The Lodger - Let Her Go
Let Her Go was first released on the Angular label. It’s a collision of The Wolfhounds’ fury and The June Brides’ horn-driven melodic power. Slumberland did the smart thing and picked up the album.
Summer Cats - In June
When a label signs a band influenced by bands they've already released, I usually start to worry. No worries here, though, because Scott Stevens was in The Earthmen. This is a more pop outfit and they’re even better. File them next to The Aislers Set and Rocketship.
caUSE co-MOTION! - Which Way Is Up?
I’m pretty sure this band never practised. Maybe they’d never met each other before they went into the studio. It’s part of their singular charm. This is angular and catchy, like both sides of the C86 coin made good.
Bricolage - Turn U Over
It used to infuriate me that indiepop clubs or gigs would play the same old 1980s songs but never Bricolage. Turn U Over sounds like Orange Juice. Most of all they “Remember with deep regret/How we used to dance in the discotheque” and make that sound fresh for today.
Brown Recluse - Contour & Context
Baroque pop grandeur and harmonic soft pop in one record. They remind me of brilliant bands like The Pale Fountains, The Zombies and The Left Banke.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3WlTUG03YPruiFrqBlUUoH
Phil Wilson - Up To London
God Bless Jim Kennedy is basically the follow up to The June Brides’ all-time classic There Are Eight Million Stories...I’m not pretending this record took 25 years to make, but I’m certain it’ll last at least that long.
Crystal Stilts - Shattered Shine
Dramatically static and monochromatic like those early Felt singles with dysfunctional psych-punk like The Blue Orchids, Crystal Stilts were essential listening.
Big Troubles - Freudian Slips
This killer riff could surely withstand a nuclear war. It should have been inducted into the rock’n’roll hall of fame on its first week of release. It will outlast us all. [EDIT: SLR didn't release it - it's one of the great 7"s of the last decade, so it was an easy mistake to make. Big Troubles have other releases on SLR, all worth getting.]
Veronica Falls - Teenage
Doomed romance and jangly guitars. It could almost be the tagline for Slumberland. This is a modern classic of the genre.
Terry Malts - No Sir, I’m Not A Christian
90 seconds of sledgehammer bass, raging guitars and furious feedback. Did someone say Husker Du?
Saturday, 30 June 2018
Friday, 29 June 2018
Slumberland - 30 years of hits part one
Slumberland is gearing up for its 30th birthday with a singles club. So I've come up with 30 hits from Slumberland.
True, it might have been neater to have done 30 7"s from the label, but that would mean missing loads of classics. Also true: I might have missed some favourites anyway. Send your complaints to the usual address, or better still make your own list.
These aren't in any order of preference. They're all great.
Velocity Girl - I Don't Care If You Go
This is where I first checked in with Slumberland. There weren’t a lot of ways to find out about the international pop underground in 1990, not at least if you were still at school and everyone else was into mainstream stuff. So I took a risk by mailorder on a band named after a really good record. Turns out they had made a really good record as well, one I’m nowhere near sick of hearing 28 years later.
Small Factory – What To Want
Hands down, Small Factory and Velocity Girl were my favourite singles bands of the early 90s. If I’d have been the morbid teen who put a list of their desert island discs in their back pocket in case they were found dead in a graveyard, these bands would’ve featured.
The Aislers Set - Long Division
At their best - which was frequent and often - The Aislers Set wrote their own 1960s girl group hits with stop start rhythms and handclaps. Because the Brill Building was shut they recorded in a garage. This reminds me a little of My Boyfriend’s Back.
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Come Saturday
Their debut could have hardly been clearer in its intentions by modifying The Field Mice’s This Love Is Not Wrong to This Love Is Fucking Right! Come Saturday is fuzzy like Sensitive and fast like Freak Scene. No surprise they went supernova.
Weekend - Red
Go on, name a better ep of the last 10 years. Sorry, you’re wrong. Yes it’s still available. And if you don’t own this but have seen My Bloody Valentine one of their reformation gigs, your excuses had better well be bloody good.
