Pretty busy week so far. Not much news from me. But here are some news from around the indiepop world.

Ancient Channels: Definetely Australia is producing top indiepop at the moment, I keep discovering good songs all the time. The latest discovery is this Brisbane band which might be just Kelly Hanlon and friends helping her playing drums and percussion. Impressive. They have just the one song but it is pretty good, it is called “Footprints in the Dark”.

Clan de Venus: really good jangle pop from this León, Mexico, band! They have just released a self-titled album with 7 songs that sound terribly fresh. I highly recommend this one. The band is formed by Ricardo “Manzanas” Gómez, Angel “Amadeus” Tavarez, Norman Orozco and Diego Chávez. Let’s keep an eye on them.

All Romantic Days: This band features band members of the super Sound & Fury band from Chengdu but this time it is not shoegaze but proper indiepop! Sweet and dreamy! Wow, really wow. “May I Waste Your Time” is their debut EP. I hope this gets released properly soon!

Tea Room: another terrific indiepop band with top pop sounds! So far out of 4 bands, 3 are classic indiepop! Cool! That’s a change. Not that I don’t like shoegaze, I do, but you know my heart is very very poppy! This trio hails from Mississauga, Canada, and have a 5 song EP called “Dress Up” which is lots of fun! Another record I hope gets released in physical format. It deserves so.

Cinéma Lumière: the latest project by pop genius Xavier Emas from the Philippines sounds gorgeous. Again proper classic indiepop, chiming guitars, sweet vocals and dreamy melodies. What else can one ask?! This is up my alley, and yours I bet. And there’s even a video for the song “Love”. Ah! I feel nostalgia for the golden days of indiepop!

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Man Friday: a male helper or follower. Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe names the man Friday, with whom he cannot at first communicate, because they first meet on that day. The character is the source of the expression “Man Friday”, used to describe a male personal assistant or servant, especially one who is particularly competent or loyal. Current usage also includes “Girl Friday”. 

It’s been a while since I wrote about an obscure Swedish band. Well it is time to fix that. Let me present you My Man Friday!

I know barely anything about them. I’ve listened to the A side of their one and only release, a 7″ released in 1987, and I thought it sounded superb. Now I am looking to find out more info on them.

The 7″ had just two songs, “On the Other Side of the Atlantic” on the A side and “Autumn Would Mean All Rain” on the B side. The 7″ was released by Watch Out Records (WAR 003) and the sleeve, on the front, features a small photo of the band.

Something that I am curious about is the label. It does look like this was the third release on the label but actually only this 7″ is listed on Discogs. Perhaps 001 and 002 were demo tapes? I’ve seen that happen in the past.

Sadly there are no compilation appearances by the band. I will need to dig deeper.

Then I suddenly stumble upon something unexpected. Another song by the band, not on the 7″ called “Come and Stay“. It is on Youtube and it is really nice! Here I learn that the band was based in Stockholm and was around from 1985 to 1988. And then I follow the trail and I find a total of 16 songs by the band! Wow! Really wow!

Other songs available to listen are “Anything Goes“, “Bodyless“, “Boys in the Backdoor“, “By My Side“, “Cruel“, “Death“, “On the Other Side of the Atlantic“, “I’ve Seen that Face“, “Jealous“, “Knowledge“, “True” and “Walk On By“. This is more than I expected when I started writing the post.

I look at comments see if there is any interesting details. Not really, though they do seem to have a fan called Toni Kaufmann who has commented quite a lot saying they are his favourite band! Then one of the songs, “On the Other Side of the Atlantic” doesn’t have a photo of the band, instead it has the back sleeve of the 7″. Details at last!

Here it says that the band was formed by Pelle Pop (real name Per Nordwall), Mats Johansson, Carlo Kaufman, Peter Touminen and Anders Engström. The sax on the 7″ was played by Thomas Jo Hansson and the female backing vocals were by Maria Olsson. The two songs on the 7″ were recorded at Tom-Tom Studio by Thomas Wretman. Cool!

Then I find that the band actually appeared on the 1987 Swedish film called “Vem är Ansvarig för Detta?” (“Who is Responsible For This?”) where they played the Elvis song “Jailhouse Rock“.

And then even better, a promo video for the song “Anytown“. Det är mycket bra! This is is so good! But this is not the only promo video, the B side of the 7”, “Autumn Would Mean All Rain” also has a video!

Then Pop Fakta, the Swedish rock archive website, would actually give me more answers. To start it has more records listed for Watch Out Records, a release by Rouletto och Kasino and two by The Link.

Other interesting details in which other bands did the band members play. Pelle Pop played on T-Shirts, Taxi and Trance Dance during the 80s. Mats Johansson has played in Sinn Fenn, Claudie, Extra, Avsikt, Moderns, Candy Roxx, Nini, Isildurs Bane, Roland Utbult, Freda, Mao, Quil, and more. He is even listed for A-Teens? Maria Olsson, who did the choruses on the 7″, played in Gospel Voice, Wilner, Åke Bylund & Mörbyligan and The Next.

And even though I couldn’t find info about Carlo Kaufman, the vocalist, on Pop Fakta, I am pretty sure as I found a post about it in Blaskotelet, that he was in a band alongside Monica Hellström called  Maude & Kompani and they recorded a demo sometime in the 80s. I’d love to listen to that!

And that’s all really. I definitely would love to know why didn’t they release any more records. They had the songs. Were these songs released as demo tapes? Did they play lots around Sweden? It is the first time I’m hearing them, I am curious if they shared stage or were friends with other fine pop bands at the time. Would definitely love to know more about them!

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Listen
My Man Friday – On the other side of the Atlantic

I wrote about the German band Viola Crayfish some months ago. And guess what, I got in touch with them! And what’s even better they were up to answering my questions! So why not discover this terrific indiepop band from the Bremen area who didn’t release any proper records but left a handful of very strong songs!

++ Hi Lars, Folker and Bernd! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Still making music?

Lars: Thank you for having us. I am fine and still making music.

Folker: I play guitar on my own, and also as a teacher in special educa1on with handicapped pupils. 1-2 1mes a year i teach a friend of mine guitar tricks in song playing (not in a commercial way).

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

Lars: We had to learn “Blockflöte”, a flute maybe you call it “recorder”. I was talentless. My Mother was always listening to radio and I figured out that some songs are better than others.
The best radio station in Western Germany was BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Service), in the early eighties they played all the hits from UK. When I was older I realised they had John Peel later in the evening.
I became a fan of Queen when I was 12 and bought a final record 1982. They lead me to Sparks, David Bowie and Roxy Music.

