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Underrated or forgotten indie bands let's go

Started by alan nagsworth, August 20, 2014, 02:35:30 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Neville Chamberlain

I never really got into Dark Star, to be honest, despite it being led by Christian 'Bic' Hayes of Cardiacs fame and the other chaps from the really quite fucking amazing Levitation...

Don_Preston


Neville Chamberlain

Quote from: Don_Preston on August 21, 2014, 02:57:49 PM
With the baby-faced Christian from late 80s era Cardiacs.

I don't recall Cliff Richard ever being in Cardiacs!

Don_Preston

"In the bizarre world of music...anything goes - even SAVIOUR'S DAY!"

phantom_power

Scott 4 seem to have been forgotten by almost everyone, and not known in the first place by most. They made two great albums and then another one (I think) that I haven't heard and I have yet to meet anyone else who knows they existed

Neville Chamberlain

Oh yes, they were a good band I seem to remember. My friend was quite into them.

holyzombiejesus

Jack have been mentioned on here a few times but I do think that Pioneer Soundtracks is a cracking ignored album.

The Delgados' mid period albums, the Dave Fridmann produced ones, should have got a much better reception too.

NattyDread

Jacob's Mouse. Cracking 3 piece with a singing drummer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpGkS1B9KfU

Love that whole album. In fact, that bugger is getting spun and cranked right up tonight.

Don_Preston


Serge

Quote from: phantom_power on August 21, 2014, 03:22:54 PM
Scott 4 seem to have been forgotten by almost everyone, and not known in the first place by most. They made two great albums and then another one (I think) that I haven't heard and I have yet to meet anyone else who knows they existed

Scott 4 were fucking brilliant. 'Recorded In State' was possibly a tad in thrall to Beck, but 'Works Project' is one of my favourite records from that era - 'Scott 4 Travel On Electric Trains' is amazing. The collaboration with Magic Car was pretty decent, too.

Tairy_Green

Love that Dark Star album. Saw them live when I was 13 and it was mind-blowing.

I really liked the first Mull Historical Society album. An overblown, overly ambitious glorious fail of an indie pop album.

Mo Ho Bish O Pi were pretty good, shame I never saw them live.

King Adora were quite awful. Seemingly a band created by committee to cater for 15 year old girls who dressed up as Nicky Wire.

And Gay Dad were neither as good or terrible as they should have been.

Oh, and I'm surprised (or can't read) that Terris haven't come up yet. One of the more odd hype bands of the previous decade; looked like builders and hoodies, no real standout songs, entirely counter fashion. But I quite like that, even if I don't think I could make it through their album today.

23 Daves

#41
Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on August 21, 2014, 02:44:00 PM
Didn't Animals That Swim release some new material fairly recently? I really have to check them out more - I love that track 50 Dresses :-)

An album was in the pipeline, but they put a blog post up about six months ago stating that it had been abandoned as none of them had the time to give it the necessary attention and focus. A shame, because one single slipped out and a demo appeared on Soundcloud, and it all sounded as if it was going to be at least very good.

Hank Starrs added that there are loads of demos the band are presently sitting on, and I asked if they'd ever be given some kind of release (or even just uploaded to Soundcloud or YouTube). I was told no, because if they end up in the public realm everyone wants them to be heard as a finished product. A faintly frustrating Catch 22 situation, but it's their material, not ours.

One of the biggest Chinese Whisper misunderstandings that's ever been said about me among acquaintances is that I used to be a member of Animals That Swim. I'm deeply flattered by this - though having looked again at the group photos I'm also faintly worried as well - but it's completely and utterly untrue. Somehow "This is a group Dave really likes" got flipped to "This band Dave is in" in someone's mind, and it snowballed from there.   

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on August 21, 2014, 04:13:31 PM
Jack have been mentioned on here a few times but I do think that Pioneer Soundtracks is a cracking ignored album.

Absolutely. Everyone needs to buy that album, and then the follow-up "The Jazz Age". "The Jazz Age" got a bit of a hammering from some quarters, it's much spikier and more band-driven as opposed to the orchestral moodiness of the debut, but there are some truly wonderful tracks on there. "Love And Death In The Afternoon", "Nico's Children", "3 o'clock in the Morning" - all spectacular. I will never be stuck on Camden Road late at night without hearing the latter in my head, which is probably one of their finest tracks.