The Earthmen – Cool Chick #59
During grunge’s imperial period, Australia’s The Earthmen took it back to the basics of 80s harDCore and punk, but kept the idea that the best tunes were from even a bit before that. Like the 1960s.
The Artisans - Start Again
Jazz Serenade is one of the great lost singles from one of the great lost bands. They tried to sound like Josef K years after everyone stopped and years before anyone tried again. God, they were good. Thanks to Slumberland there were two more songs on a compilation.
Go Sailor - Long Distance
Amy Linton and Rose Melberg in one band? Yes please! What could go wrong? Absolutely nothing. This is pop perfection.
Rocketship – I Love You Like The Way That I Used To Do
No one, apart from Stereolab on a good day, could match drone with such huge tunes. History has shown Rocketship were right all along. It seemed so obvious then. It still does. If you’re coming to this fresh, I envy you.
The Clientele - Porcelain
If everyone who heard The Return of the Durutti Column formed a band they’d mostly be shit. Felt and The Clientele heard it, at different stages, and were consequently brilliant.
True, it might have been neater to have done 30 7"s from the label, but that would mean missing loads of classics. Also true: I might have missed some favourites anyway. Send your complaints to the usual address, or better still make your own list.
These aren't in any order of preference. They're all great.
Velocity Girl - I Don't Care If You Go
This is where I first checked in with Slumberland. There weren’t a lot of ways to find out about the international pop underground in 1990, not at least if you were still at school and everyone else was into mainstream stuff. So I took a risk by mailorder on a band named after a really good record. Turns out they had made a really good record as well, one I’m nowhere near sick of hearing 28 years later.
Small Factory – What To Want
Hands down, Small Factory and Velocity Girl were my favourite singles bands of the early 90s. If I’d have been the morbid teen who put a list of their desert island discs in their back pocket in case they were found dead in a graveyard, these bands would’ve featured.
The Aislers Set - Long Division
At their best - which was frequent and often - The Aislers Set wrote their own 1960s girl group hits with stop start rhythms and handclaps. Because the Brill Building was shut they recorded in a garage. This reminds me a little of My Boyfriend’s Back.
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Come Saturday
Their debut could have hardly been clearer in its intentions by modifying The Field Mice’s This Love Is Not Wrong to This Love Is Fucking Right! Come Saturday is fuzzy like Sensitive and fast like Freak Scene. No surprise they went supernova.
Weekend - Red
Go on, name a better ep of the last 10 years. Sorry, you’re wrong. Yes it’s still available. And if you don’t own this but have seen My Bloody Valentine one of their reformation gigs, your excuses had better well be bloody good.
The Earthmen – Cool Chick #59
During grunge’s imperial period, Australia’s The Earthmen took it back to the basics of 80s harDCore and punk, but kept the idea that the best tunes were from even a bit before that. Like the 1960s.
The Artisans - Start Again
Jazz Serenade is one of the great lost singles from one of the great lost bands. They tried to sound like Josef K years after everyone stopped and years before anyone tried again. God, they were good. Thanks to Slumberland there were two more songs on a compilation.
Go Sailor - Long Distance
Amy Linton and Rose Melberg in one band? Yes please! What could go wrong? Absolutely nothing. This is pop perfection.
Rocketship – I Love You Like The Way That I Used To Do
No one, apart from Stereolab on a good day, could match drone with such huge tunes. History has shown Rocketship were right all along. It seemed so obvious then. It still does. If you’re coming to this fresh, I envy you.
The Clientele - Porcelain
If everyone who heard The Return of the Durutti Column formed a band they’d mostly be shit. Felt and The Clientele heard it, at different stages, and were consequently brilliant.
Wednesday, 27 June 2018
Poppel - Hit It
Poppel write songs with the tuneful rage and blistering insistence of The Clean’s Vehicle, and the casually awkward hooks of Pavement’s Crooked Rain. They came from a town in Belgium called Poppel so of course they’re called Poppel.