Folker: I played a wooden flute as a kid, later i started playing on a classical guitar. Luckily my guitar teacher was never interested in classical playing. He teached me to understand chords and melodies. Not only in Theory of musical harmonies, also in an emo1onal way.

Bernd: That’s an easy one. I first and foremost listened to what my brother listened to, no thinking needed. The few times I bought my own stuff, it was on the embarrassing schmaltzy side. Probably all about melodies, I rarely listen to lyrics. Still a habit today, hence I like Greek and Hawaiian music. Just sounds great and soothing.

++ Had you been in other bands before Viola Crayfish? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

++ Where were you from originally, the Oldenburg area?

++ How was your town at the time of Viola Crayfish? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

++ And there has been a few lineup changes through the years, right? Why?

Bernd: I moved away, first inside Germany then abroad. So I was replaced with a machine I guess which as probably for the better anyway…

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

++ Do you have say, like a top 5 German bands? Maybe some obscure ones that you played with perhaps that could recommend me?

++ Something that caught my attention was that you didn’t release anything back in the 80s. Why was that? Was there no interest from labels? No money?

++ I am aware of at least one demo tape, one called “Nordsee”. But are there any other demo tapes? If so, care listing them for me?

Folker: I think the tape was called “Viola Crayfish”, but I dont remember well…

++ I got introduced to your music through the 1989 compilation “Diamonds and Porcupines”. How did you end up on it? How was your relationship with the Beat All the Tambourines label?

++ Then you appeared on the latest compilation of Firestation Records featuring bands from the late 80s, early 90s in Germany. On the small bio it mentions that at some point you decided to start writing songs in German. What made you take that decision? Did you stop singing in English? Or was it a mix of both?

++ On Discogs I found about a 2011 CD called “Far Out”. How was this one available? And are these newer songs? What can you tell me about this release?

++ On Soundcloud there are even more unreleased songs by the band. I was wondering if there are any plans at some point to make them all of them available in some way?

++ My favourite song so far, maybe because it is the first I ever heard, is “Love is More than Weather”. Was wondering if you could tell me the story behind it?

++ If you were to choose your favorite Viola Crayfish song, which one would that be and why?

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over Germany?

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

++ And were there any bad ones?

++ When and why did Viola Crayfish stop making music? Or you never stopped? I see that you’ve played at least up to 2008 or so?

++ And had you been involved in any other bands aside from Viola Crayfish?

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

++ What about from fanzines?

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Bernd: If you think about now, in hindsight, the highlight was actually finding the time to practice every week or more often, develop the ideas and songs, and just have fun with it. At time it was about playing in front of people. Nerve wrecking and exciting in equal measures. We once played in a staircase for a true fan’s birthday bash. You can’t make it up.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

++ So I will ask for some recommendations. If  I was to visit your town and area what shouldn’t I miss? What are your favourite sights? And any particular food or drinks that you think one shouldn’t miss?

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

So in two weeks I am heading for holidays in Vietnam. I have never met a Vietnamese indiepop fan, but as I am going there, and if there is anyone interested in some record (maybe you have some friends there?), get in touch with me and I can bring some records to you and save on postage.

Last Saturday I attended the Robert Forster gig here in NY, in The Bell House, in Brooklyn. I had bought tickets the minute they were released and it seems those tickets were seated tickets. Not that it mattered really, seats were first come first serve, but still, that already gave the gig a different atmosphere than what I am used to. I don’t think I’ve ever sat in a concert. Okay, maybe at Indietracks at the church venue. But it is not common. So I was curious.

In the end I think it worked well, as it was just Robert and his guitar, a very personal gig, where the audience also played an important role, responding, singing, and cheering at different points throughout it. I was hypnotized, enjoying the little stories behind the songs he’d play. His guitar playing, his control of the stage. For me of course highlights were when he’d play Go-Betweens classics like “Spring Rain” or “Head Full of Steam”, and or his own “Baby Stones” or his latest single “Inferno (Brisbane in Summer)”. I can’t thank enough for being able to hear all of them in a single night.

Then afterwards, meeting him just for a brief moment. Getting my two books signed and chit-chatting for about 5 minutes or so, though it felt like it was just too small time. Could have talked much more. But there was a long line of people also eager to meet him so…

I left the venue happy. It was early still. I hadn’t had many beers either. It felt a bit different. Not part of my routine when it comes to gig. But I was totally thrilled, engaged, and really hoping I get to experience another Robert Forster gig in the near future. He said the last time he was in the U.S. was 11 years ago. I hope it doesn’t take that long again.

Now I look at future gigs in NY and they are happening while I am away on holidays. I will miss Say Sue Me for example. Oh well, you can’t win all the time.

Now, here are a few good finds of course from over the weekend.

Dronjo Kept by 4: our friends from Japan are back with a tape EP on the very fine Galaxy Train label. The EP is titled “School Festival” and has 4 lovely lo-fi indiepop songs. My favourite of the 4 is “Umbrellas”, a bouncy and feel-good poppy track. Very nice.

En Attendant: the Parisian quintet will be releasing an album called “Juillet” on January 4th on the Chicago label Trouble in Mind Records. The album has 10 tracks and will be released on CD and vinyl. At the moment we can just preview one track, “Words”, and that’s ok, it sounds great!

The Giraffe Told Me in My Dream: it has been a while since I heard a Taiwanese band. I am glad I am doing so as everytime I have heard something coming from there has always been good. Te Giraffe Told Me in My Dream is no exception. They seem brand new, they only have three songs on Bandcamp, “Relapse”, “Where We are Going” and “Slow”, and they make up the EP “Slowfall”, a pretty pretty noisy, dreamy, shoegaze effort.

Pure Moods: this Melbourne, Australia, band is also releasing an album. It is called “Upward Spiral” and will be available on vinyl LP and cassette on November 29. Again just one song is available to preview, the opening track “Tide”. I’ve been wondering what to do with Bandcamp and my CD retrospectives. This might make sense. Song sounds good too!

Lemondaze: the debut single by this London trio is a terrific shoegaze track called “Neon Ballroom”. Surprisingly the bio tells us that the band was formed in 2016, so I wonder what took them so long to release this first track. It is not a complaint, the wait was totally worth it. It is a lovely single, intense and powerful. Good stuff!

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Elefant Records is perhaps the most important indiepop label from Spain. It is true that lately I think it is kind of a hit and miss label, but when we look at their back catalogue we find out their greatness. Because they discovered many bands and released so many classic records.