Anthony Reynolds is still going as a solo artist, issuing his own records and to all intents and purposes seeming increasingly like an indie Bernard Black. I actually bought a signed record from him direct from Amazon, and this slightly untidy package reeking of fag smoke plopped on my door a couple of days later. Caused my wife to comment "You remember you said you were ordering a package from someone a bit like Bernard Black? Well, it's arrived."

Apparently he recently tried to convince his girlfriend to install a tannoy system in the flat so they could communicate to each other from different rooms with greater ease. She failed to agree to this proposal. It's a brilliant idea though, I want one for the spare room.

Brundle-Fly

In 1996, I used to like Grass~Show from Sweden or 'Supergrass~Show' as I never called them. They only ever did one more album  eight years after the first, then zilch.

Out Of The Void
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwfpqBG-yhM

Don_Preston

Quote from: 23 Daves on August 21, 2014, 05:48:36 PMIt's a brilliant idea though, I want one for the spare room.

That's no way to talk about the wife!!!

Gradual Decline

Quote from: NattyDread on August 21, 2014, 04:34:52 PM
Jacob's Mouse. Cracking 3 piece with a singing drummer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpGkS1B9KfU

Even better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWECc1lEmTc

As played on Mark & Lard every other week back in '96. Top, top tune.

Puce Moment

Cracking tune!

Reminds me of Cee Bee Beaumont and Blood Sausage:

Here they are with Sexton Ming on vocals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsPYPFBYodA


Mark Steels Stockbroker

Quote from: Funcrusher on August 21, 2014, 07:48:13 AM
Did that guy have a hidden goth past?

One of the many undeserved bits of press his MM mates got him was some article in which he talked about his fave bands and "influences"... which was all stuff like Cope and the Bunnymen and lots of other 80s alternative things that didn't fit his supposed image at all.

Mark Steels Stockbroker

I think there was a whole tranche of bands coming through in 97-99 that got instantly forgotten when The Strokes finally defined the post-Britpop model for the new century. That was an era when NME wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a music mag or not, and did insane decisions like sticking Campag Velocet or Terris on the cover in the desperately clueless hope of picking a winner.

Mark Steels Stockbroker

Quote from: Vodka Margarine on August 21, 2014, 12:56:19 PM
Six By Seven. I adored The Closer You Get and probably still do.

I had some of their albums, still got the 1st one. I'd love to say they were a great lost secret, but I don't think they really had anything special. I suppose they fancied themselves emerging as the next Radiohead, but it just didn't happen.

The Delgados, as far as I'm concerned, were a great and successful band. I don't care if they never had a hit single.

Phil_A

Ahh, this gives me an excuse to mention one-time Peel Show favourites Ten Benson. Who, I'm delighted to find out, are still going.

Mystery Man, what a fucking great single.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCY58Lqmxuw



23 Daves

Nobody's mentioned Earl Brutus yet, have they? Nobody!

My wife thinks they're one of the worst bands ever. Early in our relationship, I took her on a "date" to watch them live (yes, I know...) and from the moment she got someone else's spit in her hair to the migraine inducing strobe ending, her night deteriorated steadily. The date ended with her actually kicking me up the arse (which the band thought was hilarious when I told them. Job done, so far as they were concerned).

But they were unlike anyone else, apart from possibly TISM. But TISM with some knock-out songs. Wreaths spelling "Fuck" and "Off" above the stage, spinning garage signs saying "Music" one side and "Chips" the other, Glam rock, electro, punk and art-rock all colliding, bleak lyrical subject matters delivered in a scattergun fashion, members doing nothing but standing around glaring, dancing and drinking lager... really, their style laid the foundations for the likes of Fat White Family and Sleaford Mods, but they were better. I listened to the second album "Tonight You Are The Special One" for the first time in ages this week, and it sounded completely relevant and utterly staggering.

http://youtu.be/2XrWUg_24bA

http://youtu.be/yi_mTvH4HMI

Rev

Quote from: 23 Daves on August 21, 2014, 02:22:18 PMAnd on the subject of Cud... is the first album "When In Rome Kill Me" any good? I loved "Only a Prawn in Whitby" off that, always meant to investigate further, and never did. I was less convinced by their funkier 90s stuff, though I was nearly tempted by a £4 copy of "Aquarius" in a charity shop recently.

As with many of these bands, the best I can say is that I liked it at the time (though inevitably haven't stuck it on in years).  It's a bit of a rum affair as half of it is sort of a concept album, but I say 'sort of' as it was probably more a case of them linking songs together after the fact rather than sitting down to write them as a sequence.  'Only a Prawn in Whitby' stands out as a single but it is pretty representative, so it's worth a crack.  At the very least, you'd likely be the only person to buy this album in 2014.

