheep (Ovis nivicola), or Siberian bighorn sheep, is a species of sheep from the mountainous areas in the northeast of Siberia. One subspecies, the Putorana snow sheep (Ovis nivicola borealis), lives isolated from the other forms in the Putoran Mountains.

So there used to exist a Japanese band named after this particular type of sheep from the north.

I don’t know much about them. My first encounter with them was thanks to the song “A Way to the North Land” that appeared on the “Pop Comes Up! Bluebadge Compilation Vol.2” that was released by the Bluebadge Label in 2002 (BBCD-002). On this CD the band appeared next to great bands like Bad at Bowling, Camera Works or Unknown Readymade, that I have featured in the blog before.

Previously, in 2001, the band had contributed another song, “The Other October”, to “Mo-Rough”. “Mo-Rough” was a CD compilation released by Coa Records (COAR-0008) that featured bands like Cyclon 86 or Harmony Hatch.

Then we hear again about the band on a 2016 CD titled “Looking for a Key”. This was a double CDr released by Philia Records (PHA-13) that included the second CD as a promo. The original CD didn’t come with this promo CD. It seems the promo CD was only available at the great store Disques Blue-Very.  This CD was an album by Shino Kobayashi.

From what I understand Shino was part of the band Harmony Hatch and I believe also part of Snow Sheep. Other than the aforementioned releases, Shino had a split EP with the wonderful Ivory Pat in 2020.

Going back to the “Looking for a Key” CD, we find that the promo CD, the second CD, had 18 songs, 14 by Harmony Hatch and 4 by Snow Sheep. The CD is subtitled as a cassette collection. I am guessing it collected tracks from demo tapes. The songs by Snow Sheep were “Good Night, Good Night”, “The Other October”, “A Way to the North Land” and “Frozen Heaven”.

On Rateyourmusic there’s a tape that had the songs “Good Night, Good Night” and “The Other October”. This tape is titled “Harmony Hatch Meets the Sweet Onions” and was released as the first tape in Coa Records Tape Seeries (COAT-0001). It was released in the year 2000. I want to think that Shino was the Harmony Hatch, and someone from The Sweet Onions, who made up the Snow Sheep. Does that make sense?

Has to be. On The Sweet Onions Soundcloud, we find the song “Good Night, Good Night” by Snow Sheep. There we find the band member’s names! Great find! So indeed Shino Kobayashi was part of Snow Sheep, and also were Kentaro Kondo and Daisuke Kouguchi. And that’s not all, aside from “The Other October” and a “Way to thee North Land” we find “Frozen Heaven”, so all four songs that appeared on the “Looking for a Key” CD.

And indeed, Kentaro and Daisuke were part of Th Sweet Onions. So yes, I have figured this out!

Also I know that “Frozen Heaven” was released on a compilation album that doesn’t appear on Discogs sadly. It was the “Fantastic Fantasy” comp CD that was released in 2005 by My Charm.

So great to have find so much info about them! But why just 4 songs? I’d love to find out if there are more recordings and how this collaboration between the band members happen. Anyone can shed some light about this little known Japanese band?

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Listen
Snow Sheep – Frozen

So here’s the thing. I am having a hard time to keep up with three posts a week. So starting next week I’ll be doing two posts, on Tuesdays and Fridays and if I have an interview to publish it will be posted in any of the other days. I hope in the future I can pick up the great pace I have had for many years, but yeah, right now it is a bit of a struggle with the lack of time.

Again thanks for all the support to the blog and the label.

Kindsight: here’s a very nice Copenhagen band. Kindsight has just released “Love You Baby all the Time”, a digital single that sounds superb. This four-piece is clearly influenced by Swedish pop from the 90s, think The Cardigans, Pineforest Crunch or Backfish. I am really enjoying their sound and I hope to see a proper record in the near future.

Spice World: the Australian four-piece is back with two new songs, “Dying to Go” and “What a Pity What a Shame”. These songs are actually the first offering from the band’s upcoming album to be released by our friend Álvaro on Meritorio Records. The album is set to be released on January 2023.

The Sundries: now to South East London, for this wonderful indiepop band! I am crossing fingers that I can make it to London next May to see Heavenly, and wouldn’t it be fantastic too for me to see some up and coming bands? For example I’d love to see The Sundries. Their latest release, the 4-song EP “Full of the Joys of Springs”, reminds me of the terrific Pocketbooks. Great songs, great melodies.