Back in 1992 it wasn’t common for Spanish bands to sing in English, even less to make jingle jangly indiepop in the vein of what was going on in the UK. La Sintesis was one of the first bands to do so and it was no surprise then that Elefant would release their debut 7″.

The band hailed from Pamplona in Navarra, a land that has given us lots of great talent, just lately we can think of Los Ginkas and Melenas for example. The band was formed by Joako Ezpeleta on vocals, and Patxi Garro on guitar and backing vocals. On the 7″ they had the help of Javier Lizarazu on drums, Javier Marco on bass, Ricardo Aguilar on guitar, Iñigo de Etxarri on backing vocals and Alberto Tabernero on sax.

The 7″  was among the first on Elefant, with the catalog ER-105. It came out in 1992 and included four songs, two on each side. The A side had “Shouting Out” and “September” while the B side had “Time to Move” and “It’s You”. All songs were recorded at Estudio Arion in 1990 in Pamplona with Roberto Elizalde and Jesús de los Arcos as engineers. All songs are credited to Ezpeleta and Garro. The record is dedicated to Toño Reber.

It looks like in 1986 the band had put together a tape with three songs called “Al Mérito Postumo”. This one is listed on Discogs and is quite a surprise. I wonder that back then, 6 years earlier, the band sounded the same. This demo had all songs on the A side, “La Última Vez”, “Llegada la Noche” and “Puro Estrés” which seems to be an original from Paul McCartney. These songs were recorded at Zeta Soluciones Audiovisuales in Pamplona between the 1st and 4th of September of 1986. Something interesting I notice is that this time around the band was singing in Spanish. It may have to do that at this time Toño Reber was the vocalist and lyricist, the same Toño who passed away in 1989 and which the 7″ is dedicated to. Joako doesn’t appear listed in this release but we do see that Patxi Garro played the bass, Joaquín López the drums, Iñigo Echarri the guitar, Alberto Tabernero the sax and Pablo Duque the synth.

There are more songs by the band of course scattered among many compilations. In 1991 their song “Shouting Out” appears on a tape called “Spying on the Blue Sky” released in Spain. I wonder who put this one out. It has quite a good collection of bands!

In 1992 the band appears first on “La Línea del Arco – La Banda Sonora 3” which has the first ever Elefant catalog number (ER.1). This was a tape comp where the band had the songs “I Want Your Love” and “Sin Titulo”. I guess it came together with a La Línea del Arco fanzine? Then they appear on the compilation 7″ “La Línea del Arco” released by Elefant (ER-102) with the song “Violently Pretty Face”, covering The Close Lobsters! . This 7″ came together with the 3rd issue of the fanzine of the same name. That same year they contribute to another Elefant tape release, “Around the World” (ER-106) with the song “You Can Love a Woman” and their song “September” appears on the first ever Aliénor Records release “Garden Party” (ALIEN α), a compilation tape with many great bands from all over in it.

“I Want Your Love” appears on the Glidge Records (Glidge 002) tape “Astral Plane” in 1993. This was a UK tape that featured bands like The Cat’s Miaow, The Ampersands, Musical Chairs and more.

In 1996 the Spanish magazine Zona de Obras puts together a sampler CD called “Elefant Air Lines” (ZdeO 007) where they showcase the label’s catalog. La Sintesis contributes the song “You Can Love a Woman”.

Lastly, sometime in the early 90s the band contributed the song “It’s You” to “Foreign Intervention” a tape comp released by the UK label Fluff Records.

But there were more songs. I know that because I’ve stumbled upon a Bandcamp set up by Elefant Records with the 4 songs of the 7″ plus 5 more songs. These been “You Can Love a Woman”, “I Want Your Love”, “La Balsa”, “Beautiful Lies” and “Violently Pretty Face”. Some of these appeared on the comps I mentioned, but “La Balsa” or “Beautiful Lies” didn’t. Do they come from some demo?

I check for the band members and find that Alberto Tabernero had been in Cherokees and Refugiados. javier Marco on Ohiana. Javier Lizarazu on Tahúres Zurdos. And of course Joako Ezpeleta has been involved with the band Sult! and with many things pop, like being radio host on “Viaje a los Sueños Polares”, founder of the “Spiral” music fanzine with Elefant’s Luis Calvo and even founding the “Festival Independiente de Benicàssim”!

And of course my friend Alex had written about them back in 2008 in his always recommendable blog 7iete Pulgadas. According to him Joako had been in a band before La Síntesis and it was called You, Me and the Others. They didn’t release anything, but I have to wonder if there are any recordings of that. Alex also mentions a early demo of La Síntesis which he loves but doesn’t give any other details.

Another interesting fact he mentions is that Joako worked with the Moving Pictures and also played gigs alongside Elefan’ts Luis Calvo as The Chapelfieds, an acoustic duo.

Not much more written about them, but it seems clear that the band had more songs, from the first period without Joako and from the second, with Joako already in their ranks. Would definitely like to listen to them. And of course find out more about the story of this Pamplona band!

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Listen
La Sintesis – Shouting Out

Are you ready for the weekend? Here are some cool finds for all of you to enjoy!

Tvärtom: the Finnish band is definitely one of my favourite new bands. Everything I’ve heard by them is ace. Their latest is a video for their track “Iltariennot” which is also superb. It made me go back 10 years, when indiepop felt this fresh back then! With dancing, indiepop outfits, glasses, haircutes, all the things that I grew to love then! I really really hope there’s a release by the band. I was thinking it’d be cool to see a 7″, an A side in English, a B side in Finnish, wouldn’t that be something?

Collapse: a new video too by this Japanese band that makes some really good shoegaze! The song, “Ritual”, is actually part of a 3 song single called “Endogenic Rebirthday” that includes “Bleed” and “Oblivion” too. I just found out about them so I wasn’t aware either that “Oblivion” also had a video!

Dead Little Penny: some time ago I recommended this Auckland, New Zealand, project. At that time they had released a digital single called “Dead Together”. Well it seems that URL doesn’t work anymore. BUT, they have now an album where this single is included. The album is called “Urge Surfing” and includes that song plus 8 more. Very good stuff!

Bathe: another band that have been featured on the blog is the Atlanta based project Bathe. This is just a one-person band, Bailey Crone, a multi-instrumentalist, and that is really cool. On her latest track she gets the help of Damon Moon on synth and production to create a hazy and beautiful song called “Tarot Cards”.

So Many Lines: and now we travel all the way to Grenoble, France, for a a four track EP called “Greatest Travel Memory”. Included here are four songs, recorded between 2018 and 2019, that seem to be influenced by The Field Mice, The Wake, and other indiepop bands with electronic beats. It is a bit lo-fi, but that adds to the charm.