If the seesaw guitars and desperate pleading of Conceived Ideas don’t hit you first time, check out now. If they do, you’ve got 13 more hits to embrace.
They remind me, also, of more recent bands like Big Troubles and Cuffs and Boy Genius. You know, killer riffs and dramatic punch, then anthemic and seductive. I’d love Mitch Easter to produce their next record. Until then, this is the business.
If the seesaw guitars and desperate pleading of Conceived Ideas don’t hit you first time, check out now. If they do, you’ve got 13 more hits to embrace.
They remind me, also, of more recent bands like Big Troubles and Cuffs and Boy Genius. You know, killer riffs and dramatic punch, then anthemic and seductive. I’d love Mitch Easter to produce their next record. Until then, this is the business.
Friday, 22 June 2018
Eddie & Ernie - Time Waits For No One
The basement of a New York record shop, 10 years ago: the clerk is playing the most amazing selection of funk 45s from his own collection. He offers to sell me some, starting at $100 each. The price is too heavy.
I flick through the cheaper singles in the racks. He stops me when I hit Bullets Don’t Have Eyes by Eddie & Ernie: “The best single of the last 5 years, no question.” I had the single and shared his enthusiasm.
Eddie & Ernie, one of the greatest - possibly the greatest - soul duos of all time, ranged from blistering pace to downhome tenderness and beautiful pain. Not for nothing are they the only act featuring on all four of Dave Godin’s legendary Deep Soul volumes.
Time Waits For No One is the first Eddie & Ernie vinyl album collection. Of course it’s brilliant. Its 10 tracks won’t be enough once you get the taste, but you can then move on to the Kent compilation Lost Friends.
Even then you’ll find yourself without what I rate as their true masterpiece, It’s A Beautiful World. Find that on Kent’s excellent Stone Soul - San Francisco's Loadstone Label compilation.
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Red Red Eyes - Horology
Red Red Eyes make quietly grand baroque pop. Their electronic hypnosis is addictive, understated and avant-garde.
Horology is cosmic English music informed by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Broadcast’s spooked electronica, Serge Gainsbourg’s breathy noir and the United States of America’s experimental mini-symphonies.
If you like fear and paranoia, sad nostalgia and suburban melancholy, then you’ll love these songs’ ultra-styled grace. They’re also incredibly captivating live. If they play near you, go and see them. Buy the album first. You won’t regret it.
Horology is cosmic English music informed by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Broadcast’s spooked electronica, Serge Gainsbourg’s breathy noir and the United States of America’s experimental mini-symphonies.
If you like fear and paranoia, sad nostalgia and suburban melancholy, then you’ll love these songs’ ultra-styled grace. They’re also incredibly captivating live. If they play near you, go and see them. Buy the album first. You won’t regret it.
Wednesday, 13 June 2018
The Devonns - Come Back / Think I'm Falling in Love
Classic Chicago soul direct from Chicago in 2018. Come Back was apparently written in 10 minutes - I’m more ready to believe it was written in 1972.
Better still is the b-side, Think I’m Falling In Love, a full 5 minutes of gently seductive orchestral soul with not a second wasted.
They pronounce their name "De-vaughns" which is a nod to Willian DeVaughn, whose Diamond in the Back you surely know. Yes, that 7-minute sweet soul opus that sounds just like Curtis Mayfield.
Which is where The Devonns are going. If you’ve got the chops - with help from Ken Stringfellow, no less - to sound like primetime Curtis, the future’s yours.
Better still is the b-side, Think I’m Falling In Love, a full 5 minutes of gently seductive orchestral soul with not a second wasted.
They pronounce their name "De-vaughns" which is a nod to Willian DeVaughn, whose Diamond in the Back you surely know. Yes, that 7-minute sweet soul opus that sounds just like Curtis Mayfield.
Which is where The Devonns are going. If you’ve got the chops - with help from Ken Stringfellow, no less - to sound like primetime Curtis, the future’s yours.
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