Orchid Mantis: now to Atlanta, Georgia, where I discover this dreampop band with an interesting name. Their latest song is called “Lucid Dreams” and from what I understand on November 11 the band is releasing an album where this song will be included!

Smut: and lastly we head to Chicago to listen to Smut and their upcoming album “How the Light Felt”. This record will be out on November 11 on CD and vinyl and will include 10 songs. Right now you can preview one of the songs, “After Silver Leaves”, which is ace.

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Helvetia is the female national personification of Switzerland, officially Confoederatio Helvetica, the Swiss Confederation.
The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing gown, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Swiss flag, and commonly with braided hair, commonly with a wreath as a symbol of confederation. The name is a derivation of the ethnonym Helvetii, the name of the Gaulish tribe inhabiting the Swiss Plateau before the Roman conquest.

Thanks to stoneeyedkiller I have discovered this wonderful early 90s band from Guernsey, from the Channel Islands.

Helvetia seems a true mystery to me, and maybe to anyone that have stumbled upon their Soundcloud. There you’ll find a bunch of superb songs, all uploaded 9 years ago. Their music style is dreampop, with amazing female vocals. It sort of reminds me of Secret Shine, well with the girl vocals. It’s really good.

Uploaded are, as I mentioned, many songs. 3 of them, “Dreamy Dreamy Dream”, “Feel” and “Clear Head Cold Heart” were part of the “Cascade EP” that was recorded on 4-track tape.

The “Soundblind” EP was their 2nd release. This one was recorded on ADAT (8 tracks). This EP had 5 songs, “Waiting to Fly”, “Valentine”, “Circus”, “Temptress” and “Rollercoaster”.

The third release was “The Experiments” which consist of “Copter” and “Sue and Mary”. Their sound had changed by this time, being a bit more rockish.

Then I find a name. Phil Bartie. He works at Heriot-Watt University as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science. He was part of Helvetia. He has a website with some of his computer stuff as well as links to his music projects. These projects include Ztimenz and Babe Serene. Sadly he hasn’t shared any details about the bands.

And that’s all I could find. Would be great to find out who were the other band members and if they continue making music. And about the EPs too, if they were released in any form! Who remembers them?

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Helvetia – Feel

Chorusgirl: a new song from the upcoming album “Colapso Calypso” is now online! “In the Business of Dreams” is a top tune by Sylvie and as mentioned will be included in the album that will be released on October 14. The album is available to pre-order now on both vinyl and CD thanks to Reckless Yes Records. Can’t wait for it!

Field School: here is another album but this time around I don’t know the band. The album “When Summer Comes Around” by Field School will be released on vinyl  on November 18 on Spain’s Bobo Integral label. You can now preview “I Just Want to Paint You in Pictures”, one out of the 12 songs, that Charles Bert, ex-Maths and Physics Club, has penned. Indeed! this is his solo project and sounds superb! A must have!

Pete Astor: a new album by the ex-Weather Prophets came out on September 9. “Time on Earth” sounds superb. It was released by the German label Tapete Records and has 10 songs. You can preview three of them on Bandcamp.

Snow Coats: I’ve enjoyed the music of this Dutch band for quite a while. Well, now there’s an album out on Alcopop Records from the UK. “If It Wasn’t Me, I Would’ve Called it Funny” is coming out on September 21 on CD and vinyl. 10 songs of well-crafted punky pop!

Spirit Ghost: and I finish today’s reviews with this Austin band. I would dare say the sound of them is influenced by The Drums. At least on their latest single “No Future” I can see that. And that’s a good thing, this track sounds great.

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Today we head to Milwaukee, to the early 90s. In this American city Al Hildenbrand, Tonny Myers, Rick Bauer, Joe Lampe and Joe Worachek formed Happytown.

To get a sense of their sound I head to Soundcloud were many of their songs are available to listen to. You’ll find there the following tracks: “Fade”, “Country”, “Poet’s Eyes”, “Falling Overe”, “Old River Control”, Quiet Man”, “Tigers”, “Five and Ten”, “The Stand”, “Every Man is King:”, “Rage”, “How to Say Goodbye”, “Fairheaven”, “Gathering Wood”, “Summer of Leaves”, “Misunderstood”, “Tornado”, “You Won the War”, “I’m One”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Southbound”, “God’s Empty Chair” and “Drink at the Bar”.