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Some time ago, exploring the 1991 tape “A Prospect of the Sea” (Smile 003) that Cloud Production released, I was quite curious about The Throwaways. They had a great name for an indiepop band. In the end I didn’t write about them and wrote about the lovely Kindergarten. You see, I couldn’t find any songs by them. Today I gave it another try and was able to find the song “Trainstation Friend”, that was included in this tape. And what a find it was!

I love that the theme of the song is a train station. There is this thing about trains and indiepop. I love it. I wish here in the US train travel was more common, more normal. Also the track is proper, classic, indiepop. Influenced by The Sea Urchins maybe.

The band didn’t release any records, but I believe they appeared on other compilations. I know there was an early 90s tape called “Seaside Train – A Swirl Compilation” were the band contributed the song “Apple”.

Then I find some interesting bits of information on Youtube, on a private video. Yes, I had to do some digging! The person commenting is Richard Hughes who was actually the vocalist and drummer of the band. The other band members were Paul Bradford on guitar and Nick Bray on bass.  Sean Willmott was their original drummer and he was around during most of the band’s life. Richard mentions that the “Trainstation Friend” recording included in the compilation tape is actually a very early version of this song, dating from 1990 and recorded at the school studio’s in Newton Abbot. I would love to listen to later versions of course!

He says he has lost touch with Paul and Nick. Sean wasn’t on the recording of this track. He also mentions that Sean gigged for their first couple of shows supporting The Haywains, and then left. He would return eventually.

Richard was 19 when the band was formed, the rest were around 16. They lasted a few years and played gigs with great bands like The Popguns, Secret Shine and more. Their first gig was at the Le Cav in Bristol. When dance music came in they got a bit influenced by them it seems. That’s when they recorded the tracks “Apple’ and “Haversack”.

Sadly it seems Richard has lost all recordings from that time.

Sean is now an art teacher in London. Richard in the other hands seems to continue making music solo, also in London.

What about the other two? And did they really lose all their recordings? None of the other members have copies? I would really like to listen to their other songs. “Trainstation Friend” is pretty, so I would definitely love to know what happened to them. Why didn’t they release anything?! Who’d know!? Maybe some of my Bristol friends?

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Listen
The Throwaways – Trainstation Friend

So I feel, and I may be wrong, that the blog has gotten a bit of a following as I see more bands tagging me on Facebook and Twitter. That’s cool. But I really hope that people don’t think that this labor of love is just about the blog, it is mainly about the Cloudberry label. And I am hoping people continue to support it. If there’s no label, there’s no sense for me to have a blog I think. Anyways, I continue looking for the perfect pop song, so here are a few good discoveries from the past few days!

Le Superhomard: “SDVB” is a track from the album “Meadow Lane Park” that was released on Elefant Records. It is a very cool song so it is no surprise whatsoever that they have picked this one to make a promo video. On top of it all it is a fun video, with cool animations. Now, what does “SDVB” stand for?

The Vapour Trails: the Detroit, Michigan, label Futureman Records has put together on Bandcamp a compendium of demos by The Vapour Trails called “The Inner Truth – Home Recordings and Demos”. There are 17 tracks by the Scottish band and even includes a few covers by The Byrds and The Beatles.

Follow Me Not: some superb French janglepop here on the Unknown Pleasures label also from France. There are just two songs to preview, “Walls” and “Bliss” from their upcoming album “Vanishing Smile” that will be released on January 20th on CD and vinyl. It sounds terrific.

Pony in the Pancake: back in August I was reviewing a track called “Summer” by this Albany, New York, band. I really liked and was left hoping for more. Well, it turns out that last September the band released their album “Summer Sun” and now you can preview all 11 tracks on it as well as ordering a tape version of the album!

Young Guv: Lastly a new album, a double vinyl album, by the Toronto based project. The album contains two albums that were released previously online, “Guv I” and “Guv II”, and it is pretty good and keeps you busy with 19 songs total! It is summery, it jangles, it is catchy. The record is available now on Run For Cover Records.

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Some weeks ago (or maybe a few months ago!) I received the “Behave Yourself!” compilation just in time to prepare an interview with the great Japanese band All Twin’s Birthday. I listened to the record many many times and I noticed that there was a superb song by a band I had never heard before in my life, Lucy was an Engine. Who were they? I asked myself with no answer.

The song the band contributed to this 1993 mini-CD compilation released by the Behavior Saviour label (BS008) was called “Wig”. Fortunately the band members names are listed and this may or may not help my investigation. The band was formed by:
Matthew Aulich on bass
Stewart McLeod on drums
Colin Gregory on guitar
Mark Austin on guitar
Martin Andrews on vocals

This was not the first compilation the band had been on. A year earlier, 1992, the band had their song “My Socks” on a CD compilation called “Nu-Music Sampler Series 4” released by Studio 52 Records (52CD020). This label was Australian, based in Melbourne. First question then, was Lucy was an Engine an Australian band?

Behavior Saviour would include them in another compilation in 1994 when the label had already moved to Australia. On the “Come All Ye Faithful” (BS011) the band appears with two songs, “All in Green” and “Winter, Windy, Wednesday”. So far, four songs I am counting. My question is then, why no proper releases by them?!

The last compilation they were in was also from 1994. It was a tape that the French fanzine Gloomy Biscuit released and was aptly called “Gloomy Biscuit II”. The band would contribute the song “Wig”, the one and only song I’ve heard so far by them. I believe the fanzine included information about the band, details, but I don’t have this zine. Maybe someone could scan their page for me? I can understand a little French.

After the demise of the band I know Matthew Aulich went to be in bands like Drugstore, Small Slips and The Paradise Motel. All Australian bands. Okay. Then I confirm that Lucy was an Engine was an Aussie band.

Now, Colin Gregory. This is perhaps the biggest surprise. It is the same Colin Gregory as in One Thousand Violins, The Dylans and The Page Boys. I think I once read that one of The Page Boys moved to Australia. Is this how the story went? Who can confirm me this?

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Listen
Lucy Was an Engine – Wig

Another week and quite excited as I am already in touch with a band for a future Cake Kitchen release. I really hope it works out and eventually I can announce that. For the 7″s there’s been a few projects planned so I need to see the status of those. I guess now with holiday season things might get a bit slower but I will check!

In the meantime, here are a few cool finds from over the weekend!

