Joanna Gruesome

Funny, ain't it, that My Bloody Valentine's Isn't Anything is seen as year zero by a whole generation of American bands, but its second-generation influence is only just starting to be felt in Britain.

Joanna Gruesome are obviously in thrall to MBV. Sugarcrush couldn't exist without You Made Me Realise. There's also the headlong rush of Pale Saints noise; there's Sonic Youth guitar terrorism (Yr Dick); and fun'n'frenzy on Sweater, kind of like if Let's Wrestle's first record had been less in love with Husker Du and more in love with, yeah, MBV.

Don't get me wrong, Joanna Gruesome are a band full of their own flavour and spirit. They're young, exciting and of course they trip up sometimes. Pntry Grrlll is pretty much a cover of The Clouds' Tranquil in the style of the Mary Chain.

Everywhere else - and I'm including on stage, where they rule - their bruising, deliciously violent pop is today's essential sound. In the future, people will look back at the Family Portrait 7" ep, which they share with Gum, KEEL HER and Playlounge, as the most important British record to be released in 2012.

David Kilgour lathe cuts

These 1997 recordings capture the same DIY spirit of Kilgour's essential home recordings found on First Steps & False Alarms (87-92): "intakes and outtakes, the best of the worst, stuff I've left behind and some ideas I've used, guidance recommended, fanatics only, meanderings and afterthoughts while holding a guitar in the moment, ad lib, meaningless and empty, agitation of mind, the past is gone, empty and tomorrow is nowhere to be seen, getting inside the echo and early 60s Revox A77, notech hi-fi...an end of a mood or a means to an end."

There were five Kilgour lathe cut 7"s. I've got only the two. Due to ebay mentalism and being broke, I'll probably never find the other three. No matter. These songs still stand tall. Maybe someone could issue all of the lathe cut recordings on album? I'd buy it.

I Caught You Lookin

Way Down Here

I Lost My Name

Instru Two

Look Blue Go Purple and the magic of pop

Everything on Flying Nun in the 80s was worth checking out. A band called Look Blue Go Purple would make any pop fan take notice. That they were on Flying Nun made them all the more enticing. This band had to be good, right? They were better than good.

Every first-era Flying Nun band can in some way be considered a mediation on the Nuggets compilation with the blissful reaction of rubbing shoulders against like-minded souls in a small scene. Some sounded like they were angrily fighting against their isolation; some sounded like it didn't matter what they did because they didn't know anyone was paying attention.

Look Blue Go Purple were like the latter: they had that carefree spirit of adventure. I reckon they were also aware of the paisley underground scene going on in the US. Their strum and drum had flutes, psychedelic organ and classical heroines (Circumspect Penelope).

There were 13 songs over 3 EPs. Not a trick missed on these tracks. A perfect legacy. These songs still sound fresh, magical and mysterious.

Golden Grrrls - absolutely my favourite new British band of the past 18 months - have covered I Don't Want You Anyway GOLDEN GRRRLS - "I Don't Want You Anyway" (Look Blue Go Purple) by NightSchool

The Bats - absolutely one of my favourite bands, ever - covered the same song The Bats - I Don't Want You Anyway by thevault1

See? Sounds great in two versions by two very different bands. There's a LBGP vinyl album reissue happening this year. I hope more fans and bands find them.

Those spunky Tuts

The Tuts are a spunky three-piece that play big and bold and short punk pop songs. They remind me of Kenickie, of X-Ray Spex and of Bratmobile. The acoustic Lying Lover on the CD shows there's another side to The Tuts. There's a heck of a lot of promise in this band.





I went to see them at the Windmill last week - they were fourth on the bill, but it can't be long until they're headliners. They were fun, lively and stole the crowd's heart. They only did one thing wrong - they chose to close with a Clash cover instead of playing another original. Take aim at me now, if you want, but I don't think even The Clash should play Clash songs. With a bit more confidence, maybe next time they'll back themselves - they really should - and finish on one of their own songs. They all sound like hits.

Yes, there was a mighty rumpus afterwards. You'll have read about it in many other places, so I have little to add, only that it really wasn't helpful that so many people who weren't at the gig felt they could contribute to the debate. Oh, and I won't be going back to the Windmill.

Cheap Curls - Jackie Oh

America's hit factory the Dum Dum Girls have given us another star in former member Bambi, now trading as Cheap Curls. Debut single Jackie Oh is chewin' at a rhythm on my bubblegum/the sun is out and I want some just like the Ramones, straight to the point like Cheap Trick and snappily punctuated with handclaps like My Boyfriend's Back, all dispatched with a minimum of fuss like Colleen Green. There's even a guitar solo. Seriously, what more do you want?

Talulah Gosh - Rubber Ball live in Oxford, 1987

This is why Talulah Gosh were not just another band:

Speed metal drums! They thrashed around, guitars and drums making an unholy noise. Somehow, people still called them twee.

Politics!: "Don't talk to me about the Russians, you and me will never agree." In 1987, the spectre of Red Wedge - a well-meaning, but sometimes too right-on collective of left-wing musicians - loomed large in indie. On the other side of the political spectrum, CD-loving Thatcherites owned two copies of Brothers In Arms, one of which they stored in their nuclear bunker in case the Russians attacked. Talulah Gosh were too different to be part of any of that. They were political enough anyway: the silly name, the revival of punk's DIY spirit and girl group melodies (Dolly Mixture playing the Ramones, if you like), aligning amateurism with idealism - in all ways these outsiders were against the grain.

They had their own Bez! Really! “Eithne’s useless,” Mathew explains, “she’s a real spaz. But she knows she is. She knows she can’t sing or even play in time, but she doesn’t care. So why should we? She’s great. And she’s in the band because we all love her. Eithne’s the most important member of the band because she’s the one thing that stops us getting too serious about it all. She stops us becoming professional!” (Undergound, August 87)

Rubber Ball was recorded live in Oxford, February 1987, and is different to the version on Backwash. It was released on the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! compilation tape.

The third Wolfhounds Peel Session

The Wolfhounds were brutally, beautifully loud. Many of the records they made between 1986 and 1990 stand up today as some of the best records of that era.

The tail end of 1988 was enriched by three brilliant singles from very different bands who'd never quite found an audience:

• Elephant Stone - The Stone Roses

• There She Goes - The La's

• Rent Act - The Wolfhounds

Everyone knows what happened to the first two bands. The Wolfhounds were just as good, but never got the break. They split up in 1990 leaving a fine legacy.

Their final Peel Session was broadcast on 1 February 1988:

Happy Shopper



William Randolf Hearse



Son Of Nothing



EDIT: I originally uploaded Rule Of Thumb from the previous Peel Session. I've corrected that. And, yes, all three Wolfhounds Peel Sessions would make a great album, and an official release would give these songs higher fidelity than my ropey old tapes.

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