Do I mention Disco Inferno at this point?  I think this is around the time I mention Disco Inferno.  The classic 90s indie success story with those guys - had their van robbed, weren't properly insured, so called it a day.  Textbook stuff.

Phil_A

Quote from: 23 Daves on August 21, 2014, 09:09:47 PM
Nobody's mentioned Earl Brutus yet, have they? Nobody!

My wife thinks they're one of the worst bands ever. Early in our relationship, I took her on a "date" to watch them live (yes, I know...) and from the moment she got someone else's spit in her hair to the migraine inducing strobe ending, her night deteriorated steadily. The date ended with her actually kicking me up the arse (which the band thought was hilarious when I told them. Job done, so far as they were concerned).

But they were unlike anyone else, apart from possibly TISM. But TISM with some knock-out songs. Wreaths spelling "Fuck" and "Off" above the stage, spinning garage signs saying "Music" one side and "Chips" the other, Glam rock, electro, punk and art-rock all colliding, bleak lyrical subject matters delivered in a scattergun fashion, members doing nothing but standing around glaring, dancing and drinking lager... really, their style laid the foundations for the likes of Fat White Family and Sleaford Mods, but they were better. I listened to the second album "Tonight You Are The Special One" for the first time in ages this week, and it sounded completely relevant and utterly staggering.

http://youtu.be/2XrWUg_24bA

http://youtu.be/yi_mTvH4HMI

I didn't mention them, but I was thinking about them! "The SAS And The Glam That Goes With It" was a cracking single.

Real shame about Nick Sanderson dying so young.

Vodka Margarine

Yeah, Earl Brutus were great. Very ahead of their time. Lead singer bloke died, didn't he? Winningly reminded me of Mark E Smith.

Rev

Quote from: Mark Steels Stockbroker on August 21, 2014, 08:08:33 PM
(six by seven) I had some of their albums, still got the 1st one. I'd love to say they were a great lost secret, but I don't think they really had anything special. I suppose they fancied themselves emerging as the next Radiohead, but it just didn't happen.

Well I'd echo Vodka's love for their second album, but the first one always struck me as a limp attempt to do what you say - I don't know that they wanted to be the next Radiohead necessarily, but it did seem like they wanted to be the next *something*, and had tendrils out all over the place hoping that a current would take one, and that'd decide their direction.  'TCYG' is still a great album though, and holds up really well - sort of ironically given the lack of singular focus mentioned, it's what I described Glasvegas as being a bit like once.

Quote from: Rev on August 21, 2014, 09:39:15 PM
As with many of these bands, the best I can say is that I liked it at the time (though inevitably haven't stuck it on in years).  It's a bit of a rum affair as half of it is sort of a concept album, but I say 'sort of' as it was probably more a case of them linking songs together after the fact rather than sitting down to write them as a sequence.  'Only a Prawn in Whitby' stands out as a single but it is pretty representative, so it's worth a crack.  At the very least, you'd likely be the only person to buy this album in 2014.

Do I mention Disco Inferno at this point?  I think this is around the time I mention Disco Inferno.  The classic 90s indie success story with those guys - had their van robbed, weren't properly insured, so called it a day.  Textbook stuff.

I had a friend who was crazy about Disco Inferno.  They did indeed do some good stuff

I still dig this one out occasionally - self-titled debut album by Dublin lads HAL from 2005 - very much mining the Beach Boys/west-coast harmonies thing but there are some sugary pop delights to be had here.  Co-produced by Edwyn Collins, no less.



Also, a bit of a lost classic is End Credits by Laptop - Lo-fi AOR synthpop.  He had a few other quirky singles in the same vein but was probably never going to be a million-selling star.

http://youtu.be/xB2TEElBU64

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: Vodka Margarine on August 21, 2014, 09:45:24 PM
Yeah, Earl Brutus were great. Very ahead of their time. Lead singer bloke died, didn't he? Winningly reminded me of Mark E Smith.

Not forgetting Jamie Fry is ABC's Martin Fry's brother. I saw Earl Brutus support Buzzcocks. Easily one of my favourite ever gigs.

DrunkCountry

Quote from: Tairy_Green on August 21, 2014, 05:47:41 PM
I really liked the first Mull Historical Society album. An overblown, overly ambitious glorious fail of an indie pop album.

Spot on. The follow up seemed to try way too hard to repeat the almost accidental process that brought about the near-pomposity of the debut.