Night Hikes: This Seattle two-piece was quite a surprise when I found them on Bandcamp some time ago. I know they are working on an album called “Chalice” that will be released on November 15th. We’ve heard a few terrific songs that will be included in it, and now there’s a new one called “Belltown”. And this one on Soundcloud is the single version. So definitely check it out.

Sally Haze: now another two piece, this one hailing from another US city, Chicago. The people behind it are William Wright and Jessica Wright. Are they siblings? Are they a couple? The one thing I know is that they have a 5 track EP called “Dining Room” which is available on cassette. It is pretty interesting, with standout tracks, “Tell Me Everything” and “You & Me” .

The Catherines: our friends from Hamburg just let us know that they have a new album out called “This is Good!” which is now available on tape. It is a short album, there are 8 songs, of classic bedroom jangle pop by Sandra and Heiko. And as usual we find their trademark melodies, interesting and long song titles, and summery vibe.

Kosmetika: don’t know much about this band aside that they have released an album on Roolette Records from Melbourne. It says the band has members from Russia, New Zealand and Australia, and so this album is their first one, called “Pop Soap”. It is also short, 8 songs. But it is quite interesting as there is a cool mix of elements like psychadelia and some krautrock like in the track “Kraftneu” that is a fine pop song with kraut influences!

Whimsical: more shoegaze. That’s more popular than indiepop. At least for the last 5 or so years. Maybe 10. This Griffith, Indiana, band has released their new album “Bright Smiles & Broken Hearts”, just a few days ago, on the 5th. The album is available on CD and includes 9 tracks of luminous dreampop. Lovely.

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I was just checking new music on Youtube the other day and stumbled upon “Real Surprise” by Valerie and the Week of Wonders and well, I started digging on the web for more info about this song that was released in 1984.

The first thing I notice is that Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czech: Valerie a týden divů) is a 1970 Czechoslovakian surrealist horror film directed by Jaromil Jireš and based on the 1935 novel of the same name by Vítězslav Nezval. It is considered part of the Czechoslovak New Wave movement. The film stars 13-year-old Jaroslava Schallerová as Valerie, with a supporting cast that includes Helena Anýžová, Karel Engel, Jan Klusák, and Petr Kopriva.Valerie and Her Week of Wonders was filmed in the Czech town of Slavonice and surrounding areas. The film portrays the heroine as living in a disorienting dream, cajoled by priests, vampires, and men and women alike. The film blends elements of the fantasy and horror film genres.

Pretty obvious then that the band took their name from this film. I haven’t watched it. Do anyone recommend it?

The record was released on Piggy Bank Records (BANK 998) which was also the house of a much more known band, The Lucy Show. It does look like this was their only release though it was released on both 7″ and 12″ formats. The 7″ had two songs, “Real Surprise” on the A side and “Holy Picture” on the B side. The 12″ on the other hand had “Real Surprise (Wonder Mix)” on the A side and “Holy Picture” and “Too Late” on the B side.

All songs were engineered by Jon Turner and mastered by Noel Summerville at PRT Studios. The producer was Bobby Henry. The photos on the sleeve are credited to Tony Harrison (for the band photo on the back) and Michael Ross (beach photo on the front).

But then I find out something really interesting. Discogs only lists this record bt 45cat actually has a record that was released previously! A 7″! Wow.

A plain white sleeve, die-cut on one of the sides and hand stamped and drawn on the other, presents us “Too Late” on the A side and “Helpless” on the B side. Bobby Henry produced again the two songs. What a mystery this record is. I know too that it was released in 1983 by a label called “Soon-Come Records” (VA 01). This might as well have been the band’s own. And it might as well have been what made them end up signing with Piggy Bank? Piggy Bank was actually owner by A&M, a big label. Also something worth mentioning is that the band did a British tour supporting The Icicle Works.

Then what else? There are no compilation appearances listed. Odd.

I find then a mention of the band that might be quite interesting. Seems Greg Kane was the band’s saxophonist. he was later in Hue & Cry. Thanks to that fact I end up finding out that Valerie and the Week of Wonders was actually a Scottish band. It had Gerard Burns on vocals and Brian McFie on guitar in their lineup. Brian McFie would then be lead guitarist in The Big Dish! The other band member was Ewan McFie.

This helps me to find that Gerard Burns is now a painter, winning the Not The Turner Prize. He has also taught at St Aloysius College in Glasgow. And before all that he had studied at the prestigious Glasgow School of Art. On this article of the Herald he reminisces about the time in the band and why they didn’t make it big: “It was a shame, it was politics within the record company, but that got me out of art school and I was about two years with the band, and then I continued on with my music with other people.” . It looks like after the band split he formed a band called Heaven Sent which actually supported Simple Minds.

I then find an auction for a screenprint poster from the 80s where it advertises the band playing at the Joanna’s nightclub in Glasgow alongside Significant Zeros. Tickets were just a pound fifty back then.

Another interesting trivia is that his son is also a musician and recorded an album called “Burn on Burns”, where Gerard helped.

Now what a find! Another song on Youtube called “Ships on the Clyde“. Was this released on a demo tape or what? It has a promo video. So that is quite a mystery, how there is a video but no release? This song was recorded at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh in 1984 and was produced by Bobby Henry and engineered by Jon Turner and Gordon Rintoul. Jim Gillespie produced and directed this video which was featured on a 1985 Old Grey Whistle Test video competition for unsigned bands, judged by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme.

Lots of info, and it is only the first time I’m listening to their music. I find it so cool that the band was formed at the Glasgow School of Art. Gerard and Brian being painters. What about Greg and Ewan? Were they into visual arts as well? Did they have more songs? What other bands had they been in? It’d be great to find out more about them. I am very curious and I definitely want to hear more by them!

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Listen
Valerie and the Week of Wonders – Real Surprise (Wonder Mix)

I keep posting Dayflower and Baby Lemonade records and also sent a few to different mailorders. Have you ordered your copy already? I am very proud about them and will start working on new releases soon! Hopefully I’ll be able to announce some news before the year ends. In the meantime support the label as that always helps to fund future releases!

Now, I know you came for new music. Here’s a fine share of that.

Dream, Ivory: the California band, from Lake Elsinore, keeps giving us wonderful songs. “Making Faces” is the third single from their upcoming album “Lost Dogs” and one can only wonder when this record will be out. Because everything we’ve heard so far sounds terrific. At least a release date would be good!

Turnover: another American band, this one hailing from Virginia. They have released their album “Altogether” and that is good news. It is out now on vinyl LP, CD and cassette. There are 10 songs of dreamy sweet songs with standout tracks like “Still in Motion” or “Plant Sugar”.