There is also a good bio that helps me put things in context. The band released three EPs and a 14-song CD. The band played in Milwaukee’s east side, in Madison, Chicago and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Later on the band members would be in other bands. Al would be in Pet Engine and Slo Fi, Tony in Independent Idols and Rick in LoveMonkeys and ZenBetty. Joe Lampe moved to Madison and Joe Worachek to Denver. But they did a reunion gig in 2003 and one more time in 2012 (I think) at the Milwaukee’s Shank Hall on June 9th of that year.

At that last reunion show the band played the following tracks: “Country”, “Rage”, “Five & Ten”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “God’s Empty Chair”, “Gathering Wood”, “Drink at the Bar”, “Summer of the Leaves”, “The Stand”, “I’m One”, “Fade”, “Poet’s Eyes”, “How to Say Goodbye” and “Southside Girl”.

And lastly in 2018 the band played a 30-year reunion gig. On December 30 of 2018 they played at O’Donoghue’s Irish Pub in Elm Grove, Wisconsin.

There is a Facebook page for the band too. So worth checking that out. I find that Joe Worachek was the vocalist and guitarist, Al Hildenbrand was guitarist and vocalist, Joe Lampe the bassist, Rick Bauer the keyboardist and that there used to be another band member called Nick Verban who was the drummer.

The band used to rehearse at September Sound Studios, a place Worachek and Bauer had set up. Bauer had been living in California before being in the band. From what I gather he went to Berkeley and returned to Milwaukee and that’s when the band started.

I find a tape they released called “Sleeping Beauty Land”. This tape was a preview of the band’s CD that was to be released on November of 1992. It included three songs, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Gathering Wood” and “I’m One”.

There was also a self-titled tape that had the songs “Quiet Man”, “Fade” and “The Stand”. This one dates from 1992.

The band played at a few venues. Names I see include The Unicorn, at The Thirsty Whale supporting the Stringbeans, Shank Hall and Sherman’s Celebrity Club, Washington Park where they played along Blue in the Face and Edgar Winter in a free concert.

Another song that they recorded were “Whisper Time” which is not on Soundcloud but on Youtube.

All of these songs appeared on the band’s self-titled CD released by Wren Records.

Another interesting bit is that when reviewed by the local press they were often compared to REM and also to the Manchester bands of the time.

Sadly there releases are not on Discogs or Rateyourmusic. So I can’t find more info about them. I believe too is the first time I post about a band from Wisconsin, so maybe not many readers are from that state. But I am hoping someone remembers and can tell us a bit more about this great sounding band!

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Listen
Happytown – Five and Ten

Back from holidays, 8 days in Tunisia visiting Roman and Carthaginian ruins as well as beautiful mosques. It was quite interesting. No indiepop there as far as I know, but had a good time. Next holidays in December for Christmas…

The Photocopies: now trying to catch up with some new music released the last week. I find two new songs by the prolific Sean Turner and his project The Photocopies. This new digital double A single has “Don’t Call Him Your Boyfriend” and “Start Again”. Good tunes as it is usual with him!

City Yelps: some noisy pop by this three-piecce combo formed by Shaun, Ged and Valentina from Leeds. “The City Yelps Half Hour” was recorded back in 2015 and it is finally available on Bandcamp.

The Umbrella Puzzles: our friend Ryan has just released “On the Meadow”, a 5-song EP CD on Subjangle Records. As usual with this label the release is very limited, 125 copies. So make it quick if you don’t want to miss this little masterpiece of thoughtful and mellow indiepop.

The Vapour Veils: as you know I’ve become a fan of this Stockholm band after discovering them not so long ago. Their latest single is “Eleanor” and it is terrific. But that’s not all, this month they also released “I Am Human and I Need to be Loved” (we get the Smiths reference of course) which is also really good!

Heavenly: and lastly some news that really surprised me and I am very excited about. Heavenly will be performing a one-off gig at the Bush Hall in London on May 20 2023. Pete, Amelia, Cathy, Rob will be on stage and on drums will join them Ian Button from the Swansea Sound. It does look though that the gig is now sold out but rumours are that there will be another date. I have bought a ticket for this gig… and I don’t know yet if I can make it to London then with baby and all. Crossing fingers.