K. Campbell: two very cool songs by this Houston project are now available on tape and also on lathe cut 7″. The songs are “Chords Come Easy” and “Static Threads” and they take me back to the 90s, to American indiepop sounds from labels like Bus Stop or Harriet. Good stuff.

Basic Plumbing: I wasn’t aware that Patrick Doyle from Veronica Falls left us an album. This is very good news and it seems that all profits from the “Keeping Up Appearances” album will go to the LA LGBT Center + CALM. That’s nice. The record will be out on vinyl and CD. At the moment we can preview two tracks on Bandcamp, “As You Disappear” and “Constant Attention”. And they sound great!

Quivers: from Hobart, Tasmania, and sounding amazing, I discover this four piece formed by Sam Nicholson, Bella Quinlan, Holly Thomas and Michael Panton. Their latest track is a shimmering song called “When it Breaks” and I am really enjoying it. As their small bio says, they sit somewhere in between the janglepop that was done in Australia in the 80s with a touch of American 90s. It is a good combination. A winning one.

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I remember many years ago Kris from the Heavens is Above Your Head blog and also from the Don’t Die on My Doorstep club in Malmo recommended me to find a record. He actually wrote about it and I was intrigued…

Delphine Passant, Fabien Guidollet, Alexandre Cayrac and Thierry Tonelli might be four of my favourite French indiepopsters. No, I haven’t met them nor they probably know Cloudberry exists. But, they left a perfect 7″ that for years has been a treasure of mine, their “Longer Lasting Beauty” 7″!

Four perfect pop songs. That’s what you’ll find on this record released in France by Nessie Records (Loch 1) back in 1994. Was it their own label? I don’t really know. I’ve mentioned this label when I talked about the tape “Superqualifragilistic” when I posted about Nothing Else or Les Poissons Solubles who appear on it.

The A side, called “The Rhythm Side”, opens with one of my favourite songs ever, “Laurie”, and includes another top hit, “House of Magic Cards”. The B side, “The Ballad Side”, has two more songs, “Time” and “Close-Up”. All four were recorded at Lutecia Garden Studio with Damien Bertrand and Jean François-Marvaud as engineers. Marvaud used to run this recording studio in Clamart, a southwestern suburb of Paris. Does this mean then, that the band hailed from the French capital? The answer is yes. A small insert with the label’s catalog gives us an address for Fabien in Paris and for Thierry in Montmorency, a suburb in the north of Paris.

It is also worth mentioning that Sabine Dubocage played violin in the record. She had been in the past in a band called Christine.

The sleeve of the record reminds all of us of classic indiepop art from the late 80s. They clearly knew what they were doing. The record even comes with a sticker with the band’s name. All packaged beautifully. On the back of the sleeve we learn that all songs were written by the band, and “Time” is actually co-written with Alexandra Easton. Then we get what each of the band members played, Alex played the drums, Delphine the guitar, Fabien sang and played guitar and Thierry the bass.

Aside from this release it seems there was a 2-track tape that had “Longer Lasting Beauty” on the A side and “UFO” on the B side. It seems it came with an insert featuring a small interview with the band. This was released in 1995 and I wonder if it was some sort of demo tape, or a tape sold at gigs. Would be good to find out.

No other releases are listed but they did appear on a few compilations. On the Italian label Shiny Sunset (which I tried to interview and I hope one day I’ll get interview answers as this label is such a mystery!) they contributed two songs to a tape called “The Colours of an Enchanted Dawn” (SUNSET 9). The songs were “Drowning Memories” and “Longer Lasting Beauty”. Oh! I would really like to listen to them! No year is specified for this release.

In 1995 they contributed “Longer Lasting Beauty” and “Why Not Your Baby” to “Nine Month Summer” a compilation tape released by Does This Work? (DTW 20) from the UK. Interestingly the band Sabine, the violinist, was in, Christine, also appears on this one.

That same year on the “Sapphire” comp cassette released by the British Bliss Aquamarine (BLISS 20) they had the last song of the tape, “Drowning Memories”.

On another tape that has no release date, “Fairy Tales”, released by the German Meller Welle Produkte (MEL 23) they appear with two tracks, “Drowning Memories” and “Knife”.

Lastly in 1996 two songs, “Knife” and “Abilene”, appear on a CD comp called “Les Belles Promesses – Collection “Acoustique”” released by XIII Bis Records and Ora Pro Nobis.

In total then we know of 9 songs? Are there any more?

About the band members we know a few things too.

Fabien had been in other bands like Facteurs Chevaux and Verone. Delphine was also involved in Verone while Thierry played in Pills and Saez. Thierry Cayrac seems to go now by Leax or Alexandre Cayrac, a techno DJ (!).

But there is more. I am pretty sure that at some point they had to change names to Lollypops as there was an American band with the name Evergreen. With Lollypops they even recorded “House of Magic Cards”, “Laurie” and “Time”. Were these different versions? They even recorded at least another song called “The Girl Who Never Know Whether She Can Do it Or Not”. How did that one sound? Lollypops were also known for covering The Pastels’ “A Million Tears“.

But as it is the same band let’s check out their discography which was only appearances on compilations. Firstly they recorded a cover of “Darklands” for “A Tribute to the Jesus and Mary Chain” cassette compilation released in 1994 by Candy Chérie Records (001). This was a French comp.

Then their song “The Girl Who Never Knows Wheter She Can Do It or Not” appears on the cassette “Entendons Nous Bien” released by Loaded (LOAD 001) in 1994, in the tape “Plouf” released by Les Tartines and also on the “Des Gents Simples” another tape compilation this one released by Ora Pro Nobis (OPN 9402) in 1994. This last one was perhaps a different version, it says (version Huit Pistes), meaning 8-track version.

Their song “Time” would appear on the “Breeze” double cassette comp released by Alphyen Viwit (004) in 1994 and also on the “Superqualifragilistic” tape I mentioned earlier. on Nessie (NES587). Lastly on the Meller Welle Produkte compilation “Europopsongs” they had “Laurie” and “House of Magic Cards”.

Now all of these songs are wonderful, I am starting to think it would make a very nice collection as a compilation album. That’s an idea. What do you think? I’d be interested to explore that idea with the Cake Kitchen!

Ah! Evergreen, Lollypops, such beauty. What a wonderful pop band. I need to know more about them. French friends, do you remember them?!

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Listen
Evergreen – Laurie

On Monday we  awoke to the news that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are no more. They call it quits. As a music fan it makes me look with nostalgia the gigs and the times I saw them. As an indiepop fan it may feel like an end of an era. As Cloudberry, I feel gratitude once again for having being able to work with them in the very beginning of the band (and the label). This is the message Kip Berman, the main driving force of the band shared on various social media:

Kip here.

My life has changed radically from the time I started Pains with Peggy, Alex and (soon after) Kurt in 2007, and I’ve decided to focus on a new project @the_natvral.

Pains was a distinct moment in my life. I started the group when I first moved to New York and completed our last record, “The Echo of Pleasure,” shortly before my daughter was born and I moved to Princeton, NJ. From that time forward, I never really felt the same – and the music I was creating didn’t feel the same either.

I could probably tell a few anecdotes from the early days, don’t know if they would add to the legend of the band as they are personal of course.

I think it was thanks to the Summer Cats 3″ that Cloudberry caught Kip’s attention. At that time the indiepop-list was much more active than today. And yeah, Scott from Summer Cats sent a message to it promoting his band’s upcoming 3″ as well as Horowitz’s one. A day or a few days later I heard from Kip on Myspace. They didn’t have any songs uploaded or anything. They were a brand new band.

I am by nature skeptical, so it was quite a surprise to hear such wonderful music. They shared with me the three songs that would appear on the 3″, 3 songs that are classic in their repertoire, “This Love is Fucking Right!”, “Orchard of My Eye” and “Doing All the Things That Wouldn’t Make Your Parents Proud”. They were the second U.S. band to release on the label after Apple Orchard.

They were the second band to design their own sleeve after the Summer Cats. Let me tell you, this is the hardest thing for me to give away, the artwork of the sleeve. It is hard for me to trust that to anyone! But it came out good and in the early days that sort of fuzzy aesthetics became a trademark of the band. A very similar sleeve would be used for their next release, the EP on their own Painbow Records.

At that time Kip said very nice things about the label on the poplist, things that reading them now, makes me really miss 2007, when indiepop was beginning to make some noise (and to be honest, a lot had to do with The Pains).

I feel The Cloudberry series is one of the most exciting things going on in indiepop right now. I’m consistently amazed by the quality (and volume) of bands Roque is releasing almost every week! It’s really a great thing, and it was an honor to be a part of the series. We really love Roque & Cloudberry a lot– he’s really doing it for all the right reasons. Please do check the bands he’s putting out– it’s all quality.

I don’t think the label gets that sort of praise anymore! At least not publicly. I am very thankful to the band, especially the earlier lineup as that was the one I knew best. Kip, Peggy and Alex. The first time I met them, I remember clearly, it was so cool. It was at NYC Popfest 2007. Then I would see them many times, even abroad like in the UK, or in Miami once, a place no band would visit. And that time I remember now they played a song called, “You’re Better by Far Than Everything Around Here”, and I wonder today, is there a proper recording of that track? I can’t seem to recall how that sounded!

I could write many stories as I said, but in retrospect, we must be thankful for the music as they left us many hits, songs that should be classics in the indiepop canon like “Young Adult Friction”, “Higher than the Stars” or “Everything With You”. But they also had a big part in the indiepop renaissance of 2007-2012. They managed to be in the spotlight of just not indiepop fans but also on more mainstream media and that helped indiepop gain more fans. And that is important.

I have a huge poster of a gig in Stoke-On-Trent were The Pains played alongside Horowitz, The Parallelograms and Slow Down Tallahasse… a Cloudberry Night. Dear dear. And it is signed by all band members. On top of that at a later Cloudberry gig, organized by LostMusic, we gave away a CD with a song each for the first 50 that attended. The bands playing were The Manhattan Love Suicides, Strawberry Story, The Hillfields and The Pains of Being pure at Heart. They contributed “A Teenager in Love”. The band was always up for doing these sort of things, gaining popularity didn’t mean forgetting their DIY beliefs. That speaks greatly of them.

It is true that in the last few years I lost a bit of touch. I wish I had attended more gigs of them while in NYC. I regret not doing that now. I didn’t think the band was going to end for some reason. All things end of course. I was naive. Sure I can still go and check out their new projects, and I should do so. I am especially curious about Store Front, Peggy’s band, as it sounds amazing, just up my street. I’ll make a note to go to their next gig. Especially as it was always lovely to see her, always happy and smiling!

But that didn’t mean I didn’t follow them. I bought all the records they put out. They are not signed by them like the earlier ones, but it’s all good.

I remember too working at the Miami newspaper and receiving a promo copy of “Heart in Your Heartbreak”, according to Kip, a very rare CD. How random was that.

As I write these lines I can think of more and more stories. And I am happy about that. Because they were a big part of the label, it happens that a lot of people knew the label thanks to them. And even today, 2019, I get emails asking if I still have a copy of the 3″ single. Can you imagine?

I don’t think this post has any sort of structure. I am just writing as thoughts come to me. I wanted to say thanks for all the years of great music, of waving the indiepop flag with pride. I guess that’s about it. But I can’t stop thinking of good moments, jokes, beers, and different cities we coincided.

I wish them the best in their next adventures and hope to have a beer with them soon. Or as how Kip said just before meeting for the first time, “a beer”? LET’S HAVE AT LEAST THREE!!!!!

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Listen
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – This Love is Fucking Right!

Back in 2012 I shared a cab ride with Colm and Bentley. That was the one and only time I talked with Bentley and I must say it was a fun ride. From the Travelodge to the Indietracks grounds. Joking and gossiping about the indiepop scene. Me sharing a cab with these two friends that have formed the wonderful Language of Flowers, a friendship which I believe started in the mid-90s when both of them shared a flat in Leicester. The story says that they would eventually record a 4 track demo, when Colm and the rest of the band (Marc, Ashton and Tara) were looking for a drummer in Belfast. It didn’t matter that Bentley was in Manchester at the time, Colm would get him into the band, it was the right choice, and then with the new completed lineup in 2003, they would record a demo that would get them to release the album “Songs About You” in 2004.

It was going to take 8 more years for me to see them at Indietracks.  Yes, Language of Flowers was playing! The band had already split by 2012, but they were doing a reunion gig just because, I am guessing here, it was Indietracks, the most important indiepop festival.

In the past I had seen him playing, in 2011, with Help Stamp Out Loneliness with him now as guitarist extraordinaire. An amazing gig at the outdoor stage. It was truly fantastic. Of course I had a softer spot for Language of Flowers, they were the older band and for many years I had played their CD on Shelflife Records time and time again. I knew the songs by heart and I always wondered if I was ever going to release some of their songs. That was a dream. I had bugged Colm many times about three songs that were never released, if they could be put in a 7″. As you might have noticed that never happened. But yeah, it was special.