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There is an account on Soundcloud by Peter Long (a.k.a. immed8), a composer and sound artist based in the Blue Mountains, close to Sydney. He uploads there his experiments and works in progress while his finished work is on Bandcamp. The interesting bit is that within all of his song there is one by an Adelaide band called the Fortune Tellers.

This song is called “Writing Monday” and dates from June 1987, much older than his other songs. He also shares with us the band members names and none of them is Peter Long. I wonder then what was his involvement with the band? Did he record the track?

The Fortune Tellers were formed by David Bosanko on drums and vocals, Deryck Charles on keyboards, Steve Fieldhouse on guitar and vocals, David Norris on vocals and Greg Vincent on bass and vocals.

Then I find the connection. Greg Vincent and Peter Long were in a band called Ashram Poets in the early 2000s. From what I understand Fortune Tellers would change names and in 1988 release a 12″ on Greasy Pop Records as Morning Glory. I have never heard of them to be honest.

It seems that “First Light” was Morning Glory’s only release. I’ll try to track it down.

Now I wonder why they changed names. Anyone knows? They have the same band members.

We also know that Greg Vincent was involved in the band Primitive Painters. that Steve Fieldhouse was in Found Objects and has a website for his work as an audio engineer and producer. David Bosanko had been in a band called Dandelion Wine before being in Fortune Tellers.

I now wonder if there are more recordings by Fortune Tellers. And where does “Writing Monday” comes from? A demo tape? Would be great to find out.

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Listen
Fortune Tellers – Writing Monday

I’ll be on holidays next week. So this is the last post until Monday 19. I’ll see you soon!

The Catherines: a new song by Heiko and Sandra and as usual it sounds lovely. “She’s My Light” is the name of this great new track that is about their local cinema “Abaton”. The song will be part of the band’s upcoming album “Wanna Meet Our Neighbours?” which will be released later this year or early next year.

Wily: Many years ago I interviewed the Primary Colours, the band that came after was called Wily. The good news is there is a new collection of songs recorded by both bands, from 1982 to 2019, a “Best of”, on Bandcamp. It has 27 songs and I suggest checking it out, lots of superb songs in here!

Roller Derby: “Only You” is the newest song by the Hamburg-based trio. This shimmering, mellow, song is really good. The band will be playing live on September 21 at the Reeperbahn Festival, and I wish very much to be there. How much I like Hamburg, been so many years. Maybe next year I will visit.

Bleach Lab: now we head to London to discover this band that cites Mazzy Star and The Smiths as influences. Their latest release is “If You Only Feel it Once” which is coming out in November. It looks like it will be a digital release. But you can preview 2 out of 5 tracks now. And that’s great.

Fleeting Joys: a new song by the California duo! “Everything You’re Running To” is a superb swirling single. On top of that, this song is raising money to support Ukraine by donating to the World Central Kitchen.

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Been struggling lately to find time to write these posts about obscure bands. Baby has started to go to daycare but between work and house chores I find less and less time available to do things I love. I wonder how people in the same situation as me managed?

I guess Im managing. But I am not buying many new records. I am not listening many physical records. It is becoming harder and harder. I only listen to music when I prepare these posts.

The good thing is that I am listening to many new songs thanks to Rollercoaster, a superb shoegaze band from Shannon, County Clare, Ireland. Clearly influenced by Ride, the band has a great sound of their own. 6 years ago they uploaded a trove of songs to Soundcloud and I am listening one by one and enjoying it a lot.

This 1990s band recorded the following songs: “Velvet”, “Uncounted”, “Time Will Tell”, “Smile”, “Rain”, “Penetrate”, “Out on the Blue 6”, “In an Hour”, “Mood Swings”, “11”, “Broken” and “Blindmans Lipstick”. It doesn’t look like they released any records sadly.

The band has a Facebook page with photos of them and some more details. There we learn the band played The Rock Garden of Dublin on June 1, 1992, the Theatre Royale in Limerick on February 16, 1993, The Village in Cork on March 20, 1993 and The Knights in Shannon on April 23, 1993.

The band was a four piece. But can’t find the band members names anywhere.

And yes, I can’t find any other details sadly.

So I am hoping some of you will be able to help me! Were these recordings from demo tapes? Or where do they come from? Were they involved with any other bands?

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Listen
Rollercoaster – Penetrate