Maybe now that I think of it, I may be mixing 2011 and 2012 Indietracks festival. Maybe the cab ride took in 2012 and not 2011. I can’t say. But that wasn’t the only time that I shared a moment with Bentley. As many Indietracks goers that stay at the Travelodge might know, after the festival closes its doors for the day, those staying at this hotel in Alfreton, hang around for some more drinks in the wooden picnic table that is just outside the front door. I remember a night that Bentley was there, among many of my indiepop friends. Sharing a drink and having a good time.

And last week I get to learn that Bentley is no longer with us. It came as a shock.

I really wish I had met and talked to him properly. As I said earlier, I was quite the fan of this two bands he was involved with and he seemed a genuinely interesting person. I only have this two snapshots of him, plus of course the gigs when I saw him play. Always at Indietracks. I know the bands played many other places but I wasn’t lucky enough to travel to Europe in those occasions. But I was terribly happy to at least be able to say that I saw them and that they were brilliant.

I am very sorry and hope things get better with time for his family, friends and bandmates. Condolences to them. In memory of him, a charity has been put together for The Smile Train, who empower medical professionals to provide free cleft treatment to children. At the time I am writing this post 89% of the goal money has been raised. I am sure any help will be appreciated.

Rest in peace.

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Listen
Language of Flowers – Songs About You

Some good music to enjoy over the weekend! Today I will finally finish sending all outstanding orders for Baby Lemonade! So yeah, thanks everyone for that!  Hope you liked the album!

Unhappy Fly: Emotional Response are releasing a lathe cut 7″ that is very very limited, just 100 copies and it seems at the time I am writing this post there are only 8 left! The 7″ contains two songs, “The Vision and the Poison” and “Unhappy Fly”. None of this songs were included in the band’s LP.

Rei Clone: now a dreamy, shoegazy, band from Denton, Texas. First time I am listening to them and it is thanks to their latest effort, a digital single called “Heaven is Eternity”. It sounds pretty good I must say! The band describes themselves as an anime shoegaze band, which is quite interesting. They are formed by Ash, Zach, Charlie and Simon.

Perrogato: the superb Chilean duo has a new digital single out on Mexico’s Stupid Decisions netlabel! It is a perfect song for Halloween, even though that was yesterday!  It is called “Noche de Muertes” (night of the dead). It is a fun track with boy/girl vocals, and it makes you want to see a Perrogato album on physical format soon! Terrific band indeed.

The Epigones: this band from Ontario, Canada, is actually a duo comprised of guitarist Vic Ciampini and vocalist/bassist Darko Smolcic. They have just put up a four song debut EP on Bandcamp that sounds great! It is poppy postpunk, with class and elegance. Definitely check it out. I can’t wait to hear more by them.

West Coast Music Club: from West Kirby, UK, we meet this sweet sounding band! They have a 3 song EP now out on CD called “Sometimes EP”. The songs on it are “Saturday”, “Sometimes” and “Fall” and all three are really really good. Top vocals, chiming guitars, good melodies, everything one wants on an indiepop record!

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I had this post prepared for later in the year if I am honest. But just a few days ago my friend Vernon was talking about Rebecca Fishpond and ended up getting in touch with one of the members of the band, Zack Yusof, so I decided to unearth the draft with the little bits and bobs I had from them and see if eventually, there’s a way to get in touch with this fantastic band.

I am hoping of course there will be an interview in the coming days, but I still thought it would be a good idea not to lose all this information and maybe it serves as a good introduction to this great band!

You see I heard of Rebecca Fishpond’s existence thanks to the Firestation blog back in 2010. Back then the Uwe was running a terrific blog where he shared his knowledge of all sorts of obscure indiepop. He would have these posts called “Something to Look Out For” where he listed bands he’d like to know more or get in touch with. Many of these, if not most, were unknown to me. He wrote about Rebecca Fishpond saying that he couldn’t tell if the band existed or were just a dream. He didn’t know any details but he had listened to them. One of the songs even made a big impression and he took one of the lines from it and named the sixteenth release on his label, Firestation Records, “You Thought it was the End of the World when the Rain Ruined Your Hair”. It was a compilation CD, and yes it would have made lots of sense to have Rebecca Fishpond there, but no, no luck.

Second time I heard about them was on an interview I did on my blog with the band Kind. They hailed from the Deptford/Bermondsey area in Southeast London. I asked them if they were part of a scene and yes, he mentioned they did of the one that was happening in their area, a scene that included the bands Lavern and Shirley and Rebecca Fishpond. So I could place them now, early 90s and in SE London.

But what about sounds?

Well there is Soundcloud page by someone called Dan Rowlands. He must have been part of the band. As he has uploaded the demo of the band which seems to consist of 5 songs: “All I Ever Wanted”, “Tell Me When it’s Twelve”, “Beauty”, “Laugh” and “Always in a Dream”. This demo was recorded in 1989. At this point we know that previously the band members had been in The Kildares. There are songs on the Soundcloud by this outfit too, jangly and awesome. Maybe I should even dedicate a post to them eventually. So I believe The Kildares hailed from not SE London but from Shropshire, so did they move? And then there were some lineup changes. The bassist of The Kildares left. The drummer switched to bass and a new drummer came in. A third singer joined. So about the same people as The Kildares but two new ones.

But aside from this demo there are two more songs, “Revolved” and “Bought and Sold”. So in total we know of 7 songs. And perhaps one more, there is one called “Two Ways to Die” that at least I know there is a live performance from 1989 online, on Youtube.

Other little tidbit of information is that the band played at The Falcon in Camden on November 18, 1989 supporting the amazing Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes!

Aside from that I believe one of the members, Zack Yusof, lives now in Australia. He had been in bands like Release, Fast Boyfriends, Trafford (in Malaysia), and as of 2007 he was going under the name Kid Kowalski as well as playing in a band in Kuala Lumpur called Deserters. He is also a music journalist and DJ. Dan Rowlands, in the other hand, seems to have been in Emergency Exit, Open Up, as well as making music on his own.

Of course you also end up wondering who was Rebecca Fishpond? Why that name? But wonder if I’ll ever know. I did try to get in touch through Soundcloud but no luck. Maybe this post will help. I’ll definitely would love to hear more songs, if there are more. And as many friends have suggested, maybe these songs should be re-released. Of course I can offer myself to do that. But if anyone else does it, that’s great as well. The thing is. We want to know more about them? And what happened to the other band members?

Any help would be appreciated!

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Listen
Rebecca Fishpond – All I Ever Wanted